#RE: MORTALITASI.

[mournflame]

THE GLOAMING LANTERN.

As the name implies, we're talking about the Gloaming Lantern. This includes Gloaming Lanterns in general as well as Johanna's use of one. My thoughts on what she intended to do with it tie into my overall thoughts on her half-lichdom.

GLOAMING LANTERNS ARE MASTERWORKS OF blood magic. So much so that they have transcended the need for blood itself and instead drink directly of the power blood symbolizes: life. Only five were ever made, now guarded by the Mourn Watch. The manner of their making has long been lost, and none have successfully replicated it. All who have tried paid for their failure with their lives.

It was a Mortalitasi who forged them over a thousand years ago — with good intentions, if the stories are to be believed. Tiye, an antistes of the Mortalitasi, intended the Lanterns as beacons of purification. It has always been the case that some spirits need to be dealt with violently — and what a waste that is! When the living "die", it is only their body that ceases to function. Their soul or some echo of it endures across the Veil. Destroy a soul, a spirit, and it is gone forever. Her hope in creating the beacons was that a spirit of any origin may be pulled in, purified, and released again. Like burning away impurities. When she found that it drew in life essence gradually, she thought it might be turned to other purpose such as breaking possession or removing curses.

The difficulty is that the Lanterns do not differentiate life essence. They will consume any life they are directed toward. What's worse, the Lanterns do not purify what they draw in; rather the life essence is consumed and concentrated, functioning as an endless power source for the wielder. So zealously do they consume life that that even a single drop of blood spilled in their presence can cause them to become volatile. After a point, the living cannot even approach them without being consumed. Hundreds can be drained at a time. The destruction of a Lantern can rip a hole in the Veil and cause mass devastation for miles upon miles. (In the brief time between Johanna obtaining a Lantern and Emmrich tracking her down, the amount of power it contained would have ripped a hole in the Veil and enveloped the countryside in a maelstrom if improperly dissipated.)

Antistes Tiye was not the only person to see potential in her creations. An unscrupulous mage could use them to become virtually omnipotent — and a few of her fellow Mortalitasi attempted just that — though the potential for catastrophe increased with each spirit consumed. She sacrificed herself to dispel the essence in the Lanterns and trusted the dead to hide them in the depths of the Grand Necropolis. Legend of their power persists, but as the Mourn Watch has scrubbed them from history and kept them well-hidden, legend is all they are believed to be. Few know they truly exist, and fewer still would be able to locate them. Destroying them, however, is not an option; the devastation caused by the backlash would be incalculable.

Something Johanna does not care about. Inducing the Venatori to steal one for her was laughably easy. Only a Gloaming Lantern could produce enough concentrated power to bring her bone construct to life. It is infinitely renewable, easy to top up en masse, and proves little direct threat to her being as she's dead. She is also arrogant confident enough to consider the risk of it becoming volatile negligible. But, seeking a Lantern is about more than power. The most terrible restriction enforced by half-lichdom is the inability to learn new spells. Her soul is stagnant, frozen at the moment of her death, unable to evolve; in turn, the same is true of her magic. But, she can force the souls, the spirits trapped within the Lantern to learn spells, and she can manipulate them to work said spells. It's the same principle as using blood magic to dominate someone's will and force them to utilize skills they have yet you do not. A loophole. And perhaps over time, she could utilize the life essence within the Lantern to alter her own soul or otherwise force past the constraints of her condition. Certainly, she will not accept it.

Again, the details of the Lanterns' construction has been intentionally destroyed both by Tiye and others, but it is known they were forged on both sides of the Veil. They were painstakingly carved from solid lazurite that she'd sent across the Veil and pulled back. How she managed this is totally unknown, but the effect was incredible. There is no glass on the Lanterns; rather complex magicks form a barrier between the Lanterns' panels. It creates a sort of "filter", drawing in only life essence and holding it there. (After all, these objects were originally meant to be "purifiers.) "Gloaming Lantern" is not their original, ancient name but it is not an inaccurate one. The Lanterns have nothing to do with gloaming (dusk, twilight) in a literal sense, but the dusk symbolizes transition, including movement across the Veil. In Nevarra, the horizon has long been equated with the Veil and the setting of the sun with a spirit crossing it. Thus the "gloaming" aspect of the name refers to Tiye bathing the materials in the waters of the Fade as well as the transition moment of life essence crossing into the Lantern. Of course Lanterns themselves are a way to hold light and navigate without the sun (at dusk, for example), connecting the two concepts. Furthermore, a lantern can concentrate and direct light, as a Gloaming Lantern can concentrate and direct life essence. And, a lantern that shatters or blazes too brightly runs the risk of consuming its surroundings in fire.

[beetlethebug]

thinking about,,,emmrich calling lucanis his songbird when they're intimate. because he loves to make him sing (re: turn lucanis into a whimpering, moaning mess). spite who likes to add fuel to the fire by saying the only gold cage they would allow or be good enough for his Lucanis is a mortalitasi's. Particularly one Emmrich Volkarin and their gilded right hand.

[nerdanel01]

Hello! I would really love to know your thoughts and opinions on your Emmrich romance journey once you finish the game! I think you are an amazing writer with a great sense of Emmrich's character, which is why getting to know your thoughts on his romance would be very enlightening!

I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT. Spoilers under the cut.

I had… listen, okay, I had written almost 100k of fanfic for this character before the game even came out, so my expectations were high. And then his romance really was?? so perfect?? I mean there will be tweaks I will be making to adapt it to Agnes’ arc/relationship with Emmrich, but overall I thought it was so beautiful and really well done. When they say “spooky gothic old hollywood glamor” what the devs really mean (I will die on this hill) is Vincent Price, and so much of Emmrich’s character really feels like a loving tribute to Price himself and his movies—his charm and good manners, his obsession with art and his love of animals. The whole twist with Johanna and Blackthorn Manor was just. perfect to me. Plus Nick Boraine really killed the VO and made the character his own.

If I have one criticism it is of the romances in general, and it is that… I wish the stakes were higher? I suppose it may have complicated the mechanics of the game, what with the way the final battle works and assigning your squad mates, but I kind of wish there WERE bad endings for the companions (a thing I said I did not want before the game came out, but I guess I do?) Like, if you make the wrong choices, Lucanis should fail to resolve his beef with Spite and fully become a demon. If you don’t encourage Bellara or complete her quests, maybe she does join Cyrian. Most firmly, I really believe there should have been an option where Emmrich attempts the ritual to become a lich and fails—both because I like pain, I guess, but also because it felt like the gravity of that whole decision was kind of? hand waved away in the end? None of the stakes felt like they mattered that much.

I also. Uh. Am a little upset at how Goth Nation in general got treated in this game. Don’t get me wrong, the Necropolis is insanely beautiful and Inlove the Mourn Watch. But it felt like this was maybe our one chance to see Nevarra City in a game, a city that is supposed to be so supremely beautiful and covered in art and gardens … :( AND the fact that they just kind of?? Casually dropped this massive political powder keg into the middle of the game with that Lucanis banter re: King Markus. The Mortalitasi are literally running the kingdom and we’re just maybe. never going to talk about it again I guess. (Maybe in some extended universe materials this will be addressed.)

But yeah—overall still very much obsessed. :)

[crossdressingdeath]

Nevarran Mortalitasi Voice: Don't be silly, we use our *own* blood, that's not *really* blood magic, don't worry about it, dear Chantry audience, we're definitely not blood mages and you can absolutely carry on letting us hold positions of power, have families (see: Cass's uncle getting to raise her and her brother) and generally live outside the Circle. Don't worry about it.

(Re this post.)

Ah yes, definitely they are not doing any forbidden magic here. I suspect to some extent the deal with the Mortalitasi is that the Chantry turns a blind eye no matter what they do because they have power (quite a lot of power in fact) and would be very, very difficult to oppress the way mages in other places are, but I can see the Mortalitasi pretending they're not doing any questionable magic to make it easier. Side note, I'm really glad we're getting a look at factions that are removed from the Circles; I think the Lords of Fortune are the only faction whose mages would be at all likely to have to worry about the Circle on a regular basis, the others are probably relatively safe whether because of location—the Veil Jumpers are in Arlathan and so really remote and the Shadow Dragons are in Tevinter where the Circles aren't a thing the way they are in the south—or the protection of their faction—the Wardens are above Chantry authority, the Mourn Watch are highly respected and perform an invaluable service, and I won't lie I would like to see the Antivan Templars go after the Crows because that would be hilarious—and that's just really fun to me.

(Also because I don't know how much you've heard, the main reason for the snark is that a big deal was made about how Rook wouldn't use blood magic Because Evil and the writers didn't want them associated with that and then they literally just changed the name because this is fully blood magic.)

[griffonsong]

do the Inquisition choices matter in Northern Thedas?

lol this got long but his is mostly to make sense of things for myself. anyway, not gonna speculate about what those 3 choices that DO seem to matter, mean for the setting/lore/gameplay in Northern Thedas. my overall take on all this is: yeah I eat those tiny mentions of choices in Origins/2/Inquisiton up like the little crumbs they are, but they don't affect the Northern half of the continent like, at all. hear me out

so this is mostly about the choices/main quests in Inquisition & results per country, with an extra 3 for the game/North in general

DO THE CHOICES MATTER IN NORTHERN THEDAS

WHO IS THE DIVINE?

Tevinter: has their own Divine, Chantry politics & structure, so no

Antiva & Rivain: follow the Orlesian Chantry, but unless they somehow feel the need to show their power/announce an Exalted March against the Qunari invasion (in Antiva), there's no reason for us to hear from the Divine other than "they send prayers & 5,000 Templars" or whatever

Anderfels: literally same as Antiva/Rivain, but perhaps with more political intrigue/Archdemons which outweighs Divine/Chantry politics

Nevarra: I mean technically but like… it's been 10 years, it's business as usual, bureaucracy, unless she visits personally who cares

2. MAGE-TEMPLAR WAR OUTCOME?

Tevinter: 0 importance. they got their own Circle/templar structures & were never part of the war. only involvement might have been dealing with refugees from outside the country

Antiva: depends on what you did with mages or templars (recruit, disband, reform etc.) but since we also don't know how that templar-mage war unfolded in Antiva (who says the Hinterlands is representative? do we even KNOW all the Orlesian circles fell into the same chaos?) we don't know shit, and the devs can say whatever. all we can assume is that there may have been Red Templar/Venatori active during Inquisition. for all we know the Antivan Circle mages just moved into a local library and drank tea after the Circles were disbanded, who knows

Nevarra: see Antiva. possibly they also had a much better grip on Templar/Mage relations because of the standing of Mortalitasi & mages in general, so it could be there were no major tensions like in Ferelden/Orlais/Free Marches. as evident from the Mortalitasi apparently being business as usual at the time of DA:TV

Rivain: same as Antiva re: what happens to the Templar Order there (100% speculation), but re: the mages, the Circle was Annuled and all its mages slain for following Rivaini traditions re: magic. Might be safe to assume Rivain was just like "ok we never cared about strict Circle structure anyway" and Life Went On. not great impact

Anderfels: we literally know the major political power of the Anderfels, the Grey Wardens, were taking in refugees from the Mage-Templar war and conscripting them. so i doubt they fucking care

3. WHO RULES ORLAIS?

Tevinter: who cares. we've got invading Qunari

Antiva: who cares. we've got invading Qunari

Rivain: who cares. we're so far away

Anderfels: who cares. nobody cares about us anyway

Nevarra: probably liked Orlais much better when it was having a civil war, will treat its new ruler with wariness either way

4. WHAT'S THE FATE OF THE GREY WARDENS OF ORLAIS?

Tevinter: not my circus, not my wardens, also we don't comment on Venatori involvement, how dare you

Antiva: not my circus. we have invading Qunari

Rivain: please we're so far away

Anderfels: they didn't stop being Grey Wardens whether it was with the Inquisition or exiled from Orlais so who cares. they'll come roosting home eventually

Nevarra: probably has the fewest problems of all nations taking in disgraced demon-summoning mages, if the wardens were exiled; could be absorped into the Nevarran wardens. either way, probably 0 big influence

BONUS GENERAL

5. WHO DRANK FROM THE WELL OF SORROWS?

None of the individual countries in Northern Thedas have a direct stake in this (nobody probably even knows it exists). And we already know they've got something planned for Morrigan (and the Inquisitor's appearance) so I'm gonna be bold and assume it'll work itself out. Just some mention of Mythal/Flemeth's spirit being yote out of the sphere of influence and you're good. Morrigan/Inquisitor is likely bound to whoever Mythal/Flemeth's essence passed on to, which is either Morrigan herself, or Solas (who has his own reasons not to do anything right now, since he's ""trapped"" in the Fade / just waiting things out).

6. IS THERE A KIERAN AND IS HE AN OLD GOD?

Once again, same as the Well of Sorrows question, just gonna assume they work that one out. If we're gonna be TOTAL vague, just have Morrigan mention "the ultimate fate of Urthemiel's soul is that its power… was processed…. for some goal…. and is now gone from this world……." so like, it can't hurt us anymore, unimportant

7. WHERE'S THE WARDEN OF FERELDEN?

more complicated to avoid mentioning that altogether, but not impossible. (YES, NOT IMPOSSIBLE, with the power of spite & vague wording & 10 years of rewriting lines, everything is possible)

again, stopping a blight within 1 year is impressive, especially in Northern Thedas which bore the brunt of the previous 4 blights, but it also lasted 1 fucking year, hardly affected them in terms of refugees/loss of forces/etc. and left no other mark. the only people who are gonna care about mentioning the HoF as Someone They Know Personally* are either 1) not in Northern Thedas (Leliana, etc.), 2) in Northern Thedas but not appearing (Zevran), 3) Varric Who Just Got [Redacted] and 4) Morrigan, who is the only more complicated option. but we'll see

[kittymama01]

Honest thoughts on the factions in Veilguard.

The Shadow Dragons: I find them bland. There's not much going on here besides seeing the Queen of Tevinter Maevaris and seeing Dorian again. Their goal is honorable but, there's nothing happening. Also, someone on Tumblr made a very, VERY good point on something. Why the fuck is it humans running the show? Not elves? Something's not right there.

The Grey Wardens: I'm one of those DA fans that is a huge fan of this messed up organization 🤣 so I'm a bit biased. There's conflict within the faction, which... I think it's the only organization I can think of that has questionable things going on in this game. And I appreciate that because despite what the Grey Wardens do, they've made some fucked up mistakes. And do fucked up things just to stop the Blight. But, that's why I love it.

The Lords of Fortune: There's nothing going on with this one. The biggest complaint I have is the fucking disrespect done to Isabela. She was already a controversial character design and they made it worse. And the outfits for the Lords of Fortune. Wtf man. Those are outfits I've seen those-kind-of-modders make... It's embarrassing. I've made a post about it before- you can make a sexy pirate with the usual baggy clothes that pirates DID wear back then. But, overall... I think I agree with some folks that maybe this faction shouldn't exist. While there was the Pirate Code in the Pirate Era, pirates did whatever the fuck they wanted. They weren't exactly an organization. As for the bounty hunting part uh... I don't know, there's really nothing interesting about them which sucks because I love pirates. This group just feels like... I don't know. A fetish??? In my DA re-write, I might delete them 😂

The Antivan Crows: This is not the Antivan Crows. I very much EXPECTED conflict with this one. This is an organization that was involved with slavery and trafficking, to buy people for their organization. Or just go anywhere to find children. Zevran, from the first game, grew up in a brothel and was bought by an Antivan Crow. The training is sheer abuse, you either survive or die. These guys were said to be ruthless and greedy. But, now? Now they're one big happy assassin family, look at how cute they are now~. It just feels weird.

The Mourn Watch: I was immediately drawn to this one, like the Grey Wardens. I'm all for this kind of stuff and I genuinely did enjoy it. I feel like there is a bit of conflict in this one. Mainly for just what they do. The whole idea of spirits roaming freely and possessing corpses, the idea of not burning bodies and storing them away, Mortalitasi using magic involving spirits, etc. The whole thing is conflicting to the DA universe. It does feel like something is missing though and I don't know what it is.

The Veil Jumpers: I personally just don't find them interesting. There's something very bland about them. And I agree with others, it makes zero sense to why a group of Dalish Elves are letting in non-elves join the group. And, again... No conflict. There's nothing morally grey here. I just find them so boring. Also... "Veil Jumpers"? Doesn't work for me.

[himluv]

DA Review Series: Tevinter Nights

<<< Previous Review: Absolution

I've read this anthology once before, and I'm happy to say it holds up beautifully on a re-read. Since this features multiple stories, I'm going to review the whole work, and then do little reviews of each individual tale.

Title: Tevinter Nights Editors: Chris Bain, Trick Weekes, Matthew Goldman, and Christopher Morgan Year Published: 2020 In-World Year: ~9:45+ Verdict: Required reading. This is a fantastic look at the state of Thedas after Trespasser, as well as an introduction to a few of our companions and factions in Veilguard. If you only consume one piece of tie-in content leading up to release day, make it this one.

Tevinter Nights is a collection of short stories all set after the fall of Ventus. We meet Strife and Irelin, Evka Ivo and Antoine, Lucanis and Illario Dellamorte, Andarateia Cantori and Viago de Riva, Emmrich and Manfred, and Neve Gallus, among others. We also see all of our factions — Inquisition, Lords of Fortune, Veil Jumpers, Shadow Dragons, Antivan Crows, the Mourn Watch, and the Grey Wardens. This book really feels like a primer for the next game and is a ton of fun. I enjoyed my second reading as much as the first!

1. Title: Three Trees to Midnight Author: Trick Weekes Verdict: Set in the aftermath of the invasion of Ventus, this story feels like the perfect jumping off point. It picks up from the comics and introduces us to the Veil Jumpers and Arlathan Forest — a very exciting first story for longtime fans.

2. Title: Down Among the Dead Men Author: Sylvia Feketekuty Verdict: Undead murder mystery, what's not to love? Plus, we meet Emmrich and Manfred and it's absolutely adorable. And, I'll be honest, I'd do anything for Audric. This story makes the Mourn Watch seem pretty darn cool.

3. Title: The Horror of Hormak Author: John Epler Verdict: Absolute nightmare fuel. If you're worried that Veilguard isn't going to be dark enough... Read this story. A pair of Wardens are investigating a missing unit, and discover a very messed up underground lab of some sort. This story very much gave that same creeping dread as meeting the Broodmother in DAO. And if I have one fear for Veilguard, it's a Broodmother in 4k.

4. Title: Callback Author: Lukas Kristjanson Verdict: Heartbreaking. But also a really moving farewell to Skyhold. I love this story even though it kills me. In fact, I loved it enough to write some fanfic revolving around it! That's how good it is.

5. Title: Luck in the Gardens Author: Sylvia Feketekuty Verdict: This story introduces us to the Lords of Fortune faction. Hollix takes a job from none other than Dorian Pavus (and we see him with Mae!!!) to find out what's been hunting people in the docks. And it's uhhhh not anything you might expect. We see more evidence of gross, tentacled, briny-blooded monsters lurking underground. Again, things are getting real messed up in Thedas y'all.

6. Title: Hunger Author: Brianne Battye Verdict: In another throwback to Origins, werewolves are back babeyyy! This time a pair of Wardens (Evka Ivo and Antoine) are on their way back to Weisshaupt when they come across a cursed village. The pair decide to lend a hand and quickly realize they might have taken on more than they bargained for...

7. Title: Murder by Death Mages Author: Caitlin Sullivan Kelly Verdict: More Mortalitasi in this one. We get a peek at Nevarran politics, a brief glimpse of Cassandra, and more insight into the Mortalitasi. I will say, this is probably my least favorite story in the collection. While it showed Inquisition agent Sidony's power, it didn't really come together for me plot-wise.

8. Title: Streets of Minrathous Author: Brianne Battye Verdict: Helloooo Neve Gallus! This is an utterly stunning introduction to our private detective companion. A great noir-style tale that confirms that the Venatori are very much still a problem in Tevinter.

9. Title: The Wigmaker Job Author: Courtney Woods Verdict: Oh man. This is one of my favorite stories. There's just so much to love here! Lucanis and Illario are great together (I fell in love with Lucanis here and have rooted for him to be a companion since I first read it). The action sequences are great, and again, some real nasty, dark things are happening in Thedas.

10. Title: Genitivi Dies in the End Author: Lukas Kristjanson Verdict: This story is So. Much. Fun! It's also a pretty deep cut for fans, featuring Brother Ferdinand Genitivi (from DAO) and Philliam, a Bard!, as well as a few references to the Randy Dowager. All figures you'll only know if you are a lore hound in Inquisition. We also meet another Lord of Fortune and get a fun romp into elven ruins. What's not to love?

11. Title: Herold Had the Plan Author: Ryan Cormier Verdict: More Lords of Fortune, this time stealing an artifact from the Grand Tourney in Starkhaven. We also see Vaea and Ser Aaron at the end, which was a nice little treat. I will say though, this one had me a bit misty-eyed by the end. I usually want to see more of characters I love, but I hope Bharv retires to his farm and never treasure hunts again. Man has earned it.

12. Title: An Old Crow's Old Tricks Author: Arone Le Bray Verdict: After a troop of Tevinter soldiers attack a Dalish clan to make way for their camp, the Dalish seek revenge. That vengeance comes in the from of an old woman named Lessef. Watching her decimate the soldiers was gruesome good fun, and I cheered each time she said "Lessef of the Antivan Crows has fulfilled the contract."

13. Title: Eight Little Talons Author: Courtney Woods Verdict: This is the longest of the stories (I'd probably consider it a novelette) and it is maybe my favorite. I love a good whodunnit, and this one has a remote lake house, Antivan Crows, murders that replicate historically famous assassinations, AND sexual tension through the roof! We are formally introduced to Andarateia Cantori and Viago de Riva in this story, though we can infer from the text that they are the unnamed Crows we met in the comic Deception. I love them and NEED them to kiss on screen on Veilguard, okay?????

14. Title: Half Up Front Author: John Epler Verdict: It's hard to follow up Teia and Viago, but this little heist story is good fun. We see Gatt, and go to Kont-Arr! We also learn that the Agents of Fen'Harel are uhhhh real intense, Solas is after yet another artifact, and his feud with the Qunari is alive and well. We also learn that Dorian hired the narrator of this story to steal something from the Archon(?!) and at the end Gatt suggests the narrator and her girlfriend Irian head to Kirkwall to meet Varric. So, I guess we'll see if they show up in Veilguard?

15. Title: The Dread Wolf Take You Author: Trick Weekes Verdict: Look. As a Solavellan, I was never going to be normal about this story. I remember screaming (and crying) the first time I read it. It's a really interesting look at some different groups around Thedas, including the Carta, the Mortalitasi, and the Executors. We get to see Charter again, and she mentions Tessa! But the real gem here is that Solas himself shows up, and he somehow manages to break my heart all over again all while leaving me we more questions than answers. What an absolute banger of an ending for this anthology!

[persephoneggsy]

I'm too excited about The Veilguard so I wrote a little fic trying to figure out my prospective Rook, Phryne. Tried to keep stuff re: the Mourn Watch vague since I'm sure we'll learn more about them in the game proper. This is mainly just me succumbing to the brainrot lolol

***

People often said that the dead looked like they were sleeping. All the tension and worries of the corporeal had vanished, leaving only an expression of peaceful repose.

Phryne had seen her fair share of dead faces – she’d been a mercenary for several years, and besides, she was Nevarran. Death was seeped into their very marrow.

Sometimes, it was true. Other times, she’d look down at see a face twisted with pain, shock, sometimes even sadness. She just never thought it mattered. Who cared what someone’s final expression was? Dead was dead; the mortal soul was gone, and if they found their bodies possessed, then the most expressive the corpse would be was dependent entirely on the spirit doing the possessing.

Now, though. Phryne looked down at her son and wished he looked like he was sleeping.

Rothe’s expression was much like it had been in life; hard and stern, his jaw stubbornly set and eyebrows furrowed as if he were in the middle of an inspection. Even in death, her eldest child was not able to relax, it seemed. She used to tease him for that, wondering how he and his sister had turned out so uptight. He’d always answer, “It’s obvious, Mother: we had to make up for your carefree nature.”

Even when his tone was light, his mouth would twitch into a short approximation of a smile before resuming its usual stoic state. And now, that was the face he would carry into eternity.

Phryne tore her eyes away from her son’s face – his too young face, he was barely thirty, why had she outlived her son – and focused on the rest of him. The Mortalitasi in charge of preparing his body had done a fine job of repairing… the damage. She’d been told his cause of death was a blade to his heart. It would have been quick, or at least quicker than bleeding out or starving or drowning. Small mercies, she supposed.

He was wearing his finest suit, the same he’d worn at his wedding, but with an added red-orange sash and emblem pin denoting the symbol of the Inquisition. His arms were crossed over his stomach, hands resting on the hilt of his trusted blade – it was broken in two when his body arrived from the Arbor Wilds, but Phryne had found a reliable craftsman able to repair it. One could hardly tell it was broken, now.

Rothe had left instructions for the sword. When he was old enough, and if he wanted it, it would go to his son, Quirin. It would be some time before that happened, thought Phryne. Quirin was barely five years old.

Maker. Phryne closed her eyes. Poor Quirin. Still a child, and both his parents gone. His mother was lost to fever just two short years ago, and now his father, lost to a cause halfway around the world. Her daughter, Elke, was going to take him in, raise him alongside her own son, Halig. She’d given Phryne a pointed look when she made that declaration, as if expecting her to argue. Of course, Phryne did not; Elke was a good mother.

Better than Phryne thought she had been, anyway.

A polite cough drew Phryne’s attention away from Rothe’s body. A man around her age was standing in the doorway of the funeral hall. Judging by the staff in his hands, topped with a skull, he was a mage, and he seemed vaguely familiar to her. Perhaps she’d crossed paths with him in the Watch.

“I’m sorry,” he began. “I didn’t realize there were still mourners here.”

Phryne glanced at the candles illuminating Rothe’s still form. They’d nearly burnt to their ends. Had she been there that long? It seemed that just minutes ago, the hall was filled with mourners, Rothe’s friends and acquaintances. Elke and the children had been among the last to leave, but now, it seemed she’d been alone with her thoughts for some time.

“It’s… fine,” Phryne managed to say. She smoothed down her mourning dress and turned away from the corpse. “Are you here to administer his final rites?”

“Yes, but if you need more time…”

“No, thank you.” Phryne managed a weak smile, which the necromancer returned, though his was much more sincere. He was quite handsome, she noted distantly, and if the body on the altar had been anyone’s other than Rothe, she might have said so out loud. As it was, she merely gave her son one last look over her shoulder. “He’s as ready as he’s going to be. Me too, I think.”

The necromancer chuckled kindly. “A relative?”

“My son.”

“Ah. My condolences.”

He stepped forward, joining Phryne at the altar. Shrewd eyes scanned over Rothe’s body. Phryne found herself watching the mage. She was a part of the Mourn Watch, and she suspected he was as well – last rites were typically conducted by Watchers, especially in cases where it was another Watcher’s relatives that had died – though she never saw much of the mages that made up the bulk of the order. Most tended to stay in their studies, talking to skeletons and doing research long into the night.

“Inquisition, hm?” he murmured. “They’ve been doing good work. You must have been proud.”

“I suppose I was.”

“It’s in question?”

“I am proud. But no mother wants to outlive her children.”

He gave a sympathetic nod at that. “True enough. But it’s clear that you loved him. I’m sure his spirit sits well at the Maker’s side.”

“I hope so.”

They then lapsed into a contemplative silence, which Phryne took as her cue.

“I’ll leave you to your work, sir,” she said, straightening her back as if she were in uniform. To her surprise, he waved a hand at her.

“Oh, no, please not ‘sir’. Emmrich is just fine.”

She spared him another smile; this one smaller, still tinged with grief, but genuine nonetheless.

“Emmrich, then. Thank you.”

Emmrich inclined his head towards her, watching as she turned and left the funeral hall. Once she was out of the darkened room, she let out a long breath. Emmrich. The name was familiar, too. Perhaps he was one of the more famous Watchers… which meant, hopefully, that Rothe was in good hands.

Her heart already feeling lighter than it had been for weeks, Phryne started making her way home.

[apaleflame]

its too bad that datv decided to just ignore wholesale the mage rebellion because im sooo curious about it re: nevarra... the game tells us that "mages" are highly respected and have the same freedoms as anyone else but im a little skeptical how far that acceptance extends past specifically mortalitasi

because of course the only other nevarran we've met in previous games is cassandra and she's very much pro-circle and reinsitutes them if she becomes divine, and in dai's multiplayer there's a character sidony was abandoned by her mother when it was discovered she was a mage

so i have to think that there must be some very, very bitter feelings from those mages who don't have necromantic talent who are shut up in the circle of magi and have very limited personal freedoms, versus those who do have necromantic talent and are spirited away to the necropolis to study and have much much greater personal freedoms.

not to mention that looking around at the necropolis npcs the vast majority of them are humans, so there's an added layer of tension of all the elven circle mages who are barred from entry right at the onset (i think the only way an elven ingvellar gets around this is because they were adopted by the mourn watch as a baby, if they'd been raised in a circle originally then it would have been a no-go)

so in my world state leliana is divine so no more circles of magi so this tension probably doesn't exist in the same way in 9:52 but there's probably some older mages (particularly elven ones) who are still really bitter that their necromancer counterparts got to enjoy freedom that they had to literally go to war over.

[mementovivimus]

About/ Verses

Lucan Paulo

Modern Verse-

Height 6’2 Age- 38- 45 (verse dependent) Sign: Leo Build- muscular role - Top- dom Sexuality - Bisexual (heavily male leaning) Job title- P.R. Manager - (later, movie producer) Lucan has been independent and image conscious all his life, but that increased ten-fold when his parents split and his mother sent him to school in the States.. In short, presenting a polished appearance gives him a sense of control. He takes after his outgoing, flashy, regal, mother- her focus on looks and luxury. He also has her hidden sense of kindness, and a moral compass that is a little beaten and bent, but functional despite some creative interpretation. He has a tense relationship with his father, and often travels to Spain to visit- if only to help manage the wineyard/winery and ranch of his family's estate. While in college, he met one of the great loves of his life, Druscilla Trevelyan (dru bennet depending on verse), which whom he had a son, that he is now largely estranged from. However, he maintains a lifelong friendship with Dru to this day, despite his son's disapproval. Hobbies - Working out, reading. Horseback riding. His family has bred Iberian horses, which has linked their family with Spanish royalty, the Royal Spanish stud, and diplomacy for generations and thus has an extensive knowledge of breeding and genealogy as well. Lucan is a cat person, owning a serval hybrid (savannah cat) named Monkey.

Verses- to be exapanded later

Dragon Age AU, potterverse AU (fuck jkr), LOTR AU, DC/Marvel AU as follows:Dragon age AU-Lucanus Paulo Age, born in the year (unknown) Astrological sign - Unknown Mortalitasi (Death Mage) of Nevarra. Advisor to King Markus, a man of advanced years and ailing mental faculties. He met a noblewoman of Ostwick from the Trevelyan family and fathered a son they named Antoniz (Anthony in Ostwick). He made a somewhat earnest attempt to help rear the child, and he spent time between the Free Marches and Nevarra in his youth, but Lucanus largely kept the boy at arm's length emotionally. It was a horrible strike of luck that the boy was revealed to be a mage once in Ostwick and sent to the Circle to live under Chantry rule. Were his magical talent to be discovered in Nevarra, he would have lived freely and Lucanus would (eventually) taken him under his wing, tutored him and perhaps even induct him into the Mortalitasi Order. Alas, it was not the case, and Lucanus grew to take an interest in his son at last, if from afar, and mainly the accounts his spies relayed to him about the boy's progress. Meanwhile Lucanus continues to advise the king for as long as his reign lasts. Having no successors, the future of Nevarra remains uncertain. To say that the transition of power will be bloody is a vast understatement, and Lucanus has many contingencies planned to ensure the Nevarra remains strong, is not re-subsumed into Tevinter or the Marches, and that mages remain free at least in this small pocket of the world not controlled by Tevinter. Lucanus takes an especially keen pride in Nevarra's necropolis, finding comfort in the grand city of the dead, its macabre moaning gardens and ornate streets. Spirits have often whispered that Lucanus is destined for a premature death, which hampers his investment in his own life even as he works towards posterity and his country's future.

Hogwarts AU (to be expanded later) Lucan (Lucanus) Paulo was named so when his parents partook in the time-honored, yet somewhat infamous practice of taking their child to a Name Seer who read the baby's future, and likened his fate to that of Marcus Annaeus Lucanus , a friend of Nero who was killed for criticizing his dictatorship. It just so happens that early death seems to strike many males in the Paulo family line, (and perhaps that is why Lucan is often distant with his son, no matter the world or timeline). LOTR AU “Kings built tombs more splendid than the houses of the living and counted the names of their descent dearer than the names of their sons. Childless lords sat in aged halls musing on heraldry or in high cold towers asking questions of the stars. And so the kingdom of Gondor sank into ruin, the line of kings failed, the white tree withered and the rule of Gondor was given over to lesser men. ” Lucanus's family is of Gondor, and has been long tasked with the overseeing of the tombs of the great city. Lucan's line extends to the founding of Arnor, and yet is somewhat sullied and infamous for several of his line abandoning the city in favor of becoming 'Black Numenoreans' and practicing black magic. Despite the passing of an age, the whispers follow Lucanus to this day to the point that Lucanus has sent his wife and son away.

DC, Marvel AU Dc- Lucan is largely similar to his "modern verse" but he is a pure or almost pure homo-magi who specializes in a blend of urban and death magic, which he has passed onto his son.

[mournflame]

THE HAND OF GLORY.

As the title implies, here are my thoughts on the Hand of Glory. We’re talking about Hands of Glory in general as well as Johanna’s specifically. I’ve taken game details and blended them with real world concepts to create something I think is plausible.

THERE ARE MANY GUIDES TO creating a Hand of Glory in the world. The overwhelming majority are false — by deliberate Mortalitasi meddling. Though not a weapon, it is nevertheless too powerful an item to simply allow anyone to make. Furthermore, the method of making one is morally objectionable. The Mortalitasi know this intimately as they were the ones who originated the magic as an early method of navigating the Grand Necropolis. They were forced to reexamine this when a non-Mortalitasi mage recreated the process and used it to infiltrate ancestral tombs. The magic was banned, all existing Hands of Glory were unmade, and any guides to creating new ones were destroyed or altered to render them useless. As the magic is incredibly complex and time-consuming even with clear, fully accurate instructions, it has hardly been recreated down the years. Johanna's is the first in over a century, and it demonstrates unique variations on the magic another would not be able to pull off.

The first Hands of Glory were, in fact, punishments. Nevarrans believe that a person's soul in the afterlife reflects their physical body. Thus great care is taken to properly preserve corpses and permanent alterations to a body are taken seriously. Removing a person's hand in service of this magic marked them for all of eternity — something the Mortalitasi of the time could justify. For a Hand of Glory is specifically the left hand of a hanged murderer, cut off at the precise moment their soul crossed the Veil.

Again, the details of the process are intentionally obscured, but a few principles are clear. While still warm and bloody, the palm must be carved with the symbol of the Black City: the only fixed point in the Fade. Then it must be ritually mummified in a process that takes ninety days — twenty more than a typical mummification. No one seems to know the specific materials required, but it is known that imprecision in any detail of the process, no matter how minor, will warp the magic. At best, it will simply fail; at worst, it will twist viciously. If the complex involutions are correctly executed, then the soul of the deceased will be ripped from the Fade and anchored within the Hand. Additionally, five tapers may be crafted using fat from the deceased's corpse, and these may be placed on each finger. There may be only five; if even a sixth is crafted, no matter how perfectly, it will not work.

The candles are a negligible portion of the Hand's power, however. When lit, all simpler undead will be unable to perceive the Hand's bearer. Useful but hardly a legendary power. No, the true power of the Hand is that it is attuned to the Black City as a compass is attuned to true north, thus enabling the bearer to navigate to any specified location. It even enables the bearer to reliably navigate the Fade — something that is unanimously agreed to be impossible. Yet, this possessed Hand can manage it. Furthermore, the Hand of Glory can open all locks, magical or mundane. (It does not, however, disarm any traps or enchantments attached to said locks.) Anyone in possession of a Hand could rob the Grand Necropolis blind, to say nothing of more creative applications.

The danger, of course, is that it is foul magic. The soul bound to the Hand yearns to be free. Only a strong will may dominate it, and it cannot truly be shared among a group. The soul within will whisper to those in proximity, attempting to poison the mind of the bearer and/or turn a group's members against each other. It will also attempt to kill the bearer (and anyone else nearby) either by directly attacking them or leading them into danger. It is only once the Hand has killed those who have dominated it that the soul within may go free; thus the creator and the bearer, if the bearer is different from the creator, must die.

Johanna's Hand is a unique example of this magic. The alterations she made to the magic were enabled by her being a half-lich and using her own hand. She went to great pains to bind the soul of an ancient Mortalitasi and wring the details of the process from her, destroying her soul in the process. Then she painstakingly crafted her variations. It exhibits all the powers of a usual Hand of Glory, including allowing her to project her voice through it, with some alteration. Her Hand contains a fragment of her own soul, rather than her soul in entirety. It exhibits a small degree of sentience as well as elements of her personality. Furthermore, it does not seek to harm her to free itself because it is her. Whether the fragment it contains shall begin to diverge and develop some individual consciousness remains to be seen. Considering half-lichdom causes a soul to stagnate, this may be impossible. For now, it is fully loyal and obedient to her.

Though the Venatori flatter themselves she created the Hand for them, her reasons were instead self-serving. The Hand is part of her research into circumventing the restrictions of half-lichdom as well as the possibility of moving her soul into multiple vessels. Simple possession is droll, but if she can multiply her soul and occupy multiple vessels? Well then she'd be on to something. She would be truly indestructible. Furthermore, while the Venatori believed they'd dominated the Hand, it would still be completely tied to her, effectively giving her a sleeper agent they'd be too foolish to recognize. Working with the Venatori doesn't mean trusting them. It does, however, mean using them to retrieve resources she cannot obtain herself (i.e. a Gloaming Lantern).

[peacevigilcnce]

He inclines his head, an acknowledgment of the request. "Ah, no, I'm afraid I don't." He can't very well ask his parents, now, can he? Perhaps it was an old family name, but even then there is no one to easily inquire to where that is concerned. Emmrich, absorbed as he is in the ranks of the Mourn Watch, has not devoted any time to studying its roots. It's simply never occurred to him. "Onomatology isn't among my hobbies. You know, I'm quite surprised you're that familiar with my work! Do you take an interest in theoretical and applied metaphysics, by any chance? It's my primary subject, after spirit calling."

Though it is nice to hear the praise, Emmrich knows well the line between dignity and pride, self-respect and ego. Just look at Johanna. She had been brilliant, her ideas unique among the Mortalitasi... and she had known it. Look at where it had lead. Though he offers Hannibal a smile, sincere and pleased, he won't discard the contributions of his colleagues, his mentors, quite so readily.

"People are so often frightened by that which they don't understand. Spirits are highly susceptible to mortal influence— they become warped by that terror, misshapen into beings that feed upon it. That, in turn, sparks more trepidation. My only hope is to break that cycle, at least in some small part. One doesn't have to be a corpse whisperer to understand the lessons the dead may impart." The gift that manifested with his own magic, speaking to the spirits of the dead so directly, is rare, true. But there are many ways to listen.

"You're quite right, in any case. Many Watchers share the same unease as I, and we hardly let it stop us from fulfilling our duties. It's only natural for mortal beings to fear what may come at the end. Still..." he trails off, shaking his head lightly. It's not the easiest of fears to contend with, being in the profession that he is. But no amount of knowledge, the endless debates, the tomes read and re-read, the history and the rituals, have alleviated it. "All my years, all my studies, have done little to soften it, as you say."

Emmrich has come to terms with the fact that he can only strip himself of that fear by stripping himself of his mortality. And while he does have plans set in motion for that very pursuit, it's not the sort of subject one broaches with a near-stranger.

"But we're quite similar, then, you and I." At least in that regard. "I was but a boy when I found myself taken in by the Mourn Watch. Understanding death, and the spirits that kept me company as a child, became a sort of balm to the dread of being surrounded by it." He reaches out and rests a hand on the other man's elbow, only briefly, before clasping his hands behind his back, brow furrowed as they walk. "I find the dead are more easily comforted than the living. It's relieving to know there are men like you, then, with such expertise in that regard. Our skill sets are quite complementary, aren't they?" Emmrich can wield a scalpel perfectly well, can both heal and dissect when called to do so, but he's always preferred to work with his words. If not opposed to, then in tandem with his hands.

"I'm happy to oblige, but in turn you must share some of your own. A fair exchange, as it were. Medicine is such a fascinating subject, I'd love to hear of your studies."

" of course. i should only grant you the same courtesy, then. you may call me hannibal. " a bow of his head, polite as always. " you've got a curious name. do you know its meaning, emmrich? "

he ensures to keep his gaze above the man's shoulders, appearing extremely interested by the conversation ( and he is - though to guarantee best results, that being a first seat to a necromancy demonstration, hannibal must overact his part ).

" there is no shame in seizing all the credit if your skill justifies it. i've heard of your name, professor, more than any other in the field of necromancy. do not hesitate to toot your own horn once in a while, so to say. as far as i can tell, your knowledge calls for it. " though there is gladness in knowing his praise is recognised ; all these complements are getting to emmrich. " when you observe art, do you prioritise praising the creator of the piece or those who taught them? that is my point. be hungry, emmrich. revel in the applause i offer you. "

hannibal often speaks in a very intense manner, unwavering in their meaning, though the blow of his words is softened in the look he gives the other academic, admired, respecting. " perhaps if more were willing to listen to the dead, more would be learnt by the living. they have shared this ground with us for a thousand previous lifetimes, have experimented and failed just as much .. truly a waste, this hesitance originated in fear. "

the idea of emmrich being warned by a corpse is played with in his head, turned over at the mental image of a body, skin and flesh alike devoured telling the professor all about how hannibal consumed it. the psychiatrist has shown to be pleasant enough .. were they to grow closer, maybe he'd be able to convince the man the dead lied to him once. what a goal to have, motivated by raw curiosity.

" a fear of death should not deprive us of understanding. it's not the terror of a lion that will save us from the beast - laying in ignorance not often leads to bliss. perhaps if it is understood, if how the lion thinks is known, we better know how to escape its maw. " a palm is ran down his front, straightening the vest of his suit. " it would be a self-gifted kindness to teach ourselves our final destination. perhaps the fear of death can never be conquered but instead softened by knowing where we are headed. "

hannibal doesn't spend much time pondering his own demise ; like all things in his life, it'll come when he allows it to and only then. others' departures, however, is a different subject. " my journey facing death long precedes my interest in psychiatry. as a young man, i was fascinated by questions of our mortality .. where we came from, where we would end. it came to largely occupy my thoughts once i entered medical school, not with the intent of leaving as a therapist but rather as a surgeon. "

his stare wavers towards the floor with fabricated depth and feigned underlying regret. " after an incident, i made the decision to switch careers. now, i am still trusted my patients' lives in my hands, although in a different manner. i prevent death not with scalpels but with words, reassurance. it's a change that better suits me. in a way, our occupations are not too different. still, i'd like to hear about your experience, emmrich. "

a chuckle, breathy, almost nonexistent. " i would say you strike me as highly knowledgeable, but i think you know that already. "

[bumble-b1]

So I re-read Tevinter Nights and it left me with so many predictions for Dreadwolf. Here are some of the ones I'm most convinced about:

There's going to be a several-year time skip to add drama. The main character is going to be on a time limit kinda like in Origins.

There will be a battle in a messed-up abandoned version of Skyhold. Possibly the final battle will be there.

The extremely creepy darkspawn/animal hybrids will show up.

We go to Nevara

Creepy Teventer experiments like the Cekorax will show up

Possible Character Origins: Mortalitasi, Antievan Crow (ify, but I think we'll at least see them), a Rivani Lord of Fortune, someone who escaped from a destructed Teventer city, and a banished Warden (also ify).

Creepy creatures from before the veil was made

Dreams that can kill you

Seeing bits of Arlathan

Settling the fate of The Warden

I've got more, but this is the stuff I'm the most confident about. If anyone wants to discuss their thoughts please do. Puzzling out possible game/novel/TV predictions is one of my favorite things to do.

[mrs-gauche]

TEVINTER NIGHTS SPOILERS

Re your 'solas give up searching for the idol's tag, if i remember correctly he actually already got his hands on it in the current timeline

Hey there! :D Thank you for telling me, but I actually have read Tevinter Nights and I know you're probably talking about Solas' (or "the Bard's") tale in the last chapter! I'm just one of those people who believe that this story, much like his entire facade in this chapter, was actually entirely fabricated. 😂

Idk, even upon my first read, I thought that the random mention of countless familiar but also very random side characters in the beginning who somehow all happened to be present at this auction house seemed a little strange, to the point that I found it actually kind of hilarious. And even if we assume that him getting the idol was *not* the only part about this tale that actually happened, as the Assassin and the Mortalitasi point out at the end, there were a lot of other questionable things happening in that story.

Also, keep in mind that the reason why Solas attended this spy meeting personally was to get the information about what they believe to be his plan and how much they knew first hand. And if he already had the idol, why would he be so interested in hearing about its whereabouts then? (I know that *spoiler* he used the eluvian in the comic before to follow its path but maybe he just lost track of it at some point?) And I think, upon hearing them assuming that he needs the idol, it would just make sense that he would then want them to believe that he's now in possession of it and "cannot be stopped", as he puts it, so that they would drop all effort to find it before him.

It's also noticable how, on the very last page of the book, when it kind of lists the bullet points of information from what Solas said and Charter is about to write down her report, it does not explicitly say "He has the idol" but rather just what it looks like, which suggests to me that she didn't buy his story either. :D

Besides that, given how much emphasis the idol has gotten in what little promo/book/comic stuff we've seen.. I just think it would be weird if DA4 started out with Solas already having the idol and... that's it. 😂 He'll tear down the Veil and then we.. need to destroy the idol, maybe? Or maybe we need to steal it from him? 😂 (Or given that it can apparently also be used as a ritual blade, it will be the one weapon we need to strike down the *cough* real villain of this game because I don't believe for one second that Solas will be the ultimate threat, going by everything we know so far, I think at least two of the Evanuris will be unleashed and then we will come to realize what doom Solas actually intended to prevent all these ages ago 😂). Or maybe it's some sort of key? I mean, I at least wouldn't want it to be just another MacGuffin.

Or, you know, I could be of course completely wrong about all of this and he has the idol now. 😂 At this point we just don't know what role it'll play other then it will be important, so I guess we just need to wait and see. 😁

[felassan]

Tevinter Nights & Solas

Here’s everything we learned about Solas, his followers, his plans and the anti-Solas efforts from Tevinter Nights. This post is the motherlooode for everything you’d wanna know and consider/wonder about re: Dread Wolf from this book. Some peoples’ books are apparently arriving or being found in shops early/now (2), so aw heck here we go. There’s loads of other new stuff in this book, from fairly significant lore additions to developments in Thedosian current affairs (spoiler warning for TN for that link), but the subject of this post is Solas. Let me take you through Tevinter Nights on a Dread Wolf-tour from start to finish. I’ve ordered it by importance, and at the end there’s a summary if it’s too much too read. Obvious major spoiler warning for under the cut, for whole book.

Edit: Part of this post is featured in this vid by @jackdawyt​ ! which is cool. check it out :)

The Big Un: The Dread Wolf Take You story

In The Dread Wolf Take You, Charter, in her capacity as an Inquisition agent participating in anti-Fen’Harel efforts, attends a secret meeting in The Teahouse, a discreet riverside establishment near Hunter Fell in Nevarra. (Please note when I say "Inquisition" I mean either what remains of it, or the "officially disbanded but still a group of associates that were in it".) The express purpose of this place is to function as a neutral space where spies, assassins, rogues and other covert-ops / intelligence agency / sneaky types can meet to conduct clandestine business and have shady dealings. Aside from Charter, there are 4 other attendees at this rendezvous: a male Carta Assassin, a male Orlesian Bard, a female Mortalitasi and an Executor (could be male, female, or something else). This unlikely group of individuals have gathered because they possess what they describe as a "shared interest in the Inquisition's Wolf". This is a meeting of the best spies on the continent. The Executors want to eliminate the Wolf. However, the Tevinter Siccari and the Qunari intelligence network, the Ben-Hassrath, declined to answer the Inquisition's request to attend. The Tevinter Siccari are an order of operatives whose existence has been officially denied. Charter is especially frustrated that the Ben-Hassrath declined, as they had more knowledge on Solas' movements than anyone else.

The Assassin mocks Charter and the Inquisition about the fact that they worked with Solas for a year and were none-the-wiser about his true identity, seeking to rub in the fact that they overlooked the god in their midst. Charter asserts that Solas is not a god, merely a very old, very powerful elven mage, as he himself says. The Bard suggests that he could be a young mage, a simple elf who stumbled upon old magicks. The Mortalitasi offers that he could be a demon impersonating an elf. The Executor does not care about what he is, stating that those across the ocean only care about what his goals are and his means of achieving them. Charter responds that according to what he told the Inquisitor, he wishes to restore the empire of the ancient elves, and made clear that doing so will cause massive destruction to "our world". The Mortalitasi opines that this destruction would be especially impactful for Tevinter, since most of it is built over where the ancient elves lived. Charter goes on, saying that beyond this, the Inquisition knows little of what Solas intends. She states that most of his research involved the Veil and that he claimed to have created it. She says that he asked the Inquisition for help activating artifacts that strengthened the Veil and wonders aloud as an information-gathering tactic whether this poses a good place to start. Based on Charter's words, the Inquisition believe that what Solas wants is "to end [...]". She was cut off, but reasonable inferences here are the world, the modern world / world as it currently is, or possibly the Veil and the subsequent separation of the 2 worlds it separates.

The Assassin is there because Viscount Tethras called in a few favors. The Assassin claims he knows Solas' target, not just his goal. He relates an encounter to the group. In Kirkwall, the Carta have been maintaining a watch on the statue of Meredith, to stop anyone from sneaking in and stealing a piece of it. They've been doing this because they no longer endorse dealing in red lyrium as they believe the Blight is bad for business. A Dalish elf (Dalish-looking, at least) came, asking can someone get the idol (yes That idol) out of what's left of the statue. Most people believed the idol gone, that Meredith forged it into her sword and then the sword exploded. The elf is persistent, claiming he learned of this in a dream and that an old legend of his people says that the idol is in Meredith's body and that if he gets it out, he can free his gods. He has with him a potion that will soften the raw lyrium and weaken its magic, so that the idol inside can be retrieved safely. He promises the Carta lots of gold and the potion recipe if they help. They agree and sneak in. The square stinks of magic, they hear music in the wind like an old song they used to know as kids, and some of them keel over mad, whispering and shaking, or run off screaming. The potion melts the area over Meredith's heart and they retrieve the idol. The Assassin describes it thus:

It's not much to look at - a couple hugging, too thin to be dwarves - but it's sitting there, glowing softly like a ruby lit by the grace of the Maker himself . It’s heavier than you’d think - lyrium’s heavier than you’d think, too, but this was heavy even for that. When I hefted it in my hand, it was like it wanted to keep moving, like it was liquid inside

The song stops when they stash it in a special chest. They return to the elf in their safehouse, but templars/ex-templars are waiting for them. The elf tries to fight them and the templars knock him out. A male Tevinter mage connected to House Qintara comes, pays the templars and takes the idol. The templars and Carta wait overnight in an awkward standoff waiting for the elf (who has the recipe) to wake. Some of them fall asleep while others keep watch. Suddenly near morning, all the sleepers start seizing and fitting like they're having a bad dream, even the dwarves, who we know don't dream. Blood pours out all their ears and they die. Arrows suddenly shoot through the window killing everyone except the Assassin, including the potion-elf. The Assassin quickly plays dead. Two other elves burst in, unlike any the Assassin has ever seen. No vallaslin, no downcast / fearful City Elf air. They have fancy armor (making me think of Sentinel armor and Solas' Trespasser duds) and case the place like pros. One says the idol must have been moved, in a normal Ferelden, non-Dalish accent. He's upset to see the dead potioneer. The other leans down to their deceased comrade and says "The Dread Wolf guide your soul to peace, brother". This guy's accent does sound Dalish, only more formal, like he's reading a poem, implying he might be an ancient. Clearly they're agents of Fen'Harel. They leave. The Assassin concludes that the Dread Wolf wants the idol, is willing to get his hands bloody to get it, and pities House Qintara if the Wolf ever finds them, especially if they are deep sleepers. The Assassin has been drinking lots of coffee to stay awake ever since, afraid. Solas can clearly kill people who oppose him while they sleep.

The Mortalitasi comments that it's interesting to see both Dalish and City Elves working with "this... thing". The Executor states Qintara fell with Ventus, speculating that the Qunari now have the idol. Charter says she had agents there at the time and that it was actually sold or traded to the Danarius family. (This is a reference to the events of Dragon Age: Deception). The Mortalitasi says the ability to kill sleepers reinforces her demon theory. The Executor wonders if instead Solas is a poisoneer, as the Crows have poisons which are heavier than air and kill sleepers while leaving standing people unharmed. The Assassin insists it was magic that killed the fitting sleepers. The Mortalitasi knows where the idol went after House Qintara and tells her tale next.

In Nevarra, the Mortalitasi rule since they rule the king. They also perform rituals, commanding the magical forces that underlie the very fabric of the world. They find places where the Veil is thin, behind which the Fade flows like a mighty river. (Recall Solas' Haven comments: ‘without the Veil, the Fade was not a place but a state of nature like the wind. Spirits were part of the natural world like a fast-flowing river’). In these places they can bind spirits and in so doing guide the course of the river more to their liking. She asserts that those Mortalitasi who do so are the truest mages as they bind the Fade and the world to their will. These death mages allowed a Tevinter mage from House Danarius to come with some slaves and perform a ritual - clearly the same mage from the Assassin's story or the next Tevinter mage who got the idol from him. He asked for the death mages’ help to change the world in this way, wanting to help fight the Antaam's invasion by directing every dream, demon and half-interested spirit to urge the Antaam back north. So 12 death mages go with the Vint to one of their ritual chambers in the Grand Necropolis, where the bodies of their greatest mages are preserved, now housing spirits that empower the rituals. The Vint has the idol with him, telling the death mages it's an ancient elven artifact. (Remember prior lore says the idol was dwarven forged). The Mortalitasi describes it thus:

seemed to show two lovers, or a god mourning her sacrifice, depending upon how it caught your fancy. It whispered in our minds, but we hear such murmurs all the time as mages so thought nothing of it.

The death mages drank lyrium and they all begin the ritual, which involves arcane horror possessions bound in ritual circles and the death mages focusing their thus-amplified magic on the idol. The Vint begins killing the tranced-out slaves, catching their blood on the idol. When the Vint gets enough power, he raises the idol and a lyrium spike springs from its base, effectively becoming a ritual-blade. He slashes his hand and a wave of power knocks everyone to the ground and their minds are pulled into the raw chaos of the Fade. Light and color - magic - swirls around the Vint. Suddenly there's a booming roar from high overhead where the Black City is, and something huge trembles around them, a "spirit so great that it shook parts of the Fade I had always considered neutral, devoid of life". Before the Vint could complete his ritual, the Dread Wolf arrived.

He’s a lupine, dragon-sized beast with shaggy spiked hide and six burning eyes like a Pride demon. It flew towards them on wings of fire that resolved themselves into a horde of what the Mortalitasi calls lesser demons. It shouts: “YOU MEDDLE PAST YOUR UNDERSTANDING, FOOLISH MORTAL MAGES, AND IN DOING SO, YOU THREATEN ALL CREATION.” It kills the Vint, he becomes a withered husk, the lyrium blade vanishes, the ritual collapses, and the 'demons' swarm them. “YOU USE MY IDOL CARELESSLY TO VANDALIZE THE SEA OF DREAMS. NOW FEEL THE PAIN OF WHAT YOU HAVE CREATED.” They wake up back in the ritual chamber in the real world. A Fade rift opens and the 'demons' surge out "in righteous fury, shining warriors with blades forged from the raw Fade itself, and behind them, dimly visible through the crackling light, the shadow of the beast itself." It speaks once more with quiet contempt. “FROM THIS MOMENT, SHOULD YOU EVER BIND A SPIRIT, THEN YOUR LIFE IS MINE.” The Mortalitasi wonders at this point why they would attack if they were not bound, saying the Wolf is therefore a hypocrite. It's clear the demons were likely actually spirits of Justice and Valor.

In the chaos of combat one death mage seizes the idol and escapes, supposedly to Tevinter. The rift closes and the 'demons' kill most of the death mages. The narrating Mortalitasi fled, the lone survivor. She concludes that it's not uncommon for powerful spirits to be worshipped as gods, like the Avvar do. The Fade is the Wolf's natural home and the spirits there serve him gladly. They whisper in her dreams now, promising to get their vengeance on her if her wards fail. Weaker mages would have been dead or mad by now. The Wolf was angry that the death mages bound spirits, that the Vint used forbidden death magic, and that they had all disrupted his own work. He intends something for the Fade, and since he wants the idol, whatever this is will be terrible.

Charter wonders if the Wolf has an alliance with a demon, a la Cory and the Fear Demon. She surmises that Solas has begun whatever ritual he intends to use to restore the elven empire, is aware of disruptions, the ritual involves the Fade and requires the idol. The Mortalitasi adds that the idol reacts to other lyrium and that perhaps he needs lyrium for his ritual, either blue or red. The Bard knows where the guy who ran away with the idol went, and continues with his own tale.

The Bard was tasked with retrieving a ring that once belonged to Empress Celene, the one that was a gift from the previous Lady Mantillon. He tracks it to an auction presided over by Xenon the Antiquarian in Llomerryn. In attendance were an Avvar augur, a Rivaini pirate captain, a soberly-clad Starkhaven noble, a Warden-Commander, Divine Victoria and a red-haired elven Ben-Hassrath agent. (Probably Tallis, this bit is clearly a series of fun cameo reference-nods for fans.) In the crowd the Bard learns other Qunari are present, like Qunari-Qunari. Intrigued, he infiltrates the floors below. What are they guarding? There's probably a smuggler's cove further down.

He finds and watches a group of Qunari Ben-Hassrath led by a female Qunari (a Viddasala?) break open a door using explosives and enter an ancient elven ritual chamber. The Bard hides and continues to watch. There's an eluvian flanked by halla and dragon statues. In the middle of the room, on a pillow on a protectively rune-marked pedestal, is the idol. Suddenly another group enters: 2 Tevinter mages, a female human archer, and a golem with seemingly Shale-like intelligence - Siccari. The lead Qunari says the idol is no trinket and is being searched for by a dangerous mage who styles himself the Dread Wolf, who threatens both their peoples. "Leave and we will have no quarrel with you." One of the Vint mages replies that Tevinter would know better how to harness the idol, that they know of the elven upstart and that he is a mage named Solas. His ritual has already started to affect the Fade. They can't risk him acquiring it and finishing what he's begun. The 2 groups are about to fight when Solas himself walks out of the eluvian, in gold armor with a pelt across his shoulder. He looks at them all, expressionless. They all begin to scream, his eyes blaze and he petrifies everyone the way he did in Trespasser, even the golem. Solas takes the idol, whispering something as he did so:

 tracing his gloved fingers gently along the crowned figure who comforted the other, but I could not make out the words, for I fear they were elven.

Then he leaves through the mirror which goes dark.

The Bard concludes that this is all he knows of the Wolf and surmises the idol's journey is complete. He says the Wolf will destroy anyone in his way without regret or hesitation, and does not believe they can stop it. The meeting attendees suddenly realize there are many liars at the table and start finger-pointing in flurry. All three tales featured grains of untruths. Ben-Hassrath teams aren't so obvious in their dealings. Siccari are not screaming cowards. The Assassin killed the elf potioneer, not a stray elven arrow. There were no templars, the Assassin sold the idol to the Vint mage. The Mortalitasi knew the Vint would kill his slaves (in her story she claimed this shocked her). As she escaped she knifed one of her colleagues and used blood magic to make spirits possess the slaves' corpses to defend her from the Wolf's 'demons'; this is of note because in her story the Wolf said she was dead if she ever bound spirits again. During all this the Executor is silent and Charter says three times, "I ask for my life". She says she regrets being outplayed and not seeing the Wolf for what he was during the Inquisition year. She will never make the same mistake again.

PSYCH! The Bard is Solas in disguise and has been all along!!! MOTHERFUCKER! Charter has worked it out through various tells, smart as she is. He'd subtly frozen the Executor mid-meeting. Solas ordered tea to drink at the meeting because it was a joke around Skyhold that he didn't like tea. For his costume he tried to do everything the Wolf would not. He sounds tired. He freezes the Assassin and the Mortalitasi who go to attack him. He grants Charter her life ("Ar lasa mala") and frees the little spirit the Mortalitasi had bound to stir her wine. He removes his dragon mask and wig. He cautions Charter against dealing with the Executors, saying those across the sea are dangerous. More dangerous than the elf that threatens the world, Charter asks? She asks him why he came, and personally. He wanted to find out what they all knew; many oppose him and they are not fools. He's there personally because the Inquisition was involved. He asks her in turn why she came. "Because you told the Inquisitor that you were going to destroy this world. Did you not expect us not to try and stop you?" He sighs that this was a moment of weakness. "I told myself that it was because you all deserved to know, to live a few years in peace before my ritual was complete. Before this world ended.” She says maybe he was lying to himself there, like other lies he told others, and that he doesn't have to do this. (It makes sense that the ritual will take a few years because it’s likely an ancient elven ritual and in those times spells could take years to cast)

Solas tells her "I have no choice. What I am doing will save this world, and those like you—the elves who still remain—may even find it better, when it is done." [This is odd wording... Those like you who still remain?] Charter thinks of her lover Tessa and says there are people she cares for who would not. He smiles sadly. "“I know that feeling well. I am not a god, Charter. I am prideful, hotheaded, and foolish, and I am doing what I must. When you report back to the Inquisitor . . .” His voice falters. “Say that I am sorry.” He leaves. The whole story itself concludes thusly:

Then she drank the rest of her tea, her fingers shaking a little. She looked at the dragon mask on the table. Prideful, hotheaded, foolish. Doing what he must. Sympathetic to elves. Said that he was sorry. The red lyrium idol was of a crowned figure comforting another. It was not much, but it was more than she had known before, she thought. Pulling a small notebook from one pocket, she began to write her report. After all, the Dread Wolf wasn’t going to stop himself.

Quick cliff notes for this section since it’s a whole ass thing:

Dragon mask; interesting choice and makes me think of Mythal and how he absorbed her power, and his role as Mythal’s “attendant”

Go here for notes on the choice of the mask’s opal inlay 

Before his true identity is revealed, the Bard is described as a “peacock”, as many Orlesian fops are. Smart word-choice, obvious pride motif/symbolism.

The Bard’s fake Orlesian accent “curled like smoke around his words”. Makes me think of the curling smoke we see after he’s absorbed Flemythal’s power

All the tales contained grains of untruths, and its possible the entirety of Solas’ was a straight up asspull/lie. in that scenario, he hasn’t actually yet managed to obtain the idol and the man who made off with it at the end of the death mage’s tale has it somewhere in Tevinter. but assuming he does have it is more fun, so I’m running with that assumption for the rest of this post.

In this story he comments disdainfully of the Wardens’ actions in DA:I - “they trapped themselves.”

He also objects to the Mortalitasi’s use of magic re: spirits, the Fade and influencing the world. He expresses that this is unsafe and inappropriate. Makes sense, we all know how he feels about binding spirits.

Compare the different descriptions of the red lyrium idol and consider what they might imply.

The Dalish elf who claims to have seen the stuff in his dreams reminds me of the ambient conservation a City Elf in Val Royeaux has about seeing Mythal in his dreams. If the dreams story is true, was it Mythal who told him this? Or, obviously Solas is a dream walker and this guy is an agent of Fen’Harel - maybe Solas commonly contacts his agents with their latest instructions in dreams? That would be one way to be super clandestine.

The Executor gets some intriguing description and speaks in this story but that’s for another post. But what’s the deal between Solas and the Executors? There’s clearly beef.

This version of Solas seems like high approval Solas

The table was booked under the name Gauche. That’s a French word in origin so it will have been Solas’ fake Orlesian Bard identity. Notable since he’s the one who booked the table for the meeting. It’s also clear that he knows of the clandestine Teahouse and the new Darvaarad and probably many other places like them. is nothing safe from him? lol Solas is nothing sacred? Thedosians have their work cut out for them.

The word gauche’s etymology is: “left, awkward, to veer/turn, to trample/walk clumsily”. Its English meaning is lacking in social graces, bumbling, unsophisticated, gawky.

Solas can freeze people by touching them, not just with his eyes-glowing thing. He can also freeze/petrify specifically/with finesse - like someone’s actual body under their clothes but not their clothes. He can even freeze golems to a state of not-living stone like regular people.

Other golems like Shale, with real intelligence, seem to exist in Tevinter and perhaps elsewhere, and are in use in organizations like the Siccari.

About the ring the bard-persona in Solas’ story was tasked to retrieve

It’s the description of the idol in the Bard’s story that is going to be the most telling re: the specifics of its origins, what it is and what it depicts, since that’s Solas’ POV on it. A crowned figure who comforted the other, and he’s reverent to it, and it’s an elven scene featuring elven figures. The crown matches the headpiece in Mythal statues and that Flemythal wears, and Mythal was a female god. The other figure is smooth-headed/bald. Reminds you precisely of Flemythal comforting Solas in the post-credits scene before he kills her. The scene depicted in the idol is something Solas has lived before, both in the post-credits scene and also at some point in the distant past. The couple/lovers stuff brings to mind the theories that these 2 were once lovers but I don’t think it’s literal, just that they were (and is obvious from the post-credits) very close. Interestingly in the DWR teaser the red lyrium corruption on the idol is first seen creeping up Solas’ spine. Symbolic of something? And what’s the sacrifice? Is this it about the terrible thing Mythal had to do in order to strike down the Titans to save the People? Mourning? Prolly to do with Mythal’s death.

He’s using the red lyrium idol to take the Veil down because it’s the next best thing for the job that he knows about after the destroyed foci orb.

The Mortalitasi ritual involved circles with bound dead ringed around them. I’m reminded of the circles in the background of the DWR mural.

We only have a few years left in which to stop him. Let’s say DA4 begins about a year before he reaches ritual completion time (going by the 1 year in-world time passing in DA:O and DA:I as standards), that would put us around oh.. 9:47 or so when the game starts.

--------------------

Solas’ followers, the bomb and suicide-ing

In Half Up Front an elf mage agent of Fen’Harel disguises herself as a human and hires 2 thieves to steal [back] an artifact she wants to acquire, Dumat’s Folly. She makes references to her vast resources and how much info she has at her fingertips. She clearly has lots of funds because she offers to pay them exorbitantly. Dumat’s Folly is supposed to be a piece of the Black City, a reminder of humanity’s hubris. One of the thieves is a human Vint mage. The other is her lover, Irian, a non-mage elf who is an expert hunter and staff-fighter and very skilled. The Qunari tried to recruit Irian a while back. Capers ensue and the pair eventually track it to the storeroom of a Qunari ship moored in Kont-aar. They’re infiltrating it and hear Qunari being like “oh no they must be here for the artifact. And if they are, chances are they’re working for him. We cannot risk them making their way onto the ship.” Obviously “him” is Solas. They’ve just located it in a box, and think something is wrong when it starts to thrum with wild magic (”growing, it was hungry”), when the agent suddenly shows up.

Btw what also stands out to me here is that an agent of Fen’Harel thru these machinations managed to infiltrate the ship, which incidentally is the new Darvaraad. Because the last one’s walls were ineffective (lol), this one is a ship; the Qunari wanted to keep it safe/moving with speed and secrecy instead of fortifications. 

Now, no longer in disguise, the agent is wearing a simple robe, embroidered with an unknown symbol, with her hair brushed back away from her pointed ears. She gloats that she knew they’d succeed. She paralyzes the mage with a strong spell and takes the artifact, looking at the Vint with a mix of pity and contempt. She repeats “Felassan” 3 times, seemingly an activation passcode for the object. It begins to glow red. She disgustedly says the Vint did well, “for a shem”. The Vint asks her who put her up to this. The agent replies that she acts "freely. For the Dread Wolf. To bring back what was once ours—what must be ours again.” The Vint realizes that she’s heard the rumors that dozens of elves have gone off to heed the call of “some god”. The agent reveals the object is a weapon. It pulses rhythmically and gets brighter and the air starts to warm. Energy starts to stream to the device from magical objects nearby that were also in the storeroom - they crumble to dust. It turns out that the object isn’t the real Dumat’s Folly. The agent says “It is an ingenious device. Not a piece of the Black City, like the true Dumat’s Folly, but taken from the same time [probably meaning ancient Elvhenan?]. It draws magic into itself. Stores it, and then when it is full [exploding motion]”. It’s a bomb.

The agent tells the Vint this is the end for her. “Take comfort that in your sacrifice, the glory of the true people will be restored.” She’s about to kill her with a small crystal she has that starts to crackle with energy, when Irian knocks her out. “Those damned Fen’Harel cultists! ‘Ooh, if we blow up enough people, ancient Elvhenan is definitely coming back!’” rants Irian. It turns out Solas’ people tried to recruit her a few years back. The agent wakes up and before they can interrogate her clenches her teeth. Green foam fills her mouth, she spasms and dies, having taken some kind of suicide pill. It starts to get really warm as the weapon keeps powering up. They can’t disable the device because there’s too much energy buildup. They realize that thousands of innocent people, a whole town, are going to die.

In the end they manage to save the day by taking the ship far enough out to sea before the bomb detonates and escaping off it, getting back to land. When it explodes it’s a flash of light like a second sun. It releases all the magic it drained in a single cataclysmic blast. It’s followed by a shockwave and a roaring crashing sound. Gatt appears and they have a discussion. He explains that one of their Ben-Hassrath agents spoke of Dumat’s Folly. This agent suggested it was an artifact of great power and danger, integral to Fen’Harel’s plans. They captured him planning to interrogate him, as this was clearly one of Solas’ spies in the Qun, but he killed himself before they could (our second example of Solas’ followers suicide-ing rather than being captured or betraying the cause). The group establish that the original agent of Fen’Harel hired these 2 thieves so that it would look like a Tevinter altus struck at and blew up a Qunari settlement (Kont-aar) which had not entered hostilities. This would have caused chaos; the Ben-Hassrath wouldn’t have been able to sit out of the Qunari invasion of the south anymore and Rivain and even other countries/groups might have gotten drawn in. Gatt agrees that if that scenario had occurred the Qunari would have settled for nothing less than the total destruction of Tevinter. (Here I’m reminded of the causing chaos in order to take advantage of the confusion and weakened nations modus operandi of Cory).

Gatt says the Ben-Hassrath will remain officially neutral and blunt the strike of the Antaam. This leaves them, more importantly, free to act against the true threat - Solas. “With their allies standing next to them”. The Vint is happy that in the end she didn’t get tricked by “some egomaniacal elf” into starting a war. Gatt says they can’t go home because they are now known to Fen’Harel and he has eyes everywhere, inside Tevinter without a doubt. Irian asks where they should go. Gatt contemplates and says he/the Ben-Hassrath have other allies, “a dwarf in Kirkwall”. Probably Varric. This dwarf will want to hear what the Vint and Irian have to say about the enemy, and he will have work for them. “Something more than survival—a chance to strike back. A chance to matter.” The Vint and Irian agree to this.

Inquisition anti-Fen’Harel information-gathering mission

Excerpt:

[The Inquisition] fell within a mirror, past a mysterious Crossroads, in the shadow of something impossible—the Dread Wolf, a creature so powerful the elves once called him a god. The Chantry didn’t want him to exist—the Maker didn’t allow room for gods that weren’t God—but if he did, whatever he was, they needed information. There were apparently spaces between that Crossroads and the Fade—broken spaces that weren’t all there. Which meant pieces might be somewhere else. And a certain type of mind might follow that backward, and find what had undone this elf, and any others, that walked as gods.

In Genetivi Dies In The End (important to bear in mind: this story is told by an unreliable narrator who put in some of the stuff for shock value), as part of the anti-Fen’Harel efforts, the Inquisition-remains dispatch 3 writers, good ol’ Genetivi, Philliam, a Bard! and formerly-Sister Laudine on an expedition and investigation with a Lord of Fortune to a location in the north of the Silent Plains (btw which for some reason are strangely purple). This is in Tevinter. (Remember that the settlement Solas is near there. Not a coincidence, I am sure! Certainly learns credence to the Inquisiitor’s table map stab) The purpose of the expedition is to find the true history of the elven pantheon, in a piece of elven Library, beneath the Imperium, deeper than the Deep Roads. The Inquisition has clearly done research and found information on this place’s location. Laudine is human but has an affinity for [presumably translating] ancient elven since the language is about rhythm and feeling as much as vocabulary, and she’s secretly an untrained mage and has some kind of quirk or condition which sounds to me like fantastical Thedosian synesthesia combined with intuition. Evidently this gives her a leg up with ancient elven.

In the long journey to the entrance, they work together to start their manuscript - the story travels back from the end of the Inquisition and upends history, revealing that Arlathan wasn’t destroyed by Tevinter but by strange magics that caused the rise of the Veil:

The division of the mortal realm from the Fade was not a natural state that had always existed. It was an event, a moment in time that had literally shattered the elven empire. Pieces of that glory now drifted beyond dream and will, with the Dread Wolf stalking between. But other pieces remained, displaced in the physical world. And in the gap between accepted fact and fantastical guesses, there were clues a group of squabbling writers now chased to hidden secrets.

They find the entrance and go down a supply shaft to the Deep Roads that functioned millennia ago. They pass a Tevinter mine, dwarf areas, darkspawn tunnels and then find the piece of the impossible they were looking for:

Natural caves and the occasional support beam suddenly gave way to delicate elven carvings, the stone floor abruptly changing to mahogany hardwood. There was no doorway, no planning or joinery. It was as if a pocket had suddenly formed in the rock, replaced by the notion that shelves and reading desks should simply be there. They had turned a corner and stepped into an elven library. When Arlathan “fell,” a piece of it had “fallen” here.

Sounds exactly like the bits of the Vir Dirthara we go through in Trespasser. It’s full of old elvhen tomes and “here could be the means to defend the world”. They look at symbols and meanings and start stuffing books that Laudine thinks might be important in bags. Genetivi realizes that a lot of what he believed (Chantry faithful) and the lens through which he interprets things (le glorious Maker) isn’t quite correct i.e. has an emotional crisis of faith. It turns out they were followed and the Antaam arrive, led by Rasaan. The Qunari have been following the same research threads that the Inquisition and its writers have, although they wouldn’t have found the shattered library without following them. Rasaan tells them that Fen’Harel is a name given by enemies. She says the translation, “Dread Wolf”, isn’t true. She goes on to say that the name Solas gave when he lied to the Inquisition and the Qunari (Solas) was chosen by a self-styled martyr and is also not true. Laudine chips in that it means “Pride” and Rasaan says she knows this. Names are important to Qunari, especially Rasaan. The Qunari came to the library seeking information as they think there is no greater advantage than to know an enemy’s true name.

The writers manage to grab the most promising elven tomes and escape. The Qunari pursue but they flee successfully. Later they pore over pages old and new and finish writing their account, which is implied to be partially fictional / embellished. They plan to fake their deaths and take on new names from which to continue to write warnings from under, in order to evade Rasaan who they are sure will chase them. They note that they can’t publish what they found about the ancient elves’ end/Solas in their book, as that info is “for the generals [of the Inquisition-remains]”. But the adventure part of it is fine to publish as it’s for the people. Their findings are sent to Varric and “plans will be made”. This short ends ominously, “Around them, the bar served on, the coast lapped at historic sands. A year later, nations would stand, and tremble. And in distant places blades were sharpened, and wolves walked in dreams.” Part of their manuscript btw reads as follows:

The Fen’Harel question. How many lives had ended seeking an answer? Four more, if our turn chasing a legend fails tonight. But we’ve dragged truth from the darkness beneath Tevinter, found pages that will guide tomorrow’s righteous hands. And if our flight dies at the tip of an Antaam spear, make certain that more than the Silent Plains will know what we have found -

Revisiting Skyhold, the frescos and Regret

In Callback, we learn that Skyhold was shuttered. The rotunda has become known for the fresco. At the time, Solas claimed the fresco was his gift of record. The rotunda is noted as being an odd choice of room/space for a fortress, and it’s unclear what it was originally for. This is interesting to me because ofc it’s where Solas chooses to take up residence during DA:I, and we know that Skyhold was once his fortress and the place where he erected the Veil. (Apparently btw, not just Solas used that desk, but Inky and countless dignitaries too.) Anyway after the Skyhold caretakers fail to report in, Sutherland and Company are dispatched to deal with a demon that has taken up residence there. The last report from the caretaker guy was a meandering description of restoring the fresco, which was not has mandate, and other than that only said “I have made mistakes”. The Veil is very thin at Skyhold, hence the thinking it’s a demon. The Veil reacts to events like water reacts to stones, and the fortress has seen a lot of ripples. The demon originally emerged in the rotunda! It’s Regret, clearly born of all Solas’ regrets and man-pain. Regret is attracted to statements that echo the regrets that brought it here - Solas’ regrets of acting alone, using his friends. Recall that the painting technique was a special grand elven technique, an art with few living practitioners even among the Dalish. With how in the paint application, “it is considered, with long periods of study before the image emerges, whole cloth and with certainty”, with the thin Veil at Skyhold, with all the time he spent in the rotunda and with the extreme depth of his feelings and regrets, it’s not surprising really that this has occurred. Now, Sutherland and Co arrive to find the rotunda with a greenish Fade rift tinge. They find it not-pristine (the rest of Skyhold is maintained pristine, museum-like), old blood splotched on the floor, dripping old body parts stuffed in the hanging rookery cages. They realize the demon’s in the plaster of the fresco. The fresco shifts, gains depth, whispers in the wall, color crawls from each panel of the wall to form a mass of plaster and shadow. The demon thus begins to form itself.

As it forms, there are some bits I’d like to draw attention to, because the way it’s written is really interesting. Refer to screenshots of the panels as you go. In the first panel, a black shadow moves behind the Breach above the Conclave. Obviously the Dread Wolf, black as the villain, was behind everything, all those events, the explosion. He was lurking nearby trying to retrieve his opened orb. In that part of the art you see into the Fade which is his lair, and the repeating eyes/feathers motif which look like the Dread Wolf’s and Pride Demons’ many eyes as well as harking to peacock feathers (symbol of pride). In panel 2, red pigment scrapes itself off the stylized pupil. The hairy eyeball which is the symbol of the Inquisition we know to Thedosians is the eye of Andraste. It’s interesting to me because clearly the Inquisition was Fen’Harel’s vehicle and tool all along, the eye now more reminds me of like the Eye of Sauron and the eyes of the Dread Wolf kinda thing. You know, like it takes on a more sinister tone during this ‘second reading’. The red pigment slides down the blade (blood on a weapon, obvious imagery). Blackness then crawls from the howling wolves that guard the symbol, leaving them pale and dusty. This was hinted at in the panel originally with the two smaller white wolf shadows behind and off to the side of the main ones. Solas is no longer with and helping/guarding the Inquisition, those carefully detailed ally wolves were all for nought. It also speaks of the white wolf - black wolf (romance card vs other card) duality.

Pigment is “stolen” from panel 3, the short triumph before the fall of Haven. The Inquisition’s power and triumph was short-lived. When we get to the image of Cory, he’s described as “formerly an image of such dread”. We all know who the real figure of dread is now. This reminds me of how we thought the “he” in Sandal’s prophecy referred to the Elder One, when it instead probably refers to the Dread Wolf. Cory is “drained” like the wolves. Okay stay with me here. Remember the freezing / petrifying people, the curling smoke reference and glowing eyes as mentioned earlier? Solas absorbed Mythal’s power and his eyes glowed blue and there was smoke. When he petrifies people to stone, his eyes glow blue. Is that just the side-effect of him using his freezing/general powers or is that him also absorbing the strength and power of these other people? Not identities or possessing them or anything but definitely their strength. This is what this kind of language like “stealing” and “draining” from the moving fresco makes me think of. This idea of the freezing also having the effect of powering up using those peoples’ power / adding their power to his own also reminds me of the ancient bomb-device artifact that powered up by absorbing the energy of magical items in its vicinity and turning them to dust. Tinfoily but just sth that occurred to me. In fairness his eyes also glow when he stabilizes the Anchor and takes our arm in Trespasser. Now for the eighth and unfinished final panel.

There was a fair bit of debate at the time what the final panel represented. I theorized that it was a wolf standing over the body of a dragon, slain by the sword: i.e. Solas killing Flemythal in the post-credits scene. We finally get some clarification on this. In-universe people thought it commemorated the final battle against Cory. The mass of color which crawled around the room now fills in the rough shapes and completes it! That is a fallen dragon, and that is an Inquisition sword. We’re told this isn’t the final battle, or the victory, but “after”. It is indeed a representation of Solas killing Flemythal in the post-credits. And even though two dragons fought in the final Cory battle, naturally the beast standing over the dragon is not a dragon. The outline alone might have allowed that assumption, but now it fills in with black and red and is becomes something other:

The creature was reptilian, but also canine. The snout was blunted and toothy, but edges came to a point in houndlike ears. As the mass of plaster filled the shape, it began to rise, revealing scales and tail, and paws with talons. It looked like two figures painted on either side of a pane of glass, then viewed together, their forms confused. A wolf that had absorbed a dragon, and now stood crooked over all. 

Clearly the Dread Wolf. But kind of more draconian than before or previous depictions of it in cards, frescos etc. Scales, talons. Reflecting Solas having absorbed the power of the dragon, Mythal. I’ll note here that this for me puts to rest the “Flemythal possessed him he didn’t absorb her power it was the other way around” theories that float around. We’re clearly told here the wolf has absorbed the dragon. I’ve said this before but I don’t think she’s possessing him, there may be grand-scheme manipulations going on (I don’t think she’s dead, she’s Horcruxed somewhere, and she needs him to succeed to release the gods so she can take her vengeance) but he is responsible for his own actions and is nobody’s agent but his own. Also interesting here is the pane of glass, making me think of eluvians, and the two figures being painted on either side of a pane of glass. Remember the eluvian behind Solas and Flemythal in the post-credits DA:I scene? On one side, a wolf. On the other, a dragon. Also recalls the Trespasser codexes where an elf was wondering why wolf statues of Fen’Harel were appearing in attendance to statues of dragon Mythal.

Back with Sutherland and crew in the moment, Regret peels off the wall and fully forms. When it snarls it also sounds between wolf and dragon. It has too many eyes. It seems more feral and less articulate the further it goes from the fresco. It rises to a big height, has 7 legs and reshapes itself with every step. Sutherland demands the demon name itself. “I am the heart of what was here. An echo that has breached the Fade. I am Regret!” Regret briefly traps them in individual mini-nightmares about each of their greatest regrets. They become lost within themselves at moments when a choice was made. It finds your doubts and feeds on them to get stronger. Its arms grow more talons when Sutherland echoes the regrets that drew it to this place. “There is so much of me that’s here,” it says, “So much Regret behind these deeds. You will stay and face your choice. I am all that you have done.” It pauses, looks at the hole it left in the eighth panel, wistful. “I wonder if you know the dread that’s coming?” It says this while looking at the now-empty Panel 8 and seems wistful, like a child anticipating promised candy on Christmas morning. “The actions here have scarred the world.” Clearly in these bits it's referencing the Dread Wolf rising, and taking glee in it (also a reference to the scars the sky above Skyhold now bears post-Breach) Not suggesting Solas takes glee in it though, he obviously doesn’t, this is just a twisted demonic echo. And, these emotive descriptions pain me, they reflect what Solas was feeling and has lived through. Poor Solas :( Regret can “still” the greatest blade or magic, reminding me of Solas’ freezing power. Interestingly it also shrieks “I am the Regret of a god!”

Sutherland and Co try to defeat it. When he lets it come for him, Regret expected resistance. “It had never been accepted. Never owned.” Consider that and how Solas conceives of his actions. (Regret initially can’t touch Sutherland because he has no regrets, btw. It goes for him when he intentionally makes himself feel regret and shouts that he is). Regret tries to rally: “It would reach the rotunda. It would sleep and plan and come back stronger. This was all their fault. They would learn how smart it was. The regret that had drawn it to Skyhold had a very long memory.” Obviously, since Solas is immortal and he regrets things from ancient Elvhenan but also in the present. And the impacts of his Veil-erecting choice, which he now regrets, have spanned centuries and brought the elves low and to suffer in every one of them. But they vanquish it. Everyone looks at it as it perishes.

Its dismembered limbs were now strange piles of dry plaster. Some of the pieces were large enough to see details of the fresco. A careful hand might paste them all back on the wall, restore it, though that didn’t occur to anyone in the moment.

The core of the creature lay on its side, its too many eyes drifting unfocused. It could re-form, given time, but at this point even a few simple wounds would return its mind and will across the Veil. For a moment, the sunlight illuminated something within—a sliver of the spirit that might have been. Not the opposite of regret. A different flavor, or shade. Contemplation. Introspection. It felt the echo of the actions that had summoned it. There might have been a better choice, said a thought it had not been allowed. 

It glimpsed the spirit realm beyond the Veil, and a faraway glimmer. Familiar, and somehow far brighter than what had drawn it here. It knew where it would go. 

Here we have again the spirit duality (more on this in the General section below) - Contemplation / Introspection vs Regret - and mention of Solas’ actions inadvertently summoning this creature. There might have been a better choice, but he’s never really allowed himself to contemplate that. You can see that from his words in the first story about how although he’s conflicted, he clearly feels like he has no choice. Where in the Fade does Regret go in the end, I wonder? Obviously spirits reform in time in the manner Solas tells us about after his personal quest. If Solas was once a spirit, I wonder if he ever thinks about the place where he originally came from. In any event lost ancient Elvhenan for him is a faraway glimmer, brighter than the modern world and he knows what he’s trying to do. Voth bids the spirit to go in peace. Sutherland reflects that Regret will linger if you let it lie there. He makes it taste its own mistake. An epitaph to this story, which seems like a sign that’s put up at Skyhold to commemorate the Inquisition peoples’ efforts, says that change is coming, both to and because of the Inquisition. “And we are blessed with the ability to accept and move on, to leave dread and regret behind.” If only Solas could move on from the past. We have this ability that he does not. Overall the message of this piece is that in order to ‘vanquish’ regret, you should feel it, accept it and like own it? I can’t help but wonder if that’s like a accept the feelings and own your mistakes as opposed to continuing on this current course Solas, kinda message.

The artifacts which ‘strengthen’ the Veil

We all remember Solas’ quests relating to Veil strength and the elven artifact ‘collectibles’. He claims they can hold off demons and strengthen the Veil in their immediate area, so we go around activating them for him. He says they help prevent Veil tears and can measure the strength of the Veil. They supposedly provide him with readings on the Veil’s magical energies. If activated in a coordinated fashion they could even predict ‘uncovered’ Veil tears i.e. where tears are more likely to open. Strengthening the Veil seems at odds with his goals of tearing it down so there are theories that they actually do the opposite and weaken it, and that he was having us going around unknowingly assisting him with that.

In The Wigmaker Job a horrid Vint mage is doing awful experiments/’art’ with slaves using red lyrium. Consequently the Veil is thin in his workshop. Our POV char here infiltrates the workshop and realizes the place is so filled with anguish and suffering that it should be a hotbed for demons. He wonders how the mage is keeping them at bay and thinks “There [are] rumors of elven artifacts that strengthened the Veil and prevented demons from breaking through.” He searches for anything that might provide a barrier against the spirit world. He finds in the center of the chamber, a cage hangs from the ceiling, and inside it is a globe crackling with green energy (sound familiar? like the artifacts in-game after activation). He destroys it and suddenly all the demons it was keeping out are able to burst through.

To me this suggests the artifacts in DA:I really did strengthen the Veil and Solas was being truthful on this matter. Presumably his method of taking down the Veil does not involve them and is different in nature. Maybe even, in order for his method to work it requires the Veil not to be filled with literal tears like those ones. (Also in general minimizing harm and protecting innocents where you can fits his character.) Anyway, we knew already that a repeat of Corypheus’ ways of Breaching the Veil, letting a giant tear expand, isn’t going to be Solas’ methods of Veil-removal.

The possible effects of Solas’ ritual on the Veil

Remember the Vints in the Bard’s story saying that Solas’ ritual has already started to affect the Fade? What could that mean? It sounds bad. It probably isn’t regular ol’ Fade rifts and demons coming through, that’s the plot/catch in DA:I, that’s old hat. So what could this mean? In Luck In The Gardens, Dorian hires a Lord of Fortune to kill a monster plaguing Minrathous. The monster is unlike anything we’ve ever seen in DA-verse before, even considering the body horror already in the setting, even unlike the new fucked up darkspawns in Horror of Hormak. It’s not a demon, it’s not a Venatori abomination. It’s called The Cekorax. It’s a tentacley, wormy thrashing mass bulk that radiates joyful malice. It kills people and takes only their heads. Its voice is many voices speaking together, some parts on its tentacles open to show real human eyes studded in there. It’s the perfect predator, surrounding you, nestled everywhere, not just in the sewers below the city but with coils running behind grass and under tree bases in the gardens. It can open up like a lily and inside is a ring of the severed heads of its victims, eyes gouged out (as they’re now studded in the tentacles) but otherwise healthy, and the heads are the source of the voices; it calls this its “crown of the blind”. It’s positively Lovecraftian. Interestingly it makes reference to “Things are rising” and says its victims are better off “nested safe and warm inside” its body instead, i.e. instead of facing the horrors to come. Dread Wolves rising indeed.

Anyway, why I mention the monster. At the end of this short Dorian and the Lord of Fortune wonder what the Cekorax was. Ancient breed of demon? Fiend brewed up by a magister? Dorian was at a party with a Mortalitasi a while ago. Five cups in, she went on about “things past the Veil of our world, neither demon nor spirit”. Perhaps it wasn’t the tipsy nonsense he assumed it to be. If Solas’ ritual is about the Veil, is affecting the Veil... is an inadvertent side effect of tearing it down or doing this ritual, like letting these horrors from past the Veil in?! Where? This some other dimension shit? Or maybe they’re from the Void?? Seems like they’re gradually starting to ‘bleed’ in to the mortal realm. I’m not suggesting this is at all intentional on Solas’ part, but there are already affects being noted by some people, “Fade rifts and demons coming in” has been done, and we know whatever he’s doing is gonna cause some amount of chaos and destruction. I also enjoy the idea that there are things beyond even Solas’ ken in this universe - beyond even a god-figure’s ken - and that there’s an encroaching bigger bad. In this line of speculation, in the narrative maybe Solas is The Dragon. Whether that’s going to be in DA4 or in relation to a big bad rising in the game after remains to be seen. Previously I’ve wondered if he’d be The Dragon to vengeful Flemythal or angry razing mad unleashed Evanuris. The potential here is !!!

Parallels and things that came to mind

Some Vints are still Venatori cultists. In The Streets of Minrathous we pass a street prophet. He goes on about how Tevinter was glorious and how their ‘god’ would see them lifted. Look at Minrathous now - are they content? The cult’s dead god wanted to bring Tevinter back to what it was, to its “glory”. This is “nonsense, of course, it always was” thinks our POV char. The old empire was even more corrupt and heartless than what it is now. Sound familiar? It’s not a direct comparison, but you can see the ironically similar thematic stuff going on. Probably intentional, like a foil. Ancient Elvhenan was glorious. Are elves content with their lot now? One of their ‘gods’ would see them lifted. He wants to bring back what was, restore it. And ancient Elvhenan had its own problems as we know with corruption, heartlessness, classism, slaves, mage-rulers, etc. And stuff like “Our lives for the glory of Tevinter reborn” reminds me of some the stuff some of Solas’ followers say.

Another thing that sticks out to me is the mirror? of Dorian? That’s not the word I want but I can’t think of the right one. Tevinter is shitty (sorry Dorian). Solas has massive problems with Tevinter e.g. oppression of elves, misuses of magic, binding spirits, keeping slaves. Part of Solas’ whole deal is that the modern world is a crapsack world, especially for elves, and Tevinter is emblematic of that. So Dorian’s crusade to improve and redeem his homeland sticks out to me. Since he came back from the south he no longer has slaves, only paid servants. He’s probably one of the first mages of his station to do so. As we saw with the references to the Lucerni in Trespasser epilogue slides, him and Mae are currently doing everything they can to make Tevinter better and less evil, to the extent that they’re on the outs with most of the rest of the Magisterium. The state of Tevinter makes him feel raggedly depressed but they feel they have a duty to their country. They’re keeping an eye on scoundrels, trying to deal with political rumblings, trying to win allies over, trying to prove Vints aren’t all heartless, there’s now an anti-slavery movement, they’re posting rewards for hunters to rid Minrathous of monsters, etc (they’re so busy crusading they don’t have time to do that themselves). It’s slow progress but they’re doing it. I don’t really have a comment to make here but it’s a link my brain made. It’s potential redeem-ability of the modern world and efforts to fix and improve what they have vs preoccupation with the past and wanting to hit the reset button for a do-over.

This book is careful to give us a lot of examples of modern elves who are strong/capable and/or powerful in their own right, in a variety of different ways. Strife, Bolivar Nero, Cyrros, Irian, Guili Arainai, Teia, adding to existing examples like Charter. The lot of modern elves in modern society is an unacceptable, indefensible crapshoot, but I think the point of these characters perhaps is to show that there still is a bit of potential in the modern world. There are strong elves in positions of power. Just because some ‘beat the system’ and rose doesn’t mean it’s okay, but I think they’re here to 1) show that some modern elves are gonna be opposed to Solas and his plans, elves aren’t a monolith and they aren’t all going to mindlessly go to his side in droves, they have a diversity of opinions 2) not so much ‘some elves have managed to obtain power’ but ‘modern elves are strong, capable people’. This is important because of BW’s habit of crapping on the modern elves/portraying them as stupid, and Solas’ ‘sadly you’re shadows of your former glory’-shtick. Also, while there continue to be examples of awful treatment of elves by humans in the book, like slaughter of a group and horrid racism, they’ve also been careful to give us examples of people being good to/helping them. a mix of humans and elves doing this actually. again it feels like a ‘there is still a bit of potential in the modern world’, thing. we have Teia’s policy not to kill the help on contracts unless they’re guilty (the help is usually elven since servants. as Talon I bet this is a policy she enforces in her whole house). Vadis and Irian not killing and rescuing Qunari elves who were just doing their jobs, and making a point to avoid killing or getting into trouble servants in their heist. Dorian’s freed his slaves and now only has paid servants. Lucanis frees a bunch of elven slaves from a magister. there are pockets of good in the world. 

they’ve also, with Charter & Tessa, and now Irian and Vadis, set up a situation where some elves aren’t going to be okay with the cost of the price of the new world, because they love their non-elf partners who probably wouldn’t survive the change. elves can obviously oppose Solas for their own reasons that don’t center on a non-elf SO of course, but it’s something Charter specifically highlights.

Also Solas has ironically unintentionally become a bit of a cult leader again. Cory parallels/foil reinforced. Solas Disapproves 

Other references in the book (minor/general)

No direct references, but there’s ancient elfy / general elfy / Evanuris-y stuff going on in Three Trees To Midnight, An Old Crow’s Old Tricks and The Horror of Hormak. The Veil is thin in Arlathan Forest and it contains ancient powerful spirits. Stuff for another post. We find under Hormak one of Ghilan’nains 12 fucked up monster factories.

It’s unrelated yet worth mentioning: the demon that possesses a corpse in Down Among The Dead Men is a Pride Demon / Spirit. Interesting choice, the writers are obviously weaving related stuff throughout. The “body and the spirit [Pride] are at odds”. Pride “has the power to cast forth a shadow and make itself known where it is unwanted.” The hulking expanding shape over the mortal form is the mark of a Pride demon. Also in this story is a spirit of Curiosity in a similar (but not exactly the same) situation to the spirit of Compassion that became an imitation of the human boy Cole who died. Is he a dead man or imitation of a dead man? A spirit clinging to the dying curiosity of a man? We learn that the Mortalitasi know of such things. Entities as “complete” as that particular one are rare. Some of the Mortalitasi argue that these “higher dead” hold fast to their mortal souls. Others say this is impossible and that these entities are caught between two spirits. (In this case curiosity and anger. Multiple times throughout this story Curiosity almost loses himself to anger and his Mortalitasi helper has to assist him in not falling to rage). Whatever the case, they are unbalanced and need a remedy. This is of note because of the Wisdom Spirit / Pride Demon dichotomy, the theories that Solas was once a spirit who took form at Mythal’s behest, and the theories that “Solas” and the "Dread Wolf” are not just his 2 identities as a dude and as a rebellion leader, or just symbols / representations of his inner conflict over what he’s doing, but more like two actual entities at war with one another in the same body. In this story also the Mortalitasi helper allows Curiosity to see that Pride is “a cheat”.

Also unrelated, but in Hunger a Hunger demon possessed a dying starving man and spread a werewolf curse. In Murder By Death Mages a noble threatens to throw an assassin he hired to further his claim to the throne to the wolves along with the Mortalitasi. Wolves. There are also a few places throughout where unrelated characters deal with issues and various forms of pride and hubris. How topical lol.

Summary

In or after 9:44 Dragon, what remains of the Inquisition, either officially or unofficially, is undertaking various covert anti-Solas manoeuvres. Some of their agents refer to the leaders as “the generals”. Charter is an agent on the front-lines here and likely reports some things to Divine Victoria. Varric is also helping, on the side of being Viscount. He’s calling in favors, recruiting, listening to reports/info from people about the enemy, and giving out work/tasks relating to combating Solas and striking back. The Inquisitor is still involved in some capacity because Charter is going to report back to them and Solas gives her a message for them. Genetivi, Philliam, Sister Laudine and a Lord of Fortune called Mateo also help. A family of Orlesian nobles, the Varondales, have also been noted as investing in the Inquisition with genuine intentions

Other groups are moving against Solas too, with varying degrees of cooperation with the Inquisition - a bit, none/separately or even somewhat antagonistically to them. Other groups are also interested in keeping tabs on him and the threat he poses. These different groups include the Carta, Nevarran Mortalitasi, Tevinter Siccari, Qunari Ben-Hassrath, the Executors and probably Orlesian bards. Some of these groups realize they have a shared interest in stopping him. Some realize he threatens all of their peoples. Some of these folk are among the best spies on the continent. Some Tevinters think he’s an elven upstart. This goes to show that the Inquisition hasn’t kept or been able / didn’t try to keep the Fen’Harel threat secret; it isn’t known only to them. There are rumors going around and some fairly regular Thedosians seem to have heard about it too. One rumor is that dozens of elves have gone off to heed the call of “some god”. Some Thedosians theorize he is a demon or has a deal with a demon, or is a powerful spirit that is worshiped as a god like the Avvar do.

The Ben-Hassrath seem to have the most info on him. The Qunari believe he is a dangerous mage who styles himself the Dread Wolf. The Ben-Hassrath want to stay neutral on the Antaam Qunari invasion in order to focus on the real threat. They want their allies standing next to them in the anti-Solas effort. They refer to Varric as one such ally. Clearly the Qunari have not listened to Solas’ warning to trouble him no further.

The Executors expressly want to eliminate Solas. They care only about what his goals and means of achieving them are. They wonder if Solas is a poison-master rather than a dream-stalker. Solas cautions the Inquisition against working with the Executors, saying that they’re dangerous.

The Inquisition insist that as he said, he is not a god, but a very old, very powerful mage. They say he wants to restore the empire of the ancient elves, and that he made clear that doing so will cause massive destruction to their world. This destruction will probably be especially bad for Tevinter as it’s built on the bones of Elvhenan. They believe that he wants “to end [something, probably the world]”. Charter references his claim of creating the Veil, his Veil research and the Veil-strengthening artifacts.

Charter attends a secret info-sharing meeting. The Siccari and Ben-Hassrath declined to attend. The attendees compare Solas-notes. It turns out one of them was Solas in disguise. She asks for her life and he spares her. Solas came to the meeting personally as the Inquisition was involved and came to find out what they all knew.

One of Solas’ main targets was the red lyrium idol which still existed in the statue of Meredith. Even though most people believed the idol gone, a Dalish-appearing elf appeared in Kirkwall one day claiming that he learned of it in a dream and that an old legend of his people says that if he gets it out, he can free his gods. He was persistent and had a special potion which could melt the lyrium. In this way the idol is accessed and retrieved. A Tevinter mage came and took it from him before he can pass it to his collaborators, 2 agents of Solas. It’s implied one is Dalish or an ancient but Solas removed his vallaslin.

The idol next showed up in Nevarra where Mortalitasi helped the Tevinter mage do a ritual with it. A spike/blade appears from the bottom of the idol. Solas in the form of the DW interrupts the ritual angrily, kills the Tevinter and roars about how they threaten creation and the sea of dreams. He claims the idol is his and sends spirits to swarm them. He was angry they bound spirits and disrupted his work. He doesn’t like Mortalitasi magic that involves binding spirits or shaping the world to their will via influencing the Fade. He eventually obtains the idol. The ritual-blade part had vanished after the Mortalitasi ritual got interrupted. 

The idol is described as: a couple hugging, too thin to be dwarves; glowing softy like a lit up ruby; heavier than you think, even for lyrium; when hefted it seems like it wants to keep moving, like it’s got liquid inside; seeming to show 2 lovers; or a god mourning her sacrifice; it whispers in the minds of mages and made some dwarves scream/run off/go mad; a crowned figure who comforted the other; people hear music around it. Solas strokes it reverently and says something to it in elven when he finds it. Its effects can be negated by protective runes and double-shielded chests. Tevinters think they are best-placed to harness it.

It’s surmised that Solas intends something “terrible” for the Fade and that the idol is now with him. He has begun whatever ritual he intends to use to restore the elven empire, is aware of disruptions, the ritual involves the Fade and requires the idol. The idol reacts to other lyrium and he may need lyrium for the ritual, either blue or red. If so, he’s going to be having to gather inordinate amounts of it in the coming times. The ritual has already begun to start to affect the Fade, which doesn’t sound good. It will take a few years, hence the “few years of peace”. In disguise Solas says he will destroy anyone in his way without regret or hesitation, and that he does not believe they can stop it. Solas clearly knows about some covert locations where intelligence agencies and spies trade info and do stuff.

Out of disguise he’s tired and sad, and knows that many oppose him and that they are not fools. Telling the Inquisitor what he intended to do in Trespasser was a moment of weakness. He refers to the world ending. He insists he has no choice. He says that what he’s doing will save this world and that the elves who still remain after when it is done, like Charter, may find it even better than it was before (Charter notes he’s sympathetic to elves). This is unacceptable to Charter as she loves a human woman. Would all modern elves remain? If so, is the annihilation of the other 3 races an acceptable price to pay for the elevation of one...? He admits he’s prideful, hot-headed and foolish. He says to tell the Inquisitor that he’s sorry, voice faltering.

Agents of Fen’Harel say stuff like: “The Dread Wolf guide your soul to peace, brother”; “I act freely. For the Dread Wolf. To bring back what was once ours—what must be ours again”; “Take comfort that in your sacrifice, the glory of the true people will be restored.” One modern elf who refused to join them rants “Those damned Fen’Harel cultists! ‘Ooh, if we blow up enough people, ancient Elvhenan is definitely coming back!’”

Solas can kill people while they sleep, even dwarves. He can petrify even Executors and golems. He can petrify with specificity e.g. someone’s body beneath their clothes but leaving the clothes unfrozen. He can petrify groups at once, as seen in Trespasser. It’s implied some spirits are helping him.

Solas’ agents include both Dalish and City Elves. They follow him willingly, some appear devout/devoted/fanatical about the cause. His cause has been recruiting for a few years at least. He doesn’t only employ ancient elves. Some of his agents have fancy armor and some have robes with unknown symbols. They seem to have lots of resources, info and money at their disposal. He has eyes everywhere especially inside Tevinter. He has agents posing as elven Ben-Hassrath. At least one has disguised herself as a human before. Some kill themselves rather than be captured or interrogated. One displays open, naked contempt, hostility and disgust for humans. One tried to blow up an innocent town of thousands of people in order to cause chaos; the aim was to make it look like a Tevinter Altus blew up a neutral Qunari town in Rivain to try and draw the Ben-Hassrath in to the Qunari invasion, prompt Qunari to want to completely destroy Tevinter and try to drag in Rivain and even other countries/groups.

The Inquisition dispatched agents to an underground location in the north Silent Plains near the settlement of Solas in Tevinter. The purpose was to find the true history of the elven pantheon. The Inquisition did research and found the location of a piece of shattered ancient elven library which is embedded in the Deep Roads. They want to find out what undid Solas and the others who walked as gods. They find the fallen piece of Arlathan with lots of old elven books in it, and in there might be the means to defend the world. They leave with some books they think are important. It’s implied they find some kind of answer.

The Qunari have been following similar research threads. The Qunari say the translation “Dread Wolf” of “Fen’Harel” isn’t true. They want to find his ‘true name’ because they believe it will him them combat him.

A demon Regret emerged in the rotunda from the frescos after Skyhold shut, born of the intensity of Solas’ regrets, mistakes and pain. It completes the final panel. This panel depicts the post-credits scene where he kills Flemythal. He absorbed her/her power/essence. Regret’s form has many eyes and was a wolf-dragon. Regret says it’s the heart of what was in the rotunda; there’s so much regret behind the fresco-deeds; and wonders if people know about the “dread” that’s coming. It describes itself as the regret of a god. It was defeated. As it dies it thinks about how “Maybe there is a better choice” is a thought it was never allowed.

The Tevinter mage’s attempted ritual with the idol involved blood magic and sacrifice of slaves. If Solas’ ritual is anything similar (and it may well be, the Magisters Sidereal also had to sacrifice inordinate amounts of slaves to get the blood magic power to make the Veil rip open), I’m afraid.

The future is implied. The Inquisition are making plans based on what the expedition found. “A year later, nations would stand [against Solas], and tremble.”

Extended speculation about the specifics of his ritual here

The biggest questions now to me

What did the Inquisition agents find out in the library about the history of the Evanuris and how to counter Solas?

What does this ritual specifically involve?

Where is the site of his ritual?

I’m still wondering what are Solas’ plans for dealing with the unleashed Evanuris?

What specifically happened between Mythal and Solas in ages past?

[rosella-writes]

For the wooden arm, I’d buy into a Dalish mage specifically being able to use one since that’s Keeper magic (re: Velanna). It’d be temporary tho.

And yes! Spirits (wisps) are used for many functions especially in Tevinter and Nevarra. The Mortalitasi in Tevinter Night’s final chapter used a wisp to stir her tea, and otherwise kept it bound to her staff.

For Virelan (my inquisitor)’s eye, Dorian bound a wisp of Curiosity to it using such magic — it caused a big rift between her and Solas, since it was essentially slavery and she didn’t see the big deal, since the spirit seemed excited to come into the world. In short, it can be done, but it introduces all kinds of fun plot points surrounding consent and whether spirits can give it with full knowledge, if it is ever morally correct to bind a spirit permanently, spirit personhood, etc. All that and the spirit doesn’t even give her sight, it just alerts her to enemies on that side during fights and to interesting things as she passes. +5 to perception while wearing it lol but she’s still, functionally, half blind. No prosthetic removes her disability! It’s an aid, nothing more.

Still on the prosthetic arm topic, wood is fucking heavy if it's not hollowed in the inside, idk how someone would manage to find balance. Also let's consider the type of woods you can find in the environment, like, if they're bendable, water/sweat resistant and such. If the thing is a whole piece you can't possibly move it without breaking it.

The idea of vines moved by magic is cool tho (like octopus tendrils)! But like, how do you make that work? You need to animate them somehow because they haven't a source of nourishment just like the ones you can conjure from the ground. Can you put spirits inside unanimated objects? Does spirit possession help with that? Like, Justice was possessing a whole functioning body, despite it being dead, but if the arm isn't there I find difficult to believe that the spirit can move something that the actual body doesn't have in the first place. Also the body he was possessing was still working in a sense that he was decomposing so I think there are already limits to what spirits can and cannot do like, you can't stop nature