#andrastes grace

[midorisudachi]

“The Inquisitor And Her Commander”

As some of you may have noticed, I am a huge fan of the Dragon Age games, especially Dragon Age Inquisition. Last year, I had planned on drawing all the main [playable] characters up until Dragon Age Day (which took place on December 4th), but I just didn’t have time to draw more than three characters (the Inquisitor, Solas, & Varric…please check them out in my gallery) due to being busy with work and other things. I’ll eventually draw the other characters when I gather more motivation to do so.

For now, please enjoy this piece. I hope everybody likes this. I worked very hard on this artwork. It took longer than usual to create, due to all the small details, the poses, & the armour. (Armour is not easy to draw for me!) For those of you who are DAI fans, you may recognize the flowers: Crystal Grace on the bottom and Andraste’s Grace on the top. I know Andraste’s Grace is not in DAI, but I thought it would be pretty to add to the artwork (since it technically exists in the Thedas world).

 My OC Inquisitor is named Bryony Trevelyan. She is actually my 2nd Inquisitor character, the first one having been an elf (which I may draw someday). I had been playing DAI for the 3rd time, a few months ago, as a male character (since I wanted him to be in a romance with Dorian, so yes, my male Inquisitor is gay), but I stopped for a bit since I am playing Skyrim at the moment (with updates & mods). Anyway, back on the main subject: I drew Inquisitor Bryony Trevelyan in the Armor of the Dragon Hunter outfit (from the Jaws of Hakkon DLC), which I had altered the colours by tinting it with Veil Quartz. I based her crown from concept art for DAI. So much armour in the game! Which I love, especially since the DA games don’t give female characters the stereotypical skimpy outfits…I love that I get to make my female characters wear bad-ass armour.

Cullen Rutherford is such an adorable and slightly awkward character around my Inquisitor. I knew I had to romance him right away, because his looks are the type of man I am attracted to in real life. (I’m not going to lie…in the game, he’s hot for a video game character. Ha ha!) I’ve always enjoyed the flirting in the DA games when it comes to the relationships. The best scene was right before their first kiss, when Cullen got interrupted by a member of the Inquisition, and then got mad about it. Ha ha. I liked when my Inquisitor asked Cullen, “The day you kissed me on the battlements…how long had you wanted to do that?” And Cullen replied (with a laugh), “Longer that I should admit.” Awwwww.

I also liked the part in the Winter Palace, when all these people were flirting with Cullen, and one asked him, “Are you married, Commander?” And Cullen replied, “Not yet, but I am…already taken.” Double awwww, because a loyal man is so dreamy. :3 I actually had Bryony & Cullen get married in the last DLC. :3 They adopt a Mabari (dog), too!

I love DAI too much. :D It’s such a fun game with the most gorgeous graphics (especially on the Xbox Series X).

Drawn with Sakura Pigma Micron pens, then coloured in with a mixture of Copic Markers & Ohuhu Markers. I used Koi Watercolours for the background. White accents done with both a gel pen and white watercolour. Gold acrylic was used for the Inquisition Symbol & the lines, which the scanner absolutely murders...the gold is such a pretty, shimmery metallic in real life. The light green around my art was done in Photoshop Elements.

Dragon Age Inquisition © Bioware & Electronic Arts

Fan artwork © Jacqueline E. McNeese

[breninarthur]

personally, if i were the hero of ferelden trying to find a cure to the calling, my first port of call would be the wilds flower that saved my tainted dog in ostagar. but what do i know!

[jules-of-arc]

💙 The hands of the Divine

Just the two hands of the Divine, taking a break from fixing the world together.

Dragon Age: Veilguard week countdown: « 5 »

[vanmarkham]

tagged by @sinquisition to make a character in this picrew and a sword they would use in this one

the only ocs i have with swords as their weapon of choice are val and my templar oc, sarian and the picrew can't make either of them lol

soooo here is gideon in his ultimate princess, magical girl form and the sword he was given when he was named inquisitor

tagging @idolsgf @aztarion @shivunin

[leliwardens]

so while the old leaks have been more or less confirmed and its still possible it changed in development, it seems very very likely going to weisshaupt is on the table

and you know what's at weisshaupt? the tombs of the wardens who died killing the archdemon including the hero of ferelden's.

and you know what else can be at the tomb, i say with a hopeful tone, gifts over the years from their love interest.

[invinciblerodent]

"I need to rein it in, I don't know the characters yet, so I won't write fic about them- it'd just end up being out of character anyway."

(proceeds to write like four pages)

"well, okay, that's.... fine, it's ambiguous enough, they barely speak. but i won't mention the kind of tattoos this character is supposed to have without seeing what options I have for them in the cc, just to keep things neat and canon-accurate."

(proceeds to spend like half an hour brainstorming ideas for exactly that)

[rosykims]

unintentionally the funniest foreshadowing in the game. elspeth once again getting "i told you so" rights forever

[hawkepockets]

on a second DA:I playthrough i’m noticing so much more foreshadowing in companion/advisor dialogue of how cadash/adaar/lavellan/travelyan as a person HAS to be obliterated by the inquisition as a political, religious, and narrative force and the title of inquisitor.

mother giselle tells you from the beginning it doesn’t matter what you believe about being/not being the herald; you are an icon to the common people and the chantry.

josephine tells you after the truth about “andraste”/justinia is revealed in the fade—it doesn’t matter what you saw or felt, only what is remembered collectively.

dorian tells you if you ask to go with him to tevinter—you can never undo being the inquisitor, and would take away his agency just by being there.

varric tells you in haven that you’re a tragic hero, and asks at the wicked grace game if there is still a “you” separate from the inquisitor.

solas tells you in skyhold, if you tell him you intend to disband the inquisition, that the power you’ve amassed can’t be destroyed, and will only pass to less worthy hands if you relinquish it.

and all of that is just off the top of my head and comes up before ameridan’s name is ever mentioned.

and it’s all been said before but like! fuck! truth is the game was rigged from the start! you’ve been COOKED, inquisitor! YOU CAN NEVER GO HOME! it’s so fucking good

[laurelsofhighever]

A list of potential cures for the Calling, that we know about, that BioWare has apparently forgotten

Andraste's grace: it's not specified whether the flower the kennelmaster has you pick in the Korcari Wilds is Andraste's grace or if the game just needed a one-off asset and decided to reuse one they already had. However, in the dark future in DAI, Leliana is found to have unusual tolerance for the taint, and in DAO she talks about her mother pressing her laundry with dried Andraste's grace flowers, so it makes you wonder. Anyway, the flower stops Barkspawn becoming a ghoul and seems to make them immune to the taint from that point on.

Maric's longsword: he finds it in the Deep Roads and is suprised it isn't covered in the same Blight-rot as everything else - until, that is, he touches the sword to a patch of it and sees it wither away. Whether it's the dragonbone the sword is made of or the runes on the blade is difficult to say, though if it was just the dragonbone then it would make sense for that to be a more well-known property of the material (and would have been an interesting reason for why dragons were hunted to extinction). If Alistair carries it with him, doesit slow the progession of the taint through his body? Does he know its effects, and give it to the HoF to help keep them safer on their journey to find a permanent cure?

That obsidian dagger Duncan finds in The Calling: the dagger belonged to First Enchanter Remille - who also gave the expedition members brooches that accelerated the spread of the taint. iirc the both the dagger and the brooches are made by the Architect with Blight magic, which means the darkspawn magisters have more knowledge of how the Blight works than the Chantry attributes to them.

Whatever the fuck is going on with Avernus: he hasn't managed to cure himself yet, but he's managed to make it to 200 and the Warden can let him continue his experiments if they don't kill him - and he'd be a really useful resource if the Warden later wanted to send him other potential cures for testing.

Dragons: they have an ability to isolate the Blight in their bodies by forming crystaline cysts around the initial infection to stop it spreading. Useful if it can be more widely applied. Also, it's implied that Maric's reaver blood, which Calenhad gained by mixing his blood with a dragon's, is what somehow cured Fiona of the taint, kinda like a reverse STI, BUT in the Deep Roads they went through an area where the walls were coated in a pale, chalky substance suspiciously devoid of Blight-rot and she touched it, so I'm a bit suspicious of that.

Blood magic: makes sense since the taint is a problem that starts with infected blood. There are two major instances in DA canon where blood magic has been used to purge the taint from an object or being (both by elves btw). The first is Isseya using it to draw the taint out of a clutch of unhatched griffon eggs, which she says is only possible because the taint hasn't yet taken over the hatchlings' bodies to the same extent that it had with the adult griffons. The second instance is Merrill purging the Blighted eluvian in DA2. It's insane that Anders - who is a reluctant Warden and who possibly knows the HoF seeks a cure - isn't more excited about this. She literally removed the Blight from a fully tainted object. Since Isseya proved the same can be done with living tissue, it's probably the closest we've come to an actual cure, but since it also took years there's no telling if it could be a practicaly solution for all Wardens

[bonesofapoet]

Lucanis Dellamorte was not fucking good at this.

He should look away from you, stationed resolutely at his side. Any minute now, his eyes would slip to focus on the other side of the room, or out past the trees swaying in the distant breeze. Except now, the candlelight has flickered to illuminate you in a bright wash of amber light. Every trace of lingering shadow is chased away by the brightness, flame still swaying faithfully to a tune only known to fire.

Your hands were gentle as they worked under the dim light. Calm. Methodical. There was a pattern to how you did things. It was something he itched to ask about, but knew better than to pry about a past not offered willingly.

He still hasn't looked away when you further disinfect the slash on his forearm, or when you glance up at the sharp inhale he allows himself to express at the sting. Eyes meet in the dark, over blood and salve and a cavern of things he wants to say, thinks about saying, imagines endlessly, ruthlessly about doing -

Only, he doesn't. Can't. Wouldn't know where to even begin, should he learn that you've carved your own well of sorrows, your own deep pit full of longing for the assassin constantly in your midst. And yet, before you gather yourself to do what Lucanis simply, genuinely cannot, because - Maker. Who is he, to look away from such a beauty that rivals Andraste herself?

Your apology is soft, accompanied by a smile that doesn't reach your eyes. He promises to forgive you, but only if you swear to him that he won't lose a limb under your questionable care. The laugh that follows is enough to stop his heart. He feels a small smile of his own reveal itself, and you linger like this, until the golden moment shatters.

Before you turn back to changing his dressings (at your deepest, most incredible insisitence) he saw something new in your eyes. A fresh expression graced your features, captivating as they are on their own. Something that, if he didn't know better, resembled a resigned sort of heartache.

The candle flickers once more, in time with the finishing steps of your task. You gather your materials, and Lucanis still cannot fucking look away, Maker what is wrong with him - but then you're standing, bidding him a good night and trying to slip back to your own space without incident.

He reacts instead of thinks - his hand taking your wrist just before you move out of reach. You turn back, praying he won't hear the way your heart picks up speed, or the hitch in your breath when you bring your eyes to look at him. His voice is quiet when he speaks, smooth in contrast with the rough war of shadow and light the candles impress upon him. Thank you. He clears his throat, seems unsure what to say next. Sleep well.

You're accutely aware of his fingertips on your skin. The burn is hot and fierce and soft and Maker it's too much.  Of course. Your response is quick. A little strained. Anytime, Lucanis.

He feels you slip through his grasp and watches you leave, wondering what, exactly, it is you think of him.

(your wish is my command, @torrick17 here's more Lucanis 🩶<3)

[leliwardens]

oh my god how could i forget preserved flower charms that is for sure going in lelizine

[rennybu]

AAAAUHG.. so many things come to mind so i will start with... i like to imagine he and Fenris are the same height :') (5'11"). This got a bit long but i'm always happy to talk about this guy!!!!!!!!! @trebuchet151

he's got a big garnet signet ring with the Amell family crest carved in it, and that's about the only recognizable thing that denotes his lineage... he has always liked stamping wax seals on letters with it!!! he's a ring guy generally, he likes mixing and matching stones and metal.

his hands are very scarred and rough from reckless casting, and especially casting fire magic without a staff (in a pinch).

He has a heart tattooed on his ring finger for Fenris :') their wedding was very. Andraste as the witness, on the road, impulsive. Vows for themselves, nothing legally binding. Fenris has a plain gold band on a red cord somewhere on his person at all times.

his testosterone is taken via oral tincture, some kind of oil solution he takes drops of daily. like a mild and highly personalized potion recipe! it's the only reason he sometimes needs a home base or shop to set up in, to prepare a big batch. He stores it in little glass vials he collects from trinket shops. Malcolm found the recipe for him after he came out in his tweens.

Bethany is kind of sainted in his mind, when he's exasperated or stunned he might utter an "oh Bethany" (in the tone of "are you seeing this shit") rather than an "oh Maker"

He struggles a lot with empathy, in that he frequently can logically recognize when he should feel for another person's situation, and yet finds himself unmoved. He will deliberately go out of his way to care for others, sometimes more than is needed, to try to make up for what he perceives as a personal flaw. This is how he ended up like a wrung out mouldy rag, emotionally, by the end of DA2.

His spell class is fucking terrifying, he has a lot of mana and not much hp, but is really reckless about his reserves. He combines force magic with fire magic, trapping foes and incinerating them, and sometimes leaving himself winded in the wake of too much magical exertion at once.

he's pretty spry and strong but doesn't have a great constitution. He tires out quickly in fights, hence trying to end them explosively and quickly.

Was briefly stalked by a sloth demon, perhaps around Act 2, and passed a very "get off my doorstep" homebrew harrowing as a result. Burnt it out of his shadow and got some spring back in his step, around roughly the same time he recognized his feelings for Fenris, settled into his role as Hawke within Kirkwall, etc. He Killed Dysphoria, Forever!!!

His love for Merrill makes him very "blood magic is okay", he loves her worldview and wisdom about its use, but his upbringing prevents him from extending that grace to himself. He was forced to use blood magic in his duel against the Arishok in order to survive it!!! Angst. Hates himself quite badly for this. Until Merrill is like "why are you special" and he's like ooohh. I get it

We all kno Hawke goes thru hell but I love reflecting on Orson's arc from early family life to Now/post-DA:I, he found closure among his friends and family and was able to fully remove himself from a public leadership role and is doing much better for it. He's a bit of an anarchist i guess, jack of all trades with a pretty rigid set of personal morals that sometimes forces him to act outside the law. He's very grey market, hard to contact, arrive in the nick of time.

He and Fenris do not ever shut up around each other. Two dudes who talk about fuck all, very intelligently. If you see Fenris in the wild, Orson is probably around, too. They love hunting Venatori and only sometimes get in the way of other spy/subterfuge activities.

he smells like BRITTLE sun-baked wood, with a hint of oily herbal medicine.

[rangdezvous]

The moment Leliana received Andraste's Grace from the warden

[varricscrossbowbianca]

inquisitor: what is the hero of ferelden like? alistair: they sacrificed isolde guerrin to save connor. it was fine though because they gave me 24 sugar cakes to keep my mouth shut. wynne: they called knight-commander greagoir a 'fucking idiot' right in the middle of abominations attacking the circle. I wasn't even mad because they suddenly had The Rose of Orlais and gifted it to me. zevran: they didn't even hesitate punching caladrius, he was finished before we could even join in. they gave me beautiful dalish gloves. leliana: they called the revered mother in the lothering chantry a 'greedy old hag'. she got me my favourite flower, andraste's grace, immediately after, how strange :) oghren: you all got gifts???

[breadedsinner]

I think Blackwall with a non human Inquisitor (especially Cadash but that's just my bias) is so compelling because it adds challenge to what's perceived as justice.

You can make the argument that regardless of method or intent, by freeing Thom Rainier, the Inquisitor has done a corrupt act. This seems fairly straightforward for a human, especially one of noble background like Trevelyan especially non-mage Trevelyan... but what about Cadash? They were already considered a criminal before this began, only "absolved" by the supposed grace of Andraste. Any chantry cleric will tell you, and some of them have, that dwarves are not of the Maker.

Now the absorption of their identity by becoming the Inquisitor does muddy the waters a bit here; by becoming Inquisitor they agree to abide by and act on behalf of various lords (that's why they can judge people in Skyhold, I always thought that was obvious?). Yet had this one thing not happened, Cadash would likely still be a criminal. And Thom, under the guise of Blackwall, would be quietly atoning until something finally came around and delivered the unceremonious death he thought he deserved. Would a dwarf think this justice? Or is this specifically human justice?

When a non-human Inquisitor is characterized as "well he lied to me and got some kids killed so to the Wardens it is / we're breaking up" it just feels like a missed opportunity. Shit, even a Lavellan you could explore that more, show me a Lavellan who thinks to the Emerald Graves and all the Orlesian estates built there. Where's the justice in THAT. Who are these people, building houses in sacred ground, to decide what is and isn't just?

Idk, something to chew on.

[readwritejayy]

Andraste’s Grace and Embrium

(Read on AO3 here)

“When I die, I want you to prepare my body.”

His hand froze holding his pen. After a moment he tilted his head up. The sound of a hinge was almost audible.

“I’m sorry, my lady?” Emmrich asked.

Words: 786

Notes: Feodora is my elven Grey Warden warrior, so I love the idea that her own views of death might be challenged by Emmrich’s death-positive outlook.

For the last ten years, death had been on the horizon for Feodora. If the Hero of Fereldan failed, and the Calling maintained its hold on all Wardens, one day sooner or later (it is always sooner ) Feodora would hear the music and know it is her time. She’d dress for battle one last time and head off into the Deep Roads and use the little life she had left to kill darkspawn before her body joins the hundreds of bodies of the Grey Wardens that came before her.

For Emmrich, death was a curiosity. A fact of life for all the living. He studied death and researched rituals and ceremonies in different cultures, even used it to bring life in other ways. He never shied away from it or fought against it in the same ways so many with great power tried to. He…respected it, the way only a dedicated necromancer could.

Feodora suddenly had a vision of her own body laid out on his table, dead in full dented armor. Flowers in her hair, and a bouquet of Andraste’s Grace and embrium. She had every certainty he would prepare her body with the utmost care and decorum.

Something about it made her sad to remember her body would be lost in the Deep Roads instead.

Which was why one evening she approached Emmrich while he worked at his desk. She stood on the other side, finger tips resting on the edge of the wood, and stared down at him.

“When I die, I want you to prepare my body.”

His hand froze holding his pen. After a moment he tilted his head up. The sound of a hinge was almost audible.

“I’m sorry, my lady?” Emmrich asked. “Are you intending to go out and get yourself killed anytime soon?”

“Grey Wardens don’t live quite as long,” she replied.

They both stared at each other another moment before Emmrich set his pen down.

“I’m sorry,” he said again, “but I feel like I’m missing something. Did we have a previous conversation I’m forgetting?”

“No, no, I was just doing some thinking…” Feodora pursed her lips. “When a Grey Warden hears the song in their mind, the Calling, they prepare for battle and venture into the Deep Roads. They commit what little life the Calling grants them to killing as many darkspawn as they can before succumbing.”

Emmrich raised his eyebrows and gave a slight nod, so she continued.

“I…don’t think I want that.” Feodora looked down at her fingertips. “It won’t come for me for maybe twenty years, but I just got to thinking that maybe I want to be laid to rest after I die, instead of letting my body sort of waste away on top of other warden bodies.”

She let out a humorless laugh. “Hearing myself say it out loud, maybe I’ve just been thinking about it for too long. Letting my brain stew in something that won’t happen for a while.”

“But I can understand one making plans for their body after they die,” Emmrich replied. His gaze was soft—she immediately looked back down at her fingers on the desk. “I would be honored to be the one to lay your body to rest once you pass.”

He took one of her hands in his and kissed her fingertips. “Besides it would…trouble me, admittedly, were we to be buried apart. I’ve run into trouble with spirits for that very reason, and I’d very much like both of ours to go in peace.”

Feodora felt her face burn hot. “You…romantic,” she sighed. “I suppose at this rate, despite the age difference, we will die close to the same time.”

“Well, not that I’m looking forward to either of us perishing, but I do appreciate you coming to me with this. Had I approached you, I fear it would have come off much more…strange, were I the one to suggest this.”

“No stranger than anything else you’ve ever said to me,” she chuckled. Teasing, she added, “I just didn’t want be waiting around thinking ‘What’s a girl got to do to get a guy to suggest dual coffins around here? It’s like he doesn’t even want to be laid to rest beside me for all eternity!’”

Emmrich laughed, the corners of his eyes crinkling in prominent crows-feet. “I can promise you, nothing would make me happier than to be buried with you forever. And I promise I will do all I can to give your body the respect you deserve after death.”

“Then I suppose that’s that,” Feodora agreed. “Now, we should probably move on before Manfred hears and requests he be included in our dual coffin.”