#keepers of Temple of Mythal

[lairofdragonagelore]

Murals in DAI: The actions of the Inquisitor

A series of murals painted by Solas in order to record the Inquisitor’s actions in Skyhold’s rotunda. 

[This post is part of the series “ Murals in DAI ”]

[Index page of Dragon Age Lore]

“The Breach”

The border of the mountains are decorated with inverted triangles. It’s hard to know if this is an aesthetic choice or there is a subtle meaning considering the potential understanding of the inverted triangles as indicators of Fade-related spaces [Murals in DAI: Basics].

The air is filled with longer inverted triangles. This may mean the Fade pushing into the Waking World due to the Breach. Elongated triangles seem to represent spaces where the Fade and the Waking World are mixed.

The yellow ray falling from the yellow sphere above is representing the Breach. It seems to have a slight potential analogy with the mural “The Death of a Titan”, as if the ray striking into the Titan’s heart could be compared, even metaphorically, with the representation of the Breach. After all the same author has done these murals [ Nick Thornborrow but also Solas himself]

The yellow sphere on the sky, aesthetically speaking, seems to show a similarity with a Sun. In the Mural “Creation of the Veil” we know that the central sphere inside the Fade is a “contained Sun”. This concept is repeated in other murals.

The first thick border [Border 2] may represent the Veil in a less detailed way. The interior of this yellow sphere is a space filled with many eyes.

These could be the representation of Pride creatures, the Evanuris, the vigilant Dread Wolf himself, or simply the immense amount of demons wanting to enter to the Waking World. 

The supposition of Prideful creatures is based on the fact that pride demons have many eyes.

The supposition of the Evanuris comes from the Concept Art of the Keepers of the temple of Mythal: they were originally conceived to wear an armour that is fully made of countless eyes in the same shape than those we see in this mural.

Even their faces had eye-based tattoos. Since Mythal was an Evanuris, I assumed that maybe this detail in the mural may represent the Evanuris in general. This would mean that they are in the Fade space, which is not true since they cannot contact dreamers, so this option is discarded.

The other suggestion was the Dread Wolf, since the mural of "self-portrait" seems to imply that while Solas, as an elf, exists in the Waking World, his wolf aspect seems to exist and protect the Fade, watching in all directions.

As in the mural of "The creation of the Veil", there is a red sphere inside a black sphere. The Black sphere may be related to the Blight, that by now we can confirm is what Corypheus found when reaching the Golden City.  The Red sphere may represent the Red Lyrium that the Black City has, confirmed in the last mural "the Destruction of the Veil", from the DA:D trailer.

The Black Sphere seem to show a scale-texture, probably a representation of a snake skin to mean this is the place where the Magister Sidereal accessed to.

The Red Sphere shows some dark tendrils extending to the Black Sphere, probably meaning a “leak”. It seems to be that the black substance is leaking into the red sphere and inside the Black City.

“Inquisition Formation”

The sword with the eye and the sun beams over it represents the Inquisition itself. I find it curious the colour choice in the eye: it’s the same colours with which Solas represented the Black and the Red Sphere inside the Fade.

The sword sinks into the Earth, so its formation is a reality.  

As we have been learning in the many elvhenan temples and how they place their statues, we can be confident that the Sword, being central, represents a position of honour, while the howling black wolves are, most probably, representations of Fen’Harel in a “disguise”. The ones that are farther, as well as the head of the ones protecting the sword at its sides show their “golden” nature.  We have seen several golden statues of the Evanuris, and golden details seem to imply divinity in a general way. So this detail may be Solas trying to imply that the black wolf is, in fact, golden. He can’t draw the typical Fen’Harel iconography, but this is basically Solas saying “Fen’Harel is watching and guarding the Inquisition”.

The hilt of sword shows the typical chains of the Chantry that we see in many Chantry-based iconography. For example, the Divine:

The wolves seem to be inside a big triangle that may mean “mountain” as an emphasis of “reality”.

“Siding with the Templars”

We see the castle of Therinfal Redoubt upside-down, showing its connection with the Fade and the control that Envy had during that quest.

The banner of the Templars is ragged, showing how corrupt and broken the Order is. 

The dark figure in it shows 3 arms, meaning this is the Envy demon. The demon is grabbing the Templar sword, representing its control on the Order.

“Siding with the Mages”

We see a central figure that divides the piece in two, a bright side and a dark one. The figure is a Tevinter magister, representing Alexius.  A side of his cape shows snakes and his belt shows golden scales, reinforcing the idea of a “divine” snake and how his current power is “god-like”, specially with his alliance with the Elder One. The colours of the figure are very Tevinter too: black and gold.

The right side of the background represents Redcliffe in the Present, with the bright sun in the sky [Chantry focused], while the one on the left, the Redcliffe from the Future is dark and red, as the Elder One has total control over Thedas. In this case, the interior of the castle is full of red lyrium. The ground of this side is filled with inverted triangles, potentially meaning that the ground itself turned into Fade nature [Waking World and Fade are one].

This whole mural is supported on a circular ground of black and golden triangles, that I’m not sure if it represents the Veil being broken progressively as this future fuses both worlds in one.

“Attack on Haven”

At the bottom of the mural we see a figure of a building burning,  representing Haven in the middle of the mountains during the attack.

A long, tall figure looms over Haven: Corypheus. Its design is asymmetric and the upper part of his body is bordered with red, implying his relationship with Red Lyrium: it’s not clear if this is to imply his control over the Red Templars, or that he himself has been contaminated with it long ago as his design seems to suggest.

In the middle of the figure, there is a greenish sphere that represents the Anchor disputed by two hands: a wiry one that would represent Corypheus’, the other, the Inquisitor’s hand displaying a line across their palm. The recovery of the Anchor failed.

Behind Corypheus figure, we see a big tarnished golden halo. It is smeared at some parts, and has a lot of red and black tendrils. It’s likely that the golden halo represents Divinity, but in this case, because Corypheus is a corrupted and blighted creature, that attempt to obtain divinity has tarnished divinity itself. It’s a “dirty” divinity.

Behind Corypheus and the halo, we see blackness with the same exact pattern that we saw in the belt of the Tevinter figure from the previous mural. This seems to be located above the Breach [three circles in the orange part of the sky] and behind Corypheus, so this may represent  Tevinter attempt to enter the “Black space in the Fade” [aka, Black City].

“The Siege of Adamant Fortress”

From left to right, we see the symbol of the Grey Warden. Depending on the player’s order of playing quests, the background of the symbol will appear in dark [If this is done before the quest of the assassination of Celene] or in warm colours [if it was done after].

The next panel shows Adamant fortress through dunes of sand. I assume this is the Western Approach.

The last panel is bordered by Chantry chains, probably a detail to represent the separation of the world [Waking World and Fade] with the Chantry interpretation or maybe it represents the “Chantry intervention”, since this quest was guided by Justinia.

The bottom of this section shows some mountains or peaks or maybe just a “broken crystal” representing the Fade. On them, some symbols that I’m unable to link with anything else may appear. These symbols are only present if “The Siege of Adamant Fortress” is done before the “assassination of Celene”. Maybe it’s just an aesthetic choice to produce a soft transition between the panels, and these symbols help to integrate the lower border of Celene’s dress. Otherwise, I don’t see any lore reason for them to appear.

We analysed the structure of the spheres presented here in Murals in DAI: Basics, and we concluded that the best interpretation was:

This interpretation coincides in several elements with the visual description we had in the mural “Creation of the Veil”. Even though there is no Black City in it, there is a red sphere with a sun inside a dark sphere. In this mural, such order is switched. However, the red space shows Eyes that have been seen in many other representations of the structure of the Fade. They are related to pride no doubt, but it’s not clear in what sense. It could represent the pride of the Magisters who broke into this place [the presentation of DAO [Darkspawn origin] represents them with dark and red peacock feathers], in others, there are many eyes, implying that there are many creatures pushing in. When it’s just six eyes, I’m inclined to think in Pride; when it’s a countless amount of eyes, I’m inclined it represents spirits or entities pushing out to escape the confinement. A third interpretation offered by the Mural “self-portrait” implies that the Wolf Aspect of Fen’Harel is guarding this space, vigilant of the creatures he sealed long ago.

To see the argument about the aesthetic transition between panels to justify these strange details that appear if one does a quest before another we can see the integrated panels in the rotunda:

The change of colour of the background of the Grey Warden symbol and the strange symbols on the mountains that may appear seem natural depending on the transition of the panels.

“The assassination of Empress Celene”

Celene is represented with her regal blue dress and the golden half circle behind her head. The paint of the dress is a bit messy, like dripping water.

The background represents a typical Orlesian building, likely to be the Winter Palace.

The assassin is always present. It’s white if we do this quest after the “The Siege of Adamant fortress”, or black if it is done before.

The scene of the assassination happens without witnesses if this is played before “The Siege of Adamant fortress”, and with the witnesses of the ball if after.

Again, I don’t see the change of colour of the assassin and the presence or absence of witnesses in the panel as something relevant or related to the Quest Here Lies the Abyss. I see that these details are aesthetic choices to smooth the the transition between the panels.

“Temple of Mythal”

From the bottom, we see the trunk of a tree which is shaped in the same way that the entry gate of the Temple of Mythal.

 This tree trunk shape can also be understood as the bridge that allowed the entrance to the Temple.

Inside the gate, there is a circle with many triangles and a star. This seems to connect to the mosaic with the asterisk symbol. This symbol can be interpreted as a sun is painted in yellow, linking it with the idea of divinity, golden halos, and, of course, the yellow mosaic. All of them make sense since Mythal is a goddess, even though the meaning of each of them is not clear.

The trunk of the tree is made of a constant pattern of undulating brown and blue lines. This may have a relationship with the Vallaslin, and the bound process that the servants of Mythal accept in order to serve her. It could also be a representation of the water of the Well of Sorrows as well as its bounding power [more details in Fen’Harel’s mountain ruins and in Murals in DAI: Basics].

The upper left part of the tree displays some branches that looks like the veins of lyrium we discussed in Murals in DAI: Basics. However, since they are coloured in brown, they seem to be merely tree branches [similar to those we see in the Dalish glass design].

Below those branches, we see a golden pattern of a net, on a moss-green background colour. This reminds me the ceiling of the temple, but also is the same pattern used in the background of the “Attack of Haven” to represent Tevinter interference.

The yellow background of the piece resembles the walls of the Temple

“Dragon slain”

We see a dragon with its neck pierced by a sword, meaning it’s been slain. This is the representation of the Death of Flemeth at the hands of Solas.

In front of it, there is a Wolf with dragony characteristics which represents Fen’Harel. This was when Solas absorbed or was planing to absorb Flemeth’s energy. It seems to imply that Solas was well aware of the transformation that such merging would cause.

The mural is not finished, probably for the lack of time or the regret caused by the action that had to be taken.

[lavellane]

playing what pride had wrought <3 "i have reason to believe these ruins are the temple of mythal" "which is?? 😵‍" i am once again seething with the fury of one thousand enraged gorillas

[thatssolavellan]

Something I always see Solavellans bringing up when they talk about Solas' development over his time with the Inquisition is that he became more flexible, learning about friendship and love. But I always think about how this was also true for Lavellan, at least in my headcanon.

I imagine Ellana being prepared to be the keeper of her clan. Listening over the years to stories about her gods and her past, about Arlathan, about everything that should be passed on by her to the next generations. Being prepared to be a leader, firm but kind. Being prepared to be fair, but to weigh the consequences of her actions. A little alienated, even, from "mundane" things like passions and frivolities of life. The life of the Dalish is hard and does not have much room for such; something she gradually left behind in her youth.

During the Inquisition, she also learns. She learns about the real weight of her decisions in people's lives. She learns about sharing it with other people. She learns about the suffering and pain of other people besides the Dalish. And, more particularly, she learns to question her own views - with Solas and his stories about "the Fade". About how everything she has learned may have other facets. She also learns more about flexibility. And she learns about herself. About wanting someone and loving someone, about a connection different from the ones she has allowed herself to have until now.

In the ten years between the disbandment of the Inquisition and the reunion, she ponders. She learns more about what Solas saw. She immerses herself in Elvhen language and observes all the nuances he presented to her, and that materialized in front of her in the Temple of Mythal. She observes the society of Thedas as a whole and participates in decisions that affect more than her clan. And, even more, she thinks about the reunion. She thinks about what would have been if he had stayed. If he were still by her side, building a change little by little, instead of the rupture he planned. Instead of being a martyr, she allows herself to share the weight of these decisions as she has learned to do. I see some criticism saying that their relationship is weird because it feels like she's been passively waiting for him for 10 years, but that seems to me to ignore what 10 years can do in terms of someone maturing, but not necessarily in terms of changing something that's felt so deeply.

This makes me feel like their reunion and vows in Elvhen are even more special for both of them. They're not just something that should have happened years ago. They're a portrait of their growing up…and their love for each other.

[magekrove]

Forgot to mention i hate the fact that the inquisitor had to go to a fight scene in pajamas

So i made a few redisigns to choose from and decided on the middle one

Also liked the last but i feel it is more sutable for a rogue. Also reminds me of the elves in the temple of mythal

The second one is just keeper robes in shadow dragons' colors

[olexiss-s]

A short attempt to follow up on Solas and Lavellan in the Fade after the events of DAV. Spoilers ahead.

"A reprise"

Miriel opens her eyes as Fade materializes before her. The air feels strange—heavy, gray, with a faint buzzing all around her. It takes her a few seconds to adjust. She’s been here physically before, trapped by the Nightmare. Yet this is no creation of any demon, she hears no voice but her own racing thoughts. Her eyes scan the surroundings, but she is searching for Solas.

He stands a few steps ahead of her, bent over, his hands clasped tightly around himself. She takes a cautious step toward him, placing her hand gently on his back.

"Solas…"

He straightens slowly, taking a moment before turning to meet her gaze. The pain in his expression tightens Miriel's throat. She exhales.

"... I still mean what I said to you in Skyhold," she murmurs. "Next time you have to mourn, you don’t have to do it alone."

His eyes darken with deeper sadness, but a faint smile tugs at the corner of his lips. 

"You don’t deserve to be trapped here with me, vhenan," he replies softly. "This is my grief to bear."

"Where is here, exactly?" She has no intention to explain herself further. 

"A prison," he says, his voice trembling, "fortified by regrets."

"Regrets of those trapped?"

"... Yes." His voice wavers, raw.

"We’ll find a way out," she reassures him. "But first, let me see your wounds."

She takes his hand and leads him to a large stone nearby. They sit, and she reaches for the satchel attached to her belt. Tilting his face gently toward her, she begins cleaning his injuries with a cloth and some alcohol. His eyes avoid hers, carrying the weight of countless unspoken truths.

"The people I failed... The Veil..." he whispers, his voice breaking.

"It is not enough to be right, my heart," she interrupts, her tone heavy with compassion. "The consequences..."

"Felaasan..." The name escapes his lips with reverence. He is on the verge of tears. She has never seen him like this before.

Her thoughts drift to a moment during their time in the Inquisition, after the first execution carried out in her name. She had come to him trembling searching for a familiar face, her shame and guilt pouring out as tears on his shoulder. That night, his calm voice had been her anchor, soothing her soul with stories of forgotten heros plagued with similar dilemmas.

Now, she takes his face in her hands, her fingers brushs softly against his cheek. She kisses him deeply. There is so much to say—questions flooding her mind, anger still lingering from years past. But they can wait. In this moment, the only thing that matters is them together at last.

She recalls those who mocked her for believing in his heart. She had felt it too, doubt gnawing at her so intensely as his words twisted her guts in knots. But her stubbornness was only outmatched by his own. His broken resolve now, however, is a sight to be seen.

She has never seen him as a god. Yet the legends—the ones spoken in hushed whispers around the clan’s campfire—uttered his name like a curse. When she returned broken and bruised from the war, painted as the prophet of a foreign god, her bare face—an insult to her blood. Her keeper, uneasy and bitter as she muttered the name "Fen’Harel" in her sleep. As if the betrayer of kin was her only guardian.

She should be angry. She should offer no understanding to the one who had shattered the world, unearthed her roots, and burned her faith. Who had emptied every temple, leaving only frescoes of lies. Yet as she looks at his face now, his immortal pain reverberates through her. It is what kept her searching, following each trail he purposely left for her.

For a few moments, they remain grounded through this touch, among the ghosts surrounding them. 

"Tell me about Mythal," she asks, her voice on the verge of care and sharpness. Perhaps she aims to understand. Perhaps to grab the hilt of the dagger at his side, uncertain whether to pull it out—or twist it.

"You said she was the best of them," she continues. "Yet she used you. Changed you from who you were. Your wisdom... aimed to kill, to claim what was never yours..."

"I followed her like a lost pup," he admits, his voice tinged with both bitterness and despair. "She made me who I am. But I carried out her plans of my own will."

"The Exalted Plains. Your spirit friend... Wisdom turned to Pride," she reminds him.

"Now I know," he whispers, his voice raw with emotion, "death was much kinder fate then what she would have become..." His voice breaks again. "...and for all those who would stand in her way." he adds.

Eyes heavy with regret almost fade to grey.

[thedinanshiral]

Evanuris Who's who

This is just my personal and very intuitive interpretation of the Evanuris signature symbols. I base my take on recent art, general Evanuris lore and previous depictions of them, primarily mosaics from the Temple of Mythal in DAI. I know others have done this with nicer graphics but everything here is homemade and made with love -on my phone- so please bear with me..

First, from the trailer we got the first depiction of all these Evanuris symbols

Andruil and Ghilan'nain are explained here.

Elgar'nan: it's front and center, as he's the top authority among them. Also, shows up in the trailer mural, implied to be one of the future enemies in the story and he's elvhen God of Vengeance so i'd say if anyone's gonna show up to get even with Solas that'd be him.

June and Sylaise: Possibly the Evanuris we know the least about, and if Solas didn't comment on them at the Temple of Mythal in DAI i'd say they were ok-ish? Either siblings or married (or both, because mythology). Most people think the sun-like one is Elgar'nan as he's the sun in the elvhen pantheon but Sylaise is the Hearthkeeper and nothing else remotely references fire or heat. Her mosaic at the Temple of Mythal shows her wearing a crown of leafs, of which this "sun" could easily be a stylized version. As for June, God of the Craft, all i have is ..it looks like a helmet.

Falon'din and Dirthamen: as Guide of the dead Falon'din is represented in the mosaics as holding a shepard's staff so i assigned him the symbol closest to a staff. As for Dirthamen, as Keeper of Secrets he's depicted in mosaics covering his mouth with both hands. On this first picture, simple 2D, neither headpiece can be fully appreciated, but one could say the "staff" one fits in the empty space of the other one, and these two were said to be inseparable, twin souls, with a bond that trascended any labels, shadow and reflection of one another.

Now, onto the vinyl covers. The first one here is Arlathan pre-disaster. We see the city with all its spires watched over by a huge dragon that for completion's sake i assigned as Mythal; while she lived, the world was in order, more or less. There's also a mysterious tiny figure below, hooded and holding a staff that kinda looks like Elgar'nan's symbol; at first i thought it could be Fen'harel but it actually fits as Elgar'nan or one of his people, because it's still possible he's responsible for her death.

And now the best part, the alternative cover presents a much darker scenario, Arlathan falling. With the city crumbling down, a different, visibly aggressive/hostile dragon watching over it with horns that, yet again, resemble Elgar'nan's symbol, and hanging from the edge of its wings we see heads, each wearing an Evanuris headpiece. The mysterious hooded figure is gone here, the floating ground it stood on already gone.

Once i put the names i noticed this placement, where the lovers are across each other, and the twins are directly facing each other (as you would a mirror); i found it a bit curious because this only works if we go with my assigned correspondences.

Speaking of the twins, let's check this concept art for a bit. It depicts the party of heroes fighting off drakspawn while two dragons say hi in the background. But is it really two dragons? I see two heads ..but also only two wings. Could it be a double headed dragon?? Concidentally two Archdemons remain, and people have speculated what better way to fuck up Thedas than with two Blights at once? On top of Solas taking down the Veil and reshaping the fabric of reality, again. No such thing as a boring day in Thedas.

Important to note is the remaining Archdemons correspond to the Old Gods Razikale the dragon of Mystery, and Lusacan, dragon of Night. If you adhere to the theory that says the tevinter Old Gods are actually the Evanuris -i've wrote on this extensively-, one possibility is Razikale corresponds with Dirthamen (dragon of mystery? keeper of secrets? potato potahto, same thing) while Lusacan corresponds with Falon'din (dragon of night? guide of the dead? darkness all around). If we've been right about these equivalences then this piece of art would be showing indeed a two-headed dragon, the Twins. Their bond so strong, so transcendental, so inseparable they return to the world as one, for a recharged Blight.

The only tiny detail against this is that Razikale is referred to as a she, whereas the twins are presumed to be male, however i don't let this take from my fun because ancient elves were very particular and their perception of sex and gender must have been like nothing we can think of today.

[petchic101]

DA Elvish

I separated all of Dragon Age's known Elvish into Nouns, idioms ect

Nouns

Titles/Types of people/Groups

Anaris: – according to an old tale, he was once tricked by Fen'Harel while dueling the Great Hunter Andruil

Andruil: Goddess of the Hunt is the elven Goddess of the Hunt, known also as "blood and force" and the "great hunter."

Arlathvhen: Meeting of the Dalish clans that occurs every ten years. Means "for love of the people."

Asha'bellanar: "The Woman of Many Years." How the Dalish refer to Flemeth.

Da'len: Little child; little one.

Daern'thal: Known Forgotten One

Din: The dead.

Dirthamen: Keeper of Secrets, is the twin brother of Falon'Din and is the elven god of secrets and knowledge, and master of the ravens Fear and Deceit. Dirthamen gave to elves the gift of knowledge and taught them loyalty and faith in family.

Elgar: Spirit.

Dirth'ena enasalin: "Knowledge that led to victory"; the Elvish term for the Arcane Warrior or, more recently, Knight Enchanter disciplines.

Durgen’len: Children of the stone; the Ancient Elvish term for the dwarves.

Elgar'nan: God of Vengeance also known as the All-Father, the Eldest of the Sun and He Who Overthrew His Father—represents fatherhood and vengeance, and leads the pantheon with the goddess Mythal.

Elvhen: Elven name for their own race; our people.

Elvhenan: The name of the elven civilization before the arrival of humans in Thedas; the place of our people.

Era'harel: Demon-mage; similar to an arcane horror.

Evanuris: Leader; Translated by Dorian in context as "mage leader"; what the elvhen called their gods.

Falon: Friend.

Falon'Din: Friend of the Dead, the Guide is the elven God of Death and Fortune and guides the dead to the Beyond. He and his twin brother, Dirthamen, are the eldest children of Elgar'nan the All-Father and Mythal the Protector.

Fen'Harel: The Dread Wolf is an enigmatic trickster god of the elves, whose supposed betrayal of both the benevolent Creators and the malefic Forgotten Ones is the only explanation most elves have for the destruction of Arlathan. Dalish clans view him with wariness and seek to protect themselves and their kin from his treachery. It is revealed by Solas in Mythal's temple that this could be a misinterpretation by the Dalish and instead he was the god of rebellion.

Geldauran: Known Forgotten One

Ghilan'nain: Mother of the Halla is called the Mother of the halla—white deer-like creatures revered by the Dalish and used to pull their aravel, or "landships"—and goddess of navigation.

Ghil-Dirthalen: "One who guides seekers of knowledge true."

Ghilan'him banal'vhen: "The path that leads astray": a derogatory term for Arcane Warriors among those elves who eschewed physical combat.

Hahren'al: A gathering of hahrens during the Arlathvhen.

Hahren: Elder; used as a term of respect by the Dalish as well as by city elves for the leader of an alienage.

Harillen: Opposition.

June: God of the Craft is the elven Master of Crafts. He is variously described either as a brother to Andruil and Sylaise or as Sylaise's husband. He taught the elves to make bows, arrows, and knives to hunt Andruil's gifts.

Lethallin/Lethallan/Lethallen: Casual reference used for someone with whom one is familiar; generally, lethallin is used for males while lethallan is used for females; lethallen has been stated to be the appropriate gender neutral term unless otherwise stated later in canon, though it is likely to remain the same. Note: Though "lethallin" is usually used for males and "lethallan" for females, as stated above

Lethanavir: Another appellation of Falon'Din the elven god of death and fortune who guides the dead to the Beyond.

Mien'harel: Rebellion; depending on the interpretation, a violent call for justice; a concept that when humans push the elven population too far they must remind them that even a "short blade" must be respected; most commonly a term used by city elf.

Mythal: the Great Protector, the Protector and the All-Mother, and goddess of love, is the patron of motherhood and justice and leads the pantheon with her male counterpart, Elgar'nan.

Shemlen: The original name elves use for the human race; continues to see use as a slang term amongst the City Elves ("shems") even though its meaning has largely been lost; literally "quick children".

Somniari: Dreamer.

Sylaise: the Hearthkeeper is the goddess of all the domestic arts and the sister of Andruil the Huntress. Sylaise gave the elves fire, and taught them how to weave rope and thread, and to use herbs and magic for healing purposes.

Vhenallin: Friends of the People.

Nature

Adahl/Adhal: Tree.

Adahlen: Wood.

Alas: Earth, dirt.citation needed

Dahl'amythal: Tree of Mythal from which Dalish Keepers’ staves are cut.

Durgen: Stone.citation needed

Elgara: Sun.

Felandaris: Demon weed.

Vallas: Set, as in the setting of the sun.

Vallasdahlen: Trees planted in remembrance of those who dedicated their lives to the Dalish kingdom that grew into a mighty wood; life-trees.

Vhenadahl: The tree of the people.

Vhen'alas: The land itself, as in "the ground"; literally "our earth".citation needed

Vunin: Day.

Animal

Fen: Wolf.

Hallas: are a type of horned stag; some are herded by the Dalish—who use them to pull their aravels, or landships. Their milk is also made into cheese and butter.[2] The Dalish do not consider them beasts of burden but noble companions. To get them to accompany a clan, the Dalish elves ask rather than force them to.

Hanal'ghilan: Elven name for the mythical golden halla said by the Dalish to appear during times of great need; the pathfinder.

Body/Self

Banal'ras: Shadow.

Renan: Voice.

Taren: Mind.

Vallaslin: Blood writing; The art of tattooing adopted by some elves to more prominently display their worship of the traditional elven pantheon.

Vhenan: Heart; often used as a term of endearment.

Concept

Abelas: Sorrow; to be sorry.

Aravel: A wagon used by the Dalish; also a physical and spiritual path, a journey with purpose. Humans call them "landships."

Atish’an: Peace.

Athim: Humility.

Bellanaris: Eternity.

Din'an: Death; end.

Din'anshiral: A journey of death.

Dirth: A term for knowledge or secrets; tell; speak.citation needed

Enasalin: Victory.

Enansal: Blessing.

Enaste: Favor.

Halani: Help.

Hamin: Rest.

Harellan: Trickster; used by the Dalish to mean "traitor to one's kin".

Melana: Time.

Melanada: All time. 

Melava: Time;

Revas: Freedom.

Shiral: Journey.

Sulahn'nehn: Rejoice; joy.

Sulevin: Purpose.

Vir: Way; we.

Weapons/Equipment

Assan: Arrow.

Bor'assan: Bow.

Felassan: Slow arrow.

Mi: Blade.citation needed

Places

Arlathan: The major city of Elvhenan, original homeland of the elves; from the phrase "ar lath’an" meaning, "This place of love".

Banalhan: A name for the Blight or its place of origin; the place of nothing.

Dirthavaren: The promise; the Elven name for the Exalted Plains.

Halamshiral: The capital of the second elven homeland in the Dales; the end of the journey.

Setheneran: Land of waking dreams; a place where the Veil is thin.

Tarasyl'an Te'las: The place where the sky was held back; Ancient Elven name for Skyhold.

Vhenas: Home.

Vir'abelasan: The place of the way of sorrows; refers to the Well of Sorrows.

Other

Aravel: A wagon used by the Dalish; also a physical and spiritual path, a journey with purpose. Humans call them "landships."

Banalhan: A name for the Blight or its place of origin; the place of nothing.

Elgar'arla: Spirit-trap; a binding circle to hold a spirit or demon.

Eluvian: Mirror; literally "seeing glass."

Mi'durgen: Diamond; literally 'blade stone'.

Adjective

Eth: Safe.citation needed

Mirthadra: Honored.

Sa: One; one more.

Shem: Quick.

Tan: Three.

Then: Awake; alert.citation needed

Verb

Abelas: Sorrow; to be sorry.

Dirth: A term for knowledge or secrets; tell; speak.citation needed

Dirthara: Learn;

Dirthera: To tell tales.

Enfenim: To fear.

Ghilana: To guide.

Ghilas: To go.

Harel: To trick or deceive;

Him: Become.

Las: Grant; give.

Lasa ghilan: Grant/give guidance.

Lath: Love of being; to be in love.

Numin: Cry.

Nuvenin: Say, as in “as you say”.

Samahl: Laugh.

Somniar: To dream.

Sulahn'nehn: Rejoice; joy.

Sulahn: Sing.

Uthenera: The name of the ancient practice of immortal elves who would "sleep" once they tired of life; immortal; waking sleep; literally "eternal waking dream".citation needed

Pronoun

Ar: First person pronoun; I, me.

Mala: Your.

Mir: My.

Var: Our.

Vir: Way; we.

Ect

Banal: Never.

Dar: To be.citation needed

In: In.

Ir: I am.

Iras: Where.

Irassal: Wherever.

La: And.

Na: Is.

Pre/Suffix

-an: Suffix indicating place or location.

Da: Diminutive prefix; small.

Idioms

Andaran atish’an: "Enter this place in peace." A formal elven greeting.

Aneth ara: A sociable or friendly greeting, more commonly used among the Dalish themselves rather than with outsiders.

Ara seranna-ma: A way to excuse oneself, such as after a sneeze or belch.

Banal nadas: Nothing is known for certain./Not necessarily.

Boranehn: Lost joy.

Dareth shiral: farewell; literally "Safe journey."

Enasal: Joy in triumph over loss; a variation of joyful relief.

Falon’Din enasal enaste: A prayer for the dead.

Fen'Harel enansal: The Dread Wolf's blessing.

Fen'Harel ma ghilana: "Dread Wolf guides you." Indicates someone being misled.

Halam'shivanas: The sweet sacrifice of duty.

Hellathen: Noble struggle.

Ir abelas: I am sorry.

Lathbora viran: Roughly translated as "the path to a place of lost love," a longing for a thing one can never really know.

Nadas: Inevitability; something that must be; used as an expression of obligation, i.e. "must".

Ma nuvenin: As you say.

Ma vhenan: My heart; sometimes shortened simply to vhenan, "heart"; a term of endearment.

Ma serannas: My thanks./Thank you.

Mana. Ma halani: Help me. 

Mythal'enaste: Mythal's favor.

Penshra! Ghilas vellathan!: Politely translated as "I prefer that you remain close."

Revasan: The place where freedom dwells.

Sahlin: Now; is come.

Sa'vunin: One more day.

Solas: Pride; to stand tall.

Solasan: A prideful place.

Suledin: The concept of finding strength in enduring loss or pain; endure.

Tel'abelas: I'm not sorry.

Telanadas: Nothing is inevitable.

Var lath vir suledin!: Our love will endure

Vir enasalin!: We will win!

Vir sumeil: We are close.

Commands/Threats/Curses

Bellanaris Din'an Heem: "Make you dead."

Dirthara-ma: "May you learn." Used as a curse.

Fenedhis: Meaning officially undefined as of yet; a common curse.

Fenedhis lasa: Meaning officially undefined as of yet. A common curse.

Fen'Harel ma halam: "Dread Wolf ends you." A threat.

Garas: Come.

Garas quenathra: "Why are you here?/Why have you come?" Spoken by the voices of the Vir'abelasan

Masal din'an: A threat, meaning unknown.

Na abelas: You'll be sorry.

Na din'an sahlin!: Your death is come!

Na melana sahlin: Your time is come.

Specific Sentences

Ar lasa mala revas: "You are free." More literally "I give you your freedom."

Ar lath ma, vhenan: "I love you, heart/my heart"

Ar-melana dirthavaren. Revas vir-anaris: Fen'Harel’s secret greeting. Meaning unknown.

Atish'all Vir Abelasan: "Enter the path of the Well of Sorrows."

Dirth ma banal. Mar solas ena mar din: "You have learned nothing. Your pride will be your death/downfall." A Dalish saying.

Dirth ma, harellan. Ma banal enasalin. Mar solas ena mar din: Roughly means: "Your pride is responsible for everything that has gone wrong; you will die alone."

Ir abelas, ma vhenan: "I am filled with sorrow for your loss, my heart."

Ir tel'him: I'm me again.

Ma banal las halamshir var vhen: You do nothing to further our people. 

Ma harel, da’len: You lie, child.

Ma harel lasa!: You lied to me.

Ma ghilana mir din'an: Guide me into death.

Ma melava halani: You helped me.

Mala suledin nadas: Now you must endure.

Malas amelin ne halam: I hope you find a new name.

Melana en athim las enaste: Now let humility grant favor.

Sulevin ghilana hanin: Roughly translates to "purpose guides to glory". This is an inscription on the back of the Dalish shield called "The Path to Glory".

Sylaise enaste var aravel. Lama, ara las mir lath. Bellanaris.: Dalish marriage vows.

Tel garas solasan: Come not to a prideful place.

[vigilskeep]

hi! nennaia drank from the well of sorrows, right? sorry if i'm misremembering but i was wondering how she felt about that choice, and if you think any other inquisitors of yours would also drink and why (or why not!)

yes she did!!

to nennaia it was less that she particularly wanted to and more that it was her duty—which you can say about most of her decisions, haha. she didn’t trust morrigan (nothing that personal, simply that morrigan hadn’t earned it yet). nor did she think morrigan had truly weighed the possibility of her son having to grow up alone. she is also, personally, a worshipper of mythal. she would have considered it a betrayal of her beliefs to leave the knowledge of the temple of mythal to a shemlen rather than bear the burden herself, even at a risk. she certainly feels that it is she who has the right. and she probably is somewhat suited for it, in all fairness, being an extremely mentally disciplined person

arthur, my trevelyan boy, would not drink, i don’t think. this is not his area of expertise and he’s more cautious than that, plus i think he’d like morrigan—he has a lot of respect for apostates, he thinks they’re braver than he is—and would therefore be more willing to let her go ahead. weirdly, i wonder if his templar sister helena would drink? could go either way; she deeply wouldn’t trust the well or morrigan

i could see my cadash drinking. i typically play cadash as buying into the herald of andraste thing bc i think it’s interesting. i think having just found out at adamant that they were never chosen, they might, in the midst of that breakdown, desperately jump at any kind of divinity. could be a really fun angle

i’ve been developing another lavellan lately who maybe wouldn’t drink. this is a young mage who never took as well to the weight of duty as nennaia. she knows she should. that it would be the right thing to do, the responsibility of a keeper, to take the risk herself to preserve elven history. but the world has asked so much of her already

[tobiasdrake]

Dalish Elf Origin. Now we're getting into the lore that was strongly recontextualized through Veilguard.

Now we're getting into things that directly intersect with the Veilguard revelations. After Andraste's revolution gave the Dales to the Arlathan descendants and then Andraste's church took the Dales back away from them, scatterings of elves refused to join human societies and convert to Andrastianism. They instead went their own way to try and remember what they could of the Evanuris and their true heritage.

Right from the get-go, the first codex entry is about the gods the Dalish worship.

Elgar'nan, Eldest of the Sun and He Who Overthrew His Father

Mythal the Protector

Fen'Harel the Dread Wolf

Andruil the Huntress

Dirthamen the Keeper of Secrets

Ghilan'nain the Mother of Halla

June the Master of Crafts

Sylaise the Hearthkeeper

Falon'Din is missing from the list.

The endgame that the Dalish seem to have in mind is to simply outlast humanity. They're just gonna wait it out until human civilization has collapsed, then reclaim what's theirs.

Though some Dalish are satisfied with what they have now. The "Aravels" codex entry details the journal of Taniel, a Dalish who thinks the elves have it better now than they ever have. Taniel longs for neither Arlathan nor the Dales, but believes that the Dalish are more free as a nomadic people than they've ever been in history.

Considering the history of Arlathan and Tevinter... uh.. yeah, that checks out.

Also, sometimes the Dalish piss off the woods and get turned into trees. That just. Happens. It happened in Arlathan Forest in Tevinter, and it also happened in the Brecilian Forest in Ferelden.

The Brecilian Forest codex entry tells the story of a clan who cut down a tree they shouldn't have. The tree had a spirit living in it and, despite the spirit begging them not to, one of the Dalish cut it down anyway to make bows. The spirits' retaliation made their whole clan into tree statues of ex-people.

In any case, the Dalish origin features the uncovering of a mysterious ancient ruin. Deep in the Brecilian Forest, on the opposite end of the continent from Arlathan, is an old site made from human architecture but with effigies of Elven gods.

Not this. This is a statue is of a woman gently roasting her forehead.

I was referring to this.

According to Tamlen, this is one of the Evanuris, though he neglects to name which one unless you press him on it. It's Falon'Din, the one that the codex forgot to mention.

Creepy, yes, but Tamlen assures the Dalish Elf that Falon'Din wasn't an evil god. He's wrong. Trust your instincts, folks.

(Fortunately for all of us, Falon'Din's been dead since the end of the second Blight, so we don't have to worry about whatever the fuck is being depicted here.)

But the key point of interest inside this ruin is, of course, this.

The Eluvian, which has the truly interesting feature of being guarded by a Blighted bear.

During the investigation of the Eluvian, Tamlen describes seeing a vast underground city and a great darkness. The darkness he's describing is, of course, the Blight. This Eluvian is implicitly connected to one of the lost Dwarven thaigs that the Darkspawn took.

Right here at the very start, a connection is made between the ancient elven gods, the Blight, and the Deep Roads. This temple to Falon'Din has a blighted Eluvian to some ancient thaig.

(Perhaps to his Archdemon Zazikel?)

Duncan, notably, miscredits the Eluvians as being of Tevinter origin. The Wardens are aware enough of Eluvians to know that sometimes they "break", as he puts it. They just... become Blighted out of nowhere, and start radiating Blight to everything that touches them.

(Because the Eluvian network passes through the Fade and the Blight itself also comes from the Fade. The Blight is tainting Eluvians from the other side.)

Also there's an opening to the Deep Roads. Apparently we have Dwarves to credit for that, as the blurb describes them as having "dug too high and too frugal and struck elves".

As the dwarves emerged from the vanquished Titans, it's entirely likely that they didn't realize there was an upper limit on digging at first.

The fun thing about the Dalish Origin is that, although this is not the Dalish clan we'll spend a major chunk of Origins's story with, it is a Dalish clan that we get to know very well in the second game.

Merethari will regret this decision.

Ilen has a bit of history for the clan to share. The Sabrae clan were among the first to flee the Dales during the second collapse of Elven civilization. That would have been around the year 7719, when the Dalish kingdom fell and the Sabrae people fled to the Brecilian Forest.

Upon arrival in Brecilian, the elves made a pre-emptive strike against the barbarian clans of the Clayne Alamarri, who Ilen is confident would have attacked us anyway. Probably not unfounded but it's still worth noting that the Sabrae started the hostility between the Clayne and Sabrae.

Note that this is centuries before the formation of the Ferelden kingdom in 8041. When they say "the Clayne", they mean Fereldans. The Clayne tribes are the Alamarri banns, arlings, and teyrnirs that Calenhad would one day unify into his kingdom.

In a sense, the Sabrae are still at war with the Clayne to this day

There is also a Dalish historian but he only shares the basics. After being freed from Tevinter, we built up the Dalish kingdom and sought to reclaim our lost history and lore. But then the humans were bitter that we didn't worship Andraste and fucked us right up.

Elven legends say that their ancestors were immortal and possessed magic that humans could scarcely dream of.

This is accurate. They're remembering the time before the Veil, when elves could draw on power from the Fade and the Blight. Solas isn't exactly wrong to think that the elves kinda-sorta long for him to tear down the Veil. They don't know that's what cost them so much. But it is, and he's misguidedly accurate in lamenting it.

Codex entries on the fall of Arlathan go a bit more into detail. Ancient elves were eternal and "never-changing", hinting at their origins as Spirits. They drifted through life in slow-motion, in a state where a conversation could last years or even decades.

The elves were here first. Well, the Titans were here first but the elves were here before the humans. They recall the first humans arriving from Par Vollen, the very same island that would become the arrival point of the Qunari.

(Did humans come from the same far-off lands that the Qunari came from?)

The Dalish recounting of Arlathan's history remembers nothing of the Titans, of course. But they do recall a "quickening" effect from contact with humans, whereby the elves' interactions with humans made them become short-lived and mortal as if somehow reflecting the humans' nature.

(Most likely a distorted interpretation of the Spirits deciding that they wanted to become corporeal. Perhaps it was contact with the humans coming in through Par Vollen that set the Spirits' minds to becoming the human-like elves?)

They don't recall the war between the Dread Wolf's forces and the Evanuris. But they do remember the newly arrived humans eventually forging their fledgling civilization into the Tevinter Imperium. And the fall of Arlathan under Tevinter conquest.

They also claim that "human contact" with the Tevinter turned every elf mortal. Probably misremembering the effects of the Veil going up.

They do, however, recall a pretty accurate account of what became of the Evanuris. Fen'Harel approached the "ancient gods of good and evil" and offered them a truce. They would exile themselves to their respective realms and never enter the other's lands.

However, they did not realize this was a trick. Fen'Harel betrayed them and sealed all the gods away forever, and that is why they were unable to come to Arlathan's rescue when Tevinter violence fell upon them. Now Fen'Harel roams the Fade, watching over the prison of the Evanuris to ensure they never escape.

That's... pretty much it, yeah..

Poking around the Dalish camp brings out some interesting bits of lore as well. Despite ostensibly being the sun god, Elgar'nan is remembered for fighting and winning a war against the sun.

According to legend, Elgar'nan was the son of the earth and sun. However, the sun grew jealous of the earth's love for Elgar'nan and lashed out, destroying all the creatures of the earth. Elgar'nan retaliated, attacking the sun. They fought until Elgar'nan tore the sun from the heavens and cast it into a deep abyss.

With the sun's defeat, the sky was left blanketed in shadow, with only shimmering twinkles of the sun's blood dotting the sky. Elgar'nan basically invented night by kicking the sun's ass.

While this is obviously the distortion of mythmaking, it certainly does explain why his Archdemon Lusacan is known as the Dragon of Night by Tevinter.

(Of note: The elves are spirits who assumed corporeal form. The Maker allegedly created the spirits and the Fade first, then went on to create the corporeal world. Elven legend says Elgar'nan ripped his father from the heavens and buried him in the earth. The Maker, if he exists, is missing for reasons unknown. Is this something? IDK.)

All in all, hanging out with the Dalish is fascinating when you know the context behind their legends.

[karnesada]

Dirthamen Lore

Codex pdf download: DAO DA2 DAI DAV

Dalish myths

dirthamen, keeper of secrets - the tale of the two brothers who were separated walking the shifting paths of the Fade. Spirits of Fear and Deceit attempted to sow both in Dirthamen, but he bound and bade them take him to find Falon'din, where the twins were reunited.

world of thedas, v. 1 - Dirthamen is said to have given the elves the gift of knowledge and the value of loyalty and faith in family.

falon'din, friend of the dead - Falon'din and Dirthamen walked the Fade with those of the People who had entered uthenara. After elves became mortal, some remained with Falon'din in the Fade and never returned. Though they took counsel with Dirthamen, his wisdom was lost since they did not return to the waking world. Elves bury their dead with cedar branches to scatter Dirthamen's ravens from the corpse.

on bears - Dirthamen gave one secret to each creature when the world was new. The foxes, birds, and hares traded their secrets to Andruil for new gifts. Dirthamen tore Andruil's gifts from the foxes, birds, and hares, but honored bears for steadfastly keeping Dirthamen's gift to them.

varterral - "before Arlathan", Dirthamen had a flourishing city in the mountains. A high dragon made its nest there, and his people prayed for four days that Dirthamen would help them. He at last formed a beast from the mountains and fallen trees, the varterral, which became the guardian of his city. After Fen'harel's betrayal, the varterral remained even as the city crumbled. It remains to this day.

World tales

twins in shadow - an academic treatise that examines whether or not there was a familial relationship between Dirthamen and Falon'din. Tevinter-translated texts refer to them as "twin souls". The oldest stories never name them directly, referring to Falon'din as "Dirthamen's shadow" and Dirthamen as "Falon'din's reflection." The scholar does not believe it was a romantic relationship, but posits it may have been an allegory for complex ancient relationships.

the mysterious, hooded figure iconography - a sculpture of a hooded figure in Citadel du Corbeau casts a shadow in the shape of a raven over the keep. Human scholars of elven history theorize such sculptures were made as representations of Dirthamen.

constellation tenebrium - scholars believed it was originally associated with Falon'din since the shape is an owl.

Dirthamen does not have a constellation attributable to him.

constellation silentir - historically attributed to Dumat, the old god of Silence. Interestingly, scholars believe it was earlier attributed to Mythal.

Ancient legends

ancient elven writing (dirthamen's sinner) - a sinner belonging to Dirthamen took wings, which was treason as it was considered a divine shape. Dirthamen claimed Ghilan'nain bade the sinner take that shape, and begged Mythal for protection. She spurned him, and let Elgar'nan judge him.

this forms the substance of the theory that there’s a connection between Dirth and Ghil. much of this post is disproven by veilguard, although the mosaic pairings are interesting. this is a better read on this story imo, that Ghil's "urging" of the sinner was a manipulation to weaken Dirthamen's position with Elgar'nan (and by extension, Falon'din, who waged a civil war against Elgar'nan). this lines up with the constant Evanuris infighting Solas and the Veil Jumpers talk about so much. but in sum, aside from the mention of her in this codex (the mention itself is hearsay), there is no lore connection between Dirth and Ghil beyond the title of 'Evanuris'.

the lost temple of dirthamen - a prayer by the priests who dwelt in the temple in what is now northeastern Orlais, uttered after Dirthamen disappeared with the other gods. The high priest sought to sacrifice the others to keep them imprisoned and seal the temple from outsiders. The priests rebelled, dismembered the high priest, and used his mind, tongue, hands, ears, eyes, and heart to protect the secrets he had.

pantomime theater mask of dirthamen - "In narrative, he is the secret behind what beckons, whose reveal answers questions first denied, then demanded."

Solas' dialogue

To Elgar'nan: "Our deepest mysteries [came] from Dirthamen."

Primary sources (letters, dialogue (not from Solas), etc.)

mythal's memories as relayed by morrigan - a fragment is "one small piece of many formed when something greater is broken...when a spirit is broken, it may shatter into pieces. each holding part of the original. among the ancient elves who became known as gods, Dirthamen and his "brother" Falon'din are but one example." Fragments of spirits can get along with each other.

Modern studies (Veilguard analysis)

elven gods and tevinter gods - We're still arguing about: Dirthamen (secrets) = Dumat, Dragon of Silence (secrets, silence... makes sense?)...If it helps, Dumat liked toads. Did Dirthamen?

Disputed sources (theories, datelined language, etc.) since there's so little on Dirthamen, delving into the secrets is appropriate. Most of them predate Veilguard, and some theories reference things we now know are not connected to Dirthamen (the Crossroads and the eluvians, for one).

the voices in the well - the first voice beckons 'go to him, dirth'. Some have speculated that this refers to Dirthamen. But it's more likely to be part of any of the Elvhen words that begin with 'dirth', the word "for knowledge or secrets." It could simply have been, "go to him, [and] learn".

the repeat of raven imagery in the elven ruins we cross in Trespasser and in Vir Dirthara.

a large post compiling theories on Dirthamen from the position that he helped "Mythal and Solas free their people." - much of this is discredited and can now be attributed to Solas, particularly Dirthamen's connection to the eluvians. Other theories have more value. This poster also took the position that Razikale was associated with Dirthamen, which we know is not accurate.

Modern studies (Veilguard analysis)

elven gods and tevinter gods - We're still arguing about -Dirthamen (secrets) = Dumat, Dragon of Silence (secrets, silence... makes sense?)

[lairofdragonagelore]

Patterns and Styles: Avvar/Alamarri

Avvar/Alamarri design is quite rustic, stone-based, and sometimes it's hard to differentiate one from another considering their cultural history: the Avvar are a branch of the Alamarri that moved towards the Mountains. Alamarri as well as Avvar and Chasind have a long story of inter-racial mix with the dwarves of Orzammar, which is clear in their art: heavily based on stone and with some imagery of dwarves.

However, it is important to remember that Avvar in particular may have had also relationships with the Elvhenan, as Tyrdda's lover was an elven woman. Their tradition with mages and their treatment of the spirits also resembles their influence from the elvhenan culture. This strange mix is then reflected in the art.

This series of posts are not exhaustive since I’ve developed a very detailed list of tags tracking certain features of a given design. These posts merely try to gather in one place the symbols and elements I used most of the time when identifying buildings in my analysis of DAI.

[This post is part of the series “Patterns and Styles ”] [Index page of Dragon Age Lore]

Patterns

When it comes to patterns, the only one that I can assume is alamarri it's an intricated rhomboid pattern [celtic-like] that we can find in some columns of arches that are spread all over Ferelden. It's not clear for me that this pattern was later imported by the Avvar. However, it's interesting to highlight the resemblance to the elvhenan walls in temples such as in Mythal's Temple [see Patterns and Styles: Elvhenan] which also seems to be related to the pattern found in the pants that Dalish wear, and ironically, Qunari too.

Statues and decorations

1 - Keepers of Fear and their variations

Part of the reason I consider these statues as Keepers of Fear is that they represent similar imagery; they share the style and some characteristics, and are related to the codex The Keepers of Fear. They display the despair and fear that the Alamarri felt when the Blight came from the north. They tend to be elongated humanoids, usually with pointy teeth, without a nose, and screaming/cowering body language.

They also appear close to one another, in groups, in Kenric’s study room in the DLC Jaws of Hakkon [ Frostback Basin [DLC]: Miscellaneous ] implying similar origin for study. They also decorate the paths that head to the Avvar Hold in the DLC, and inside the hold itself.

In the Fade, we find the codex The Keepers of Fear on one of these statues, where we learn that the Alamarri/Avvar used them to scream inside them during the time of the Blight, thinking the darkspawn were spirits. As we know thanks to the DLC Jaws of Hakkon, the Avvar [and by extension most likely the Alamarri and the Chasind] would feed the spirits to keep them close [spirits] or away [demons] from their communities.

1A - Screaming Keeper [Alamarri/Avvar]

Where it can be found:

In Crestwood, in a place a bit isolated closed to a destroyed Andraste statue,

In Fallow Mire: Granite Point [not original from this place],

In Frostback Basin [DLC]: Stone-Bear Hold Avvars : Everywhere, specially along the paths.

In Hinterlands: Minor places, in several places and caves.

In Hinterlands: Redcliffe – Future, along the corridors of the fortress as the Fade and the Waking World get merged.

In the Fade Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, in many places, since this part of the Fade we visit is close to the lair of a Nightmare Demon who feeds upon the Fear and Despair. At some point one of these statues triggers the codex The Keepers of Fear.

The Fade of Flemeth: Part 1, Part 2, as decoration of an avvar/alamarri corridor.

Brief description: This statue is elongated. It has long arms, and its hands are grabbing the face, distorted in fear as it screams. It has no nose. There are some strange appendages falling down and making an extension of its chin [thick beard?]. We can see the ribs very easily, suggesting illness or hunger. It also has elongated legs, one of them crossing over the hip that conveys an impression of more terror and fear.

These Keepers appear quite regularly in all places over Ferelden and the Frostback Mountains. They are inserted in the landscape or along paths, and we can see they are a good reflection of what the codex The Keepers of Fear says: They are part of the Avvar/Alamarri "superstition”: They thought the Darkspawns were bad spirits that fed on fear, so they crafted these statues to feed them far away from their communities, to keep them satisfied and away from them. However, when this did not work [since the darkspawn are not spirits], the Alamarri/Avvar used these statues to scream inside them and pour all their fear into them, “burn” it in order to get rid of it, and go to battle against the darkspawn no matter their gender or age.

In the Frostback Basin [DLC], we can find these statues flanking the path to the Avvar Hold or inside it. In the Fade it makes sense for them to appear where the Lair of the demon Nightmare lives: he has been feeding upon these fears for centuries.

1B - Screaming heads [Avvar]

Where it can be found:

In Frostback Basin [DLC]: Miscellaneous: everywhere

In Hinterlands: Statues, paintings, and structures found in the open , Wolf Hollow, Tyrdda Bright-Axe Path [as a part of the stanza], and Minor places

In Hinterlands: Redcliffe - Future, as the Waking World and the Fade merge one another.

In Therinfal Redoubt [in the part of the Fade]

In the Fade Part 1, Part 3, in many places. This part of the Fade we visit is close to the lair of a Nightmare Demon who feeds on Fear and Despair, so it makes sense we see so many of these Keepers.

The Fade of Flemeth: Part 1, as decoration of an avvar/alamarri corridor.

Brief description: This statue is an isolated head with two faces [front and back display different shapes], I can see humanoid faces in them: one as a screaming melted human without nose [which can also be considered the face of a Terror demon or a ghoul], and the other one as a screaming boar of pointy teeth, which inside its mouth there is another screaming face. Everything is too deformed to be precise.

The game efficiently combines these heads in ways that seem to create new different horror statues by clipping them.

We find these faces all over Ferelden and the Frostback Mountains, specially in Avvar/Alamarri territory.

1C - Sitting screaming humanoid [Avvar]

Where it can be found:

In Frostback Basin [DLC]: Stone-Bear Hold Avvars : specially in small cliffs into the sea, where the Avvar can be seen fishing. It can also be found aside a path inside the Avvar Hold.

In the Hinterlands: The Unknown Ruin [Mihris] clipped with a skull.

In the The Fade of Flemeth: Part 2, clipped with a skull.

In Hissing Wastes: scattered objects and ruins, inside a crevice where a Fereldan vendor has been placed, but we only find their mabari and several objects of Ferelden iconography.

Brief description: This statue is elongated and shares many characteristics present in 1A and 1B. It shows long arms, hands covering the eyes, screaming out of fear as it cowers. It's sitting inside a basket. It has no nose and its teeth are pointy. We can see the ribs very easily, suggesting hunger or illness.

During the DLC Frostback Basin [DLC]: Stone-Bear Hold Avvars, Dorian will point out this is an Avvar statue, which makes sense considering we are in an avvar hold.

1D - Sitting screaming humanoid with hands inside the mouth [Avvar]

Where it can be found:

In Razikale’s Reach, as part of the stratification of the Temple when it was taken by the Avvar-Hakkonite and rejected the Tevinters that had been installed around the time of the first Blight.

Inside Skyhold if you pick the Avvar decoration.

Brief description: This statue is elongated and shares many characteristics present in 1A, 1C, 1E and 2. It displays long arms, but no hands. It’s not clear if the hands are inside the mouth or means they were eaten [I favour this second option since these statues tend to be scrawny, conveying the idea of famine, another very common fear among the Avvar, specially during the Blight times]. It has no nose and its teeth are pointy. Its legs are protruding from over the shoulders, giving the sense that this figure is sitting and cowering. We can see a bit of its ribs in between the arms. The position is similar to 1C and 2.

1E - Sitting screaming deepstalker humanoid [Likely Avvar]

Where it can be found:

In Hinterlands: The Unknown Ruin [Mihris] , at the sides of another Avvar/Alamarri statue [1C] clipped with a skull.

In the Fade Part 2 and Part 3, It is a zone where we find a Tevinter sacrificial altar.

In the Fade of Flemeth: Part 1, this statue is beside a sacrificial altar again.

In The Fade of Flemeth: Part 2, it appears at the end, where we find Flemeth. They are positioned as to form a frame for the statue that was stabbed in the back and bleeds.

Brief description: These statues share some similarities with 1A, 1C and 1D: they show long arms, with hands grabbing the sides of the face as it screams. It has no nose nor eyes. We can see the ribs very easily, giving a sense of skeleton [extreme famine?]. What makes this statue particular is the strange mouth, closer in shape to a deepstalker’s mouth. It’s not clear if the figure is sitting, since it has no legs. Its base has the outline of a figure that reinforces the idea of screaming in terror and rising its arms. This figure has a shape that also resembles a terror demon.

In some places in the Fade, the head of this statue is burning, making clear suggestion to the codex of the Keepers of Fear, in particular to the part where they burn their screams of fear to find courage to fight [and die] against the darkspwan.

Rarely appears alone [it’s usually presented in pairs], and when it does, bones and bodies are shown below it, relating it to sacrifices and death. Most likely the concept of sacrifice comes from the part of the codex where once the fears are burnt, the alamarri went to fight a hopeless battle.

What’s interesting of this statue is that it’s a central piece of decoration in the Lair of the Nightmare Demon, in the Fade [check Part 4]. There, we see four of these statues, vomiting blood. Around this spilled blood, some bits of red lyrium can be found. This construction may be entirely done for shock value, since it’s a reuse of several assets assembled in a way that inspire terror and fear just in the moment where the Inquisitor faces the Nightmare demon.

2 - Eroded dragon skull and variations [Avvar]

Where it can be found:

In Swamp Kulsdotten, in the Frostback basin

In Hinterlands: Statues, paintings, and structures found in the open , Wolf Hollow , and Redcliffe – Future.

In the Therinfal Redoubt [As part of the decoration of the fortress’ main room]

In the The Fade of Flemeth: Part 1 as well as the common Raw Fade.

In Hinterlands: The Unknown Ruin [Mihris], as the base of the main, central figure, which is 1C with a clipped skull.

Brief description: I personally call it "Eroded dragon skull", because I have no other way to call it to tag it in the blog. I see a kind of dragon skull with horns that go backwards and then forward, but it also looks like a statue of a humanoid, with elongated legs that protrude from the sides of the skull. Like in the previous statues, it has no nose and seems to have pointy teeth at the end of the “snout”. All the details are blurred for what it looks like erosion.

On its back, this statue has a G symbol which doesn’t present the same level of erosion than the front. I only found a remotely similar symbol in the elven artefact. It’s a strange symbol, dwarven-like even for an “elven” artefact [looks like a squarish swirl]. In fact, that symbol can be found in dwarven objects [specially tapestry and rugs]. Once more, it’s only what I’ve observed, I don’t think we have any evidence to even speculate on this. It looks quite on purpose, though.  A whole eroded statue with a clear G on its back is a choice in terms of design.

If we compare this statue with similar ones found in  Avvar/Alamarri-related places the common characteristics show up:

It has long limbs, open mouth, and pointy teeth, without a nose. Through these similarities it seems reasonable to relate it with the Avvar culture.

3 - Tyrdda statue [Avvar]

Where it can be found:

In Hinterlands: Tyrdda Bright-Axe Path

and in Hinterlands: inside the Grand Forest Villa.

Tyrdda Bright-Axe was a legendary Alamarri chieftain who is considered the founder of the Avvar.

Brief description: The statue is simple, with a woman holding a sword [which is strange considering the Avvar always knew she was a mage and was holding a staff]. It has limbs a bit elongated and her ribs can be seen.

4 - Lady of the Sky [Avvar]

Where it can be found:

In the Skyhold [Stone-Bear Hold Avvars ] when you pick Avvar Decoration

Brief description: This satue is an owl, representation of the Lady of the Skies. I find interesting in her design the ring around her head: small little spikes that may be related or may have inspired artistically other symbols in the game: the thorns that we have seen many times in vines, which have elven influence [after all, the Avvar have a strong elven influence in their culture if we consider the tale of  Tyrdda Bright-Axe Path as more or less reliable with respect to her lover of leaf-like ears],  or could be an inspiration of a sun. The symbolism of the Lady of the sky with the sun is also shown in her painted representation, as I talked about in the post Dragon Age Iconic Patterns: The Sun.

5 - Korth [Avvar]

Where it can be found:

Stone-Bear Hold Avvars , close to the entrance of the hold,

or in Skyhold when you pick Avvar decoration.

Brief description: This statue shares the similar position of 1C, 1D, and 2, but instead of being a squat position due to fear, in Korth’s case it’s because the weight of the stone. Korth is the Mountain-Father, so this representation shows he is supporting it. His face, so filled with beard, and his body, short and thick, seems to recall dwarven nature, which could exists since the dwarf influence in the Avvar is present in their tales [Trydda had a child with a dwarven prince]. Curiously, it has horns [that can be part of a potential helm he is wearing?]. He is snarling as he endures the weight of the mountain/Stone.

6 - Dwarf with long limbs [Likely Alamarri/Avvar]

Where it can be found:

In Crestwood: surface , Crestwood: Flooded Caves , at the entrance of the drowned village,

In the Stone-Bear Hold Avvars, in the main throne room

In Hinterlands: Statues, paintings, and structures found in the open , Wolf Hollow, and Tyrdda Bright-Axe Path showing the path to some of the statues that trigger Tyrdda’s story.

In an unknown place called the Forgotten Tower, where the presence of this statue seems to reinforce the idea that this place was inhabited by an avvar, as it shows the codex triggered in this place: Old Codex: Mouldy Journal.

Brief description: This statue shares the characteristic of having elongated arms crossed over the chest in similar fashion as some Fereldan drawings seem to have [see Nation Art: Ferelden]. It displays a short man with hair, long beard, and a long, curvy moustache. The back and the front are the same image.

This statue is one of the most reused all over Ferelden, specially in regions where the Avvar-Alamarri presence was strong in the past. I think they represent the dwarves, which makes sense if we read the tale of Tyrdda: Avvar’s chieftains descend from humans and dwarves.

A weak pattern may suggest them as “pointers” or “guides”.  Sometimes they are placed in pairs creating a path towards a place of importance [see Tyrdda Bright-Axe Path]. Sometimes, as pointers of graves or special places.

7- Monolith with swirls [Likely Alamarri]

Where it can be found:

In Hinterlands: Statues, paintings, and structures found in the open , Wolf Hollow, Tyrdda Bright-Axe Path

In the Forgotten Tower , where the presence of this statue seems to reinforce the idea that this place was inhabited by an avvar, as it shows the codex triggered in this place: Old Codex: Mouldy Journal.

Brief description: I’m not sure if it’s a mabari or a horse. The Avvar are not fond of the mabari, since they are a tamed animal; however, they seem to use an “avvar horse” that looks like a zebra, and it is a bit wild. On the other hand, I also suspect that this statue may be Chasind, simply because in DAO we saw similar monoliths with line patterns on them in the Kocari Wilds [Check Ostagar post or The Blackmarsh and the High Dragon for details]. Unfortunately, these monoliths have no codex associated with them and there is little to speculate about.

8 - Monolith with ropes [Likely Alamarri]

Where it can be found:

In Hinterlands: and Crestwood, but in general all over Ferelden.

In the Frostback Basin and inside the Stone-Bear Hold.

There is no much to say about this element. It appears everywhere, more as a decoration or a support for other statues.

9 - Table of Wolves [Confusing. Likely Ferelden]

Where it can be found:

In Crestwood: surface and Hinterlands: Statues, paintings, and structures found in the open

Brief description: a metallic dark table decorated with spiky wolves. The wolves have a strong resemblance to the ones that were painted by Solas in his mural “Inquisition Formation” [Read “The actions of the Inquisitor”]. It seems related to the mabaris/wolves presented in 10A, which tend to appear in Ferelden-based enviroments. It seems to be Ferelden but it could also be inherited through the Alamarri culture. What always caught my attention was the material: unlike the rest of the Alamarri/Avvar statues, it’s not made of stone but dark metal, a Tevinter-origin characteristic.

10 - Mabaris

Mabaris are depicted all over Ferelden without much surprise; Ferelden has a culture deeply entangled with them. However, sometimes the hound silhouette seems to be confused with that one of the wolf and it’s hard to distinguish one from another. We know due to the legends [unreliable sources but decent enough for this level of understanding] that the Alamarri had their dogs. The potential Alamarri origin of the The Ash Warriors [who fight with their mabaris beside them] seem to support those [unreliable] legends. However, the Avvar are not fond of tamed animals, and prefer wild ones that can be befriended, hence why a wolf is more suitable for them. Considering this detail, it’s natural to understand the following statues as somewhat in between the lines of the Culture of the Alamarri, the Avvar, and the Ferelden [maybe even Chasind too?]. The blurred difference between mabari and wolf translates into the difficulty of deciding to which culture these statues belong to.

10A - Pointy Mabaris [Likely Ferelden]

Where it can be found:

In some places in Crestwood: surface

In Therinfal Redoubt as part of the decoration of the Fortress’ main room.

In Frostback Mountains: Haven, as part of the decoration.

Brief description: The look too similar to the wolves drawn by Solas in his mural “Inquisition Formation” [Read “The actions of the Inquisitor”].

10B - Mabaris with lines [Likely Alamarri/Avvar]

Where it can be found:

In Fallow Mire: Granite Point , it is not original from this place, but since it’s kept beside other Avvar statues it may imply same origin too.

In Hinterlands: Wolf Hollow, again found with other Avvar statues.

In Therinfal Redoubt as decoration

Brief description: It is almost a monolith, similar to the ones we find in the Kocari Wilds in DAO [ read Ostagar post or The Blackmarsh and the High Dragon for details] and to 7 but with less curvy lines and more angular ones.

In the Fade Part 3, one of the heads of 1B has this statue sprouting from its mouth, which offers the codex A Plea from the Warrior to the Spirits. It seems to be written by an avvar/alamarri or a descendant of them, for example a Ferelden person who remembers the “old ways”. It speaks about how the wolves had been allies to the humans once, but the softening of the human, the replacement of the hunt as a survival means for an agricultural lifestyle, changed this relationship, replacing the wolf and the hunt, by a hound and a sedentary life. There is a reinforcement of the concept of the wolf as a symbol of freedom and rebellion, as a creature who doesn’t simply obey, like a hound does. Then, the Darkspawn came, putting at risk this comfortable sedentary life, showing how little power hounds have.  “Kill the hound in my heart […] in its place, give me the wolf”. The wolf is representation of power, bravery, and freedom, as the mabari represents obedience and loyalty.

10C - Beheaded female Mabari [Likely Ferelden]

Where it can be found:

In Hinterlands: Minor places, specially in a cave where we see several Avvar statues and some Tevinter ones.

In the Forgotten Tower, where the presence of Avvar statues combined with the codex of this place: Old Codex: Mouldy Journal seem to reinforce the idea that this tower was inhabited by an Avvar who was rescued by an Elvhenan.

Brief description: It depicts a female mabari which has been feeding puppies [flaccid mammals]. On her back there is a spiky pattern that could be related to the spiky style of the wolves in 9 or 10A. What it’s disturbing is her head, which is barely kept in place because it’s attached with strips that have written runes on them. Inside the space between her head and body, there is usually fire [Waking World] or meat [Fade].

10D - Spiked Mabari [Likely Ferelden]

Where it can be found:

Mostly in Hinterlands: Statues, paintings, and structures found in the open

And in the Seeker fortress during Cassandra’s personal quest.

Brief description: These are mabari-totem figures in styles that can be Ferelden most likely, but seem to be inspired in Alamarri/Avvar ones since they have some similarities in style to 10B and 10C. There are no codex associated with them.

11 - Additional elements:

There is an Avvar table used in Stone-Bear Hold Avvars , that was also used to erect the hero of Ferelden’s monument in Hinterlands: Redcliffe - Present , so we can suspect avvar-alamarri-ferelden origin of it.

In Skyhold, when we activate the Avvar decoration, we find a unique statue that is not seen anywhere else: it looks like a tree branch-hand holding a bowl.  It gives me the impression of a sylvanian hand. 

[alijuan]

Dirthamen and Dumat

Keeper of Secrets — Dragon of Silence

He shall join us in our Silence

Codex entry: The Lost Temple of Dirthamen

I want to organise things related to Dirthamen because I've been thinking about him for years. First about Dirthamen-Dumat according to information about their connection. Before DA4 I thought he was connected with Razikale or Dumat. Interesting that it’s Dumat after all.

Dumat and Dirthamen were both considered sources of knowledge. Dirthamen shared wisdom with the people of his city, his Priests were given secrets. But secrets are best guarded silently.

In silence is the beating heart of wisdom

The Verses of Dumat

The note about the Temple of Dumat that can be found in the Fade during quest Here lies the Abyss:

For His Silence conquers all And His Secrets are shared only with the worthy

Also lines that could be interpreted as nothing more than strong phrases or as an allusion on the legend of Dirthamen's ravens, Fear and Deceit, who were actually demons:

No words of desire may sway His will No cry of valor may stand against Him

Altar of Dumat, statue in Din'an Hanin and statue in the Pride's end cave.

It's clearly elven because the same face can be found on mural in Fen'Harel's sanctory. Statues of Creators, not necessarily Dirthamen, but he's the only one who's been pointed to. Dumat is Dirthamen and demon who told Merrill how to fix eluvian was bound to third statue (and Dirthamen most likely was creator of eluvians *edit: veil jumpers think June was creator of eluvians). Some years ago I read a hypothesis that four hands were associated with envy demon, one of the ravens of Dirthamen, but I doubt it.

Silentir ('Silence') constellation with wand and horn which represents Dumat and mosaic of Dirthamen with wand (?) between his hands.

Funalis was a holiday dedicated to Dumat, now All Soul's Day, Day of the Dead. Dirthamen and Falon'Din are associated with death, and their aspects are always intertwined.

This holiday was once dedicated to the Old God of Silence, Dumat. However, since Dumat's rise during the First Blight, Thedosians turn a blind eye to any old ties between the day and the dragon. The holiday is now known across Thedas as All Soul's Day and spent in somber remembrance of the dead.

The World of Thedas, vol. 1

In addition, Dirthamen is probably based on Odin. There're many references to Scandinavian gods in Evanuris, the most obvious is Solas with Loki and Fenrir. Odin is the god of many things, including knowledge, wisdom and death, with two ravens, Huginn and Muninn. Odin was one of the principal gods. Dumat was the most powerful of the Old Gods and first Archdemon. Dirthamen was probably connected to Mythal and Solas (considering that Loki and Odin were sworn brothers and if Mythal is Frigg the theory of a partnership between them becomes more possible)

Edit: Could a horn in Silentir constellation be a reference to the Horn of Odin, symbol of wisdom, gift of knowledge? Dirthamen gave to elves the gift of knowledge

[smitten-miqitten]

Lavellan Post-Veilguard headcanons:

If Ellenere Lavellan becomes immortal due to living in the Fade with Solas, the conflict she'd feel would be so profound.

Immortality is something SHE actively worked to deny the Elves of Thedas. That wasn't the specific goal, but it was the end result. The Veil remains, and the Elves stay mortal.

Therefore, it is something she shouldn't want. I don't mean it's something she should refuse, but rather something she feels she shouldn't want as badly as she does. She doesn't have the right.

And yet

Nothing in her entire life has ever stung SO harshly, like a white hot knife in her gut, than the day Abelas said she was no better than the shemlen.

Ellenere was Dalish. She for the earliest part of her life considered herself Elvhen the way all Dalish consider themselves Elvhen. The last of the Elvhen. The ones who carry the past on their backs. The ones who will never again submit.

Abelas, with his disdain, disabused her of that notion.

Ellenere was Dalish. She is no longer.

Ellenere casts aside her Vallaslin.

Ellenere is no longer of The People. Her clan believes her tricked out of her Vallaslin by Fen'Harel and therefore unable to perform the duties of First, let alone Keeper, and though her name remains she is not welcome among them. But she never was of The People. Not in a way that Elves of the past would care to accept. Something so very precious to her, the former First of her clan, had been nothing but lies she told herself to keep getting up in the morning. She was never one of them.

She lived the past ten or so years as... nothing. Even her title is hard to cling to with the Inquisiton disbanded. She's nothing, no one, she has no people.

So when she gains the gift that makes her actually Elvhen in the way that sets the past and present apart, she's so HAPPY. And she feels so guilty about feeling that way. It should be incidental, a mere fact of the choice to stay with Solas in the Fade, not something she specifically wants or seeks. But now that she's finally, finally one of them, the alienation she's felt since the Temple of Mythal is eased. She's happy.

And how could she possibly make Solas understand without sounding like Thedas's biggest hypocrite?

[wardencommanderrodimiss]

Indulging myself today by thinking about the fact that Solas was going to admit his identity and involvement with Corypheus and the orb, but chickened out at the last minute and told a romanced Lavellan about the vallaslin instead, and so I am considering the world where he does admit All Of That to Ena and sets aside his plan to tear down the Veil. And this is mostly a setup for jokes so once they work through All Of That and Corypheus is defeated and the worst of the chaotic aftermath is dealt with, at some point Ena is going to want to take a brief trip to Wycome and check in with her clan in person. And also introduce Solas to them.

Ena has a multi-step plan for slowly easing everyone into the idea of “everything we know is wrong” where she’s worked out what she first wants to tell the clan about the Temple of Mythal and the ancient elves there, and then once they’ve digested that she’s figured her next rounds of information to feed them, so that eventually she can build the way up to dropping “the gods sucked and Fen’Harel was trying his best” on their heads. Because she knows she can’t lead with that.

“And what if they do not believe you, no matter how slowly you introduce them to the truth?” Solas asks her.

Ena shrugs. “I think they will. They would have no reason to deny what I saw and heard from Abelas at the Temple, and even that will be enough to raise many questions that we can’t answer ourselves. And that’s where we’ll start to lead into your answers. If you haven’t already started arguing with my mother by then. She likes to argue with the other Keepers every Arlathvhen.”

So they go visit Clan Lavellan and it takes about half an hour for Keeper Deshanna to start arguing with Solas and Ena catches up with the rest of the clan and meets some of the elves from Wycome’s alienage while her mom and her boyfriend argue for the next four hours. Esti listens for a while to what Solas is saying and then she goes to Ena like “what kind of weird cult did you find this guy in?”

“It was called the Inquisition,” Ena says. “I thought you would have heard of it.”

“You know that’s not what I’m talking about,” Esti says.

“I know,” Ena says.

[thedinanshiral]

Evanuris Who's Who -take two-

Take one is here and should be partially discarded now. SPOILERS for absolutely everything, by the way.

I base these entirely on my sixth sense for lore and plain and simple logic, what makes sense to me. I am so set on these BW could come up to my door to tell me i'm wrong and that still wouldn't change my mind. I don't consider datamined text or file names as canon, they're drafts upon drafts piled up and forgotten throughout development, placeholders, etc, they're unreliable. What i do considered to reach this conclusion is the Evanuris lore, what's already been defined throughout the games so far, and vibes. In regards to the pantomime masks in Veilguard and considering the development issues this game had to go through i can't blame the devs for maybe missmatching asset and text on something i'm sure was never a priority in the game (except Mythal's and Fen'Harel's pantomime masks i wouldn't have focused on getting the other right if i were under such pressure).

Here are the pictures with the Evanuris symbols that i've decided to refer to as crowns:

The ones that are 100% confirmed are Elgar'nan, Ghilan'nain and Andruil, who appears in the mural from the comic The Missing, alongside Ghilan'nain. The rest are for now open to interpretation...up to a certain point.

The exposition Morrigan does to Rook in the Crossroads when she reveals the path to the fragment of Mythal we can get to aid us later on includes a very interesting detail: Falon'din and Dirthamen are fragments too, of the same spirit. I had already decided their crowns had to be as i assigned them based on the fact they were allegedly twin borthers, so the two parts would make one, but that revelation cemented it. As to which one's which, because Falon'din is the guide of the dead i think the crown that looks more like a staff should be his, whereas the one with empty space in the middle would correspond to Dirthamen as god of secrets. It's more evident on the first picture, but Falon'din's could fit into that empty pace in Dirthamen's. What that original spirit may have been, i can't imagine at the moment, but perhaps it was a spirit that fell during the Titan war, and rejoined the Evanuris as two. Spirit lore is all over the place, but if we go by Solas' words from Inquisition after his friend is killed -and i do take his word on such matters, for obvious reasons- when a spirit dies something else may be born in its place, different but somewhat related, and the memories may not carry on but part of its nature maybe does. What could have been the original nature of a spirit that left Falon'din and Dirthamen in their stead? Not to mention their connection was strong enough that they remained close as brothers, inseparable as twins. This may have been a spirit that refused to go. There's also the likely possibility that it was a case similar to Mythal's, but instead of being scattered in order to preserve part of itself after being stabbed in the back by her own people, whatever the twins original identity was did not, and continued on as two Evanuris instead of one; on account of each taking on different attributes and personalities, however, i'm inclined to think their death was more akin to that of the Wisdom spirit in Inquisition.

Next we have Sylaise and June, i find them particularly interesting due to the fact Solas has had almost nothing to say of them. He had no reservations when it came to dragging Falon'din for his vanity at the temple of Mythal in Inquisition, or add that Andruil was also a goddess of sacrifice. I have long suspected that the reason for Solas' silence regarding this couple may be found in their possible contributions to his rebel cause once upon a time. Sylaise, the Hearth Keeper. Her crown could only be the one shaped like the sun, evoking the idea of warmth and fire. In Arlathan Forest one of the artifacts in the Veil Jumpers' vault is called "Sylaise's Firefly", an oil lamp that when unstable emits "tremendous heat and light" and can even melt stone. This very sun symbol is also adorning the top of the entrance to the Lighthouse, a building that emits a bright light into the sky, a place Solas and his people relied on during their rebellion against the Evanuris.

June, god of the Craft. He was the inventor among them and so he's responsible for much of their technology. He created the eluvians, and the light beams artifacts, possibly the entire lock system they're generally used for, maybe the crystal power cells too. I dare say, anything gold and turquoise comes from him, including the adornments in elvhen architecture -something Sylaise is also credited for and it makes sense they'd work together sometimes-. All Evanuris were flawed in some way or another, and arrogance, vanity and pride were definitely shared traits, yet we've found no records of June being upset Solas took his grand invention and modified it to skip over its main limitation, improving on it considerably with the Vi'Revas in the Crossroads. And that's a constant so far, we have no records of Sylaise and June being against Solas or fighting him before. We know Elgar'nan, Ghilan'nain, Andruil and even Mythal were at odds with Solas, and his opinion of Falon'din implies the same, but there aren't really anything on his relationship with Sylaise, June or Dirthamen, particularly the first two, and that's strange, to say the least. Maybe their biggest sin was remaining silent or falling in line with Elgar'nan and the others, maybe they weren't as strong and couldn't oppose openly.. Now as for why i think June's crown is the one that looks like...whatever that is, is more evident on the second picture, where it is unquestionably similar to that archdemon early concept art from Origins. The archdemon there is Urthemiel, and as Veilguard confirms that was June's dragon thrall. That pretty much seals it to me, this crown belongs to June.

(Please excuse the reflection, i took the photo myself from the Bioware 25th anniversary book. The archdemons being dragons was a later development, and i think it's evident the bottom half of this design was revisited for Ghilan'nain's final look)

And then there are the masks. These "pantomime masks" are linked to mementos in Veilguard. Caitie shared these already, with details about the assets filenames and whatnot, but i think they don't match at all with the Evanuris they're supposed to represent, it's a mess really. Here's what i propose:

Leaving aside Fen'Harel's and Mythal's because they're the most obvious and nobody would argue that, my reasoning for the others is as follows:

Elgar'nan: the horns resemble his crown within the limitations of the mask's triangular design, and he's very vain. His diary entry complaining about his archdemon having shrank somehow and wanting Ghilan'nain to make it bigger tells me enough, his mask would also be the biggest one.

Andruil & Ghilan'nain: doomed yuri i mean, they were together, they're both sad and crying. While they weren't the only item amongst the Evanuris they may have been the most tragic. Ghilan'nain is so affected by Andruil's death she mourned her still and planned to build her a monument.

Falon'din & Dirthamen: their similar shape and size, plus the detail on the forehead does tell me "twins", a shared origin, a set. Add to that the one i think matches Dirthamen has no mouth and all its spaces are empty, matching with his god of secrets identity.

June & Sylaise: i have nearly nothing for them on this. June's details do remind me of a constant element around Veilguard's elvhen designs, this one between the Veil Jumper's hands:

It's everywhere, on top of the ruins of Arlathan Forest and the buildings at the Lighthouse, on top of the teleport points all over the maps, anywhere you look where there's elvhen designs you'll see it. Just add a little tip on the three points and you have June's crown too. As for Sylaise's i do think in this picture the mask is possibly upside-down, but i'm sad to admit i don't have much else to go with here so it's Sylaise's for me because that's the last one left.

Going back to my suspicions that Sylaise and June may have helped Solas in some way, we have the mementos for their masks.

The Way of Peace: In narrative, she is the hearth you leave and return to. The comfort that bookends a journey where everything, especially self, has become unfamiliar.

The Master of Craft: In narrative, he is the means, and the tools by which needs are met or obstacles conquered. His will hides in the actions of others.

The text for Sylaise's pantomime mask reminds me immediately of the Lighthouse and what it must have meant to everyone who found shelter there . The text for June's is intriguing to me, the part "the means and the tools by which needs are met or obstacles conquered" could apply to the Vi'Revas, all the eluvians in the Crossroads, and his other creations being used by the rebellion. But that last sentence, "his will hides in the actions of others", is so odd, it doesn't really spell out "crafting", does it? Sounds to me like someone else may had done something he wished he could do himself.

Unrelated to their symbols, maybe, but i'd like to note that the artifacts in the Veil Jumpers' vault are named after the Evanuris who may have been on more or less friendly terms with Solas, initially. In addition to Sylaise's Firefly, there's also the Tear of June, found in a well (pointing perhaps to a connection between June and water, as so do the eluvians as mirrors and water being natural mirrors, in contraposition to Sylaise's fire, a couple of opposites) and capable of separating things into their constituent elements (including people...). There's also Ghilan'nain's Binding, suspiciously found in the ruins of an unnamed thaig and capable for merging multiple beings into one body; i find it a bit weird the Tear of June and Ghilan'nain's Binding could be used together for some monster-making but on second thought it shouldn't surprise me Ghil would make use of any means available to her, including one of June's inventions. Lastly we have Dirthamen's Guidance, found at the western edge of the White Spire, it causes nearby objects to float high into the air, indefinitely when it's unstable. This one is a bit odd but i can make it make sense if we consider even though in the past there was no Veil dividing the world there were still different realms, there was an above (the Fade) and a below (The Void), with the earth (Titans) in between, and in their mythology Dirthamen is said to have chased his brother into the Fade so perhaps that'd explain why this artifact with his name takes things up.

That's all i have for now, and i hope when we get World of Thedas vol.3 all these are in there and we get some real official canon lore for them but like i said, BW could tell me i'm wrong and i wouldn't change my mind easily. Feel free to disagree, as always, this is what works for me.

[mythalsknickers]

Meet My Inquisitor;

~Fen'Harel Enaste

Fen'aslan Lavellan was found [date here] in an unknown temple complex deep in the heart of the Tirashan Forest. Her adoptive mother named her Fen'aslan for a reason unknown to her and she was adopted into clan Lavellan. During [date here] her adoptive mother died, and Keeper Deshanna took her in and raised her as a First. Yet somethings were not meant to last; during her vallaslin ritual, the branches of Mythal absorbed into her skin and instead formed a vallaslin widely unknown. An elder and previous keeper cited a mural of the dreadwolf upon seeing her face, and that moment with her unique name saw her moved to the edge of the camp. During [date here] Keeper Deshanna dictated that Fen'aslan would become a wandering keeper and would go with the others to survey the conclave and learn of how the southern chantry planned to end the Mage-Templar war and what it meant for the future of circle mages and apostates like the dalish alike. However something went wrong, during a recess of the conclave Grey Wardens came and sealed the doors. Fen'aslan quickly made her way to a window and slipped to learn why the Wardens were present. However she instead interrupted a ritual by an intelligent darkspawn. She awoke and was given the knowledge she would likely be executed, the keepers she had come with died in the blast that destroyed the tower. However in a single moment, the world slowed as an elven apostate grabbed her hand and a breach was sealed. Yet it was not the act of sealing the breach that changed things for her personally. The elven apostate's touch had unlocked something deep in her, memories she could not possibly have. Ir Abelas Vhenan var lath vir suledin, vhenan The spirits recorded only snippets of the moment deep in the crossroads, a kiss shared and time bought. Desperation and the desire to find answers to save him.

You would think some where five years ago I would have had a solid introduction to my beloved Lavellan. However I didn't and felt the need to put her out here. Per my Meet My Rook post I took inspiration from @eurodyne-d post they did for their Rook, Valentin Mercar. Fen'aslan also known as Euvinala can be found under her tag #Fen'aslan Lavallen. I am seriously going to try and get everything compiled. I do have some of her fanfiction series under El'las'in Laim o Mana however there will be some reworking done now with the release of DATV. She canonically romanced Solas during Inquisition and is polyamorous trio with Felassan and Solas. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. Bust Art was done by the lovely @badwolf626 and the Full body was done by the lovely @dirthenera both of these are from 2019 but I still very much love them.