#is the game in and of itself not just solas's regret demon

[brekkie-e]

I like to think that when everyone was speculating whether we would fight Solas's regret demon after reading Tevinter Night's, some Bioware dev was reading the comments like this:

Demon? Singular? Oh darling

[mythalism]

more me verbally processing my feelings on this game and it's story that i sent in discord but i know reading these things can be helpful to others processing so im sharing them here <3

even though i think i personally am able to find coherent meaning in solas's ending, specifically the status of the veil, and i do think its good and i like it, i really have to work to do it. the way its written is kind of confusing because the message is like ok. let go of your regrets. but you also have to atone for your mistakes. but solas believes he is atoning by taking the veil back down and bringing immortality back and making sure more spirits are not turned into demons? but the story tells us that version of atonement is Wrong, but why is it wrong? because people will die? but people also die because of the veil? mages are mass incarcerated and lobotimized bc of the veil, elves have been enslaved for millenia, PEOPLE AGE AND DIE, BECAUSE OF THE VEIL? so he isnt supposed to atone for that mistake by fixing it he's just supposed to accept it and let go? so are we supposed to atone for our mistakes or not? what determines whether or not we need to atone? he has to atone for what he did to the titans but not what he did by accident to his own people i guess? and he is going to atone by maintaining the status quo that he created because people have gotten used to it?

i think the answer based on the regret prison scene with rook escaping with varric's help and that banger line of varric's is to take accountability and own up to your choices, they are yours and no one can take them from you. rook says something to one of the regret statues (for me it was harding) thats like "i made a choice and so did you and you knew the risks" or something so i think that is the key. solas cannot accept his choices and so he is desperate to undo them no matter what kind of harm it may do. he is trapped in regret and the past to the point that he cant accept them and move forward, and varric is the perfect contrast of this with how readily he accepts his death as a consequence of his love and hope for his friend. even mythal accepts her own choices when she tells solas that she turned him from his purpose. and she doesnt apologize or even express regret at all, partly because shes a crazy bitch (affectionate) but partly because i think her quiet, cold acceptance is part of the lesson solas needs to learn in that moment. solas is constantly saying, "im sorry, but", "ir abelas, vhenan, but i cannot". mythal just states her actions plainly; i forced you to take a body, i brought you into war, these burdens are ours to bear together, i release you. no apology, no rumination, she is at peace with her decision even though it is wrong. i think this works wonderfully on a personal individual level of personal regrets. it is a good lesson; regret does not serve any purpose other than to hurt you. it brings no one back, it helps nothing, it does not make the world a better place. solas has to let go of his regrets so that he can become the hero that varric sees deep down in him. it is an essential part of his personal journey as a character... but it gets stickier when we are talking about systemic change. obvi a lot of dragon age's modern, young audience is very much in favor of "tear it all down!!" and i am too but i think with solas they are trying to tell a very personal and individual story of a man and his regrets rather than make a social commentary on radical change, but they also dont make that clear enough, so the two get muddied together when it comes to the question of the veil in a way that feels like they are advocating for maintaining the status quo, which i dont think was their intention.

i think this is so muddied because inquisition very much makes clear commentary on systems and institutions with the chantry, the orlesian empire, ferelden monarchy, mages and templars, and the inquisition itself being all vulnerable to corruption, and solas has a lot to say about all of this and he is very much presented as being right (like when he tells you about the corruption in your own ranks in trespasser and how hes spying on you lol) and then veilguard does not do this AT ALL, all of the issues are very personal ones of people and their identity, people and their family, people and their regrets etc. so i think a lot of us are in this mindset from inquisition of like.... yeah disrupt the status quo install a puppetmaster elf to rule an imperialist empire, make leliana pope and radicalize the chantry even if its bloody, dissolve the inquisition, abolish the circles etc. etc. and the question of the veil is very much an extension of these philosophical questions about systems and organizations. and for those of us who leaned towards dissolution of all of those corrupt structures, dissolution of the veil is the logical conclusion to a story thats sending us that message. but then veilguard just. does not even engage with these topics at all. like its not even a question. it takes the question of the veil and translates it into a personal issue of solas's psyche (which is super interesting, just different) and connects it to his past actions, his relationship with mythal, and his perception of himself, rather than a macro-level question of what is best for the world when pursuing change, and the answer for solas on a personal level ends up being different from the answer that inquisition was asking us, but it feels disjointed as a result.

so the veil staying up was the right decision because it forced solas to let go of his regrets and the game is about him. so it was an exercise in his therapy session with his two ex-gfs and some annoying kid who wont leave him alone. but the problem is it doesn't answer or engage with the greater questions and themes about systemic change that the series has been building up to.

veilguard is interesting because it wants to be dragon age 2 so bad while simultaneously being terrified of dragon age 2. solas bringing down the veil would have been the answer to the question that anders blowing up the chantry asked, but veilguard decided to ask a completely different question instead. and i think it did a good job in that specific goal, but it doesnt satisfy 15 years of build up and instead just throws it out the window in favor of something else.

[notmeowse]

Curious to know why you wanted the veil to come down? I personally would’ve liked the option because it sets the world to how it was meant to be, BUT came to the understanding (idk if understanding is the right word but that’s what I’m using here lol) that because it would bunk up everything for everyone in the world currently, it was kinder/safer for everyone currently alive to leave it in place. After all it’s all anyone has known and not knowing the result of tearing it down was too big a risk. To let people keep living their lives instead of essentially turning back the clock was the safer option which is why I’m actually not super upset about not having “tear it down” as an option. It would’ve been nice to have it. In fact that’s probably the route I would’ve taken had it been available, but I can understand why the team and Rook don’t see it that way.

I think if we look at it from a developer standpoint it does look like them wanting to keep the status quo, but if you look at it from an in-world standpoint of “the world as it is now had been in place for thousands of years and it’s all anyone knows. It’s too risky/scary to tear it down just because you (Solas) can’t move on from your regrets that led to its creation in the first place” makes sense to me. Like a “you made your bed, it’s time to finally lie in it” kind of way. If they do make a DA5 (doubtful since it seemed like this game was meant to tie up or throw out loose ends) maybe it will be about finding ways to tear it down that wouldn’t idk…risk also messing up the world people currently reside in

Also question, because I mighta missed it, but if the veil is torn down completely would that not release the blight in its entirety? I thought that was also why they couldn’t take it down. I know Solas said he “had a plan” but was that a plan to not let the blight out if he took the veil down? I think that because that was my understanding of the blight that’s also why I wasn’t as pressed about not getting a tear down option, but now I just can’t seem to remember if that was the case with the blight or not

Hello and thank you for this ask! I so appreciate you leaving this for me so I can iron out my thoughts, because in many ways, the ending really did not go the way I thought it would. Spoilers/novel-length response under the cut!

After all, it was foreshadowed multiple times in the previous games. The biggest foreshadowing was Sandal's prophecy back in DA2, which was clearly the first draft of the events of this game:

One day the magic will come back - all of it. Everyone will be just like they were.

The "everyone" in this scenario could very well have meant the dwarves, but it also could have meant everyone. Elves, spirits, dwarves, everyone that lost something from the Veil going up. That was supposed to be what was coming. Every tear in the veil, every claim that it was weakening or failing in any way, served as (I thought) foreshadowing to it coming down.

And the series gives us very valid reasons for it to do so.

The main reason the Veil should have come down, for me, was to save the spirits. They're essentially trapped in the Fade, pressing against the Veil and constantly twisting themselves into the wrong shapes to be able to get to the waking world because they do not understand why they aren't part of it. Yes, it is kinder and safer for everyone in the waking world to not disrupt it by letting the world bring itself back together -- but what about the spirits? The ending, in its current state, disregards them completely. As if we haven't spent the last 3 games building them up as people. Not just that, but as the other people (besides elves) that Solas wronged by throwing up the Veil.

The games have had multiple instances of (for lack of a better word) humanizing spirits for us, by giving us characters like Justice and Cole, the All New, Faded For Her spirit, and now the demon Spite. They're naturally drawn to the waking world, to people, to strong emotion. The Veil acts as a barrier for them to truly experience the world, and when forced through it, they tend to become demons. But we are very much meant to see those characters as people, and Solas's entire argument in Inquisition was that they suffered from the Veil, too -- and no one else alive in Thedas seemed to care. Now that he's gone, that's actually the case.

In Trespasser, he was originally tearing down the veil for the spirits, not just the elves, and ended up killing Mythal to be able to have the power to do so. Veilguard wants to pretend it was for her, all along, despite the fact that he quite literally snuffed out one of the last shreds of her existence in the previous game in the name of helping the spirits and the elvhen.

But of course, we learn that the Veil doesn't just contain the Evanuris in this game, right? It also contains the rest of the blight! And shortly after we reach this revelation (depending on when you watched all of the memories) we discover that the very first Tranquil beings in Thedas were the titans (sundered from their spirit + achievement for the memory is quite literally called Tranquility), and that the blight comes from their madness. It is essentially the titans' nightmares!

Now, when we learned that in-game, I absolutely thought the next course of action would be to help them. Not just because it would stop the blight in its tracks and remove one reason for the Veil being up, but it would also snatch away the main weapon of the Evanuris, AND ALSO heal them for the sake of the dwarves. To help them reclaim that part of themselves long-since sundered. Veilguard actually gives us no explanation as to why we DON'T do this. Reversing the damage is briefly considered by Emmrich as a possibility, and never brought up again -- why didn't the team immediately pivot to that, given Harding's presence and connection to the stone? She alone (being the only dwarf currently in Thedas who had that connection) could have led us right to the remaining titans, and we could have used the dagger (the same one used to sunder their spirits in the first place) to heal them, much like the Inquisitor used the anchor to heal.

I had thought this was foreshadowed heavily in Inquisition, given that Solas learns (and is deeply intrigued by) the Inquisitor using the anchor not to rip open the Veil, but to heal it instead -- there's even a codex entry on it in this game. We also learned in Inquisition (Nope, actually DA: Asunder) that Tranquility can be reversed, but very little is done with that revelation in that game's plot -- surely it was meant to set up reversal of the titans' Tranquility in this game? For us to go fix it? Apparently not.

Regardless, that solution (helping the titans) would also have rendered the Evanuris blight-less, defanging them and taking away their favorite toy thus truly evening out the playing field and making the final fight of the game far more believable. Like, in its current state, my little Antivan Crow Rogue Rook kills Elgar'nan. The first of the firstborn. The oldest and strongest of the evanuris. At full power. Something Solas could not do. And Rook did it without even a single power boost -- and yes, I do think that Rook should have taken on the essence of Mythal, leading to Solas having an oh my god there's two of them moment. But that's not really my point in this absolute essay I'm writing you (I'm so sorry if it's more than what you bargained for lol)

My POINT! Is that we finished out Trespasser with Solas treasuring the possibility of being wrong about his plans. We are led to believe that the Inquisitor (or, you know, the protagonist of the next game) is going to find an alternative route, or a reason for him to leave the Veil up -- something that would prove him wrong. Ultimately, my point is that the revelations about the titans should have been that reason. Fixing them, rejoining them with their spirits and curing their tranquility, should have been the alternative that Rook/the Inquisitor presented him. And frankly, that should have been his fucking atonement. None of this bullshit at the end of the game with him binding himself to the Veil, he's quite literally reinforcing the band-aid he slapped over the world instead of getting to the root of the problem. Which is the titans. He should have helped them. He alone probably knows fucking how, since he broke them in the first place. It doesn't make any sense that he didn't... consider that avenue in the first place?

So by the end of the game, it's like oh, great! The Veil is now reinforced so the spirits will continue to suffer. And there's also a very real possibility that the one dwarf in Thedas with stone sense just died, jeopardizing any chances the dwarves had of reconnecting with or helping the titans. So now the titans will continue to suffer too! Yay! All of this buildup was completely pointless!

Given that they're doing a hard reboot of the series (the south was destroyed anyway, any future games likely won't take place there and Thedas as we know it pretty much went through an apocalypse/had way more death than the original ritual would have created), it would have made perfect fucking sense to boardwipe the world and change everything in it by BRINGING DOWN THE VEIL. It would quite literally have accomplished the exact same thing the superblight did, but with added benefits of spirits being free to roam about the cabin, and we could potentially have gotten the freaking titans back. Holy hell. The worst part is that they're still alive. Like, they're more scattered and disparate, clearly, but we're just leaving them in the past? Oh my god, they're still alive! What are we doing! Why aren't we helping them, why aren't we giving the dwarves back their dreams and their magic! Are we seriously supposed to accept that these are just the way things are now, despite the fact that we have a dwarven success story in the party with us? The new postergirl for dwarves getting their magic and their dreams back with very little negative side effects?

Like, the game doesn't do anything to try to convince us it would be a bad thing to save the titans, doesn't do anything to suggest that we should leave this any of this stuff (which, apparently now includes the Dalish, because Arlathan was given to the Veil Jumpers) in the past. It also doesn't put up a great argument for keeping the Veil up, either -- Rook repeatedly says Solas will drown the world in demons, and he doesn't correct them simply because he doesn't respect them -- but we, the players, know that would not be the case. He would have quite literally reunited the world with itself, on multiple levels.

I'm sorry. I'm so irritated about it all, if that wasn't clear by the novel. Thank you again for asking, it was good to get this out. Veil should have come down.

[bloedewir]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard

There's some post-game thoughts I can mark as spoiler ones. Read only if you finished the game.

I love the game. Really. The grand finale was magnificent, the main plot idea is painfully touching and I adore the heavy weight of sorrow I bear after I finished the game. The best kind of bittersweet grief of possible.

However it doesn't mean the game is flawless. There's some stuff I didn't get at all.

Why there's no option to ask Solas about the Forgotten Ones? Like, hello, you have an encyclopedia of elven lore in your head, can't you ask a few optional questions about weird ancient guy you've met during the journey? Nadas Dirthalen? (Or it's because da5 is going to be about new dwarven and/or qunari lore and Forgotten Ones/Executors?)

You also can't say anything about the murals.. which is kinda strange. Why didn't Rook comment those mind-blowing revelations? For Harding, at least?

Evanuris. Solas' story is beautifully written, Mythal' story was also revealed more than before (even if she's in all 4 games) so we get to know her better. But Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain? Fine, forget other evanuris.. but the spectacular duo? Spirits and demons are kinda the same, like two sides of a coin. Solas is Wisdom and Pride, Mythal is Benevolence and Retribution (as Morrigan said). Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain are just.. bad? They're blighted and corrupted now but what about the past? Where's the duality of their personalities? No chance for redemption now because they don't want or need it, I get the idea, but the story itself? I wish there would be more about them. We do have something on Ghilan'nain tho, like: she created hallas but can't create them any longer and she has a full control over the Blight as if it's modeling clay (+ some Bellara' thoughts on a matter of "navigation" and "healing" and path Ghilan'nain chose for the People). But Elgar'nan? He likes tyranny. And he still had his hair. Uhm.. ┐⁠(⁠ ⁠∵⁠ ⁠)⁠┌

Romances. Can't say much because I didn't try all of them but Neve's and Lucanis'.. uhm. It doesn't feel like a written romance, y'know? Just a bonus lines so you doesn't have to feel lonely or whatever. Characters are on their own and don't have connection with Rook till the very end. There's no impact and Rook is, ironically, just an enjoyable side benefit™ but nothing more. Comparing to datv romance situation solavellan romance is hot as hell and full of content. And it says a lot.

Inquisitor. I do like how their absence was explained... yet Lavellan was robbed. I don't want to see a cringe Fade therapy session with Solas telling his tragic lovestory to a random stranger (Rook) and whining about just how much he misses his gorgeous wife (and I'm solavellan). But adding a few tiny details? The bare minimum: take the dai tarot card and place it on the wall in a music room. That already could've been much better. (mods mods mods 🤞🤞🤞).

Dialogue timing and triggers. I suspect dialogues are cool but I can't know for sure. In my first playthrough I didn't even know Davrin and Lucanis are not a big fans of each other before the Weisshaupt quest because I didn't hear it. DATV locations are much smaller than it was in DAI, so you just don't get the chance to hear those dialogues unless you find a trigger point and just stay there waiting to play all lines.

Some of that is not a tragedy and, theoretically, could be improved by magnificent people creating mods. But sometimes datv seems kinda unfinished like there's a missing puzzle pieces as if content was cut out with no replacement.

Despite some questionable moments and a bit of criticism I love this game regardless. It's dark and atmospheric, absolutely beautiful and mesmerizing. And analysis of Regret? Choices and consequences, acceptance, struggling, desperation, guilt..? The work Bioware did deserves to be highly appreciated. The final left me in tears, sobbing and grieving, and heartbroken - that's all I ever wanted of Dragon Age 💜

[princess-aeducan]

3,6, 21

This got a bit long so Dragon Age OC rambling under the cut!

3. opinion on blood magic?

Dani Aeducan: All magic is kind of weird to her, but she’s not particularly heated about it. If it’s a tool that can help her cause, she’s all for it, but she would understand the fear around it.

Juno Hawke: She’s wary of it in the sense that Templars will be even more violent around it and demons are dangerous, but doesn’t moralize the practice itself. She supports Merrill in her endeavors, but has some hesitations around her safety (being asked to kill her if she becomes possessed was horrifying). She does trust Merrill’s knowledge and competence, though, so that eased her somewhat. She’s supportive of it, but worries about it in the same way she worries about everything.

Ataashi Adaar: the only mage of the bunch, she tends to be fascinated by magic on an intellectual level and blood magic is no exception. She told Solas she would be interested in learning it, but by the end of the game she’s probably comfortable enough in her specialization and conscious of her reputation that it’s no longer actually true. Still, she respects the form and finds it fascinating.

6. attitude towards the Qun?

Dani Aeducan: Sten being confounded by her being both a warrior and a woman was very odd to her, as someone who’s always been valued for her battle prowess. She doesn’t see it as especially more strange than all the other new cultures she was exposed to when leaving Orzammar, though. The idea of having a determined purpose is something familiar to her.

Juno Hawke: She just loves Isabela and would do anything for her, so her perception of it isn’t particularly positive after the events of Act 2. She generally values personal freedom and choice so she would be opposed to it regardless, but isn’t particularly politically intense about it (she’s more concerned with her inner circle).

Ataashi Adaar: Has a lot of resentment towards it. Vehemently hates the way it treats mages in particular and the fact that she couldn’t have truly had her own life under it. Killing the saarebas in Trespasser was tragic for her- if things were different, that could have been her.

21. Biggest regret

Dani Aeducan: Honestly, maybe crowning Harrowmount. It would have been better for Orzammar and she would have her brother, no matter how fucked up he is. She would never admit this to herself or anyone else, though. She’d like to say she regrets letting Alistair kill the archdemon, but I’m not sure she’d actually do that differently. She feels like even more shit because of that.

Juno Hawke: taking Bethany to the Deep Roads. 🥲

Ataashi Adaar: After the Inquisition, the time she spent as a mercenary maybe feels like wasted time— she should have been like this all along, shaping the world to her values. But I also think she knows she would have never ended up in the Inquisitor position if anything HAD been different. So no true regrets, because she does feel she ended up exactly where she needed to be, even if she’s sort of devastated about it.

[virlath]

Reading into the red lyrium idol and Solas’ end-game

The lyrium idol seems to be a major plot device in DA4.

The story recounts a group of spies sharing information on Solas and his plans, detailing all the information they know so far with a few lies and/or embellishments interwoven throughout. 

There is one thing everyone at the table seems to agree on though and that is: the importance of the red lyrium idol to Solas’ plans. 

But is it the same lyrium idol we know of?

In all the spies’ stories, they describe the idol as specifically depicting two figures.

Carta dwarf: ...It’s not much to look at—a couple hugging, too thin to be dwarves—but it’s sitting there, glowing softly like a ruby lit by the grace of the Maker himself. Mortalitasi: When he opened the thick chest marked with the Carta’s protective runes and drew it forth, we saw it clearly—an idol crafted from red lyrium, which seemed to show two lovers, or a god mourning her sacrifice, depending upon how it caught your fancy. Bard (disguised Solas): ...He whispered something as he picked it up, tracing his gloved fingers gently along the crowned figure who comforted the other,

For those of us who have been obsessively squinting at every little detail on the idol from all angles, it’s now quite clear there are in fact three figures on the idol, not two.

The fact that Bioware cleaned up the model from DA2, made the idol the centrepiece of the teaser, and outlined the shape of it in the corresponding mural, indicates that the description of the idol showing two figures in the book is not an accident.

The difficulty in verifying the authenticity of the idol itself is actually one of the biggest questions I have raised since reading the book, and makes me wonder if the lyrium idol in TN is the same as the one Hawke found in DA2.

We already know the Carta assassin was briefed by Varric:

“I’m only here because Viscount Tethras called in a few favors,” he said, smiling broadly, “but I didn’t expect to be the best-informed person in the room. You don’t even know what he wants, and I can tell you that!”

If anyone in Thedas could describe and spot the original idol it would be Varric. He did after all find it with Hawke, and his brother went crazy from it. 

How then could his hired spy get the description of the idol wrong, unless he was lying? And even if he was lying, why did the Mortalitasi and Bard (Solas) back him up by also describing the idol as portraying exactly two figures?

They are all spies in the room- they are supposed to pay attention to detail. How could they miss an important detail such as that? 

So, after reading this story, I have a lot of questions.

Who is the mysterious third figure in the idol and why did no spy notice it on the idol they described?

Are there multiple idols floating around that we don’t yet know of?

Did Solas plant a decoy, hoping to throw everyone off the real idol? Meaning, is he also still looking for the real idol?

Can he or the idol itself affect how it’s perceived by people in reality?

Did a chunk break off when it was smelted into Meredith’s/Samson’s sword, and is a piece still lying around somewhere in Thedas?

===

The idol’s purpose

It seems that the idol is extremely important to Solas and his plans. He claims it belongs to him, and it is clear he intends to reclaim ownership of it no matter the cost. In fact, he claims to already be in possession of it (though I am doubtful of that).

The Bard (Solas): Slowly, he lifted the red lyrium idol from the pillow where it rested. He whispered something as he picked it up, tracing his gloved fingers gently along the crowned figure who comforted the other, but I could not make out the words, for I fear they were elven... The idol’s journey is now complete, and it has found its master. He will destroy anyone in his way without regret or hesitation, and whatever he intends, I do not believe we can stop it.

According to the Mortalitasi’s story, the idol is in fact a ritual blade:

When our power, plus the power of our arcane possessions, plus the power of his slaves’ lives, had all come to him, the Tevinter mage raised the idol before him, and I saw a spike of lyrium spring from the base of the idol, so that all at once, it was not merely an idol, but a ritual blade. He slashed his own hand, and a wave of power pulsed through the cavern. It was as though we were the blood, and the cavern was the body through which it flowed, and we fell, all of us, to the ground, our minds pulled into the raw chaos of the Fade by the power of his ritual.

It turns out the Mortalitasi actually intended on using the idol as part of a blood magic ritual to bind spirits to their will so they could repel the Antaam invasion.

...every dream, every demon, every half-interested spirit would urge them back to the north, away from humanity. Their resolve would weaken, their invasion would crumble, and all would go back to the way it should be.

Now remember in DA2, Merrill tells us a story of a blade to end the elven civil war when she recounts the story of the Dread Wolf:

“Fen’Harel was clever. He could walk among both clans of gods without fear, and both believed he was one of them.”

“He went to each side, and told them the other had forged a terrible weapon, a blade that would end the war.”

“He told the Creators it was forged in the heavens, and the Forgotten Ones, that it was hidden in the abyss.”

In TN, Solas seems very sentimental towards the idol. This makes me wonder if he made it into a ritual blade, and took the gambit the evanuris would seek it out and unwittingly use their own power to seal themselves away.

It would be so ironic and totally Solas’ MO if that were the case, that the idol which bears Mythal’s resemblance was the key to their own prisons.

===

Why is the idol so important?

We know of the elven upstart. He is a mage named Solas, and his ritual has already started to affect the Fade. We cannot risk him acquiring this idol and finishing what he has begun.

It seems like the idol is at the centre of everything, anchoring the imprisoned evanuris and the Black City in place.

If the Mortalitasi’s blood magic ritual were to succeed, I could imagine mages becoming possessed by a a demon or even one of the evanuris by becoming a willing host. After all, the point of their ritual was to obtain power to defeat their enemies.

In fact, the Mortalitasi’s ritual reminds me a lot of the ritual described in Solas’ secret room in Trespasser which is also reiterated in the Forbidden Oasis. In both instances, a demon is summoned using blood magic to defeat their enemies.

Mythal seemingly used blood magic to win the war against the titans. What if the ritual the Mortalitasi used was in a similar vein?

“YOU MEDDLE PAST YOUR UNDERSTANDING, FOOLISH MORTAL MAGES, AND IN DOING SO, YOU THREATEN ALL CREATION.” “YOU USE MY IDOL CARELESSLY TO VANDALIZE THE SEA OF DREAMS. NOW FEEL THE PAIN OF WHAT YOU HAVE CREATED.”

I am convinced the idol/blade could be used as part of a blood magic ritual to summon a demon, either summoning the evanuris (who I believe are “demons” like Imshael and the like) or a demon from the void.

===

Solas’ end-game

We are led to believe at the end of Trespasser he simply wants to restore the world of his time. Imo that’s only partly true.

I think Solas tearing down the veil is simply the necessary first step for him to destroy the Black City and the false gods for good. This is where I think the idol would come into play. 

The veil is also a fabrication created by Solas, and there have been signs throughout the series from DA:O to DA:I that the veil is tearing apart, irreparably.

Demons seize every opportunity, every tear in the Veil, to enter our world. Once the Veil is torn, it is extremely difficult to mend, some say impossible. 

What does it mean to pierce the Veil, that which separates our world from the realm of dreams and demons? For the average man and woman, it is a frightening thought to consider just how fragile this separation actually is.

The Veil is not a physical curtain, not a structure limited to a particular place—it is everywhere. It is in their home, in the streets where they walk, in farmers' fields as well as remote mountain vales. At any moment it could be torn to shreds, allowing demons and other horrors to flood into our world like water through a burst dam.

Apart from the Inquisitor, no person in Thedas has successfully been able to seal rifts.

This means over time, with more veil tears and death, the more fragile the veil will be. Eventually, it will break entirely. I think this would be inevitable, whether or not Solas destroys it. 

Cole calls the Veil wonderful in Trespasser, because it was created to forbid. And we know the veil forbids all the demons and false gods from entering the physical world. With the idol now floating around in Thedas and with a weakened veil, I think there is a possibility using the idol could summon or release the evanuris from their prisons.

His measurements of the veil and testing of its strength indicates to me he is still trying to see how he can fix the veil or work it into a new plan. With the loss of his orb, the idol may be the last piece of security he has.

This is why I don’t buy the fact that he simply wants to tear down the veil and restore ancient Elvhenan like he wishes he was in the past. There has to be more than that- there is no way he hasn’t accounted for the Redcliffe possibility.

Since Solas is the actual creator of the veil, he alone has a chance at preserving what remains while fixing/amending whatever plans he had for the false gods.

It actually makes a lot of sense that Solas would not want to tell anyone too much about his plans, even the Inquisitor. Not only does he not trust people, I think his actions in TN prove he is worried about the idol falling into the wrong hands and the temptation to use it. 

Maybe his actions and letting Charter go free is even an indication that he is manipulating the Inquisition to continue ‘working against him’ when in fact they are a part of his grander plans.

[veiljumpernyssa]

I read Tevinter Nights all day today (work has been quiet lately!!) and took notes based on the stories I read.

Major spoilers for Tevinter Nights under the cut, obviously.

 [[MORE]]

Qunari

- The Antaam invaded the south without the permission of the Ben-Hassrath.

Qunlat:

- Saarbrak - an agent of the Ben-Hassrath. Meaning unknown.

- "Bas-taar", keeper of bas. Presumably some sort of overseer who handles the care and supervision of newly captured foreigners.

- "Sten, shok basra vashedan taam! Teth a!" - Literally translated it's just a jumble of words, but it probably means that the basra (non-Qunari) are attacking. Teth a is a cll to attention.

- "Noms daar vat!" - complete nonsense. The cake is on fire??? idk.

- "Nehraa Antaam!" - for the Antaam!

- "Hass ebala-varaad nehraa." - For those I watch, of which I am one.

- Gatt is alive and well.

> The Ben-Hassrath have at least one southern alliance (Gatt mentioned a "dwarf in Kirkwall", presumably Varric)

 

Elves

> Elven architecture is sometimes found in the Deep Roads, along with dwarven architecture.

> A structure in the Deep Roads with a giant lyrium crystal made some sort of fucked up homunculi - seems that elves were making these from their own prisoners?

> Pieces of Arlathan can be found all over in the physical world, mostly under Tevinter.

> Elves have status in Antiva, can be wealthy and influential.

> Halla can make wool.

> There is a clan near Tevinter called Oranavra.

> Elven agents for the Dread Wolf exist and do kill themselves rather than be captured. At least one says they're 'restoring the glory of the true people.'

> New elven (sorta): "Ar lasa mala" I grant it. Nothing that we didn't know but I like to have more confirmation of elven meaning.

> Dalish mage shapeshifters exist and can transform into halla

> Two new elven names - Thantiel and Irelin

 

Nevarra

> Mortalitasi have skeleton servants.

> Mourn Watch is a sect of Mortalitasi who keep the Grand Necropolis.

 

Magic/The Fade

> Sleep magic is a thing.

> Blood magic thins the Veil.

> The thinner the Veil is, the easier it is to do magic.

> Two new demon types - Regret and Hunger.

> If  mages expend too much magic they can bleed from their nose and ears.

> Untrained mages seem to be able to make themselves Tranquil or damage their connection to the Fade if they do too much?? This is more my interpretation of what happened to Laudine with 'Genitivi Dies In the End'.

> An amulet exists that has healing powers. It's currently in Vaea's possession.

> An artifact falsely named Dumat's Folly can draw magic into itself and store it.

 

Solas

> Solas has been completing a ritual for the last two years that will take down the Veil and restore Elvhenan. He needs the red lyrium idol to complete this ritual, which he now has.

> Solas's ritual has already begun to affect the Fade. How exactly it's not said.

> The idol was apparently: removed from Meredith's statue and stolen by the Carta, sold to House Qintara, sold or traded to House Danarius, taken to Nevarra and used in a ritual, stolen by a Nevarran and taken to Tevinter, turned up in a Rivaini auction held by Xenon the Antiquarian, then stolen back by Solas. Who knows how true this is though.

 

Misc

> Dwarven metal prosthetics are a thing.

> Philliam, a Bard! is from the Trevelyan family.

> The Grand Tourney in the Free Marches is held every 1,000 days.

> The Inquisition numbered 10,000 at its peak.

> There was a valley below Skyhold, with a cable lift that brought people and pack animals up to the fortress.

> The Antivan Crows were headed by 8 Talons, master assassins with rankings from 8 to 1 (1 being the head).

> Arainai is an Antivan house.

> Rivain has a treasure hunter guild called the Lords of Fortune.

Okay so thoughts? This was GREAT for lore and I really enjoyed the stories. Based on what I read I feel like the next game is likely to take place mostly in Tevinter, but we may go to Nevarra and possibly Rivain at some point as well.

 

So far looks like the Qunari aren't in civil war as such, but the Ben-Hassrath seem to be opposed to the invasion, while the Antaam is acting without their consent. The Ben-Hassrath seem to also be focused on stopping Solas and it's clear that they haven't completely cut all ties with the south.

 

While the Inquisition has officially disbanded for whatever reason, it's obvious that several of their agents are still active and working to stop Solas. Varric is still involved, as is Dorian. The new guys - Vaea, Ser Aaron Gilmore, Calix Pryde, Tessa and Marius, and now Francesca Invidus (whther she joins or not but I think she will) are currently traipsing around Tevinter following the fall of Ventus to the Qunari.

 

It's clear Solas is also interested in red lyrium for some reason. I wonder  if the idol was always red lyrium or whether it was pure lyrium once? Furthermore I wonder if he could cleanse the Blight from the lyrium?

[aced0g]

For the 'Inquisitor as Companion' asks: 7, 9, 10, 13, and 17 for Evander and Aspen?

Aspen Lavellan: 

7. What would be on their tombstone in the fade (what is their greatest fear)?Hmm, Aspen’s greatest fear would probably be dying alone. Because of his past isolation was used as a big method to try and break him. He hates being alone and to die alone terrifies him, no one knowing where he is or that he’s dead. He doesn’t talk about it much but if you ask the right questions in game before this mission you might have been able to piece it together. 9. Where in Skyhold would they be found? (e.g. Cole is in the tavern rafters, Leliana in the top of the tower, Varric in the throne room, etc.)Aspen loves being outdoors, so you’d probably find him near the stables. In his clan he was training to learn how to care for the halla, so even though the Inquisition may only have harts its enough to give him some comfort when he misses home. (also since I headcanon that he comes from a mountain elf clan the size of the harts is no surprise to him and actually comforts him more. Normal Halla to Aspen seem so small cause his clan’s mountain halla are like moose sized)

10. If Inquisition operated like DA:O, what would their gift items be? What would their approval and disapproval Feast Day items be?Hmm gifts for Aspen would probably be centered around his homesickness, I’m thinking the simple ones would be: ancient elven glyph stone (located in the emerald graves), dalish poem (purchasable in one of the book stores),  small carved halla (can be purchased from the clan in the exalted plains), carved dalish trinket (found in the exalted plains), elven scarf (also can be purchased from the clan in the exalted plains), dalish recipe (found in the emerald graves), a small painting of a forest (found in emprise du lion). The two important ones that would trigger cut scenes would be: climbing powder, this would be something you would have a war table mission for. When you give it to Aspen his face would just light up and he’d take you to one of the nearby rock faces and with the powder bag on his hip he’d just start climbing and encourage the inquisitor to follow. The boy loves to rock climb. The second one would be his amulet from when he became a true hunter from his clan. It would also be a war table mission you unlock after he tells you about how he lost it, it was ripped off of him and tossed aside when he was captured by slavers and he misses it dearly. When you give it to him he would be surprised that you found it and even listened when he was talking about how it was lost to him and go “Ma serannas … my thanks Inquisitor. this means a great deal to me.” and most likely give the Inquisitor a hug. If the Inquisitor is Dalish they would have the option to reply in Dalish which would only make him happier. 

As for Feast Day his approval gift would most likely be an ironwood longbow you could have made from the clan in the Exalted Plains. It would become his main weapon that you could of course enhance and enchant but not swap out.The bow would give him a +2 to his Dexterity stats. Since he has the vallaslin for the elven god June the bow means even more to him as the carvings along the bow are related to him. To a non-Dalish Inquisitor there would be an option to ask Aspen what the carvings mean and he would gladly tell. With a Dalish Inquisitor Aspen would just be thrilled that they remembered.

For his prank gift it would probably be a book on the Chantry and how to follow the Maker. Reading it aloud in battle would give everyone in the party but him a bravery effect I guess? Aspen would just be annoyed and probably get it, squint to make sure he was reading it right and then just got, “Thanks…”13. If the Herald didn’t have them tag along to prep the trebuchets, what would they do during the battle for Haven? (bonus: would they join in on the impromptu Dawn Will Come choir practice in the camp?)

If he’s not tagging along to prep the Trebuchets he’s standing on the gate walls and shooting any enemies that get too close to it or try to attack those fleeing the carnage. When he sees the dragon he actually gets knocked off and injures his arm so he runs into the Chantry, either that or get killed by a red templar. As he runs tho he makes sure that others get in before him. In the camp he’s probably battling his own fears and no. He doesn’t know the song or really what’s going on and kind of just raises a brow and glances at well Solas cause he knows Solas probably doesn’t know this song either. 17. Where do they hang out in the Winter Palace? What’s their thoughts on the nobles/The Game?

He stays in the ballroom close to the advisers, why? Because that way Leliana can glare at him anytime she notices him about ready to blow up on a noble that calls him a servant. His thoughts on the nobles is that they’re a bunch of pompous racist assholes that can’t see two feet in front of their nose. He’s clearly in Inquisition regalia, he does not have a tray, he’s not a servant but they see the ears and just assume he is. Aspen couldn’t care less about the game. He thinks they should just shoot whoever the problem is with a few arrows and be done with it. Needless to say when he’s in the ballroom he grabs a drink every time the tray comes round, and when he gets called away to help search the grounds he gets to take out his emotions on their enemies.

Evander Virani:

7. What would be on their tombstone in the fade (what is their greatest fear)?

His greatest fear would be corruption. Evander strives to be a hero despite his past, despite what he was told growing up. What he fears most is becoming the demon and monster that he told he was bound to become. His burn scars are a constant reminder of what can happen if he loses control and he doesn’t want that to happen. 9. Where in Skyhold would they be found? (e.g. Cole is in the tavern rafters, Leliana in the top of the tower, Varric in the throne room, etc.)

I think he’d be found in the forge to be honest. One of his ways to calm down is working in the forge, using his magic to melt and work the metals into the right shape, so that’s where he’d be in his free time. Plus we never get to see companions in there so I think it would be fun. 10. If Inquisition operated like DA:O, what would their gift items be? What would their approval and disapproval Feast Day items be?

Evander’s gifts would more so focused on comfort. The guy’s been through a lot of shit before the Inquisition so he needs comfort. The simple gifts would be: a mabari plush (found in the Hinterlands near Redcliff), a book of jokes (purchasable from one of the book shops), a long black scarf (found in emprise du lion), a worry stone (probably found in Redcliff), a steel dragon statuette (purchasable at Val Royeaux), dragon tooth earring (found in the hinterlands), soft black sweater (found in emprise du lion). Now as for the important gifts: His brother’s shield. This would probably be something you need really high level approval for even to unlock the war table mission to retrieve it. When he left Tevinter he was in a hurry, and he regrets not taking something of his brother’s with him. The shield itself isn’t something Evander can use, but it brings him comfort. He keeps it on a wall in his quarters with a candle burning beneath it. When you give the shield to him he honestly can’t believe that you managed to find it let alone send someone all the way out to Tevinter to go looking for it. He’ll get flustered and say it wasn’t necessary and the Inquisitor will have the option to comfort him and even hug him. The second important gift would be a letter from his mother. Evander made sure she had enough funds (anonymously) to escape Tevinter, after she left he lost contact with her. He knows what clan she used to be from and probably mentions to the Inquisitor how he hopes she was able to find her family again. This would unlock a few war table missions. First you’d need to find her clan, then be skillful and approach the clan without raising alarm. Then you’d get the letter and when you give that to Evander as he reads it he would probably start crying happily. He thought his mother would hate him for not being able to protect Romulus but she’s just overjoyed that Evander’s still alive and out of Tevinter as well. Later on the Inquisitor can ask about Evander’s mother again and he’ll inform the Inquisitor that they keep in contact now. 

His approval gift for Feast Day would most likely be something similar to that magical sword you can find on one of the astrarium missions? It would fascinate Evander to no end and it would allow him to do more damage in battle as he’s not only adept at casting spells, but actually using weapons such as swords. It would be a replacement to him using a staff and you would be able to find upgrades and enchant it similar to how Bianca works for Varric. 

His prank gift would be pink butterfly fingerless gloves. Evander doesn’t really wear many colors, and he needs gloves to hide the burn scars on the back of his hands. He would accept the gloves and they would be a bonus 5 armor but they just look so out of place on him. 13. If the Herald didn’t have them tag along to prep the trebuchets, what would they do during the battle for Haven? (bonus: would they join in on the impromptu Dawn Will Come choir practice in the camp?)

If he’s not tagging along he’s helping everyone get to the chantry and protecting those who don’t have weapons. There are many people still outside of the gates and as soon as he has one group inside he goes out to get another. It’s only when the dragon attacks that Evander goes to the Chantry himself, and even then its very last minute, just before the Inquisitor gets in themself. At the camp Evander knows the song but he doesn’t join in. He’s scared. He doesn’t know how to react really and the song honestly means nothing to him. The scene would probably cut to him just sitting with his head down rubbing the back of his neck. 17. Where do they hang out in the Winter Palace? What’s their thoughts on the nobles/The Game?

Evander is hanging out in that cool smoking area that you can find Varric in and that takes Halla Statuettes to unlock. He’s not new to the game and honestly is quite skilled at playing it, but he’s not here to play the game. He’s here to smile and wave and keep an ear open for any useful information. That doesn’t mean he can’t enjoy a good drink and something to smoke while he’s at it. The nobles are easy to manipulate and get rumors and information out of. One of his favorite things to do is get expensive drinks (remember his taste buds are shit and it all tastes like vaguely flavored water or really really flat beer) and just talk with them on the tastes and how its such a good year and its hilarious to him because he’s just pulling it out of his ass and they’re agreeing. The nobles here make him want to strangle them but he hides it quite well. Mostly they want to know about why he’s a half elf. Each time he gets asked he comes up with some crazy story that the nobles just seem to believe is fact. 

[exhaustedwerewolf]

Also ⭐️ cos I love hearing u talk n rant about ur writing 💕

-twice! twice?! thank you

I’m cheating, this isn’t a section I’m going to talk about corresponding shapes as a whole because I ruminated on it a lot both while and after writing it.

First of all, corresponding shapes is based on a soulmate au concept by @an-island-of-bunnies; please check him out, he’s very talented, and this fic wouldn’t exist without him at all.

Trying to get this AU to mesh with the DA setting was really fun! Thinking about how the etiquette of a world like that and how these creatures would affect social status and even just thinking patterns- I drew a fair bit of inspiration from His Dark Materials. I ended up naming the creatures sal’dunathe instead of soul pets, which is literally just elven for “soul animals.” (sal’i’tel being “without soul,” for when Dorian thinks that Lucan doesn’t have a soulmate.) If I was writing this fic again, I wouldn’t use the elven this time, since in light of reading The Masked Empire and playing Origins, it doesn’t seem logical that humans wouldn’t have their own word- I didn’t even really want to do it at the time, but I was mid-exams and really just wanted to post this fic (although I stand by the fact that it sounds cool.) I was hesitant about the story being that the animals wandered out of the Fade for similar reasons; on the one hand, it was a sort of coherent with the idea of demons and spirits doing the same, but on the other, if it had been proven that these animals came from the Fade, would people have a different opinion of the Fade (and therefore of magic and spirits in general?) I tried to leave it ambiguous as a result of those worries. Since I made the animals sort-of-a-Fade-thing, I was very annoyed to realise that dwarves shouldn’t have them. I was looking forward to coming up with an animal to represent Bianca so much! Truly, I played myself.

Another way I played myself is by picking Cass and Solas for the second scene out of nostalgia for my playthrough. Since this is a Dorian/Inquisitor fic, I had no idea what animal should represent their potential soulmates. I picked a leopard for Cass because I thought they suited her more than I was visualizing a potential romantic or platonic partner. I considered indulging in one of my own ships; maybe an animal to represent Josephine, but I didn’t want to drive away anyone based on who they shipped Cass with, so I chickened out. As for Solas, I decided that as Dirthamen his sal’dunathe would, (at least in this timeline where he does not fall for an elven Inquisitor,) be only an illusion to prevent others from getting suspicious of him. So of course, it had to be a wolf for the dread wolf! 

This actually made me pretty nervous about Romulus being a half-wolf, though, which is part of the reason he’s referred to as a dog up until the penultimate scene, haha. The simple act of linking an oc to wolves, especially in a world where wolves are canonically significant made me sure people would drop the fic, and I thought about making Romulus just-a-dog more than once, but a wolfdog represents Lucan so much better so I followed my heart (and my nine year old self’s pleas.) Dorian as a milk snake on the other hand I never doubted for a second- he’s always associated with serpentine imagery, and with Cole’s line for him- “"bright, like the fish that kill you … can’t hate you for hiding if you burn so brilliantly,” it just made complete sense to me; a creature that screams out that it’s poisonous to defend itself when it’s in fact harmless. (I have a lot of emotions about Dorian if you couldn’t tell.) 

I was also deeply nervous about Lucan in general, since I usually don’t mix OCs with fic. I’d written him before, in a lot of WIPs as well as one other published fic, but he only appeared in that very briefly. I still get butterflies when I think about how I wrote him in corresponding shapes, although I can’t bring myself to regret it. I was in a pretty rough place emotionally when I played Inquisition for the first time, and Lucan got a lot of that pain. Incorporating stuff like his intrusive thoughts and his disordered speech was… kind of scary. People complain  often about OCs being too angsty or being prone to stammering, so I was worried about how to incorporate his issues in a way that wouldn’t just drive people away. Honestly, I don’t think I was successful- but when all is said and done, I don’t think I mind? I have some WIPs that get more into the details of his character, and I think that alongside those, he’d be more coherent to readers in this fic, but I really don’t know what I could have done to “explain him,” in a fic this short. There’s so much to him, hopefully I’ll get to it someday. 

Honestly, there’s far more I could say about this fic so here’s some quickfire facts so I’m not here all night and go to b e d:

- I only made “A snake?!” the opening line because of an inside joke I have with @squire11

- I re-watched all of Felix’s scenes and still feel like I wrote him disastrously! 

- Veles is a Slavic God of the underworld as well as snakes so I chose the name as a nod to Dorian’s necromancy 

- Romulus I picked because of the whole Tevinter = Rome thing

- Animals are hard to write, especially when they’re magically linked to the souls of their owner

Thank you @edelwoodsouls for inviting me to rant about my fics twice, you’re such an enabler and I appreciate it deeply! 

director’s cut ask game

[tk-duveraun]

Sweet Dreams 9/10

Title: Sweet Dreams Setting: Modern Thedas Rating: PG-13 For Strong Language   Genre: Friendship & Adventure, minor Romance elements Pairings: (All relatively background) Ela/Cullen, Doribull Summary: For @elalavella. Ela’s been having vivid nightmares that are starting to feel far too real when the companions she has in the nightmares appear in her real life. She thought it was supposed to be the other way around! Previous Parts: One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight  Warnings: Mild violence and gore

Ela is 200% done with this shit.

For just one moment, Ela was frozen in place, every muscle locked stiff by freezing tendrils of fear. But before her sword could even shift in her numb hands, Ela shouted a primal, wordless sound. When the scream ended, she twisted her hands on the grip and all-but growled in her throat. “You know what? No. I’m fucking done playing your game and being so fucking scared.”

She kicked the little fearlings scratching at her ankles and swung her sword in a wide arc in front of her. “This is just a damn illusion. My friends would never fucking leave me here alone.”

Ela spun around and swung her sword in the opposite direction, knocking off the top half of a crumbling tombstone. “I’m not dancing to your tune for one more goddamn second.”

Panting, she stood still and stared into the emptiness of the Fade, waiting for her friends to reappear. When they didn’t, she bared her teeth and shouted again, “I said give them back!”

The last word came out as a bellow that made everything shake and shudder until the illusion shattered with a deafening crash. Judging by The Iron Bull’s surprised expression, no one else had been affected the illusion. All they saw was her standing there, panting and aggressively holding her sword.

“You okay there, Boss?”

“We’re leaving,” Ela snarled. As she stomped past her companions and up the slope, armor materialized around her, wrapping her arms and legs in hard leather. When heavy, dragonscale boots appeared on her feet, her footsteps were suddenly audible and echoing like thunderclaps in the Fade. The vallaslin on her face looked sharper and more prominent once her hair pulled itself away from her face and tied itself up into a tight plait.

Distantly, she heard Dorian say, “Well, I suppose they always say that will king in the Fade.”

“Too fucking right,” Sera said.

Ela didn’t look back, but she knew her friends were also suddenly in proper combat gear, with steps that made sounds and hearts ready to end this and go home.

More fear demons tried to attack with their spindly limbs and sunken faces, but Ela’s sword cut through them as if they were nothing more than rags and air. She barely slowed at their approach, simply changed the angle of her blade to slice them in half as she passed. They were nothing. The fearlings at her ankles were less than nothing. The Nightmare’s time was over.

“That’s what you thought last time, and then you left Stroud behind to die,” the Nightmare said.

Ela let the words fall off her like so much water. She didn’t pause until she planted her feet at the end of the path where the Nightmare demon’s gigantic form rested. At the end of the space, laid Stroud’s body. It laid bloodless and untouched by decay and time, his silverite breastplate still shining in the reflected light from Dorian’s mage fire.

Thirty seconds. Ela gave herself thirty seconds to grieve, to mourn, to regret leaving Stroud behind, and then she turned away from the preserved body and faced the towering Nightmare.

“Your reign of terror ends here!” Ela shouted. She ran at the demon, sword raised over her head in both hands for a devastating overhand strike. The Iron Bull roared his own, wordless challenge and stood at her side, both of them hacking at the unnatural, grey flesh. Behind them, Dorian and Sera fired away at the arms and tentacles that struck towards them from the horrific mass of demon.

“That’s right! Struggle, mortals! Fight for an eternity of despair until your soul gives out, just Stroud. The Calling would have been a cleaner death than you gave him, Elashorei,” the Nightmare taunted. It’s voice was unaffected by their combined attack and didn’t even seem to be coming from the demonic form their weapons were striking. “You belong to me and will never leave this place again! Now you know true fear!”

But Ela wasn’t afraid. She was angry. She’s lost her parents twice. She’d lost her sister twice. She’d lost Stroud. And she’d fucking destroyed Corypheus in the biggest shower of magic since that fucker Solas made the Veil in the first place. One demon was never going to scare her, no matter how big it was. No matter how long she had to strike it with her sword. It would fear Ela as she hacked away at it until she won through attrition because she wasn’t going to lose anyone or anything else.

“Biting, scratching, clawing. Wear it down. Wear it out,” Cole said.

Ela’s eyes widened at Cole’s words. They were barely more than a whisper and oddly coming from a place he wasn’t standing. They were also her own thoughts, but hearing them from someone else made all of the pieces fall together. She kept hacking away at the large form of the demon as her mind raced, double and triple-checking her conclusion.

With a fierce grin, Ela jerked her sword out of the writing, demonic mass. “True fear is a sneaking, insidious thing that claws at your mind slowly over time until you’re too weak to fucking fight back! Not today, motherfucker!”

Ela spun in place and thrust her sword into the scuttling fearling that had been harassing her at her ankles the entire time. A ghastly, screeching wail shattered the sounds of battle as the demon died. The remaining fearlings retreated as the mass of limbs and writhing skin dissolved in front of their eyes.

The demon corpse skewered on her sword was the only remnant of their protracted battle. Ela pulled back her sword and kicked the disgusting carapace off the side of the rock platform so it could fall for all eternity in the Fade.

Sera walked up to her shoulder and spit over the edge. “Drinks on you for a while, eh, Elalaland?”

“On me?! I killed the fucking thing!”

“It was, arguably, your demon,” Dorian said, coming up on her other side.

“Yup. Your nightmares, your fault, Boss.”

“Oh, come the fuck, on.”