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drakorn · 14 days ago

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Rewriting Veilguard Part 4 - The Veil Jumpers

Rewriting Veilguard Part 3 - The Grey Wardens

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

Writing an Origin Story Mission for the Veil Jumpers

The Veil Jumpers are…interesting, the way they are presented in the game right now. At first you might assume they are Dalish, but then they are not, or at least not anymore, because they let anyone join their group. Then they all seemingly know about the true nature of the Evanuris and actively oppose them.

I have to admit, when the one faction that strictly deals with matters of the ancient elves and has the most visible Dalish influence, I expected a bit…well…more Dalish behaviour, I suppose. When I saw how Strife and Irelin responded to the Evanuris returning, I had a bit of a “…huh…” reaction. I expected at least some elves to have a crisis of faith, and Bellara contemplating how horrible this is for one or two scenes does not really count in my opinion.

So, in the Veil Jumper origin story we are about to experience, we have to tackle the following questions in a satisfying manner:

Why do so many seemingly Dalish elves allow outsiders into their midst?

Why does everyone apparently know of the Evanuris’ true nature?

Why does not a single elf have any kind of crisis of faith upon learning that their gods are evil?

At least one of these questions is going to be answered with “this doesn’t happen in the rewrite." I’ll let you guess which one it is.

So, without further ado, let us experience a potential Veil Jumper origin story!

Creating Rook

For a third time, let us press the start button. This time, we choose the Veil Jumper origin, and the little blurb text reads as follows:

“You are a Veil Jumper. This daring group explores ancient elven ruins in Arlathan Forest. Initially founded by the Dalish, they now, albeit reluctantly, accept anyone into their ranks who is brave and cunning enough to face Arlathan’s reality-warping magic. As one of their senior members, you are quite familiar with the preserved lore of Elvhenan and are now entrusted with leading an expedition into the unknown. But will that trust be warranted?”

I think the Veil Jumpers are the trickiest faction to explain the “you can play all races” angle. The Shadow Dragons consist of the oppressed and those willing to fight against tyranny, the Grey Wardens literally cannot afford to discriminate, but the Veil Jumpers? They were, quite probably, founded by the Dalish clans who lived in Arlathan Forest. And if there is one thing, one crucial trait the Dalish are known for across all previous games, is the fact that they really don’t like outsiders. Clan Lavellan was one of the exceptions to the rule.

So, for this rewrite’s version of Veil Jumper Rook, I’m going to do some world building to explain just why everyone brave and cunning enough is welcome to join them. Because all the building blocks are right there in DA lore, we just have to use them.

Let us go back to Tevinter Nights where we meet Strife and Irelin. We know they are from Clan Morlyn, Strife specifically having joined it after coming from a city elf background. We can presume that Clan Morlyn remained in Arlathan Forest to study and combat the wild magic awakening in it. Eventually, however, Clan Morlyn realised they were just too outnumbered against this raw power. So, begrudgingly, they chose to expand. At first, they picked up the straggling remnants of some of the other Dalish clans who lived in or traversed through Arlathan Forest, none of them numbering enough to survive on their own. But even that didn’t get Clan Morlyn the desired effect.

Clan Morlyn started taking in former prisoners of the Antaam (who were deforesting the place a few years ago), but that was not enough. By then, however, they slowly began to accept outside help, even share in their knowledge of the elven past. They looked at Clans Ralaferin and Lavellan as examples of what can happen if the People open themselves up more. While it is risky, it also brings rewards.

Eventually, the Dalish and the outsiders all merge into one large Clan Morlyn, of which several members form the Veil Jumpers, a force of knowledge and protection.

Now, as we know of Dalish naming customs, there is the first name, the family name, and the clan name. Rook’s Veil Jumper name is Aldwir, doesn’t sound pretty elven to me. But what if Rook’s name is their first name, then Aldwir, and then Morlyn? But how would that work for the different races being all named Aldwir? Well, here’s how we do it: they are all part of the same family. But how does that work?

Early into this expansion of Clan Morlyn, a Dalish woman, let’s call her Ashara, and a human man, let’s call him Beldon, met, fell in love, and married. Both had lost their previous spouse and found very common and loving ground. The man’s last name was Aldwir so they chose that one for the new union. Here’s how Rook’s race affects this backstory:

If Rook is an elf, they are a Dalish elf, the Morlyn mother being their biological parent from the first marriage.

If Rook is a human, they are the child of the human man who came to Clan Morlyn, again, a result of the father’s first marriage.

If Rook is a dwarf or a qunari, they are the adopted child of the human man who came to Clan Morlyn.

For the sake of this hypothetical playthrough, let us play a Dalish mage here.

So, once we finalise our Aldwir, Varric continues with his narration, pretty much summarising the Veil Jumper backstory I just proposed there. He also emphasises on how perilous and dangerous their expeditions into Arlathan Forest are. But because of their knowledge to all things Elvhenan, he thinks this is the perfect place to look for the right person for his endeavour.

The Veil Jumper Camp

We begin our story at the Veil Jumper camp, and one thing I’d like to establish pretty early on is that the camp is incredibly mobile. It’s been visually alluded to in the game, but I really would like to emphasise the use of aravels here, showcasing the Dalish origins of this faction.

The opening scene starts with the aravels sailing through the forests, until they reach and make halt at a great lake surrounded by tall trees. In the distance, we can see some amazing elvhen ruins that are surprisingly still intact after all these years.

We’re also going to be immediately made aware of the fact that Arlathan Forest has some strange stuff going on with the Veil as there are just so many floating buildings and other anomalies scattered throughout the woods, the shores of the lake featuring an extensive amount on their own.

A note on the lake itself: This is, of course, meant to be the Arlathan Crater, where the ancient Tevinter magisters waged their final battle against the elves before sinking the city into the ground, or so we are meant to believe. I’m going to announce an immediate change right now and say that we are not going to see the ruined capital city of Arlathan here. Because…reasons. Either it’s sunk into the ground, or…well, something else.

Meeting Irelin

The game starts with us stepping out of our aravel, because yeah we get one, pretty cool right? Irelin, one of the Veil Jumper leaders, wants to see us. This is our big day, today we begin our expedition, and now we actually get to hear what this expedition is all about:

The Veil Jumpers have been observing a cave on a small island in the lake for a while now. It could lead to the ruins of a part of Arlathan itself, which is still rumoured to be sunk deep beneath the waves. Our first task is to head to D’Meta’s Crossing, get our supplies, gather our team, and head off. This expedition, consisting of three people, shall be led by us, Aldwir, Bellara, one our most accomplished elven historians, and…Merrill.

NOTE: For the duration of this prologue, Rook shall be referred to as Aldwir, for the same reasons as stated in the other origins. Also, Merrill wasn’t killed in the events of DA2, allowing her to appear here now. In this World State, she romanced Hawke.

So, with Merrill, I am approaching this from a very simple perspective: If she’s alive, she’s here. If she isn’t, she just isn’t.

Our next immediate goal is to head to D’Meta’s Crossing, where we shall meet Strife and Bellara, who need to give us some additional briefing.

Exploring the Veil Jumper Camp

Before we head to D’Meta’s Crossing, Aldwir has the opportunity to do some exploration of the Veil Jumper camp. At this point, we can have the following encounters here:

We can encounter Myrion, the mage from Tevinter Nights, who escaped the Antaam along with Strife. He’s now a Veil Jumper and one of those in charge of defending the caravan during travels.

If she’s alive, which she is in this case, we can have an early meet-up with Merrill. We learn that she left Kirkwall after the events of Trespasser and wandered Thedas in the attempt to learn more about the Eluvians and the mysterious Crossroads. We can ask about Hawke, but she’ll be very quiet and sad about him, as he’s presumed dead after the events at Adamant Fortress.

NOTE: In this World State, Clan Sabrae survived and Merrill’s Eluvian was restored.

D’Meta’s Crossing

So, D’Meta’s Crossing will have a bit of a different role in this rewrite. You see, when playing DAV, I wondered how such a village could exist in Arlathan Forest, inhabited by both elves and humans and a human mayor to boot. How is this possible?

Well, thankfully, the worldbuilding we’ve done a little earlier gives us the perfect way out: D’Meta’s Crossing is the settlement Clan Morlyn and the Antaam survivors constructed for themselves after deciding to build a community together. This is where the civilised, non-fighting part that isn’t the Veil Jumpers resides.

However, I am going to change the character of the mayor. Instead of a generic slimy human guy, this rewrite’s version of the mayor is an elven man named Venalin, who is also the Keeper of Clan Morlyn. The idea here really is to show just how much the Dalish of Arlathan Forest were willing to adapt due to necessity.

Our goal in D’Meta’s Crossing is to find Strife and Bellara to fully get our little expedition going. But first, we can do some initial exploration of the settlement:

Instead of it being a regular human-built village as it aesthetically is made out to be in the game, D’Meta’s Crossing is a bit of a mix of cultures: It’s primarily Dalish, we can see how the foundations used to be Clan Morlyn. There are repurposed aravels everywhere, and shepherds are taking care of halla on the outskirts. A great vhenadahl stands in the centre, invoking memories of the city elves. But then there are also normal human-made houses, as well as several collections of tents here and there. It’s a fun place to look at! Kinda chaotic, but also strangely idyllic.

We can run into Eldrin, Davrin’s uncle figure, who is the chief halla shepherd here. As we established earlier, all elves of Arlathan Forest were absorbed into Clan Morlyn and the Veil Jumpers, so it only makes sense for him to be here. He can even mention Davrin if we talk to him and wonder how he’s doing, softly setting him up for later.

We hear whispers about the Blue Wraith, who is, of course, Fenris. He used to roam Arlathan Forest and hunt down slavers. But when the time came for the forest’s inhabitants to band together, he left.

Last but not least, we get to meet our parents, in this case our biological Dalish mother and our human stepfather. We exchange in a few pleasantries and can actually establish the family dynamic between us.

NOTE: In this World State, Fenris survived and Danarius is dead, allowing him to fully embrace the mantle of the Blue Wraith.

An Old Friend

When we reach Strife, he is currently in a meeting with Keeper Venalin, Irelin, and, as, of course, needs to happen, Varric Tethras. Strife introduces us as Aldwir, the leader of the upcoming expedition into Arlathan Crater. Here we get to really see that Strife grew up as a city elf. He just has that connection with outsiders that only the rarest Dalish elves possess. Keeper Venalin is, of course, known to us. Since we’re playing a Dalish elf here, he is extra fond and respectful towards us.

Varric, of course, knows Strife and Irelin from the Missing comics. He doesn’t know Aldwir, though. In our exchange with him, we can establish just how Dalish we are. Despite Clan Morlyn now containing non-elves, do we act as forthcoming to actual outsiders, or are we cordial and respectful?

Since Merrill is part of the Veil Jumpers in this World State, however, the two share a heartfelt reunion, and we learn that it was actually Varric who encouraged her to join up in the first place. That will immediately make him a more respected figure among the Veil Jumpers as Merrill is one of the best historians and researchers around, equal only to Bellara. This reunion carries a sombre tone, however, as Hawke is presumed dead, and both can relate to that feeling.

Speaking of Bellara, Strife tells us that she’s already gone scouting ahead and awaits us at the entrance to the cave, where we shall commence the expedition together.

When we announce or readiness to depart, we make our way to an aravel repurposed for aquatic travel and set sail across Arlathan Crater.

Arlathan Crater

As we sail across the great lake that once supposedly hosted the great city of Arlathan, we get some really atmospheric shots of Arlathan Forest and truly get a feel for how magical and ancient this place is. This origin story must really come across as a proper adventure, where we’re hunting for old relics and uncovering ancient history, almost like an Indiana Jones film.

We get to have some conversations with Strife, Irelin, Varric, and Merrill, especially with the latter two. When Merrill wonders what brought Varric here in the first place, Varric dodges the topic a little and promises to tell her later. All he can say is he’s on a search. Another quest for the remnants of the Inquisition, perhaps?

As we pass some ruins sticking out of the water, we get a short history lesson on how Tevinter sunk the city into the ground with their blood mages long ago and we can react accordingly, establishing Aldwir’s personality a little more.

This is also a good point to establish how wild the magic of Arlathan Forest is. Strife and Irelin are specifically coming with us to shield the island we’re on from collapsing back into the waters while we’re off investigating underground.

Meeting Bellara

We then arrive on a small island far out on the lake, and find Bellara’s own, smaller boat. Bellara herself has already set up a whole campsite in front of the cave, which looks more like a looming crack into the voids of the earth.

After some back and forth that shows us Bellara’s sheer excitement for what we’re about to do, it’s time to depart into the crack. Strife and Irelin remain above and Varric asks to come along as the fourth member of our little expedition. Strangely enough, however, Merrill is against it. She seems strangely erratic all of a sudden. She really doesn’t want Varric down there. But she can’t properly explain why. So, here we have our first big choice:

Do we let Varric accompany us as a fourth member to this expedition?

Or do we listen to Merrill and have him stay on the surface?

I’m choosing to play Aldwir as willing to cooperate with the outside world in honour of Clan Morlyn letting non-elves into their midst, and my stepfather being a human man, so that’s what we’re going with. Merrill seems resigned to something but whatever we try to gauge the answer from her, she won’t speak up.

The Crater Ruins

We descend into the crater and soon find ourselves traversing a great selection of underground passages. As we do so, we get to see a few strange and marvellous things:

Hardened glass from Ancient Elvhenan through which we can see into the waters of Arlathan Crater. We do, indeed, see great ruins from days long past, claimed by the millennia-old waters. Fishes and other aquatic creatures make their home here. Somewhere in the distance, we see a faint strange glow through one of the windows.

We come across some ancient murals on the walls, depicting June, the elven god of Craftsmanship. This is either a temple to him, or the house of an elven nobleman who was dedicated to him in particular. On some of the murals, we see what appear to be eluvians, with one great mirror in the centre. It’s very blink and you’ll miss it, but it’s there.

At one point, Merrill pulls Varric aside and encourages him to leave while Aldwir and Bellara aren’t listening. She warns him that there are hidden dangers down here, which she doesn’t want to expose him to. Varric states that he’s faced Kirkwall and Corypheus, he can handle an underwater ruin.

At some point, we suddenly sense a strange magical reverberation go through the ruins, and we’re attacked by a bunch of ancient guardian constructs. After defeating them, we sense a great surge of magic from deeper within the ruins and follow it, albeit cautiously.

The Great Gate

At some point, we reach a huge gate, which is secured by two complex locking mechanisms. In order to open it, we need to enter two separate rooms and solve the puzzles within. They’re not going to be too outrageously hard, but still enough of a challenge to get one thinking.

The first room features another mural of June and a fractured dragon statue. We have to magically put it back together to access the locking mechanism. The dragon’s shape is strangely reminiscent of Urthemiel, the Archdemon of the Fifth Blight, but in a non-corrupted, beautiful form.

The second room is almost entirely flooded and features a similar puzzle to the first. But this time, the statue we have to reassemble is one of June himself. At this point, it’s clear we’re in some kind of temple dedicated to the god.

Once the statues are reassembled, it almost looks like they’re facing each other across the rooms. But why are June and a dragon that looks suspiciously like Urthemiel connected? Well, those who played the game already know the lore answer, but I’m going to present these connections in a bit of a slower way than Solas expositioning it all to us.

It's safe to say that Bellara is absolutely ecstatic about all this and has the time of her life, while Merrill, whom we know to be passionate about elvhen history from DA2, is surprisingly quiet.

Suspicious Behaviour

As soon as we’re about to enter through the gate, Merrill suddenly looks as though she’s having a collapse of some sort. Tired, she sits down and closes her eyes. Varric is, understandably, worried about her, but a moment later, she’s back to normal. What was that? What is going on? At this point, our Aldwir is getting a little suspicious. First the insistence of keeping Varric out of here, now this. What is going on? Does Merrill perhaps know more about this place than us? Is there something she’s not telling us?

As Merrill starts to slowly break under the pressure, Varric steps in and defends her from our questioning. Had we not taken him along, we might have heard more here. But now, all we can do is press on and watch for anything perilous.

The Hammer of June

As we descend further into this strange Temple of June, we slowly advance to the bottom of Arlathan Crater, where that odd building with the glowing windows could be seen earlier.

We make our way through the remaining passages, fighting a few guardian constructs along the way, until we enter what appears to be some sort of inner sanctum. A large but defect eluvian decorates the back wall.

In a glowing bubble-like sphere, presumably the source of the glow, we see a hammer, and it’s the most magnificent hammer we have ever laid our eyes upon. It’s as long as a staff and infused with lyrium and, since we’re a mage and can sense it, the raw magic of the Fade.

Bellara and Merrill share a historical geek-out moment as they both immediately come to the conclusion that this must be the Hammer of June, the ancient tool the God of Craftsmanship used to build the very foundations of Arlathan, among other works of beauty. If it’s not that, then at least it must be something similar.

As a Dalish elf, we have a moment of absolute reverence that we may have found something that truly belonged to one of our gods.

You can see that I have changed something here: Unlike in the game, not everyone knows the truth about the Evanuris here. Of course, some do, some of the Southern Dalish clans know, some elves in the North know, but not everyone. This is to set up something later in the game.

Now we are presented with another choice:

Do we return to Strife and Irelin and ask for Veil Jumper backup to safely remove the hammer?

Or do we attempt to remove it by ourselves right now? The risk is greater, but oh boy, so is the reward.

Merrill encourages getting Veil Jumper back-up, as does Varric, for wow does he have experiences with ancient things exploding. Bellara, however, wants to remove and examine it right now. As a very curious Dalish elf, we agree with her and choose to try and remove it now. Something about that greatly seems to upset Merrill.

So, in order to free the hammer from this strange bubble, we would have to somehow dismantle this complex mechanism that’s somehow still intact after all those millennia.

Upon exploring, we find a lyrium-infused base. However, in order to fully access the mechanism, one requires blood magic. Since Merrill is with us, she reveals her blood mage powers to us, willing to spill her own blood to open the bubble. Bellara, however, offers to use her own magic to access the intricate system built by the ancient elves (I refuse to call it Technomancy because that just does not fit into the DA setting). Now we have another choice:

Do we let Merrill go through with the blood magic ritual?

Or do we let Bellara tinker around with the mechanism?

So, at this point, my Aldwir is a bit suspicious of Merrill’s erratic behaviour early on and chooses to trust Bellara on this one. Besides, blood magic isn’t exactly great and my Dalish knows that.

Giving our go-ahead, Bellara begins to slowly override the mechanism’s magic with her own. The base flares up, but then begins to crack. Before we can do anything else, the bubble shatters and the hammer falls onto the ground.

However, this unorthodox approach has awoken something as we hear the ground shake. Then, a gigantic construct shaped like an elven warrior appears from below. It bears June’s vallaslin, which begin to glow. This ensues a boss battle, where we have to destroy the Sentinel of June.

During the battle, the entire room slowly gets wrecked and water starts spilling in. In the end, the Sentinel of June is defeated, but we are left severely beaten and battered.

Betrayal

As we struggle to take the hammer and deliver it to the surface, the great eluvian in the back suddenly comes to life. An entire gang of elves bursts through, led by a tall elf with long white hair.

Varric is stunned, for he recognises the man, albeit faintly. “Abelas?” he asks, confused.

Yes, this scene marks the return of Abelas from DAI. Yes, he could theoretically have been stabbed in the back by Morrigan, but there is nothing to say that he couldn’t have survived that wound.

NOTE: In this World State, the Inquisitor respected the ancient ways of the Temple of Mythal and completed the rituals.

Abelas quickly corrects Varric and refers to himself as Revas. He no longer stands for sorrow but for freedom. For he is now the Dread Wolf’s lieutenant, very much committed to aiding him in his plans to restore Elvhenan. The elves we are facing are agents of Fen’Harel.

So yeah…I know the recent AMA on Reddit revealed that Solas broke off contact with his agents a while ago, but…I don’t really like this, I’m gonna be real. Why have this big set-up at the end of Trespasser only to explain it away in a Reddit post?

So, for this rewrite, the agents of Fen’harel are very much active and Abelas, now going by Revas, is their leader.

And it is here where we are hit with a very unfortunate truth: Merrill is an agent of Fen’Harel, sent specifically to infiltrate the Veil Jumpers and get first-hand intel on the recovery of ancient elven artefacts that Solas might need for his plans. And he definitely requires the Hammer of June. This was Merrill’s final mission. When she went dizzy and sleepy earlier, she was actually letting Revas know that they could come along and collect the hammer. And that’s why she didn’t want Varric coming along.

So yeah, if we choose to play the Veil Jumpers as our origin story, we get a much earlier look at Solas’ plans, as the agents of Fen’harel are our direct faction enemies.

Varric is absolutely dumbfounded by this revelation and can only ask Merrill why she would ever join the Dread Wolf, knowing what he plans to do. Merrill begins to break down, but before she can form an answer, Revas interrupts the conversation by claiming the hammer.

We are now engaged in another boss battle, this time against Revas and the agents of Fen’Harel. Had we followed through with Merrill’s blood magic ritual, we would ironically have better odds now as the Sentinel of June wouldn’t have awoken and wrecked the place earlier.

Revas absolutely wrecks us. Then, he offers Bellara and Aldwir, given our Dalish heritage, the chance to join Fen’harel right now and live to see the old world restored. But both of us are too stunned by the fact that the Dread Wolf is among us. Imagine being a Norse pagan in real life and finding out that Loki has returned and is currently planning to kickstart Ragnarök. That’s pretty much what we’re going through right now with our Aldwir.

Before we can even properly contemplate this idea, Varric interjects and chastises Revas and the other elves for wanting to doom the people they share a world with right now. This angers Revas, for he is an ancient elf and shares Solas’ notion that the Veil is a mistake. He uses the hammer to deliver an absolutely brutal blow to us and the whole facility, which begins to finally crumble beneath the weight of Arlathan Crater. The last thing we see before we get absolutely crushed by the water is Revas ordering the elves to retreat through the eluvian, including Merrill. She gives us one last incredibly heartbroken look, and follows through. Revas disappears last and the eluvian goes dark, before shattering.

Aldwir, Bellara, and Varric are swept away by the waters of Arlathan Crater. Bellara is able to cast a spell that shields her and Varric from the impact, but Aldwir is thrown in a completely different direction. We then lose our conscience.

Rescue

Aldwir is faintly drifting in the waters of Arlathan Crater, until, quite unexpectedly, a large fish picks us up and carries us to the surface. There, we are lifted into the air by Strife, who levitates us onto our aravel. The fish jumps into the air and turns back to Irelin, who lands on deck. Yeah…for those who haven’t read Tevinter Nights: Irelin is actually a shapeshifter. No idea why they didn’t include that part of her character in DAV.

Healing

We wake up at our parent’s house in D’Meta’s Crossing, where Ashara, our mother, tends to our wounds.

She informs us that Varric and the Veil Jumpers saved us from certain death in Arlathan Crater. At this stage, we can show Aldwir being a bit vulnerable should we choose to. It’s not often that we get to interact with actual parental figures in DA.

Beldon, our father, joins the conversation and asks if maybe now is the time to take a little break from the Veil Jumpers.

When we head outside, Strife, Irelin, and Varric await us. Bellara is nowhere to be seen and we are told she has already returned to Arlathan Forest, in preparation for a new expedition, as she needs to get her mind focused now.

It is here where we find out that all three already knew that the Dread Wolf has returned and seeks to restore the ancient world of Elvhenan. What we just saw down there is but a fraction of his agents. Varric still can’t believe Merrill is among them and wonders what the Dread Wolf could have possibly done to convince her.

We also learn the true reason for Varric’s visit: he needs to recruit someone in his fight against the Dread Wolf. He was of the assumption that the Veil Jumpers were the perfect place to look. And it seems that he was right, as Aldwir is standing right there.

The implication is clear: we are to leave the Veil Jumpers and join Varric on his quest. We can either protest or accept immediately. Since my Aldwir is very much devoted to the cause, we shall object at first. But then Strife and Irelin let us know that Merrill may not even have been the only agent of Fen’Harel planted amidst the Veil Jumpers. And now they would know who we are if we reveal our survival. Joining Varric is a perfect cover-up, and they would never see us coming.

We are also encouraged to change our name for the duration of this whole affair. And here we get the Veil Jumper origin of our nickname: when we were still a child, we used to play chess in the evenings, on a board our father had secured from outside. The Rook was our favourite piece. This is told to us by our father, btw, causing for a slightly embarrassing scene. So, half-heartedly, we suggest Rook as our nickname. Varric accepts. “The strongest piece on the chessboard. I like it.”

Leaving D’Meta’s Crossing

We are given a bit of time to pack our things and join Varric outside the village. There are a few things we can do here:

We can, and will, of course, give our parents a heartfelt goodbye family hug.

We can talk to Keeper Venalin and maybe risk urging him to look for anything suspicious among the people of D’Meta’s Crossing. But who knows…maybe he’s in on it? It’s certainly a choice.

We can bid Strife and Irelin goodbye before they return to the Veil Jumper camp. They wish us good luck on our journey and hope to see us again soon. We can express our frustration with losing the Hammer of June, but they don’t hold it against us. Nobody could have foreseen what happened.

Once we’re done, we join Varric and express our readiness to leave. Going by Rook from now on, we accompany our new dwarven friend into the wilds of Arlathan Forest. As we reach a small hill, we turn back to view the almost idyllic nightly image of Arlathan Crater, D’Meta’s Corssing, and the Veil Jumper camp in the woods. We turn back and follow Varric into the unknown.

And there we have it! This is my proposed Veil Jumper origin story. Of course, it’s not perfect, not even close, but it’s a start, isn’t it? Let me know what you think! Next time, we shall head to Treviso and explore an origin story for the Antivan Crows. Stay tuned!

Rewriting Veilguard Part 5 - The Antivan Crows

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