#The Keeper of the Southern Temple

[all-about-that-rec]

Chapters: 44/44 Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Zuko & Zuko's Crew (Avatar), Aang & Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar), Azula & Zuko (Avatar) Characters: Zuko (Avatar), Zuko's Crew (Avatar), Iroh (Avatar), Aang (Avatar), Sokka (Avatar), Katara (Avatar), The Gaang (Avatar), Appa (Avatar), Azula (Avatar) Additional Tags: Soft Zuko (Avatar), Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, Caring Zuko (Avatar), Zuko Joins The Gaang Early (Avatar), Iroh is a Good Uncle (Avatar), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence Summary:

The gaang makes it to the Southern Air Temple and find that someone has been living here. To their shock, it's firebenders! And they have learned some things from their time caring for the temple.

[kuro-cache]

Day 9 of Whumptloktober!

"Time + Obsession"

"Southern Water Tribe....Tidal wave...no no...Tsunami.."

Her hands moved slower than her thoughts as she tried to grasp the fragmented memories and jot them down.

"Chief Ronuk." Yangchen paused as her head popped up at the name. It was unfamiliar to her. She quickly turned to a pile of scrolls and threaded her fingers through the documents.

"Ronuk...Ronuk..." He wasn't there.

This was a new person!

She turned back to her desk and quickly tried to write faster. Her slim and fragile hands were desperate to match the pace of her mind. She had to be quick.

Chief Ronuk must have been a past Avatar companion.

What did he want with her? What was he trying to say?

"City..underwater..."

This must of been a very long time ago. The South was a frozen tundra, not an oasis. Something was amiss.

Her miscellaneous scribbling drowned out the noise of a person entering the room. He crossed the space slowly, but with confident purpose. His shoes delicately shuffled the mess of papers aside as he carved a path to her.

"Something's there..." She muttered incoherently. "In the water...the ice?"

"Yang." He spoke softly, with a firm hand on her arm.

She abruptly stopped writing and turned to look up at his face like his presence broke her free of a trance.

Frozen in silence, she examined him closely as if trying to deduce if he too was a character from these tales.

Her eyes softly traced the deep lines framing his mouth, the crows feet on the ends of his kind, blues eyes. The salt and pepper hair that fell to his shoulders.

Kavik...

She knew him.

She ...loved him.

"Let us turn in for the night..." He finished, trying to be gentle with her.

"No!" She yelled and pushed him away. "I have to—Keep writing..I'm the only one who can!"

Kavik closed his eyes for a moment, pulling on the decades long reserve of patience he held for his life-long companion. Yangchen's condition only got worse with age, to the point where she now spent almost her entire day, sitting in the temple library communing with past Avatars and their companions.

They tugged on her subconscious so much, that she spent more time as a bridge for them to recount their lives, than cherishing the fleeting years of her own.

She convinced herself that it was her duty to document their legacies, as much as she could find. To preserve this knowledge for the Avatar's that will succeed her.

This desire to tell their stories consumed her. He didn't have the heart to tell her the majority of what she wrote down was illegible.

"I'm the only one who can hear them..." Yangchen replied and when she looked up at him, a part of his heart broke at the fading pigment in her irises. Like she was in a perpetual Avatar state.

They were older now...much older. There wasn't anything else their bodies could handle that was outside of a well deserved retirement. There wasn't anything else Yangchen could give to the world as she has already solidified herself as an Avatar that will influence generations to come. She didn’t need to be the keeper of time.

Yangchen was only a few years shy of 90 years old, and Kavik was the same. He was determined to hold on to her. His Avatar Yangchen, not the others that warred over her mind. He feared that if he did not continue to remind her of who she was. She'd truly be lost forever. He was the only one who could do this for her.

"Hear me Yangchen..." He cautiously took her small, slender hand and removed the quill from her fingers. He drew her up to his lips and softly kissed the skin that had thinned and wrinkled with age.

He brought the back of her hand to the middle of his forehead and pressed it there, directly to his third eye as he bowed his head to her.

She watched him do this in silent curiosity as if partly wondering why he showed such affection but also trying to remember she was the sole proprietor of his love.

There was an intuitive pull she felt towards him. An unmistakable certainty that she was safe with him.

"Come lie down with me...and I will tell you a story..."

[mythalsknickers]

Meet My Inquisitor;

~Fen'Harel Enaste

Fen'aslan Lavellan was found [date here] in an unknown temple complex deep in the heart of the Tirashan Forest. Her adoptive mother named her Fen'aslan for a reason unknown to her and she was adopted into clan Lavellan. During [date here] her adoptive mother died, and Keeper Deshanna took her in and raised her as a First. Yet somethings were not meant to last; during her vallaslin ritual, the branches of Mythal absorbed into her skin and instead formed a vallaslin widely unknown. An elder and previous keeper cited a mural of the dreadwolf upon seeing her face, and that moment with her unique name saw her moved to the edge of the camp. During [date here] Keeper Deshanna dictated that Fen'aslan would become a wandering keeper and would go with the others to survey the conclave and learn of how the southern chantry planned to end the Mage-Templar war and what it meant for the future of circle mages and apostates like the dalish alike. However something went wrong, during a recess of the conclave Grey Wardens came and sealed the doors. Fen'aslan quickly made her way to a window and slipped to learn why the Wardens were present. However she instead interrupted a ritual by an intelligent darkspawn. She awoke and was given the knowledge she would likely be executed, the keepers she had come with died in the blast that destroyed the tower. However in a single moment, the world slowed as an elven apostate grabbed her hand and a breach was sealed. Yet it was not the act of sealing the breach that changed things for her personally. The elven apostate's touch had unlocked something deep in her, memories she could not possibly have. Ir Abelas Vhenan var lath vir suledin, vhenan The spirits recorded only snippets of the moment deep in the crossroads, a kiss shared and time bought. Desperation and the desire to find answers to save him.

You would think some where five years ago I would have had a solid introduction to my beloved Lavellan. However I didn't and felt the need to put her out here. Per my Meet My Rook post I took inspiration from @eurodyne-d post they did for their Rook, Valentin Mercar. Fen'aslan also known as Euvinala can be found under her tag #Fen'aslan Lavallen. I am seriously going to try and get everything compiled. I do have some of her fanfiction series under El'las'in Laim o Mana however there will be some reworking done now with the release of DATV. She canonically romanced Solas during Inquisition and is polyamorous trio with Felassan and Solas. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. Bust Art was done by the lovely @badwolf626 and the Full body was done by the lovely @dirthenera both of these are from 2019 but I still very much love them.

[amonsteronmaplestreet]

Coming Soon: A New Weird Southern Gothic Steampunk Fantasy Noir

New Alms is a city of sin and vice, populated by all manner of criminals. The ruling Cerenite priests can barely keep order; not that they—or anyone else for that matter—ever try too hard. It's a den of cutthroats and thieves, and there ain't many thieves out there as talented or as skilled as Jackson Balor. When Jackson's hired by a priest to steal an old mask, he thinks it's just another job. But that's before he sees the blasphemous shrine it's housed in, before he starts getting followed around by bugs and birds and three-eyed cats, before he finds out that the mask was a vessel for the Wild God Ferengris, and that by filching it, he's invited the Enemy of Civilization to take up residence inside his head. Now to save his own mind, Jackson's gonna have to team up with the very Wild cult he stole the mask from and take it back from the Cerenite Temple. But the priests have their own plans for the Wild God's artifact. They have their own ambitions for New Alms—and Jackson's about to learn that there ain't no room in their design for no-good criminal scum like him.

The Thief and the Wild is my newest novel; a standalone fantasy coming July 19th! It had its genesis when I was daydreaming about the Thief games. Specifically, I was daydreaming about what I would do if I was in charge of a reboot of the games (as one does).

In adapting that initial idea into novel form, I cut a lot (goodbye Keepers or any equivalent!), added a whole bunch, and altered the setting. Gone was the medieval steampunk city, and in was a New Orleans-inspired late 1800's steampunk city, located on a bayou and populated by characters with Southern drawls.

That's right: this is fantasy novel in written in Southern US dialect.

In June, I'll post the first chapter publicly, and the second and third as exclusive previews on my Patreon and Ko-Fi.

The ebook is only $3.99USD, and you can pre-order it here!

[exhausted-archivist]

A list of all rifts mentioned in Dragon Age Inquisition, both ones the Inquisitor interacts with and the ones they close after sealing the Breach for good. There is a total of 97 identifiable rifts locations - 95 are through base game and Jaws of Hakkon, 2 are done during the 2 years between main game and Trespasser, and 1 happens in the comic Mage Killer.

There are 4 instances where there are a "few", "multiple", or just a general plural used where we cannot give solid numbers. These are located in Kirkwall, Rivain, Wycome, and "places beyond the Inquisitions reach". The following nations have confirmed rift locations, and the number next to them is the concrete number we are aware of.

Antiva (1) Ferelden (36-40, Conditional) Free Marches (1-Multiple, Unclear) Orlais (56) Rivain (1-Multiple, Unclear) Others (1-Multiple, Unclear)

Below the cut is a more thorough list of their locations.

Note: Will update this as more are found through out codices or war table missions.

Antiva

Antiva City Port (1, Conditional) Mentioned by Cassandra only if she isn't encouraged to rebuild the Seekers. She mentions speaks of the Inquisitor closing it in the spring.

Ferelden

Crestwood (5) Caer Bronach; east Flooded Caves North Gate Camp; east Three Trout Farm; south, southwest

Fallow Mire (2) Old Thoroughfare Camp; west West in the bog, in an arena-like structure

Frostback Basin (9) Basin Floor Camp Cliffside Camp; north-west Fortress Gates Lady's Rest River Camp; north, north-west, northeast Swampside Camp; west, southeast

Frostback Mountains (4, Prologue) Inside the Temple Meeting Solas and Varric Outside the Forward Camp The Path to the Temple - Mountain or Soldiers

Hinterlands (11) Calenhad's Foothold Dwarfson's Pass; southern border, east Grand Forest Villa; east Old Simeon's Cave Outskirts Inquisition Camp; north, south Redcliffe Farms; north, ravine to the east Winterwatch Tower Witchwood

Redcliffe (2 - 6, Conditional) Redcliffe Chantry Redcliffe Castle - 4 during In Hushed Whispers Outside of Redcliffe

Storm Coast (3) Morrin's Outlook Morrin's Steps Waterfall Cave

Free Marches

Kirkwall (1, minimum) In Trespasser we learn the Inquisitor closed at least one rift in Kirkwall, but it is mentioned that there were multiple rifts with "weird glowing fade ricks" appearing within them.

Wycome (Unknown) Keeper Deshanna describes that Wycome is a safe place with "few rifts", indicating there are some but less than other locations.

Orlais

Emerald Graves (11) Argon's Lodge; southwest Briathos' Steps Inquisition Camp; southwest, northwest Din'an Hanin; south Direstone Inquisition Camp; northeast inside a crater Gracevine Inquisition Camp; northwest Great Bear Cove; northeast of Hill Inquisition Camp Rush of Sighs Silver Falls, Riverbank Silverspray Perch, Outisde Chateau d'Onterre Stonewolf Green

Emprise du Lion (6) Drakon's Rise Inquisition Camp; southeast, northeast Elfsblood Tower; north on the frozen river Etienne's Ring; north Judicael's Ring; behind the amphitheater Sahrnia Inquisition Camp; north on the frozen river

Exalted Plains (11) Ancient Baths of Halin'sulahn Fens Inquisition Camp; southeast, northeast, north Path of Flame Inquisition Camp; southwest, southwest near the river bed, northwest Riverside Garrison; inside, outside on the river bank Riverwatch Inquisition Camp; southeast, northeast

Forbidden Oasis (5) East of the Inquisition Desert Camp Elizabeth's Garden, North of the Desert Camp Envers Mining Camp; above and below South of the Desert Camp

Halamshiral (1) Florianne's trap

Hissing Wastes (12) Canyon Inquisition Camp; southeast, northeast, northwest Cove Inquisition Camp; north, northwest Sand Crags Inquisition Camp; east, southeast, west, northwest Statue Inquisition Camp; northwest, east Sunstop Mountain Inquisition Camp; east

Western Approach (10) Adamant Fortress Craggy Ridge Inquisition Camp; northwest, southeast Echo Back Canyon Inquisition Camp; east, south Nazaire's Pass Camp; west, south Lost Spring Canyon Inquisition Camp; south, north Still Ruins

Rivain

General

Unknown

Small farming Village (1)

Locations outside of the Inquisitions Reach (multiple)

Sources

Dragon Age Inquisition + DLCs Mage Killer Codex: Cassandra and the Last Few Years Varric and the Last Few Years War Table: Obtain Amulet for Cole Protect Clan Lavellan

[saint-severian]

The Hearth-Keepers

Dark Laith walked slowly up the gravel path that lead up to the holy hill. It felt right to take his time and walk with some air of contemplation and gravity in such a ceremonious moment, but in truth he was also filled with a strange dread and wanted to prolong his meeting with the hearth-keepers. With the sun so low already, the pine trees surrounding him created a dense shade in the forest, and without the torches he would not be able to see. The forest floor was cleaned of brush but the trees were enormous and thick with age. There was an alien, almost undetectable humming feeling in the moist saltwater air here that reminded him of his childhood trips to the forest of Hercynia. Some spirits surely dwelt here, as there, he thought, though perhaps not of the same kind, perhaps less kind to men, more eager to haunt mortal life. Laith's brother had loved the terrifying spacious abyss of the "enchanted" Hercynian wood, had ran through the endless dark forest like he was truly a wolf, born to chase through its timber halls, but only had been dragged away as a pup to mankind. Laith had felt the gods there before he even stepped under the first tree. He had dreamt of them, saw the horror of their bestial faces in the night. They called to him and he knew how real they were.

He felt the gods again here, at the holy hill. He could taste them on the salty air, smell them in the damp earth and hear them in the howl of the cold sea-wind through the tops of the ancient trees. He shivered from that wind and curled his toes in his shoes to push blood back into them, wrapped his fur mantle tighter around him. This country was deeply cold, in every inch of its land.

He glanced to Sindri ahead of him. He was piously silent in the approach to the hill, and Laith was gladly surprised. He hadn't thought such a man to be capable of piety, but there were many things about Sindri Whitemane that did not fit. "Eccentric" is the word Laith's father might have used, smirking, for the hulking white-haired captain. "Insane" is what his mother might have judged. Neither of them were here now, in this forest, Laith thought, only me, Sindri, and the gods, creeping behind each tree, peeking out at me like foxes.

The smell of wood-smoke entered Laith's nose and the lulling crackle of a bonfire could now be faintly heard. How sweet it would be to sleep by that fire after the day - the year? - Laith had been through. No rest yet, Laith thought, and summoned his wits out of the drifting space inside him and into the ritual ahead. 

"You do remember the words, don't you, dark creature?" Sindri asked. His voice was calm but imperious as always, but quieter now. 'Dark' he had called him, as everyone did - but was it an insult when it came from Sindri? Laith wondered. Laith's dark brown hair and greyish pale skin was unusual among other gilded men, and made him look like a foreigner. But then Sindri's white hair and orange-tan skin marked him, too, as coming from a queer outlander tribe. Sindri seemed to sense Laith's thoughts and glanced back with his smouldering scarlet irises and smirking mouth.

"Of course." He reviewed the ritual words once more in his head as the bonfire clearing came into sight.

"It's not the end if you forget," Sindri said, "For me anyway. For you, well... you've had a decent life if these hags end it for you tonight."

Although Laith's kin claimed to practice the same faith as these southerners, this was quite another thing than the tidy timber temples adorned with tapestries and neat stone hearths in his homeland up north. Before him was a clearing in the forest on the edge of a rocky cliff overlooking the bay. Tall stones stood in a large ring around a huge bonfire in the center of the clearing. The stones were covered, every inch, in elaborately carved runes and diagrams whose hollow divets had been painted. Animals, men, monsters, and gods leered out at Laith from the faces of the standing stones. The white-cloaks stood all around, within the circle of stones and outside it, peering like he imagined the gods peering from behind the trees, only the shimmering reflection of red flame in their eyes revealing them. Old men, all of them, perhaps a few more than a dozen, as far as Laith could see. White and grey beards flowed out of the white woolen hoods. Their long, clean white cloaks were tied at the waist with woolen belts dyed red and orange and trimmed with repeating red patterns at the sleeves and hoods. They were somber and still as the standing stones.

A tall priest stepped forward from out of the dark and asked:

"Who comes this way to the hearth of the gods?"

Sindri answered: "Sindri, just a wanderer, comes here, to warm his blood by the old fire."

The tall priest replied: "This wanderer may make an offering." At this Sindri performed the ritual and took his place by the side of the assembly of priests standing in the shadows of the stones.

"Who else comes this night?" said the tall priest. Laith stepped forward into the light of the bonfire and looked into the priest's face as far as he could. Sharp, angular features were chiseled into a long and serene face which had seen much more in life than Laith.

"Laith, just a wanderer, comes here, to warm his blood by the old fire."

"This one too may make an offering."

Laith detected a hint of amusement in the old man's distant eyes. Laith slung his pack out from behind him and took out the tiny goat-kid that had been gently sleeping in it. He carried it forward onto the stone table as Sindri had done moments before. He spoke the words in the ancient language of the elves and tried not to think of what he was doing as he cut the animal's throat with the bronze dagger. He felt some shame at having to repress his sympathies for such an insignificant creature as the blood spilled from its neck on to the dagger, onto his hands, onto the stone table. He had done well enough - it had not had a chance to cry out. He put down the dagger and picked up the animal, dark blood rushing out from its throat, carried it to the edge of the fire. When the flames were hot on his face he took another step forward and flung the beast into the ancient pyre. On the ground at the base of the fire countless charred bones of sacrifices from throughout the ages formed a thick ring. A man-skull stared back at him for a moment, he thought... but surely not. He switched his eyes back to the corpse of the small animal embedded on the logs, its fur beginning to burn off. He stepped back, the burning on his face relieved, looked at the tall priest, and took his place next to Sindri. Laith wondered if he had really joined Sindri's kin as the ritual intended, or if he had merely abandoned his own gods. Sindri smiled at him, then at the priest. Now their talk, the talk of grown men, could begin, and soon, Laith prayed like the child he really was, I will be able to sleep.

[lost-in-thedas]

For what is worth

Short ficlet about Athrahel’s confused feelings after he met Ameridan.

Hakkon was dead. Like eight hundred years ago, the Inquisition had once again put an end to the threat of yet another Arch-dragon, which would probably have engulfed Thedas if only for the bravery of its heroes.

The Inquisitor had survived. So had the Mages, the Warriors, Dwarves, Elves and Humans, Nobles and commoners, His friends, who accompanied him.

Back at the camp, the taste of victory was drowned in songs and ale. Athrahel, meanwhile, had retired to his tent.

"I'm exhausted," he had said. "I need to rest, alone" and he insisted to this last word, his gaze particularly keen on Dorian.

Nothing surprising. Eliminating an Arch-Dragon after fighting an entire horde of Avvar fanatics had not been easy. Yet defeating Corypheus and his lyrium dragon hadn't stopped him from celebrating on his return to Skyhold. There was something else. Something not worth mentioning.

From the moment people start looking at you as a hero, the less you are of a person. You become a symbol.

Ameridan knew this burden. As they stood face to face in the Old Temple in the Frostback Basin, the two inquisitors silently shared a sense of kinship that no one could possibly understand. For a few minutes, Athrahel no longer felt alone, and yet so fast, Ameridan was already gone forever, crushed by the weight of eight centuries spent frozen in time.

Since the moment he has become a symbol, even more, since he was chosen to be the Inquisitor, Athrahel had learnt to burry his true feelings. To smile, when he felt like shouting. To curtsy, when he wished to set everything in fire, has he been a Mage. Oh! Dirthamen knows he’d probably have been sent to penance, his body swinging on the gallows in Val Royeaux’s main square, had he shared the depths of his real thoughts with the Nobles and Rulers at the Winter Palace !

Athrahel had never wished to be the Inquisitor, nor had he ever accepted the title of "Herald of Andraste". If it hadn't been for the mark that placed the fate of the world in the palm of his hand, he would have fled to his clan at the first opportunity. And yet, he had become accustomed to this burden. At times, he even enjoyed it.

True, Halamshiral was still in the hands of the Humans, but he had given power to the Elves when he had supported Briala, now Duchess of the Dales. Leliana was the new Divine. The Mage circles had been disbanded, the Mage College refounded. Southern Thedas... seemed to be taking a new turn.

Alongside this, there was also dear friends he met along the way. Most of all, the love of his life. So many unique and wonderful people he would’ve never met, may the Keeper never sent him to the conclave. Athrahel had no regrets. And the future, he believed, looked brighter than ever.

Until today.

What will be left of him, a hundred years from now? Four hundred years from now? Eight hundred years from now? Will he still be remembered as an Elf, a Dalish heretic Elf, who triumphed over the Magister of the Dark Spawns? Or will he be portrayed as an Andrastian Human warrior, whose name a family of opportunistic noblemen took over? Will Dorian, and the rest of the people who helped him, be erased too ?

Will the future members of his clan have to fight so that history remembers that he bore the name of Lavellan?

Will the fate of the Elves be even worse than it is now? Will the Mages still be free?

In the end, what if everything he'd thought he'd accomplished had been for nothing? Maybe Vivienne was right. Maybe no one can truly change the world, after all. And that it had been naive, pretentious of him, to believe otherwise.

Nothing and no one can predict the future. The past, however, can still be restored.

Ameridan was a Mage. An Elven Mage, who once sacrificed everything he held dear, including his own life in order to save the world. And Athrahel will make sure the truth will be spread throughout Thedas.

Athrahel always remained humble. He had taken the Inquisition beyond himself, acting honestly under the name of the order he was entrusted to lead. He hadn't acted alone, after all. The Inquisition owed its success to the efforts of hundreds of people, each adding, to their level, their own contribution.

Still, he refused to let his identity be erased, as had been that of Shartan, Ameridan and all the Elves who had been unjustly left out of history.

Back in the Frostback Mountains, Dalish banners will henceforth adorn the walls of Skyhold.

[matriarchsdevotee-archive]

 hc spirit temple

I might have too many headcanons

The Spirit Temple is known as the mehaa don Penthilsea - the seat of Penthilsea - and, depending on the myth, was where the treaty between the Gerudo and Hyrule was signed which ended the war of the river. The only true "goddess" as Hylians would recognize that the Gerudo worship is Farore (they acknowledge that Din and Nayru were also responsible for creating the world, but do not hold them in as high regard, as they believe Farore created their ancestors directly), but the deity that is prominently featured in Ocarina of Time is Queen Penthilsea, last of her reign.

The myth goes that the Gerudo were forced from their ancestral home in what is now southern Hyrule, and with Gerudo men being born less and less frequently (and rarely living to adulthood when they did), they were unable to both take care of their farmland and defend against the invaders. They retreated farther and farther West until they hit the desert. They were able to establish a new civilization among the cliffs, but then even that was too much for the burgeoning Hyrulean empire. They attacked once more, resulting in a bloody, painful guerilla war between the two nations. The Hyrulean side suffered far more casualtieis, but the Gerudo had more to lose, so the war continued for three hellish years until the Great Queen Penthilsea, alongside the last man of the tribe, her husband, mounted an ambush and captured the Hyrulean King. In exchange for peace and their land being treated as sovereign, they returned the King to the royal family, and Penthislea's name went down in history as the eternal protector of the Gerudo.

The few Hylian outsiders who are allowed inside the temple often report feelings of deep unease and attribute it to a malicious force. They're not entirely incorrect, but were a Zora, Goron, or Sheikah to enter the hallowed halls, it would be unlikely they feel the same. The chambers beyond the antechamber are deep and cavernous to hide Gerudo artifacts of the past, lined with traps to protect its secrets. Gerudo priestesses are trained from the moment they become attendants to avoid these traps and learn how to soothe the keepers that still live within the walls. Most of them bear some scars of an accident, as some of them began as young as five years old. Few, if any know the true extent of the temple. Fewer still are willing to try to map it in its entirety.

[dawn-of-worlds]

Five creeds (out of some large amount)

The Builders of southern Lekesh are a disparate lot, drawn from all across Incarien, but all agree on this: their displacement to this continent was an act of providence, and they have some glorious part to play in the divine plan. Countless faiths have sprung up to fill in the gaps in this belief, living more-or-less peacefully side-by-side in that growing monument-filled settlement called the Glorious City.

The influence of Erland's and Tepponilamek's sects is prominent even among religions that do not pay heed to these deities. From Erland's faith, they inherit an emphasis on hospitality and communal meals, as well as a propensity to express devotion through craft. From Tepponilamek's worshippers they have obtained a scholarly bent, with many religions emphasizing the value of learning and the importance of literacy. Canonized scriptures are also more common here than anywhere else in the world, which has further allowed most religions to take on a highly hierarchical structure.

Any faith that can meet some threshold of devotees (the exact number growing as the population does) receives a representative in the Council of Priests, which has the task of distributing the annual pool of drafted labor over public infrastructure, communal farmland, and whatever religious megaprojects are in vogue that year. Note that after a global distribution is agreed upon, there's another set of debates where the priests work out who will order their faithful to do what: the Glorious City has no real secular authority, and all state power is exercised and enforced through its churches.

An incomplete list of religions observed in the region follows.

(these aren't intended to be orders in the game-mechanical sense, though they're all derived from mishmashes of pre-existing orders so if eg Erland wants to command the Keepers of the Secrets of Earth and Fire I see no harm in letting him fluff it as being a command to the Cult instead)

The Scribes of the Pale Epitaph The Scribes are a scholarly organization that worships the Inken God, a wise and curious winged being that brought humanity writing and thought, but who otherwise remains largely uninvolved in our affairs. It is this god who gave humanity their awareness of the inevitability of death, and in doing so let them prepare for it.

The scribes teach this: become immortal through your actions: carve your name in stone, write wisdom worth repeating, be worthy of remembrance. In doing so, you will rise above the endless faceless masses that died before your time, who left no legacy, wrote no tomes, made no discoveries, and are now subsumed in pale white eternity.

The Pale Epitaph, holy book of this sect, is still being written. Half its pages are blank; set aside to record the names and lives of those believers who did truly great things, to be included in every future copy. Some believe that when the book is filled, humanity will have completed its purpose, and the world shall end.

The Scribes' central temple serves as a great library and school as well: a number of great logbooks let any visitor record their name. Though Koskela the Atai is no follower of this faith, they are invaluable as a source of historical knowledge, and as such can often be found here.

Cult of the Downward Spiral The Cult originated in dank mines and quarries, whose weary workers were quick to latch onto the faith and the succor it promised. From there, it spread, and it can now be found in most of southern Lekesh.

Its introductory teachings are simple: work along your fellow men, bear your suffering in silence, and never lose sight of your goal. Die deep beneath the earth; live there if you can; and pray for your soul to find its way further down in time, or it shall surely be lost to nothingness.

All this draws from a deeper truth, taught to the priests and the curious. Humanity lives at the edge of reality, in a shadow cast by True things, in a border-land where life is barely possible, clinging to the fumes and fragments that issue from the actual. Our cursed half-lives are innately doomed: in time our fickle breath will leave us, our bodies will fade, and our souls become untethered and drift out into the void.

True reality lies beneath us. The further one descends into the earth, the denser, harder, realer things get. Dig deep enough, to the heart of everything, and you shall find the First And All, who created all other things as a pale imitation of his own glory, who now awaits our return in regretful agony, and who will extend warmth and hospitality to any that rediscover the way down.

The Callers of the Wind Fish This faith worships Maretik, believing the whale to be the physical body of Tepponilamek, or perhaps the great vessel where the deity stores all winds that are not currently blowing. They consider the land of Lekesh to be sacred to Tepponilamek (which is not entirely incorrect), and thus chosen for their faithful lot to dwell in.

They hold a set of atypical beliefs, eschewing personal property, marriage, and non-communal child rearing, as they believe that the first great upheaval was a clear sign that such institutions were to be abolished. All emerged from the whale's mouth equal: mankind's choice to return to claims and clans and hierarchies was a grave sin. Even their representative on the council is chosen by simple seniority, rather than internal politics.

The Callers believe that the Wind Fish shall return in time, retrieve all those truly faithful, and distribute them across the globe to preach their gospel for all to hear. They endlessly seek portents of this rapture in the patterns of the wind and waves, so far to no avail.

The Starlit Chapel This minor religion acknowledges two deities: the sinister subterranean Grasping Earth, god of greed and stasis, and the benevolent Starlit Lady, who wrestled herself free of the Earth's prison, and created plants to break stone into soil, and beasts to walk the land, so that life might exist free of his greed.

The faith calls for its believers to not suffer tyranny, to act with charity and compassion, to never harvest without sowing, and to learn the names of the stars; it is commonly followed in the small villages surrounding the City.

The Blind Men Taking their name from the well-known parable of the four blind men and the auroch (elephants/gegants being unknown in this part of the world), this philosophy simply holds that no mortal can ever truly know the nature of the divine, and that every worshiped god is little more than a convenient lens to understand the world through. A Blind Man might invoke the Inken God while composing a manuscript, might ask the Wind Fish for protection from storms, or might curse with the name of the Grasping Earth.

Their priests engage in careful study of comparative religion (and have made several true claims about the shared identities of different faiths' gods), and engage in highly abstracted theological disputes: actual lay services are more like group therapy with booze.

[atiredsalmon]

A Collection of Excerpts about the Inquisitor - A History of Thedas 3rd Edition

Dalish|Assassin|Warden|Inquisitor|Art|

Ma halani, we have lost many this season. Arlathven is to be a celebration of the People but today there is only mourning. To lose one is to lose many. To lose a clan is to lose our future. The Neverran Clans are no more after the latest attacks and I ask Mythal to guide Serral, my First, and the rest of my clan in their endless hunting with the ancestors. I ask Ghilan'nain to watch over the rest of my People as they walk their new paths in life. Fahleon, ma da'ssan, I could not protect them. Do what I could not. Mala sulendin nadas - speech given at the Arlathven of the Dalish (9:06 Dragon)

We do what we must for each other, but the boy is naught but an ill omen for Clan Sabre. He does not talk, he does not see, and if it were not for Tamlen keeping an eye on him I believe he does not move. It may cause more trouble to assign him as mentor to Fahleon, but no one else would have near him and there are too many other concerns to think about it. It is no coincidence, I think, that at the same time the boy was given to us the shems have moved into the outer border of the forest. If Fahleon wishes to remain quiet and unmoving, the two of them can be tasked with guarding our camp - Written in the Sabrea Clan Keeper's journal (9:09 Dragon)

Three wolf pelts, ten rabbits feet, half as many fruit seeds, one bear pelt - a trading receipt between Fahleon and a Fereldan merchant (9:14 Dragon)

We had heard movement of Darkspawn for some time but to see them above ground now bodes of ill tidings. I've tracked traces of Blight-sickness through the Wilds and towards the Brecilian Forest. Rabid wolves and twisted boars. The Dalish here are either unwilling or unknowing of the goings on but I have heard their whispers of a ruin and an unusual bear making its liar there. As well as a sickness that has touched some of their own. I had come to Ferelda searching for recruits and it seems I have found them, though whether they make it long enough for me to see to them to their Joining or their deaths is up to the Maker - intercepted note from Senior Warden Duncan to Weisshaupt (9:30 Dragon)

The elven tribe has grown in number. Visitors from the southern lands. These basra mean nothing to the Tal-Voshoth, like Dathras, but they fight when we near. They fight stronger with their new numbers. Led by one with half his face painted in their fashion. We warn you to stay away from the base of their mountain. He is small and weak but his arrows are strong - found on a Tal-Voshoth corpse in the Free Marches (9:31 Dragon)

Weisshaupt calls you home. The Wardens call you home. The ground shakes and the sky cracks and we must prepare to fight what climbs out of them both whether it be demons or darkspawn. The Wardens march West. Be prepared. In war, victory - crumbled note found beneath the remains of the Temple of Sacred Ashes bearing Clan Sabrea's seal (9:40 Dragon)

The elf says he has nothing to do with the Temple of Sacred of Ashes but I say he can lie as much as he wants. We will get the truth out of him. It is no mere coincidence the Conclave was interrupted by such a spell and for an outsider bearing the same magic to simply be roaming the outskirts. If we cannot drag the answers from him, we will drag him to Haven - written in the journal of Cassandra Pentaghast (9:40 Dragon)

[kharrneth]

🇹​🇭​🇪​ 🇧​🇱​🇴​🇴​🇩​ 🇰​🇪​🇪​🇵​🇪​🇷​🇸​ | 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐊𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐄

The Blood Keepers are a minor Warhost of Khorne blighting the lush jungles of Lustria. They are led by the Bloodthirster Krullast, the Eighth Lord of Gore. Krullast was originally a Gateland resident, one of the daemonic "royals" that rule the heart of the Southern Wastelands. Uninterested in the squabbling of daemonic royals, the Krullast would take his forces and sail to Lustria to bring the fight to the Lizardmen of New World. Though they have fallen quite a ways from their former ferocity, the Children of the Old Ones remain some of the martially capable mortals in the material realm. This is what drives Krullast to settle among them, surrounded on all sides by factions of Lizardmen with the purpose of doing glorious battle against all. The Blood Keepers are known for their particular battle style and rituals. Instead of using slicing weapons, the Keepers are more partial to blunt armaments such as hammers, clubs, flails, morning stars, and maces. They beat their foes and then load their broken bodies up in mass where they preform bloody rites that drain every drop of blood from the body. This is both an offering to Khorne and a mockery of the Lizardmen's own blood sacrifices, preformed upon the stolen temple-cities of Chaqua and Qu'ittax. Thus, they are called the Blood Keepers, named for their focus on the tithe of blood over skulls. They consider themselves the sworn enemy of Itza, Lizardmen of the First City.

[dynamics-travel-agency]

Aswan Sightseeing

Families, couples, groups of friends, and even solo travelers can take Aswan Day Tours. Anyone looking for a calm location in Egypt tours with loads of sights and things to do often requests Aswan Day Trips. The variety of Aswan excursions includes visits to islands, temples, museums, and the jovial Nubian Village. It is known as "Keepers of the Southern Gate" and has a rich history. Additionally, Aswan day tours provide a range of temples, including Abu Simbel Temple and Philae Temple, as well as additional mysteries to learn about its inhabitants, their history, and the Pharaonic legacy, all of which can be heard through our expertly led Egypt day tours.

[obraveyouth]

of course the women wanted an explanation, an explanation that link at this moment couldn’t give, at least not without halting his current progress… and the fact he was still a beast. but the bearer of the triforce of courage had limitless amounts of it and wit ( only outclassed at times by the keeper to the triforce of wisdom ): link took pride in many things and his intelligence in the spectrum of problem solving was one of them. his shadow takes the guise of something even more otherworldly ( as something exotic / as something alien ): the visage of the twi imp promptly takes his back once again as her living breathing throne on paws.

❛    well there goes tryna be lowkey. ❜ link thinks to himself tuning out whatever midna is saying for the time being. her lifelike reddish orange locks blowing in the winds of the arbiter's grounds and somehow not a spec of sand nor dust seemed possible to cling to her. with her appearance it changed a few things for the current situation. for starters, link just went from looking like a very peculiar lone wolf—to a wolf being ridden by a maybe childlike foreign girl or something. link could sense the way midna was eyeing the women, his ears flinching at the only understandable to him twili rolling off her tongue. he had to figure out a way to lose this women he had to think—

however, before his mind can think of a proper solution, one of midna’s contagious laughter of mischief ring in his ears as she presses the shadow crystal onto his forehead and before link could possibly hide away in time or stop it, he can feel the dusk in his veins shifting into something less heavy, something more pure and holy flowing even. his stance going from four legged to two and fur changing for the green garb of the soul of the hero he shared. ❛    well, now wont this be interesting? ❜ midna hums into his mind, now safely hidden inside his shadow and undetectable by any creatures who lived under the cover of light.

❛    midna! what happened to not letting people see? ❜ link shouted back through their weird telepathic connection. truly, this twi was going to be the death of him moreso than any murderous shadow beast or servant of evil on this journey ever could. all link is met with his more laughs and ❛    you asked for me to translate and to turn back. talk for yourself now, she probably is ridden with even more enquiry now. ❜ usually link found her sarcasm and retorts pleasing but now was no such time, before him stood a women already demanding too many answers of him and all midna had aided in is giving her more reasons to oppose his path. 

❛    nota random wolf, ❜ is all link can muster out. except its unpolished, muddled with the heavily thick southern drawl found amongst the common folk of ordon. if he had more time he’d carefully select and ease his speech and carefully pick his words but the master sword stone like diamonds on his back, the crest of the royal family upon his shield, and he’d just changed into the form of a man before her very eyes. definitely, no place for the prior thinking of mannerisms. ❛    name’s link. no god, no spirit. the old gods of destiny says ‘ma ‘ero but i disagree. jus wan’ ‘ave my friends ‘n now ‘m tryna save anotha. ❜ his eyes linger onto his shadow, directly at the person he speaks of.

❛    but now ain’t ta best time to try n talk ‘bout this. how ‘bouta truce for now and once ‘m finished up here i’ll answer whateva ya like. ❜ he meant it, link was a dutifully honest man, he was simple when his journey had begun and he’d always view himself as such. even if the truth now was a lot more complicated than that. but he also needed to reach the mirror of twilight, to aid midna in defeating zant. so forgive link if there where more pressing matters to attend too. even if this temple was once scared ground ( and truly, he felt for the women’s plight ): he also had the entire fate of hyrule on him and that was a burden he’d sooner be done with than hold onto for longer than absolutely necessary. the chills of murderous intent where getting ever so closer to this courageous one and link nor midna needed anyone causing a hinderance to their current objective.

The beast shook its fir free of sand, grains of it flying through the air around him. However, the clank of metal against stone caught her attention, golden gaze falling to the key resting at the hound's paws. She understood what he wanted without his snout thrust in the direction of the nearest locked door. The acquisition of the key once more suggested her suspicions about this wolf was correct: this was no ordinary canine that roamed the wastes on occasion.

The creature had a mission: to find its way into the depths of the grounds. Not only that, but it had enough intelligence and problem-solving skills to retrieve a key and make it this far.

If not an average wolf, what was this thing? Should she even continue to humor it by allowing it further access to the temple prison?

" You're a strange one, " she muttered, swiping up the key. She jogged over the to door in question, the padding of her shoes on sandstone near silent. Despite her misgivings, curiosity won out in the end; she slipped the key into the lock and unlocked it.

" Before I let you go further, " she began, turning around once more. Her hands rested on the serpentine hilts of her dual blades. " You're going to need to find a way to tell my why you're here. What you're looking for. This was once ground sacred to my people, so I can't help but be protective of it, despite their blood and the darkness that now taints our sacred site. I'm not convinced you're just some random wolf, so if you're some god or spirit with a mission here, you're going to need to tell me. "

[dalishious]

The Dales: A Broken Promise

RELATED POST:

All You Need to Know about the Exalted March of the Dales

—————

Founding of the Dales

When Andraste waged war against the Imperium, the elven slaves of Tevinter rose up to aid her, led by Shartan, the elven general. In -165 Ancient, for their service in battle, Maferath granted the elves a new homeland: The Dales, located in Southern Thedas between present day Orlais and Ferelden. But neither of those two nations existed yet at this point; the lands between the Dales were occupied by independent and unorganized Ciriane and Alamarri human tribes. The Dales as a nation is older than both Orlais and Ferelden.

The former elven slaves from across Thedas began to make their way to their new homeland, where they were promised freedom and independence. This journey is known as The Long Walk. Aptly named, as most elves travelled over a great distance, all on foot. Many perished from exhaustion, hunger, or attacks by human bandits along the way. Those that made it came to Halamshiral, (“End of the Journey” in Elvhen,) the new capital of the Dales. After over 800 years of slavery under humans, having their culture, their history, their traditions, their language, their identities taken from them, the formation of this new homeland allowed them to start to reclaim these things. As the elves built Halamshiral, they vowed that no human would set foot in it, that this would be their escape from those responsible for their near millennium-long genocide and enslavement.

Leadership

In present time, a Keeper is the leader of a Dalish clan. When the Dales were an independent nation, Keepers were priests, acting as archivists and magical scholars in dedication to a temple of one of the elven gods. The Temple of Dirthamen in the Exalted Plains has a “Chamber of the Oracle”, suggesting that priestly duties may have included divination as well. Ancient elves practiced scrying, (as acted in Witch Hunt, and also given Falon'Din is referred to as “master-scryer” in a codex found in the Temple of Mythal,) so perhaps this is an art recovered in the Dales.

There was some form of hierarchy to Keepers, with High Keepers being the leaders of a given temple. High Keepers were referred to as “the High Keeper of June” or “the High Keeper of Elgar’nan”, depending on the temple they served in. It is unknown if there were multiple High Keepers for a single god at once, or if this role was reserved for one High Keeper per one god at a time. The other priests addressed High Keepers formally as “Highest One”.

The Dales had some form of nobility, of which many Dalish clan names descend from according to Mary Kirby on Twitter. Halamshiral was led by a Lord, meaning other cities may have been too.

The Emerald Knights

To uphold the vow that no human would step foot in Halamshiral, and to act as the people’s protectors, the Emerald Knights were formed. They were stationed along the borders of the Dales to prevent Templars and missionaries from entering, as the Chantry would not take no for an answer when the elves refused to convert to Andrastianism. There was also a special division of Emerald Knights known as the Fade Hunters, to protect the people against demons and maleficarum.

Emerald Knights carried talismans of some significance. They were trained to use a variety of weapons, from bows to swords to axes. Weapons were passed down from knights to squires; the famous blade Evanura went through many hands until finally ending with Lindiranae in her last stand against the Orlesian invaders.

Emerald Knights had animal companions to keep them company. They rode halla, and had wolves follow at their sides. These wolves would join the elf in battle, and watch over them as they slept.

The Emerald Graves

When an Emerald Knight night took their vow, a tree was planted in the Emerald March; a forest dedicated to the knights. In the heart of the Emerald March still rests Din’an Hanin, (“The Place Where Glory Ends” in Elvhen,) a burial tomb for the knights that fell in service of the Dales.

The elves also constructed statues in the woods honouring the god Falon’Din, and statues of wolves honouring the knights’ bond with their wolf companions. These wolf statues are known as the Knights’ Guardians.

In present time, elves refer to the Emerald March as the Emerald Graves, while most Orlesian humans just call it the Greatwood.

Dirthavaren

After Halamshiral was conquered in the Exalted March of the Dales, the Emerald Knights convened in Dirthavaren (“The Promise” in Elvhen), known by humans in present time as the Exalted Plains. They refused to submit to the very last.

Like the Emerald Graves, Dirthavaren (known colloquially by the Dalish as simply “the Dirth”) is home to an ancient elven burial ground as well, known as Var Bellanaris (“Our Eternity” in Elvhen). This gravesite is still used by Dalish clans in the area to bury their dead.

Also in Dirthavaren is Fort Revasan (“Place of Freedom” in Elvhen). This fort was built on the edge of the river Tenasir (translation unknown). It, and other elven keeps in the area such as Citadelle du Corbeau, were claimed by humans after the Exalted March.

Many elven landmarks in Dirthavaren were destroyed by the Chantry after the annexation of the Dales. Only a few remain.

Emprise du Lion

Emprise du Lion was renamed such in honour of House Valmont in the Exalted Age – the original name of the highlands is lost to time.

One natural sacred location in Emprise du Lion that remains are the Pools of the Sun, though now desecrated with Andrastian statues. Elves of the Dales would travel to the hot springs for healing. Legend says that the springs were left behind from when Elgar’nan buried the sun under the earth.

While Emprise du Lion has a number of scattered remains of the time of the independent Dales, the biggest elven feature still standing is Suledin Keep (“Endure” in Elvhen). The fortress was once home to an elven lord, now abandoned due to humans fearing it’s haunted by elven ghosts.

Smaller relics of the past are often destroyed or stolen by humans.

The Fall of the Dales

The capital city of the Dales, Halamshiral, was built with the intention of never letting a human within its walls. It was destroyed by the Orlesian invaders in 2:20 Glory, and the rest of the Dales soon fell after. The land once promised to the elves in freedom and independence was stolen from them.

Halamshiral laid in ashes for some time—there is a lore discrepancy as to when the Orlesians began building it back up and claiming it as their own. World of Thedas vol. 1 says that the Winter Palace was first constructed in 9:30 Glory as a seasonal retreat for the royal family, a mere ten years later, while the “Halamshiral” codex entry found in Inquisition says that the land laid unused until the Exalted Age.

—————

SOURCES:

Dragon Age: The World of Thedas vol. 1

Codex entry: The Long Walk (DA:O)

Codex entry: The Dales (DA:O)

Codex entry: Halla (DA:O)

Codex entry: Uthenera (DA:O)

Codex entry: The Dales: A Promise Lost (DA:I)

Codex entry: The Long Walk to Halamshiral (DA:I)

Codex entry: The Exalted March of the Dales (DA:I)

Codex entry: The Emerald Graves (DA:I)

Codex entry: The Emerald Knights (DA:I)

Codex entry: Knight's Guardian (DA:I)

Codex entry: Memorials of the Second Exalted March (DA:I)

Codex entry: Vallasdahlen (DA:I)

Codex entry: The Lost Temple of Dirthamen (DA:I)

Codex entry: Emprise du Lion (DA:I)

Note: Valorin's Journal (DA:I)

Item description: The Veshialle (DA:O)

Item description: Dhal Vallasan (DA:I)

Item description: Axe of Green Edges (DA:I)

Item description: Evanura (DA:I)

Item description: Robes of the High Keeper (DA:I)

Landmark: Var Bellanaris (DA:I)

Landmark: Citadelle du Corbeau (DA:I)

Landmark: Dalish Wolf Carving (DA:I)

Landmark: Pools of the Sun (DA:I)

Dialogue with Leliana about the Exalted March of the Dales (DA:O)

Dialogue with Keeper Hawen about the Exalted Plains (DA:I)

Dialogue with Michel about Suledin Keep (DA:I)

—————

Like these kinds of meta pieces? Please consider supporting me on Patreon, where you could have viewed it a few weeks earlier!

[sarahnourwriter]

Enki, patron of the southern Mesopotamian city of Eridu, is the Sumerian god of crafts, creation, water, fertility, magic, intelligence, and mischief, and keeper of the divine powers called mes, the gifts of civilization.

Akkadians called him Ea or Ae. Canaanites called him Ia. His main temple was by the Persian Gulf coastline of Eridu. His symbols were the fish, the goat, the sea-goat, & the chimera. He was associated with the planet Mercury.

[dreadfutures]

Inquisitor as a Companion: Ixchel Lavellan

Is your OC a Companion in the Dragon Age series? What would it be like for a player to select them to join their party for quests (or romance them, perhaps? 👀)

Here is Ixchel’s (fake) DA Wiki page, if she were a companion. Meme started by @little-lightning-lavellan​​ , so tag her if you do this!

(Find this on AO3, where I will add Location Comments and dialogue options as I think of them.)

Ixchel is an elven warrior and activist. She is a potential companion in Dragon Age: Inquisition. (WIP Tarot art by me. :) )

Background

Ixchel likely originated in southern Ferelden, but the events of the Fifth Blight drove her northward. She encountered several Dalish clans who did not take her in, possibly due to the limited resources available due to the encroaching Darkspawn hordes, or perhaps because she does not appear to be fully-elven. Ixchel has smaller, rounder ears than normal for an elf, though they are longer and sharper than that of a human. The orphan stowed away on a boat to the Free Marches, where she found no refuge in Kirkwall or the major cities and took to wandering the countryside in search of food and shelter. During this time, Ixchel encountered Clan Lavellan outside of Markham, but she did not remain.

After the Archdemon’s defeat, Ixchel returned to Ferelden, as she felt drawn to the traces of elven history she had found there as a child. There, she encountered a Warden who helped her read a word that she found in a ruin: Ixchel.

Sometime between 9:34-9:37 dragon, Ixchel reappeared outside of Markham, calling herself by this new name. In 9:37 Dragon, a particularly harsh winter drove the Lavellan Clan to seek out the orphan and took her in to teach her to hunt and fend for herself better. She proved to have a keen mind for learning, and a drive to prove her value. She remained with the Clan for two years. In 9:41 Dragon, she volunteered to go to the Conclave in Haven as a spy, due to her ability to pass as human and travel largely unnoticed. She is roughly sixteen years old.

Involvement

Dragon Age: Origins

A Dalish Warden can potentially encounter Ixchel as part of the Lead Her Through the Darkness side-quest in Dragon Age Origins: Witch Hunt DLC. She appears as a precocious, nameless orphan less than ten years of age. She has written a word on her arm in ash and asks the Warden to translate it. It is unclear if the name is Elven or Tevene in origin, but the Warden translates it as Ixchel (ihsh-chEL).

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Ixchel can only be recruited after relocation to Skyhold and beginning the A Fallen Sister side quest in the Emerald Graves. After freeing the prisoners from the Veridium Mine, the Inquisitor will come across Ixchel under attack by a group of Freemen. The Inquisitor will help Ixchel defeat the Chevaliers, for which she expresses gratitude.

A Dalish Inquisitor has the option to call her “da’len” and express relief that she escaped the Conclave. Ixchel explains that she fled Haven after the explosion at the Temple of Sacred Ashes and went in search of a Dalish Clan (see: The Knights’ Tomb) to take her in. On her way, she saw the harm caused by the Civil War in Orlais. She sees how much good the Inquisition can do and offers her services to help uproot the Freemen of the Dales and fight Corypheus. Her travels and experiences have made her well-suited to consider the needs of elves, both among alienages and the Dalish, as well as humans. Ixchel cannot be recruited if Wicked Eyes, Wicked Hearts has been completed.

In Skyhold, Ixchel can be found in the center of the courtyard by the main stairway, either near the Training Ring (if Skyhold is upgraded) or near the City and Dalish elven NPCs who often argue there.

If Ixchel and Solas are in a party together, they will develop a fast mentoring relationship as Ixchel asks Solas about his dreams in various locations they have traveled. He will comfort her after she expresses anger at the treatment of elves in Halamshiral and gently encourage her to take action. She will argue with him about his scorn for the Dalish and insist on the merits of their resilience and efforts to reclaim their heritage after centuries of oppression.

After accessing the Exalted Plains from the War Table, Ixchel will approach the Inquisitor in Skyhold and ask to meet with Hawen’s Clan. The dialogue options vary depending on whether the Inquisitor has yet discovered that the Dalish have been killed at Din’an Hanin. Ixchel is worried about the Clan’s proximity to the front of the Orlesian Civil War.

When Hawen’s clan is first encountered, a Dalish scout will address Ixchel as “flat-ear.” Ixchel is deeply upset by this and explains to the Inquisitor that it is because Ixchel does not have vallaslin and that she doesn’t appear as fully elven. A Dalish Inquisitor has the option to reassure Ixchel of her place in Clan Lavellan with or without the vallaslin. If the Inquisitor wins high approval among Hawen’s Clan, Hawen offers to formally adopt Ixchel by giving her vallaslin and initiates the Inner Circle Quest, Inward Glory.

Ixchel hesitates to accept the honor. Ixchel wants to learn the history of the vallaslin and asks the Inquisitor to help her learn how the practice has evolved from enslaved elves in Tevinter, to the elves of the Dales, to the modern Dalish Clans. The Inquisitor must contact researchers in Tevinter, Orlais, and Varric’s contact with the Dalish--Merrill.

Completion of Inward Glory is followed by another Inner Circle quest, Proudly Crowned Withal. Ixchel meets with the Inquisitor and Solas to review what she learned and make her final decision. The Inquisitor can encourage Ixchel to honor her heritage and take the vallaslin, tell her that she can serve her People better as a human-passing spy without vallaslin, or tell her that she has proven that she cares for the elves and belongs to them whether she shows it on her face or not.

If she is told not to take the vallaslin, she will not, but she Greatly Disapproves. Solas will Disapprove of all options. A Dalish Inquisitor has the added option to tell her that the Inquisitor, as well as the Lavellan Keeper, considered her to be part of Clan Lavellan even without the vallaslin. If Ixchel is told to accept, or if the Inquisitor lets Ixchel choose herself, she will accept Hawen’s offer.

A Dalish Inquisitor who has completed their romance with Solas will have the option to ask Solas to tell Ixchel the truth about the vallaslin. A Dalish Inquisitor who removed her own vallaslin has the opportunity to tell Ixchel one-on-one. Ixchel will reveal that Solas in fact told her the truth before the completion of her personal quest, and Ixchel made her decision knowingly.

After completing Ixchel's Inner Circle quests, new missions will appear on the War Table. Ixchel wants the Inquisition to work with factions like the Red Jennies, Briala's spy network, and even members of Celene's court to make reparations for Empress Celene's burning of the Halamshiral alienage, to put an end to the Val Royeaux Chevaliers' tradition of hunting City elves in the alienage streets after dark, and to restore self-governance to the alienage in Denerim, whose freedoms were restricted after the events of the Fifth Blight.

Trespasser:

If the Inquisitor has high approval with Ixchel, the warrior has devoted her time to activism in Orlais’ alienages, potentially allying with Briala. Ambient dialogue in the Winter Palace indicates that she and her movement are reviled by members of the Orlesian court, and the ruler of the Empire is considering a preventative strike for fear of a violent uprising.

If the Inquisitor did not win high approval with Ixchel, she still appears at the Exalted Council to reunite with friends in the Inner Circle. She reveals that she spent the intervening time between Inquisition and Trespasser traveling the world with Morrigan (or Morrigan and Kieran) to continue research in Ancient Elvhen history, as well as sowing rebellion--which she calls mien’harel-- in alienages across Thedas. She is saddened that the Inquisitor has still heard no word from Solas.

In the Epilogue, if the Inquisitor has resolved to kill Solas, Ixchel vanishes. She leaves a note to a high-approval Inquisitor saying that she is sorry but she has gone to find a third option to thwart Solas. If the Inquisitor instead chooses to convince Solas to change his plans, Ixchel remains allied with the Inquisition as she redoubles her efforts to unite elves across Thedas against oppression, and to actively counter Fen’Harel’s recruitment.

Approval

Ixchel appreciates honesty and empathy in Inquisitors. Given her upbringing outside of both human and elven customs, she is skeptical of actions motivated by religion. She is generally supportive of increasing freedom and understanding between groups like Mages and Templars and humans and elves.

She is curious and precocious, and she approves of exploring magic and history without bias. She is unlike other companions in that, if she is met with anger or scorn, her approval does not change. Dialogue options that mock or disrespect other members of the Inquisition and their beliefs, even those she does not get along with outright like Sera, will net disapproval.

Ability Tree/Specialization

Ixchel is a two-handed warrior with access to the Champion specialization tree. She begins with a two-handed greataxe.

Combat comments

Kills an enemy

“Push them back!”

“Move and parry, strike and kill!”

“Did you see that?”

Low Health

“Come and get it!”

“I’m taking you with me!”

“Not sure how much longer I can hold…”

Low Health (Companions)

(Inquisitor) Inquisitor! You must keep fighting!

(Inquisitor) Lethallen, no!

(Solas) I’m coming, Solas!

Fallen Companions

(Inquisitor) Guard the Inquisitor!

(Cole) I can't lose Cole!

Companion comments about OC

Vivienne: She is certainly a quick study, but painfully earnest, that girl. It is too bad the Game is played out in court, not on the battlefield. 

Solas: A childhood free of human or Dalish dogma allows her to see the biases ingrained in many who are older or more experienced. (“She’s young and naive.”) Because she expresses empathy for those who might not appear to deserve it? *sigh* I too have expressed that such openness might only lead to heartbreak. What she told me belies a wisdom far beyond her years: ‘When we ascribe compassion to be virtues of the gods, it becomes impossible for mortals to embody them. But the Fade reflects the waking world, and Compassion, Empathy, and Justice can be found in both.’

Dorian: There are quite the depths in her, despite her stature.

Bull: You don’t see a lot of atheists outside of Par Vollen. Everyone needs to believe the world’s fucked up for a reason, that there’s something waiting for them that’s better than the crap they have to suffer. Then again, people who pick up a sword that big are usually trying to prove something. Maybe that’s it.

Sera: There are two kinds of elfy-elves--people like him [see: Solas], and people like her. She’s been like me before, hungry an’ angry. And she doesn’t want anyone to be hungry anymore, so she gets all angry. ‘Stead of lookin’ back, she looks forward. And both of ‘em forget to look right in front of their noses.

Cole: The lonely traveler [see: Dirthamen] seeks, and finds, and loses again. She is bright, but she cannot see. Where she walks, the flame catches.

Trivia

The names of Ixchel’s personal quests are from various Percy Bysshe Shelley poems

Ixchel can receive the vallaslin of Dirthamen

Ixchel’s face bears heavy scarring that she claims is due to an encounter with dragonlings

Ixchel’s in-game body model is the same height as a Dwarven Inquisitor and Scout Harding.

If Blackwall and Ixchel are in a party together, they will stand near each other. Instead of entering their idle animations, they will draw their weapons as though they are about to spar.

Ambient dialogue in Skyhold implies that she trails after Cassandra “like a loyal hound” and they frequently practice together.