#he often traveled to antiva which he adores

[nekrosmos]

Small doodles of my new Warden, Swan. Been replaying DAO since last week and having a blast honestly.

He's a human noble rogue who is romancing Zevran. He's a rich kid who never had to work a day in his life until his entire family got murdered, so needless to say, he's not having a great time.

[felassan]

Dragon Age Library Edition Volume 1 annotations & additional pages/art compilation

Dragon Age Library Edition Volume 1 is a hardcover collection of some pre-existing Dragon Age comics that was released in 2014. It comprises of all issues of The Silent Grove, Those Who Speak and Until We Sleep. In places, it includes additional annotations/commentaries by the illustrators and authors, as well as a few additional pages with additional art. iirc these additional annotations and pages/art aren’t featured or available anywhere else (in the franchise I mean; other people have probably put them online at some point I’m sure).

From what I can see at least, Library Edition Volume 1 is no longer in print, and as such listings for it on resale sites etc are.. price-inflated & prohibitively expensive (~£100+, which I’m sure we can all agree is just not reasonable or accessible to most people). Due to this, I’ve compiled the additional annotations and pages here in this post. Thank you and credit to @artevalentinapaz, who kindly shared the material with me. This post has been made with their permission. The rest of this post is under a cut due to length.

These commentaries are in the context of The Silent Grove, Those Who Speak and Until We Sleep. If you notice any errors or annotations missing, or need anything clarified, just let me know. I think the annotations are in chronological order. In places I elaborated in square brackets to help explain which part of the comics an annotation is referring to. A note before you proceed further: some of the topics referenced in the annotations/additional pages are heavy or uncomfortable. The quotes here are word-for-word transcriptions of dev/creator commentaries, not my personal opinions or phrasings.

(Also, I do recommend always supporting comic creators by purchasing their comics legitimately. I own each issue of these comics having bought other editions of them all legitimately. The reason I put this post together is because this specific Library Edition volume has been discontinued and the consequently-inflated cost is so high, rendering the additional material inaccessible to most.)

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The Silent Grove annotations

Illustrator Chad Hardin: “I used to be an environmental artist for video games, so I built a 3-D model of Antiva City using the program Silo. Many of the buildings are simple cubes, but a few are more detailed. Overall, I spent the better part of a day building it, but I used it again and again throughout The Silent Grove to maintain continuity in the backgrounds.”

Script Writer Alexander Freed: “Even working with David Gaider, it took me several drafts to find Alistair’s voice. His narrative had to convey his humor and self-doubt from Dragon Age: Origins while suggesting a newfound weariness earned during his years on the throne. For readers familiar with the character, he needed to seem like a changed Alistair - but Alistair nonetheless.”

Chad Hardin: “If you read a lot of comics, you might wonder why the majority of the heroes wear skin-tight suits. Well, I can tell you: they are easy and quick to draw. In video games, you build the model once and then animate it, so details don’t slow you down. In comics, everything has to be rendered by hand. Varric and Alistair’s outfits were quite detailed. It took me a long time to get used to them, and even longer to memorize the designs until drawing them was second nature - Varric’s knee armor in particular! Oy vey!”

David Gaider: “One of my favorite scenes in the entire series [when Varric and Isabela are disarming traps and picking locks together while Alistair looks on]. Isabela and Varric, doing what rogues do. I had a suggestion for how to put it together, but Alex managed to make it fit and did a great job with it.”

Chad Hardin: “I never used to keep any of the artwork I created for comics. I would just hand the pages over to my agent to sell. This page [when Alistair, Varric and Isabela are in a tavern together, with hookah in the foreground] I kept for myself. I love the hookah-smoking elves in the second panel and Isabela’s face in the last panel. I rendered the first four chapters of The Silent Grove in grayscale using ink washes, gouache and Copie markers.”

David Gaider: “For a little while, Varric [in these comic stories] was supposed to be Zevran from Dragon Age: Origins, which would have made sense, Zevran being Antivan and all. I know that some fans would have loved to see him, but the dynamics of the group just didn’t work as well. Then a planned cameo later had to be cut for space. Ah well, Zev, another time.”

Alexander Freed: “Isabela at her most dangerous [climbing up the side of the cliff]. This scene - featuring a scantily clad, dripping-wet woman who tends to flaunt her sexuality - could easily have come across as exploitative, but Chad did a lovely drop portraying Isabela as purely focused and deadly.”

Chad Hardin: “Isabela rising out of the water and scaling the cliff with the knife in her mouth is one of my favorite parts of The Silent Grove. It is one of those moments where the writing really inspired the art. Hats off to Alex and David. This is another page I kept for myself.”

Colorist Michael Atiyeh: “This is one of my favorite Dragon Age pages. Chad is such an amazing artist; I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with him.”

Chad Hardin: “I love that this page [when a guard spots Varric and shouts ‘Intruder!’] made it in uncensored. So many times in comics, I draw something and some stuffy lawyers come out of the woodwork and tell me to tone it down. Dark Horse and BioWare always let me have fun, and this turned out to be one of my favorite pages with Varric and Bianca. Any guesses to which word he is mouthing in the second panel?”

Alexander Freed: “Note the simple decency of Alistair as he gives his cloak, without comment, to Isabela. For all his flaws, he’s genuinely kind at heart - a rare enough trait in Isabela’s world that I think it’s much of what she values in him.”

Chad Hardin: “I love the opening panel to this chapter [the opening panels to Chapter 3, when the team are on a ship at sea]. It’s the image I use on the homepage of my website. This page was a gift to my cousin Wendy, who loves pirates. Seascapes with sailing ships might be clichéd in fine art, but for me it was a first.”

David Gaider: “I wanted to have this story center on the group travelling to a Witch of the Wilds other than Flemeth, and originally I had set it somewhere else - until I remembered a Codex entry from Dragon: Age Origins that offhandedly mentioned a witch in the Tellari Swamps. Brilliant! It’d look like I planned it all along. I didn’t.”

Michael Atiyeh: “I love opportunities where I can show a change in the time of day as you move from panel to panel [when the ship heads towards and the team arrive in the Tellari Swamps]. I feel the palette of each panel is very distinct and beautiful.”

Alexander Freed: “Why did Alistair choose two people he barely knows to be his companions on this quest? We never make this explicit, but of course Varric is on the right track. Alistair wants to surround himself with people who don’t know him and won’t judge him, yet it’s Alistair’s idealism that Isabela and Varric work to preserve.”

Chad Hardin: “Another page where the writing inspired the art [when the group suddenly encounter a dragon]. I love the dragon bursting onto the scene and Isabela’s stare. Some writers will try to cram six or seven panels on a page like this and the pacing just doesn’t allow the artist to give each moment the right punch. Can you imagine if the first panel was crammed into a single square inch?”

Chad Hardin: “Yavana was one of the only characters that we did no preliminary sketches for. I don’t know how that happened, but thankfully it worked out.”

David Gaider: “I love how Yavana looks like a cross between Flemeth and Morrigan. Flemmigan? She’s totally Chad’s design, and it’s great. Typical for these witches, she never says things straight. In my mind, this Alistair is the one who did the Dark Ritual in Dragon Age: Origins - and I was half-tempted to have him lose his cool in this first scene [opening panels of Chapter 4] with her. Too early, though.”

Alexander Freed: “Through this whole sequence [the page when Varric aims Bianca at Yavana], Yavana is dropping cryptic hints and Alistair is refusing to play along. He’s met Flemeth and Morrigan - he knows Yavana won’t give him a straight answer, and he won’t give her the satisfaction of asking needlessly.”

Michael Atiyeh: “Sometimes it’s the little things on a page that spark my interest. Here [when the team navigate vines and mud to get to the temple], the sunset panel came out great and the mud looks really thick and gooey. It’s fun to focus on these details and make them stand out.”

Chad Hardin: “I hated drawing this scene [when Isabela gets kicked] where Isabela gets the boot to the face. Call me old fashioned, but I was raised to believe that only a coward would ever hit a woman (even a battle-hardened pirate adventurer). I draw at home, and my girls often watch me work in my studio. This was a page I didn’t want them watching me draw. I do like, though, that Isabela gets up, yanks the arrow out, and then soldiers on (and later extracts brutal revenge).”

Michael Atiyeh: “Poor Isabela. It seems I gave her more bruises and black eyes than any of the other characters. [when Isabela is yanking the arrow out]”

Chad Hardin: “It’s always interesting to go back and look at artwork because it reminds me of what was going on in my life at the time. I inked this page [opening panels of Chapter 5] at a ‘draw night’ session at an anime convention in St. George, Utah. I was one of the special guests, but I missed the first day because I was at my grandfather’s funeral in Las Vegas, Nevada. Seeing this page brought back those memories.”

David Gaider: “‘Bianca says hello.’ [quoting the panels being referenced] I adore Varric. I was tempted to have him narrate the entire series [in reference to these three comics], but then again I liked the idea of having each series center on one of the trio’s viewpoints. This book belongs to Alistair, but that doesn’t stop Varric from getting all the best lines.”

Alexander Freed: “Claudio, of course, is not a terribly sympathetic figure. But I wanted to emphasize that he takes this fight as personally as Isabela - he sincerely loved Luis and blames Isabela for the man’s death. I think it’s important to give every character, even the most loathsome, some dignity. [when Isabela and Claudio are fighting]”

Chad Hardin: “Payback! Here is where Isabela extracts her revenge on Claudio [when Isabela stabs Claudio]. I never enjoyed killing off a character so much. I particularly enjoyed putting the look of shock in his eyes. He had it coming. There is something satisfying about killing a ‘made man’.”

Chad Hardin: “Every now and then when drawing comics, I wish I could animate some panels and watch them as a cartoon. It would be great to see this sequence [when Yavana catches Claudio’s soul] in full motion as Yavana snatches Claudio’s soul, makes it reenter his corpse and then extracts information from him until he bursts into flame. It was a very Hellboy-ish moment. I enjoyed the movie that played in my mind while drawing this scene. Hope everyone liked the result.”

Chad Hardin: “As I mentioned on page 17, I rendered the first four chapters in grayscale, which made the black-and-white art look great, but had a neutralizing effect when it came to colors. By the time I drew chapter 4, I had seen the effect it was having and decided to stop using the grayscale so the colors would pop. When I saw this page [when Alistair says to Yavana ‘And we helped you find it’] in print, it confirmed to me that I made the right decision. I honestly feel this art was the best of The Silent Grove.”

Chad Hardin: “I practically painted these pages [when Yavana says ‘It is permitted. Tonight and only tonight’] in thumbnails hoping it would help me choose how to render them in ink. It is so hard trying to figure out how to get a full range of value out of just black and white. There are some artists and inkers that make this look easy. Mark Schultz comes to mind. Michael saved my bacon. Colorists really do so much work when it comes to rendering; this page came out awesome because of him.”

David Gaider: “Here we reveal the existence of Great Dragons (as opposed to High Dragons), and also that Yavana was the source of the return of dragons to Thedas after their departure for so many centuries. But why? There’s the rub, and not even Alistair can trust that she’s telling him the truth.”

David Gaider: “Here’s the controversial scene [Alistair killing Yavana]. I think some fans don’t like that Alistair did this, and have said they consider it out of character. I don’t. From his perspective, Flemeth and her daughters have been toying with the world for reasons that can’t be trusted. They dragged Maric away from his family, from him. One might think his judgement foolish, but considering what Alistair was capable of deciding even back in Dragon Age: Origins, it’s certainly not out of character.”

Chad Hardin: “[same scene as above] This was a controversial page, and there were a lot of people who thought it was out of character for Alistair to kill Yavana (I didn’t see it coming - I mean, you just don’t kill a Witch of the Wild), but here is the thing: this page is Alistair acting as a king. Yavana has been manipulating him, trying to play him like a pawn, and he just can’t allow that. There’s too much at stake, for himself and for his subjects.”

Alexander Freed: “The end? An end, at least [the trio walking off into the distance]. The series needed a note of closure while leading into Those Who Speak (which wouldn’t arrive until many months later). David tweaked the ending in the outline several times, and I did my best to balance resolving Alistair’s emotional journey without resolving the quest. It’s not as clean as I’d have liked, but fortunately, now it’s all in one volume...”

Those Who Speak annotations

Alexander Freed: “Capturing Isabela’s narrative voice was much easier for me than capturing Alistair’s - partly because I’d already written The Silent Grove, and partly because of my own writing proclivities. Rereading now, I wonder if I laid on the (mild) profanity a bit too thick. I’ll leave you to judge.”

David Gaider: “I like the additional detail Alex and Chad put in, letting us see more of Qarinus and more of Isabela’s crew. Alex wanted to give her crew more of a presence, and let her first mate have some face time, so they weren’t just parts of the scenery. Good call on his part.”

David Gaider: “I’m really fond of the formal getups Chad made for the party. Isabela’s actually comes from a concept we didn’t use from the cancelled Dragon Age 2 expansion, if I remember right. And Maevaris came from me asking for ‘someone who looks like Mae West’ - with the wonderful outfit all Chad’s doing.

Chad Hardin: “Maevaris. I love Mae. When David and Dragon Age art director Matthew Goldman spoke to me about designing Mae, they wanted her to be fully female with the exception of her biology. They told me to think ‘Mae West’. Well, when I think of Mae West, I think of her... womanly shape. So, drawing Maevaris was always walking a fine line between portraying Mae’s identity and her biology. The process endeared her to me.”

Michael Atiyeh: “Just like in The Silent Grove, we are introduced to another gentleman from Isabela’s past [when the team meet Lord Devon and Isabela threatens him]. As was the case with Claudio, he will meet his fate at her hands.”

Chad Hardin: “When I was drawing Titus, my kids asked me why I was drawing ‘angry Jesus’ or ‘evil Jesus’. I can’t remember which term they used exactly, but it made me chuckle. I was going for a mix of Rapustin and Joe Stalin, but ‘evil Jesus’ would do.”

David Gaider: “I’m not sure it’s apparent here [when Alistair says ‘I’d really rather not’], but Alistair was supposed to be using one of his Templar powers on Titus (that’s why Titus recognizes what he is on the next page) and disrupting his magic.”

Alexander Freed: “Isabela is witty and charming enough that it can be easy to forget that she’s not, in fact, a nice person. Even after finishing the outline, David was concerned about making her too unsympathetic - but I loved his approach in this series. The dark deeds Isabela commits - this murder included [Isabela killing Lord Devon] - are what make her guilt tangible and no easy matter to overcome.”

Alexander Freed: “I thought the notions of Isabela’s pride in her captaincy and dedication to her crew were some of the most interesting aspects of her character in David’s story. In scenes here [when Isabela is on her ship saying ‘Keep them focused and keep them sober’] and elsewhere, I did my best to emphasize their place at the core of Isabela’s world.”

Chad Hardin: “Most of the time I draw from imagination, but because of the complexity of this page [Qunari trying to board Isabela’s ship] I decided it would work better if I had photo reference. On this page are my nephews Jared (Varric) and Adam, my niece Melissa, my kids Erica, Tasey Michaela (Isabela) and Chad (Alistair), my friend’s daughter Amy, my wife Joy, and the neighborhood kids as Isabela’s pirate crew. (The crew member mooning the Qunari is out of my ol’ noodle.) I paid their modelling fee in pizza and root beer. Also, I had originally drawn cannons on Isabela’s ship, so if there are parts of it that look slightly wonky, chances are there was a cannon there.”

David Gaider: “Ever since the BioWare artists finally did a concept for female Qunari, I’ve been itching to include one in the game. It’s always slipped through my fingers, so I was going to be damned if I’d have a Qunari plot in a comic - without the same technical limitations - and not have one present.

Chad Hardin: “I had no idea this was the first time anyone outside of BioWare had seen a female Qunari.”

Michael Atiyeh: “I really like the lighting in this sequence [Isabela in her cell thinking ‘I haven’t eaten in days’], especially the strong white light and the characters in shadow.”

David Gaider: “The entire sequence of Rasaan interrogating Isabela was something I plotted out in detail when this series began. Here they discuss names - something treated in a manner peculiar to the Qunari, considering how much importance they apply to what things are called (and not called), because it forms the core of their identity. Isabela brushes it off, but as we find out later it’s also at the core of her identity. I liked that parallel.”

Alexander Freed: “To balance out the relatively static talking pages elsewhere in the issue, I hoped to make the interrogation and flashback sequences beautiful and full of information. I proposed an approach to Chad, and he wisely reshaped it into what you see here [the page with the scene where Isabela says ‘I’ve made a lot of stupid mistakes’]. Anything that succeeds on these pages should be credited to him; anything that fails is my fault.”

Chad Hardin: “Probably the most challenging spread I have ever done. My friend Stacie Pitt was the model for Isabela on this page, and my wife Joy was Rasaan. I saved these pages [around the scene when Rasaan says ‘Mistakes can be corrected’] for myself.”

David Gaider: “Sten from Dragon Age: Origins becoming the new Arishok of the Qunari was something we'd planned even during Dragon Age 2. This was a great opportunity to show that, and also to show that Sten didn’t acquire horns even despite the makeover the Qunari received in DA2. Hornless Qunari are considered special, and Sten is no exception.”

Michael Atiyeh: “I think that David, Alex and Chad handled Isabela’s flashback [to when she was sold by her mother] in an interesting way, and it created a nice flow to the story.”

David Gaider: “This was a controversial scene [what happened to the slaves Isabela was transporting], the end result of a lot of discussions between me and Isabela’s original writer on the team, and it went through a lot of revisions over that time. It needed to fit with the story Isabela told the player in DA2, but fill in the blanks of what she didn’t tell. We didn’t want Isabela to be someone who became who she is because she was ‘broken’ but instead as a result of her own actions - yet also not be completely beyond redemption.”

Chad Hardin: “These were hard pages [as above] to draw. It was difficult knowing that events such as this are part of human history, such as the Zong massacre in 1781, where the British courts ordered the insurers to reimburse the crew of the Zong for financial losses caused by throwing slaves overboard when faced with a lack of water. Horrifying beyond words.”

Michael Atiyeh: “Here, Isabela visits here crew, and I wanted to play up that she was in the light and they were in a dark cell. The light streaming through the bars gave me the opportunity to highlight Brand, who also had dialogue in the scene.”

Alexander Freed: “I struggled to find a way for Varric to contribute to victory without distracting from Alistair and Sten’s big fight. I’m happy with the solution: a brazen lie seemed appropriate to the character without taking away from the main show.”

David Gaider: “I believe my original plan had Isabela’s and Alistair’s fight scenes happening separately, but I like how Alex intertwined them in the script and I especially like how this ends up highlighting the differences between their characters when their fights are resolved. Isabela is defiant, revealing her name not because Rasaan demands it but because it’s her choice. In both cases, mercy is strength.”

Michael Atiyeh: “The brush I created for the clouds really gave them a nice watercolor effect here [on the deck of the ship, Sten calling Alistair ‘kadan’]. That brush has become a staple in my toolbox.”

Alexander Freed: “With the strong theme of names running through these issues, I liked the notion that Isabela had outgrown being, well, ‘Isabela’. When her name comes up in Until We Sleep, it’s largely played with ambiguity.”

Until We Sleep annotations

Alexander Freed: “The story of ‘Arthur’ is one of my favorite minor sequences [Varric infiltrating and fighting his way into the fortress]. It tells us something about Varric and it delivers plot information - and it’s also a reminder that our heroes kill an awful lot of people during these series and cope with it in their own ways. In general, writing Varric let me skirt the edge of metacommentary, which I greatly enjoyed.”

David Gaider: “Varric, as always, is my ‘voice of the narrator’. Here he’s expressing some of my own amusement at Alistair’s growing list of peculiarities [‘Your majesty is quite the special snowflake’]. To think, back at the beginning of Dragon Age: Origins he was just the player’s goofy sidekick who grew up in a barn.”

Michael Atiyeh: “By the third series, Until We Sleep, I really started to have a complete feel for what I wanted the final art to look like. As an artist, it’s important to continue to evolve and grow. The close-up of Sten’s face [same page as above] is a perfect example of how I wanted the rendering on the characters to look.”

Alexander Freed: “David’s outline called for a short, somber reveal of the Calenhad story by Sten. Fueled by my desire to avoid ‘talking heads’ sequences, I scripted it as a full-on storytelling flashback. David made sure the history worked (at least from the Qunari point of view), and Chad did a beautiful job handling it in a mere two pages.”

David Gaider: “Blood is important in Dragon Age, as a theme. Here we tie in the dragon blood that was mentioned all the way back in The Silent Grove and explain what it means at last. I was a bit hesitant to tarnish the legend of Calenhad the Great in this way, but I comfort myself with the knowledge this tale is but a viewpoint and not necessarily the entire truth.”

Michael Atiyeh: “Titus melting the attacker is a great example of classic comicbook storytelling and exactly what made me fall in love with the medium.”

David Gaider: “I was really happy with how Chad handled the reveal of Mae as transgender [the scene with Mae in the cell]. My worry was that Varric finding her disrobed might be potentially titillating, but I think he handled it nicely. I only wish there was more time to have Mae properly respond to being exposed in this manner, even to a friend.”

Chad Hardin: “I originally drew Mae as female [same scene as above], then changed her anatomy, so the psychological violation and humiliation she felt would be the focus. Hope that came across.”

Chad Hardin: “When in doubt, have Bianca shoot it [Varric shooting the artifact].”

David Gaider: “This scene [Varric and Bianca the dwarf] with Varric was one I wanted to do for a very long time. We’ve hinted that Varric’s crossbow was named after a real person, someone he never wants to talk about. Now I finally had the chance to show why.”

Chad Hardin: “Of all my Dragon Age pages, this scene was hands down my favorite, because Varric is my favorite. It was awesome to get to draw Bianca in her dwarven form. These scenes give you a glimpse of the love Varric and Bianca shared. It doesn’t tell you the whole story, but you can assume plenty from what is shown. You get to see Varric mostly naked (you’re welcome), but most of all you witness Varric’s heartbreak. I felt privileged to draw it. I got so obsessed with drawing this page I did an entire watercolor painting based on the last panel [Varric gets up to leave, ‘This isn’t right’ - ? or perhaps the scene where he opens the door to leave].”

Alexander Freed: “Unreliable narrators are always tricky - done wrong, they can just confuse the reader. But I’m fairly happy with Varric’s lies throughout this series, most of which are used to downplay the emotional cost of events rather than whitewash the events themselves.”

Michael Atiyeh: “This palette worked perfectly [Varric standing in front of the doorway/portal in the Fade proper], but I can’t take all the credit because BioWare provided reference for the Fade. I added the hot orange energy for the doorway, which looks great with the sickly green sky.”

David Gaider: “This scene [Isabela’s Fade nightmare] was actually inspired by a fan named Allegra who did a cosplay as a Qunari version of Isabela. I knew I wanted something like this for Isabela’s Fade section of the comic, but it didn’t really solidify until I saw the cosplay.”

Chad Hardin: “Isabela is more affected by her encounter with Rasaan than we were led to believe. A portent of things to come?”

Michael Atiyeh: “I love this shot of Mae in the fourth panel [on the page where Isabela is affected by vines]. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention what a great character she is in the series, and Chad captures her beautifully in this shot.”

Alexander Freed: “I saw this issue as a sort of downbeat victory lap. Over the course of the previous series, our protagonists largely came to terms with the inner demons the Fade confronts them with here. The fact they’ve come so far lets them win this last battle... but they still have scars that will never completely disappear.”

David Gaider: “Maric was in the first two novels I wrote for Dragon Age. Seeing Chad’s rendering of him as a regal, grown-up version of Alistair made me incredibly nostalgic. Some characters you just never let go of.”

Alexander Freed: “I feel Varric’s lines (‘tell yourself the stories you need to tell’ but ‘never live your own lies’) are the natural endpoint of all the exchanges he’s had with Alistair, starting from the end of Chapter 1 of The Silent Grove. And of course it plays off the story of ‘Arthur’, as well.’’

Chad Hardin: “I’m happy with the way Titus came off in these pages [Titus attacking and saying ‘The last magisters of Tevinter were so close’]. He looks threatening and powerful when fighting Alistair, Isabela and Varric, but genuinely confused by his inability to defeat Maric. Bye-bye, evil Jesus.”

Alexander Freed: “I can’t help but feel for Titus. He was unthinkably corrupt, but I see him as genuinely motivated by Tevinter’s glory. (The fact Alistair reads zealous ideology as a lust for power says a lot about both characters.)”

Michael Atiyeh: “I love the seamless transition of color from Titus’ magic to the dragon breath and then back into the orange remnants of his magic in the smoke. This was a really fun panel to color [Titus saying ‘Die by what wrought you’].”

David Gaider: “‘You are not the dreamer here. I am.’ I always have a scene or a line that’s in my head when I begin a tale, and this line of Maric’s was one I wanted all the way back when I started working on The Silent Grove.”

Chad Hardin: “I love this page [Maric and Alistair clasping hands]; Mike’s colors are spot on. We get to see all our heroes in an ideal state for the last time. This is the last Dragon Age page I saved for myself.”

David Gaider: “This scene kills me [Alistair destroying the Magrallen]. I knew it needed to happen; I knew I wanted it to happen even back when I began the story. Alistair lets Maric remain in the Fade rather than dragging him back to a world which has moved on. Alistair’s ready to move on, but forcing him to give up that hope... it makes me feel like a bad person.”

Chad Hardin: “Heartbreak for Alistair as he realizes that once again, as a king, he must kill: this time, his own father (granted, the Magrallen did most of the work). I really like how Maric crumbles away in the end. This was my last page, and the emotions on the page and in my studio were very final. Altogether, this was a year of my life in the making. On my last page, I wrote a thank you to everyone involved, the crew at Dark Horse and the crew at BioWare. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them again. It was a thrill. Finally, a huge thank-you to the Dragon Age fan community, whose support was overwhelmingly awesome.”

Michael Atiyeh: “As the story came to an end, I knew I was going to miss these characters. Writing these annotations reinforces the fact that I hope to work with this great creative team again one day. Many thanks to Dark Horse and BioWare for the opportunity to work on Dragon Age.”

Alexander Freed: “The tension between the art and the narration on this page [the one with Alistair sitting on his throne while nobles argue] is something you can only pull off in comics. Neither tells the full, bittersweet story alone. Similarly, these issues wouldn’t have been possible without everyone on the team; thanks to David, Chad, Michael, and everyone I lack space to list!”

Additional pages / art

Library Edition Volume 1 also came with some additional pages, with additional art and commentary. These are as follows (I’m including them for the sake of completion, click the links to see):

1. Alistair and dragon concepts

2. Rasaan and Maevaris concepts

3. Sten, Titus and Yavana concepts

4. A series of cover pages 1

5. A series of cover pages 2

In case anyone has trouble reading the notes that accompany these images, I’ve transcribed them below:

1. Dragon Age Sketch Book

Alistair Concept 

Dragon Age / Dark Horse

Chad Hardin: “The headshot of Alistair is from a finished sketch with a rejected armor design. In order to save time, the redrawing was completed on the computer, where tweaks and changes are quick and easy, if somewhat less glorious.”

[Dragon] Head #1 / Head #2

Chad Hardin: “Everyone liked this dragon sketch so much that Dark Horse printed it for signings at conventions. You can see I did multiple proposals for the dragon’s head. It was more effective than drawing the body over and over.”

-

2. [arrow pointing to Mae’s sleeve] concealed [I think that’s what it says anyway] daggers / shurikens?

Chad Hardin: “When designing Rasaan and Maevaris, I wasn’t exactly sure how their roles would play out in the series. Maevaris’ outfit was inspired by brothel madams of the Wild West. I thought it would be cool to have some weapons concealed in the formal wear. These never came into play in the series, but they were there in my mind.”

-

3. Chad Hardin: “Although we only see Titus in his battle garb in one issue, I really liked the design of his armor. The sketch of Yavana was done on the fly and served as both a rough preliminary sketch and as a panel layout. You have to work hard and smart in comics to keep up with the deadlines.”

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4. Cover Artist Anthony Palumbo: “This was my first assignment for Dark Horse, and I was both excited and nervous. I drew pencil sketches of the main characters, scanned them and played with different arrangements, poses and color schemes in Photoshop.”

-

5. Anthony Palumbo: “Fellow illustrator Winona Nelson helped me by sitting for photo reference. I created the mock-jewelry with gold-painted Sculpey. That’s a quick photo of my own gaping maw, to help with the image of Varric.”

[carelessgraces]

astoria, her father, and the couslands —

Note — This revised history of the Couslands and Mac Eanraigs is developed alongside Wren Cousland, Bryce Cousland, and Eleanor Cousland, found at @imageofdeparture, and Henry Greengrass and Daphne Greengrass, found at @acciortum. I am writing Margaery Cousland, Fergus Cousland, and Cassandra MacEanraig myself, both at @worldevoured. Unless writing with a male or nonbinary Cousland, this will be my default backstory, even if writing with another Hero of Ferelden.

The Mac Eanraigs and the Greengrasses

     The patriarch of the Greengrass family, Edward Greengrass, was a staunch supporter of Meghren’s reign in Ferelden, and a constant ally to Orlais. One of the noble families in Amaranthine, the Greengrasses had always just barely missed becoming titled, and Edward saw an opportunity to gain one of the bannorns stripped from the various Fereldan lords and ladies who rebelled against the Orlesian occupation. When it became clear that the Howes would continue to hold Amaranthine, Edward turned his attention to the Storm Coast, where Fearchair Mac Eanraig and his wife Moira ruled the Bannorn. 

     It wasn’t hard to convince Meghren to strip the Mac Eanraigs of their title; they had been involved in active rebellion for years, now, with all four of their children becoming threats in their own right. Meghren made the Mac Eanraigs an offer: Fearchar and Moira would have no claim to the land or title, but one of their daughters ( Cassandra, the eldest ) could remain Bann if she married an Orlesian appointee to the title. Arthur Greengrass, Edward’s oldest son, was chosen, but he died of a fever shortly before he was scheduled to meet his betrothed, and his younger brother, Henry Greengrass, was sent in his stead. Henry and Cassandra were married.

     Edward was pleased to see a Greengrass as Bann, but his plan — and Meghren’s — ultimately failed when, shortly after meeting his wife and her family, Henry, along with his illegitimate half-sister Siobhan, joined the Mac Eanraigs in active rebellion against the Orlesian occupation. Henry fought alongside his wife’s family, including his brother-in-law, Bryce Cousland, until Meghren was overthrown and Maric Theirin was restored to the throne. He enjoyed his wife’s, and her family’s, respect for several years, through the birth of a daughter, until, years later, it came to light that he’d had a brief affair with an Antivan noblewoman, Veronica Grimani, whom he clearly loved — and who, upon returning to Antiva, bore him a daughter. 

     When he learned of this, Henry simply left, and was gone for just over a year while he traveled to meet his daughter, Astoria Grimani. When he had been assured that she was well cared for, and in fact in line for a title of her own in addition to lands and wealth from her mother’s family, Henry returned to the Storm Coast, which his scorned wife had been managing beautifully in his absence. His relationship with the MacEanraig siblings, especially Eleanor — now Eleanor Cousland — had been destroyed, and while Cassandra remained furious with him for the personal and political embarrassment, over the course of several years, they were able to resume a working marriage, though any real love for one another was gone. They were cordial, and worked beautifully together politically, and there was even hope that they could become friends once more, someday.  

Astoria’s Arrival in Ferelden 

     Astoria and her father maintained as close a relationship as they could through her childhood and teenage years, writing often and visiting when they could. One of Astoria’s fondest memories was visiting Denerim with her grandfather when she was six years old, hoping to negotiate a trade agreement with King Maric; Henry met them there, spending as much time with her in Denerim as he could spare. She remembers Henry introducing her to Maric, and hanging on her father’s hand. 

     When she began her studies in Orlais, Astoria wrote to her father again, this time to tell him the full story of what had happened to her while under the Vetris’ control. She told him that she was hesitant to return to Antiva during holidays from university, and asked if she could come to stay with him in the Storm Coast, and Henry immediately agreed. Her arrival was tense for everyone but father and daughter — Cassandra was hardly pleased at the arrival of her husband’s bastard daughter, but she saw no value in taking her anger out on a child, and her relationship with Henry soured more with each visit. Henry was pleased to be with his daughter, pleased even more to realize that Astoria was his mirror: they shared the thick red curls that the Greengrasses passed from generation to generation, darker than any of the red hair on her mother’s side; she set her jaw and her shoulders in the same way he did when he was angry; she picked up his accent whenever she spoke Common. She was a stark contrast to her half-sister; Daphne had inherited her mother’s blonde hair and light eyes, and was far gentler than either of her parents. Henry, certain that his younger daughter needed him more now, shifted all of his focus to Astoria whenever she came to visit. 

     The Couslands, Eleanor especially, were sensitive to the insult not only to Cassandra, but to Daphne, and while they made no effort to exclude Astoria — raised in Antiva, educated in Orlais, clearly built more for a life of hedonism than hard work, and training in the bardic arts simply for something to pass the time and to play at real danger — they did make an effort to remind Cassandra and Daphne that they were welcome in Highever, and among their family. Astoria’s own Antivan attitude toward marriage likely did little to endear her to them — Antivans took lovers, and if a marriage was made for politics rather than love, why did it matter? Henry had been happy, as had her mother, and Henry remained to fulfill his political duties. She wouldn’t inherit any of her father’s land, wealth, or title; she was referred to as Lady while in Ferelden only because of her grandfather’s role as Merchant Prince of Seleny, and the expectation that she would take on the role herself when her grandfather died. 

     Astoria’s teenage years were spent at least somewhat in the company of the Cousland children. Fergus, the eldest, found her interesting, but largely tried to stay out of it, as did his father. His wife was Antivan, and Astoria and Oriana very much enjoyed one another’s company, and having the opportunity to reminisce over a well-loved homeland. Margaery was less friendly to the idea of Astoria, defensive of her aunt’s and cousin’s honor and happiness; she was polite, if a bit icy, until the year before Astoria concluded her studies, when she began to warm to her. Wren followed her mother’s lead, concerned about Daphne especially, but found the bardic-trained Astoria more interesting than she would let on. For her part, Astoria grew very fond of the entire family, returning for each visit with carefully chosen gifts for everyone; she especially adored her sister, and made every effort to connect with her. 

     To Cassandra’s relief, Astoria never tried to make any play for the bannorn — even as a teenager, it was clear that Astoria was clever, and didn’t always play fair, and Henry’s obvious favoring of his younger daughter could have posed a threat to Daphne’s future. However, Astoria’s unshakeable love for her sister — and growing respect for Cassandra — made her unwilling to even consider the prospect. It was the first major test of Astoria’s ambition versus her loyalty to her family, and her family won out, as they would for the rest of her life.

The Fifth Blight

     If Wren is the Hero of Ferelden — When Astoria finds Wren in Redcliffe, she is ecstatic to be reunited with a woman she considers family, but horrified to learn of the Couslands’ murders. When they reach Denerim, she hires spies to locate any survivors: Wren saw her parents’, and Oriana’s and Oren’s, bodies; she didn’t see Margaery’s. After months of digging, Margaery is found, one of Howe’s prisoners, and Astoria informs Wren as soon as she’s made aware. 

     Regardless of the Hero of Ferelden’s identity, she sends a letter to her father when she reaches Denerim, coded using a cipher she taught him a few years before during one of her visits, letting him know where she is and what she’s doing, and that he will need to prepare for civil war. By the time of the Landsmeet, Henry is in Denerim; when he and Astoria are reunited, they are inseparable for a long while as she tells him everything that’s happened. Unless the Hero of Ferelden asks her to come into the city with them, Astoria fights alongside her father, and the Storm Coast’s forces. After the Blight, she stays in Denerim if Alistair becomes King; if he does not, she goes directly to the Storm Coast, and remains there for a few years before she returns to Seleny. When she invites Henry to come with her, he does, and he and Veronica are reunited after more than twenty-five years. 

[mikkeneko]

Happy Birthday Maggie: Life (On the Run) Begins at 40

 Happy Birthday to @warriormaggie ! I hope it was a dear one! I wrote this with you in mind; it is sort of intended to fit in the same universe as your Dreams series -- that being the first thing of yours I read -- although of course that’s not set in concrete. Either way, I hope you enjoy some sappy fenders goo!

 Title:  Life (On the Run) Begins at 40 Setting: Post-Kirkwall Pairing: Fenris/Anders Contains: Some crossdressing, some angst, and fluff.

They had a ship to catch.

Fenris and Anders were in Val Chevin, passing through on their way to Cumberland by way of sea. They had found passage on a merchant ship -- with the help of a few under-the-keel favors from a pair of old pirate friends -- but it wasn't due to pull anchor until tomorrow.

They weren't staying in town. A year on the run had led to too many close calls, too many brushes with violence, that nowadays they camped in the wilderness even when their journey took them to a town. It just wasn't worth the risk of someone recognizing Fenris -- or worse, Anders -- and leading the Templars or the city guard right to where they were sleeping. If no one knew where they lay their heads, then no one could betray them.

Right now they were staying in a little cave just off the road leading into the city -- chill and damp and dark, but still a better shelter than they'd had many a time. Most of their camping and travel gear was still stashed there, as well as Anders' conspicuous staff and his cat, and they had come into Val Chevin to stock up on supplies.

Anders almost walked right by the modest little store tucked into the corner of the market square, until a passing sunbeam hit the front window and lit the wares inside up like a beacon. The vibrant colors drew his eye, and he couldn't help himself; his steps slowed and faltered, and he found himself drawn to the colorful display.

The store sold corsets, corsets of all kinds; while it wasn't as diverse a display of bedroom ware as you would have found in -- say -- Val Royeaux, it was still an impressive collection. Some of them looked more like novelty ideas than anything really designed to look good while being worn -- like the one that had a map of Antiva scrawled confusingly across the stomach or, Maker, did that one have frogs  on the nipples?!

But there was also a good variety of stately, elegant lingerie on display. Anders' eye was drawn to a deep red corset with silk roses stitched in a bold row across the bustline; as he looked, he found his gaze pulled to another, embroidered with flamboyant peacocks on the panels and edged in brilliant blue-green satin. A third was sea-colored, with depictions of breaking waves and little seashells sewn on, and yet another was painted with green ivy and bordered with flowers. And another, and another…

He hadn't realized how far his attention had wandered until a nudge at his side snapped him out of his reverie. "Ah! Oh, um, sorry. Got a little lost in thought there," he said, turning to smile sheepishly at his husband, who was giving him a sternly unimpressed frown.

"From your deep distraction, I thought you were looking at the window of a pet store," Fenris said dryly, then looked in through the window. "What is this? This is like… Fran's?"

"A little, although from the look of things I think this is more of a costumier," Anders said, indicating the other rows of suits and dresses further back. "Val Chevin has a lively theater scene, or so I understand."

"Mm, it brings back fond memories," Fenris said, his voice throaty and warm as he took in the array of corsets. He glanced from the shop window to Anders, and then back again. "I would not object to seeing you in something like this again."

The delighted glow faded, and Anders stepped back away from the plate window with a chill feeling of depression. "We can't," he said. "We can't afford the prices, and even if we could, we couldn't carry it with us."

"The ship's allowance did seem rather ungenerous," Fenris admitted.

Anders shook his head. "That part of our life -- living in a big house and wearing fancy clothes, having fancy things -- that's behind us now, I know," he said lowly. "Sometimes I think it might have been a dream… A wonderful dream of something I was never meant for, something I never deserved.

Fenris frowned. Life on the run had its hardships, but this seemed more a lack of spirit than actual physical discomfort. "It's only been a year," he reminded him, barely biting back on the 'mage' in a public place.

"I know." Anders let a bitter chuckle. "Happy nameday to me. I'll be forty tomorrow. I think. Maker, it's so easy to lose track of time..."

With a blink, Fenris reviewed the Southern calendar in his mind. He'd known all their special occasions once, but he'd never realized… "Are you telling me you destroyed the Kirkwall Chantry on your nameday?" he demanded.

"Well no, I mean yes, that wasn't *why...*" Anders sputtered. "It just happened to work out that way! But I guess it's fitting." He sighed. "Sometimes I feel like I was only born for that one day, and the rest of my life before was just pushing me for that moment."

Fenris frowned, his ears tilted as he tried to pick out the strange sadness in Anders' voice. "And your life after?"

Anders didn't answer at first, and after a few moments the two of them turned and began to walk away from the glass display. "I didn't really expect to have an 'after,' " Anders admitted at last.

"Anders…" Fenris grabbed for Anders' hand, suddenly panicked.

"Not that I'm not grateful!" Anders said hastily. He smiled, and squeezed Fenris' hand in his own. "I am, wouldn't want you to think otherwise. Every day."

He seemed determined to change the subject then, and Fenris let him; but as the two of them turned the corner on the square, Fenris glanced back and stared at the sign bearing the shop's name until the lettering was burned in his memory.

Fenris watched Anders trudge back up the rocky, barely-visible path to the cave, and hurried to put the finishing touched on his presentation. Sneaking everything out of town without Anders noticing hadn't been too hard; he'd simply hidden the boxes and parcels among their other supplies. But to set everything up had required him to get rid of Anders for a while, so he'd sent him on a fool's errand to fetch water -- after all, if Anders had chosen to argue the point, he could always summon water by magic.

Anders came up the last few steps to the cave mouth and stopped, staring. Fenris blew out the last taper hastily and turned to face his lover, trying not to feel foolish and a little nervous.

"Fenris…" Anders exclaimed, looking with round eyes around the cave. The firepit they'd been using for warmth and cooking had been banked, and a hundred tiny candle stubs had been set up instead, lining every uneven nook and crack in the walls. Two more candles flanked a meal set up on a makeshift table of splintered boards; a cloth hid the grubby surface from view, showing the artistically-arranged food to its best effect.

Fenris cleared his throat, trying to stop his ears from twitching. He knew his mage well enough to be fairly sure how his gift would be received, but it always left him feeling wrong-footed to give gifts outside of strict social conventions. "Happy nameday, Anders," he said, and extended his hands with the wrapped parcel. The card on the side bore the sigil of the clothing shop that Anders had dawdled beside in the market today.

"Fenris..." Anders repeated, his eyes growing even wider as he stepped forward to take it from Fenris' hands. "You didn't!"

"I did."

For a moment Anders looked delighted, tearing the paper away from the box to reveal a flash of gleaming cloth within. Then he stopped, his face falling. "But... it's so expensive! And we can't take it with us... Maker, it's such a waste..."

" Actually, it is a rental," Fenris admitted. "I inquired with the shop owners, and they said this is a service they often perform for parties. The one I'm wearing" -- he gestured to the svelte black cloth that replaced his usual spirit hide armor -- "is the same. We will need to drop it off before we take ship in the morning."

Anders' nose scrunched adorably. "Wait, so other people have worn this? Possibly... partied in this?"

Fenris chuckled. "Given how much of what we use these days comes off the backs and pockets of dead men, I didn't think you'd mind."

Anders laughed. "I suppose you're right!" he said. Then he sobered. "Still, we can't really afford it..."

"The price is much lower than you would think. A fraction of the full cost," Fenris assured him. He went on, his voice lowering, "But all the same, I would have bought it and ten more like it if it would make you smile." And besides, getting to see Anders in this lovely confection was just as much of a benefit to himself.

"Oh, Fen..." Anders' eyes had gone misty, water gleaming in the candlelight. Fenris gave him the smile that no one else ever saw, the one just for them.

"Go ahead," he said, gesturing to the box. "Try it on."

While Anders changed, Fenris fussed with the dinner and with the candles; nothing really needed the last-minute adjustments, but it gave Anders a moment to compose himself. When the rustling and muttered curses behind him stopped, Fenris still lingered a moment more with his back turned, before Anders' voice said, "Well? What do you think?"

Fenris turned around, and took in the vision before him.

He had chosen well, Fenris decided. Thinking forward to this moment, he'd selected the corset that was a pale near-white with a opalescent sheen. Aside from the shimmering stitching around the hems it was unornamented, but it came with a belt from which long fluttering streamers of filmy white cloth draped. Against the darkness of the cave the cloth seemed to glow with its own light, illuminating Anders to be the brightest thing in the cave. The flowing streamers accentuated his long legs, fluttering with the slightest movement. Seeing him standing there, Fenris felt himself overwhelmed with a sudden surge of longing and love.  "I think..." Fenris said, through a throat gone dry. "I think I am very lucky."

"Fenris..." Anders said softly, but Fenris didn't let him finish the thought.

"Mage... Anders... I have been thinking," he said gruffly. "What you said earlier today has stayed in my mind. I realized that you had a long and dangerous life before we ever met. There were so many chances for me to have lost you before I even had you."

"And boy, did you ever *have* me..." Anders chuckled, eyes flashing wickedly.

Fenris gave him a brief smile, but he wasn't ready to laugh just yet. "I realized how grateful I was that that didn't happen... that you survived, and came to Kirkwall, and I met you. And now we are together. For this coming year, and however many years after it." Fenris stepped forward, putting his hands on Anders' arms and drawing him in. "Anders, I want you to know that your life isn't over -- it did not end with what you did in Kirkwall. You are still alive, and I'm glad of it."

Anders buried his face in Fenris' neck, and there was a suspicious sniffle before he said in a choked voice, "I'm glad too."

Fenris pulled him up for a kiss; only once the long and deep kiss had finished did he allow a chuckle. "Even if you are an old man. My old mage."

Anders choked a laugh. "Me, an old man?" he exclaimed. "You're the one with the white hair!"

"Yours is starting to go silver as well. It's only a matter of time, old mage." He stepped back, extending his arms without letting go of Anders. "Now, shall we dance?"

"Maker, yes!" Anders exclaimed.

Music was the one thing Fenris hadn't been able to arrange, but they didn't need it; they both knew the steps, and knew each other's rhythm. Their nimble feet flew across the dusty cave floor, the pale trails flying out behind Anders as they twirled, and he said: "You know, Fenris, I think I'm looking forward to what the rest of my life will bring." 

 ~the end.

[casimania]

Dad!Finas + Dragon Age!AU

Version one: Casimiro and Finas meet during the Blight. Cas is stranded in Ferelden because he pissed someone off in Antiva and thought he could hide for a while there, except then the Blight happened. Briefly meet Finas and wife who somehow help him back in Antiva? They're on the run too because their village was overrun by Darkspawn. Fast forward... years after the Blight has ended, Cas is still prancing around being a thief/mercenary and stuff and finds himself in Ferelden again. Looks for a job , finds dude that needs like, people to guard some smuggled stuff he needs to and thinks "I'm gonna get paid to guard this shit AND nab some of it in the meantime". Dude hired more than one person and Cas finds out he's supposed to be the sneaky one and check everything from afar, which is a problem because it means he can't have direct access to the smuggled goods EXCEPT guess who's guarding them?? FINAS! That was the city the last saw each other but he wasn't sure Finas and is wife had remained there. Cas is a bit confused because wasn't he like, a smith? But all the better for him, he can ask Fin to let him look at the goods. But then things obviously go ass up and they have time only to go "YOU?" before they have to fight. Cas manages to nab something in the confusion, Finas slaps his hand away so he doesn't take too much. They get paid and go their merry way and finally get to talk. Cas is like "Oh I've just been stealing, stabbing backs and trying not to be stabbed, still have no respectable stable job, the same y'know?" and Finas is just "I have a daughter now!... and my wife is dead". Casimiro is like "well fuck dude I'm sorry". And gets to meet the absolutely ridiculously small baby that a neighbour was looking after.

He kinda just stays around for a while, Finas juggles different jobs because after his place was destroyed he started over here but couldn't really have a forgery of his own again and had to be hired again and start from 0, and the pay wasn't as good and he had a daughter too now. And the most stable job Cas has ever had is pretty much just being a thief. Which he still does. But also starts doing security/guarding gigs and stuff with Finas. People sometimes need someone like him who knows his shit about stealing, breaking and entering places and Finas kinda plays the part of the guy who makes sure he doesn't actually do it while on the job (but most times he just covers his back). And without realizing it almost 4 years pass. Casimiro still travels around but always comes back to them and often works with Finas and absolutely adores the baby. Except the baby is now a 4 years old kid and one day suddenly uses magic. They immediately go "no one must know". Except she sometimes accidentally uses a bit of magic, burns a page off a book, freezes a bucket of water... and someone sees her. Next thing they know Templars are showing up at their door like "hand over the child" to which Casimiro and Finas go "nope". Except those are fully armoured and armed trained Templars and Cas and Finas are like, armed with two daggers and a dented mace and in their nightshirts. And the Templars have their squirming child in their arms. And so they take her away crying, screaming and kicking and leave behind Cas and Fin wounded.

They obviously run after them but once they make it to the closest Circle there's no way of getting in. This doesn’t stop them for trying. The only thing they manage is to have a very short letter delivered to her (which basically just says they’ll bust her out). And so they just go full mercenaries and travel around because Finas can’t bring himself to live in their home anymore, but never stop trying getting in (they probably tried settling in a nearby town by Templars basically chased them out because they kept trying to get in the Circle). Finas is extra mopey and grumpy. Casimiro stops travelling far away to stay in that part of Ferelden with Finas.

Then the war starts and lots of mages and Templars just leave the Circle. Casimiro and Finas IMMEDIATELY run to the Circle and this time they actually manage to get in. Cue tearful reunion. Kid is now 6 and way bigger and kept the letter on her at all times. They’re ready to go away but then they start thinking at all sorts of problems that could came up. Wherever they go it’s full or mages and Templars fighting and they need to find a safe road to take and place to settle. Casimiro had proposed just going to Rivain, now that they had saved up enough money to move and Finas agrees it’d be the safest place for her. Except then a bunch of mages pipe up that they wanted to leave too but most of them had been brought there very very young and basically feared they wouldn’t have lasted much outside. Cas and Finas’s first instinct is telling them “sorry but no” but then Finas’ daughter makes puppy eyes at them and next thing they’re travelling with a bunch of mages of varied ages trailing after them. The situation outside seems to be getting worse and worse and they have to go off route. Start hearing of the Inquisition, that the Inquisitor now stays in a place called Skyhold and just allied with a bunch of mages. Everyone thinks it’d be a good place to stay, even temporarily.

They either find some Inquisition agent, the Inquisitor’s party or the Chargers out on a mission and basically bug them until most of them are hired in some way or the other and can head to Skyhold. Casimiro and FInas probably get recruited as agents, working respectively for Leliana and Cullen. The mages just go with the healers or Fiona’s mages. Casimiro is delighted, he’s being paid to do his usual gig but now he’s like, part of the good guys.

In the end they probably try inquiring in the new College of Enchanters.