#Veilguard rewrite

[ode-to-fury]

We're missing the potential of a Dellamorte reunion after Rook gets taken to the Fade. It's been a week and a half, and Lucanis hasn't slept in three days. Lace is dead, Taash is perhaps the only person more catatonic than he is, Emmrich and Neve have come up with an insane plan to recreate Solas's dagger to give them a chance at ripping open the Fade to find Rook, and Davrin refuses to listen to any word that Rook might not be coming back, the only thing keeping Lucanis alive is Spite. So one night, Spite takes him to the only person other than Rook who can help.

It's not Neve, because Neve is busy with a case: getting Rook out of the Fade, so she and Emmrich are so consumed none of the others have been able to get them to even eat. No, it's not Neve, Lucanis finally collapses from exhaustion on Rook's sofa after being less than useless(or thats how he feels) to everyone for a week, and he wakes up with his hand on the knocker of Viago's door.

For a moment, he thinks about just jumping into one of the canals, but then he knocks, and Viago opens in his dressing gown.

"Lucanis?"

"I need to talk to Illario."

And Illario is grumbling about being woken up in the middle of the night, but then he sees his cousin, no his brother's face, and suddenly the last twenty years haven't happened. Suddenly they're kids again, and they've snuck into the villa kitchens after a particularly brutal training day with Caterina, and both of them are hurt and exhausted and hopeless but at least they have each other.

"Lucanis?"

"She's gone, Illario. I lost her. And I never told her I love her."

[binabees]

Veilguard Rewrite Act One

Signs & Portends

Chapter One: Tevinter Nights

Strange magics awaken across Thedas and the Divine suspects the Dreadwolf’s influence is at play. Desperate to stop Solas’ plan to tear down the Veil the Divine sends forces to Tevinter to stop him at all costs. The Inquisitor knows that if the Imperium suspects the South’s interference bloodshed will ensue. Hoping to stop this madness before it can begin the Inquisitor sends a party to thwart Solas’ plans before the Divine’s forces are discovered. Varric leads this party to Minrathous along with Rook his second in command to find their missing contact Neve Gallus.

After getting her location from the Tavern they were meant to meet her in they find the detective in the grasps of the Venatori amidst a Black Market Auction. The Auction is selling an artifact that Solas’ agents have been attempting to track down. Stealing into the vaults the crew finds many strange artifacts here being stored here including an Eluvian and the Red Lyrium idol. Varric is disturbed to find it or to think what Solas might do with it but before they can explain they are joined by others seeking the idol. In the vaults they are joined by a group of Venatori led by Calpernia and Solas’ agents. As this stand-off for the idol breaks into a fight, Reva, Solas’ second-in-command, summons the Dreadwolf to their aid. Solas arrives through the Eluvian and quickly begins taking out most of the Venatori and Rook’s team.

Thinking on their feet, Rook begins recklessly activating and destroying the magical items that fill the vault at random to mask their escape. As Rook, Varric, Neve, and Harding escape through the sewers we see a shadow of the Dreadwolf stretch across the vaults wall with the sounds of fighting echoing.

*Insert Veilguard title card here*

Chapter Two: Plan B

The destruction Rook causes allows Calpernia to escape as well putting them in another stand-off in an alleyway which is quickly dispersed by guards who are searching for them. They part escaping into the night. After fleeing through the streets of Minrathous that are now on high alert the group reaches a safehouse, also known as Neve Gallus’ apartment. In the hideout the remaining crew argues over what to do next. Neve points out that they should get back to the investigation as soon as possible while Solas’ trail is still hot. Harding believes they should report back to the Inquisitor first to give them this new information. Varric tells them to figure out the next move while he goes to find them transportation out of Tevinter leaving the choice to Rook.

The Smuggled Relic Case

Neve leads the party to Dock Town to meet the Shadow Dragons, a secret resistance group in Tevinter, for leads. Though Tarquin and The Viper have no leads on Solas they do tell Rook about a wave of slave rebellions and Venatori moving Lyrium artifacts through Dock Town. Given Solas’ previous patterns of behavior, Neve deduces that the slave uprisings are his doing. Given which Magister’s he’s hitting he must be looking for someone who knows a thing or two about Lyrium. Using a shard the Shadow Dragons give them they track the artifacts to the home of Albin Bataris, the son of a magister who has fallen in with Venatori cultists. They arrive to find Solas’ agents sneaking in through another entrance while Albin Bataris begins a blood ritual. Rook can decide to interrupt the Blood Ritual or intercept the agents.

If Rook interrupts the ritual the enslaved people that they free will ask Rook if they are with the Dreadwolf and will inform the party that Solas has been instructing those he free to travel to Arlathan forest to find a secret hiding place. If Rook intercepts Solas’ agents they will meet Reva, Solas’ ruthless second in command. They are here for a mysterious spell scroll that will aid in the plan to tear down the Veil. Though the team is too late they will find several missives in Bataris’s office that will give the crew more information on Venatori movements. They have supposedly been communing with Lusacan one of The Old Gods and following instructions to weaken the Veil through blood rituals.

Supernatural Aid

Harding brings the crew to report in with Charter an Inquisition agent. However when they arrive they find Morrigan alongside the spy. The witch’s presence alarms Harding because it means something has gone very wrong. Morrigan informs the group that The Inquisition is currently investigating what may be the start of another Blight. The Darkspawn have begun to appear where the Veil is thin. They suspect this may be the result of Solas’ meddling and remind the group of their mission’s urgency.

Rook reminds Morrigan that he’s not in charge of this mission. She replies by pointing out that Varric is not the one here and that Rook was made second in command for their penchant for daring exploits and bold plans which they now need more than ever.

Morrigan instructs Rook to seek out the Veil Jumpers in Arlathan Forest who are experts in ancient Elvhen artifacts and may have idea as to how the Lyrium Idol is connected to the Veil.

If Morrigan’s Ritual was preformed in Origins she will send her son, Keiran, with the party as a conditional Mage companion.

Away from Rook and the rest of the Veilguard we see Reva (she/they) step through an Eluvian to report back to Solas. While Solas preforms the spell to cleanse the dagger she urges Solas to allow them to take Varric & Rook off the board as a threat. Solas ignores their warnings and Reva warns him of sentimentality. He dismisses her instructing them to calling back Ishmael and their other agents in the crossroads. When Reva asks what Solas will do he is evasive something that clearly bothers the other elf but they acquiesce to their leaders request.

Chapter Three: The Dumat

Now with a new direction the team will rendezvous with Varric who has been arranging transportation for the team. Ringing in a favor from Isabella, Varric gets them passage on The Dumat, an old Lord of Fortune vessel that was stolen from the Antaam many years ago. The ship is a fixer upper but will act as the Veilguard’s home base for the first half of the game.

Chapter Four: In Entropy’s Grasp

They arrive from the sea to Arlathan Forest to find Strife and Irelin dealing with ancient magic welling up and Veil Jumpers going missing. They tell the Veilguard that the person who might be able to help them with their Red Lyrium artifact is Bellara Luttare who is one of the many Veil Jumpers who are missing. Rook & Varric split the party to go search for Bellara.

Rook finds Bellara who is eager to help but informs them that they are trapped in a Veil Bubble. A distortion of time caused by an artifact affecting the Veil nearby. After finding the artifact, The Nadas Dirthalen, and disactivating it the team manages to exit the Veil Bubble safely and into the night beyond.

Chapter Five: The End of the Beginning

They escape the Veil bubble to find they have spent too much time caught in its grasp. They find Solas already beginning his ritual in Arlathan Forest. They rush to find Varric and the others while the sky tears open. Reunited the group travels into Solas’ secret hideout that is eerily empty before coming out the other side to find the ritual site which Solas has been hiding in a veil bubble of his own.

The party fights through groups of spirits who seem loyal to Solas and his cause. Left with few other options, Varric attempts to talk Solas down one last time while Rook and the others keeps Spirits and Demons alike off his back. When the conversation takes a turn for the worse, Rook uses Varric’s distraction to their advantage. Taking a companion to knock over one of the Ritual statues Rook successfully interrupts Solas ritual. Meanwhile, the two old friends fight over the ritual dagger which results in Solas stabbing Varric. Before Solas can regain control of the ritual something escapes.

In an act of desperation Solas activates a spell that blasts them all back and knocks Rook out.

Rook finds themselves in a strange stark part of the Fade where they are met with Solas’ voice. Solas furious about Rook’s interruption begins to warn Rook about the dire consequences of what they’ve done. In the process of tearing down the Veil he was attempting to move the other Evanuris that he trapped away into a better prison— the one that they are in now. The two argue and pass blame while Solas tells Rook their interruption has bound them to The Fade. Rook refuses to hear any of this and attempts to wake up. Solas is doubtful of this but Rook strains against the magic of the Fade, finally waking up when they hear Varric call their name.

[silverhalla]

obsessed with how the other backgrounds are like “you had a little oopsie moment with your faction so you’re temporarily benched” and then mourn watch is like “what if this LITTLE ORPHANED BABY!!!! was left IN A TOMB!!!!! to be DISCOVERED BY UNDEAD???? and then RAISED (collectively??) BY NECROMANCERS!!!!!!, only to be taken down by THE NECROPOLIS’ SCARIEST DANGER: BUREAUCRACY”

normalest protagonist in all of thedas tbh

[wanderingibon]

after the battle

[saanphoenix]

*clears throat*

If Mythal called Solas to form a body, binding himself to it and under her service--because he used to have her vallaslin, as well--then have any with the thought, "The Mythal angle should never have worked," not remembered the spirit of Wisdom from Inquisition that only returned to itself after it was freed from the service of those that summoned it for the wrong purpose?

There is a very good reason, "I free you from my service," works, actually.

[drakorn]

Rewriting Veilguard Part 2 - The Shadow Dragons

Rewriting Veilguard Part 1 - The World State

Disclaimer: I don't hate the game, I actually think it's quite great given the development hell Bioware went through in those 10 years. This is more of a hypothetical universe where there was less of that behind the scenes drama. Just a fun writing exercise.

Writing an Origin Story Mission for the Shadow Dragons

Now that we have dealt with our World State, it’s time to pick Rook’s background. When I first learned that there would be six factions to choose from, I was honestly very ecstatic. You’re telling me we’re getting six different origin stories for Rook? Did BioWare finally listen to the fans’ wish to get one more game with DAO-style prologue missions before the big main plot begins? Then I learned that six of the companions you meet would represent one of those respective factions, and I was like “Amazing, so you will definitely have one party member with whom you can at least align interests and goals from the start.”

What we ended up getting was…sort of something in the middle. Your backstory is brought up and you get quite a lot of unique dialogue regarding your faction. If you’re a Shadow Dragon, there’s a lot of Minrathous dialogue tailored to you specifically. If you’re a Grey Warden, you’re having an absolute field day whenever the Blight is involved, which is…a huge chunk of the game.

But there was…something missing for me. You see, when we start the game, we’re immediately thrown into this epic mission where Rook, Varric, and Harding find Neve and race to stop Solas. It feels very much like we’re starting somewhere in the middle rather than at the beginning. And that, in my humble opinion, is due to the lack of a unique origin story that you can actually play through. So, here’s what the next few parts of this hypothetical rewrite of Veilguard will focus on: creating six unique playable origin stories that would very much be doable without the vampiric leech known as “development hell” hovering over you. This post will focus solely on the Shadow Dragon origin story, so stay tuned for the others. I’m aware of how long it might take between posts, but I want to make sure I do this the right way.

Creating Rook

We start the game, which immediately kicks off Varric’s opening narration. But instead of Varric talking about Solas immediately, we’re gonna set the stage for the general state of Northern Thedas: with the South experiencing a few years of relative peace, the North is a wholly different story: Tevinter and the Qunari have engaged in a bloody and brutal all-out war, the Grey Wardens are growing more reclusive, strange reality warping occurs in Arlathan Forest, a part of the Antaam broke off and is now occupying Antiva and Rivain, strange whispers arise from the Grand Necropolis, basically, everything is in chaos. But Varric is certain that one person is the key to all this. Cue the distant howling of a wolf and six red eyes. Cut to black.

Now we get to customise Rook and choose our faction. As the title of this post suggests, we’re taking the Shadow Dragon route. The backstory text, however, is going to be different to the one we get in DAV. You see, when reading through those backstories, I got the feeling that all of them sounded like outlines for what could have been the origin story quest. I am actually 100% confident that BioWare planned on including prologue missions at one point but had to scrap them due to development hell reasons. And all of the six summaries essentially boil down to “you upset some higher authority and now your faction wants you out of the spotlight.” All the choices regarding Rook’s personality have already been made for us. Playing this actual backstory allows us to roleplay in a roleplaying game, which…shocking, I know, but here me out. Instead, the origin text we get when we click on the Shadow Dragons is simply going to be:

“You are a Shadow Dragon. This underground resistance opposes corrupt rulers and slavery in Tevinter. Coming from all walks of life, they are determined to bring justice to the people. As a member of House Mercar, a renowned Soporati family renowned on the battlefield against the Antaam, you have much influence to bring, and much to lose.”

That’s just the small little snippet we see when hovering over the option. But that’s all we’re gonna get for now. There is no mention yet of Rook’s personality as we’ll get to shape it ourselves a little bit. So, we customise our Rook, finalise our massive World State, and click on the play button at last.

Varric’s narration continues, just like in DAV, but this time, he’s going to give us our chosen faction’s backstory. We get a recap on how Dorian and Maevaris founded the Lucerni shortly after the war with Corypheus and how much of a ray of hope this group was in the twisted and corrupt society of the Tevinter Imperium. But then, some of the more powerful magisters began to heavily push against them, eventually leading to Maevaris being framed for treason and losing her seat in the Magisterium. She took all the blame on herself so that Dorian would be able to retain a spotless reputation and continue their work on the great political stage. Maevaris took the remaining Lucerni underground and formed the Shadow Dragons, continuing their work under a different name. Now unbound by political restrictions, the Shadow Dragons are free to take more radical measures in their fight against oppression and slavery. And Varric is confident that the perfect candidate to go against the bigger threat can be found in this group.

The Shadow Lair

Our story begins in Minrathous, in the underground base of the Shadow Dragons. And right off the bat, we’re making a change regarding said base’s location. In DAV, it stands in a random building somewhere in Dock Town that pretty much anyone could access. I get that they were probably going for the “hide in plain sight” approach, but let’s actually have some fun here.

In this rewrite, the Shadow Dragons are literally operating from the underground. Now, Minrathous’ underground system has two things that are very beneficial for a secretive rebellious organisation:

Vast catacombs. The catacombs of Minrathous are so massive that they can store food to survive years of siege. Minrathous, like so many cities and settlements in Tevinter, is built on the bones of Elvhenan. You can easily get lost in those catacombs.

Gigantic sewers. The sewers are arguably even more treacherous than the catacombs, because we have seen in Tevinter Nights what can lurk there. Imagine the sewers of the greatest city in the world, the greatest magical city in the world. Surely it comes with its own set of urban legends akin to the sewer gator. But in a city like Minrathous, those legends are probably true. Failed magical experiments, lyrium-infused mutations, abominations of former mages who failed some twisted blood magic experiment, possessed objects; all this can be found in Minrathous’ sewers. Dangerous for everyone, and therefore perfect for the Shadow Dragons.

The Shadow Dragons operate from a place called "The Shadow Lair”, a section of an underground district known simply as “The Undercity”. That’s where all the poor and forgotten retreat if they wish to disappear from the world, or criminals who flee the Imperium’s justice system. A dangerous but also perfect place.

NOTE: For the duration of the prologue, Rook will be referred to by the name of Mercar, as “Rook” is the name they give themselves after disappearing from the scene.

Depending on what race Mercar is, the stakes vary:

If Mercar is a human, they are the direct heir of House Mercar, destined to take over the family name one day. If Mercar is a human mage, they are currently in the process of getting their family appointed to Laetan status, which will give them more political power and influence.

If Mercar is a dwarf, they are an adopted scion of House Mercar.

If Mercar is an elf or a qunari, they are an official slave of House Mercar, but it’s made pretty clear in the beginning that House Mercar’s slaves are slaves in name only, while actually being more akin to paid servants. House Mercar simply refers to them as slaves to stay under the Magisterium’s radar and actually uses them to pass on information to the Shadow Dragons.

I was personally disappointed that DAV didn’t really touch on Tevinter’s slavery system. It felt a bit like I was treated with kid gloves and not given the trust to being able to handle dark topics. But Tevinter, as has been established in all DA media before DAV, is a pretty dark place for anyone who isn’t a human mage. And it’s important to depict that as it shows the stakes and just how rotten of a society the Imperium is. We need to see what the Shadow Dragons are actually fighting for. It’s not enough to just tell us how much a freedom fighter group we are, no, we need to see it.

Meeting the Leaders of the Shadow Dragons

For the sake of this playthrough, our Mercar is going to be a human mage, and thus not only the direct heir to the house but also one who can elevate it to Laetan status. We have a lot to lose, so we must be extra careful in this precarious situation.

So Mercar meets with the leaders of the Shadow Dragons, namely Maevaris and the Viper. From this conversation, we get the general gist of what’s about to happen and why we are here: House Mercar decided to get a bit more involved with the Shadow Dragons after both parties discovered a massive plot for something big involving Minrathous’ vast slave population. Whatever it is, it’s happening somewhere in Dock Town, and we are to rendezvous with Neve Gallus, a local and renowned detective, to get to the bottom of this.

Exploring the Shadow Lair

After the conversation, we get to have a quick look around the Shadow Lair, where we can instigate a small series of encounters:

We can talk to Maevaris some more and learn about her past and her motivation behind what used to be the Lucerni.

We can talk to the Viper and learn more about him, how he’s usually running operations and that he’s from an Altus house. But that’s about everything you can learn about him at this point in time.

We can meet Lorelei and learn about her being one of the city elves Loghain sold to Tevinter all the way back in DAO. She will give a few remarks on how the Hero of Ferelden dealt with the Alienage and how she and Alistair made it a more just place.

NOTE: For this rewrite’s hypothetical playthrough, the Hero of Ferelden is a Human Noble who romanced Alistair and became Queen of Ferelden. She is now searching for a cure for the Calling.

We can have a bit of a look at the Undercity and just see how much of a poor and dark place it is. This is the gutter, no, this is below the gutter. The people here wish to disappear. They are miserable, most of them have given up hope. The Shadow Dragons are the only ones who actually care about them.

Since the Undercity is below modern Minrathous, we can see traces of ancient elven architecture on display, including mosaics and frescoes.

An Old Friend

Just as we’re about to leave for Dock Town, a familiar face strides into the Shadow Lair: Varric Tethras. Yes, we actually get to see Rook’s first meeting with Varric here! Maevaris greets and introduces him to us (and we actually get to know that Varric and Maevaris are family, which DAV kind of glossed over, thank you very much). Mercar gets to have a first chat with Varric, where he assess our personality. This vibe check is what allows us to determine Rook’s general personality: are we diplomatic, humorous, or aggressive? I fully get that Varric wouldn’t pick an evil person to fight against Solas, but we should still have some kind of roleplay room regarding Rook’s way of thinking and speaking.

Varric’s purpose in these prologues is very similar to Duncan’s in DAO. He’s the one who recruits you into the larger fight and acts as a mentor figure for a while. I was actually fully expecting that to be the case in the actual game when we were told that Varric recruits Rook into the fight against Solas. Well, he did, but I would have liked to see it! Alas, we shall do so here!

Varric stays behind in the Shadow Lair while we go off and do our thing.

Entering Dock Town

Dock Town is pretty much right above the Undercity, the gutter above the actual gutter. The entrance to the Shadow Lair is quite hidden with enchantments, known only to Shadow Dragons and their associates.

Dock Town is going to stay pretty much exactly as we see it in the game. If there is one place in Minrathous where everyone could mingle without being necessarily immediately prosecuted, it’s that place (which is probably why that’s the only part of Minrathous we see in the game, but I digress). However, there will be one major change: slavery is still a thing.

Dock Town is…well…a place where ships dock. That includes ships of slave traders and prisoners of war. In this rewrite, Tevinter is still locked into a war with the Qunari, so there will be a lot of that reflected in the environment. As we walk through Dock Town, we see guards on high alert, slaves and prisoners being led away in chains. We’re doing some important environmental storytelling here that lets us know exactly why Tevinter is a place that needs to be liberated and changed so desperately.

Meeting Neve Gallus

We find Neve Gallus at the Cobbled Swan. Depending on dialogue choices, we might or might not have heard of her up to this point. I think it would be fun if Mercar could geek out about her because he read some sensationalist tabloid about one of her cases.

So Neve tells us that a huge part of Dock Town was closed off for a great event, a former small coliseum that hasn’t been used in decades. Coincidentally, several unpurchased slaves and prisoners of war are being dragged into that area.

Neve has a good lead to assume that the Venatori are somehow behind this because of course they are. Neve gives us a recap on what the Venatori are and how she had multiple run-ins with them already. She is to be absolutely certain that Mercar can be trusted as they will need to work together on this. In response, Mercar shares his side of the information, that his father, Charon Mercar, who is also a respected Legatus in this rewrite, oversaw a strange pattern in how many prisoners of war and masterless slaves, primarily from places like Ventus and Carastes, Qunari-conquered cities, have simply disappeared, and how surprisingly many military vessels have been transferred to Minrathous. Since Neve is a detective, it’s fun to make this part of the journey feel a bit like a crime mystery.

Once all information has been shared, Neve declares that it’s time to go.

Approaching the Coliseum

Neve takes us across Dock Town’s roofs towards the closed-off area of the coliseum. There, we see just how massively guarded it is. The official excuse for all this is a military training exercise. Horrifyingly, this is much closer to the truth than we realise. There are Imperial Templars and Legionnaires patrolling the outskirts, so we have to find our way in.

Neve directs us to a secret hiding spot, where we meet Tarquin, who is, as we know, an Imperial Templar working for the Shadow Dragons. Not even he knows exactly what’s happening, but something definitely big is going on.

There are two options before us: do we sneak in from above and observe from the shadows, or do we disguise ourselves as templars and participate in a more open manner? This right here gives us another choice regarding Mercar’s way of doing things. Are we feeling confident enough to just walk in and hide in plain sight? Or do we take the stealthy approach? While Neve is all for stealth, Tarquin prefers the closer look. So a first major choice presents itself:

Follow Neve and observe the proceedings from above, quietly gathering the information you need.

Follow Tarquin and disguise yourself as an attendant, getting a much closer look at the proceedings.

So I’m feeling a little brave right now. I think my Mercar would try to do the bold approach to get better results, even if it means a higher risk. For this playthrough, I’m choosing to follow Tarquin and let myself be disguised. Neve begrudgingly follows along.

Entering the Coliseum

A few minutes later, Mercar, Neve, and Tarquin approach the Coliseum gates in disguise. Tarquin wears his Templar armour, while Mercar and Neve are dressed as mages of the Legion.

Once we enter the arena, we have the chance to explore it for a little while. Doing so allows us to encounter the following:

We can have an early chat with Magister Zara Renata, who will, of course, be very relevant later, along with her lackeys Felicia and Calivan, all of whom are prominent members of the Venatori. Neve is able to make that connection due to Felicia’s brother Livius having so notoriously attempted to corrupt the Wardens at Adamant Fortress in DAI.

We may encounter Magister Bataris, alongside his son Albin and get early hints of just how far the Venatori corruption runs.

If we make a good enough persuasion attempt at the Templar Captain guarding the entrance to a basement, we shall enter it and discover the prisoners and slaves intended for some heinous affair. Here, and only here, if we perform this correct dialogue choice, and being a human mage, unfortunately, certainly helps here, we get to see that our father, Charon Mercar, is among the imprisoned. And the worst of it all? He doesn’t even recognise you. Actually none of the slaves and prisoners react in any way, as all of them seem to be under some sort of spell. As we look closer, we can see that all of them have strange spiked collars around their necks, filled with blood. This is blood magic that keeps them entranced. If we want to risk it, we have time to break our father’s collar and ensure that perhaps, he can escape. So we do just that.

The Imperator

Following our exploration of the Coliseum, we get streamed into a crowd of onlookers as the Imperator of Tevinter’s legions, the Supreme Legatus himself, Magister Aemilianus Laskaris, enters the centre of the arena.

We know from DAV that Tevinter has an Imperator, and the Imperator is not the same as the Archon in this context. While the Archon is the overall ruler, the Imperator is the highest military commander. Think of this guy as Tevinter’s version of Loghain. Laskaris also happens to be one of the loudest voices responsible for forcing the Lucerni out of the Magisterium.

Laskaris delivers a speech in which he proclaims just how bad Tevinter is faring against the Antaam. Here we get some early insight into the fact that a large chunk of the Qunari army broke off and is now bearing down on Antiva and Rivain. However, a large part of it remained and is following the Arishok into battle against the Imperium. And even against this broken Antaam, the Legions are starting to fail.

Laskaris cites lost cities such as Ventus, Carastes, and Neromenian as evidence for the desperate situation Tevinter is now facing. Therefore, something must be done. Something drastic. He presents, to the gathered onlookers, the Salvatio Initiative. Basically, all unpurchased slaves and prisoners of war are to be given to Tevinter’s legions, where Laskaris and the Legates serving under him will perform blood magic rituals to turn them into mindless but ravaging soldiers against the Antaam. Dangerous cannon fodder essentially. He will use tonight’s demonstration to convince the gathered members of the Magisterium to pass a law that will officially permit Tevinter’s legions to use blood magic. Well, we know, Tevinter has always used blood magic behind closed doors, but this will mean that all safety measures are off, all precautions, all careful attempts at hiding it. And the worst part is: since slaves are considered nothing but tools, it won’t even be seen as unethical by the large portion of conservative Senate members. And prisoners of war? Qunari? Who cares about them anyway, right? This is the darkness and true corruption permeating Tevinter. This is exactly why the Shadow Dragons exist to bring back the light.

Several doors open and Laskaris directs all slaves and prisoners to be brought forth.  They are all wearing the blood collars. Upon the Imperator’s command, him and several blood mages under his leadership, activate the blood collars and turn the slaves and prisoners into an absolute frenzy. A battle erupts in which the sheer destructive power of the now-mindless fighters is demonstrated.

Mercar now has a choice to make, and it is the biggest one there is in the prologue:

Do we stealthily fight the blood mages and try to rescue the innocent mind-controlled people without blowing our cover? You do, however, risk your father dying.

Do we rush in headfirst and fight Laskaris head-on, saving your father but maybe dooming more innocents and risking exposure?

Do we put our personal emotional interest above the greater good or vice versa? Well, because we broke our father’s collar earlier, we can at least assume that he’s going to be able to fight for himself with a clear head, so let’s focus on the blood mages in a stealthy manner.

Neve and Tarquin quickly take us behind the scenes as the crowd watchers in apt interest. There are five blood mages, including Laskaris, who need to be dealt with. Neve takes one half, Tarquin the other, while you have a go at Laskaris himself. You are masked so he won’t know it’s you.

While Neve and Tarquin successfully dismantle two blood mages each, we sneak right up to Laskaris and try to either knock him out or backstab him altogether. This results in the same outcome but tells a lot about Mercar’s personality. Do we kill this guy and end it now? Or do we try and incapacitate him so that he can still be of use for the future?

Regardless, Laskaris sees it coming and engages in a boss battle against us. It’s a tough battle, one that we are logically meant to lose. If we get Laskaris down to 0HP, miraculously so unless we play on Storyteller mode, the cutscene will slightly change but the outcome remains largely the same.

Laskaris lashes out and wounds us, causing us to fall down, bleeding, losing our mask, exposing ourselves to Laskaris, while the slaves and prisoners stage a mad revolt around us, forcing the gathered magisters to flee the scene. But because we freed our father from his collar, he comes rushing in to save us, engaging Laskaris in a one-on-one duel. Despite “only” being Soporati, he puts up quite a fight with his huge two-hander. We want to help him, desperately so, but we are just too weak. Laskaris is impressed by Charon’s strength, but ultimately, deals him a mortal wound. Just before Laskaris turns to finish us off, he is struck in the shoulder by…Bianca!

Varric steps into the fray and fires off a row of bolts against the Imperator, allowing Neve and Tarquin to take us away as we pass out. As they do so, the Viper appears and casts a spell that shrouds the whole arena in fog.

Back at the Shadow Lair

We awaken in the Shadow Lair and are greeted by Varric. It turns out that he was using this whole mission to assess us from the background, to determine if we are the one he’s looking for. And he decides that, yes, we are. Laskaris, the Venatori, all of this is just one puzzle piece of something much greater. We can press Varric on what this could possibly be, but he won't tell us just yet. Instead, he tells us that we should disappear. And he might just be able to help with that. We can be incredibly outrageous about this. I just discovered the biggest plot to endanger slaves ever since the Magister Sidereal tore open the Veil to reach the Golden City! I can’t just leave right now to pursue something I don't even know about!

At this point, Maevaris joins us and agrees that Mercar has to disappear for a while, now that Laskaris knows who we are. We can’t be seen with the Shadow Dragons for the time being. Doing so would just endanger the whole cause.

Reluctantly or readily, that depends on our personality, we concede that there is sense in Varric’s words. Varric advises us to adopt a codename as well, like so many agents of the Inquisition did back in the day. Mercar thinks for a moment, reflects on the most recent events, and decides on “Rook”. Varric approves. “The strongest piece on the chessboard, I like it.”

Afterwards we get a final chance to talk to the members of the Shadow Dragons before we depart, and get a last look at the Undercity. Neve returns to Dock Town to keep an eye on Laskaris and the slave rings, as well as search for any Venatori ties.

What follows is a cutscene where Rook and Varric depart the Shadow Lair and leave Minrathous altogether. One last time, Rook looks at the city he swore to fight for, then turns around and follows Varric into the unknown.

And that’s as far as we’ll go today! I hope you enjoyed my little hypothetical take on a potential Shadow Dragon origin mission. Of course, not everything is refined and perfect, but I hope you still got the overall gist of what I was going for! Next time, we shall focus on a potential prologue for the Grey Wardens! Stay tuned!

Rewriting Veilguard Part 3 - The Grey Wardens

[mohntilyet]

more than anything in the world it kills me that illario did not do the easier thing, which would be to kill caterina. and i think that’s of course largely to do with lucanis. a world where he kills lucanis is fine because he doesn't think caterina was ever going to love him anyway. a world where he kills caterina, he loses lucanis too.

[smallmightsfantastictwink]

Okay okay okay I’m sorry I gotta climb on my soap box here real quick

LUCANIS X SHADOW DRAGON ROOK IS SUPERIOR.

Okay I know what you’re about to say: Crow Rook x Lucanis fucks and yeah it is cute bc they have a shared background. But consider this:

Lucanis loves his family and being a Crow BUT I kept having this feeling that he’s also wanted to know what life is like outside of that bubble. And in comes Rook, a Shadow Dragon who’s a little impulsive but desperately passionate about their city and protecting people. Specifically when I played Lucanis was introduced to a person with chaotic good morals, someone who was willing to do anything to keep their people safe and stand up for those who couldn’t stand up for themselves.

Rook chooses Treviso over Minrathous not because they’re dickmatized but because they see a city with no defenses and no way to fend off a dragon and choose protecting a city of people who’ve seen devastation and occupation already and can’t protect themselves from a massive Blighted dragon. They trust the Minrathous guard, the Shadow Dragons, and Neve to have that ability for Minrathous. Lucanis sees someone who sacrifices their love for their own city to stand up for one that can’t for itself.

Lucanis can introduce Rook to his world, to his family and people and city that he loves so dearly. Rook can fall in love with Treviso and the Crows and still love their own city and in turn show Lucanis a life outside being a Crow. Lucanis gets to share the novelty of coffee and camaraderie of a city bonded through shared trauma.

And then there’s Caterina; who loves her grandson so fiercely and before she can even see him alive again she’s kidnapped. When she finally does see him again he’s beside someone who loves him just as much as she does, someone new to their world but embraces it without a second thought.

And Viago and Teia, who’ve probably killed Venatori and Shadow Dragon alike. They meet a person so dedicated to protecting the world they’d sacrifice everything except Lucanis. And they become a family, because if Lucanis can love this person so unconditionally, they can too, without a second thought.

And in the end, there’s a world where the Venatori are on the ropes, where the Shadow Dragons have pushed them out and they’re rebuilding. Dorian Pavus is the Archon and he won’t stand for anything but a free Minrathous. Rook has work to do there but it’s limited. And when it’s finished they step through that Eluvian into the Diamond, they walk right into Lucanis’ arms, and take up the role of the First Talon’s anchor. They take contracts that topple regimes built on the backs of others. They keep house for Lucanis- who, let’s be real, there’s no world where that man can maintain house AND the Crows (considering his comment where he’s like “they want to know how I want to decorate the Villa,” with the air of someone who has no fucking clue what that means, I’m fully onboard the Rook takes on the administrative and domestic aspects of being First Talon train, change my mind you won’t).

Anyways I live in this beautiful world and you should too!

[hellamorte]

do you ever think about how lucanis keeps losing and losing and losing — his entire life? losing his parents, losing his childhood because of the crow training, losing his freedom, his sleep, and one year of his life due to imprisonment. then the maker smiles upon him, and he's discovering something good (rook, the veilguard team, purpose), acquiring something back (his family, his life, his freedom, his job, his city), finding some peace in mundane things (coffee, cooking, taking care of others). it feels like the scales are finally moving, balancing — only for him to lose again. he loses caterina, he can lose his city to blight, he loses at weisshaupt, he loses grip on himself (thanks to spite), he loses control — he loses himself, piece by piece. rook can help lighten the load on his chest (thanks to spite), he gets caterina back, and breathing feels a little bit easier. but loss is not done with him. he loses illario, and it feels like losing a limb, a large piece of himself violently torn away. he's visibly shaken, but no one truly knows what it takes to string the assorted pieces of himself together and keep functioning. and then loss deals what seems like the final blow: some of his friends are dead or lost, and rook is gone, too. he failed; he only knows death, doesn't he? life only takes, and takes, and takes, giving only to tease and take it back. at that moment, he's falling apart completely — until they find rook, and there's a sliver of hope once again. the scales are moving, the team wins, they eventually go back to their lives — and that's when he realizes that the final blow is the life as the first talon.

[ruushes]

i don't think it would've worked for the game but as a narrative concept it would be fun to think abt veilguard with harding as the protagonist. like it's just her and varric and then suddenly it's just her, the leader now after being the scout for so long, straining her reflex to people please trying to balance a team full of very different and frequently conflicting (in my beautiful mind creation if not in the actual game) personalities, dealing with her new powers and the anger and hurt she now feels but doesn't understand, having dreams for the first time and solas is in some of them (horrible)

then something something the personifiction of the titans' rage facing down those responsible for their suffering and figuring out how to live in the wake of it all...!

[theesteppenwolf]

Some thoughts on Inner Demons

So i have been thinking about this and i do actually like the idea that Lucanis can't have Rook exist in his mind prison because it fucks up his entire inner narrative of basically just self flagellation. "If rook exists then at some point i have to get out" so just delete rook from the scenario. I think that's really good.

However, i think it would've been better if a part of Lucanis actually was trying to get out, at least involuntarily, and that Rook was the personification of that idea, constantly trying to break himself out but ultimately failing. So ''Rook'' exists somewhere in there but is heavily suppressed. That's why Spite seeks real life Rook out. Not to mention that even if not romanced Rook is pretty much the closest person he has at that point, his only other true friend he's had beside Illario so it makes even more sense for them to be this comforting idea he just can't accept fully.

So you see glimpses of Rook, the sound of their voice, or maybe more notes about them, especially if you are romancing him it seems like a big waste of an opportunity to not utilize Rook for a bigger showing of his inner struggle and fear to try and live some kind of life.

The Neve thing is a bit weird when romancing him, i do understand this complaint and the way Spite phrases it does come off as romantic interest specific to her. I think Neve should absolutely stay as both her and Lucanis seem like good friends regardless of romance but it would've been been better (if the player is romancing Lucanis) for Neve to maybe use Lucanis' feelings for Rook against them here. Implying guilt about Rook, leading them on etc. rather than make it specifically about Neve.

There are plenty of little things like this that would make the quest a bit more impactful overall because this is a pretty short quest for something that is essentially meant to be a psychological deep dive into Lucanis. Just more notes and those reworked Neve lines would make it more way more immersive to the player.

In my opinion this should've been a way bigger and more important part of his personal quest, i think they should've really leaned into the whole ''fighting to get him out of his own head'' idea. Adding things like Lucanis' actual memories of Caterina as the abuser she was and moments of genuine brotherly love Lucanis has for Illario. It would've also made up for the fact that you don't learn anything very personal about him the entire game.

Listen, I have whole rewrites to how his personal quest should've gone, it's really my roman empire at this point. This quest is such a good way for Rook to get real vulnerability from him that wouldn't've shown up in real life due to his introverted and closed off nature.

Again my conclusion of Lucanis being a very scraped up character continues as i find my ideas to be pretty easy to come up with implementations for the kind of thing they are trying to pull of in this specific mission.

But oh well, so it goes. Kind of got rambly for a minute there, thank you kindly for reading :P

[ode-to-fury]

Ooh in regards to my rewrite fic: what do we think about the idea of tieing hezenkoss into the nevarran political power struggle between the mortalitasi and the noble families (pentaghasts/i think the other one was the reinhardts or something like that?) like she's on the side of "the mortalitasi should rule nevarra" and thus wants to use lichdom to take over? Would that be anything?

[strawberry-halla]

ɪᴛ ꜱᴇᴇᴍꜱ ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴏʟᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴋᴇʏ ᴛᴏ ᴍʏ ᴏᴜʀ ꜱᴀʟᴠᴀᴛɪᴏɴ.

[aquamonstra]

I was explaining The Viper being the Black Divine to my roommate, how that's like if we found out that Bruce Wayne were specifically an abolitionist and ALSO THE POPE...

And now I'm getting all riled up again thinking about all of our previous game choices that didn't matter, because what if you had Leliana become Divine?

What if you specifically had HARDENED Leliana become Divine???

Because then we'd basically have BATMAN POPE OF THE NORTH and CATWOMAN POPE OF THE SOUTH!!!

[zundely]

I gotta admit this made me little mad. So yall are aware that explaining the whole methaphisics of your world is a mistake right? Especially when it means "explaining" an entire in game religion in a way that makes it "real" or "fake".

So how is it that when it comes to *check notes* every damn religion except for the christianity expy they did feel a need to explain it and left nothing to the imagination. Why is canonizing the "elven gods were evil colonising slavers" ok but when it's the Girlboss Christian Church it's suddenly off the table to make any definitive statements.

Why can't yall take your own advice sometimes and realise that shutting up can be very valuable part if writing.

[slushrottweiler]

As much as I enjoyed the "good" ending of Veilguard, I'll admit it doesn't quite fit my Lavellan's dynamic with Solas. She's just so... nice. So forgiving.

But my Lavellan is ANGRY. And I want Solas to grovel for her forgiveness.

She's so so angry and it hurts so much because she's been angry for years but she can't stop loving him. So I have come up with my own head canon.

It's a mix between the trick ending and the good ending, when Rook, Lavellan and the veilguard crew have to subdue Solas with the fake dagger and only when he claims that mortals can't judge him Lavellan goes, " Well fuck you I know who can" and summons Mythal with Morrigan.

We get the break down and Mythal showing him that he can be forgiven and that the crimes they committed are not on him alone, but declares that he must atone. So she sentences him to be bound to the Veil, to sooth the blight in the Fade as atonement. And he agrees to go.

But all the mortals are like " Ahhhh... we're just sending him away? What if he's lying. He's been lying this whole time."

So Lavellan says she will go. She will be his Jailor. And that's when Solas starts resisting. No, she can't come with him. Where he is going is terrible, he can't trap her with him. But my Lavellan is sick of Solas making decisions for her, sick of him thinking his way is the only way and he is always right. So she cuts herself with the dagger and is bound with him and he's sobbing while they're both dragged into the Fade.

And slowly, over time, whilst exploring the Fade and soothing the Blight; they fall in love all over again. Solas earns back her forgiveness and eventually her trust. They fight the darkest horrors together and he shows her the most beautiful parts of the Fade. And she sees him become that Wisdom spirit she fell in love with. Just better now. So they explore the Fade together, making the world a better place the right way.