#magrallen

[lairofdragonagelore]

Comic: Until We Sleep

This post belongs to the series DA comic. The main intention is to collect the basic story of the comic and highlight any potential lore concept that may be of interest and may be explored later in the game series.

This post has the following points:

Story

Relevant Details

Characters: A bit of Maevaris, Maric, and Varric with Bianca.

Lore

In the Lore section:

Yellow eyes are shown again as a feature in Titus.

The Qunari explanation to the Calenhad's legend: The Tome of Koslun claims that the man was a mere regular human who, under the advice of a Witch [maybe Flemeth?] drank a great dragon’s blood and acquired power that was inherited by his descendants.

Maric, the person who feeds blood to the Magrallen artefact, becomes a Dreamer in the Fade, maybe because he has dragon blood. This establishes that, no matter if you are a mage or not, a person with dragon blood can be as powerful as a dreamer with some assistance of an artefact.

Once again, it's hinted that the Qunari may have dragon blood since it’s said that the dragonfire may have been their “birthright”.

Tevinter Artefact: The Magrallen. This artefact is known for being based on blood magic, and it is a legacy from Tevinter. Its function is unknown, but seems to allow the control of some sections of the Fade if you feed it with [dragon] blood.

There is a soft and weak analogy between the Magrallen’s powers and the red dragon eggs’ in the Eluvian network we explored in the DLC.

Titus is a blood mage who uses dragon blood with the intention to control the Fade. He is well aware that controlling the Fade may alter the reality [a Dreamer's power], this is the true power of Divinity in DA lore, hence he claims he can become an "old god".

Apparently, those who carry great dragon blood may become Dreamers easily and can control the Fade.

Potential explanation to several lore concepts that seem to make more sense if we assume as correct the idea that dragon blooded people have the power of Dreamers.

[Index page of Dragon Age Lore]

Story

Varric and company reach an isle in the middle of the sea, called Ath Velanis.  So far the illustrations go, it’s a Tevinter fortress with a lot of dragon decorations. Varric explains it’s a place where sacrifices to the Old Gods used to be performed. How true this is, coming from Varric’s mouth, is hard to say.

Meanwhile, Sten shares the Qunari suspicion of why Titus wanted Maric and now Alistair: they have blood of great dragons, introducing to us to the story of Calenhad: a drinker of a great dragon’s blood whose power were inherited by his descendants. 

Alistair claims that his blood may not be useful since it’s tainted with the Joining. We already commented about how conflicting this fact is in the DA lore in the section “Lore problems” in the post The Silent Grove post. In short, it makes little sense for Alistair to have became a Grey Warden so easily when dragons are naturally resistant to the Blight [read the Josephine result in Learn More about Dragons].

As Varric is exploring Ath Velanis, he rescues Maevaris, who had been tortured, and finds Maric connected to a strange artifact. He has no better idea than to shoot at it. 

The explosion of the artefact threw everyone in the fortress into the Fade, even the dwarf. Lore-wise, this is very weird. Only the Inquisitor managed to open a Breach and make Varric fall into the Fade [or pass through a Dalish ritual in DA2 to go to the Fade]. Here, the only thing we saw that caused this was a ball of watered-down dragon blood. This may explain how powerful dragon blood truly is, that can throw a dwarf into the Fade or how carelessly these comics were made and hence my mistrust to them.

The most curious thing of this part, if we ignore the nonsense of throwing everyone into the Fade, is that Varric walks on a terrain that, when looking from afar, is like a gargantuan hand made out of Stone. It gives a strange feeling of being related to Titans, given that it’s a dwarf who is walking on it after being thrown into the Fade. Is this a reflection of what means to be a dwarf? Is this a hint to the Stone? to a Titan? Is this the reflection of that “sense of wanting to connect to Titans” that every dwarf has, according to Cole’s words?

In any case, Varric explores the Fade, gathering his friends in the same fashion we did in the Fade in DAO. He finds Maervaris, who is enjoying the illusion of being with her late husband; Isabela, who is part of the Qun, is living her personal nightmare; and Alistair, who lives his life carelessly as his father is still the King of Ferelden. This Maric we meet is not merely an illusion, it’s the real one, the one connected to the blood-artefact. When Varric and the others inform Maric that he is connected to it, the man takes control of the Fade itself, fights Titus, claims himself being a Dreamer just because his dragon blood [again, how much of  these comics can be taken seriously? I wonder] and once everyone returns to real life, they kill Maric out of mercy.

Relevant details

Why the title?: It refers to the concept of reality and truth. In the last page of the comic, we see each of the protagonists returning to their lives: Alistair is in his throne, Isabela seems to abandon her ship, and Varric returns to his life of spymaster/merchant guild-master/author, and all of them keep wondering where the true life exists, here, in the “real world” or in the world of dreams. It’s a title that comes from a final line that closes the comic that questions the nature of the world and reality itself.

Time: The time is the same one than in the previous comic, around 9:38 Dragon, 2032 TE, 3 years before the Breach of Inquisition.

Characters: Maric appears and there is closure to the mystery of his disappearance in the canon. We know a bit more about Maevaris’ backstory, and Varric’s past with Bianca.

Concepts :what this comic can provide in terms of lore?  

We keep seeing Titus with yellow eyes in case we were not sure about this in the previous comic.

Calenhad is introduced in this comic with a side story: he was not a gifted hero who made miracles [as Ferelden folktales like to portrait him], but an ambitious man who drank the blood of a dying Great Dragon and acquired powers that were inherited by his descendants. This breaks and reformulates a lot of lore about him that we had read via codices along the games. We also see that a “Witch” suggested him to drink dragon blood. Because this fact has such long-term repercussion in the world of Thedas, I’m pretty sure that this witch was Flemeth or some of her daughters instructed by her. Somehow, keeping the blood of Great Dragons in a powerful human family seems to be a decent precaution to take in a world that destroys what can’t understand [dragons].

That the Qunari know this via the Tome of Koslun is immensely odd to me, but on the other hand, it makes sense since it’s hinted that the Qunari themselves are a crafted race, probably coming from Dragons. At least it makes sense for such a race to keep tales and stories related to those who are involved with dragons too. In DAI it’s even hinted that the Qunari may have dragon blood in their own veins too, but probably from dead dragons? [for more detail, read Frostback Mountains: Somewhere North]. I suspect this due to Corypheus’ shout to a Qunari Inquisitor: “Your blood is engorged with decay. Your race is not a race. It’s a mistake”. 

Dragonfire is presented as a brutal fire power, and due to its name, it seems to be the fire breathed by dragons. As the qunari fight in this fort against Titus, he casts this fire, instantly killing/melting the qunari. He claims that such fire may have been the qunari’s birthright, but instead, it kills them. Here it’s hinted once more that the qunari may have been crafted from dragons, and that this detail is known by a Tevinter so knowledgeable in Tevinter History and Fade, it may confirm a bit more that it may have been Tevinters who tried to craft the Qunari as a dragon-based race.

Tevinter Artefact: The Magrallen

This artefact is known for being based on blood magic, and a legacy from Tevinter [but to be honest, considering how all “Tevinter legacy” ends up being a co-opt of Elvhenan magic I would not be surprised if this is a version of an ancient elvhenan artefact]. 

The artefact shows a serpent-dragon eating its own tail. This is a proper symbol of Ouroboros. Sadly, we can’t say exactly what an ouroboros means since it has been used in real human history by many, many cultures and even though sometimes they shared meaning, in other cases it had different ones: it can represent the eternal return or the concept of cycles. It may also represent life and the concept of time, or the things that never truly disappear, or the transmigration of souls. In the way itis used in DA lore, I don’t think we can pick one. We also know that Tevinter, in general, has a strong symbology with snakes/dragons, so the use of an ouroboros may be an aesthetic choice: just because it’s a Tevinter-made object it’s made in the shape of dragons and snakes.

We already saw an hexagonal artefact/decoration in many Tevinter buildings, where two serpent-dragons eat each other’s tail. This concept seems to be followed by the Magrallen in an aesthetic way; meaning it’s just a single snake eating its own tail. However, I would like to clarify that this symbol with 2 snakes has nothing to do with an ouroboros. Two serpents eating their own tails looks more like a Tevinter symbol of the Magister culture, eating each others in their race for power.

The function of this artefact is not clear. It looks like it consumes or gathers Maric’s blood [which contains Dragon Blood] and allows a complete control of some parts of the Fade. This would mean that Dragons have a unique contol over the Fade. The position of the victim in this thing reminds me to the experiments made out of red lyrium that we read in the book Tevinter Nights: slaves hanging up as they are forced to drink liquid red lyrium. Even though Varric knows nothing about magic, he claims this artefact is more than mere blood magic. I don’t trust this comment since its source [Varric] is highly unreliable.

The artefact looks like a ball filled with blood and afixed  to a statue of a dragon claw. 

The closest thing we saw to this was the polished red dragon eggs in the Shattered Library or in the in-between spaces [more details in Shattered Library; Entrance]. These eggs glowed in red when activated, which seems to suggest some kind of blood magic. And if they truly contain dragon blood, it would mean that dragon power allows the creation of paths in the spaces in-between. This interpretation seems to make sense if we are being said that dragons have a strong control [almost as if they were Dreamers or Somniari] over the Fade.

When Varric finds Maevaris in the Fade, she explains a bit more about this artefact: it is named Magrallen, it belongs to the time of the Dreamers [a time where they also used orbs like Solas’, also stolen from the elvhenan], and it is currently being empowered with dragon blood present in Maric's. Again, the function of this artefact is never explained. Given Titus’ goal of becoming a master of the Fade and control it to modify reality, one can suspect that this artefact may contribute, somehow, to that goal. But throughout all the comic, it is never explicitly said.

When they finally gather everyone in the Fade, Maevaris informs Maric that his mind is in an oneiric suspension state.

Funnily enough, Maric seems to understand and know magic because he knows the name of the artefact, and what it is doing to him. He claims that it’s the only thing that keeps him alive. 

When they defeat Titus in the Fade, Alistair frees Maric from the artefact, who decays immediately. The way he does so makes it look as if time had been stopped around him in order to feed the artefact with his blood. As soon as the Magrallen is destroyed, the suspension of time catches up with him. Similar effect was seen with Ameridan in the DLC of Jaws of Hakkon [Frostback Basin [DLC]: Frozen Gate]. 

So far what we can gather in these panels: Titus is a blood mage involved with Dragon blood whose intention is to control the Fade. He has a series of panels where he claims that the power of the Fade can affect reality, and mages can alter the Fade, and therefore, Reality. This is basically the concept of the Dreamers or Somniari introduced for the first time with Feynriel - Somniari and Fade. Solas also told us about these powers in “Solas sharing Lore: Part 1″.

Through Solas, we know that this power to change reality is truly as strong as Titus claims it to be: With low approval, Solas says that the only way he can save the “elves” is to bring down the Veil, bring the Fade into the Waking World, and reshape reality, which is exactly what he plans to do in DA:D and it’s similar to what Titus is trying to do here [however, in Titus’ plan there is no notion of destroying the Veil first]. The only additional information we have from Titus is that this power seems to come from the “old gods” or the “Dragon gods”. Hence, controlling the Fade in order to change Reality is something that comes from “dragon powers”. Again, we have a reinformcent of the idea that power=divinity. This resignifies the scene where Solas kills Flemeth [a dragon] to have power to bring the Veil down. He opts to do this when his orb, and all the Fade power gathered for a millenia in it, was destroyed after the battle against Corypheus. So, through the end of the game we are also told that dragon power=Fade power gathered for millenia.

By these comments, we also notice that Titus is aware of the places in-between; these planes of existence that the elvhenan used in order to transport themselves far distances in short periods of time: the eluvian network. Via Morrigan we know they are places where the Evanuris cannot track their servants too [for details read The Crossroad].

If we gather all the words used by Titus, we can link the powers of the Dreamers, able to change Reality through the power of the Fade, as an ability that belonged to [Great] Dragons and could be transmitted via blood to others, or using rituals that needed dragon blood.

The connection of Divinity with [great] dragon blood that we have been working along the several posts of DAI and the elvhenan codices, seems to be confirmed with Titus’ words [if Titus is truly reliable, which I don’t think so].

When Maric faces Titus in the Fade, it’s confirmed again that the power of a Dreamer is related to [great] Dragon Blood, since Maric says that Titus is not the dreamer in this place, but himself.  Maric, suddenly, seems to be extremely aware of magic and blood stuff related to dragons, lol. 

This makes speculations about the Qunari grow wilder: if [great] dragon blood provides this brutal power of becoming a Dreamer [and therefore, controlling the Fade to alter Reality], it would explain why the Tevinter would have wanted to create a pet-race of Dragon blooded creatures as the Qunari: maybe to harvest their blood for rituals or sacrifices, or to force them to do their biddings. In any case, the idea is that someone with [great] dragon blood is a natural dreamer. 

If this interpretation is correct, we may understand the logic behind several lore concepts:

This would explain why the Saarebas are so brutal in power, if the Qunari are truly a crafted race based on dragons and dragon blood; their magical ability may be the highest that any creature in Thedas can have [Dreamer-like]. 

If the Qunari were made out of [great] dragon blood, that would explain why they need to have their Saarebas so brutally leashed: most of them, if not all, may be Dreamers. They are able to change reality to their whims if not controlled.

In several ocassions we were informed that the Fade lacks of dwarven presence [reasonable, since they are disconnected from the Fade and can’t dream] but also Qunari [which is rare, since they have mages]. The only way I may explain this is that the Saarebas may pass through a strong chemical leash that prevents them to enter the Fade. We know via Felassan that there are herbs that could allow him to never reach the Fade ever again if they are consumed daily [this is said at the end of the book The Masked Empire, for more details read Felassan and bits of lore]

Dragons in most dnd settings are usually presented as whimsical creatures. In DA series we know little about this aspect of the dragons. High dragons are presented as creatures that follow a normal animal-like cycle: they create a nest, keep their drakes around them, feed, mate, have dragonlings, and then hibernate to repeat the cycle next time. DA series never spoke about Great Dragons with the exception of these comic series, so we know nothing about them. If they are as whimsical as usually dragons are presented in dnd settings, it would make sense why the Qun was forced upon the qunari, since they may be a race made out of dragons that needs roles and purpose in order to control their immense power.

If dragon blood allows control of the Fade and the Reality, it makes sense that the red dragon eggs we found in the in-between spaces have such power to “create” paths that allows travelling big distances. They are affecting Reality and Fade at the same time.

Mythal has appeared in a dream of a tattoo-less elf servant from Val Royeaux [Elven Servant Dreams of Mythal, another videos here].  From that moment on, the npc appears with her Vallaslin [as if she may have taken him as a servant, making effect of whatever happened in the Fade into the Waking World]. This weird situation may be explained if Mythal, who has dragon powers since she is a dragon herself, may have changed reality in this way. Also, during the The Fade - Part 2, Flemeth claims to have more power than anyone of the party when she is in the Fade. This may be caused by a similar mechanics of her having dragon powers.

The constellation codices are, in general, a big mess. They tend to confuse more than to inform us. But what I found curious is that many of them are related to dragons and old elvhen figures. This is a weak proof that ancient Tevinter and Elvhenan may have worshipped the same gods in the begining [until the Elvhenan managed to find a way to control Divinity and “forgot” their original gods to become gods themselves]. Among the several constelations codices, one of them claims that the Old Gods were eight and not seven as we knew for so long [Constellation: Draconis, which states that there is a serpentine old dragon, that may be related to Mythal since she “took the shape of a giant serpent” to fight Andruil in the elvhenan codex Elven God Andruil, which is analysed in Ancient Elven codices, Temple of Mythal]. If we also read the codex related to the Astrariums, we find that much of the unaltered constellations information comes from the time of the Dreamers, a group of Tevinter mages that were against the Magisterium system and were into astronomy, a discipline almost forgotten in Thedas. These codices link Ancient Tevinter with Dreamers and dragons, suggesting that the true divinity=power comes from Dragons, and this idea was appreciated not only by Ancient Tevinters, but the Elvhenan too, at least in the begining until the Evanuris took the divinity power for themselves.

Summary of Lore concepts in this comic

Calenhad was not a gifted hero, but a great dragon blood drinker whose powers were inherited by the Theirin family.

It's hinted again that the Qunari are a crafted race made out of dragons.

The Magrallen is an artefact from the time of the Tevinter Dreamers which gathers dragon blood. It's function is not clear.

Great dragon blooded humans have natural Dreamer powers. As Dreamers, they can alter the Fade and therefore, Reality.

It's hinted that the Old Gods may have been Great dragons that shared their power to other mortals, making them Dreamers, and giving them command over the Fade and the Waking World.This may be the origin of the divinity among the Elvhenan, and the Evanuris were their “chosen ones” first. Rememeber the codex Ancient Elven Writing : “His crime is high treason. He took on a form reserved for the gods and their chosen, and dared to fly in the shape of the divine.“

Therefore, Divinity seems to be connected with the power of Great Dragons

[felassan]

where have we seen ouroboros before in Dragon Age?

Iron Ring

the Magrallen

this symbol on the ground when Flemeth meets Kieran. it also crops up elsewhere

and they’re not eating themselves but here’s Himself with a twinheaded serpenty staff

[doebucks]

Made the piss snake Magrallen circulum infinitus from Dragon Age Absolution 🐍

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[thethirdamell]

Chapter 236 / ??? - From Kirkwall We Fled: Maddened Fandom: Dragon Age (Dragon Age Origins: Awakening & Dragon Age 2) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings Additional Tags: Blood Magic, Dark, Horror, Angst, Sexual Content Main Pairings (M/M): Anders / Hawke, Anders / Amell Summary:

“Magic exists to serve man, and never to rule over him. Foul and corrupt are they who have taken His gift, and turned it against His children. They shall be named Maleficar, accursed ones. They shall find no rest in this world, or Beyond.” Anders knew the verse. Every mage did. But Anders was a runner. He ran from the Circle. He ran from the Templars. He ran from relationships. So what did he care? He was never going to rest anyway.

Chapter Excerpt:

Anders was never supposed to see Hawke again.

He wasn’t supposed to survive the Harvester or three months attached to the magrallen. He was supposed to die, but it was like he didn’t have the decency. He was worse than a roach, and seeing him sit up and run a weary hand through his greying hair made Anders’ heart race, and his hands shake, and his skin crawl.

Read More | Start From the End of DA2 | Start From Awakening

[dalishious]

I’ve seen people talk about how cadash can dream with solas despite no connection to the fade, but what about a dwarven hero of ferelden and kinloch hold? I’ve never played a dwarf warden up to the circle before but I can’t imagine they’d cut it out... is there any reasoning given as to how you can enter the fade that you know of? can oghren go?

Dwarves can get pulled into the Fade from strong external forces like anyone. 

In The Calling book, Utha is thrown into the Fade by a demon with the rest of the party

In DA:O, the sloth demon throws a dwarf PC and/or Oghren into the Fade with the rest of the party

In DA:2, Marethari’s ritual is able to throw Varric into the Fade with the rest of the party

In the comic Until We Sleep, Varric is thrown into the fade by the Magrallen with the rest of the party

They just don’t go their naturally. And needless to say it’s probably a wicked scary experience lol

[spratwurst]

I’ve put together a list with parts of the DA lore that we don’t know much about and that could potentially become relevant in the next installment... for reasons. It’s incomplete currently and I might expand it sometime, but here we go anyway.

People & creatures

Titans

Sha-Brytol

Evanuris

Sentinel elves

Old Gods, especially Razikale and Lusacan

Forgotten Ones

Scaled Ones

Rock wraiths (Profane)

Forbidden Ones

The Stone

Band of Three

Kossith

Phantasmal warriors

Magisters Sidereal, the Architect

Dreamers

Golems, the Nexus Golem and Ethereal Golem specifically

Tyrdda Bright-Axe, her lover Lady of the Skies, and the daughter Morrighan'nan

Elf-blooded people

Varterral

Malvernis

Gangue Shade

Locations

Crossroads

Void

Black City

Primeval Thaig

Weisshaupt 

Tevinter Imperium

Objects

Eluvians

Lyrium wells

Foci

Arulin'Holm

Lights of Arlathan

Anvil of the Void

Magrallen

Other

Blight & Blight magic

Taint

Lyrium & Red lyrium

Blood magic

Tranquility

Litany of Adralla

Uthenera

Veilfire

[irlaimsaaralath]

SPOILERS POTENTIALLY BELOW FOR THE COMICS AND STUFF. CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK.

That said...

@thevikingwoman - Good point about the codex being a potentially unreliable source. And, I agree that the bad press that it gets comes primarily from the Chantry. The Chantry uses tales of blood magic like they use any tale of magic that they can't control or understand: they twist it to turn it into a cudgel to bludgeon their charges and the unaware populace into believing what they're selling. "Magic bad. We're necessary." It's just another instrument in their collection to keep mages leashed and everyone else afraid, keeping everyone in line.

I'm also inclined to adopt Solas's take on it: just another type of magic.

@elvenbeard - I've also read the bit about the manner in which the blood is taken having an effect on the power of the spell derived from it. More violence = more power. In this case, however, I think violence here could be replaced with any number of things, as in it need not be physically violent. Maybe subverting someone's mind to the point that they give freely might have the same power as taking it forcefully if you've put the same amount of effort into subduing the person or twisting their minds into submission.

@meat-mill - Are demons an essential part of blood magic, though? I thought they could be an element of it, but that they weren't inherent in it. It's my understanding that blood magic is used to create the phylacteries kept in Circles for their mages, and certainly the Chantry isn't cavorting with demons to create them, I'd think.

Oo. The magrallen. THAT's interesting and something I was kind of looking for. I haven't read the comic that it's in, but I've read about the magrallen on wikis and such. Do we think that it was just a one-off? A contraption created specifically for Maric and the purpose it served or do we think that similar contraptions are used regularly in blood magic? Perhaps not to such a profound degree, but I guess I'm wondering if maybe the one that held Maric was a super tricked out version of an implement that is common use in blood magic.

I'm hoping that the answer is yes, it could be a common thing among blood magic practitioners for...reasons. If so, would it be called a magrallen? Having not read the comic, I don't know if that name was specific to the one Maric was in or a name for the thing in general. Anyone know?

Also! Thanks to everyone who's commented and reblogged! These conversations are always so fun and helpful! Keep 'em coming!

Blood Magic

Okay, DA meta folk and, you know, everyone else, too.  Talk to me about blood magic.

Is it 185% bad?  Can it be good?  Can it be used for lofty purposes?  Merrill anyone?

Also, this is apparently from a codex:

“Just as treacherous, blood magic allows the Veil to be opened completely so that demons may physically pass through it into the physical world.”

If it allows travel from the Fade to the real world, wouldn’t it necessarily allow the reverse?  I mean, I know it took like an entire world full of lyrium AND blood magic to get Tevinter into the Golden City, but what if you didn’t want to send a whole posse?  What if you just wanted to send one person?  Or a part of a person?  Or a THING?

Currently accepting any and all comments and head canons about blood magic.  And tagging people that might be (but probably aren’t interested), but I think y’all are smart and clever and so I’m tagging you anyway.

Hearts.

@savvylittleminx @savvylittlewriting @thevikingwoman @ket-mofo @liaragaming @elvenbeard @elveny @star–nymph @fragmented-eluvian @kurogoesinthedas @ellstersmash

[calwyne]

How the Evanuris shaped reality through the vallaslin.

We know that the evanuris were god-like figures. It is constantly and heavily implied that this status of 'godhood' was beyond simple reverence, it affected their nature. As Solas says 'the first among our people are not killed so easily'. In the canonical comic 'Until we sleep' we learn of a tevinter magister forming a cult of somniari, 'dreamers' with the goal of using the blood of great dragons to shape the minds of dreamers, and subsequently, reality itself.

Aurelius Titus is convinced that the magisters of old were close to unlocking the secrets of 'godhood', and he firmly believes that this secret can only be obtained by using the blood of great dragons to shape the dreams of others. He has had Maric captive, using the great dragon blood in his veins to power an ancient device called a Magrallen.

Who before the magisters supposedly acheived godhood? The Evanuris, the only among the people who were permitted to take the form of dragons. To take the form of a dragon, supposedly a 'divine' form, was considered an offense.

Only gods were permitted to take this form, and we know from 'until we sleep' that dragon blood is key to blood-magic that allows one to shape the dreams and spirits of others to command the fade. Let's take a look at this very interesting mural that we come across in tresspasser.

Here we see those with the vallaslin are connected to something. That something feeding into them is marked with the wavy lines that we have seen time-and-agsin representing the fade and dreams in other murals. In the center of this is an orb-like structure, potentially shaping or directing this connection. Those with the vallaslin are surrounded by an artificial looking halo, (perhaps drained of dreams, of will) each of them with markings foating over them. We know how much solas believes in free will. I'm sure we can imagine him working to ensure that his people were not misused in this manner. Could this be the power the magisters sought? The power to shape the dreams and mind of others? Once freed, the elves stand with no connection to power working on them. The fade surrounds them in a natural way, their dreams their own.

I believe this was what Titus was trying to achieve - however, despite years at his disposal, drawing Marics blood, he doesn't seem to have made it far at all besides giving himself acess to a strange kind of dragon-magic. What was he missing? What was he actively seeking at the time? Apparently he was trying to infiltrate the Sanctuary of Yavana, witch of the wilds, Flemeth's daughter and Morrigans elder sister. The place where dragons find sanctuary, and where Yavana has used Marics blood to awake a great queen of dragons.

So Aurelian Titus was able to use his power to become a magister, to gain power, but to achieve more than this he needs one of the great dragons alive. What is it that Dorian called the orb when he recognised it from ancient texts of tevinter?

I find this name 'vessel of dreams' very interesting. We see one of these orbs involved in the strange power that connected to wearers of the vallaslin. Were they integral in shaping dreams? Draining them perhaps? Using them in some manner to shape reality, it seems. When his orb is broken, he is horrified, shaken. If asked if it can be repaired, he tells us 'that would not restore what has been lost'. Is it possible that the dreams of his people, stored within, have been lost, now that the 'vessel of dreams' has been broken. I believe that the Evanuris used this power the magisters seek to shape reality, to become the gods they claimed to be, and this power used the vallaslin to drain and enslave the dreams of their servants.

[luciouschest]

so i was doing some reading on the stuff i haven’t played and 

As Varric shoots the Magrallen, he is accidentally pulled into the Fade, where he wakes up to see Bianca awaiting him. She tells him she found a captain willing to cross the guild and sail them both away. Apparently both Bianca and Varric were on the run from the "Guild" and that she was the designer of Varric's signature crossbow, which at the time wasn't named yet and was meant to make them both rich. It is insinuated that Bianca and Varric never were able to escape and knowing that, he realized that the Bianca he was talking to was just an illusion of the Fade. Knowing that the Bianca spirit wasn't the real one that he loved and lost so long ago, Varric exits his dream.

i’m going to fist fight whoever wrote this

[felassan]

assorted thoughts on DA: Absolution -

IMDB from a month ago was right

it looks good, I'm excited

stacked voice cast

diverse voice cast & characters

Cassandra my beloved

I hope there will be a Season 2

Qwydion 🥺 Vashoth?

the fact that it's been built in close collaboration with BioWare’s creative team (including head writers and lead creative directors), and that it was a big passion project for the show creator, who spent weeks immersed in DA lore to prepare and said they want to make something fans could be proud of.. 👌

"PS: if you’ve read this far, see you on Dragon Age Day. Or maybe sooner" hellooo what does THIS mean 👁️ you have the attention of each one of my many Pride demon eyeballs. another Absolution trailer, episode one or something of Absolution dropping early as a preview, or something like Absolution character profiles or behind-the-scenes/making of reels on or before DA Day? or something for DA:D?

Lords of Fortune once again prominent, again I'm guessing they have a role to play in DA:D

Evariste Lemarque is the latest minor character to ascend in DA's time-honored tradition of Ascended Extras. he was a neat side NPC, I'm looking forwards to seeing his expanded backstory/characterization etc, I love it when DA side characters get some spotlight & fleshing out tbh. he makes sense as a group leader given his history leading the Watcher's Reach refugees. given his appearance in the scene with Cass and Leli and the fact that he can be recruited in DAI as an Inquisition Agent, I guess he is the group's Inquisition contact and that the group are being sent on this quest on behalf of/at the behest of the Inquisition (or Inquisition remnants timeperiod depending). it reminds me a bit of Bull's Charger's, Sutherland's Company, Vaea and co, and the adventuring group questing on behalf of the Inquisition in Genetivi Dies in the End. like a show about an Inquisition War Table mission :) very cool!! the world feels more alive and dynamic when we have the sense that lots of things are happening in the background off-screen around the games

3 fighters, 2 mages and Miriam/a thief, sounds like the classic DA and RPG party with a team leader setup.

the Cass and Leli scene reads like the Inquisition briefing our group on their assigned quest

Miriam's childhood looks like what Fenris' must have been like :( I wonder if the other child in the flashback is her sibling. I wonder if something happened to the other child at the hands of the woman who enslaved Miriam or because of Rezaren, contributing to Miriam's trauma :(

I am once again wondering if, given the heist and thieves plotline, some ideas and aspects from Joplin (with its "spies and heists, secret heroes nobody knows about" vision) were rolled into Absolution. I am also once again thinking about the Magrallen. so our latest macguffin is an extremely dangerous likely Tevinter magical artifact fuelled by blood magic, while the Magrallen was a Tevinter magical device also powered by blood magic which dates back to ancient times, the time of the Dreamers. Titus was using the Magrallen to augment his power, with the intent of restoring Tevinter's greatness using his augmented Dreamer powers to do mind control and brainwashing. he talked about how the ancient Dreamers commanded the fade, "mages sculpting dreams. Dreams sculpting reality". Rezaren also seems to want to build some kind of new, better, grand future for Tevinter regardless of the cost, albeit one that's more righteous and better for everyone involved not just those in power (and the question posed then is: is it ok to fix Tevinter, and create a better future for everyone in it from all parts of the society, if the cost of that is mindcontrolling everyone or whatever else? reminds me a bit of the questions posed by the Control and Synthesis endings in ME). maybe the Circulum Infinitus is a small, mobile/portable version of the Magrallen? it presumably does something similar or adjacent at least. blood magic (and Rezaren appears to be a blood mage) already allows for mind control. With a portable macguffin that boosts blood magic powers, a blood mage could probably mind control many, many people, maybe even a nation or the whole magocracy (all those in power in Tevinter)

the hooded figure with many eyes is tied to the Pride Demon I'm sure

seen a few folks wonder if the horned silhouette is Iron Bull, I don't think this is the case, I think it's the dragon skull/dead dragon from 0:12 in the Absolution teaser trailer

maybe Rezaren and possibly also Tassia are the children of the woman who enslaved Miriam before? Rezaren and the woman's hairstyles and clothes look kind of similar, and that could explain why he's (if it's him) the man at the heart of Miriam's misery. and isn't the flaming sword symbol on Tassia's hammer a version of the Templar symbol? the Imperial Templar Order falls under the authority of the Magisters and the Tevinter Circle of Magi. so for Tassia, as she's dutiful and hardworking, as a dutiful Imperial Templar that could be why she's aiding Rezaren, and her character's personal conflict will be about how much she's willing to stand by and let happen for 'the good of Tevinter', and where exactly she draws the line. if they're siblings, she'd be a non-magic scion of a noble magic house (if Rezaren being born into privilege is anything to go by), and therefore perhaps feel duty-bound to contribute towards the greatness of her house and country in her own, non-magical way, in lieu of being a mage herself.

it threw me for a loop a bit that Matt Mercer isn't voicing the character that looks like Matt Mercer hh

with the way Rezaren sees himself, and the prideful notion he has that he should be the one to build a better Tevinter.. he sounds like precisely the kind of person who would be susceptible to a Pride demon. haha we in danger

what could Hira's secret be? maybe she is a blood mage, that learned the power in order to help her crusade? with her crusade against Tevinter, I wonder if she has crossed paths with Dorian, Mae and the Lucerni

the most powerful man in Tevinter: the Archon? the Black Divine? Rezaren? I wonder if our group are stealing the Circulum from Rezaren or if both they and Rezaren are opposing forces both trying to steal it at the same time from the most powerful man in Tevinter.

[dalishious]

Who is Maevaris “Mae” Tilani?

I could answer this question by just saying “Yes, she is a character from the comics.” But instead I’d rather answer by explaining a bit about her.

WARNING: This post contains panels from the Dragon Age comics Those Who Speak and Until We Sleep, including transmisogynistic violence... Because it would be a disservice to not recognize both the good and bad of Mae’s character, and that includes how she is treated by the writers.

ROLE IN THE COMICS

Maevaris Tilani is first introduced in Those Who Speak #1. For some context, Alistair is on a quest to track down his father, Maric, and has enlisted the help of Isabela and Varric. In Antiva, they learned that he was taken by a man named Aurelian Titus, a Magister of the Tevinter Imperium. This is where we meet Mae.

Varric: Alistair, this is Maevaris Tilani--widow to my cousin Thorold. Maevaris: King or not, you’ve got hands like a stonemason. I’d love to see what you can do with them. Alistair: It’s... a pleasure to meet you, Magister. Alistair: She’s really a magister? Varric: Recognized by the Imperial Senate.

Mae is Varric’s cousin in-law, and gave him information on the whereabouts of Aurelian Titus; specifically that he would be in attendance of the ball the story starts off at. 

Because Alistair is Alistair, he immediately confronts Titus and a fight breaks out rather fast. One Magister tells Mae it isn’t her fight and that she should back off, but she says she promised Alistair, Isabela and Varric that they had her protection, and doesn’t break promises. The man then calls her a whore,  and so she fucking roasts his ass like the pig he is. (Sidenote: this is part of a larger pattern with these comics--literally all the female characters are treated horribly. I really should make a post about this all on its own.) 

Varric: Remind me never to make you angry. Maevaris: Good advice for anyone.

When the baddies are all taken care of, Mae urges the three to leave before the authorities get there. She kisses Varric on the cheek goodbye, and gives him one final warning: That based on a battle cry from one of the Magisters, Titus is a dragon cultist, something Tevinter deals with a lot of apparently, and they’re “never pretty.”

Maevaris appears again in Until We Sleep, this time with a bigger part. At this point, Alistair and co have gained the aid of the Qunari in attacking the stronghold of Titus and his cult. Here he has been keeping Maric attached to a device called the Magrallen, that’s using his special dragon blood to make him very powerful. But Maric isn’t the only one we see Titus has locked up...

Varric (narrating): --But I certainly didn’t expect what I found. Maevaris: Varric...? Varric: Mae? What have they done to you? Varric (narrating): Maevaris Tilani is one of the best of us. She’s a mage, she’s family, and that’s all I’ll say.

What you are seeing is how the Gaider decided to reveal Maevaris is a trans woman. No, I’m not joking, I wish I was.

Varric frees Mae and gives her his cape to cover herself. She says she wishes he didn’t see her like that, and Varric says he wishes he didn’t get her involved. She cuts him off and tells him that Titus needs to be stopped, and all the “blood sucking vultures” as she calls them who want to “restore the Tevinter Imperium.” 

But as I said, all the female characters in these comics are treated poorly, and Mae’s suffering is bordering on torture porn. It’s kinda hard to read.

Maevaris: I don’t want you to see me like this. Varric: I’m sorry. Varric: I should never have asked for your help. Varric: We shouldn’t have left you at the ball-- Maevaris: Shut up.

Mae directs Varric into the laboratory, where by shooting the Magrallen, he sends them all into the Fade. When Varric finds her, she is at a fancy bathhouse with her dead husband, Thorald. Where Varric was (at least momentarily) tricked by the Fade, Mae is fully aware of where they are, and is actually quite happy.

Maevaris: Oh, don’t look at me like that--I know he’s just a spirit. Maevaris: That doesn’t mean it’s not lovely to see him again. Maevaris: You were always so patient with me... Maevaris: I’ll never forget that. Thorald: Yes, my love.

She asks Varric why it has to be them who saves the world, why they can’t just stay in the Fade and be happy. Varric responds by asking if she really doesn’t want revenge on Titus, then. Mae uses magic to construct a new outfit and the two head off... But not before we need to see another image of her half naked and beaten, just in case you forgot from the last issue.

She and Varric find Isabela trapped in a nightmare, where Isabela is part of the Qun. (Remember how I said the women are treated horribly in this series? Well, Isabela definitely has it the worst, and I can’t even get into that right now. Just know that this is part of a larger insult to her character.) Skipping through all of that, Isabela finally snaps out of it, and Mae offers her some advice in my favourite quote from these comics and one of their gems, for sure:

Maevaris: It always is--letting someone else define you. [Re: Isabela saying the Qun would be easier. I know, I know, like I said, that’s BS for another day] Maevaris: I don’t know you, but I know that much. Maevaris: Look yourself in the eye and take strength from what you see--Damn what anyone else believes.

Being the party’s mage, Mae guides Varric and Isabela through the Fade, where the finally get to the last of the crew: Alistair, who’s dream has him riding in a forest with Maric as prince of Ferelden. Again, skip skip skipping along the plot because I don’t want to spoil the whole story in this post, the four plus Maric find their way to Titus’ dreamworld, where we see the kind of Tevinter he wants. Isabela asks Mae if she wouldn’t do the same, in his position. She answers by saying that the people of Tevinter are too prideful, and that magic is not the answer to everything. (An interesting response, for a Magister.)

Maevaris: He wants to restore the Imperium, ruling Thedas with the power to reshape men’s hearts. Isabela: And you wouldn’t, if you had his power? Maevaris: My people have a wounded pride. Maevaris: Magic is useful, but it doesn’t fix everything.

Cue a fight scene. It ends with Mae placing a barrier around Maric as he approaches Titus, and decapitates him. The group returns to the real world, to find Maric barely alive thanks to the Magrallen. Mae initially tries to console Alistair by saying that maybe he could be saved, but knows the truth is a different story.

Alistair: It’s... really bad. Maevaris: There are healing magics. Maevaris: I’ve heard rumours about the Dalish, and another Magister, exiled to Anderfels... Maevaris: Legend says they could graft spirit onto flesh, to restore life. Maevaris: But... I don’t know.

Alistair destroys the Magrallen completely, and with that, Maric burns up and dies. The crew part ways and Mae returns to Tevinter.

ROLE IN DRAGON AGE: INQUISITION

What’s that? Mae is in Inquisition? Well, not truly. But you may recall Dorian name-dropping her as a good friend of his, and Varric can be overheard saying they are in contact through letters with an Inquisition scout in ambient dialogue at Skyhold.

She is also a part of the War Table mission, A Friend in Qarinus. It details that Mae is trying to introduce a law in the senate that would help stop Venatori activities, and the Inquisition has the opportunity to offer support. She responds in a letter:

My Lady Inquisitor,

Considerable as your support has been, I'm saddened to report my motion died on the Senate floor... although I am hardly surprised. My fellows in the Magisterium don't enjoy the thought of having their "freedom" limited in any fashion. That was, however, hardly the point of the motion. It was a statement that needed to be made, and your support allowed me to make it far louder and clearer than I ever would have on my own. So I thank you. With any luck, this will draw support from those who feel as I do. It will also draw fire from Venatori cultists still in the shadows, but I say let them come. I will not back down in the face of such fools. I'm sending along a few things which I hope will aid your efforts, and will see what more I can drum up. Give my love to Dorian. The poor boy is such a hothouse orchid, he must be wilting in the cold.

Magister Maevaris Tilani

Come Trespasser, Dorian says that he and Maevaris have been working together in hopes of creating a group who’s goal is to restore Tevinter, and sure enough, in Dorian’s epilogue, it says they have done as much, forming the Lucerni. The two are featured together in one of his slides.

This is mainly why people are hoping she will appear in the next Dragon Age game; it makes sense.

WORLD OF THEDAS: VOL 2

Mae’s entry in WoT:v2 gives us more information on her background. 

Mae came out as trans when she was fifteen, which caused a scandal among the nobility in Tevinter. But Maevaris had total support from her father, described as a kind and understanding man, and her family was extremely wealthy thanks to ties with the dwarven Ambassadoria. This helped matters greatly.

When Mae’s father was executed as a scapegoat, she took revenge against the allies that abandoned him. As customary, she was to inherit his seat in the Magisterium, but many other Magisters challenged this, saying that she “flies in the face of every tradition held dear”. Mae used their family relations with the dwarves to outmanoeuvre her opponents, and was granted her rightful seat.

Through all that, she also fell in love with Thorald Tethras, and they had a sincere and loving relationship. But Thorald was assassinated in 9:37 when visiting Minrathous by Mae’s enemies. She spent her inheritance from Thorald on exacting revenge.

It ends by saying that Mae has a unique reputation in the Magisterium, walking on a balance of fear and respect.

IN SUMMARY

Maevaris Tilani is a confident, empathetic, caring, intelligent, driven, and talented mage who has had to deal with quite a lot, is willing to fight for what she sees is right, ready to take change into her own hands, has spent her life doing what will make her happy, regardless of social stigma, and doesn't give a fuck if people disapprove of that.

However, there is one thing that I dislike about Mae, (besides how she is treated in the comics): She displays a similar view on slavery as Dorian, dismissing Isabela insulting slavery by just saying that everyone has slaves. But given that by Inquisition she is pushing for more and more reform for her country, I hope this is something that she has/will have grown out of.

Mae is easily one of the more fleshed out minor characters in the franchise, and this is why I’d love to see her developed even more.

I hope this answers your question and then some, Anon!

I’m gonna be a pathetic bitch and start pointing out I have a ko-fi on any time-consuming meta. So hey, if you’d like/are able to support this blog, why not consider checking out my ko-fi?

[dalishious]

Does anything important happen in until we sleep? (Something that causes varric to be in the fade if)

Oh boy I’m sorry this will probably make zero sense without reading the whole series but I’ll try my best... Varric, Isabela and Alistair were on the hunt for Maric. It turned out Maric was being used to power this thing called the “Magrallen,” because Theirins have magic dragon blood, which a Magister named Titus was using to become mega powerful, wanting to “restore Tevinter” to it’s “past glory” by creating a cult of Dreamers. Varric shoots the giant red orb and everyone in the vicinity gets sucked into the Fade.