#if da4 is going to be anything like AC 4 Black Flag we're in for a treat

[mrs-gauche]

There’s something about the ocean...

(In which I finally go completely haywire, because the wait for this next game is slowly but surely rotting my brain...)

So, here's something that has been on my mind ever since I first read all of Tevinter Nights.

Tell me if I'm wrong, but surely I wasn't the only one who thought, after finishing the whole book and looking at it in its entirety, that there seemed to be a notable recurring theme related to... the ocean?

A quick summary: We've got...

- the Qunari occupying the shores along the Arlathan Forest, to get resources for building more ships/dreadnoughts for their invasion

- some truly horrifying creatures lurking underground/beneath mountains that are not darkspawn but something much worse, probably the result of some evil ancient lyrium experiments from Ghilan'nain, made with "a gray fluid that smells like the ocean", despite the fact that they weren't anywhere near the sea

- an entire chapter about another octopus-esque monster with tentacles that lives in the sewers of Minrathous and kills countless people

- a confrontation on board a Qunari ship, the new Darvaarad, right before Rivaini harbors, that almost lead to war between Tevinter and Rivain

- in general, most of the chapters including scenes set around docks, harbors, beaches, coasts, rivers and lakes at some point

- an appearance of one of the Executors, a mysterious group of people who are coming from across the sea, and that Solas labels as "dangerous"

There's also this super gorgeous illustrated map of Thedas that came with every copy of the book and features quite a lot of intriguing looking sea creatures. 👀

Now, when I first thought about why that would be, I concluded that, well, of course the ocean is going to be more "prominent", considering how DA4 will be set in northern Thedas, primarily centering around Tevinter, Antiva, Rivain, Seheron or maybe even Par Vollen, ALL of which located directly at sea or very near the coastline. So naturally it makes sense for a book setting up the course for the next game, to focus more on that part of the world.

So when I first saw the DA4 Behind the scenes video at Gamescom then, a lot of the concept art seemed to confirm my assumption, presenting the possibility of a much more "oceanic" setting.

All this being said though, upon second thought... If we turn to the deep sea lore with all of this in mind, I think.. there might be more to the ocean and its relevants for DA4 than just the setting. 👀

Let us start by thinking about how the elements/nature factor into the lore in general. The first that comes to my mind is the oldest and perhaps most significant conflict in the history of Thedas that we know of (to date). The ancient elves, their magical floating cities, "gods" flying around in the form of dragons and a civilization build and dependent on the magic of the Fade, also called "the Sky", going at war with the Children of the Stone or rather "the Pillars of the Earth" itself, the Titans.

So, if we have the "Sky" essentially fighting the "Earth"...

Then... what about the Ocean?

Where does the ocean factor into all of this/what role does it play in the great scheme of it all and how is it relevant to the story of DA4, aside from its setting?

I might have an idea, but you may want to get that tinfoil hat first (and maybe some tea and a bit of time) before reading any further. 😁 It's just thoughts cobbled together in the hope of making any lick of sense (it won’t). lol

(Also, please picture me exactly like this meme while reading any of this.)

So... Let's talk about the Void for a second, shall we?

It's funny how it took me like a year to realize that the Fade and the Void were apparently two seperate things, because when I first started playing Dragon Age in German, in which the Fade has always been called "das Nichts" literally "the nothing", whereas the Void was translated with "die Leere", which is practically interchangeable in meaning, so until I looked deeper into the lore, I always assumed that they were pretty much the same thing. lol

(Ironically though, that's also what many people in Thedas seem to think as well?)

But, what really is the Void?

As it is with most things in DA, it really depends on what religious belief we're looking at.

The one thing that most cultures seem to have in common though, is that the Void is also called "the abyss" in myths and historical texts.

Its location is undefined, but it's believed to be probably somewhere within the Fade, rather than being a seperate place entirely.

Some also call it the "raw Fade" where there's nothing, simply "empty places between dreams".

Looking at the Chantry's definition, to make a long story short, the Void is basically the Thedosian equivalent to the real world's Christian belief of Hell. After death, you either take your place at the Maker's side or - if you're a sinner - your soul will be lost in the endless abyss and wandering the Void forever.

But then there's also this part of the Canticle of Andraste:

Here lies the abyss, the well of all souls.

From these emerald waters doth life begin anew.

Come to me, child, and I shall embrace you.

In my arms lies eternity.

Hmmmm. A well of all souls, where life begins anew.... Sounds a little familiar, doesn't it?

Take it from the man of the hour himself. After Wisdom's death, Solas will return to Skyhold and, if you like, explain to the Inquisitor what happens when a spirit dies. He also says this:

"I visited the place in the Fade where my friend used to be. It's empty. But there are stirrings of energy in the Void. Someday something new may grow there."

So according to Mr Take-it-as-fact-cuz-I've-literally-been-there, the Void is the place where spirits are born/die. So it's interesting that it does seem to somewhat align with the Canticle's depiction of a "Well of all souls, where life begins anew".

(Getting a bit of "Hades' river of souls" vibes here. Anyone?)

(Stay tuned for more Greek mythology comparisons, by the way. lol)

Anyway. Going quickly back to the Canticle however, it also mentions "emerald waters":

"This fragment is where Andraste goes to speak to the Maker for the first time and convinces him to forgive mankind. It describes “a beautiful temple deep under the earth surrounded by emerald waters".

One interpretation of this verse directly equates "the emerald waters of the abyss" to "the waters of the Fade".

So we have the "Well of all souls, where life begins anew", the Void as the place where spirits are born, and a beautiful temple surrounded by "emerald waters of the abyss" deep under the earth.

The capital of Elvhenan, Arlathan, is said to have sunken "deep onto the ocean floor" when the empire fell. Could this be in any way connected to the temple Andraste saw deep under the earth surrounded by water? This would fit well with the theory of Andraste being Mythal's previous host, assuming that she were shown visions or dreams or whatever in the Fade by Mythal.

See, the thing is, I'd count myself to one of the people who are pretty much convinced at this point that Arlathan was/is the Golden/Black City in the center of the Fade (not going into details here, because this is way too long already..), and according to the lore, it was Tevinter who sank Arlathan into the ocean long after the Veil was created, so unless Tevinter fabricated that part of their victory as well and it wasn’t actually them who sank it (just like it wasn’t actually Tevinter that caused Elvhenan’s downfall)... how would this make sense then? I mean, there cannot be two Arlathans, one in the center of the Fade, and another Arlathan essentially at the center of the world, which is what I'm going to say "on the ocean floor" means.

Which is where we finally go back to Ancient Greek Mythology! 😂

So.. I am by no means an expert on Greek mythology, but even I know that there's only one city in history that became pretty much so popular for having "sunken into the ocean" that it's still talked about over 2000 years later as one of the oldest and greatest mysteries of the world.

So I think it's pretty safe to say that the devs must've taken at least some inspiration from the story of the Lost City of Atlantis. (Like, it even sounds similar? Atlantis/Arlathan? No?)

Let's see...

Atlantis, a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works, representing the antagonist naval power that besieges Ancient Athens = Arlathan, the capital city of the empire of Elvhenan, representing the epitome of power and pride of the Evanuris, the evil false gods, who enslaved the Ancient elves, and "Pride" essentially being the cause for Elvhenan's downfall

Hmmmmm.

"It was the hubris of men that brought the darkspawn into our world." - literally the first line in Origins, and a theme that's conveyed throughout the entire series. I could talk about why I believe that the Evanuris are to blame for the Blight, but that's a rambling post for another day (and oh boy, will it be a long one lol).

Let me take this even further, because that tinfoil is eating up my brain.

Cerberus, hellhound of Hades = Fen'Harel, the Dread Wolf, demonic god of Nightmares

Hell/Underworld = Void/Abyss

Cerberus guards the gates of the Underworld = Fen'Harel guards the gates of the Black City/prison of the Evanuris

Plato's story concludes with Atlantis, a powerful and advanced kingdom, falling out of favor with the deities and submerging, within in a night and a day, into the Atlantic Ocean = Arlathan is said to have sunken onto the ocean floor (after Solas created the Veil to lock the gods away?)

Okay. Taking (*gestures wildly*) whatever all this is.. and moving on... you may remember a certain little codex entry that can be found at the Temple of Mythal.

The codex speaks of a story about Ghilan'nain who was offered apotheosis if she would destroy all her creations, elevating her to become part of the elvhen pantheon and claim godhood. It is said that she then destroyed all the creatures of land and air (except for some birds and halla 'cause they're way too pretty), but when she was about to do the same to the creatures of the deep sea, "Pride stopped her hand".

Alright. So why would Mr Capital P Pride prevent Ghili from destroying her sea creatures, if it doesn't turn out that Solas somehow just really loves big fishies. Knowing our man, he does nothing without a reason or a plan behind it.

(And going by any of the descriptions used in the "Horror of Hormak" chapter in Tevinter Nights, I can only imagine what kind of terrifying, monstrous creatures of Ghilan’nain must lurk at the bottom of the sea...)

I hope that tinfoil hat still sits on tight, because this is where I completely go off the rails.

Ok so, even though I'm fully convinced that Arlathan has to be the Black City...

Let us just for one second here assume that Arlathan really did sink onto the ocean floor and the Black City in the center of the Fade is.. idk, maybe just another part of Arlathan that split when the Veil was created? So if the rest of Arlathan really did end up on the ocean floor, why would Solas need big dangerous ancient sea creatures to still exist?

Well, the Black City in the center of the Fade can't be reached, right? And that's intentional, because no one should be able to open its gates and free the Evanuris from their eternal prison (and maybe unleash something even worse), right? We know what happened when the Magisters Sidereal did just that.

But... what if it's the same thing with the "other" Arlathan in the real world? What if that place is also not supposed to be reached? And how would you achieve that in the real world? I mean, I feel like dumping it onto the ocean floor would probably already do the job, but to really ensure that no one would ever dare to go there, Solas - in true Solas fashion - planned way ahead and made sure that big scary ancient monster Kraken Cthulhus would prevent anyone from ever reaching that place.

Solas told us that sleeping in ancient ruins will allow you to enter/explore such long forgotten places/memories in the Fade. So.. what if entering the ruins of "Arlathan" in the real world would be the key to enter the Black City in the Fade?

Do I sound insane? Does any of this make sense? I don't know anymore. My head hurts.

But why else would Solas do something like this?

Ok, pushing the Atlantis/Arlathan insanity aside for now, let's take a closer look at something that's less headache-inducing. lol Notice how one of the murals seen in Trespasser shows those wavey, "water-like" patterns that look different from how the “waters of the Fade” are depicted in every other mural, so could there be a hint at some kind of connection to the ocean?

Going back to the beginning though, when we talked about the Void/Abyss. Because hell, we haven't even talked about how the elves themselves define it (unless you count Solas as one of them, which he doesn't even do himself, so whatever 😂).

So the Dalish speak of the abyss as the home of the Forgotten Ones.

(And while I'm writing this, my mind just went completely bonkers and.... what if.. the Forgotten Ones.. are locked in that other part of Arlathan that's on the ocean floor?? Dalish legend says that the creators where locked in the "heavens"/the Sky/Black City in the Fade, while the Forgotten Ones were locked in the "abyss"/underneath the Earth/the other part of Arlathan on the ocean floor?? And maybe THAT'S why no one shall reach it/the thing with the sea creatures??? Guys, my head is about to explode. This doesn't make any sense, right? It's stupid, right? Right??)

Anyway. Back to the Void and Dalish legends. *trying to calm down*

"When Andruil began stalking the Forgotten Ones in the Void, she suffered longer and longer periods of madness after returning. She put on armor made of the Void, and all forgot her true face. She made weapons of darkness, and plague ate her lands. She howled things meant to be forgotten, until Mythal turned into a great serpent and sapped Andruil's strength with her magic, stealing her knowledge of how to find the Void. Andruil could not get back to the abyss ever since, and peace returned."

I mean, upon first impression, that does sound pretty damn similiar to what we know of corruption by the Blight/red lyrium/etc... But that honestly kinda irks me, because it's actually conflicting with my own theory on how/when/where the Blight originated 😂, which I believe was the Golden City, Arlathan, itself and that it was the origin of the Blight that lead to it turning black.

Hmm.

We already established that the Void is the place where spirits are born, emptiness between dreams, a "well of all souls". During the Witch Hunt DLC, Eleni Zinovia speaks of a breached prison and the shadow that will consume all. (Sandal's prophecy says "the shadows will part" when "he rises".) She then mentions "a hunger, a cage, a yawning void". There are also the "Empty Ones", a Nevarran cult predating the Chantry, who preached that the Blight came from the Void, a place of nothing.

So how about this idea then: What if the Blight came indeed from the Black City, BUT Arlathan was somehow contained within the Void, which prevented the Blight from spreading any further (until the Magisters breached in) and is also preventing anyone from reaching it now??

(I officially have no clue what I'm talking about anymore. And what does any of that have to do with the Ocean, you ask? Hell if I know. 😂)

So ANYWAY.

At last, let's paddle back and talk about DWARVES.

As you return to the Deep Roads section in Trespasser, the one that was mined for lyrium by Mythal, you'll see that it's almost completely flooted and submerged by water at that point. Trespasser also told us that the ancient elves tried anything to seal and destroy parts of the Deep Roads, after the Evanuris had uncovered something in their lust for power/mining the Titan’s blood/lyrium, that could have destroyed the entire world. And looking at these massive amounts of lyrium “coffins” that we saw in the Deep Roads in Trespasser, you have to wonder what would happen to such a place or any sea creatures living down there when it’s completely submerged by the ocean.

Additionally, the three lower levels in the Descent DLC - Forgotten Caverns, Bastion of the Pure and the Wellspring - are grouped at the expedition table as locations within "the Uncharted Abyss". 👀

In Origins, the Anvil of the Void turned living dwarves into golems of stone with the use of lyrium.

Medusa Solas has the ability to turn people into stone (and apparently even golems, who just.. die, I guess, according to Tevinter Nights). So could this ability be in any way connected to the Void then? Taking my unhinged idea from before, about the Black City maybe being contained within the Void, Solas would've been the one who did this.

We also have Meredith technically turning into "stone" of red lyrium when she died and a certain someone's idol taken out of her chest...

Gosh, why does everything ALWAYS end up getting back to this damn thing?? It's like the biggest enigma to me in all of this and it's obviously going to play a big part in the next game with how much attention it's getting.

And speaking of the idol getting attention, in the tale of the infamous "Hunt of the Fell Wolf" codex in Jaws of Hakkon, which is likely to contain a number of super ominous hints, Ameridan lands in a "watery grave" at one point. This could mean absolutely nothing, but given all the potential implications this tale could have for the Inquisitor in DA4... Let's just say, I'm scared.

(And looking at this concept art again with all of this in mind, if the thing we see here really is Ghilan'nain and take all the stuff in Tevinter Nights into account with the "ocean-smelling gray fluid" and the horrifying creatures underground that are, I quote, "Waiting for her", seeing as this "goddess" appears to break out of what looks like huge ocean waves and the last we heard from the Evanuris being "If we get out of here, I will end Fen'Harel"... I don't know about you guys, but after rereading that Horror of Hormak chapter again, I genuinely think that we'll need Solas to be on our side in the fight against this thing, because I honestly can't see how we're going to counter this, unless we have our own "god" to match this "goddess". 😂)

Additionally, besides the before mentioned Executors in Tevinter Nights, the World of Thedas book describes entire nations living across the sea and beyond the borders of the map that have never even made contact with anyone in Thedas. There are also legends of the Amaranthine Ocean, in which people had mysteriously vanished or gone mad after travelling there. Not to mention the age-old question of where the humans of Thedas or the Kossith even came from in the first place. 👀

I think, if there's anything we can actually take from all of this, it's that the ocean was and still is a widely unexplored, unknown territory to the people of modern Thedas, as it was to the ancient elves and the dwarves all these ages ago. The dwarves never left their Titans and the ancient elves travelled by using eluvians, so there would've been no need to venture to the sea.

In modern Thedas however, the sea is now being explored not only for trade and travelling by common folk, merchants and pioneers, but also the Qunari with their dreadnoughts, slave traders, pirates like the Felicisima Armada operating from Llomerryn in Rivain, which happens to be known for being a haven for raiders, brigands and various criminals, due to its location as a port city and political neutrality, and also the base to the a certain renowned guild of treasure hunters introduced in Tevinter Nights.

(Hands up if your money is on Lord of Fortune for next protagonist 🖐)

Look who’s stepping out of the ocean here like it’s their own friggin domain, with all that sweet shiny loot and this gigantic burning dreadnought in the back, hell yeah.

But maybe that's exactly what will be one of our next protagonist's biggest advantages. For all his god like powers and knowledge, the ocean might be one of the few things that Solas doesn't know shit about. lol

To quote himself, "The dreams were never worth the effort".

Which raises the question.

...Can wolves swim?