#anora/celene

[stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage]

I'm continuing my DAO replay and like....... are we just not going to talk about the fact that Anora's handmaiden is Orlesian?

I'm sorry, how did the Queen of Fereldan end up with an Orlesian handmaid? Did Loghain approve of that? Because I bet he sure didn't! Given everything about him, I bet he threw a real stink about that! And yet, Erlina is close enough to Anora to beg the wardens to save her after she's locked up by Howe, appearing entirely loyal to her.

So I broke out the World of Thedas vol2 to see if it said something in there about her and I couldn't find anything. All the wiki has to say is, "Erlina is the handmaiden of Queen Anora. Not much is known about her background but she apparently escaped from Orlais. Arl Eamon suspects that she is more than a simple servant."

Gee, ya think, Eamon?

I just find that to be a very interesting detail, one that has my theorist gears cranking and spinning.

[theunsinkablesappho]

Sapphic Dragon Age community!

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Membership is currently completely wide open and doesn't require an invite. Feel free to join, or send me a message if you'd like an invite.

[niofo]

thinking from a doylist perspective at the ferelden succession crisis, i think everything is leading towards collapsing all the worldstates soon enough. currently we have 5 different possibilities for ferelden rulers: alistair and anora either alone, together or with cousland, out of those 2 of them are grey wardens and one is rumored to be infertile, and there's no info about any of them having a kid by dai. except for kieran but like, apart from morrigan not wanting him involved, he might not even exist or be born to a warden with no bearing on ferelden politics. and while the issue of him being the ogb or not don't seem to matter anymore, there's too many possibilities to involve him with ferelden monarchy canonically.

so, my assumption are as follow:

1. there can be another theirin sibling or cousin showing up, but we already played this scenario with alistair, it would be lazy writing to try it again.

2. whoever is on the throne just adopting a child and teaching them how to rule. that way we can have a possible next ruler with a consistent looks and backstory no matter how dao ended. there would prob be slight differences based on who their adoptive parent is, but still way more consistent.

3. there being another invasion or coup ending up with an entirely new line on the throne. which would be sad ending to whoever was ruling ferelden for the last 20 or so years, but would create an entirely new and concise setup.

either way i think the most sense would be to let theirin bloodline go. there's too much different things that could go with it, and while there are ways of preserving it in some worldstates, it would be way more difficult in others. and with how big deal the bloodline is (according to the gaider comics - all the connections to dragons) i think we need to let it go as a whole.

possibly one option i can see is someone recreating what calenhad did, and mixing their blood with a great dragon - now that dragons are coming back and it would possibly mean also great dragons. so we could end up with a new family of op ferelden reavers, making the question if theirins survive or not less pressing.

[redlyriumidol]

So it's implied that Cailan was planning on divorcing Anora to marry Celene. First of all it's interesting that the Chantry is so permissive of divorce but good for them I guess. (are there any canon examples of divorce??) Perhaps it's like the catholic church where if you have enough power/money you can appeal to the Divine for an annulment.

Second I think it would have added a lot of sense to Loghain's motivations if the implication had been the idea to have Anora assassinated to get her out of the way, even if it was only hypothetical. I don't think Cailan in canon would have been willing to kill Anora, but it would have been interesting for him to have been a character who would. Celene I think is definitely capable. Tbh a reveal like that would have added a lot of ~grey morality~ to the situation and made both Loghain and Anora more sympathetic characters, especially if Loghain suspects it prior to Ostagar.

[celemee]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Dragon Age - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Anora Mac Tir/Celene Valmont Characters: Anora Mac Tir, Celene Valmont, Briala (Dragon Age), A bunch of OCs Additional Tags: Previous Briala/Celene, Background Briala/Celene, What if everyone was awful, in their own special way?, Don’t look at the timeline because it’s drunk and doesn’t know when it is set, ‘Get out of jail free’ Orlesian murder coins., Assassination attempt., Fereldan Orlesian tensions, Celene lies, Briala calls Celene out, Anora is on the struggle boat, Mentions of Previous Anora/Cailan, So Anora does technically do a murder, but it's not graphic Series: Part 3 of Rituals!Verse - Ciriane Inspirations Summary:

“The King has only appointed two elves, to minor nobility.” The voice of the Empress snapped back, curt and sharp as a drawn dagger.

“By my count that is still two more than you.” The unfamiliar woman’s voice replied, matching Celene’s vicious snarl.

Anora had not expected to find herself eavesdropping on the conversation behind a heavy velveteen curtain in the Grande Royeaux Theatre. Of course, she’d begrudgingly made her peace with that gut-wrenching twist of fate that had landed her in Val Royeaux. It was specifically the curtain that she had not expected.

***

Where Anora finally meets Briala.

----

FIC REC FIC REC FIC REC!

Check out this amazing, multilayered story and series where an exiled Anora finds sanctuary in Orlais. There’s a ton of worldbuilding that leaves the story feeling rich; everything has its background, everything has purpose. The characters have complicated dynamics that are food for my soul. They leave me guessing as to what their true motives are. All in all, this series is an intriguing read; each update stays with me for days.

By the brilliant @hezjena!

[potatoesandsunshine]

sometimes the unhappy marriage of the rulers of ferelden.... is something that can be so personal

[clavicuss-vile]

thinking about that one quote from Celene about Anora being "a rose among thorns" and imagining Queen Anora attending some gathering in a not-so-subtle dress embroidered with thorns with bracelets and jewellery also designed to mimic thorns and bramble

[isk4649]

Anora and Celene. Gonna be gabbing about the importance of accurate statistics in long-term economic planning and the need for state support of fledgling industries.

You get trapped with two Dragon Age characters (spin the wheel) in one room for a day.

[inquisitorismone]

since i can't stop thinking about ferelden politics, the idea that cailan was going to leave anora for empress celene is so insane on so many levels, the first of which being that celene is older than anora, the second of which being if the KING OF FERELDEN married the EMPRESS OF ORLAIS then. frankly. the people really WOULD HAVE supported loghain's betrayal of cailan

[dalishious]

Reclaiming Independence of the Dales

Before anything else, I’d just like to clarify that that vast majority of this is made of my own ideas, based on interpretation from the little canonical information provided, and a little inspired by my own people’s history and governing structure. Additionally, what I am presenting here is an ideal situation, not necessarily what I think is an immediately realistic outcome in the world-state established. So, please keep that in mind.

The Dales were established as a homeland for elves—a small piece of a continent that was once called their home in its entirety, before the humans colonized it—by Maferath in -165 Ancient. This was in reward for the eleven people’s participation in the fight against Ancient Tevinter. But in 2:10 Glory, Divine Renata I broke this treaty and declared an Exalted March against the Dales, ending in its annexation by Orlais.

[Related Post: All You Need to Know about the Exalted March of the Dales]

If Solas has very low approval with Inquisitor Lavellan, and Lavellan accuses him of not doing enough to help their people, he will say the following: “You could order Halamshiral returned to the Dalish, if you wished. But ultimately, you know that would fail. That even you cannot solve this.” I hate this with a burning passion. The reason I can’t do that, Solas, is because it’s not an option in the game! Why are you as a character angry at me, the player, for not doing something that is not an option for me to do? Why was this written? Just to push the point that it’s not worth it to try and fight back against oppression? Because if I refuse to accept hopelessness in real life, why would I in accept it in a video game where the story is made-up, and therefore anything is possible if the developers so wish it.

Regardless, according to Solas, the Inquisition has enough power to support the reclamation of an independent Dales. I imagine this would require a lot of political maneuvering within the Orlesian governance, and therefore I think the best opportunity to do this would be with Briala ruling through Gaspard. This would then later open the door for Briala to be the leader of the newly independent Dales, too. I would like to see Briala as ruler of the Dales not just because she is a favourite of mine, but because I genuinely believe she is the best established character fit for the job. She was trained in everything Celene was trained in, has first-hand experience in court, has extensive connections, and has demonstrated her ability and desire to utilize these skills and assets for the benefit of elven kind.

Briala’s blackmail on Gaspard may help prevent Orlais from invading again while under his rule, but to last longer, the Dales would need to establish itself as a strong, independent Nation with allies. This is why I believe it would also be important to have Leliana as Divine Victoria in such a world-state where this could happen. Leliana re-canonizes the Canticle of Shartan, and in making it available for the common person to understand, would ideally help sway the minds of the average Andrastian into supporting the Dales’s independence. The nobility would of course be much trickier, because they and the Chantry are the ones who actually benefitted from its annexation—but there is little they would be able to actually accomplish if they did not have the power of the people behind them.

As far as allies go, Ferelden could only gain from Orlais losing control of the Dales, because it would mean cutting Orlais off from a lot of Ferelden’s border, therefore reducing the threat of another invasion. Additionally, a leader with just plain good morals like say, Alistair, would easily accept the elven kingdom’s return. But even Anora is willing to grant part of the Korcari Wilds to the Dalish if Mahariel requests it, and while this sadly doesn’t last, it does show a positive sign into her potentially being open to the idea of an independent Dales as well.

I sincerely doubt that all Dalish clans would return to the Dales and re-settle down. After all, they have developed differentiating cultures over the years of wandering in separated groups, with different ideals and different ways of life that they might not want to give up. But many would return, and that would likely create conflict between the elves coming from the Dalish clans and the elves coming from the cities. We know that some prejudice exists against “flat-ears” as some Dalish call those from the city, and we know that city elves have adopted a lot of misinformation from humans into their views of the Dalish. It would take time and positive leadership to reconnect the people, without risking falling into some sort of hierarchy based on origin. This is why I do not believe one group or the other should single-handedly rule alone. Rather, I think there should be a Grand Council of High Keepers made up of those voted into the position each to represent a single district of the Dales. (I like the idea of there being seven High Keepers, not just because there are seven traditional districts of Mi’kma’ki, but because it works out that there seven of the Creators. So it makes sense that there would be seven High Keepers.) The Grand Council would meet and make decisions together, with one appointed leader at the head to act as the Council’s chair.

In terms of protection and order, the Emerald Knights should be reformed. This would include the Fade Hunters, to protect the people against demons and maleficarum, with there being no Circles or Templars.

Restoring the independence of the Dales would lead to a revival of elven culture in ways that could never happen before, because they would actually be free to pursue re-learning the language, re-discovering the history and culture, and sharing it all amongst each other. They would not have to fear arrest the crime of simply being an elf.  

But what of the other races presently living in the Dales? I see no reason why they would have to leave, so long as they would be willing to follow the Grand Council’s leadership. I imagine many nobility would flee to Orlais, simply because they would not stand for it. But for the average human or surface dwarf, their life wouldn’t really even change much; they’d still be managing their farms the same as always. Hell, it might even improve things for them, assuming the Grand Council gives fairer treatment than the nobility previously.

[avernusreject]

I've been outlining the entire events of the fall of the south to elaborate more on what happened in my world state, because I'll be damned if I let EA ruin this series for me. Honestly, it just makes me mad cause the ideas they had for the fall of the south could've been so interesting and heartbreaking.

This is gonna be a long one so I'm going to put it under, in case your interested in my rant.

Tbh its such utter bullshit when the writers said (paraphrasing) "don't ask for a cameo from your favorite characters because that means bad things will happen to them" then precedes in game to nuke the entire south. You're telling me that absolutely nothing bad happened to any companions or beloved NPCs during the double blight because we didn't see it. If your going to kill off the characters, at least give us something. What are their last stands? What are their last words? What are they defending? Did they have doubts or fears in their final moments? How does that affect their actions?

How does Amaranthine fall? What does the warden commander and awakening crew do when it does, if they're there. This I'm assuming would be happening pretty early on because it seems that from the inquisitor's letters the blight hits first in the east and south in Ferelden. I think it would've been heartbreaking but great to set the tone early on in the game, if you play as a the warden commander one last time, in a last stand for Amaranthine. Having to rally the remaining Awakening crew, knowing full well you are asking them to go to their deaths. Choosing only one of them, to lead the refugees to safety. The longer you stay alive, the more refugees escape the city, the more resources you have at the end of the game for the final fight.

How does Denerim fall? What does Anora and/or Alistair do to help the city prepare? How does the battle turn in the darkspawn's favor? Do the people in the alienage get access to the help or defensives that other areas of the city do (probably not, but who knows)? What is their breaking point of making their court flee to Redcliffe? Does Alistair put up a fight, wanting desperately to fight for Denerim as long as he can? Does that stubbornness lead to resources lost? Would Anora leave sooner realizing Denerim would be a lost cause, saving resources for later?

How does the inquisitor get the Avaar and Chasind to work with the inquisition to the point they are providing food for Skyhold when the resources start dwindling? Do they have to do rituals or rites to prove themselves in the eyes of these communities?

Will the person on the throne of Orzammar affect how fast the remaining Thaigs fall to the darkspawn? If Bhelen is on the throne, we know he has a lot of sympathy for the casteless. Is he able to make enough headway with his reforms in dwarven culture to get the casteless fighting alongside the warrior class, buying the thaigs time? Is Harrowmount be too stuck to tradition, that he doesn't see the necessity of recruiting from other castes?

How do Briala/Celene/Gaspard fair against the Venatori in Val Royeuax? When the city falls to the Venatori rebels, where do they go? How do they rally the remainder of their troops? Which noble houses turn against them? How does the leader of Orlais justify their hesitance to ally with Ferelden given the current state of affairs?

How does Divine Victoria play into this? Does she work to foster cooperation between Orlais and Ferelden? Does she take the chaos as a chance to increase the chantry's control? How do their methods differ? Does Leliana fall back on poisons and blackmail? How does Vivienne's knowledge of the game help her pull in some of the nobles sympathetic to the Venatori? Has Cassandra increased the strength of the templars in the past tenish years?

How does Redcliffe fall and the remaining forces end up in Skyhold? Skyhold, sure is a big fortress, but to house all of the remainder of Ferelden? No, there's no way. Are there tent cities along the pass on the way to skyhold? Is there chaos trying to push the refugees back when skyhold is at peak capacity? How does the inquisitor defend their supply lines? How will they defend those desperate outside their gate? Does disbanding the inquisition mean the inquisitor had a harder time protecting all these people?

What the hell is happening with red lyrium Meredith in kirkwall? Did we just forget that she's back? Is she a main reason the city falls? Not to mention, how do Hawke's companions play into this except for Sebastian and Aveline (as we've already heard about them)?

One that's been driving me crazy: WHO IS IN SKYHOLD? Who from the inquisitor's inner circle comes back? Who doesn't? If they don't come back, why?

Where is the south's last stand? You've been building up all this narrative tension of the forces of Orlais, Ferelden, and Orzammar being beat to shit and fragmented. Do they all realize that they need to come together at the last minute or do they remain fragmented to the end?

Honestly, this is just the tip of the iceberg of my questions. I haven't read all the codex (because tbh I just got so detached from the game's superficial lore) so maybe some of these get answered. I get that there would be a lot of moving parts to including this in gameplay, but codex entries? Really? I'm just writing vignettes of these small moments in the south. It's been a lot of fun tbh going through world of thedas books for information that I can pull from. If I can do it, why can't a triple A developer with a massive budget? I get it, EA is a bastard, but come on guys. I shouldn't have to do all the work myself because at that point what's the point of Bioware owning the IP. Why am I buying their product as a consumer? My imagination is free.

I'm not saying I hate this game, because honestly I don't. It does have redeeming qualities. Is it literally just the Antivan crow NPCs (when I ignore the sanitization of the organization), the companions, and the final battle in Minrathous? Yeah, but its enough for me to at least like some of this game. But its not dragon age to me. Its a fantasy rpg cosplaying as a dragon age game. Ngl I've read fanfiction that has deeper lore and a better understanding of the universe of Thedas then this game does.

Idk I just had to scream this into the universe.

[mllemaenad]

This argument. This argument is the crux of the whole thing. Cailan is trying to score points off Loghain, and it's going to get everyone killed.

Cailan will not wait for Eamon's forces, even though everyone keeps telling him he could have backup within a week. But he will wait for the Orlesians, if Loghain admits that they can't win without them.

Cailan is very much seeking an alliance with Orlais. We have letters confirming that. It's even suggested (and Eamon is pushing for this) that Cailan should divorce his wife, Loghain's daughter, in order to secure his dynastic future.

Now, Cailan's enthusiasm for ditching Anora does not seem to be strong, and Empress Celene seems aware that "manipulation" on her part would not have been well received by the Fereldan people. But this was Celene's intention in communicating with Cailan. She says so herself.

Celene had once, in her younger years, hoped to do through marriage what Meghren and his aprocryphal mabari had failed to do by force. With the strength of Ferelden behind it willingly, the Orlesian Empire would have had the power to drive back Nevarran aggression and even give Tevinter pause. – Dragon Age: The Masked Empire

So, yes, whether or not marriage ends up being part of the deal (and if it is, that's a very personal insult to Loghain's family), Loghain is not wrong to suspect that Cailan is, in some sense, inviting the Orlesians in to stay.

He's also got solid grounds to be suspicious of Orlesian "assistance" in the face of a Blight. This would not be the first time they used Blight as an excuse to move their troops into foreign territory and occupy it: they did it to the Nevarrans in the Third Blight.

And Loghain's hatred of the Orlesians is ... honestly, completely reasonable. He lost both parents to the occupation, as well as his land. Occupation-era Loghain was very literally a homeless person. The Meghren Celene referenced above was a deeply incompetent ruler with an insatiable cruel streak. He should never have been given the job of ruling Ferelden regardless of who had conquered it, but honestly the then emperor was also of dubious competence and needed Meghren out of the way for a bit so ... that's how these things go.

Would Celene, then, have betrayed and occupied Ferelden? I mean ... probably not? She prefers to work through diplomacy, and conquest isn't the primary goal of her rule. If signing a treaty, or contracting a marriage, works ... yeah, she'll do that. But one thing The Masked Empire makes clear is that Celene's principles are only as solid as her seat on the throne is secure. If one of her rivals generated enough support for an invasion to be a threat to her rule ... yeah, she'd screw the Fereldans over.

She probably still wouldn't put someone like Meghren in charge of it, no, but Ferelden would still lose its independence mere decades after it had regained it.

And even if they went the marriage route ... well, that's just a different way of getting absorbed into the empire.

So this argument has fuck all to do with the Blight, and the battle itself is being used to score points. Cailan thinks he's got Loghain cornered.

If Loghain says "Cailan, we absolutely cannot win this. We will die. We need to wait for reinforcements." Well! Then Loghain cannot possibly object when the Orlesians show up. He'll just have to put up with Cailan making whatever alliance he likes, because he was the one who said they needed help.

If Loghain says they don't need the Orlesians ... well, the darkspawn situation can't be that serious, can it? Because the only help he's willing to wait for is Orlesian help. Fereldan reinforcements are off the table, because they don't score him any points in this stupid game.

Cailan isn't worried, because it never occurs to him that Loghain would work outside the options laid out before him. And that ... does make some sense, because he has known Loghain since childhood, and he trusts him. But he does not understand the buttons he is pushing right now, nor take into account that Loghain is, first and foremost, a tactician. A tactician who fucking hates Orlesians.

So my level of fury at this cannot be understated:

And look, to be fair, I'm sure the writers would say that this does not discount any of the above. It would simply explain why Loghain was vulnerable to this "guidance".

But slapping something stupid on top of something cool still diminishes it, even if it doesn't outright destroy it.

I have never wanted the whispers of shadowy cabals with mildly antisemitic (I'm going to hopefully assume unintentional) connotations to enter a story less than I do here. It's gross, and it adds nothing of interest to a genuinely fascinating story that already exists.

It's also pretty damn rich to completely exclude the worldstates of the previous games, destroy the south so you don't have to deal with it, and then claim all of those events were somehow integral to a master plan set to be revealed in some future game.

I'm not going to sit and defend all of Loghain's actions. Some of them, at least, are inexcusable. But he doesn't deserve this bullshit.

[heroinesofthedas]

Meh, I was bored so I thought I'd try and complie a small "Where are they now"? List for Dragon Age companions as of Veilguard.

Origins

Alistair

Dependent on player choices, Alistair can either end Origins as King of Ferelden, A Warden Commander or a Drunk living miserably in Kirkwall.

King Alistair seems to be the "canon" or at least default ending for him, as most Dragon Age extended media such as the comics have him as king. If he is king, Alistair can either rule alone, is married to his half-brother's widow Anora, marries a Female!Cousland warden (either romantically or the warden can push it politically) or have a non-noble female warden as his mistress. Due to the taint (and Anora's suspected infertility) the future of Ferelden's crown is in question as it is unlikely that Alistair will have an heir of his own.

If Alistair does not become king and does not leave the Wardens, then he will be Hawke's warden contact in Inquisition and depending on the player's choices, either he or Hawke can sacrifice themselves in the fade, it is assumed that they died but behind the scenes info from Veilguard suggested that they did plan on bringing back the Fade Sacrifice so keep an eye out for him?

If Alistair does not become king of Ferelden and leaves the Wardens, he can be seen in the Hanged Man sporadically in Dragon Age II as a bitter drunk, in Act 3 his step-uncle Teagan is there trying to convince him to return to Ferelden.

--

Morrigan

Depending on the players choices, Morrigan can end Origins as a mother, but reguardless she will leave the group after the Archdemon is killed. It is later learned that she has managed to get an Eluvian working and has plans, ending slides of Origins mention her as Empress Celene's Court Mage.

If romanced, Morrigan can have a normal son with the Warden named Kieran, or the Warden can chose to do Morrigan's Dark Ritual and seal the Archdemon Urthemiel's soul inside the fetus, Kieran will be an odd but otherwise harmless kid when you meet him in Inquisition, if the Warden does not do the Dark Ritual (either by themself if male, or by convincing their Warden companion Alistair/Logain to do the deed) then either the Warden or their Warden companion will die killing the Archdemon. If a romanced Morrigan is confronted by the Eluvian in the Witch Hunt DLC, the pair can enter the Eluvian together. A Morrigan whose a mother mentions that she has taken great pains to ensure that nobdy at the Orleasian court is aware that Kieran is her son.

During Inquisition, Morrigan can drink from the Well of Sorrows, embuing her with thousands of years of knowlege of the ancient elves, but also binding her will to the Elven Goddess Mythal, who as it turns out is her abusive mother Flemeth, someone Morrigan has been trying to flee ever since learning that Flemeth plans on body jumping into Morrigan.

In Veilguard, Morrigan seems to be on good terms with the Veil Jumpers, arriving to help them after Solas' ritual and somewhere in the interim between Inquisition and Veilguard, Mythal was sucessful in posessing Morrigan, we are lead to believe that Morrigan was fully consenting to accepting a fragment of Mythal's essence.

--

Leliana

Leliana is one of those characters that proved to be tricky to the writers of the game, there are two moments where the player can kill Leliana but despite that she is still very prominent in following media as a close friend and agent to Divine Justinia after the Fifth Blight.

If Leliana is killed in Origins (the opportunities are when she tries to force herself into your party, if you keep rejecting her she will get hostile and attack you. The other time if you decide to defile the Urn of Sacred Ashes and don't intimidate her into compliance) then when the Inquisitor talks to her in Haven, Leliana will mention her death and believes that The Maker was who brought her back to life, this could suggest that this version of Leliana is either an Abomination whose spirit posessed her at the moment of death and thus revived like Wynne, or a spirit that believes that they are someone else, like Cole. At the end of Trespasser, an "undead" Leliana's epilogue reads as;

Eventually, Leliana became distant and contemplative, often secluding herself in the rookery with none but her ravens for company. One morning, the residents of Skyhold awoke to a great beating of wings and a vast cloud of ravens blotting out the sky above the fortress. Those who investigated found both the rookery and Leliana's chambers vacant, with only a single message as explanation: "The lyrium sang thought into being. Now time is stale, and the melody is called elsewhere. Until I am needed, I am free."

If you didn't kill Leliana, then her serving her old friend and mentor; Sister Dorothea--later promoted to Divine Justinia--is less of a curiosity and depending on certain choices the player can make in Inquisition, Leliana can end the came as the new Divine of the Chantry; Divine Victoria, where she will go down in history as a reformist, allowing not only male members of the chantry to move up as "brother" status, but also allowing elves and dwarves to join as well as making the Chanticle of Shartan Chantry canon once again. Leliana also allows clergy members to marry and it is implied if not outright stated that a romanced Divine Leliana intends to marry The Warden when they return to Thedas.

If Leliana isn't made Divine, then she will remain in service to the Chantry as the Left Hand of the Divine, though primarily offering her services to the Inquisitor in locating Solas and his forces.

--

Zevran

An Assasin that was sent to kill you, fumbles the ball and survives on charm afterwards.

If you don't kill Zevran after his botched Assasination attempt and recruit him, Zevran will join the party and if you got his approval high enough, will even turn his back on the Crows fully when they come to "clean up his mess".

A datamined letter to The Warden, where he expresses that he wishes he could be with them but these pesky Crows have made their move as well as his cameo Quest in II where he's running from the Crows, suggest that despite his very stern resignation from the Crows, they won't let him retire and he has had to spent a few years of his life fighting them off, if Hawke helps Zevran fight the Crows he will be there during the battle with Meredith to help fight her too.

There is a bug in II where a romanced Zevran will accept Isabela's offer to sleep together because of their past romance (an Isabelamanced Hawke will join in if they so chose) but Zevran is meant to turn her down if romanced, however if you never learned that this was a bug, not a feature and thought Zev and the Warden just had an open relationship, then god for you.

If romanced by the Warden, it is implied that he's joined them on their journey off continent in search of a cure for the Taint, he is the only romanced character to do so (because he has no big important plot elements in Inquisition).

Zevran will be alluded to a few times in Veilguard, though treated more as an embarrasment than anything else, we can assume that house Aranai eventually learned to stop sending people after Zevran after they lost too many assasins to his charm and companions helping him fight.

--

Wynne

During Uldred's uprising against the Circle of Magi during the Blight, Wynne was killed. But she got better. Within the game it is revealed that at the moment of her death, a spirit of Faith came and reached out to her, posessing her and efectively "jumpstarting" her body, after the Blight and as thanks for herservices she was allowed a breathtaking amount of freedom for a Mage during this time and was allowed to roam Thedas, often with Shale for company. After Anders' bomb and the ensuing Annulment of the Kirkwall Chantry, Wynne--who was always a Circle Loyalist--was enlisted by the circles to effectively go on tour and try and talk the other Circles out of rebelling, with mixed results considering many felt like she was a hypocrite to tell everyone to keep to the status quo while she lived free.

When Pharamond, an old friend of Wynne who was made Tranquil and discovered the cure for Tranquility was murdered and the Lord Seeker claiming that the murder weapon belonged to Wynne's estrained son Rhys, Wynne--with the help of Cole, Leliana, Shale and Divine Justinia acting as a distraction to the Seekers and Templars--destroyed the phylacteries of the Orlesian Circle and all hell broke lose as the mages battled for their freedom agains the Templars. During the conflict Rhys' lover, the templar Evangeline was felled in battle and Wynne passed on her spirit of Faith to Evangeline, ultimately sacrificing her life to bring another person back for her son.

Wynne is also a character that can be killed by The Warden in game, this is never adressed in following games.

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Oghren

Divorced Widow the Paragon Bianca, a recruited Oghren will end up joining the Grey Wardens after the events of Dragon Age origins and reacts to nightmares about as well as anyone whose never dreamed a dream in their life does. Depending on whether or not you do Oghren's personal quest, you will learn that he joined the wardens to avoid fatherhood, his hookup with his past love, Felsi, having resulted in a chid, who he affectionately calls "Nugget" and names after the Warden.

Depending on choices made in Awakening (such as if you have him lead the defence of the keep or not, and if you've fully upgraded your keep for that fact) Oghren can either die in battle or survive. There is no futher mention of him after Awakening.

If the Warden kills him in Origins, he will still show up in Awakening, looking to join and if the Warden mentions that they killed him, Oghren will just shrug it off and say how he woke up with nothing on and compliment the Warden on trying to kill him.

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Sten

Sten can be rescued by the Warden in Lothering by a number of means, or left to die.

After the events of Origins and the Blight, Sten eventually becomes an Arishok (Qunari Warlord, for lack fo a better term) and it's safe to say that he is the reason why the Qunari have sent and allowed some of their own numbers to join the Grey Warden's ranks after witnessing the importance of their role.

It is Sten-Now Arishok, that teaches Alistair, Varric and Isabela about the belief that Qunari are descended from Dragons, when Alistair and Sten-Arishok end up fighting at one point, Varric lies to the Antaam that Alistair was dubbed "Basilit-An" and thus they could not interfere in the battle, after the fight Sten-Arishok concedes that he does, infact, reguard Alistair as an "Outsider worthy of respect" and thus confirms Varrics lie.

In The Veilguard, there is a codex that mentions that the Antaam working against you and with the Evanuris broke off from the Qun and have gone rogue, opting for a more "Kill anyone whose not us" approach to the teachings of the Qun while the Sten-Arishok's views were more for overall conversion to the Qun, it was this schism and breakoff that suggests that the rogue leaders of the Antaam (I.E The Dragon King and the Butcher among others) attacked Sten-Arishok and left him in critical condition.

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Shale

A Golem that fought alongside Loghain and Alistairs dad against french colonists, Shale spent a couple of decades in stasis until the Warden came along and woke them up, with nothing better to do after murdering their former master, Shale follows the Warden, potentially learning that they used to be a dwarven woman named Shayle Cadash (Some relation to Inquisitor Cadash, who in The Descent DLC can even mention Shayle being the reason their family was banished from Orzammar when they made a ruckus about Shayle's disappearance) turned golem.

After the Blight, Shale accompanies Wynne around Thedas and sets up shop with the rebel mages in Orlais after Wynne's death to keep an eye on her son.

During Dragon Age II, the barkeep of the Hanged Man can comment that apparently the pigeon population of Ferelden is in sharp decline and wonders who could be killing the pigeons. It's Shale.

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"Barkspawn" A.K.A the Mabari

Your faithful Mabari companion, its stated that after the Blight, the Mabari population was crippled due to exposure to the taint and thus, the Mabari was put to stud to repopulate Ferelden's beloved dog breed. There is a codex found at Weisshaupt in Veilguard that mentions a Grey Warden's mabari named Ostagar who is supposedly descended from Barkspawn.

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Loghain

Hero of the River Dane, Tyern of Gwaren, Father of the Queen of Ferelden, fucked the previous Queen of Ferelden, most likely fucked the previous King of Ferelden too. And depending on the player's choices, he'll either be remembered a hero or as a villain.

The most common fate for Loghain is execution in combat at the Landsmeet, but before then both Anora and a warden contact, Riordon, plead his case to join the Wardens (Maker knows you need more Wardens, and someone who knows how to lead an army). If you do recruit Loghain, Alistair will leave the party. You also don't get this option if Alistair is the one to fight Loghain in combat as Alistair will kill Loghain.

If Loghain is recruited, then he can be talked into doing the Dark Ritual with Morrigan, ensuring the Wardens wont be instantly killed by felling the Archdemon, or not and either he or the Hero of Ferelden die landing the final blow against him.

If Loghain survives this, he will be Hawke's Warden contact in Inquisition and can be the one sacrificed in the fade, see Alistair's paragraph for that.

Phew, that took longer than I thought, I'll do sperate ones for II and Inquisition later.

[vigilskeep]

sorry if this is an insane question, it's something i've been wondering about and you are the dragon age lore understander in my mind: ...is there canonical information about divorces (or annulments) in thedas? like, in dao you can find out that eamon suggested cailan 'put anora aside' but that's very vague about logistics. it's probably just something bioware doesn't care about but it haunts me. if cailan had tried to divorce anora and marry celene to create an orlais-fereldan alliance and the divine hadn't approved could thedas have had its own anglican church situation

[the below answer should be read with the visual of me with a white-knuckled grip of frustration leaving indents on steel]

there is NO lore and it drives me INSANE !!!

david gaider, on a random forum discussion post, said “there is annulment. there is no concept of ‘divorce’”. this along with the discussion of cailan setting anora aside is as far as i know all we have

so ‘annulment but no divorce’ is presumably drawing from andrastianism’s catholic inspirations. which basically means that divorce isn’t a thing but a marriage can be declared “null” if you can come up with a reason it was never valid from the start. to go for the henry viii example, he tried to have his marriage to catherine of aragon annulled on the grounds that she had married his late brother first, and he’d suddenly and conveniently realised this meant their marriage had never been okay. the pope refused, because a) a pope had already given henry and catherine permission to marry despite those circumstances meaning the marriage was literally fine and popes aren’t supposed to take that kind of thing back and b) also as an aside, for separate reasons the pope had had his city sacked and been taken prisoner by catherine’s nephew the holy roman emperor like five minutes ago, and so had reasonable fears for his health if he said yes

(sorry if any of the above historical info is slightly off it’s been a while but that’s pretty much the gist)

i have... absolutely no idea on what grounds you could annul cailan’s marriage to anora. but we really have no data on what the chantry considers grounds. could her supposed infertility be enough? it’s impossible to say. maybe eamon was working on some argument, it’s clear he’s been pushing for this for years

that said, if cailan himself was moving to marry celene, he’d have a much better shot at getting that annulment, if only because what’s the divine going to do, not grant an annulment to the guy the orlesian empress wants to marry? this is where anora not having any useful emperor nephews really lets her down. her father could certainly raise hell in ferelden, but they have zero reach in orlais

(as an aside, all this is something i’ve thought about for one of my absolute favourite dragon age timelines, sebhawke divorce. tell me inquisition wouldn’t be improved by starkhaven desperately trying to get an annulment meanwhile the divine is fucking exploded. you can’t.)

[eastern-lights]

I know Loghain's betrayal is very open to intepretation motivation-wise (mostly because he himself tells us fuck all even if the Warden befriends him), but there still seems to be a lot of straight up misconceptions.

For one, I don't believe for a moment that Cailan dying was his plan all along.

I've seen the opinion that his desertion was premeditated because he's a papa wolf who knew how badly Cailan treated Anora. This isn't really that out of character, but as we see in Return to Ostagar, Loghain had no idea Cailan was planning on marrying Celene.

Another proof of premeditation that I've seen is the fact that he had Eamon poisoned. Now, I'm not defending that course of action in the slightest, but I don't think it was connected with Cailan's death. What we're forgetting is that Loghain and Eamon had personal beef. Eamon was a traditionalist who resented commoners in positions of power. He didn't much care that Loghain and his wife had been elevated to nobility, to him, Anora was the daughter of a freeholder and a cabinet-maker. And Loghain knew that, just as he knew Eamon had Cailan's ear. He didn't for one moment trust Eamon to give Cailangood advice, so he made sure Eamon was ot of the picture long enough for the crisis to subside (remember, the poison wasn't actually lethal).

Now here's my own two cents:

The most important thing to know about Loghain is that he loved King Maric. It doesn't matter whether you interpret that love as platonic or romantic. From the day he became a soldier, almost everything Loghain did was in some way motivated by his devotion to Maric and I believe Cailan's death is no different.

During the rebellion, at the battle of West Hill, Loghain faced a choice that amounted to saving Maric or saving the army. He chose Maric. And afterward, Maric was wracked by survivor's guilt so bad he made him promise he would never do that again.

Paired with other factors, like the signal fire being delayed due to a certain ogre incident at the Tower of Ishal, I think Loghain looked at the battlefield and saw that same choice. And he remembered his promise.

It wasn't that he hated Cailan and wanted him dead (if you read the Calling, you learn that for the three years after Queen Rowan's death, he was more of a father to him than Maric was). It was just that to Loghain Mac Tir, there is nothing more sacred than a promise made to Maric Theirin.