#in the memories when he is Fen'Harel The Dread Wolf he has hair and god powers

[crysdrawsthings]

The most important piece of lore I got from the Veilguard so far is that Solas' god power was contained in his hair

[liberaquantobasta]

Here is chapter 5 of my Fanfiction The Ceiling above Us.

[Chapter 1] - [Chapter 2] - [Chapter 3] - [Chapter 4]

The Ceiling Above Us 

5. The Murder of Justice

Ainur'Len is trapped in a cage of pain and anger, unable to move. She does not need to, for her feet lift off the ground and she feels herself being pulled back into a tunnel of memories. But this time it is short, it lasts only a second, the light is close.

She is back in Arlathan, in the palace of the Evanuris. A huge throne covered in red velvet stands menacingly in front of her. Elgar'nan sits on it, the rest of the Evanuris at his side. Ainur'Len tries to make out the faces of the ancient gods. Perhaps the tall, thin, pale young elf with long black hair and ghostly eyes is Falon'din. Perhaps the silhouette with an impish smile curving his lips, blue eyes bright and cunning, is June.

Her assumptions are interrupted by Mythal's voice, she is the one who must have gathered them all there.

She begins to speak in a soft but firm tone. 

"My dears. We must not turn our gaze from what is most important: our people."

The Evanuris exchange questioning glances. Elgar'nan stares at her with a bored look, his elbow resting on the arms of his throne, his face lazily cupped by a hand. 

"Speak plainly, Mythal." he says, staring into her eyes. The ancient elf holds that gaze without a trace of fear. 

"For centuries I have soothed your quarrels." She scolds him gently. Elgar'nan leans back in his chair, betraying a hint of embarrassment. "For centuries I have been reminding you of the right path for Elvhenan."

She glances at all her brothers, from Ghila'nain to Andruil, from Dirthamen to Sylaise. Then she smiles.

"And you followed." When she turns back to Elgar'nan, her expression is serious, her eyes stern. "I am asking you to do it again."

The eldest rises from his throne without taking his eyes off her. Silence envelops the vast hall. The air is heavy.

"I suppose your lapdog is still trying to get you to come back to him." He says quietly, approaching her. "I can almost hear his howls of joy at seeing you again," he walks around her, menacing, his eyes narrowed to two slits. Mythal follows him with her gaze, but does not turn her head when he stops behind her.

"Solas has raised a terrible doubt in me." She answers calmly. "But I did not believe him."

She feels Elgar'nan move closer until he towers over her.

"Then why do you scold us, Mythal?" His mouth is so close to his companion's ear that she can feel his breath on her skin.

"I did not believe him, but I had to investigate," she says carefully. "And what I discovered broke my heart, my brother." She holds out a hand and shows him a fragment of his orb, corrupted by red lyrium.

She hears him roar in rage behind her, he quickly turns to face her and moves closer until their faces are only a few inches apart. He struggles to control his anger, taking a deep breath.

"Mythal, do not..."

"What you are about to do will doom us all." she says firmly.

The entire pantheon of elves now surrounds her. She stands still, impassive in her icy gaze.

"It was you and your lapdog who created the Blight. You gave us this power."

"It is yours, sister. You only have to use it." "Mythal." "Be reasonable, Mythal." "It is not what it seems." "It can help our people be greater." "I will be able to create wonderful creatures." "Do not let Fen'harel manipulate you." "Mythal."

The elf closes her eyes.

"Enough!'" Her voice echoes through the hall. Silence creeps back between them. Mythal relaxes her gaze.

"I will not repeat myself. I trust your judgement, as I always have. I trust that you will listen to me."

"Or else?" Elgar'nan asks seriously. "What are you going to do, Mythal? Shall you join the Dread Wolf?" A hint of pain appears in his eyes.

She puts a hand to his face and shakes her head motherly, a smile on her lips. 

"I know you will do what is right for our people, my beloved brother."

Elgar'nan closes his eyes and gives in to Mythal's touch. He squeezes her hand, sighs deeply and bows his head. 

She continues to smile and then, as she must have done a thousand times before, turns towards the door, her back to her brothers and sisters, confident that she has given them something to think about.

She is not expecting the sharp pain that rips through her back. One hand grips her throat while the other sinks the lyrium dagger into her flesh. A deadly embrace.

"I cannot let you interfere this time, my love."

Elgar'nan's face is streaked with tears as he twists the knife in Mythal's back.

The goddess gasps, her hands clutching her brother's fingers as they squeeze her throat, holding back her last breath. She stares in disbelief as she feels her life slowly slipping away.

The scene melts like ice in the sun. Only a bright shard remains, glowing with Mythal's essence, abandoned in the midst of the darkness. Solas' agonising scream, exploding with pain, despair and hopelessness, is the last thing Ainur'Len hears before she falls backwards and finally loses consciousness.

*

"No!"

Aiunr'Len returns to the world with a scream. She jerks back, her forehead beaded with sweat, her heart in her throat and terror etched in her eyes. She looks around, gasping for breath, as if searching for a way out, until she meets Morrigan's yellow eyes.

The witch looks at her, her face tired. She rubs her forehead with a pained expression, as if showing Ainur'Len those memories had drained her of all energy.

Ainur'Len realises that she has finally returned to the world of the living. It feels as if centuries have passed her by.

Her head bursts. She cannot process all that she has learned, all that she has experienced. Thousands of years of suffering crush her chest. 

"What... what happened next?" she can only mutter.

Morrigan lets herself fall back into her chair, exhausted.

"What you already know. Solas continued to lead the rebellion, but in anger and despair, until he was able to perform his ritual. But when you play with such powerful magic..."

"Something went wrong." Ainur'Len nods. 

"Indeed. His intention was to seal the Evanuris and the Blight in a safe place. The veil was only meant to be their cage, but it ended up covering the entire sky and separating the Fade from the earthly world forever. Drained of all energy, he fell into a slumber, and when he awoke, he found a horrible world. His people slaughtered and enslaved, confined to alienages or hidden in the wilderness, robbed of their immortality and their deep connection to the Fade. Shadows of what they once were, worshipping false gods, tyrants who had taken everything from them. A world deeply flawed, to be erased. Until..." she smiles weakly, meeting the elf's gaze. "...he fell in love with a young Dalish girl with a witty mind and a compassionate heart who showed him that perhaps all was not lost."

Ainur'Len lowers her head. Her legs tremble. 

"Solas..." she whispers in a hushed, heartbroken voice. She tries to bring order to her brain, overloaded with information and overflowing with conflicting emotions.

Solas was a Spirit of Wisdom. Her people are descended from spirits. Elves are responsible for the Blight. She falls to the ground, suddenly shaken by a chill that makes her head spin. 

She throws up, trembling.

Deeply ashamed to show herself in such a state, she tries to recover, wiping her lips with the back of her hand as she slowly gets to her feet. She leans against the table so as not to fall again.

"How were you able to show me everything?" she asks, not making eye contact with the witch. 

Despite her tiredness, Morrigan hides her sympathy behind her usual cold composure.

"These are fragments of Mythal's memories. I only showed you what you needed to see." she explains, finding strength in her own voice. "However..." she slowly points to the wolf statuette in Ainur'Len's pockets.

"Without it, I could not have shown you any of this. You would not have been able to see anything, for these are also memories of Solas that he wanted you to see." She pauses, not taking her eyes off the bowed head of the elf before her. "But I sense that there is still something in there - something meant only for you. That I cannot reach. No one else can."

Ainur'Len swallows hard, the horrible taste in her mouth haunting her. Not now. Now she does not have the strength to see anything else.

"This is not the time or the place." Morrigan reassures her, her tone suddenly softer. "You will know when it is."

The elf grits her teeth, doing her best not to lose control. Anger, pain, shame, horror, disgust. Love, compassion. Dozens of demons and spirits crowds her mind.

"How can you live with the weight of this knowledge, Morrigan? And how can you bear to carry Mythal inside you?"

The witch tilts her head slightly to one side, searching her friend with a questioning eye. She raises an eyebrow.

"You saw only a fragment of what was. Not enough to understand Mythal."

Ainur'Len clenches her fists hard enough to hurt.

"I have seen enough," she manages to reply, her voice a hiss.

"I made it clear that I only showed you what you needed in order to make Solas..."

"Solas is the only reason I'm still here, talking to the one who carries the monster that broke him." she interrupts, sharp as a freshly cut blade.

Morrigan flinches slightly, her gaze sharp.

"I am not her, Ainur'Len," she replies disappointed.

"I know, I'm sorry. I really am," the elf sighs, putting her hand to her face. "I've been an unforgivable bitch. I'm just really tired."

Morrigan remains silent for a long time, perhaps thinking about how ungrateful the elf before her is, or maybe she is just choosing her next words carefully.

"Solas and Mythal are both to blame for their mistakes, but I will not deny you what I think. What happened between them is a story of family, love, power and abuse. It is complex and millennia long."

She stands and approaches Ainur'Len with light steps.

"Solas' spirit is broken, his wisdom now clouded by pride. But even Mythal's spirit is not intact. Nor that of the other Evanuris, for that matter. How can the simplicity and purity of a spirit remain intact when it is confronted with the complexity of the range of human emotions? When their actions have real consequences for the world? How can they deal with it?"

"They can't."

"No. And that is why they break. I am surprised that someone as intelligent as Solas cannot dwell on this and let go of the deep regret that plagues him. He does not understand that it is not all his fault."

Ainur'Len does not have the strength to answer. She shakes her head and sighs loudly, as if to release the tension. She wishes she could sleep a billion years to recover, to have time to mourn Varric and to work out all she has learned in too few moments.

She is unaware that Morrigan is now standing before her, her usual enigmatic, mysterious gaze hiding all emotion.

"So what shall you do, Inquisitor?" She asks, her voice echoing like ancient music. "Will you be willing to let the veil rip, and unleash death and destruction upon your world? Or will you stop the Dread Wolf, no matter what the cost?"

Ainur'Len finally rises to her feet and raises her eyes to meet the witch's, who is only waiting for her answer.

"Neither, Morrigan. I have sworn to protect the world and save Solas from Fen'harel," she declares, her eyes clear of any doubt. "There is no other solution within me. I will do whatever it takes to help Solas redeem himself and stop him from destroying this world. At any cost."

Morrigan smiles, unable to hide the satisfied frown that lingers on her face.

"Very well," she nods. "Let us get back to work."

[redinkofshame]

omg guys it’s time

I don’t know what level of executive dysfunction it takes to put off first buying and then reading a book you really want to read, that it relates to your hyperfocus and day dreams... Just seeing it every day and not touching it... And I could've just skipped to the end. Yet I didn't.

Chapter 15: Dread Wolf Take You, Patrick Weekes

Sage is the name of my mom's D&D character

And I used to get pedicures from a lady with that kind of crazy memory

"A slender man wearing bright silks whose iridescent hues were complemented by an opal-inlaid full-face mask done to look like dragon's scales, with curly blond locks that hung about his shoulders."

Wishing now that I hadn't spoiled myself v.v

"The Inquisition's Wolf" damn right

It says he worked with them for a year. I thought the timeline was closer to 2 years? 🤷

Interesting that Charter is still referring to it in present tense as The Inquisition, considering it appears default world state is that the Inquisition disbanded

I mean I know that in my head they ""disbanded"" by down sizing and PRETENDING they don't exist so they could move in secret

lol Meredith is referred to as Merry the Mad

Didn’t know that. Or that Varric specifically quarantined the area where she turned into a statue. Makes sense, but I can't remember if anything in my Marigolds in the Hanged Man fic references it wrong

I can't believe the idol was actually there! I mean, according to the narrator. I appreciate them taking the time to retcon it 😂 though based on DA:I they won't really have info on it in DA4 (like Celene/The Masked Empire) so anyone who played the games but didn't read the books is going to be like... Wait

". . . and his accent does sound Dalish, only more formal, like he's reading from a poem even when he's not. . ." 😍 Heart eyes mfer gimme that verbal spell component language

Damn can you imagine being Solas sitting here, listening to that story, finding out for the first time 1) what you wanted to learn (who has the idol) but also 2) your agents left a fucking witness AND 3) the elf who they failed to rescue was supposedly killed by one of their own stray arrows??

Like, you know they lied about that shit on the report. They're soo fired.

ALSO very MUCH of my post-Inquisition/DA4 speculation fix comes from 'well dwarves don't dream, so he can't get them' but apparently ancient elves -- not Solas -- can just fucking murder people, including dwarves, magically in their sleep. So.

Danarius??

Charter is scary observant. Clumsy hair toss I get, but I wouldn't notice ring tan lines while the rings were still on

Love that the Qunari have infighting, that the writers aren't just making them one big evil hive mind

Loving the little details that would make this a great second read if you hadn't been spoiled like I have. The bard not being afraid when he should be, the bard making sure everyone doesn't fight and stays on topic, the Mortalitasi being like 'are you a mage? No? Then shut up' like you just know he's dying just trying to get through this fucking meeting to find his idol his damn self because his agents fucked up

Oh dang that's one hell of a ritual

Don't do magic with strangers, kids

Gods how much do I love this man still

🤣 still bitter about the Wardens. So good.

Huh. Qunari invented flashlights. Makes sense, given that they hate magical, that they're going to be more scientifically advanced.

Like I already knew for sure that the emotionless Dread Wolf™️ from the teaser was Solas putting on a show but asfggdhjj HIM pretending to be someone else saying "I saw the Dread Wolf! His face was empty of all expression!' is fucking... God you're such a try hard, this is EMBARRASSING

It's literally 'I saw Fen'Harel take his shirt off and he had an 8 pack. That Fen'Harel is shredded.' I'm

He's so fucking dramatic guys

I mean fair but how would you drink tea with a full mask on anyway

So Solas’ accent “Sounds Dalish but more formal”. First of all, amazing that the Dalish kept not just the accurate Vallaslin depictions but somehow their accent?? After thousands of years?? Amazing.

Also I tweeted Weekes once if all the ancients/evanuris in DA4 were going to have Welsh accents but they did not answer

Aaahhhhhhhh

Sigh. Okay. It is done.

... oh, so that's why my executive dysfunction prevented me from reading it. I have no more canon Solas content to look forward to for several years....

🥺

Inky reads Tevinter Nights

Spoilers, obv

Chapter 1: Three Trees to Midnight, Patrick Weekes

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