#justinia

[whiterosemarie]

The latest art work. 25+ hrs. Based on a fanfiction that's being written between myself and a friend.

[illusivesoul]

A Divine's Hand

A short Leliana/Justinia fic.

Ratings: Mature

Words: 1596

Summary: The Inquisitor asks about Justinia. Leliana remembers.

Tags: Power Imbalance - Implied Sexual Content - Angst - Grief/Mourning - Anger - POV Multiple -Memories -Regret

Read it on AO3

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Leliana noticed the subtle smirk of the Inquisitor’s lips after she asked the question, and the cold she felt from her words had nothing to do with the snow that fell all around them. Trevelyan was a noble, and the way she had spoken made it clear that she was no stranger to the whirlwind of rumours that had surrounded Leliana during the years she had served at the Divine’s side. Only those who presumed to know the truth before asking asked things in the way the inquisitor had. 

“You’re asking if we were lovers. Typical. I was devoted to her, therefore it must be romantic” the spymaster replied, unable and not caring to hide the frustration in her tone. Nothing seemed to matter anymore anyway.  “Love is common. Love is simple. My bond with Justinia was something greater. She was a sister, a mother, a teacher…”

Bloodied, bruised, broken. Cold rock of the cell floor, stone stained by torture, walls that held the tears and blood of the countless orlesians and fereldans that never left this prison alive. Tears drying in her face. The phantom pain of a lover’s treacherous blade still throbbing at her ribs. Praying, hoping for death. 

A bag drops from the small gate far above, surrounded by the daylight that seeps through it. A woman’s voice. Soothing, comforting. Leliana swears it's the sweetest sound she’s ever heard.

“You feel alone, perhaps for the first time, but you are far from helpless. Others need you, even at your lowest. And that is a strength I cannot describe. You can do this” 

And she finds the strength to lift herself from the cold, bloodied stone floor, if only to find the source of the mysterious voice who talked to her.

Hope.

They’re gathered around the table, where incriminating letters prove the existence of a conspiracy - the latest one - involving several grand clerics and Orlesian nobles aimed at deposing Justinia. Leliana calls for their deaths, to be granted permission to unleash her agents to purge the halls of the Grand Cathedral and the mansions and palaces of Orlais of the traitors. It wouldn’t be the first time a Divine had done so, a show of force to keep things in order. 

Justinia looks at her with concern. Leliana has told her little about what she had lived through during the Blight, but she had returned from Ferelden a changed woman, callous, cold, calculating, brutal. With the same fire from her days as a bard, but with a harshness fitting for a soldier.

As she listens to her talk about how her agents can make it all seem like accidents and to make the deaths occur gradually to avoid raising suspicion, Justinia sees the dark shadow of Marjolaine’s influence looming over Leliana. But Justinia knows that she’s the only one responsible for this. Because in the end, what is she in Leliana’s life if not Marjolaine by another name, making her spill blood in the name of the Maker just as Marjolaine had her spill blood for courtly intrigues. The Game is played even in the halls of the Grand Cathedral, after all. The memory of her moment of weakness at the hands of Marjolaine and everything it had led to filled her with a sense of shame and anger towards herself that she would never let go of.

She denies Leliana’s request, and after a few moments spent enduring Leliana’s anger and rage washing over her as she goes on about the risks of letting traitors alive and how her position will be made vulnerable, Justinia takes her into her arms, feeling how she melts into them as she starts sobbing loudly against her white robes.

“I can’t… I can’t bear the thought of losing you too. I cannot lose you too”

Justinia wishes she could let her go, to not make her course the dark ways that surround this position of power. Yet she knows that without Leliana at her side, she would have died long ago. She knows it's foolish and selfish to think of herself as the victim in this. Leliana had asked to join and serve, and she had said yes, and Justinia tells herself it was not due to her manipulation, but through a genuine act of faith. And the Divine knows she's not the only one who is at risk of losing herself.

Doubt.

The large book with the eye and a sword crossing it laid on the table, the words "Into darkness, unafraid” inscribed in the cover. Yet Justinia was afraid. Afraid that things had deteriorated to the point that it needed to be used. A last resort. 

In the distance, the White Spire stood, its walls still charred from magic fire, the same fire that had consumed the minds and hearts of men and women all over Thedas.

Justinia knew they wouldn’t find the Champion of Kirkwall, who, just as the Hero of Ferelden, seemed to have vanished into thin air. Though by the way Leliana’s eyes darkened and her sight lowered towards the floor whenever the dwarven woman who had saved Ferelden was mentioned, she couldn’t help but think that perhaps it was best that they hadn’t found the warden after all.

The task of fixing this burning and crumbling world would be up to her, to salvage what she could from the madness of a war she had failed to prevent. Justinia had relived the last years constantly in her head since the destruction of Kirkwall’s Chantry.

Had her changes been too fast and too radical? Or had they been lacking? Had she pushed too much, or had she done too little?

In the end, she knew she could only play her last card with the Conclave. History would judge her actions and determine if she was to be praised or thrown to the darkest pits, remembered only as the Divine that lost the Chantry. In any event, she had already passed judgement on herself long ago.

The sound of light steps approaching from behind brought a smile to her face, for she was very familiar to whom they belonged to. It was one of the little things she had gotten used to about Leliana over the years.

She felt her hands placing themselves on her shoulders, her lips softly planting kisses on the back of her neck as she gently pulled her white robes off her.

Leliana’s hands feel like a miracle, the callousness and scars that dotted her hands mixed with the delicate soft bits of skin a reflection of the story of her life. Each movement and caress made all the stress and weight of the world vanish under her touch, and made Justinia feel alive in a way that she only did when she’s given into her. Leliana’s hands and lips trace every line, every inch of skin, and she makes her feel like the most beautiful woman in the world.

She had never asked Leliana for this, but Leliana had done it cause it was the only way she knew how to show gratitude. The only way she knew to show that she cared. The only way to show love she had ever known. The only form of love allowed to those shaped and molded by the Game. And what was Justinia doing if not playing the Game in the name of Andraste and the Maker? 

Justinia knew she should have refused, but Maker, she was only human after all. She allowed herself to have these small moments of happiness, to remind herself of the times when the world had not been thrusted upon her shoulders. She just prayed that the way Leliana’s eyes looked at her, those hushed “I love you” she said during their passion were just words uttered in the fire of the moment. She would never be worthy of Leliana’s love.

As their lips, souls and bodies met on that desk in the Grand Cathedral, in a world which only the two of them were privy to, Justinia felt her resolve stronger than ever. She would push as hard as she could in the Conclave, to help put Thedas back in order… and to leave a world where Leliana could find the peace and love she so much deserved. It was the least she could do for her.

Resolve.

“So to answer your question, Evelyn Trevelyan: yes, it was more than friendship. Friendship is a lacking term to describe the bond that we had. Now, you’ll have to excuse me. There are many things I have to see with to make sure this Inquisition of ours lasts more than a month”

As Leliana retreated to the depths of her tent, she pretended to focus on the papers in front of her, the wood on the sides of the table creaking in pain as she tightened her grip on it, desperate to hold back the tears, the rage, the pain and loss that boiled inside of her. Cause she knew, and she felt it, that if she turned around, she would be met with the sight of Trevelyan smiling mockingly at her, laughing at her pain and reveling in the turmoil she had caused. And through the holes in the fabric of the tent, the green glow of the Breach made itself seen, the embodiment of Justinia’s loss haunting her from the very skies.

But Leliana did not falter. She would not let Justinia’s name be tarnished any further by her weakness.

She had failed her enough already.

[lairofdragonagelore]

The Raw Fade - Part 4, Justinia

Main Quest: Here Lies the Abyss

Divine Justinia V was the head of the Orlesian Chantry between 9:34 and 9:41 Dragon. Given her wordly past and her dealings with the bards of Orlais, Justinia V was reputed to be one of the finest players of the Grand Game.

[Index page of Dragon Age Lore]

Justinia

As we explore the fade, we find Justinia, or what I think it’s a spirit of Faith that took Justinia’s shape to help the inquisitor in this place, guiding them along the Fade, protecting them to avoid worse spirits and teaching them things needed to be whole again.  Pretty much like the spirits claimed by : Walking the Fade: Frozen Moments, in The Raw Fade - Part 1.

We can talk to her. The main goal of Justinia is make the Inquisitor recover their own memories.  By the kind of answers she gives, very Cole-like, she seems to be a spirit of good nature. I speculate it’s a spirit of Faith.  Why? With Wynne we learnt these are the strongest good spirits [information reinforced explicitly in the World of Thedas, Vol 1], even though they are more passive in their hosts.  I speculate that Justinia had been possessed by this spirit in a similar fashion as Wynne was, and for that reason Corypheus needed her power to unlock the orb, and not just kill her like he wanted to do with Celene to produce political instability.

She informs us about Nightmare, a demon that works for Corypheus and feeds on the fear and darkness. This may explain why this Fade has so many keepers of Fear: here is where the food for this demon is exhibited.

We are informed by this spirit that this demon Nightmare is the one responsible for the apparent Calling of the wardens.

The inquisitor does not remember what happened in the Conclave, and it’s here where they recover by gathering the small wisps of memories.

She explains that the Fade is “made of” the mind of mankind.

What changes in the mankind’s world, changes here in the Fade.

Due to the evasive nature of this Justinia, whose behaviour is similar to Cole’s, we reinforces the idea that she may be a spirit like Cole, in particular: Faith [mostly because she asks for forgiveness to Leliana for having failed her, and even though it may be a posthumous regret of Justinia, it fits well from a narrative point of view, since Leliana starts the game with her loss of faith.]

She claims she is what the Maker made her. But if the Chantry Maker doesn’t exist, this may be a typical misuse of language of the spirits: a Maker can be any person who creates or maintain spirits in the Fade. She may as well call Maker to the real, human Justinia, whose faith kept her stronger over time.

We follow a conversation about the Maker. This is quite challenging since we have the confirmation of Corypheuys already claiming there is no Maker, as well as Solas ignoring completely the presence of any. Justinia claims that the Maker can be seen all around us, implying that a Maker can be anyone who can create spirits or reflection of emotions in the Fade, if we take this spirit in a more poetic way.

It’s curious how she describes the anchor: It’s the needle that pulls the thread, as well as a key. Meaning a key to something locked, the door to the Fade: the Veil. It creates [sew] the Veil, and it’s also the key to access to the Fade. If we assume that the Veil was made with this energy trapped in the orb/inquisitor’s hand, and it was a means to seal a bigger danger, it’s also the key to unlock it.

When we recover the memory, we realise Justinia was used by Corypheus to unlock the orb. He required a sacrifice, and for unknown reasons, she was chosen, despite not being an elf, a dragon-blooded humanoid or a mage [all more suitable victims which blood or sacrifice has more power, lore-wise]. Even the way she is sacrificed does not implies blood magic.

She is restrained with red lines of power, which represent the bound Grey Warden’s power or maybe Corypheus’. And the Green energy coming out from her to the orb may suggest “similar Fade energy”. This is why, from a visual point of view, I suspect that human Justinia has been possessed by a gentle spirit for a long while, in the same fashion that Wynne was. [For more details, even though this speculation is a bit old, read What is Justinia?]

Once recovered the first set of memories, we have a comment from the mage companions: Solas, who has always spoken about the spirit nature, suggests this Justinia is pretty much a similar case to Cole but staying in the Fade.  Dorian, also says an adequate comment: if they would have been a demon, they would have asked for something in return. Vivienne, of course, remains wary about the nature of this creature.

The second set of memories happens nearby the Humanoid Mythal statue.  We see the  inquisitor climb a rock towards the Breach to return to the Waking World. Justinia is helping him, as spiders follow him.

Here more or less is confirmed that she is a spirit of some kind, as the orange glowing, typical of the spirits in this game, turn into the intense yellow glow with the Divine hat [detail that reinforces the idea that the essence of this spirit is related to Faith]

We can have some discussion with other companions, but there are no concrete answers about the nature of this creature. Lore-wise, it seems reasonable to think in this situation similar to Wynne’s [Wynne was not always possessed, but she always noticed the presence of that spirit, taking care of her].  It’s not clear if Justinia was or was not possessed by a gentle spirit, but in either case, this one keeps reinforcing the idea of a spirit of Faith. Her dubious answers also fit perfectly her potential Faith-nature: she asks you to believe in whatever story you want to create to justify her decision of looking like Justinia. 

So, in a short series of speculations:

This spirit takes the shape of Justinia. It may imply a situation similar to Cole’s in  Asunder.  

This Spirit may have been to Justinia like Faith was to Wynne: a spirit that took care of her until she died, and in wynne’s case, Faith possessed her in mutual agreement to save the lives of the Mages that were trapped in the tower. 

It’s not clear if Justinia was or not possessed. But since Corypheus needs her energy to unlock the orb [which needs a lot of energy that Solas didn’t have when he awoke from his slumber, said by himself at the end of Trespasser] it seems natural to assume that Corypheus used her energy because she was more powerful than an elvhen [when elven blood is special for potent magic] or than even a mage. 

The way the spirit of Justinia evades the requests for answers, and always suggests you to believe in whatever you want, it seems to be a fitting behaviour for a spirit of Faith

Her shape of light loses all details except the typical hat of the Divine, meaning that the spirit has kept a modern, powerful religious icon into herself. An icon of contemporaneous Faith.

The Seekers of Truth is an institution which has always had a deep relationship with Faith spirits that they used in order to awake seekers from their tranquillity vigil. The Seekers is an Order close to the Divine as well, so there is a natural approach of Faith spirits to the Divine just by her proximity to this Order.

Leliana seems to be immune to Red Lyrium, like Seekers are. There is a potential implicit connotation that she may have been touched by a spirit of Faith. Since Justinia and Leliana have always been too close, this speculation seems to have a bit of room for this event to happen between the Divine and the Left Hand. However, the most natural and obvious explanation of this is if Leliana dies in DAO, at the temple of the Sacred Ashes, and she is revived by a spirit, as it’s implied in her speech if we play in a world where the warden killed her. The problem with this is that it depends a lot of the player’s choice.

When the spirit fights the gigantic spider, she tells the inquisitor to ask Leliana for forgiveness of “having failed her”. This is so ambivalent that it could be interpreted as a last regret of the real Justinia, but it could also be a genuine apology from the spirit of Faith for having let Leliana lose her Faith [as we saw in the beginning of the game] or even an apology for not having protected the Divine that Leliana loved so much.

[sluttyquarantinetheory]

Cassandra is so funny as a character. She's a highly skilled fighter and is genuinely down to listen and learn about new things and different types of people. And she has absolutely zero bullshit detecting abilities whatsoever. Worst possible choice for an investigative profession.

[fartholder]

A lot of comparisons can be made between the gameplay reveal and the opening of DA:I, but these happen in the same order:

A bridge collapses as you cross it and you fall down under it

You pick up your gear, a rift opens and you get attacked by shades

You arrive at the site where a ritual to tear down the Veil took/takes place and the camera pans to Thee Rift

You get attacked by a pride demon

When first watching the gameplay i thought it was a little funny, but thinking more about it, it looks like a very deliberate choice on the developers part, especially because it then goes on to put Solas and Varric in the same "roles" as Corypheus and Divine Justinia, respectively.

[citrusai]

taash said "they were doing it" and people ran with the interpretation of an npc that doesn't know solas or the history of the elvhenan even when bellara interjected and said, no, that's not right. that's not how it was for the elvhenan. they formed bonds before they had physical bodies. and people ran to doompost or create weird anti-solavellan shit even though mythal & solas refer to each other as old friends and when she releases him there is no tenderness or love in it. it is the act of unchaining a dog from his post, the stepping down of a general. but to each their own ig.

[pinayelf]

when life gives u lemons uhhh

[moghedien]

Shipping Cassandra and Leliana is so funny because I feel like the only people who actually do it have either only played Inquisition or don't think much past "Well they're the Left and Right Hands of the Divine" because you KNOW they only get along to the extent they do in Inquisition because they've never had an actual conversation because the second Leliana opened her mouth about her theology in front of Cassandra, they would have been trying to strangle each other

[caffeinosis]

I just don't understand where people got the "mother figure" thing about solas & mythal (other than fanon/fic) because the implied dynamic was queen and her devoted knight/guardian judging by all the statues

[dreamthiefx]

In honour of veilgaurd coming out next week, I made Leliana and Sera in baldur’s gate 3. With their respective guardians: divine Justinia and Adaar

Lelianna is a rogue/bard/cleric

Sera is a rogue and thief and she’ll tempt your fate!

[noblemalone]

this one is for all the freaky lil eggheads out there - i see you

yes he got a promotion to store manager it’s for Plot Reasons ok

3 solas attempting to start a union + one canon egg

[vigilskeep]

now that you've watched the Cassandra movie, do you know that Avexis is in Haven?

i do. i had the appropriate breakdown over this yesterday. it’s so true to the world and the chantry and yet it had me gasping

[dilfgmancoolatta]

[lairofdragonagelore]

Frostback Mountains: Attack to Haven

Main quest:  In Your Heart Shall Burn

Haven is a small village in the Frostback Mountains. It is not marked on most maps. In DAO was the place where a cult to a dragon that they considered Andraste incarnated stayed isolated from the rest of Thedas. 

This post has compiled the most relevant information during the main quest for completion’s sake. These quests have little “archaeological” value, but since I’m visually covering the majority of the game, I can’t put them aside since there are some exceptions, such as the Temple of Mythal.

When the Breach is closed with the help of Mages or Templars, there is a celebration in Haven. However, it lasts not longer, since it is immediately under attack of Corypheus and his Red Templars.

The most important part of this quest in my opinion is all the information that Corypheus gives us. It’s as valuable as the little bits he dropped in DA2: Legacy

I think Corypheus here speaks of a truth that mortals cannot have, referring to the truth that there are no gods. He claims that the inquisitor, pretending to be a Herald of a goddess, is not different than what he was once with Dumat [”Know me, know what you have pretended to be”]

I find curious he speaks of himself as “the will of Corypheus”. Considering his ability to jump into different bodies, probably this will is the only real thing that Corypheus is. The concept of “will” is explored once more with Abelas: the Well of Sorrows contains the “will” of all the high priests of Mythal. And they all are bound to the “will” of Mythal [check the post about Temple of Mythal to see these details]

It’s also interesting that he claims that the Anchor was his “craft”. So this energy, which we know it’s Fen’Harel’s energy, is concentrated in a hand, that was Corypheus’ doing. This would explain loosely why he was in the Temple of Sacred Ashes, looking for Justinia. Apparently, for whatever reason Justinia is needed, she was a component of what Corypheuys needed to do to unlock the power of the Orb, anchor it, and use it for himself.

I’m still curious why, from any other better candidate, such as an elf or a human with dragon blood, or even a mage, Corypheus chose Justinia, a mere [magically speaking] powerless human, to unlock the power of the Orb [I wrote some old considerations to question here on this matter]

However, when we question this to Corypheus, he claims it was about the chaos generated by killing important leader figures in the political world of Thedas. I get that, but he could have killed the Divine as he wanted to do with Celene in order to ensure chaos. Instead, he dragged some kind of energy from her, and that’s one of the biggest mysteries in this narrative for me. Why Justinia?

He once more confirms he entered the Fade in the name of Dumat [”in the name of another”] to “serve the Old Gods in person”, which I assume it’s to help them to stop being silent. Let’s remember that the Old Gods had communication with their priests via dreams until they went silent and Tevinter fell in despair to the point that they developed rituals to break into the Fade and look for them personally.

What Corypheus found in the Black City was “chaos, corruption [understood as the Blight], and dead whispers.

There is once more this italic “will” in the text, where Corypheus emphasises that he had gathered the will to return by his own name, without following Dumat anymore. He realised the place of the gods was empty, and in almost a human gesture, he wants to become the god that the humanity always asked for. 

Sure, this is not merely an altruistic goal, but certainly is a motivation a bit more complex than power-hunger as the Chantry always narrated the story of the Sidereal Magisters.  Corypheus is not the best candidate for a god, but I like how all the information we had about the Tevinter Magisters acquires a different hue here. Corypheus is a blighted immortal creature, who is also Tevinter culturally speaking, so his moral will always be quite questionable, and he turning into a god is something as terrible as the shattering of the Veil. However, there is some degree of “nobility” [I knot it’s a big word, but I can’t come with another one] in his mission that I’m not sure how much it’s perceived: he knows humanity cannot handle the truth that the gods do not exist, so he wants to become the god they deserve. I wonder if Corypheus’ story doesn’t hide a parallel with the Evanuris, or at least, some of them. We know that Falon’Din was a power-hunger creature, but maybe Mythal or others wanted, originally, to be the god for The People, because the world was too cruel without any. 

Once Haven is destroyed and we endure the song of Mother Giselle, Solas speaks with the inquisitor dropping some details:

Solas informs the Inquisitor that the orb that Corypheus holds is elven. In fact, by the end of Tresspasser we will know he gave it to him somehow hoping that the unlock would kill Corypheus. He had just awaken from his slumber and was too weakened to do it by himself.

He confirms that unlocking the orb was what destroyed and killed so many in the Temple of Sacred Ashes.

Solas is surprised for Corypheus survival. By the time we reach the Temple of Mythal, we will learn that Corypheus’ will can jump into other blighted creatures and revive from them, but this procedure only happens if he is close to his dragon. This is probably a retcon from DA2: Legacy

Solas calls the orb with the Tevinter name: foci, and he claims they channelled the power of the “elven gods”, probably meaning the Evanuris.

He says that some “were dedicated to specific member of the pantheon”, which I infer it means that not all the Evanuris had an orb.

We know that Corypheus wants to enter the Fade and the Black City once more. We know he is already immortal and has immense power. What’s it in the Fade that he needs and that will be necessary for becoming a god? So far we speculated from Trespasser, the Evanuris claimed godhood through the use of lyrium or through the titan’s hearts that ended up being the orbs. 

This implies that there must be another component to acquire godhood, and it may be in the Black City, whatever this place is.

On the other hand, he serves chaos in the mortal world killing important leaders like Celene and leading an army of demons using the Grey Warden for that matter.

[lesbianholyspirit]

Me loading up DAI to see Leliana acting like the cold and calculating killer she hoped she would never become in origins.

[maythedreadwolftakeyou]

i know we are making all the old man jokes about Emmrich but lets be real with bioware's history of age portrayal (wynne was only 49, divine justinia looking wizened despite being 'young and fresh' only a few years earlier), some in-game conversation in Veilguard is bound to reveal that he's like. a fresh 40 to be honest