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im-not-samantha-im-samanta · 1 year ago

Text

Request by: Anonymous

Hello!

To that lovely hon who's requested Loona with male vampire reader - I've not forgotten about you nor did I reject your request!!

Unfortunately, hon, your request (that was like half finished) was one of those that ended up being accidentally deleted (as mentioned in previous request I published), and so, I had to start again and rewrite the whole thing!

I'm really sorry for the long wait, hon! But I hope that what I came up with makes up for it. Also, I recall you asking for a male reader, but saying it can be gender neutral if I don't do male readers - well, don't worry, hon, male reader is absolutely accepted here! So, enjoy your Loona and male vampire reader! <3

The take I did on this request probably isn't what you had in mind, but I hope it's still enjoyable!

🩸🖤🐺 // Loona having a vampire boyfriend //🐺🖤🩸

___________________________________________

Type: Imagines

Settings: Romantic

Genre: Fluff, lighthearted

!TRIGGER WARNING!: I'd say mentions of typical Helluva boss stuff (demons, violence, etc), mentions of blood and its consumption, occasional swear words used, I tried to portray a relationship where there are cultural differences, that's probably all!

Sidenote: Reader is written as male as per request,

Sidenote: Reader is written as being around Loona's age (which is 22 if I remember correctly).

Sidenote: I feel like some of these might be a bit occ, I'm so bad at portraying characters, I'm so sorry

Sidenote: These feel kinda long, I might've gotten a little carried away (or maybe these are the usual length, I can't tell) - take it as an apology for the long wait,

That should be all,

Enjoy, <3

____________________________________________

Originally,

vampires were said to be demonic creatures,

evil spirits,

So, we'll go with that description,

and make the concept of vampires more fit for Helluva boss,

So, let's say that vampires are like...

a cousin species to demons,

(I'd say these vampires look a bit less human and more demonic-like),

(just imagining some Vivziepop twist to them, in design and lore, y'know?),

Yeah, that sounds good, no?

And maybe it's not that unusual to see a vampire prancing around hell?

Oh!

Maybe Hell's rings are a really popular destination for tourism and vacation for the vampire kind?

Oh!

And maybe for some more and unnecessary world building,

let's say vampires live in some sort of middle ground between the human world and hell,

and maybe let's call it...

the abode of the undead?

I think that's kinda cool?

Anyways!

Back to the story!

So, as I've said,

vampires like to visit hell's rings for tourism and vacation,

However,

That wasn't your case!

You weren't in hell for tourism or vacation,

you were in hell for college!

You've decided to go to college,

but not in your world,

Why?

I dunno,

That's up for you to decide,

Maybe you liked the idea of studying in a foreign land?

Or maybe you wanted to study a field only hell offers?

Who knows?

The options are endless!

So, you're free to make up the reasoning behind that decision, hon,

Anyways!

This decision of yours leads you to Blitzø,

Why?

For story reasonings,

obviously,

Oh-

I mean-

You obviously need some sort of accommodations for your stay,

And let's say,

for story reasonings,

that college dorms just aren't for you,

Maybe you can't imagine sharing a room with someone random you've never met before?

Or,

Maybe college dorms really aren't for you?

In the sense that college dorms in hell don't really accommodate to your needs as a vampire?

Maybe they don't even accommodate to any sort of needs of any kind of foreign students?

I'd say the colleges in the respective rings alone barely accommodate to the needs of students from different rings,

(students of those demon kinds that don't come from that specific ring),

(like colleges in Lust accommodating to the succubi/incubi kind only, etc),

So yeah,

college dorms are a no for you,

but you also can't afford to rent a flat,

Maybe you don't have any income yet?

And maybe your parents can't afford to rent you a flat?

Or maybe they can but they refuse to spend money on you?

Who knows?

That's up to you!

But anyways,

whatever the reason is,

it leads you to Blitzø,

Let's say that your parents and Blitzø have a vague history,

and he's considered a family friend,

Oh!

Maybe he even babysat you when you were little?

So, you staying at Blitzø's is clearly the choice,

And Blitzø has no problem with that,

After all,

how could he mind when he's not seen his favourite little rascal in such a long time?

You two have so much catching up to do!

So yeah,

he agrees,

And you can be glad Blitzø is so fond of you,

otherwise he would've told your parents to piss off,

After all,

he would never allow for some boy to share a living space with his dear Loony!

Fortunately, he likes you,

so, you get a free pass to be around Loona,

And not only that!

Blitzø also pretty much begs you try and get along with Loona,

The girl really needs a friend,

even if she'd deny it over and over again,

And Blitzø really trusts that you're a reasonable and kind young man,

(based on the memories he shares with child you),

and that you can help Loona feel less alone in the world,

And maybe it's because you don't have any friends in hell yet,

or maybe it's because you genuinely feel bad for Loona,

but you agree to try your best to befriend and support Loona,

It's the least you can do for Blitzø,

And now Loona!

Loona doesn't know about the agreement you have with Blitzø,

And it's better that way,

because if it were the other way around,

she would've hated your guts,

she'd seriously despise you,

I mean,

she still isn't happy with the fact you'll be around,

but at least she won't be wishing for you to choke on the blood you're sucking,

So, it's good that she doesn't know?

I guess?

Well, anyways,

more about Loona!

Loona has actually never met you before,

so, she is unsure of what to expect,

which is one of the reasons why your stay displeases her,

Loona doesn't like uncertainty,

not knowing where she stands in such situations really upsets her,

and it leaves her all tense, irritated and quick to bite,

(because being left uncertain about such situations secretly stresses her),

(and makes her feel vulnerable and unsafe),

It's something related to how she grew up,

always uncertain about everything around her,

leaving her feeling powerless and suspicious of everything and everyone,

with no place or person to make her feel safe,

always fearing for her life,

And sure,

Blitzø might've mentioned you at some point before all this,

but whatever that imp might've shared about you happened a long time ago,

from the times you were still a little kid,

so, it definitely couldn't have been something useful to ease Loona's mind,

It most probably would've been something along the lines of you being Blitzø's first parental experience,

his first time being responsible for a child,

When in reality it probably wasn't even all that big of a deal,

and he's most probably spent like three hours looking after you on specific occurrences,

and him being pretty much the last resort for babysitting your parents could think of,

Yeah,

So, even with that,

Loona doesn't know what to expect of you,

And the fact that you're a vampire doesn't help one bit,

because vampires are quite different from demons,

despite being cousin species,

so, there definitely are some cultural differences to look out for,

cultural differences that can definitely result in awkward interactions,

another thing Loona really doesn't fancy,

Oh,

and not to mention the amount of stereotypes and misconceptions about vampires!

Yeah,

Loona can already feel that this is not gonna end well,

And speaking of which!

The cultural differences between you and Loona,

it really does make your first meeting memorable...

It just so happens that Blitzø isn't present when you get to his place,

(he has some thing with Stolas going on or something),

and so it is up to Loona to give you a warm welcome,

And well...

it is awkward,

Loona is really indifferent towards you,

and your warm welcome is along the lines of:

"Oh, right... you're that vampire kid or whatever,"

And then she just stepped aside to let you in while giving more attention to her phone than you,

And well...

That's when it gets awkward,

when the cultural differences really show,

Because while Loona expectantly stands aside,

you, on the other hand, stand before the doorstep,

looking pretty awkward, embarrassed, uncomfortable and nervous,

And when Loona sees you make no move to step inside,

she immediately becomes a bit more hostile,

not really understanding or liking your "odd behavior",

it made her uncomfortable,

and that feeling of uncertainty of you and what to expect she's been dealing with got twice as worse,

And so,

you're met with a:

"Uh, hello? Are you coming in or do you plan on standing there like a fucking crackpot, and stare at me, making yourself look like an absolute moron all day?"

Yeah,

it is not really pleasant,

but it gets the situation to proceed,

much to both of yours relief,

After Loona's words,

you offer an awkward and nervous smile,

and you begin to explain your situation,

that situation being,

that in vampire culture you're not allowed to enter anyone's house if they don't verbally invite you in,

And sure,

you could walk in and not care,

but this is just a cultural thing that all vampires stick to,

with little to no exceptions,

And Loona's reaction?

"Oh,"

That's all she can say,

being all dumbfounded,

since out of all the reasons she thought you could give her to your odd behavior,

this explanation was not on the list,

She was expecting some really stupid excuse,

maybe even some kind of perverse one,

or even some dumb and embarrassing pick up line,

but not this,

The reason you give her is not stupid,

it is an actual reason that explains your actions,

and while Loona doesn't understand this cultural thing,

(and maybe she even finds it a little odd),

she respects it,

she doesn't judge you,

doesn't give you shit for it,

she accepts your reasoning without unnecessary nitpicking,

and she properly invites you in,

well,

as properly as she can,

"Well- uh- come on in then, I guess,"

After that interaction,

Loona feels like you might not be the worst kind of guy,

however,

first impressions can often be wrong,

and so,

she's still keeping you at arm's length,

and she's not exactly friendly just yet,

but she's not hostile all that much either,

she's just really indifferent,

You, on the other hand though,

you know what you've agreed on with Blitzø,

and so,

you're quite actively trying to get along with Loona,

which isn't hard since you think she's a really cool girl,

and you genuinely want to get to know her,

And Loona's not exactly rejecting your friendly advances either,

but you still choose your steps carefully,

and you don't rush things,

nor are you too intense,

not wanting to overwhelm Loona,

or make her feel uncomfortable or threatened,

and cause her to pull back and build up her walls again,

So,

during this period the two of you aren't really friends just yet,

but you don't mind co-existing,

and Loona doesn't deliberately leave the room when you come in,

and she actually allows for you to be in the same room as her,

and she lends you one of her ears to listen to you if you feel like talking,

sure, she doesn't give much input,

but she's clearly warming up to you,

And your relationship develops casually,

Loona getting more comfortable with sitting closer to you when you're watching tv together,

or just individually scrolling through social media,

she also starts showing you videos she comes across and finds funny,

or when she joins you on the couch in the living room, she asks what you two watching that day,

at some point she shares her favourite songs with you,

and she also eventually adds you on social media!

It's the little things that give away that you're on the right track in winning Loona over,

And sure,

she still doesn't share much about herself yet,

and she still is only ever half listening when you two are together,

most of her attention being held by her phone,

but you're getting there!

And that fact is proven by one certain incident,

(an incident the two of you now as a couple laugh at and think fondly of),

The two of you like to call it,

The big WGD incident,

Let me explain,

WGD stands for Where Gluttony Dwells,

And what is that?

Well, it's a really popular place to get a take-out from,

one that your friend from class recommended you,

However,

that friend kind of forgot you're a vampire...

or maybe it wasn't really a friend,

and maybe they deliberately recommended you this specific place,

Well,

whatever the reason,

and whether the intentions were good or bad,

that friend nearly ended up with their head bitten off by Loona,

Why?

Well,

Where Gluttony Dwells is a place that really likes to use garlic in their stuff,

like, really,

that place is literally known for their extreme use of garlic,

So yeah,

you can probably tell that this place is not too vampire friendly...

But,

you weren't really aware of that,

trusting your friend,

or friend,

and you ended up getting a takeout from that place,

and Loona nearly had a heart attack,

It went like:

"I got us a takeout,"

"Neat, what place?"

"Where Gluttony Dwells,"

"Cool,"

"..."

"Hold the fuck up-"

Let me tell you,

Loona's reflexes were never faster,

And you still remember the way Loona nearly broke your arm,

from how harshly she grabbed your arm,

just when you were about to shove a spoonful of the least vampire friendly meal right into your mouth,

The spoon with the meal successfully ended up on the ground,

and while you were dumbfounded,

Loona was yelling at you for being a dumbass,

asking you if you want to get your ass dead,

and many more things you can't even remember from how much stuff she yelled at you,

Back then it sure was one of an experience,

but an experience that brought you two closer,

because a week later,

this whole thing became a funny story you and Loona shared with everyone you knew,

Blitzø, Millie, Moxxie, Stolas, Octavia,

they all got to witness you two having the time of your lives sharing this experience with them,

both of you laughing and bickering,

you teasing Loona for caring,

Loona playfully shooting back and telling you to eat grass,

because she:

"couldn't care less,"

and she:

"just didn't wanna deal with a dead vampire,"

cuz she:

"heard they smell,"

And then you'd both burst out laughing when you'd tell everyone the best part,

of how after Loona stopped freaking out,

you told her garlic doesn't necessarily kill vampires,

that it's more like lactose intolerance,

where vampires just get unpleasant digestive issues after garlic consumption,

and only extreme cases of garlic intolerance can be life threatening to unfortunate vampires,

It was the most warm and genuine moment you two shared back then,

And Blitzø couldn't be happier for Loona,

but that really wasn't where things ended between you and Loona,

because the WGD incident really did push the two of you to the right direction,

And pretty quick,

you and Loona were an inseparable duo,

that kind of duo where it's odd when you see the pair apart,

And, of course,

pretty soon, the inseparable friend duo became an inseparable couple,

The change happened subtly and naturally,

and you and Loona were basically dating for months before actually making it somewhat official,

And your 'making it official' was pretty much Loona sending you a Sinstagram video,

with the caption:

"Which cute animal reminds you of your boyfriend?"

Followed by Loona's message:

"The bat,"

Yeah, that's basically how you two made it official,

But to add more tea,

your following conversation after that message sure was interesting...

"The bat? Really? You know vampires can shapeshift into more than just a bat. Kinda stereotypical of you,"

"Shut up, as if you don't associate me with a wolf or a damn dog just because I'm a hellhound,"

"No, I don't,"

"Oh, really now? Then look at the video again and tell me which animal do I remind you of,"

"Alright, you'll fucking see!"

_ _ _

"Well?"

"......."

"It was the fucking wolf, wasn't it?"

"I don't feel comfortable answering that question,"

Yeah,

that's how you pretty much made it official without making it official,

but even after that,

your relationship with Loona didn't change,

You just vibe with each other,

share affections,

create happy memories together,

bond,

Yeah, you two are still casual about your relationship,

you're still the inseparable duo everyone knows,

And you two don't really make a big deal out of dating,

yes, you have lots of couple moments,

and you two are romantic with each other here and there,

but you don't really go around, shoving your relationship into other people's faces,

you keep things to yourselves for the most part,

cuz that's what you're comfortable with,

and you feel like what's between the two of you is of no one else's concern,

(I believe Loona isn't much for showing your relationship off to the public and having people stick their noses into it),

(and I also think she doesn't trust the outside world and the people in it enough to let her guard down and give an insight of her actual relationship with you),

(what if someone used you to hurt her?),

And to many people looking on it from the outside,

it would seem like you two are just close friends,

but there are subtle hints not many notice that point out just how close you two are,

For example,

a thing Loona loves to do in the name of showing you affection,

is that whenever you rest your feet up on the coffee table, she always rests her paws on top of your feet,

it's a subtle public display of affection that seems like nothing to others,

but to the two of you it's a really big affectionate gesture,

it's like you two having your own secret language!

Speaking of languages,

Loona's learned some pretty... colourful... vampire vocabulary from you,

Since you live in a completely different world with different culture and everything,

it'd only make sense for you to have some expressions and slang that most people in Hell wouldn't understand,

especially slang vampires your age use,

So,

while Loona doesn't actively learn your language,

she's heard enough stuff from you to adopt to her own vocabulary,

(especially swear words),

and it's quite hilarious and wholesome,

you two often just switch to young vampire slang,

just to confuse people,

and keep them from prying into your conversations,

especially Blitzø-

Blitzø understands some vampire vocabulary,

but only that one your parents would use,

he's lost when you start using vampire slang of your generation,

But even Loona can get lost if you use some extra hard slang,

especially the one she's not come across yet,

and this is one of the reasons why you two don't argue much,

because your speciality is switching to hardcore vampire slang when an argument is close to happening between you and Loona,

not to talk shit about her,

but to annoy her to the point where the situation just turns funny,

your arguments,

(or more like bickering),

don't last long with this tactic,

And Loona acts like she hates this,

but she's secretly grateful that you two calm down before a real fight happens,

and then you talk about stuff without it getting heated,

Also,

speaking of your generation,

you've pulled Loona into your culture by introducing her to the vampire humour,

especially the one your generation uses,

giving her context on various memes you've shown her just so that she'd get it,

whether it'd be something a bit political or historical, or some celebrity drama,

for example you showing her a joke with some iconic line young vampires quote daily,

and then explaining that it's a line from some popular vampire reality show,

even showing her the clip to fully pull her in,

And Loona does the same back,

she gets you involved in the culture and humour that's going on in Hell amongst demons your guys' age,

And that creates many inside jokes between the two of you,

especially you involving Loona in your culture has that effect,

since not many Hell's inhabitants care about vampire culture enough to get involved,

so you two quote some vampire joke, getting everyone around you confused,

while you two struggle to hold it together,

Also, another thing!

Stereotypes,

As stated at the start,

there are many misconceptions about vampires,

You've already explained several stuff people got wrong about vampires to Loona,

but not all,

you've not gotten there just yet,

and it most definitely creates some memorable moments between you two,

For example:

"Wait... You guys don't use your fangs like straws to drink blood?"

"No...? We use them to pierce the skin, and then lick or suck the blood..."

"My whole fucking life is one damn lie,"

Yeah,

Loona needed a moment accepting that one...

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carabas · 2 months ago

Text

Sorting out Veilguard thoughts. This is very long, I had mixed feelings about Solas's endings and this is me trying to make Solas's actions and motivations make sense to me through quotes and bullet points.

Basic starting principle of the game: Solas is trapped by regret. We left him at the end of Trespasser heading out on the din'anshiral but not exactly enthusiastic about it, he's conflicted, he doesn't want to break the world again but he feels he has to, the whole plot here grows out of that. He tried to save the world and woke up finding he'd created a nightmare hell world a la the Inquisitor's trip to the terrible future version of Redcliffe, and it's his responsibility to fix that.

Specifically, the problems that make this a nightmare hell world:

The Blight's still here!! The whole point was to trap the Blight and yet it's still leaking into the world, his world-saving plan didn't even get that part right, what the fuck.

Mortality. First spirits took bodies which he had mixed feelings about to begin with, and which was the crime against the Titans which ultimately resulted in the Blight which I can't imagine improved his feelings about it - but also now they die, he is personally responsible for generations of people being permanently trapped in bodies which die, he didn't even want a body in the first place. "Your legends are half-right. We were immortal. It was not the arrival of humans that caused us to begin aging. It was me. The Veil took everything from the elves, even themselves."

A world of Tranquil. It's not just how long mortals live, it's the way they live, with no connection to the Fade outside their dreams. "You saw the remains of Vir Dirthara. The library was intrinsically tied to the Fade, and the Veil destroyed it. There were countless other marvels, all dependent on the presence of the Fade, all destroyed." Instead of those marvels, there's a fear and distrust and ignorance of all things Fade - and there are few things that frustrate Solas as much as ignorance - and that fear of the Fade naturally results in the fear of mages, the whole central plot of DA2, the struggle for mage freedom which Solas was vocal about and which was a big factor in his approval in Inquisition.

The effects on the spirits of the Fade, who Solas sees as people when most of the mortal world does not. ...You know what, I'm just going to copy-paste some longer quotes from Inquisition for this one because this is something that wasn't touched on much at all in Veilguard.

Even in Solas's very early-game conversations with the Inquisitor, he tells us exactly how he sees the effects of the Veil on spirits and how the mortal world relates to them:

Inquisitor: I'd like to know more about the Veil.

Solas: Circle mages call it a barrier between this world and the Fade. But according to my studies in ancient elven lore, that is a vast oversimplification. Without it… Imagine if spirits entered freely, if the Fade was not a place one went but a state of nature like the wind.

Inquisitor: It sounds like it would be wonderful.

Solas: And dangerous, but… yes. A world where imagination defines reality, where spirits are as common as trees or grass. Instead, spirits are strange and fearful, and the Fade is a terrifying world touched only by mages and dreamers. I am glad that I am not alone in seeing the beauty of such a world, along with the obvious peril.

And:

Inquisitor: I’d like to know more about demons.

Solas: The Chantry says that demons hate the natural world and seek to bring their chaos and destruction to the living. But such simplistic labels misconstrue their motivations and, in so doing, do all a great disservice. Spirits wish to join the living, and a demon is that wish gone wrong.

Inquisitor: Is there a way to coexist? To live with them, if not in peace, at least without such active confrontation?

Solas: Not in the world we know today. The Veil creates a barrier that makes true understanding most unlikely. But the question is a good one, and it matters that you thought to ask.

And this was the codex entry description of demonic possession in the first two games, as written by a senior enchanter from Ostwick:

Why do demons seek to possess the living? History claims they are malevolent spirits, the first children of the Maker, angry at their creator for turning from them and jealous of those creations he considered superior. They stare across the Veil at the living and do not understand what they see, yet they know they crave it. They desire life, they pull the living across the Veil when they sleep and prey on their psyche with nightmares. Whenever they can, they cross the Veil into our world to possess it outright. We know that any demon will seek to possess a mage, and upon doing so will create an abomination.

And this was Cole's reaction to discovering the history of the Veil in Trespasser:

Cole: The Veil isn’t real. It’s false, fake, fabricated to forbid. Isn’t it wonderful? It means I belong here! Helping, healing the hurt! I’m not a wrong thing, a wreck, a ruin. I’m what I should be!

...We're repeatedly told throughout the series that spirits desire to be with the living and the Veil is preventing that, for good or ill. Rook's team cares about this in terms of the threat of their world being destroyed by a sudden flood of demons, but from Solas's point of view the spirits belonged here to begin with and it's his mistake that makes coexistence impossible.

But at the same time, the first three games were set in the South - Veilguard shows us the Mourn Watch and Rivaini seers who do coexist with spirits, even with the Veil still in place. Other characters are less comfortable with this, but we're not getting anywhere near the same focus on the fear of spirits and mages here that we saw in the South. The game's just... not really interested in discussing this, we're not focusing on these ongoing effects of the Veil right now in this game about Solas trying to bring the Veil down, sure there's the occasional haunting and plenty of demons to fight but we're treating the ability to coexist with spirits as basically a solved problem in northern Thedas. And we've already put the mage rights plotline to rest in Inquisition. We're done, we're moving on, those parts of Solas's motivation are still important in that Solas's attitude toward spirits is important, but focusing on those problems is not a priority right now.

So of Solas's motivations that we saw back in Inquisition, the outlook now... the Blight's a problem, everyone's on the same page about the Blight being a problem, and in the good ending Solas winds up working on that aspect of the problem - but his other motivations, although they may still be problems, do not look as huge and pressing in Veilguard as they did in Inquisition. We've seen cultures where people and spirits coexist even with the Veil in place; mages in the north seem to be doing fine, at least as far as my Nevarran mage Rook's experience goes, and even in the south the treatment of mages is no longer what it was in the first two games; and the wonders of the Fade may be great but there are also dangers, acknowledged by Solas, and if a lot of people would rather keep the dangers out than bring the wonders or the immortality back in... who has the right to decide that for the whole world?

That's become the sticking point here. It's not really about how to solve the ongoing problems created by the Veil... it's whether they're Solas's problems to solve. And there's plenty of reason for him to answer yes to that, he created the problem to begin with and few other living people even have the knowledge that the Veil is unnatural, much less the ability to fix it - but also, let's be real, his attempts at solving problems have had some extremely fucking questionable results thus far.

And the stance this story has taken is: Solas is imprisoned by regret. Whether the Veil should come down or not, the reason Solas specifically has to walk this path is because of regret. And this story's happiest ending that takes the most effort to unlock is trying to release him from the role his regrets have imprisoned him in. (Relevant parallel: Lucanis carrying his mental prison around with him to the point that Spite can't tell they ever left.)

It's not like the whole world has taken a vote and decided that the Veil is good and immortality/wonders/coexistence with the Fade are not worth it. Obviously the player character of Veilguard is firmly in favor of guarding said Veil, but in Trespasser and the Masked Empire, Solas had agents working for him; in Tevinter Nights, Solas's monster wolf form was followed by an army of Valor and Justice spirits; in Veilguard, Solas said he had a host of spirits ready to help when the Veil fell to minimize the loss of life. For all the reasons Solas believed the Veil must come down, there's room to believe there are other characters on both sides of the Veil who also see those as problems and would presumably still be working on those problems, although that's not the focus of this game. And more people know about the origins of the Veil now, the story of the gods and Titans.

Solas tried to share the truth with the Dalish when he first woke up, but it went badly then; we know the truth now. Maybe if Solas were just a wisdom spirit he could even have been satisfied by sharing that history and having the truth be heard without taking the whole fate of the world on himself - but Solas is not just a wisdom spirit, and he has been defined by both wisdom and pride. He took on a role he never wanted because Mythal asked it of him, he so hates when spirits are twisted away from their purpose and his got complicated the moment he first took a body. Having the truth heard isn't nearly enough to fix this situation, and he needs to fix it, it is his responsibility to fix it, he is trapped by his regrets.

Talking with Rook about Elgar'nan...

Solas: Can you see how he and I might frustrate one another?

Rook: The two of you are too much alike. Both of you want to be in charge.

Solas: I have no desire to be "in charge."

Rook: No, you just want to be able to correct anyone who's not doing everything the way you'd've done it.

Solas: (Chuckles) I see you have been observing me as well during these conversations.

...Rook and their team can come up with a very wide variety of opinions on Solas, but that line did seem to amuse Solas, Rook had a point with that one. That is the place where Solas's wisdom meets pride.

Rook: All right, I can see how you and Elgar'nan would hate each other.

Solas: He has always been what I most feared becoming. Callous and uncaring, his arrogance unchecked. To have that much power and no one to remind him that he could be wrong…

Rook: Well, he had you.

Solas: (Chuckles) And I suppose I had you.

Solas was afraid of becoming like Elgar'nan, more pride than wisdom. He could see the possibility of that happening, the same way spirits become demons. And in the final scene, if he's not convinced to turn away from his path and attempts to tear down the Veil, he sounds very much like Elgar'nan. In the trickery version, Rook calls him out on this and Solas argues against it but then he comes out with these extremely Elgar'nan-like lines:

Solas: You think yourself capable of judging me? I have faced things you could not possibly comprehend! You are a mortal! A mortal! And I am a--(Rook interrupts him by shoving him toward his prison, and then Solas 'chuckles bitterly') I am a fool…

Even more so if Rook fights him instead of tricking him, with Solas declaring that compared to you mortals, he is a god - which Solas was pretty emphatic about denying before. And maybe that's what he was starting to say in the trickery version too before he was interrupted, "I am a--" and then he had a moment to realize what he was saying.

He was a spirit originally, and spirits are changeable by beliefs and expectations, and in this game the attempt to tear down the Veil very much does change him, instantly. The game treats him as a spirit who is being twisted away from his purpose by the act of tearing down the Veil. More than that, his purpose has already been twisted for a very long time, he already had regrets about this in those memories of ancient Elvhenan, talking about how at least the Disruption spirits died without being twisted from their purpose. He was wisdom before he was pride.

So if the bad endings are about Solas being twisted away from his nature by the very thing he feels he must do to save the world - the good ending is the opposite. It's about bringing him closer to the spirit he used to be, by finally putting down the thing that has been twisting him up.

In the good ending, Rook tries to talk Solas around even before Lavellan and Mythal join in - Rook doesn't want to see the world go through even more pain on top of what Elgar'nan has done, the world is broken but breaking the world again is the wrong way to make up for the damage Solas has caused, Solas has a chance right now to save the world by saving the Veil - and this argument is actually tempting to Solas! It's not enough, but he does pause, he thinks about it, he's conflicted, he's been conflicted this whole time, he was already wrestling with this back in Inquisition when he had only just woken up and had only seen a little of this new world, he has never wanted to break the world. He believed he had to.

Solas: I cannot. To stop now would dishonor those I have wronged to come this far.

Lavellan: Even if those you've wronged asked you to stop?

Solas: Vhenan…

Lavellan: You think you've gone too far to come back, but you're wrong. I am here, walking the dinan'shiral with you!

Solas: I lied. I betrayed you.

Lavellan: I forgive you! All you have to do is stop.

Solas: Ir abelas, vhenan… But I cannot.

...He actually paused way longer for Rook's argument about breaking the world than for this. He is more emotional with Lavellan, this did affect him, but that wasn't a convincing argument. I lied, I betrayed you - she tells him she's with him and he gives her a list of reasons she shouldn't be, he can't let himself respond to this right now.

Solas: Long before we met, I failed my oldest friend. She died for that failure. If I leave the Veil in place, I am destroying the world she wanted. And I will have… She will have died for nothing.

He believes the Veil is destroying the world Mythal wanted - and they were the firstborn elves, she invited him to take a body, the union of spirits and the mortal world is integral to his memory of her.

Side note here. If Bellara is in your team when you and Solas are traveling together during the endgame, you get this conversation:

Bellara: All I really want to know is why you killed Mythal.

Solas: The Evanuris killed Mythal.

Bellara: Only the first time. The second time, she was in Flemeth's body, and she didn't want you to destroy the world to avenge her… But you killed her. Was it because she was willing to stop, and you weren't?

Solas: That was not Mythal. It was merely a fragment.

Bellara: Right. That you killed.

…He didn't answer her after that. And now, here at the end of the game, "I will have.... She will have died for nothing," the fact that he killed that merely a fragment of Mythal for this is sticking in his mind, and we saw his regret about that moment plastered on the wall of the Lighthouse, and he is imprisoned by that regret - however conflicted he might feel, he was firmly committed to this path the moment he killed Mythal for a second time.

The final straw, the moment he finally gives up his plan, isn't about the fate of the world at all:

Mythal: I pulled you from the Fade you loved and sent you into war. I used your wisdom as a weapon… and it broke you.

Solas: The things that I have done…

Mythal: Are not for you alone to bear, my friend. The many wrongs we did, we did together. I release you from my service.

For this, he is hunched over and small, like she broke him all over again - maybe he had the right idea and breaking something a second time is the way to fix it in his particular case. He was a wisdom spirit before she sent him to war, before he was the Dread Wolf, before he broke the world trying to save it. He has been at war with one thing or another for a very long time.

Here Lavellan says "There is no fate but the love we share," and he doesn't argue with her this time. He can't look at her yet. He makes a fist. He puts a hand to his brow - was Mythal's vallaslin there once? Lowers his head. Looks at the tear in the Veil. Now he finally looks at Lavellan and the other people standing in front of him, not that fragment of Mythal, Mythal is gone. And then he binds himself to the Veil.

He hasn't let go of his past mistakes, that's not what's happening. He's still got regrets. He is letting go of the Dread Wolf, the role that a spirit of wisdom was twisted into.

Solas: With every breath I take, I will protect the innocent from my past failures. The Titans' dreams are mad from their imprisonment. I cannot kill the blight, but I can help to soothe its anger. I will go and seek atonement.

And then he is finally able to respond to Lavellan's love for him, to make this journey together.

#dragon age #veilguard #da4 spoilers #long post

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whispering-radiance · 9 months ago

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She’s here!! Meet Eiko — my rc9gn OC !! There’s quite a lot that I didn’t include in the short intro card — So if anyone wants to read more about her and this whole AU — I invite you to the “Read More” section :D

|The lore|

Eiko and Nomi were born into first ninja’s family before the sorcerer was sealed away— The whole clan moved around the land, fighting the sorcerer’s monsters and horrors along the way. While they both studied the blade, Eiko turned out to be more sensitive to spirits and magic than Nomi — Later in life, she decided to pursue the title of the greatest exorcist in the land.

She ventured across the land while Nomi stayed with their father. Both became masters in their own fields.

Days after First passed— Nomi was tasked to find another, who would become the next ninja— Not only was he tasked, he was also warned — That he shouldn’t, under any circumstances, be the next one to wear the mask.

Nomi was a good son. He always listened to his father’s request— but this one — He was sure that he would bring his father honor if he took his place.

After he put the mask on — It took control over him and forced him to go on a rampage

The reason why it happened lies in the material from which the suit was crafted with. Tengu gave his feathers to the First, yes, but it was simply to give him a chance of defeating the common enemy, not to give his clan the unlimited power. He warned him that this power cannot be kept in the family—

Eiko was called to town to get rid of the rampaging beast— She didn’t know who she was fighting— Until she struck the final blow— She gazed in horror at the body of her dear brother— Wishing to save him, she sealed his soul in the book he wrote— The ninja Nomicon — This was the day that tome became magical

She saved the village and it’s people but the act of killing her own brother angered the gods she worked so closely with — They cursed her to suffer the eternal life until the Nomicon was destroyed or until the Heavenly forgave her sin.

It was the worst version of immortality. Eiko still felt pain — She still bled, her bones could crack, she could fall sick. She also still could get tired, physically and mentally— In every aspect she was still a human, just one that couldn’t die and was forcefully kept alive.

She took a role of the one who chooses the ninja — She did it on her own for many centuries but after a while, she decided to gather some trusted people to help her with this task — Although, Ninja choosing is still pretty much up to fate

——————————————————

Besides the ninja business— Eiko has her own job to do — As an exorcist, she fights evil spirits and helps kinder one recover — She also chooses one person to fight sorcerer’s forces alongside ninja

Eiko and ghost of her brother, aka the Ninja Nomicon

More about Eiko

————————————

Some other things about this AU

- There is no limit to how long a person could be a ninja — They end their career after they become unable to fight; want to end their time as a ninja by their own choice; Or when they violate Ninja code

- The world is much more filled with spirits, demons, youkai etc.

- Nomi and Eiko don’t have a mother (I didn’t really think about her character/ and I also think she might have died by sorcerer’s hand— that’s why First would be so determined to get rid of him)

- I loosely took inspiration from the cowboy hat weirdo while making Eiko — but he’s still present in my au — he just joined the Nomicon delivery service later in the story

- Eiko and Nomi are adults— Do not ship them with any of the young characters— They are mentors and teachers, that’s all

——————-

I’ll be writing more about this AU one day — Until then, stayed tuned for more!!

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daitranscripts · 4 months ago

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Solas Conversation: Investigate

Tell Me About the Fade

Solas Masterpost

First time asking PC: What do you know about the Fade? Solas: A great deal, from my wanderings. There are few hard facts, but I can share what I have learned.

Solas: What would you like to know?

1 - Dialogue options:

Investigate: Tell me about the Breach. [2] +Solas slightly approves

Investigate: Tell me about the Veil. [3] +Solas slightly approves

Investigate: Tell me about demons. [4]

General: Goodbye. [5]

2 - Investigate: Tell me about the Breach. PC: I’d like to know more about the Breach. Solas: Simply put, it is a tear in the Veil between this world and the Fade, allowing spirits to enter the world physically. Small tears occur naturally when magic weakens the Veil or when spirits cluster at an area that has seen many deaths.

Solas (in Haven): But your mark allows you to exert some control over the Breach. That means it was created deliberately. [back to 1] Solas (In-Skyhold, pre-HLTA): But your Anchor, as Corypheus calls it, allows you some control over the Breach. That suggests it was deliberate. [back to 1] Solas (post-HLTA): But the Breach is artificial. The Anchor on your hand let you control it and even opened a small rift at Adamant. [back to 1]

3 - Investigate: Tell me about the Veil. PC: I’d like to know more about the Veil. Solas: Circle mages call it a barrier between this world and the Fade. But according to my studies in ancient elven lore, that is a vast oversimplification. Without it… Imagine if spirits entered freely, if the Fade was not a place one went but a state of nature like the wind.

Dialogue options:

General: That sounds strange. [6] -Solas slightly disapproves

General: That sounds marvelous. [7] +Solas slightly approves

General: That sounds dangerous. [8] -Solas disapproves

6 - General: That sounds strange. PC: I don’t know if I can imagine that. Solas: Try. Imagine if spirits were not a rarity but a part of our natural world like… a fast-flowing river. Yes, it can drown careless children, but it can also carry a merchant’s goods or grind a miller’s flour. That is what the world could be, if the Veil were not present. For better or worse. [back to 1] ㅤㅤ ㅤ 7 - General: That sounds marvelous. PC: It sounds like it would be wonderful. Solas: And dangerous, but… yes. A world where imagination defines reality, where spirits are as common as trees or grass. Instead, spirits are strange and fearful, and the Fade is a terrifying world touched only by mages and dreamers. I am glad that I am not alone in seeing the beauty of such a world, along with the obvious peril. [back to 1] ㅤㅤ ㅤ 8 - General: That sounds dangerous. PC: We’ve got enough trouble with demons already. Solas: But would they still be demons? Or would they be part of our natural environment like… a fast-flowing river? Yes, it can drown careless children, but it can also carry a merchant’s goods or grind a miller’s flour. That is what the world could be, if the Veil were not present. For better or worse. [back to 1]

4 - Investigate: Tell me about demons. PC: I’d like to know more about demons.

Solas (human mage PC): Your Circle says that demons hate the natural world and seek to bring their chaos and destruction to the living. Solas (Dalish PC): Your Dalish say that demons hate the natural world and seek to bring their chaos and destruction to the living. Solas (dwarf/Qunari/human non-mage PC): The Chantry says that demons hate the natural world and seek to bring their chaos and destruction to the living.

Solas: But such simplistic labels misconstrue their motivations and, in so doing, do all a great disservice. Spirits wish to join the living, and a demon is that wish gone wrong.

Dialogue options:

General: I don’t believe that. [9] -Solas slightly disapproves

General: Can we change that? [10] +Solas slightly approves

General: I don’t care. [11] -Solas disapproves

9 - General: I don’t believe that. PC: I doubt those things pouring out of the Breach wanted to join the living. Eat, maybe. ㅤㅤ ㅤ sided templars PC: And what about the demon I fought at the Seeker fortress? Solas (pre-HLTA): Of course demons are destructive. This world is illicit and unnatural for them. They fight to gain entrance, and when the rules of this world do not mirror theirs, they lash out. Tragic, but not evil. Solas (post-HLTA): The one being commanded by Corypheus? If a man set fire to your house, do you lay the blame on the torch he carried? [back to 1] ㅤㅤ ㅤ sided mages, pre-HLTA Solas: Of course demons are destructive. This world is illicit and unnatural for them. They fight to gain entrance, and when the rules of this world do not mirror theirs, they lash out. Tragic, but not evil. [back to 1] ㅤㅤ ㅤ sided mages, post-HLTA PC: And what about the army of demons the Wardens were leading? Solas: As you say, they were being led, commanded, controlled. If a man set fire to your house, do you lay the blame on the torch he carried? [back to 1] ㅤㅤ ㅤ 10 - General: Can we change that? PC: Is there a way to coexist? To live with them, if not in peace, at least without such active confrontation? Solas: Not in the world we know today. The Veil creates a barrier that makes true understanding most unlikely. But the question is a good one, and it matters that you thought to ask. [back to 1] ㅤㅤ ㅤ 11 - General: I don’t care. PC: It doesn’t matter why they attack us. Solas: Of course it does. The dog that bites you because it is rabid is not the dog that bites you because it is starving. You may kill either, but one is just a few scraps of meat away from being your faithful servant. [back to 1]

5 - General: Goodbye. PC: We’ll talk later. Solas: Goodbye.

#dragon age inquisition #dai transcripts #dragon age #dragon age transcripts #dragon age dialogue #dai #long post #dai dialogue #solas

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dalishious · 1 year ago

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Beginner’s Lore Guide to Possession

Possession is when a spirit/demon from the Fade enters the waking world through inhabiting a host.

Why do spirits/demons want to possess people?

According to the Chantry, spirits/demons are jealous of mortals for being the favoured children of the Maker, and crave life’s experiences. This may be at least to some degree true, as Kitty, a desire demon in the Dragon Age: Origins DLC “The Stone Prisoner”, says she wants to experience the mortal realm through mortal eyes.

Can only mages be possessed?

It is true that mages are more vulnerable to becoming possessed—theorized that due to their innate connection to the Fade, they are a juicier target for demons. However, anyone and anything is capable of being possessed by a spirit/demon. It is only a common misconception among Thedas that mages are uniquely susceptible. Living people who become possessed are referred to as abominations.

Examples of non-mage people and possession:

In Dragon Age: Origins, Uldred will say he plans for any PC, mage or not-mage, to forcefully put a demon inside them, during the quest “The Broken Circle”

In Dragon Age II, Wilmod, a templar recruit, is possessed by a demon that was forcefully put inside him during the quest “Enemies Among Us”

In Dragon Age: Inquisition, the PC becomes briefly possessed by an Envy demon looking to study them during the quest “Champions of the Just”

Most cases above were through the use of blood magic, and all against the actual host’s will.

Animals and plants can become possessed by spirits/demons as well:

Kitty in the Dragon Age: Origins DLC “The Stone Prisoner” is actually a desire demon

Sylvans are the result of spirits/demons possessing trees

Lord Woolsley in Dragon Age: Inquisition’s quest “The Ballad of Lord Woolsley” is actually a rage demon

Even inanimate objects can become hosts to spirits/demons if drawn into them by a mage—this is what spellbinders do, then channel said objects for power.

Does becoming tranquil make you immune to possession?

The Rite of Tranquility severs one’s connection from the Fade, making possession less likely. It does not, however, make one completely immune. This is proven by Pharamond, a tranquil mage in Dragon Age: Asunder, becoming possessed.

Can only living creatures be possessed?

Walking corpses are the result of spirits possessing the body of a deceased person. This is purposely done in Nevarra as part of their culture; the Mortalitasi mages perform a ritual to draw a spirit into the deceased’s body as part of funerary rites. But it can also unintentionally happen, making it a practical choice in most cultures to cremate their dead.

In some cases, a spirit possessing a corpse can maintain some semblance of itself: for example, Justice in Dragon Age: Origins’s expansion “Awakening”. And in other cases, the spirit may take on the identity of the deceased: for example, Audric in the Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights story “Down Among the Dead Men”. But mostly, spirits who possess corpses are just confused, and can become aggressive.

Among walking corpses are uniquely classified “arcane horrors”, which are the result of pride demons (considered the most powerful demon) taking control of mage corpses. They maintain all the spellcasting abilities of a living mage.

Is possession always malicious?

While the most common form of possession is from a demon seeking power in the waking world, it is not always the case. There at least three examples of spirits taking possession of a host for benevolent reasons:

In Dragon Age: Origins, Wynne reveals that she is hosting a spirit of faith that is keeping her alive after a deadly encounter during Uldred’s uprising

In Dragon Age II, Anders reveals that he is hosting a spirit of Justice that he befriended in the “Awakening” expansion of Dragon Age: Origins—a deal the two made to fight for mage freedoms*

In Dragon Age: Asunder, Wynne passes on her spirit of faith into Evangeline, to save Evangeline’s life as it once did hers

*It should be noted though, that Anders believes that because of his rage, the spirit of Justice transformed into a demon of Vengeance in the possession process. Still, the act itself was not one out of ill intent, and Wynne and Evangeline’s cases prove that this is not always the result.

Are abominations always monstrous looking?

Most abominations encountered appear monstrous and disfigured. They are described in one codex entry as “looking as if a demon were wearing a man like a twisted suit of skin”.

Dragon Age: The Calling describes Fiona becoming possessed as the following:

“The elf threw back her head and let out a horrible, keening wail. Her entire body tensed, her hands flying out at her sides. Her skin became a pale white, and then began to change. It bulged, and twisted. Her body grew, and took on a hideous form, her head becoming something gnarled and fanged even as she shrieked in torment. And then the transformation was done. A demonic abomination now stood where Fiona once had, a thing of rent flesh and claws, its gender no longer even apparent. The thing’s eyes glowed with menace.”

Additionally, Dragon Age: Asunder describes possessed Pharamond thus so:

“He looked misshapen, his flesh hideously twisted across his frame. His arms were too long and thin, his fingers ending in talons, his lips pulled back from his teeth in a disturbing grimace.”

This is not always the case, though:

Wynne maintains her human form, possessed by a spirit of faith

Connor maintains his human form, possessed by a desire demon

Anders maintains his human form, possessed by a spirit/demon of justice/vengeance

Wilmod maintains his human form, possessed by a demon

Evangeline maintains her human form, possessed by a spirit of faith

Mihris maintains her elf form, possessed by Imshael, an ancient desire demon (one of The Forbidden Ones)

What determines if this physical transformation takes place or not is unknown.

What happens to a spirit/demon if its host dies?

There is conflicting information about what happens to a spirit/demon after its host is killed. Marethari in Dragon Age II claims that killing her will kill the pride demon she took inside of her. The narrative certainly treats this as true, though it is possible she didn’t know what she was really talking about. Because according to Anders in the same game, killing him would set Justice free back into the Fade. This is the case in the Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights story “Hunger”, where the main characters think they have killed the hunger demon attacking them, but in truth have only banished it. Given the later scenario outnumbers the former, I think it’s safe to assume that the spirit/demon is released from the host after the host dies, until concretely proven otherwise.

Can possession be reversed?

Morrigan explains that the process to reverse possession is not an easy one, but entirely possible. There are known cases of it:

Fiona in Dragon Age: The Calling is possessed by a demon, while the others in the party are sucked into Fade dreams as well. After Maric breaks out of his dream sequence with the help of a friendly spirit, he and the rest of the party defeat the demon, freeing Fiona. (Although it was ultimately Fiona who defeated the demon and freed herself)

Connor in the Dragon Age: Origins quest “The Arl of Redcliffe” is possessed by a desire demon, and the PC may choose to save him by going into the Fade and defeating the demon there, freeing him. This can be done using lots of lyrium and a group of mages, or by one mage (Jowan) using blood magic

Pharamond in Dragon Age: Asunder is possessed by a pride demon. The party performs the same ritual used on Connor and frees him, which also cures him of tranquility

Dragon Age: Asunder clarifies that you need at least three mages to perform the Circle’s known ritual of de-possession.

This is all contrary to what is said by Vivienne and Cassandra in Dragon Age: Inquisition, who you would think know otherwise, though. But hey, so are so many things.

SOURCES

Dragon Age: Origins

Dragon Age II

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Dragon Age: Asunder

Dragon Age: The Masked Empire

Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights

Dragon Age: The World of Thedas vol. 1

Codex entry: Demonic Possession (DA:O)

Codex entry: Abomination (DA:O)

Codex entry: Wild Sylvan (DA:O)

Codex entry: Arcane Horror (DA:O)

Codex entry: Corpse (DA:O)

Codex entry: Spellbinder (DA:I)

Dialogue with Wynne about her spirit of faith (DA:O)

Dialogue with Morrigan about possession (DA:O)

Dialogue with Kitty about wanting to possess Amalia (DA:O)

Dialogue with Anders about Justice (DA:2)

Dialogue with Marethari about Audacity (DA:2)

Dialogue with Solas about spirits/demons and possession (DA:I)

-----

Did you like this piece? Do you want to support me writing more? Consider joining my patreon!

#dragon age #da lore #possession #meta

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breelandwalker · 2 years ago

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basic witch question: how can i study and research folk magic and historical witchcraft?

I've been trying to search like this: "name of country/place +folk magic" on academic article sites but I haven't found much practical stuff and sometimes I don't find anything.

thank you for your attention

Good question!

The first thing you'll want to do is set aside the idea that you're going to find overt and accurate historical descriptions of witchcraft as we define it today. VERY few people who practiced some form of folk magic would have identified themselves as witches, because up until very recently, it was something you could be arrested, fined, and executed for doing. Even just the suspicion of such was enough to cause panics and widespread paranoia. What you're most likely to find is a collection of folk beliefs ABOUT witches and witchcraft, rather than actual witchcraft practices.

There are plenty of folk magic practices that resemble things we do in modern witchcraft, but they wouldn't have been called witchcraft by the people doing them back in the day. If you nailed a cluster of broomstraw over your door or scattered eggshells in your garden, it wasn't to cast a spell - it was just The Done Thing to keep trouble out of your home and help the crops grow.

Be prepared to find a lot of Christianity blended into the practices you do find. During the Christianization of Europe, new beliefs blended with older ones and created some very interesting regional amalgamations. So you'll often find invocations of saints or the Blessed Virgin, or particular psalms or prayers included as essential parts of certain charms. (It's also worth noting that the recitation of certain prayers was a method of short-term timekeeping, since they didn't exactly have clocks or timers.)

Be prepared also to find a lot of references to the Devil and devil-worship. For several centuries, the idea of witchcraft and demonolatry (consorting with and calling upon demons for power and supernatural aid) was synonymous across much of the Western world. It's very difficult to find a mention of witches in contemporary medieval or renaissance literature that is not immediately accompanied by some mention of devils or demons or familiars. This is a record of the superstitions of the day, NOT the practices of actual witches, no matter what Margaret Murray would have us believe.

To find the folk magic practices, if you can't find them by searching the term outright, study the regional folklore of the place you're interested in. Look particularly for anything to do with healers or spirits or fairies or ghosts or local superstitions. Where you find these, you will find whatever regional protection rituals the country people used to ward off trouble from ethereal beings, and possibly references to other related practices for love or luck.

Naturally, if you go back to classical antiquity (Greeks and Romans) or further, things will look very different. It all depends on the time and place.

It's important to note that most of the books we have which document these beliefs were written during the 19th-20th century spiritualism and occult fads, and while there is an earnest effort in most of them to record things academically from good sources, they should still be taken with a grain of salt.

Here are some titles I've found useful in my studies:

British Goblins: Welsh Folk-lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions (Sikes, 1880)

Culpeper's Complete Herbal and English Physician (Culpeper, 1850 edition)

Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry (Yeats, 1888)

Magic and Husbandry: The Folk-Lore of Agriculture (Burdick, 1914)

Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics (Folkard, 1884)

The History of Witchcraft and Demonology (Summers, 1926)

The Superstitions of Witchcraft (Williams, 1865)

You can find these and many similar titles on Project Gutenberg or Global Grey Ebooks. (And since they're in the public domain, they're free and legal to download!)

One final note - If you run into anything that mentions "folkish" traditions, bloodlines, or theosophy, put it down and walk away. That direction lies the pipeline to racist hate groups.

Hope this helps!

#bacchus-charm #witchcraft #history of witchcraft #folklore #Bree answers your inquiries

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lairofdragonagelore · 3 months ago

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Patterns and Styles: Avvar/Alamarri

Avvar/Alamarri design is quite rustic, stone-based, and sometimes it's hard to differentiate one from another considering their cultural history: the Avvar are a branch of the Alamarri that moved towards the Mountains. Alamarri as well as Avvar and Chasind have a long story of inter-racial mix with the dwarves of Orzammar, which is clear in their art: heavily based on stone and with some imagery of dwarves.

However, it is important to remember that Avvar in particular may have had also relationships with the Elvhenan, as Tyrdda's lover was an elven woman. Their tradition with mages and their treatment of the spirits also resembles their influence from the elvhenan culture. This strange mix is then reflected in the art.

This series of posts are not exhaustive since I’ve developed a very detailed list of tags tracking certain features of a given design. These posts merely try to gather in one place the symbols and elements I used most of the time when identifying buildings in my analysis of DAI.

[This post is part of the series “Patterns and Styles ”] [Index page of Dragon Age Lore]

Patterns

When it comes to patterns, the only one that I can assume is alamarri it's an intricated rhomboid pattern [celtic-like] that we can find in some columns of arches that are spread all over Ferelden. It's not clear for me that this pattern was later imported by the Avvar. However, it's interesting to highlight the resemblance to the elvhenan walls in temples such as in Mythal's Temple [see Patterns and Styles: Elvhenan] which also seems to be related to the pattern found in the pants that Dalish wear, and ironically, Qunari too.

Statues and decorations

1 - Keepers of Fear and their variations

Part of the reason I consider these statues as Keepers of Fear is that they represent similar imagery; they share the style and some characteristics, and are related to the codex The Keepers of Fear. They display the despair and fear that the Alamarri felt when the Blight came from the north. They tend to be elongated humanoids, usually with pointy teeth, without a nose, and screaming/cowering body language.

They also appear close to one another, in groups, in Kenric’s study room in the DLC Jaws of Hakkon [ Frostback Basin [DLC]: Miscellaneous ] implying similar origin for study. They also decorate the paths that head to the Avvar Hold in the DLC, and inside the hold itself.

In the Fade, we find the codex The Keepers of Fear on one of these statues, where we learn that the Alamarri/Avvar used them to scream inside them during the time of the Blight, thinking the darkspawn were spirits. As we know thanks to the DLC Jaws of Hakkon, the Avvar [and by extension most likely the Alamarri and the Chasind] would feed the spirits to keep them close [spirits] or away [demons] from their communities.

1A - Screaming Keeper [Alamarri/Avvar]

Where it can be found:

In Crestwood, in a place a bit isolated closed to a destroyed Andraste statue,

In Fallow Mire: Granite Point [not original from this place],

In Frostback Basin [DLC]: Stone-Bear Hold Avvars : Everywhere, specially along the paths.

In Hinterlands: Minor places, in several places and caves.

In Hinterlands: Redcliffe – Future, along the corridors of the fortress as the Fade and the Waking World get merged.

In the Fade Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, in many places, since this part of the Fade we visit is close to the lair of a Nightmare Demon who feeds upon the Fear and Despair. At some point one of these statues triggers the codex The Keepers of Fear.

The Fade of Flemeth: Part 1, Part 2, as decoration of an avvar/alamarri corridor.

Brief description: This statue is elongated. It has long arms, and its hands are grabbing the face, distorted in fear as it screams. It has no nose. There are some strange appendages falling down and making an extension of its chin [thick beard?]. We can see the ribs very easily, suggesting illness or hunger. It also has elongated legs, one of them crossing over the hip that conveys an impression of more terror and fear.

These Keepers appear quite regularly in all places over Ferelden and the Frostback Mountains. They are inserted in the landscape or along paths, and we can see they are a good reflection of what the codex The Keepers of Fear says: They are part of the Avvar/Alamarri "superstition”: They thought the Darkspawns were bad spirits that fed on fear, so they crafted these statues to feed them far away from their communities, to keep them satisfied and away from them. However, when this did not work [since the darkspawn are not spirits], the Alamarri/Avvar used these statues to scream inside them and pour all their fear into them, “burn” it in order to get rid of it, and go to battle against the darkspawn no matter their gender or age.

In the Frostback Basin [DLC], we can find these statues flanking the path to the Avvar Hold or inside it. In the Fade it makes sense for them to appear where the Lair of the demon Nightmare lives: he has been feeding upon these fears for centuries.

1B - Screaming heads [Avvar]

Where it can be found:

In Frostback Basin [DLC]: Miscellaneous: everywhere

In Hinterlands: Statues, paintings, and structures found in the open , Wolf Hollow, Tyrdda Bright-Axe Path [as a part of the stanza], and Minor places

In Hinterlands: Redcliffe - Future, as the Waking World and the Fade merge one another.

In Therinfal Redoubt [in the part of the Fade]

In the Fade Part 1, Part 3, in many places. This part of the Fade we visit is close to the lair of a Nightmare Demon who feeds on Fear and Despair, so it makes sense we see so many of these Keepers.

The Fade of Flemeth: Part 1, as decoration of an avvar/alamarri corridor.

Brief description: This statue is an isolated head with two faces [front and back display different shapes], I can see humanoid faces in them: one as a screaming melted human without nose [which can also be considered the face of a Terror demon or a ghoul], and the other one as a screaming boar of pointy teeth, which inside its mouth there is another screaming face. Everything is too deformed to be precise.

The game efficiently combines these heads in ways that seem to create new different horror statues by clipping them.

We find these faces all over Ferelden and the Frostback Mountains, specially in Avvar/Alamarri territory.

1C - Sitting screaming humanoid [Avvar]

Where it can be found:

In Frostback Basin [DLC]: Stone-Bear Hold Avvars : specially in small cliffs into the sea, where the Avvar can be seen fishing. It can also be found aside a path inside the Avvar Hold.

In the Hinterlands: The Unknown Ruin [Mihris] clipped with a skull.

In the The Fade of Flemeth: Part 2, clipped with a skull.

In Hissing Wastes: scattered objects and ruins, inside a crevice where a Fereldan vendor has been placed, but we only find their mabari and several objects of Ferelden iconography.

Brief description: This statue is elongated and shares many characteristics present in 1A and 1B. It shows long arms, hands covering the eyes, screaming out of fear as it cowers. It's sitting inside a basket. It has no nose and its teeth are pointy. We can see the ribs very easily, suggesting hunger or illness.

During the DLC Frostback Basin [DLC]: Stone-Bear Hold Avvars, Dorian will point out this is an Avvar statue, which makes sense considering we are in an avvar hold.

1D - Sitting screaming humanoid with hands inside the mouth [Avvar]

Where it can be found:

In Razikale’s Reach, as part of the stratification of the Temple when it was taken by the Avvar-Hakkonite and rejected the Tevinters that had been installed around the time of the first Blight.

Inside Skyhold if you pick the Avvar decoration.

Brief description: This statue is elongated and shares many characteristics present in 1A, 1C, 1E and 2. It displays long arms, but no hands. It’s not clear if the hands are inside the mouth or means they were eaten [I favour this second option since these statues tend to be scrawny, conveying the idea of famine, another very common fear among the Avvar, specially during the Blight times]. It has no nose and its teeth are pointy. Its legs are protruding from over the shoulders, giving the sense that this figure is sitting and cowering. We can see a bit of its ribs in between the arms. The position is similar to 1C and 2.

1E - Sitting screaming deepstalker humanoid [Likely Avvar]

Where it can be found:

In Hinterlands: The Unknown Ruin [Mihris] , at the sides of another Avvar/Alamarri statue [1C] clipped with a skull.

In the Fade Part 2 and Part 3, It is a zone where we find a Tevinter sacrificial altar.

In the Fade of Flemeth: Part 1, this statue is beside a sacrificial altar again.

In The Fade of Flemeth: Part 2, it appears at the end, where we find Flemeth. They are positioned as to form a frame for the statue that was stabbed in the back and bleeds.

Brief description: These statues share some similarities with 1A, 1C and 1D: they show long arms, with hands grabbing the sides of the face as it screams. It has no nose nor eyes. We can see the ribs very easily, giving a sense of skeleton [extreme famine?]. What makes this statue particular is the strange mouth, closer in shape to a deepstalker’s mouth. It’s not clear if the figure is sitting, since it has no legs. Its base has the outline of a figure that reinforces the idea of screaming in terror and rising its arms. This figure has a shape that also resembles a terror demon.

In some places in the Fade, the head of this statue is burning, making clear suggestion to the codex of the Keepers of Fear, in particular to the part where they burn their screams of fear to find courage to fight [and die] against the darkspwan.

Rarely appears alone [it’s usually presented in pairs], and when it does, bones and bodies are shown below it, relating it to sacrifices and death. Most likely the concept of sacrifice comes from the part of the codex where once the fears are burnt, the alamarri went to fight a hopeless battle.

What’s interesting of this statue is that it’s a central piece of decoration in the Lair of the Nightmare Demon, in the Fade [check Part 4]. There, we see four of these statues, vomiting blood. Around this spilled blood, some bits of red lyrium can be found. This construction may be entirely done for shock value, since it’s a reuse of several assets assembled in a way that inspire terror and fear just in the moment where the Inquisitor faces the Nightmare demon.

2 - Eroded dragon skull and variations [Avvar]

Where it can be found:

In Swamp Kulsdotten, in the Frostback basin

In Hinterlands: Statues, paintings, and structures found in the open , Wolf Hollow , and Redcliffe – Future.

In the Therinfal Redoubt [As part of the decoration of the fortress’ main room]

In the The Fade of Flemeth: Part 1 as well as the common Raw Fade.

In Hinterlands: The Unknown Ruin [Mihris], as the base of the main, central figure, which is 1C with a clipped skull.

Brief description: I personally call it "Eroded dragon skull", because I have no other way to call it to tag it in the blog. I see a kind of dragon skull with horns that go backwards and then forward, but it also looks like a statue of a humanoid, with elongated legs that protrude from the sides of the skull. Like in the previous statues, it has no nose and seems to have pointy teeth at the end of the “snout”. All the details are blurred for what it looks like erosion.

On its back, this statue has a G symbol which doesn’t present the same level of erosion than the front. I only found a remotely similar symbol in the elven artefact. It’s a strange symbol, dwarven-like even for an “elven” artefact [looks like a squarish swirl]. In fact, that symbol can be found in dwarven objects [specially tapestry and rugs]. Once more, it’s only what I’ve observed, I don’t think we have any evidence to even speculate on this. It looks quite on purpose, though. A whole eroded statue with a clear G on its back is a choice in terms of design.

If we compare this statue with similar ones found in Avvar/Alamarri-related places the common characteristics show up:

It has long limbs, open mouth, and pointy teeth, without a nose. Through these similarities it seems reasonable to relate it with the Avvar culture.

3 - Tyrdda statue [Avvar]

Where it can be found:

In Hinterlands: Tyrdda Bright-Axe Path

and in Hinterlands: inside the Grand Forest Villa.

Tyrdda Bright-Axe was a legendary Alamarri chieftain who is considered the founder of the Avvar.

Brief description: The statue is simple, with a woman holding a sword [which is strange considering the Avvar always knew she was a mage and was holding a staff]. It has limbs a bit elongated and her ribs can be seen.

4 - Lady of the Sky [Avvar]

Where it can be found:

In the Skyhold [Stone-Bear Hold Avvars ] when you pick Avvar Decoration

Brief description: This satue is an owl, representation of the Lady of the Skies. I find interesting in her design the ring around her head: small little spikes that may be related or may have inspired artistically other symbols in the game: the thorns that we have seen many times in vines, which have elven influence [after all, the Avvar have a strong elven influence in their culture if we consider the tale of Tyrdda Bright-Axe Path as more or less reliable with respect to her lover of leaf-like ears], or could be an inspiration of a sun. The symbolism of the Lady of the sky with the sun is also shown in her painted representation, as I talked about in the post Dragon Age Iconic Patterns: The Sun.

5 - Korth [Avvar]

Where it can be found:

Stone-Bear Hold Avvars , close to the entrance of the hold,

or in Skyhold when you pick Avvar decoration.

Brief description: This statue shares the similar position of 1C, 1D, and 2, but instead of being a squat position due to fear, in Korth’s case it’s because the weight of the stone. Korth is the Mountain-Father, so this representation shows he is supporting it. His face, so filled with beard, and his body, short and thick, seems to recall dwarven nature, which could exists since the dwarf influence in the Avvar is present in their tales [Trydda had a child with a dwarven prince]. Curiously, it has horns [that can be part of a potential helm he is wearing?]. He is snarling as he endures the weight of the mountain/Stone.

6 - Dwarf with long limbs [Likely Alamarri/Avvar]

Where it can be found:

In Crestwood: surface , Crestwood: Flooded Caves , at the entrance of the drowned village,

In the Stone-Bear Hold Avvars, in the main throne room

In Hinterlands: Statues, paintings, and structures found in the open , Wolf Hollow, and Tyrdda Bright-Axe Path showing the path to some of the statues that trigger Tyrdda’s story.

In an unknown place called the Forgotten Tower, where the presence of this statue seems to reinforce the idea that this place was inhabited by an avvar, as it shows the codex triggered in this place: Old Codex: Mouldy Journal.

Brief description: This statue shares the characteristic of having elongated arms crossed over the chest in similar fashion as some Fereldan drawings seem to have [see Nation Art: Ferelden]. It displays a short man with hair, long beard, and a long, curvy moustache. The back and the front are the same image.

This statue is one of the most reused all over Ferelden, specially in regions where the Avvar-Alamarri presence was strong in the past. I think they represent the dwarves, which makes sense if we read the tale of Tyrdda: Avvar’s chieftains descend from humans and dwarves.

A weak pattern may suggest them as “pointers” or “guides”. Sometimes they are placed in pairs creating a path towards a place of importance [see Tyrdda Bright-Axe Path]. Sometimes, as pointers of graves or special places.

7- Monolith with swirls [Likely Alamarri]

Where it can be found:

In Hinterlands: Statues, paintings, and structures found in the open , Wolf Hollow, Tyrdda Bright-Axe Path

In the Forgotten Tower , where the presence of this statue seems to reinforce the idea that this place was inhabited by an avvar, as it shows the codex triggered in this place: Old Codex: Mouldy Journal.

Brief description: I’m not sure if it’s a mabari or a horse. The Avvar are not fond of the mabari, since they are a tamed animal; however, they seem to use an “avvar horse” that looks like a zebra, and it is a bit wild. On the other hand, I also suspect that this statue may be Chasind, simply because in DAO we saw similar monoliths with line patterns on them in the Kocari Wilds [Check Ostagar post or The Blackmarsh and the High Dragon for details]. Unfortunately, these monoliths have no codex associated with them and there is little to speculate about.

8 - Monolith with ropes [Likely Alamarri]

Where it can be found:

In Hinterlands: and Crestwood, but in general all over Ferelden.

In the Frostback Basin and inside the Stone-Bear Hold.

There is no much to say about this element. It appears everywhere, more as a decoration or a support for other statues.

9 - Table of Wolves [Confusing. Likely Ferelden]

Where it can be found:

In Crestwood: surface and Hinterlands: Statues, paintings, and structures found in the open

Brief description: a metallic dark table decorated with spiky wolves. The wolves have a strong resemblance to the ones that were painted by Solas in his mural “Inquisition Formation” [Read “The actions of the Inquisitor”]. It seems related to the mabaris/wolves presented in 10A, which tend to appear in Ferelden-based enviroments. It seems to be Ferelden but it could also be inherited through the Alamarri culture. What always caught my attention was the material: unlike the rest of the Alamarri/Avvar statues, it’s not made of stone but dark metal, a Tevinter-origin characteristic.

10 - Mabaris

Mabaris are depicted all over Ferelden without much surprise; Ferelden has a culture deeply entangled with them. However, sometimes the hound silhouette seems to be confused with that one of the wolf and it’s hard to distinguish one from another. We know due to the legends [unreliable sources but decent enough for this level of understanding] that the Alamarri had their dogs. The potential Alamarri origin of the The Ash Warriors [who fight with their mabaris beside them] seem to support those [unreliable] legends. However, the Avvar are not fond of tamed animals, and prefer wild ones that can be befriended, hence why a wolf is more suitable for them. Considering this detail, it’s natural to understand the following statues as somewhat in between the lines of the Culture of the Alamarri, the Avvar, and the Ferelden [maybe even Chasind too?]. The blurred difference between mabari and wolf translates into the difficulty of deciding to which culture these statues belong to.

10A - Pointy Mabaris [Likely Ferelden]

Where it can be found:

In some places in Crestwood: surface

In Therinfal Redoubt as part of the decoration of the Fortress’ main room.

In Frostback Mountains: Haven, as part of the decoration.

Brief description: The look too similar to the wolves drawn by Solas in his mural “Inquisition Formation” [Read “The actions of the Inquisitor”].

10B - Mabaris with lines [Likely Alamarri/Avvar]

Where it can be found:

In Fallow Mire: Granite Point , it is not original from this place, but since it’s kept beside other Avvar statues it may imply same origin too.

In Hinterlands: Wolf Hollow, again found with other Avvar statues.

In Therinfal Redoubt as decoration

Brief description: It is almost a monolith, similar to the ones we find in the Kocari Wilds in DAO [ read Ostagar post or The Blackmarsh and the High Dragon for details] and to 7 but with less curvy lines and more angular ones.

In the Fade Part 3, one of the heads of 1B has this statue sprouting from its mouth, which offers the codex A Plea from the Warrior to the Spirits. It seems to be written by an avvar/alamarri or a descendant of them, for example a Ferelden person who remembers the “old ways”. It speaks about how the wolves had been allies to the humans once, but the softening of the human, the replacement of the hunt as a survival means for an agricultural lifestyle, changed this relationship, replacing the wolf and the hunt, by a hound and a sedentary life. There is a reinforcement of the concept of the wolf as a symbol of freedom and rebellion, as a creature who doesn’t simply obey, like a hound does. Then, the Darkspawn came, putting at risk this comfortable sedentary life, showing how little power hounds have. “Kill the hound in my heart […] in its place, give me the wolf”. The wolf is representation of power, bravery, and freedom, as the mabari represents obedience and loyalty.

10C - Beheaded female Mabari [Likely Ferelden]

Where it can be found:

In Hinterlands: Minor places, specially in a cave where we see several Avvar statues and some Tevinter ones.

In the Forgotten Tower, where the presence of Avvar statues combined with the codex of this place: Old Codex: Mouldy Journal seem to reinforce the idea that this tower was inhabited by an Avvar who was rescued by an Elvhenan.

Brief description: It depicts a female mabari which has been feeding puppies [flaccid mammals]. On her back there is a spiky pattern that could be related to the spiky style of the wolves in 9 or 10A. What it’s disturbing is her head, which is barely kept in place because it’s attached with strips that have written runes on them. Inside the space between her head and body, there is usually fire [Waking World] or meat [Fade].

10D - Spiked Mabari [Likely Ferelden]

Where it can be found:

Mostly in Hinterlands: Statues, paintings, and structures found in the open

And in the Seeker fortress during Cassandra’s personal quest.

Brief description: These are mabari-totem figures in styles that can be Ferelden most likely, but seem to be inspired in Alamarri/Avvar ones since they have some similarities in style to 10B and 10C. There are no codex associated with them.

11 - Additional elements:

There is an Avvar table used in Stone-Bear Hold Avvars , that was also used to erect the hero of Ferelden’s monument in Hinterlands: Redcliffe - Present , so we can suspect avvar-alamarri-ferelden origin of it.

In Skyhold, when we activate the Avvar decoration, we find a unique statue that is not seen anywhere else: it looks like a tree branch-hand holding a bowl. It gives me the impression of a sylvanian hand.

#patterns and styles #pattern design #avvar design #avvar #chasind #alamarri design #alamarri #mabari statues #mabari #lady of the skies #korth

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thefadecodex · 14 days ago

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Survival-based spirits represent the raw drive to endure, persist, and overcome challenges in both the Fade and the physical world. These spirits are deeply tied to primal instincts, emotional fortitude, and the motivations that push individuals to survive against overwhelming odds. While they are not inherently malevolent, their intense focus on survival and self-preservation can sometimes lead to conflict with mortals or even corruption into demons.

Spirits: Courage, Determination, Need, Passion*, Perseverance, Profit, and Purpose

Note: There is very little information about Survival-Based Spirits in the DA lore. Below are theories surmised from the lore, not necessarily confirmed as canon.

Survival-Based Spirits in Dragon Age Lore

Survival-based spirits embody the primal drive to endure, overcome, and thrive in the face of adversity. These spirits reflect deeply rooted mortal instincts, manifesting around emotions and experiences tied to resilience, ambition, and self-preservation. They are not inherently good or evil but are defined by their purpose—to ensure survival at any cost, whether through inner strength, resourcefulness, or unyielding willpower.

Spirit of Courage

Essence: Represents bravery in the face of danger, embodying the drive to face fear and act despite overwhelming odds.

Behavior: Bold and unwavering, these spirits thrive in moments of crisis. They exude an aura of confidence, encouraging others to push forward when retreat seems inevitable.

Interactions with Mortals: They often appear to soldiers, adventurers, or those facing life-or-death situations, lending them courage or guiding them through paralyzing fear.

Potential Danger: If corrupted, a Spirit of Courage can become a Fear Demon, twisting its drive to face danger into an obsession with spreading terror and dread.

Examples of Spirit of Courage: I can't recall meeting one in any of the games; however, it is listed on the Spirit Dragon Age Wiki.

Spirit of Determination

Essence: Embodies perseverance, focus, and the drive to overcome obstacles through sheer willpower.

Behavior: Steadfast and resolute, these spirits are unwavering in their purpose. They are often calm and single-minded, refusing to falter under pressure.

Interactions with Mortals: They may appear to individuals striving toward seemingly impossible goals, offering strength and resolve to push past exhaustion or despair.

Potential Danger: If corrupted, a Spirit of Determination can become a Despair Demon, its relentless drive turning into an overwhelming sense of futility and hopelessness.

Example of Spirit of Determination: Spite was a Spirit of Determination before it was corrupted into a Spirit of Obsession.

Spirit of Need

Essence: Represents the drive to fulfill essential desires—be it hunger, safety, companionship, or shelter.

Behavior: Persistent and primal, these spirits are focused on identifying and fulfilling the most immediate and pressing needs of those they encounter.

Interactions with Mortals: They may guide starving travelers to food, help refugees find shelter, or encourage cooperation for survival.

Potential Danger: If corrupted, a Spirit of Need might become a Desire Demon, exploiting mortal vulnerabilities and driving individuals to reckless, self-destructive behavior in pursuit of their cravings.

Example of Spirit of Need: We don't have one in game; however, information about Spirit of Need was pulled from data mined notes from DATV.

Spirit of Passion*

Essence: Embodies raw emotion, drive, and fiery devotion to a cause, person, or ideal.

Behavior: Intense and expressive, these spirits are characterized by boundless energy and a strong sense of purpose. They are drawn to moments of heightened emotion, such as love, rage, or devotion.

Interactions with Mortals: They may inspire mortals to act on their feelings, pursue their goals with fervor, or rally others around a shared cause.

Potential Danger: If corrupted, a Spirit of Passion can become a Desire Demon, twisting fervor into obsession or unchecked impulsivity, leading to destruction.

*Note on Spirit of Passion: This spirit overlaps with chaos-based, love-based, and strength-based spirits. The key distinction lies in identifying what "fuels" the passion—whether it's emotional intensity, romantic devotion, rebellion, or raw ambition, which is why it was placed in Survival-Based Spirits for classification.)

Spirit of Perseverance

Essence: Represents endurance, resilience, and the refusal to give up, no matter the cost.

Behavior: Quietly unyielding, these spirits act as steady presences, urging others to keep moving forward even under crushing pressure.

Interactions with Mortals: They often gravitate toward individuals in long-term hardship—whether physical, emotional, or spiritual—offering encouragement and fortitude.

Potential Danger: If corrupted, a Spirit of Perseverance might become a Despair Demon, trapping mortals in endless cycles of struggle without hope of resolution.

Example of a Spirit of Perseverance: In the short story The Next One, we meet a Spirit of Perseverance, who possessed the dead body of the Grey Warden Lawrence because '[Lawerence] wanted to save just one more…" Evka dismissed the spirit, telling it "...If there's anything left in there, tell him I'll rescue the next on." This resulted in the Spirit of Perseverance leaving the body and returning to the Fade.

Spirit of Profit

Essence: Embodies resourcefulness, ambition, and the drive to secure prosperity and success through cleverness and calculated risk.

Behavior: Practical and opportunistic, these spirits value efficiency and adaptability. They are drawn to mortals who seek to improve their circumstances.

Interactions with Mortals: They may subtly guide merchants, entrepreneurs, or ambitious individuals toward opportunities for gain, success, or strategic advantage.

Potential Danger: If corrupted, a Spirit of Profit might become a Pride Demon, driven by greed and an insatiable hunger for dominance and control.

Example of Spirit of Profit: We don't have one in game, but information about a Spirit of Profit was pulled from data-mined noted from DATV.

Spirit of Purpose

Essence: Represents the clarity and drive that comes from knowing one’s role, goal, or destiny.

Behavior: Calm, focused, and resolute, these spirits exist to anchor others in a clear sense of meaning or mission.

Interactions with Mortals: They are drawn to leaders, visionaries, or those searching for direction in their lives, helping them focus on their purpose and pursue their goals with clarity.

Potential Danger: If corrupted, a Spirit of Purpose might become a Pride Demon or a Desire Demon.

Examples of Spirit of Purpose: Solas mentions Spirits of Purpose in DAI.

In Practice

Survival-based spirits are most often drawn to moments of extreme crisis, hardship, or transformation. They are found in places steeped in struggle—battlefields, refugee camps, or regions ravaged by famine or plague. They do not often appear uninvited but are drawn by strong emotions tied to survival instincts.

A Spirit of Courage may stand beside a desperate warrior holding the line.

A Spirit of Need might guide a lost traveler to water.

A Spirit of Profit might nudge a clever merchant toward a fateful trade.

Role in the Fade

In the Fade, survival-based spirits are drawn to regions shaped by mortal desperation, ambition, and endurance. These spirits often cluster in areas where mortal dreams reflect intense struggles for survival or success. Their presence might manifest as a calm refuge amidst chaos or as an echoing call urging dreamers onward.

Corruption and Demonic Transformation

When survival-based spirits are corrupted, their singular drive becomes a consuming obsession. Their core essence twists into darker forms, turning them into dangerous demons:

Courage → Fear Demon

Determination → Despair Demon

Need → Desire Demon

Passion → Desire Demon

Perseverance → Despair Demon

Profit → Pride Demon

Purpose → Pride Demon or Desire Demon

Mortals' Perspective

The Chantry: Survival spirits are viewed with suspicion, as their intense focus makes them prone to corruption. Any reliance on them is seen as dangerous, particularly by Templars.

The Dalish: They rarely interact with these spirits directly, viewing them as unpredictable and inherently dangerous.

The Avvar: They might see survival-based spirits as primal gods, embodying essential virtues such as courage, endurance, or purpose.

Tevinter: Mages might attempt to bind survival spirits for their power, particularly those embodying Profit or Purpose.

Rivain: Seers may work with survival spirits carefully, understanding their potential but respecting their intensity.

#dragon age #dragon age 2 #dragon age origins #dragon age inquisition #dragon age the veilguard #da #dao #da2 #dai #datv #the fade #da spirits #solas #the fade daddy #thefadecodex #survival based spirits #a study of spirits and demons in lore #in-lore spirits

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lootthekey · 1 year ago

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Duskmourn- The Living Horror Plane Theory

Art by Antonio José Manzanedo

Hello, this is me making another big post, but this time related to an upcoming set we know almost nothing about other than its loose themes. Duskmourn, a set themed around modern horror, or more accurately horror from the 70’s and 80’s, is extremely unique in that it takes place on the plane of Duskmourn. Why is that unique? You see, Duskmourn, the plane, is not like other planes at all. Even the most corrupted of Magic’s natural worlds, like Innistrad and Amonkhet, have a natural appearance to them. They have wildlife, a difference between civilization and nature, and overall are just standard worlds with differing cultures and ecosystems.

Duskmourn is extremely different from that.

Duskmourn is just one, absolutely gigantic, haunted mansion. As far as we know, this plane has very little in terms of an actual “world” and is just this massive house of horrors, hence the name of the set “Duskmourn: House of Horrors”. What is so interesting about this is the potential implications of this. As said, Magic’s planes almost universally follow the basic blueprint of being an actual world not unlike our own aside from the magical aspects of them, like Kamigawa’s Spirit Realm and similar.

The only plane that comes close to not being an actual “world” is Mirrodin, now better known as New Phyrexia. Even New Phyrexia, a world molded to its core by Elesh Norn and the other praetors of New Phyrexia, loosely imitates a natural world with its various spheres each having their own… ecosystem if they can be called that.

Duskmourn, until it is shown further and they say otherwise, has none of this to our understanding. It’s ONLY this big mansion. This leads me to my main theory I have today:

Duskmourn is an unnatural world.

And I don’t just mean this by how different it is. I mean to imply either this plane was created, similar to Mirrodin, by an extremely powerful entity, OR has been so heavily corrupted/modified/etc by a similar entity that it can no longer be called a ��natural plane”.

The first possibility is interesting, but there isn’t much to further analyze with that possibility. We don’t know of any characters currently that can CREATE planes that aren’t just some random oldwalker we probably haven’t met yet or some all powerful demon potentially.

The second possibility, that the plane was corrupted and shaped into its current form by an extremely powerful entity, does have more interesting implications, as there are hilariously several beings in Magic’s modern lore capable of doing so. This is mainly because it seems to take much less effort to corrupt an individual plane, especially if you have a lot of help, than it is to create a full plane. Not that it still isn’t world breaking power at play, but its possible. We saw the New Phyrexians do it to Mirrodin, and they probably could have done it to other worlds if they weren’t met with heavy pushback.

Let’s revisit the image that I posted above and has basically been WotC’s chosen image to showcase the plane in its little time slot on their release timeline.

This is an extremely large, very eldritch and/or demonic looking entity that dwells on Duskmourn… or perhaps more. If you study this art, its “body” naturally flows into what can be called doors, staircases, pillars, and windows. The sheer size of this thing is awe inspiring, and it is extremely eldritch in appearance. Its really only a little different in appearance to another cast of very eldritch entities in Magic’s lore that I also made big posts about.

Art by Eli Minaya

The Eldrazi Titans. Very similar bone-like appearance to Ulamog, very similar “multiple limb” design of Kozilek, and a similar “glowing eldritch hole(s)” design to Emrakul. You might see where I am going with this, which is:

Duskmourn is a giant, living plane, who’s World Soul has been supplanted by an Eldrazi Titan.

Now, you might say, “But Colin, Eldrazi’s do not do that. They eat worlds.” But how do we know that? Emrakul, in Eldritch Moon, was fully capable of taking over Innistrad. She had the entire plane in her grasp and there were no signs of her losing. She was delayed by the Gatewatch, but by the end all of them had been mentally overwhelmed by her powers. Emrakul sealed herself into Innistrad’s moon at the end of it all, clearly with a larger, more complex goal in mind that has haunted us to this day.

Duskmourn, I believe, is a world that has been completely corrupted by an Eldrazi not unlike Emrakul.

The inhabitants, who I don’t even know how they survive in such a world, are constantly bombarded by mental attacks from the world itself. This is not unlike what happened when Emrakul fought the Gatewatch. Every inhabitant of Duskmourn is a captive in Duskmourn’s corrupting grasp, and that will be central to the plane I believe. This is an unnatural world run by an eldritch entity, and the nature of it could be the key to learning more about the Eldrazi and/or how the World Souls of planes function.

I am very excited to see what Duskmourn has in store, and I hope it does not disappoint.

#mtg #spoiler #duskmourn

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wandering-winchesters · 2 years ago

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Not yourself

Pairing: Dean x Reader Word Count: 2,203 Summary: The reader has been feeling off, ever since a nasty encounter with a demon. Trigger Warnings: Panic attack, self hatred, swearing. Mostly fluff. Requested: No

A/N: Requests are open! I really hope you enjoy this, my anxiety has been bad recently so writing about the things that bring me comfort has helped.

Masterlist

Ever since Dean and I had started dating, some days were easier than others. When the voices in my head were quieter. The anxiety coursing through my body was not as strong. I didn’t feel jittery, I could focus on the tasks at hand and not want to spend all day in bed. Yet there were still bad days and today was one of them. Today, I was miserable. Anxiety tearing my every thought to shreds, making every task seem insurmountable. Instead of coming out as fear and sadness however, it was displayed as anger. Every little thing was pissing me off, breaking a plate, spilling my coffee and Dean making the wrong joke. All of these ended in outbursts of swear words coming from me. I couldn’t handle it today and the boys could tell. They’d both given me my space since the coffee incident, making up excuses to dismiss themselves to different rooms of the bunker. I didn’t blame them, if they were acting like me, I’d get it. I’d do the same thing. But that didn’t make handling my anxiety today any easier, not that it was their job to fix me, but they certainly helped. Some Days it was just easier to be mad at the world, instead of facing the real problem. The last couple of weeks had been miserable, but I had been trying my best to keep it internalized.

Ever since the last hunt I had been on, two weeks ago, my thoughts had been hell on earth. It had been a difficult hunt from the get-go. What we thought was a vengeful spirit turned out to be a Demon. It had cornered me, separating me from the boys, even though they fought like wildfire to get to me, they couldn’t until the demon let them in. He had read my innermost thoughts, using them to get to me. He had taken all of my worst fears and brought them to life. All of the negative thoughts I had ever had about myself, something he voiced to me. Reaffirming them to be true. Sam and Dean didn’t need me, I was a burden, they were better off without me. My parents never wanted me, I was a mistake, I was worthless. Dean didn’t love me, he was with me out of pity. All of his words cut me like a knife, my soul in pieces before him. I had fallen for his tricks and he almost took me. I didn’t realize I had been screaming, until Sam and Dean finally entered the room, ensnaring him in the trap that they had set, and exorcising him. I remained in the corner of the room, helpless and useless. Dean had run to my side, the second we were safe. His arms becoming my safety net, yet I hated every second of it. The demons words repeating within my mind, over and over again. I had begun to shut them out, figuring that if they truly hated me, it wouldn’t matter. They wouldn’t notice until it was too late and I could slip away without any difficulty. I stopped going on hunts with them, making up excuses each time they asked. I could tell by the looks that they gave me that they weren’t convinced, but they didn’t push me.

I am snapped from my thoughts by the clatter and splash of water, following me knocking over my cup of water.

“Fucking hell,” I mumble, quickly wiping up the water I had just spilled all over the book of lore that I was studying.

“I don’t think hell has anything to do with that, Y/N.” Dean says, when I glance over at him he’s got a soft smile on his face, concern also imminent in his features. I don’t answer, focusing back on the mess that I needed to clean up. He offers help, but I decline. Already using the I had grabbed, to wipe up what water I could before laying the book flat to dry. I can feel Dean’s eyes on me the entire time, waiting and watching, for what I’m not sure.

I’m about to brush past him into the hallway when he stops me, his hand gently grabbing my wrist.

“Hey.” He says, turning to face me. “What’s going on in that head of yours? It’s obvious that you’re not doing too hot.” His voice is soft, his face shows concern and all that does is make me angrier.

“You haven’t seemed like yourself recently.” He continued, his eyes pleading with me to open up and let him in. Yet, I knew that if I stopped and talked about it, I would break down. I simply didn’t have the mental energy for that right now, so remaining angry was the only way I could handle things right now. I brushed him off, muttering a quick I’m fine and walked away heading towards our shared bedroom. I stopped in front of the door and debated going inside, but decided I’d rather be alone. So I continued down the hall to the room that used to me mine, I locked the door behind me and press my back to the wall. For the first time today I’m surrounded by complete silence. No music, no talking, nothing at all, yet the silence is overwhelming. I can feel the anger creeping away and sadness and anxiety washing over the empty spaces it leaves behind.

I close my eyes, embracing the wave as it comes. I can feel the panic building inside of me making it more difficult to breathe or think. I find myself sliding down to the ground, my feet planted in front of me, my back pressed flush to the wall behind me. My head is spinning, thoughts screaming past like a car on a racetrack, circling around and around, unescapable. I can feel tears forming, hot and heavy, streaming down my face. I rest my elbows on my knees and cradle my head in my hands. Praying that this doesn’t turn into a full blown panic attack, but all the signs are pointing that way. I am so focused on trying to control my breathing and silence the sobs that are leaving my throat, that I am completely blind to my surroundings. Which is how I missed Dean knocking on the door, panicking when he tries the door knob and finds it locked. I don’t hear his threat to break it down if I don’t open the door. I don’t hear him follow through with his promise. I don’t realize he’s there, until his hands are pulling my own away from my face, his lips moving but his voice silent to me. I look at him confused, unsure how he got to be sitting criss-cross in front of me, pulling at my body. Slowly, ever so slowly, I can hear his words breaking through the roaring of the waves within my head.

“Y/N, you’ve got to breath, baby. C’mon, with me, copy me.” He says, his eyes frantic but his tone calm. His hands cradling my own, resting one against his chest so I can feel it rising and falling. I take a shaky breath, my lungs screaming in protest, pure agony. They feel constricted, like someone is squeezing them to exhale while I try to force an inhale.

“Can’t.” I choke out, my throat on fire. I am trembling, the kind of shaking that changes the way you speak, uncontrollable and inconsolable. Dean takes another look at me and without asking, he pulls me into his lap. My legs crossed behind his back, my thighs on his hips. I wrap my arms around his neck and pull myself into him as much as I possibly can, desperate for relief. His arms are wrapped around me, his hand finding my hair and rubbing his fingers against my scalp. His touch soft and calming, his voice echoing the same sentiment. Our chests are pressed together, forcing me to copy his breathing pattern, which is ever so slowly calming me down. I finally manage to take a full breath and almost sob in relief. I can feel Dean relax against me slightly, his concern lessening as my ability to breathe normally returns.

“You’re okay, I’ve got you. I’m here sweetheart, I’m not going anywhere.” His words hit me hard, I want them so badly to be true, but I can’t bring myself to believe them. We sit in silence for awhile, our bodies intertwined. I don’t dare to break the silence, not really wanting to explain the reasoning behind my actions today. I know he is going to ask, he’ll want an explanation and I can’t blame him for that. I just don’t really want to give him one. He pulls back slightly, just enough so he can see my face. He wipes away the tears on my cheeks, his eyes searching my own for any non verbal explanation, but I look down at the floor not wanting to make eye-contact with him.

“Baby, please. What’s going on? Please let me in.” He whispers, his voice tugging at my heart, he sounds almost broken. I sit silently for a minute, anxiety bubbling up within me once more. I close my eyes and consider the options before me, I can lie to him, or tell him everything. I choose the latter, my voice speaking before my brain can even process what’s happening.

“That demon, the last hunt I went on. He got inside my head, he took all of my darkest thoughts and fears and put them on display before me. He affirmed all of my biggest fears.” I said, brushing away the tears that had begun to form again, unwilling to appear any weaker in front of him, any weaker than I had moments before.

“What fears, baby girl?” He asks, his eyes still trained on me, watching my every action.

“That you and Sam hate me and think I am a burden. He told me that you didn’t really love me, that you were only with me out of pity. He told me that I really was worthless, and that everything he said was true and that he had read your thoughts.” My voice fails me and tears begin to fall again. Dean is quick to respond, his hand comes up to cup my cheek and I immediately lean into his touch. He presses a kiss to my lips, strong and meaningful. It isn’t until I look up at him, that I realize he has tears in his eyes.

“Sweetheart, that couldn’t be further from the truth. I love you, I don’t pity you. Sam and I don’t hate you and you are the furthest thing from a burden. You’ve been carrying this around for the last two weeks?” He asks, and all I can do is nod. I sniffle and he sighs, resting his forehead against my own.

“Y/N, next time you’re having these thoughts please just tell me, baby. It breaks my heart to know that you’ve been carrying this around for the last couple of weeks, no wonder you’ve been distant.” I am a little taken aback at his words, honestly believing that he hadn’t noticed a difference.

“You noticed?” I ask, trying to hide the surprise in my tone but he notices immediately.

“Of course I did, Y/N. Believe it or not, I know you like the back of my hand. I didn’t want to push you, but it was tearing me to pieces because you wouldn’t tell me what was bothering you. I just wanted to help you.” He says, pressing kiss to my cheek, soft and gentle. I lean into him once again, resting my head on his shoulder and inhaling deeply. My body is exhausted, from lack of sleep and the panic attack that had surged earlier.

“I love you, De. I am so tired.” I whisper, relishing the peace that has replaced my inner turmoil. I can feel him relax against me, his hands rubbing gentle circles in my back.

“I love you more, Y/N. Wanna go watch a movie in bed and snuggle?” He asks and I nod, my arms squeezing him tighter.

“But only if you carry me, Winchester.” He laughs, but silently agrees.

Thats exactly what we do, he carries me to our room and sets me gently on our bed. He tosses me a pair of his sweatpants and one of his flannels, knowing I am most comfortable when wearing his clothes. I pull them on, while he grabs his laptop and gets situated in bed next to me. We jokingly bicker about what movie to watch before he points out that the whole point of this is for me to fall asleep while watching, I concede and he puts on some action movie. I don’t complain however, knowing that it will keep him entertained while I sleep. He pulls me against his side and I intertwine my legs with his, resting my head on his chest. My arm wrapping around his middle and completely sinking into his embrace. I let my eyes flutter closed, my senses overwhelmed by his presence in the best way possible.

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chaotictempleknight · 1 month ago

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UnderSulfur - Flowey and Sans

Hello, I posted a sh_tpost drawing of Sans and it actually did well compared to everything else I post, so I guess UnderSulfur gets to see the light of day.

UnderSulfur

In the ancient past, demons once mingled with humans. It was a time of magic and wonder, but one day the demons vanished, taking with them their knowledge of the arcane. Humanity moved on, forgetting its past with demon-kind, with only remnants of this time surviving through the practices of a scant few magicians who study the grimoires and tomes of yore. One day, a human seeking knowledge and enlightenment fell down a great, bottomless hole. This hole was rumored to be a gateway to Inferno. Upon coming too, the lone magician discovers that he has ended up in the realm of demons with no way to return to his home. The Kingdoms of Inferno were fascinated to see a human again, but things are not as they seem in Inferno. A group of malcontent demons appear to be plotting something that could spell the downfall of humanity.

Sans and Flowey

Sans is an obscure Duke of Inferno, albeit one would never realize that given that he is rarely summoned by humans and does not act like a duke. Typically he stands guard near entrances to Inferno, making sure there is no trouble. Papyrus, a president and his brother, constantly gets on his case to get out there and make himself known to the humans. Naturally Sans says he will get on and then makes a joke at his brother's expense. Sans is not the most motivated as Inferno is much more preferable to the human realm. Most humans are petty and corrupt, but the odd few who either summon him or end up in Inferno fascinate him. They seem to have their heads on straight and actually want to learn.

Flowey is an abrasive mandrake who has been tempting humans into giving him their souls for ages. He would promise riches and glory only for the deal to backfire. Why Flowey is claiming souls is unclear, but King Asgore had finally had enough and instructed one of his underlings to deal with the nuisance. Sans stepped up and compelled the trouble making plant to be one of his familiars. Flowey is mad he cannot get away with his misdeeds, and Sans has loads of puns to yank his leaves and drive him nuts.

The lone human

The lone human is a boy named Aleister Archibald Craddock, a rebellious 11 year old who was reading books he should not have. And now he is stuck in Inferno. While not the realm of evil most paint it out to be, Inferno is no place for children or foolish mortals. Thankfully he was discovered by Sans and Toriel rather than some trouble making demon or earth spirit. Given that he is going to be in Inferno for the foreseeable future, Toriel has elected to take care of him. Papyrus is curious to see if the human has what it takes to join the psuedomonarchy of Inferno, something Toriel is not keen on.

Some notes about this AU:

I'll work on it whenever I can, as I have an ongoing project already.

This project will borrow a lot from ULTRAMagic Alternate. If I don't do a lore post for something in this AU, you may be able to find info about it in UMAE. UMAE started out as an Undertale AU before becoming what it is now, so haha.

Don't be surprised if my UMAE characters cameo in this project.

There will be demons from books like the Goetia, The Sworn Book, and The Infernal Dictionary showing up. Given that I have some adaptations of these demons in UMAE, it only makes sense.

I would have made a proper UnderSulfur logo, but my Chromebook can't add new fonts, Canva sucks, and I'm not using a logo generator. Someday we'll have a proper logo.

#chaotictempleknight #undertale #undertale fanart #undertale au #sans #sans undertale #sans au #flowey #flowey undertale #flowey au #art #artwork #fan art #artists on tumblr #au

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scarlet--wiccan · 3 months ago

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Visual languages aside, do you know how to differentiate in the casting spell part? Like which spells are from witchcraft and which is from chaos magic?

Well, Wanda doesn't really cast spells with chaos magic, at least not in the same way she does witchcraft. Chaos magic and her mutant/mutate hex power are innate abilities, but witchcraft, spellcasting, and so forth are skills that she's learned through study and practice, and that's what you're seeing when she's using invocations, rituals, symbols and sigils, etc. So that's the main difference. I have a longer post, here, about how witchcraft is distinguished from other forms of magic in the Marvel world

Admittedly, there is a lot of overlap, especially after the late 90s when her powers, for better or for worse, became a lot more streamlined. More on that here and here. Nowadays, we consider chaos magic to be her primary power, and there is an aspect of it in everything she does. But usually, the text makes it pretty clear when she, or Billy, are bringing it to the fore, as it's often employed as the driving factor in important plot moments.

Anyways this is how I would break Wanda's powers down into reliable, easy to understand abilities. I tried to stick as close to canon as possible, but this is more like a creative interpretation meant to give a more distinctive, characteristic view of her abilities that's really grounded in her established lore.

Hex power-- Innate power. Controlling physical matter and energy, ranging from simple telekinesis to complex manipulation of the laws of physics; flight & levitation, gravity manipulation; generated energy attacks, explosions; subverting, distorting, amplifying or redirecting other people's science/physics based powers. Hexes are primarily cast through focus and visualization. Efficacy correlates to Wanda's comprehension of the phyiscal laws or structures she's manipulating and resultant ability to visualize.

Witchcraft-- Learned skill and hereditary talent. Communication with nature and spirits; elemental manipulation; mystical and extrasensory perception; protection and healing abilities; illusions; astral projection; conjuring and manifestation (such as the weapons and animals we've seen in Scarlet Witch). Spells are typically cast using symbols, verbal invocations, or ritual working and should be based primarily on real-world culture and language, as 'witchcraft' is used as shorthand for folk magic. Efficacy correlates to Wanda's demonstrated knowledge of folkways, mythology, language, etc.

Chaos magic-- Innate power, initially overwhelming and difficult to control; trial, experience, and recent victories over Cthon have led to greater mastery. Abilities include temporal and spatial distortions, portals, teleportation; matter transmutation; subverting, distorting, amplifying and redirecting other people's magic; the capacity to transcend the boundaries of life and death; calling forth destructive primordial powers.

As a Nexus Being-- ability to channel, absorb, and synthesize foreign sources of magical power; multiverse traversal and inter-dimensional scrying; applied reality alteration.

As the Living Darkhold--ability to call upon the Darkhold's corrosive power and unleash demonic manifestations without harmful side-effects; ability to bind or transform vampires, werewolves, and other related "monsters" and eldritch-spawn; binding and balancing entropic chaos.

#powers #chaos magic

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fangsandfeels · 3 months ago

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Oct 23 - Favorite Inquisition companion

It’s a strong draw between Cole and Solas

Cole

Cole is a beautifully written companion that lets you explore the world through the eyes of a spirit. He is incredibly kind and compassionate, but also sometimes so alien in the way he perceives pain of others’, the way he can just disappear from sight and other peoples’ memories, the way he just sees through the souls of people around him – and even beyond.

You can easily understand why he can be unsettling, but you can also see what makes him so endearing and pushes even those averse to magic and spirits to care about him.

I also love how there are no bad resolutions to his quest. His spirit ending makes him more in tune with his purpose and restores him before coming from the Fade, while his human ending shows that spirits don’t necessary become corrupted from interacting with the world of living – they change and become something new, but only if there is someone to help them process that experience and support them. Both developments are absolutely fascinating lore-wise and I’m so glad for my boy in both of his endings.

Sybil didn’t think twice before inviting him in. After all, he found them, trying to warn them – if he was some kind of a spy sent by Corypheus, he did quite a bad job of not acting suspicious. Moreover, with his ability he could have killed all of them easily – but he didn’t. So, she was inclined to believe in his good intentions – and who would deny the opportunity to talk to an actual spirit? Or at least, someone who remembered being a spirit?

In turn, she provided the perspective Cole lacked in her conversations with him. She also chose to let Varric handle the situation with the templar who killed Cole because I don't believe in forgiveness and neither do my OCs fuck that guy. Sorry Solas, if you want to kill a group of mages who killed your friend, Cole has the right to be angry at the bastard. This boy didn’t deserve to be forgotten.

Solas

Solas plays a fundamental role in any Inquisitor’s life, but I enjoyed his dynamic with Sybil. Sybil genuinely liked the guy: how could she not? He was the one who saved her and nursed her back to health. He was the one who had at least some ideas about her mark.

Also, he was everything Sybil wished her Osterwick mentors could be – someone she actually wanted to listen to and take advice from. All his stories and experiences in the Fade were fascinating, so Sybil found herself visiting Solas’ study over and over – to either study the mural he was painting or to ask him thousand of questions about magic, the Fade, demons, and spirits.

Even prior to meeting Solas, Sybil didn’t have a strong anti-mage stance. As a little contrarian, she liked arguing about mages mostly because it annoyed her parents. However, then she saw a Tranquil vendor at the shop of enchanted and exotic goods – and it terrified her to her very bones. The empty expression, the twitch of facial muscles trying to remember how to smile, the droning voice – Sybil didn’t see a person. Everything that used to be a person was scooped out and thrown away, with just a body remaining. It wasn’t normal. It wasn’t natural. It was revolting.

And yet, her family and her family’s circles considered Tranquility to be something good. Something safe.

Who needs demons when you’re surrounded by people like these?

After close encounters with magic, demons, and spirits, Sybil expanded her knowledge and experience – and realized that magic isn’t good or evil. It’s just a force. You don’t condemn a storm or fire – you respect them and learn them, in a way. And Sybil did her best to learn and understand. When Solas asked her to help him save his friend, she didn’t hesitate. Oh, she is a corrupted spirit and can attack? Alright, good to know, but she is Solas’ friend, so it’s worth the risk. Solas spoke to her in a dream that didn’t feel like a dream? How cool is that!

Of course, it didn't mean that Sybil followed his every word. She asked for his opinion, but she also listened to her gut and preferred to do what felt right. For instance, she skipped the ritual at the Mythal's Temple because her people were dying out there and she wasn't going to bargain their lives for some ancient sacred tradition. Needless to say, she grew more mistrustful of Morrigan as a result and breathed a sign of relief when she realized that drinking from the Well would have bound her to an obsessed elven goddess.

Nevertheless, she considered Solas her friend. Moreover, the guy actually inspired her to try and make a difference as an Inquisitor. He was the first out of many few who saw her for who she was, not because of all that herald bullshit. He followed her because he believed in her skills and abilities. That meant a lot.

Sybil was thinking about her future after Corypheus, about the changes she could make. She thought she never cared about anyone’s opinions, but knowing that there were people believing in her (and not because she was supposedly connected to Andraste) gave her powerful motivation.

But then Solas left.

(I love it that you can awkwardly offer to try and glue the shards back together - Sybil has no clue how any of that works, but girl is trying her best)

And it turned out he was an actual elven god planning to bring about the end of the world. Sybil could have understood the deception, the lies and everything. But him solemnly telling her to enjoy her remaining life before everything is over?

Acting like he couldn’t stop it even though he started it? Like he didn’t trust her, trust them to help and maybe, think of a better solution?

That she couldn’t let go. Moreover, she remembered their conversation back in Skyhold, when Solas asked her what she was going to do with the power from Mythal's Well. Back then, Sybil shrugged and said she would restore things back as they were. In her thoughts, it meant merely removing the cataclysms and the Rifts and restoring a semblance of normalcy - so everyone could catch their breath and, maybe, tone down the religious hysteria a bit. But clearly, Solas made another conclusion from her words.

So, of course, she couldn't help but wonder - did she unknowingly push him to proceed? Could he change his mind had she responded differently?

I wouldn’t say that Solas became her enemy after revealing himself to be the Dreadwolf. But she disbanded the Inquisition and prepared to operate from the shadows with the goal to stop him rather than talk him out of it. Maybe, she subtly, secretly hoped she would be able to reach him – but with the entire world at stake, she would rather focus on disrupting his plans.

(I don't trust the DA:V writers to not make an Inquisitor who decided to stop Solas rather than to convince him to stop, an obsessed and unreasonable maniac, so I'd have to do some tinkering I guess)

#31 days of dragon age #dragon age: inquistion #da:i #dragon age inquistion #solas dragon age #dai solas #solas dai #da cole #cole dragon age #dai cole #astarion #da oc: sybil trevelyan

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