#marquise of serault

[crossdressingdeath]

Ah, I think what we're getting into here is the difference between Andrastianism and the Chantry. There were a lot of different Andrastian sects(? Cults? Not entirely sure what the right word is, but I'm gonna go with sects) when the Chantry was first founded; most of them aren't around anymore (at least some of them gone because of the Chantry and its habit of wiping out every other religious group it can, see the codex entry on the Daughters of Song for an example; that one's especially nasty since they were pacifists and the Chantry steamrolled over them anyway), but even in the games' time period there's still a couple, most notably Chantry Andrastianism and Tevinter Andrastianism. Orlais chose a very warlike sect to follow right from the start, which might just have been because that's how Orlesians are but it's still a thing to keep in mind: the sect the Chantry came out of was already one that glorified war above most other things. How convenient for an expansionist empire! The Chantry itself was absolutely created from that initial sect with propping Orlais up in mind, and it has stuck to that mandate pretty consistently throughout Thedas's history (even up to the occupation of Ferelden, the Orlesian king put in charge had a Chantry advisor; as far as I'm aware there was no significant Chantry presence among the rebels, at least not in any official capacity). It's also important to me to keep in mind that in the games there is a vague acknowledgement of how Andrastians don't necessarily follow the Chantry and many don't agree with it; Anders is a devout Andrastian, and he understandably despises the organization. Varric is Andrastian, and Cassandra comments he wouldn't be caught dead in a Chantry. Basically the Chantry as an institution and Andrastianism as a religion are not the same thing, the Chantry was created with a specific goal that Andrastianism did not share, and after a point they have to be discussed as separate entities.

I sort of agree with the "institutions are at their heart the people" thing? But also that only goes so far when we're talking about an institution that is fundamentally not in it to do good, or at least not for anyone who isn't already wealthy and in a position of power. I think the best example is Mother Giselle; she was working in Jader during a famine, and she demanded the Chantry step up and offer aid to the people who were starving. She's the epitome of someone determined to do good within the Chantry and fulfill their supposed mandate of charity. And... the Chantry refused to help. Just straight up refused to send aid no matter how many times she entreated them to help these desperate people. Eventually Mother Giselle fell back on a hunger strike, and that worked (although the Chantry insisted she feed herself and her fellow sisters first, which they merrily refused to do; I have issues with Mother Giselle but this is very good, gotta respect the determination). But the Chantry was so furious with her for "shaming" them and forcing their hand that by breaking that famine she ensured she would never be able to move any higher in the institution than she was already. Mother Giselle was fighting the Chantry the whole way and was punished for succeeding. That's kind of the running theme in the Chantry; there are a lot of genuinely good people who are genuinely determined to help! But outside of the individual level they consistently find themselves stymied and slapped down by the organization they serve, because the Chantry does not actually exist to help and does not actually want to. There comes a point where you can't take the intentions of people who join up as the true purpose of the institution, because the institution absolutely does not agree with those intentions and will do everything in its power to shut them down. (Also I mean there comes a point where it's like... hey if you people are in this to help people why aren't you quitting when it becomes clear the organization is going to demand you hurt people at every turn, Keran DA2 you will always be famous to me.)

FINALLY SOMEONE SAID IT. Thank you Dorian for being the best once again and pointing out that hey maybe if the Chantry didn't treat their mages like shit and traumatize all of them they'd get possessed less often.

[ammocharis]

One bit of obscure Dragon Age lore a day until Dragon Age: The Veilguard is released

The cult of Masked Andraste is rooted in Serault, a marquisate in western Orlais that borders the ancient Tirashan forest. The worship focuses on Andraste as a hunter. Animal sacrifices are involved, and rituals performed in Masked Andraste's name are believed to bring an abundance of game to hunt and fruit to forage.

Source: Dragon Age: The Last Court - Omens

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[rellanas]

fuck it. eugénie is gonna be my marquise de serault.

[defira85]

Thedas Tuesday

Oh boy this is probably my biggest shot in the dark, because this one is entirely dependent on my existing and expansive canon which has a fairly large departure from Bioware canon and revolves around The Last Court, my beloved, and the fact that Lace (and Varric) represent themselves as being aligned with the Inquisition even though it's entirely possible for the Inquisition to have been disbanded at the end of Trespasser

Luciaane de Serault

If Thedas had the concept of a nepo baby, Luci would probably fit the bill. The only daughter of Marquis Ilaane de Serault, the Huntress of Serault, and heir to the marquisate, Luci is beloved by all in the wild frontier city. Serault has always been a peculiarity, only Orlesian due to the shifting of borders, and their Circle Tower has been the most poorly kept secret in all of Orlais. Magic walks the streets of Serault, not the careful displays of extravaganza one sees in Tevinter but true Wild Magic

Luci has three parents - her mother Ilaane, and her fathers Marcus and Lucien. Marcus is the court bard, and Lucien is Ilaane's cousin, descended from The Shame and branded with the same magic. Lucien (belonging to @tiefighter) is a wild mage, who trained under the tutelage of the Lord of Forest and Song, a great forest god and spirit, and he received a vision of the future Inquisitor Corinne Trevelyan - a fellow wild mage - and felt compelled to join the Inquisition to aid her. Luci was around five or six when he left, and with when she visited Skyhold she became the darling of the Inquisition. Corinne very delightedly became her godmother, or at least the Thedosian equivalent

Several years later, in the late 9:40s, Luci went out into the woods to meet with the Lord of Forest and Song and did not come back that night. It was not terribly unusual for members of the de Serault family called to serve the wild magics to wander off for a day or two, so Ilaane did not panic immediately, but when she was not back several days later they sent out a search party - only to be greeted by a young woman in her mid 20s. For the few days that had passed in Serault, almost fifteen years had passed in the Deepwoods, and Luci was now an adult, powerful and wild and rambunctious.

Technically, Luci's faction is the Inquisition because I assumed that we were getting 7 factions to match 7 companions, but obviously some people have world states where the Inquisition got disbanded and that wouldn't work, so in game she's Shadow Dragons. But she's the heir to Serault, goddaughter of the Inquisitor and Lady of Skyvale Corinne Trevelyan, agent of the Inquisition, and favoured apprentice of an old forest god - like I said, nepo baby supreme

I wrote about Luc and Luci and Ilaane here years ago, on the night Serault learns the Divine has been murdered

[valyrianrepublic]

Map of the Orlesian Empire remains in 9:46 Dragon

Orange: Kingdom of Ferelden annexed territories

Green: The Restored Dales

Blue: The Andrastian Republic of Orlais

Purple: The Grand Duchy of Serault

Red: Kingdom of Nevarra annexed territories

Light Blue: Contested Dales-Orlais border

Black: The "Venatori" states (informally called)

After the death of both Grand Duke Gaspard and Empress Celene at the disastrous Peace Ball of Halamshiral in 9:42 Dragon, the Empire of Orlais, strained already by the burning of it's capital during the last battle of the Mage Rebellion, the weakening of it's armies in the War of Lions and the border incursion of a resurgent Ferelden under Prince-Consort Cousland and Queen Anora Mac Tir, ended up fracturing completing. Revolutionary movements brought by the Elusive Iconoclaust, unchecked with most of the royal army leaderless in the Dales, quickly overturned large swats of the crumbling Empire with mass executions of it's nobility. The western marquisate of Serault closed it's borders to avoid the spread of revolutionary movements and declared indipendeance from Orlais trought a network of marriages and submission of it's neighbooring nobles. Rivaling nations such as Nevarra and Ferelden, both having warred with Orlais in the recent past, were more than happy to nibble at the borders of their rival, as was Ambassador Briala, who was able to transfer hundreds of thousands of elves in the Dales trought means unknown in a short time and drive the tired and deserting skeletrons of the orlesian garrisons out before declaring the Dales a nation once again. The downfall of Orlais allowed even agents of the Elder One to infiltrate it's ranks and despite the purge of Venatori elements after the death of Corypheus, the more distant territories, unable to be reclaimed by either the Dales or Orlais, kept bearing the mark of the corruption left and internal division.

-The Twenty Years War, Author Unknown, Public Library of Ansburg, United Marcher Alliance capital.

[alinnsurana]

🖊 any oc of ur choice!

Arlathan, long before he became Rook. Lived in Serault, and robbed the marquise he worked for since he was a child. In my heart he has a bit of an accent like Antione, but slightly faded after his time as both a tevinter slave and living in rivain

[erikacousland]

The Huntress & The Elegant Abbess - Dragon Age: The Last Court

The Marquise of Serault and her beloved in the S&N (my headcanon DA world setting).

Can't stop sniggering when I looking at these portraits.

Had a fun time on Leliana/Morrigan ship once… Until I became too greedy and selfish for Leliana. :>

[stainedglassserault]

*** You may need to open the image in a new tab to get high res ***

... to do that on mobile, I think you click on the image. To do that on desktop, right click and select open image in new tab or something similar.

This reference is made out of a piece of the high resolution map by the wyrd sisters. It has estimated locations of Serault and its neighboring Marquisate town, Alyons. I didn't draw the border between the two but you can imagine it. I have it between Serault and Andoral's Reach, such that Alyons does not have much contiguous land and only has the 3 vassal villages nearby. That Marquisate is currently more powerful than Serault, and has additional lands that are not contiguous elsewhere. I forget what the term for that is, but there is one.

Also featured: the Last River that is meant to flow through Serault and make it a river port, plus some other rivers I made up and many newly named lakes. I didn't name every lake, but I named a lot of lakes if you see an unnamed lake, look for a near lake, add "petite" to its name, and there you go. I realized part way through they should probably be Lac __ if named in "Orlesian" and Lake __ if named in "Common" ... just assume people call them by both depending.

Wherever you put it, it is important that the Last River actually ends up flowing down past somewhere relevant, like near Andoral's Reach, and crossing the Imperial Highway! This is because if it was just a river that went or came from nowhere useful, like the marshes, it wouldn't be passable for commerce to be coming into Serault.

I am assuming the source of the Last is in the Blasted Hills, snow melt or one or more springs or both, and flows south-south west. The River Dawn I have it intersecting with in the Tirashan is a river I made up and it starts with a natural spring and ends meeting up with the Last and then going underground right at that point.

Since making this I have seen people put Serault on the little scrap of river leading into the lake I have named Lake Nahashin. I kind of accept that, because yes that way you don't need to imagine the original canon maps left off a whole river, but really? A passable series of rivers and lakes through a marsh area? I am not a river boat captain or anything so I may be wrong but I assume it wouldn't ever have been popular with trade through a Marsh. Maybe someone who does that is imagining the "Nahashin Marshes" label really only represents scattered marshes between the lakes, and not a major nearly unbroken stretch of marsh. Anyway I like my Last River also because it gives me a good spot to put Alyons that also lets Alyons be relevant and more important than Serault at this point. Also it lets you put Serault actually away from the lakes and marsh, which are never mentioned in The Last Court, and right next to the Tirashan woods, which are repeatedly mentioned as being "right out the back door" from Chateau Serault.

Why is it, and Serault for that matter, missing off the actual official maps?

1) because it's way out west and nobody cares. That explains Alyons I guess, too. 2) it was purged as part of the "Shame of Serault" shunning which would be a few generations back. Alyons got left off too because they took off the Last River to punish Serault and impact its trade. The merchants they still get are hold outs and people really into getting their hands on the best glass. Perhaps authorities felt nobody would follow a ban on Serault glass, so it was better to deter trade and effect the punishment using official map changes.

You can also see I added some made up villages for Serault to have as vassals, each with their own local lord or lady (styled "baron" informally, if they want, even if official petty titles are banned) ... or Ser if a chevalier or general knight.

Find more about those villages, and the draconologist's outpost, Chateau Estival, HERE.

More about the rivers and lakes, HERE.

More about Alyons and its villages HERE whenever I make that post.

[felassan]

Stupid question, do you know of a map that shows where that marquis in orlais is from that text game they got rid of? And/or where anyone put together lore from it?

hello! ◕‿◕ not a stupid question at all! I really love TLC, Serault and Serault lore, it was really intriguing with its own unique character.. Dragon Age: The Last Court you will always be famous (˶◞ ‸ ◟˶)

to my knowledge/recollection there was no map of the Marquisate of Serault itself. but we do know where the Marquisate of Serault specifically sits on the larger map of Thedas proper thanks to the War Table in DA:I -

here you can see exactly where it sits in relation to the Nahashin Marshes and the Tirashan. there were also descriptions in the game of various locations in the Marquisate and (a bit) on their geographic relations to each other, as well as descriptions in the game relating that the Marquisate itself is in the far west of Orlais ("far west of the civilised world") near the Tirashan ("Look west, to the Tirashan Forest").

The Last Court resources:

Dragon Age: The Last Court preservation community project archive (a Google drive of screenshots of 99% of the game's contents)

Detailed plot guide on A03 (the info in text format, not screencaps)

Ghil Dirthalen video - TLC overview

Ghil Dirthalen long video - Playing TLC

Dragon Age Wiki pages on TLC: TLC, Serault, an index of the cards etc

hope something here helps ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

[nam-imperii]

RAPHAËL DE BOUGAINVILLE:

-Orlesian

-Marquis of Serault

-The Shame Of Serault, Marquis Sylvaine De Bougainville, was his ancestor. Being a powerful wizard, even in death a shadow of the Shame manages to visit Raphaël in dreams occasionally

-Raphaël dislikes those dreams and always refuses him, blaming him for the fall of their family

-Raphaël mother, Cristhine, was an Evil Orlesian Standard and abused him to study and be racist. Little Raphaël wanted to make everyone happy but he was still not racist, only studying hard and a continued "yes mother"

-Raphaël father was usless. Raphaël mother was basically a barbie villain love is for peasants is her song

-Raphaël owned a big orange cat who looked always angry when he was little... His mother killed the cat to punish Raphaël once.

-Raphaël never took part at his mother funeral and becomed the Marquis of a ruined land. He needed years only to put Serault out of the ruins

-When the Mage Rebellion started, he sided with the Chantry in hope of having the Divine blessing and the family name restored (and also because he's still an orlesian noble and victim of chantry propaganda)

-This doesn't stop him from having his magical great-grandma in his palace because yes she's the apostate daughter of the Shame but she's still family

-Succesfuly restored Serault name and lately supported the Inquisition

-Despite having supported the chantry, when the war ended he offered Serault glass to tranquils to study and a sanctuary. Some of the tranquils decided to accept the offer and Serault glasswork combined with their work made Serault incredibly rich while the tranquils where being cured.

-A good player of the game but his true passion is writing history. A true ravenclaw

-Becomed more comfortable with magic after the war, now that the free mages where free to do the fuck they wanted and live where they wanted

-The new Divine Victoria I (Leliana) made him create new glass windows for the Grand Cathedral in Val Royeaux so obviously Empress Celene requested the same shortly after and Raphaël becomed an important Marquis in court

-The Alienage of Serault is one of the few alienages who aren't slums and elves live a good life.

-A big supporter of Empress Cèlene, especially for her work on the University Of Orlais

-Romances Krem in Inquisition

-The bambooze is his spirit animal because they're incredibly smart and engage in politics in their tribes but are also very protective of their family

-Insufferably orlesian sometimes

[ammocharis]

One bit of obscure Dragon Age lore a day until Dragon Age: The Veilguard is released

The Shame of Serault, the lord of a marquisate in a remote western part of Orlais who reigned sometime during the Blessed Age, was an apostate mage. One time he was contacted by the Grey Wardens and travelled with them through the Deep Roads to a place in the Vimmark Mountains where he was tasked with performing a ritual to strengthen bonds that kept a unique prisoner. Only blood could renew these bonds. The prisoner, although not revealed by name, was most likely Corypheus, and the ritual - similar to that performed years later by Malcolm Hawke.

Source: Dragon Age: The Last Court - The Heartwood Feast

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[defira85]

Thedas Tuesday

We've done the first 4! Now in the home stretch with the last 4, which is not quite enough to see us through to launch but close enough

Dhraoibhan of the Tirashan

Pronounced dru-vawn, Dhraoibhan is a Dalish warrior... technically. Deep in the far and hidden depths of the Tirashan forest, on the borders of the Marquisate of Serault, ancient things slumber. It is no secret that the de Serault noble family have long dabbled in wild magics, taught at the knees of creatures that might be spirits and might be forest gods, and even their knowledge of the deepest and darkest groves of the woods is limited

There are elves in the Tirashan. Some might call them Dalish. Its debatable whether they'd call themselves that, but you'll not get a straight answer from them. They are pale, like ghosts, and their vallaslin is violently blood red, bright and unsettling. They do not call out to the Evanuris, but instead call out to other names. Older names.

Forgotten names.

Dhraoibhan is a blood reaver, something akin to a berserker as it would be known to the rest of mainland Thedas. They are actively unsettling, almost bordering on alien in their demeanour, and they seem to find the confusion and discomfort of others genuinely hilarious. They travel everywhere with their dog, a creature just as lanky and gangly as they are, but deceptively strong and fast just as their master is

(the dog is sort of like a mix of an irish wolfhound and borzoi)

Dhraoibhan has left the sanctuary of the Tirashan after rumours of Fen'harel's steps upon the world reached their people. The Evanuris were not the only gods the old wolf tricked and trapped, after all, and they are angry.

Functionally, Dhraoibhan will be a warrior Dalish Veil Jumper, but my canon will operate differently. For one thing, Dhraoibhan would refer to themselves as a Voidwalker, not a Veil Jumper, and I don't think we're getting blood magic type skill trees in this game? Regardless, I can't not dabble in forbidden magics every game, so Dhraoibhan is my blood magic warrior to Micaela my blood magic mage. Do I have a blood magic rogue? Wait and see...

[silvanils]

Happy Friday!! Would love to see your take on "let chaos be undone," from the chantry prompts ✝️🙏🔥

@dadrunkwriting

WHOO, I was still in a mood to write about Serault so have this fic I threw together based on a headcanon of mine that the Horned Knight's true purpose is actually Reflection.

Word Count: 777 Rating: G

Reflection had always admired the noble Marquis.

He was a bright flame, a beacon of light — and the spirit hoped he could help this man’s dreams become a little more real.

His ideas and passions were endless, insatiable! They paved new paths together, began to create a dazzling network the likes of which hadn’t been seen in all of Reflection’s long memory…

And then the Marquis had to leave, suddenly. Reflection awaited his return as eagerly as his own people did, grew restless as the man’s absence stretched on longer than anyone had anticipated. The Marquis’s young son grew sullen, quiet, distrustful of his father’s friend… and the spirit did not enjoy the gloom that had settled over their lands like a dark cloud.

He retreated into his forest, to continue waiting alone.

.

The Marquis did return, eventually, but when he sought out Reflection he did not wish to pick up where they’d left off or plan new, even more wondrous schemes — he was tired, drained by whatever business had called him away… and all he had for the spirit was a locked box.

“I can’t trust anyone else with this,” the proud Marquis said. “Keep it safe for me, won’t you?”

He mostly kept to his own lands after that. He had a family to care for, a court to mind, secrets to keep — and in his unbearable loneliness, Reflection sought out company of his own. Soon enough, he met a lovely dryad who was most pleased to call herself his Lady… and together, they began to care for any that could not care for themselves. Orphaned deer, injured wolves, people who had no-where else to go…

Not long after that, the Lord of the Forest stumbled upon a young girl living alone in his woods. She had the same eyes as the Marquis, the same hair, but none of his regal bearing. A castaway, like him. But the sight of him scared her half to death and she threw a ball of fire at him — and after that, he decided to leave her alone.

.

He sensed the moment the powers shifted, felt the Marquis give in to his Pride. Some might have called this end inevitable when a mage held so much power. Some might have believed he was too-far-gone the moment he bound any spirit to his whims. But the spirit considered THAT to be the greatest Shame of all — that his old friend’s brilliance was drowned by a single failure.

.

The solemn Marquis still despised his father’s “creation.” But he was too busy dealing with the fallout from his father’s other mistakes to do much about one that knew how to mind itself. He left the Horned Knight alone, mostly —

But he did build the first of many walls between their kingdoms, one that firmly divided their realm in two halves: the forest and the roads and fields. For many, many years that was simply the way things were.

In his old age, however, the solemn Marquis finally sired a single child — a girl who looked much like the aunt she’d never met, but had the same fiery spirit as her grandfather.

.

The fierce Marquis ventured into the forest often, accompanied by equally ferocious friends. They waged war on the woodsfolk several times, hoping to tame the wild creatures, ease the fears that had begun to fester in the people of their realm. Each slight they did to him, the Horned Knight returned — until, finally, they stopped attacking his lands with such fervor.

She let her children play in the woods sometimes, too. The girl took to them more than the boy did, always flitting about, sneaking deeper and deeper... She was not afraid of what lurked in their domain, and her eyes were as bright as the Shame’s had once been.

Whenever he watched those youths play at the edge of his forest, the Horned Knight felt a little spark of hope.

.

The young Marquis was as just as he was gentle — his people felt as though he truly understood them, and he did everything he could to help ensure his lands prospered. He built a strong foundation of trust in a world where most people got ahead by stabbing each other.

And still, the Horned Knight was surprised that this Marquis seemed to understand him.

“We are not so different,” the Scholar mused. “You and I, and I and he. Can we leave the past behind us, let chaos be undone? Together, I believe we could achieve something truly marvelous.”

Reflection had always admired the noble Marquis.

He was a bright flame, a beacon of light — and the spirit hoped he could help this man’s dreams become a little more real.

[dreadfutures]

The Mysterious Marquis.

[allmywardensaresafeandsound]

Dimitrian de Serault

[vitosscaletta]

It was so messed up in da:i that you have to read like 20 books and play God knows how many visual novels (like who has time to read all that) to understand what's going on because I've seen so many people reunite briala and celene because they don't explain what really went down and their reunion is cute but then you read the masked empire or whatever that book was called and find out that celene is the devil