#halla keeper

[soloragoldsun]

Completed the first of many fics about Finn Lavellan!

[lyriumsings]

The first thing you must understand about the halla is that they are not our servants. They are not our pets. They are our brothers and sisters. Remember that Ghilan'nain, the first halla and mother of them all, was once a huntress of the People. Without the halla, there would be no Dalish.

[whiskeredbats]

my dragon age inquisitor has earned a lil ref sheet from me :)

[glassarrows]

for all his complex feelings about clans, matthias is very comfortable in his identity as dalish. he feels most at peace when out in the wilds, especially in the emerald graves and close to where he grew up (though with a little apprehension he may run into people he knew). despite his elvish not being the best, his expression will light up if someone starts talking to him in it and he’ll carry on the conversation as best he can. he craves that small knit sense of community that comes from being in a clan and having a defined role with a tangible impact. he still invokes andruil and mythal’s names when going out on missions. matthias would never be fully satisfied living out a life in a city or big settlement, only with a simple life and the feeling of earth under bare foot.

[attractthecrows]

reposting them because

GIRLS!!!!

[enigmalea]

Before Veilguard's release I was theorizing the Veilguard companion characters might have been designed to be parallels to the known Evanuris, but I couldn't place all of them.

Now that I've played the game (almost twice) I think I've figured them all out.

Rook - Elgar'nan, the leader. Controller of light and dark. The one who influences the others.

Neve - Mythal, who can be a fierce protector or a source of inspiration and hope.

Harding - Andruil, the hunter, who went mad from the Void and had to fight her way back

Bellara - June, the inventor. Master of magical artifact.

Lucanis - Dirthamen, keeper of secrets, who mastered the twin ravens of Fear and Deceit, and returned from death.

Davrin - Ghilan'nain, Master of Monsters, Keeper of Halla.

Emmrich - Falon'Din, the necromancer. Friend of the dead.

Taash - Sylaise, who's fire cannot be quenched.

Which leaves Solas to play the role he always has - Fen'Harel, the trickster and betrayer, who could ally with them, if only they will listen to his advice and try to protect their world as best as they can.

[hyperions-light]

screaming and crying and throwing up because Davrin and Lucanis can’t be friends until their fundamental conceptions of who they are and how the world works are destroyed

Davrin the Monster Hunter meets Lucanis, the Demon of Vyrantium, and he sees a Monster. The first thing Davrin says to him is that if Spite takes over he will kill him, and Lucanis responds with more than typical ire for him, because he agrees— he IS the monster (in his own mind) and Davrin has identified what he’s trying to ignore. (Harding also threatens to kill him, but Lucanis never reacts in that way to her).

Davrin conceptualizes himself as a bulwark against the darkness, the grim defender. He IS Weisshaupt, and Weisshaupt cannot fall, but it does. He stabs an Archdemon and does not die, and he doesn’t know why. What is he if not this? He did not protect anyone, he did not save anyone; he did not succeed in preserving anything he valued.

Lucanis has lost everything, but he is still a professional, he is still a Crow, and if he is now a monster he can use that to his advantage. He can control it; he WILL control it. He will go back to work and make things right the way he knows how. But when it’s time to do what he has trained for, he fails. What is he if he cannot even do the thing for which he was made? The only thing he has left?

And then Davrin goes to the Cauldron, and he finds the Gloom Howler, and she was a Person. She was a Warden, and an elf and the keeper of griffons, just like Davrin. Suddenly, she’s not a monster anymore; she’s Isseya, and she’s hurt.

And Lucanis goes to Treviso to kill Zara, and it’s taken from him and he loses control. He has to ask Rook for help, which he has been trying not to do, because he hasn’t confronted the real problem. And in that moment, he loses everything he had left; Illario, because he sees him for what he is, and his cloak of professionalism, because if it had been a job he would have stopped. But her death was not enough, and now he’s not a Crow, and he’s not in control, so what is he?

AND NOW that everything that can be broken has been broken and every bad thing they were afraid of actually happened and the world is ending, NOW they can be friends! Now they can rebuild themselves together ! Because Davrin isn’t ONLY the Monster Hunter, he’s also the man who raises Assan and sings to the halla and talks Isseya down! And Lucanis is not a monster at all. He’s just a man who goes grocery shopping for his friends and cooks special meals for everyone and loves his family no matter how much they hurt him.

Shokra toh ebra! You must struggle with what you are, but you can struggle TOGETHER !!

[lanaluuart]

I never uploaded this mini comic here?? Fixing that. I drew this summer or last year, I think. Been thinking about young Arlen and how much of a shit he was (and still is tbh). He needs more friends like Theneras.

Arlen got decked by a Halla doing some dumb prank on the Keeper or something. Yanno, stupid boy shit.

Theneras belongs to shabammo

[ryoskuna]

Davrin’s gentle eyes matches his hobby of choice (whittling) bc gentleness is required to keep from splintering the wood and then to add detail to the figures that he makes… and just his overall gentle mindset for why he’s making a monster bestiary/codex (so that other people don’t get killed because these creatures are dangerous, you should engage with them with caution) and just he is so gentle and so thoughtful and yes, clan life wasn’t for him but he still thinks of them and thinks highly of his people and wants to protect them, and he still pays attention to nature and can see when something is wrong with it; Davrin who says he’ll open shop with Neve, davrin who has been collecting info on monsters and creatures for years enough to have a book that can be published, davrin who grieves and mourns his friends very obviously, davrin who knows dwarven to greet the grey wardens’s partners on the deep roads, davrin who was in trusted with the griffons, not just because he was supposed to be the bodyguard but because remi and lancet saw his potential and acknowledged it — and he’s not just the bodyguard but the safe guard and keeper of their future and a the father of one (Assan), he thinks highly and references his family both biological and found, he remembers fondly riding on aravels and being around the campfire — he’s the one with the heart of a Halla too!!

So yes,

Davrin.

[deilmo]

Fen'Harel and the Halla

"After his millenia long slumber, Fen'Harel awoke in a world that felt foreign to him: the world of old, the veiled world. In trying to stop the Gods he had doomed the world to an existence devoid of magic. Alone and weakened, he couldn't act alone. That is when he met the lone Halla. It was born of this new foreign land that the wolf despised so, but it possessed unique wisdom and patience. It listened intently to what the wolf told him of worlds gone and forgotten and in turn the halla taught the rebel god about this world and the wolf listened. What the wolf couldn't forsee was to grow fond of the halla. In such a desolate and strange world, it was a beacon of hope and open-mindness. It had taught the God patience and understanding for the wretched world he had created. But Fen'Harel couldn't be driven off his path of duty, every new day that passed was a painful reminder of it. His journey was a dangerous, one that he should take alone. And so, one night he tore off his own heart, leaving a hole in its place, and ran without looking back. The halla wouldn't be deterred, ever so patient and understanding. It trailed him and found the rebel god again, so the wolf in despair chewed off one of its leg and fled where it couldn't follow, hoping it wouldn't. For years he walked the world in search of the wisdom he needed to free all magic but when he thought he did, the slumbering Gods imprisoned him as he had done millenia past. With the wolf locked into the very prison he had made for his ennemies, all hope of freedom had been lost for the People. But true to itself as ever, a three-legged halla persevered. In all the years the lone wolf took stalking the earth in search of wisdom, the halla trailed close behind in search of the god, in search of knowledge to help him. When Fen'Harel was finally freed from his prison, and once he freed all magic and felled his foes, the halla stood there, watching. When the wolf finally approached it, it dropped something at his feet without a word. His heart. All those years it had persevered to give back what the god had torn from himself. And he placed back his heart in the hole its absence had created. And that is the story of the Halla that chased the Wolf in the Veiled world and how it appeased the regret and guilt of a god. Da'len, if you ever see a statue of Fen'Harel somewhere, look close. For you might see a lone halla grazing near it. - Keeper Shirallas of the restored Elvhenan, Lathbora viran - 14:23 Sea.

Close up:

[princehendir]

Marethari: Merrill should be avoided. She plays with dark magic and is infected with the same Blight that took Tamlen. She is dangerous. But also we can't move the clan even though everyone wants to because what if she comes back.

Clan: what?

Marethari: and she will come back. Trust me. I'm going to make her.

Marethari: now if you'll all excuse me I'm going to go into this mountain cave to commune with nothing in particular.

Marethari: No one. I meant. Nothing is happening. Don't worry about it. But tell me if Merrill shows up. But don't be nice to her. Okay.

Clan: Keeper we need new Halla.

Mage who transferred from another clan to replace Merrill: so I'm just now walking into this

[too-many-lavellans]

Venui Lavellan

Halla Keeper Non-Combatant

[felassan]

Codex entry: Ghilan'nain: Mother of the Halla

"They say Ghilan'nain was one of the People, in the days before Arlathan, and the chosen of Andruil the Huntress. She was very beautiful—with hair of snowy white—and as graceful as a gazelle. She kept always to Andruil's Ways, and Andruil favored her above all others. One day, while hunting in the forest, Ghilan'nain came across a hunter she did not know. At his feet lay a hawk, shot through the heart by an arrow. Ghilan'nain was filled with rage, for the hawk—along with the hare—is an animal much beloved of Andruil. Ghilan'nain demanded that the hunter make an offering to Andruil, in exchange for taking the life of one of her creatures. The hunter refused, and Ghilan'nain called upon the goddess to curse him, so that he could never again hunt and kill a living creature. Ghilan'nain's curse took hold, and the hunter found that he was unable to hunt. His prey would dart out of sight and his arrows would fly astray. His friends and family began to mock him for his impotence, for what use is a hunter who cannot hunt? Ashamed, the hunter swore he would find Ghilan'nain and repay her for what she had done to him. He found Ghilan'nain while she was out on a hunt with her sisters, and lured her away from them with lies and false words. He told Ghilan'nain that he had learned his lesson and begged her to come with him, so she could teach him to make a proper offering to Andruil. Moved by his plea, Ghilan'nain followed the hunter, and when they were away from all of her sisters, the hunter turned on Ghilan'nain. He blinded her first, and then bound her as one would bind a kill fresh from the hunt. But because he was cursed, the hunter could not kill her. Instead he left her for dead in the forest. And Ghilan'nain prayed to the gods for help. She prayed to Elgar'nan for vengeance, to Mother Mythal to protect her, but above all she prayed to Andruil. Andruil sent her hares to Ghilan'nain and they chewed through the ropes that bound her, but Ghilan'nain was still wounded and blind, and could not find her way home. So Andruil turned her into a beautiful white deer—the first halla. And Ghilan'nain found her way back to her sisters, and led them to the hunter, who was brought to justice. And since that day, the halla have guided the People, and have never led us astray, for they listen to the voice of Ghilan'nain. — From The Tale of Ghilan'nain, as told by Gisharel, keeper of the Ralaferin clan of the Dalish elves"

[bluerose5]

Lucanis going with Bellara to visit the Dalish settlement in Rivain one day. Since that's one of the Dalish's more permanent locations, Bellara explains to Lucanis that she will often go there to exchange knowledge or stock up on supplies or trinkets that remind her of home (and ingredients as well!), which is part of why he was so interested in joining her for the trip. While Davrin passed on going, possibly because he convinced himself that he's somehow not worthy of being among the Dalish after leaving his Clan behind, Lucanis is more than willing to learn more about their people. He and Bellara spend the night in the settlement with the Keeper's permission. Lucanis trades in gold, favors, or anything they would accept really, but it's not treasures or sacred knowledge that he asks for in return.

No, he and Bellara return to the Lighthouse, and he has plenty of gifts for Davrin in tow, all with Bellara's seal of approval. New boots. A hunter's knife. A star chart or two with Dalish constellations labeled. A model aravel. And some fresh halla milk. Of course, he gets the others gifts as well because this man can't resist spoiling everyone, but Bellara teases Davrin that it's clear someone got the special treatment.

[hoboblaidd]

little Inquisition headcanons that are too mundane for a 5000 word meta post:

Solas always places heating runes beneath Varric’s tent.

Once, in the dead of night, he methodically tried the different kinds of tea in Skyhold's kitchen. They tasted like leaves. He hated all of them.

He has beef with owls (Falon’din and Andruil, but mostly Andruil).

He’s drawn in the margins of every book Josie finds for him from libraries. He tells her it’s something he does unconsciously while he reads. He really does it because the human libraries can suck it.

Also, he snorts like a twelve year old whenever someone says fenhedis lasa.

He has beef with Leliana’s ravens (Dirthamen).

He smokes more elfroot then he lets on.

Every time they visit Keeper Hawen’s clan in the Exalted Plains, he rotates their Fen’harel statue an inch to the left.

He has beef with bears (the animal) (Dirthamen).

He keeps a flask of honeyed brandy on him at all times. He only shares with Varric.

The hat "fell off" as the Inquisition marched into the Winter Palace.

The Courser and the Wolf was not actually about a dog chasing him. It was Desmal. Solas has beef with dogs anyway (Elgar’nan).

Grapes really do make him sick. Doesn't stop him from drinking wine.

If someone asks about any of his scars, he tells them the truth. The way he tells it, however, sounds like he's bullshitting: "How'd you get that burn scar, Solas?" "Sunburn." It was Elgar'nan.

Halla have beef with him (Ghilan'nain).

Solas is the reason Maryden wrote Sera was Never. Don’t put lizards in the Dread Wolf’s bedroll.

[vigilskeep]

is it reasonable to say griffons are probably another of ghilan’nain’s creatures? they are weird hybrids. i was just reading about how they’re always equals and partners, never servants or slaves, and it sounds so like the relationship halla have with their keepers. it feels like it’s going to be plot relevant what with bringing them back for veilguard and giving davrin ghilan’nain’s vallaslin. can’t wait for him and one of her own creatures to take her down <3