#quest: the urn of sacred ashes

[suranastair]

How it started.

[redjennies]

me in 2011: idk Oghren wasn't my first choice who should be the returning companion from Origins to Awakening, but I like him. I think it was cool that they showed that just because he married Felsi, he's still fucked up from what happened with Branka and you can help him with some things that he wasn't ready to deal with in Origins so I guess it does make sense for him to return. also he's my bestie now, and I love him. :)

me in 2017: okay, yeah Oghren's writing and "jokes" often are the result of misogynistic and homophobic writing that plagues Origins, but let's not pretend Alistair doesn't also make openly misogynistic jokes and he's the fandom darling who "respects women." so let's not pretend this is about Oghren and social justice so much as it is about who the fandom at large finds fuckable.

me in 2025: fuck it, Oghren is utterly fascinating and rivals characters like Loghain and Morrigan in richness of character. he is a reflection of the ugliness of the Orzammar caste system and how even the relatively privileged warrior caste are chewed up and spit out by dwarven society once they stop being useful. by the nature of his caste, he was supposed to die a long time ago in battle, but because of his wife's elevated status as Paragon, they were thrown into a world they were both entirely unprepared for as that sort of class mobility is nigh impossible to achieve in Orzammar, and neither could adjust to a life of idle luxury. they hated each other, and still, that deeply ingrained sense of honor and loyalty has him track her down through the Deep Roads years after she abandoned him to his disgrace and witness the trail of horrors she left in her wake as she betrayed and sacrificed both her family and his to feed her obsession with the Anvil. and still, he thinks he can talk some sense into her and asks the Warden to spare her because that's his wife and perhaps, because he sees that same maddening lack of purpose in her that he feels in himself. worse yet, he is painfully aware of all this as evidenced by how he pre-emptively monologues all his faults and self-loathing to the Guardian in the Temple of Sacred Ashes before the Guardian has a chance to say anything. by his own admission, he is a thoroughly humiliated man who has lost his family twice over, his dignity, and now, his home. he is so thoroughly removed from what his culture taught him honor and purpose looks like, and unlike Sten, there is no easy fetch quest that can fix that. so of course, he spends the majority of Origins milling about in camp, drunk and unable to talk about much less move on from his grief. he only starts taking the smallest of steps towards a better life fairly late into his approval, the biggest of which is not completing his personal quest but by maxing out his approval and having real conversations with him about what happened with Branka and assuring him that he isn't useless and that he can change. of course, when he returns in Awakening, he is still only on the second half that journey. of course, he runs away from his responsibilities out of fear of fucking it up again when traveling with the Warden is the only thing that has given his life meaning in Maker knows how long. obviously abandoning his wife and child is not the "good" thing to do, but it is the understandable thing to do given everything that's happened to him, and he shows his growth by rectifying that mistake and not accepting defeat. that is how you do a fucking damn good character arc, and anyone who disagrees with me can meet me on the Proving Grounds.

[thedragonagelesbian]

luc & alistair having their first kiss before the urn of sacred ashes & consummating their relationship after healing eamon feels very full circle on their relationship. i adore them so much.

[sexysecy69]

brother genitivi: haven is a village of fanatics of andraste

andreaste "andrea" cousland, who named herself that when she was a child who dreamt of growing up in her image:

[weaveandwood]

The First Time

Pairing: Alistair x Female Mahariel (Ellaria, a dual wielding rogue) Words: 4.2K NSFW

Summary:

Alistair Theirin did not expect many things that had happened to him since he became a Grey Warden. He didn't expect to be betrayed at Ostagar. He didn't expect to lose his mentor. He didn't expect to be one of the only two Wardens left in Ferelden that he knew of. He didn't expect to be traveling with such an...eclectic group.

Above all of this, he certainly didn't expect to fall in love with his fellow Grey Warden, a Dalish elf named Ellaria. Could she feel the same?

AN: In my playthrough, the scene for Alistair asking to spend the night with my warden triggered after the Urn of Sacred Ashes quest, which requires everyone to take off their clothes. I thought the timing was hilarious, and this one shot was born.

Read on AO3! comments and reblogs are very appreciated!

Alistair didn’t know what made him start feeling this way about Ellaria. He paced around his tent - and really, pacing was being generous. It was more like turning in circles. Slowly. He was a tall man and it was a small tent, after all. 

Was it her bravery? She had been tireless, fierce, stunningly brutal every day since he met her. Whether it was leaping onto an ogre to deal the killing strike or telling off his half-sister in Denerim, she was unwavering. 

Could it have been her beauty? When she was cleansed by fire to retrieve a pinch from the urn of sacred ashes to help Arl Eamon, just hours before, he had never seen her so…exposed. He would have to be a blind and incredibly stupid man to not admit that seeing her in that state of undress sent a hot flush through him he was surprised Morrigan did not comment upon. 

Maybe it was that she listened to him. He had mentioned his mother’s broken amulet as a regret he had, in passing, never expecting her to place it into his palm with an excited smile. Of course I remembered, you are special to me.

Or was it before that? At the Circle Tower, when they passed the tortured templar she remarked to him that she was glad he was not a templar anymore. Or even the first time they spoke at Ostagar, when she called him a strange human. 

How it started didn’t matter, he supposed, just that it did. Perhaps he fell for her over time, a trickle of interest slowly turning into a waterfall of feelings that landed on him all at once. He fell in love. With a fellow Grey Warden. During a blight. And they were the only two left to end it. Perfect timing, really. 

Which is why he couldn’t wait any longer.

He left his tent knowing she was on her shift for watch duty, and found her staring into the nearby campfire while absentmindedly petting Barkspawn. The fire cast a warm glow on her, turning her white hair and fair skin almost golden. Her brow was furrowed, a sure sign she was deep in thought. Tomorrow they would journey into Orzammar and with the way their luck was headed, into the Deep Roads. He closed his eyes, pushing the thought out of his mind. Still, the Deep Roads was where Grey Wardens went to die, and he would never forgive himself if something happened with words left unspoken or actions left undone. 

He felt his heart start to race as he drew nearer to her before settling down on the ground beside her. A pit threatened to form in his stomach before she glanced over at him and gave him a soft smile that instantly reassured him. She took his hand as if it were the most natural thing in the world, like it was something easy, something instinctual she just did when they were near each other. He sighed.

“Is everything okay? Why are you not resting like all of the others? Tomorrow will be a long day of travel,” she said, her attention focused on him now instead of the images she must have been seeing play out in the flames. He thought he saw a glare from Barkspawn. 

Now or never. 

“I…I really don’t know how to ask you this,” he stammered as he looked at her from the corner of his eyes, her face turned to him. Those deep green eyes he adored were highlighted by the orange light of the fire. This was not helping. He dragged his hand down his face. “You’d think it would be easier by now, but every time I’m around you, I feel as if my head is about to explode - in a good way! I just can’t think straight!” He felt his cheeks starting to burn hot and his resolve starting to waver. 

She laughed, the sound high and clear in the crisp night air. Oh, he loved all of her laughs, but this one in particular was his favorite - the one laugh she had when she was caught off guard by something he said or did. He loved it so much that he did everything he could to coax it out of her while they were at camp after long days of fighting darkspawn, bandits, and demons, no matter how silly it made him look. 

“You know, I feel the same way when I’m around you,” she said. Barkspawn had flopped over on his side and she was scratching his belly now. Lucky dog. He would give anything to feel her fingers on his skin, to only feel each other instead of fumbling around clothes or armor when they kissed in his tent in the evenings, away from the prying eyes of their companions. Well, friends at this point, he supposed. You couldn’t walk away from the things they had seen without being friends at least. He scolded himself internally, not wanting his mind to wander to Sten or Wynne or, Maker forbid, Zevran while he was trying to drum up the confidence to ask what he was attempting to. He turned his body to face her, keeping her hand in his. His heart now felt like a war drum, one beat away from pounding through his chest. She did the same and earned a whine from Barkspawn once her hand stopped scratching. 

“Here’s the thing, Ellaria: You are impulsive, you run headfirst into danger, you’re always putting yourself right in the middle of all the darkspawn or bandits or whoever else…being near you makes me crazy.” He saw her eyes drop and felt her starting to pull her hand away, quickly realizing he had only named negative things. He held on to her hand tighter, placing his other one on top. “You’re brave, you’re fierce, you’re protective, you’re beautiful…I can’t imagine being without you. Not ever.”

“Oh,” she said. He could see a faint flush on her cheek and the softest hint of a smile at the corners of her mouth at his confession.  

“I don’t know how to say this any better so here goes. I want to spend the night with you. Here. Tonight. In camp. Is this too fast? It might be too fast, I don’t know. I know what I feel, and what I feel is that I want to be with you. We stumbled into each other, and despite this not being the perfect time, the perfect place, I found myself falling for you in between the fighting and everything else. Honestly, even during the fighting - you’re quite breathtaking.” Visions of her sweaty and panting and covered in blood flashed through his mind. He wanted to recreate it -  minus the blood. 

“I guess you really liked what you saw in the temple today?” She laughed as he stammered and flushed a bright red, rubbing his neck with his hand. “Alistair, Alistair! I am teasing you. But…are you sure? Even though I am not…I am not human? I know what people say about elves. I have heard a lot of it on our travels,” she said, sounding uncharacteristically nervous around him. Every time someone called her knife-ear or rabbit, he saw red. He had never and would never consider her any different from any other person they had come across just because of the shape of her ears, her shorter stature, or the elegant swirling tattoo on her face. 

“Honestly, at this point I think elves are better than humans,” he smiled softly at her, stroking her knuckles with the pad of his thumb. “I really don’t want to wait anymore. I’ve never done this before and I want it to be with you, while we have the chance. In case…” he trailed off, fear of the Deep Roads seeping into his veins. 

“I want it to be with you, too,” she smiled up at him. “My first time. I was hoping you would ask.” 

This time, he was the one who laughed as pure relief flooded his system. He kissed her softly. “Come to my tent after your watch ends.” 

The next few hours felt like an eternity. Alistair had tidied up his meager belongings, everything folded and placed into a neat stack in the farthest corner of his tent, which was actually not that far away at all. He lay on his bedroll, willing at least a little sleep to come but it was as elusive as it had been most nights since their journey began. So he lay there, staring up at the fabric of his tent and attempted unsuccessfully to calm his nerves while he waited for her. 

“Alistair?” he heard her whisper quietly, checking to see if he was still awake. Finally. He bolted upright, glad for the darkness to camouflage his awkward movements.

“Over here, Ellaria,” he said softly, reaching out for her hand as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. He should have had a candle lit. Should he light one now? Or would fumbling in the dark be better than fumbling in the light? His nerves caught up to him again as the reality of what they were about to do sank in. Her smaller hand clasped in his, he felt her kneel beside him. This wouldn’t do - he wanted to see her and decided right then and there that lighting a candle was the course of action to take. He placed the candleholder down on a book he used more often than not as a table rather than reading material, the small flame throwing just enough flickering light in the tent to send the darkness fleeing to the edges and corners. 

“You are so beautiful,” he said, smoothing her hair behind her delicately pointed ear. He brushed the tip of it with his finger, eliciting a small gasp from her lips. His eyes, instantly drawn to the source of the sound, took in their gentle curve, the full pout of her bottom lip, the slightly downturned corners that made her always look like she was deep in thought. He could no longer resist, closing the distance between them and pressing his own lips gently against hers as they had done for so many nights now since the night he gave her the rose outside Honnleath. This time, however, there was an undercurrent of something different, an anticipation of what was to come as their kisses grew more intense and their tongues danced, finding a rhythm that built and built. His hands fell to her waist, grateful more than ever for the Dalish dress style - the bare expanse of her stomach was one of the first things that drew his attention to her when she walked up to him at Ostagar, before he really knew her. Now it seemed like a bonus. In addition to the privilege of knowing her, he was also able to see those muscles flex and relax as she fought, or walked, or even laughed. 

He felt her fingers, fine and light, reach for the bottom of his shirt, crumpled from tossing and turning with unsuccessful sleep. She lifted it up, smiling against his kiss as she struggled. Impatient, he broke the kiss, pulling the shirt quickly over his head, leaving him bare chested in front of her. Obviously, she had seen him without a shirt on as he washed in rivers and streams, but this was different. Everything would be different after this. She reached out, running her hands through the fine hair that dusted his chest and left goosebumps in her path before turning around and allowing him to loosen the laces on the top she wore for sleeping. She pulled it off over her head, and he traced the faint red marks on her skin from where it had slightly dug in. She let out the softest sigh as he kissed the joining of her neck and shoulder, tilting her head to allow him more access which he gladly accepted.

She laughed softly. “I do not know why I am so nervous to turn around.” 

“I promise you will get nothing but rave reviews here,” he said, placing a kiss on her shoulder, her skin smooth and cool beneath his lips. 

She turned around and his heart skipped a beat. She was gorgeous when fully clothed, but she was without a doubt earth-shatteringly beautiful half undressed. He felt himself stir as he took her in, his eyes sweeping down to her breasts, small but perfect, nipples perked once exposed to the cool night air in his tent, before meeting her eyes again. 

“Beautiful,” was all he could whisper. 

She reached one hand around the back of his neck, pulling him to her to kiss her again while the other threaded through his hair, her nails sending delightful tingles through him. He would have to remember this, he wanted her to scratch his head for hours. Now he understood why Barkspawn was so upset when he interrupted earlier. Stop thinking about the dog, Alistair. Half naked Ellaria, right in front of you . His hand moved from her waist to her breast, fully covering it and squeezing lightly. It was softer than he thought it would be, given how lean and muscular she was. His thumb traced lightly over her nipple, feeling it grow even harder under his touch. The way her body reacted to him sent a crackling warmth through him. He crashed his lips against hers, kissing her deeply and pulling her onto his lap though he knew she could feel him growing harder for her with each second that passed. She pressed her hips against his, the pressure causing him to groan softly into her mouth. The sound made her press against him again and again, her hips slowly rocking against him. He rocked his own hips back into hers, a preview of how the night would end, if all went well. He needed her. He had never been with anyone before and yet he knew he needed her more than he had ever needed anything in his life. His fingers went to the drawstring of her loose sleeping pants, untying it, ready to cross the line from innocent flirting and kissing to something else.  

She smiled and climbed off his lap to stand before him. He hooked his fingers in the waistband of her pants, pushing them off her hips slowly, exposing more of her fair skin than he had ever seen. He discovered lines of scars, both old and new. He discovered the patch of soft white curls between her legs. He discovered just how muscular her thighs were as he smoothed his hands over them, her pants and undergarments in a puddle at her feet. He thought he had a good idea of what she would look like from the temple, but seeing her up close, fully undressed? His imaginings didn’t come close to doing her justice. He stood up, his fingertips slowly tracing the outlines of her body - her hips, the underside of her breasts, her nipples, her collarbone, the sides of her neck. He wanted to commit every curve of hers to memory. He wanted to remember this for the rest of his life, no matter how long that life would be - days or weeks or months or, if they were lucky, years. 

“Ellaria, you…I don’t have words,” he said softly, reverently. He quickly undid the laces of his own pants, pushing them and his smallclothes down without the finesse he used on hers. He watched as her eyes moved over his body, taking him in.  He could feel himself flushing under the weight of her stare and felt the slightest tinge of shyness as he was fully bared in front of her for the first time. He had no worries about his size, having been told during his short time with the other Wardens that he should be proud of the sword he wielded - typical brotherly ribbing, but it did wonders for his confidence in this matter at least. She said earlier this would be her first time too, but he knew she was betrothed before all of…this, and he didn’t know what she had to compare against. He supposed it didn’t matter, at the end of things. He just hoped the rest of him was enough. That he was enough. That he deserved her. 

“Creators,” she whispered. “I am lucky,” she teased. 

She stood on her toes to kiss him, and he bent down as they did night after night to negate the vast differences in their heights. He stood a good foot taller than her, and he would be the first to admit it was easier to kiss her sitting down. He imagined it would be even easier to kiss her laying down. The thought sent a hum through him, settling into his abdomen. He felt himself pressed against her hip, impossibly hard for her. She reached between them, her fingers brushing against him with featherlight touches that caused him to gasp and press his hips harder into her. She wrapped her fingers around him and began to stroke him slowly, her hand moving from the base to the sensitive tip. He tipped his head back and saw stars. Never would he have imagined that someone else touching him would feel so…different. In a good way. In the best way. Better than his own hand felt when he pictured a night like tonight, with her. 

He wanted to make her feel this good. 

“Alistair, maybe we should…lay down?”

“Good -” his voice cracked. He cleared his throat while she giggled. “Good idea.”

They lay on the bedroll, facing each other, kissing each other. Her mouth moved from his lips to the corner of his jaw, then to his earlobe, lightly nipping at it because she knew it drove him crazy. The soft moan that escaped his lips was proof enough. His hand moved down her body - ribs, waist, hip, thigh, inner thigh.

“Can I touch you?” He whispered. 

“If you did not I would be very upset,” she replied softly before going back to work on his earlobe, then down his neck. She kissed him again as his fingers parted her, feeling this part of her, of any woman, for the first time. It was soft, warm, wet. And utterly foreign. 

“Show me where,” he said. He felt her hand on his, guiding him to where he assumed she touched herself at night. That was a thought to come back to later on a night spent alone, he mentally noted. He rubbed her in gentle circles, her hand guiding him before she pulled it away. Left to his own devices, he kept the same rhythm, her soft breaths acting as her approval of his technique. He sped up slightly, her hips starting to move against his hand. 

Her fingers wrapped around him again in a tighter grip than before, a groan escaping his lips when her thumb used the bead of moisture that had collected at the tip to help her stroke him. He couldn’t help but thrust slightly into her hand while moving his hand down to her entrance, a finger slowly slipping in and instantly wrapped in tight warmth. He moved in the same rhythm she did, easily able to glide his finger in and out, in and out, in and - 

Maker , the sounds she was making. If she felt this good around his finger, how would he be able to survive entering her? He couldn’t take it anymore. 

“Ellaria, I want to be inside you,” he whispered into her ear. 

“Please,” she moaned softly. “I am ready. I want you.” 

She rolled to her back, looking up at him as he moved between her now spread legs, using his thighs to spread them farther. His breathing picked up, his heart racing once more. No turning back now, not that he would have wanted to. This, with her, was everything he dreamed about these last few weeks. He wrapped a hand around himself and lined himself up at her entrance. It was at this moment he had a dreadful thought that he might be uncomfortable for her. He looked into her eyes, and she nodded. 

“Please,” she whispered. 

“You’ll let me know if I need to slow down, or anything?” he asked, getting another nod in return. He pressed forward slowly, so slowly , the tip entering her at last. He breathed deeply. Keeping eye contact, he looked for any sign of her discomfort as he kept pressing little by little. Finding none, he sank into her inch by inch, feeling her give and stretch around him as he entered her. Her moans filled the tent, and he was positive whoever had the next watch could hear them. A thrill went through him as he found himself almost fully sheathed inside her, the sheer realization that he was inside her sending a jolt of lightning through his veins. He stayed there for a moment, letting her get used to the feeling. And if he was being honest, letting himself get used to the feeling as well. He was not prepared for how warm she would be, how tight she would be, how wet she would be as he found himself enveloped by her. For him, all for him, because of him. 

“Are you okay?” he asked, breathless. 

“Better than okay,” she smiled. He took her in. She was…everything. Her white hair was splayed out on his thin pillow, the flickering candlelight throwing dancing waves of light over her body. She was divine, she was his religion, she was his life now. He would swear any oath to her that she wished for, any desire she had was his to fulfill. And he would, gladly. 

He leaned over her, his arms on either side of her head, and pulled back his hips, then pressed them forward. Pulled back and pressed forward again. And again. And again. He kissed her neck, the soft skin muffling the sound of his own moans, her soft gasps landing on his ears like the gentlest of butterflies. He lowered himself on top of her, needing to feel her body pressed against his, wanting her skin against his. He wrapped an arm around her back, holding her tightly as he thrust slowly, deeply inside her, each slow roll of his hips feeling better than the last, somehow. 

“Alistair…” she whispered, “more, I want more.” 

A fire pooled in his abdomen, desire taking the lead. He moved back to his knees, his hands grasping her hips. He picked up his pace, moving faster, thrusting a little harder. Together, they lost themselves to the moment. There was no Blight, no darkspawn, no archdemon. There was only this tent, this candle, this feeling. She held onto his arms, arching her back against the bedroll. He watched her breasts move each time their hips met. He watched the muscles of her stomach flex when she rocked her hips to meet him each time he thrust into her. He watched where their bodies met, her slick arousal coating him - the image alone making him veer dangerously close to the edge. He could feel it, just on the margins of his awareness. 

“Ellaria…I…” he panted. “I don’t know if I can last much longer.”

“Just a little longer, please, I am almost...there,” she moaned. 

“As you wish,” he joked, hoping that just a little longer was not that long at all. He focused on keeping the same rhythm, keeping the same pace, and listening to the sounds she was making. He felt her start to tighten around him - a little at first, then tighter and tighter. Her body tensed up and she grew quiet. He took one of her hands in his, squeezing, and she threw her head back and cried out, his name on her lips as she found her release, her orgasm rocking through her, making her tremble and shake beneath him. The feeling of her pulsing and fluttering around him made him lose what little control he had remaining. He dug his fingertips into the one hip he was still holding and thrust into her with reckless abandon. The fire in his abdomen turned into tension, building and building, moving lower and lower. He kept eye contact with her as he drove into her one last time, calling her name as he felt his release fill her. He could have sworn for that moment that the world stopped turning.

He looked at her - she was sweaty and panting, his mental images from earlier come to life. He fell down onto the bedroll beside her, laughing as their shoulders touched.

“Why are you laughing?” 

“According to the Chantry sisters, I should have been struck by lightning by now, and here I am...suspiciously lightning free.” 

“Maybe I should be thankful for their error - I do not want to be struck by lightning. You should have mentioned that was a possibility before we spent the night together, I may have changed my mind,” she teased before rolling onto her side to face him. Maker, she was so beautiful - even more beautiful now than she was when the night began. Something swelled within him he had no hope of ever containing. Not now. Especially not now. He didn’t want to contain it. It was bad timing, a bad situation, and probably doomed, but he had to get it out.

“I love you,” he said. 

Her eyes widened slightly before she broke out into a smile. 

“ Ar lath ma, vhenan. I love you, too.”

[maythedreadwolftakeyou]

Setna Plays DAO

this post thread will be part 2! find all of part 1 here

session 8: last time we wrapped up saving Conner, and getting the Urn of Sacred Ashes quest. now first up, camp chats! going to readmore these posts now to avoid them getting too long, so details below the cut.

our bro Alistair first--my friend likes that he's funny, but also that you can be a little snarky to him and he just rolls his eyes and accepts it as a joke. he gives us the heartfelt "thank you for helping out Eamon's (and his) family" speech, since we went out of our way to save Connor. Setna remarks that she thinks at some point he may attempt getting romantic with us and we'll have to shoot him down--this is def a possibility though she hasn't taken too many of the overly nice and none of the flirty lines with him, so i'm actually not sure if that will trigger or not. Wynne's here now, so we chatted with her next, and i revealed the Age Conundrum--fwiw i think the bioware writers are just bad at math, she's clearly supposed to be around 70 not 50. i think the dates given in the tie in novels were just thrown out there with less thought. worth a chuckle though!

for tonight's adventuring, I took us on a detour from the main story to go get Shale. grabbed the control rod, skipped down to Honleath (triggering the cutscene with Howe, Loghain, and Anora confronting him--I pointed out after that Howe is voiced by Tim Curry and she's excited to see more of that later lol), fought through the town & insanely large community basement/wilhelm's lab. along the way i accidentally clicked morrigan and i guess she got a +1 approval somewhere because she asked us to search for the Grimoire, which we did in fact already pick up in the tower.

Agreed to go search for Amalia, lied to Kitty, STRUGGLED my way thru the damn tile puzzle, and sent Amalia running back to daddy while we took out Kitty. then finally out to wake up Shale with the correct password! fantastic news is my friend LOVES Shale (going to stick to "it" pronouns until the reveal bc i am trying SO hard not to slip up in person), specifically that it jokes to her and seems to like when she jokes back. we had a lot of follow up discussion about what exactly a golem is, at least with the current knowledge from the game. Shale agrees to come with us so it's back to camp!

first convo with Shale confirms Setna's love for it. next a round of basic gifts to get the gang warmed up to us a little more, which unlocks Morrigan's backstory dialogue about the stolen mirror Flemmeth smashed, and Wynne's nervous check-in on our thoughts about Abominations. Also triggers Alistair's asking to go visit Goldanna in Denerim, and she was annoyed that agreeing to this is less +approval than giving him a funny runestone we found. I tell her how beautiful Sten loves fancy paintings and she says "that makes sense" to which I go "what" and she refuses to elaborate. Zevran has no new dialogue for us and she threatens to turn him down if he asks for a date and sees me go 😭 at the thought. Then we go hand over Flemmeth's Grimoire to Morrigan, and have a chat about Morrigan's growth over the past sessions/how she's starting to open up, yay. she still feels most attached to her and Alistair, since they've been with us from the start, and have had the most chances to get to know them.

ended with just a couple codexes to read at the end of the night. decided next time we'll start the ashes quest, since Teagan asked and she doesn't like leaving things open ended... and i will quietly go off and check what levels things are there bc i usually save it for the end, uh oh

[uldahstreetrat]

good morning it's dnd day I'm straight up running my party through the urn of sacred ashes quest from dragon age origins I'm thrilled to put them through this

[antivanplumage]

rating: T

relationships: zevran arainai/female surana, female surana & jowan

tags: quest: the urn of sacred ashes, dialogue heavy, friends with benefits, pre-relationship

It now occurs to her that Zevran doesn’t know the story of Jowan. Just like how Talya doesn’t know the story of … whoever that woman is. Zevran wasn’t there in Redcliffe, was he? How strange. It’s felt like he was by her side this entire journey. “If you feel like you need to tell me, don’t bother.” “Would you like to hear, though?” Because she wants Zevran to know about this part of her. She wants him to understand her. She wants Zevran to know what’s hurt her the most, because she knows that despite all of his jokes, he will treat it well.

summary: Zevran and Talya discuss what they saw in the Temple of Sacred Ashes. Finally, Talya tells a story of her own. Zevran has a few thoughts about it.

words: 2,363

[suranastair]

How it's going.

[daitranscripts]

Hi! I really love the project and all the work you've been doing so far. <3 I wanted to ask if you knew what Leliana's HoF dialogue is if you defiled the ashes but she's still alive and if it changes at all if she's romanced with doing the same? I'm not sure if it's possible in-game but Keep allows that worldstate. I would assume it's the typical "trusted friend" and "my love", but I was curious.

Hello! This is actually my canon world-state, and it is possible in game. If Leliana is with you when you defile the Ashes, you can either kill her or intimidate her. Intimidation does not end the romance - it only lowers approval (that can be regained with gifts!). If she is not in the party at the Temple, when you return to camp she will either leave or be persuaded to stay (I think the Warden can lie to her? I'm hazy on the details).

The DA:I romance dialogue only requires the plot flag of "Leliana romanced" to be true, and "Leliana died" to be false. When you ask her about the Hero of Ferelden, she has 6 possible responses:

romanced, Warden died (and Leliana was not killed by the Warden) We were in love. Even in the midst of all the chaos, I was happy. Truly happy. And then [they]… I’m sorry, I’d rather not talk about this. ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤ

romanced, Warden alive (and Leliana was not killed by the Warden) [They are] always in my thoughts, even when we’re far apart. My love is on a quest of [their] own. When the Inquisition has no further need of me, I will join [them]. For good, this time. I have lost enough. I will not lose [them] as well. ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤ

killed by the Warden The “Hero of Ferelden.” (Laughs.) There are no heroes in real life, just people. And people can do terrible things. Like striking me down, for example. It’s hard not to bear a grudge. ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤ

left the party due to low approval/crisis The Hero of Ferelden was not what I expected. We traveled together in the early days of the Blight, but joining was a mistake. We never got along. I was young and had silly ideas. ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤ

any other approval level, Warden died I had the privilege of calling [them] “friend” before [they] died. The world seemed much duller after that. It still does. ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤ

any other approval level, Warden alive I count her among my closest friends. She’s probably the only person I trust completely. I haven’t heard from her in some time. She just… disappeared. I try not to think of what might have happened. or I count him among my closest friends. I still write to him for advice when I can. He hasn’t replied to my letters in some time. I try not to worry about it. He can take care of himself.

Interestingly, the plot flag ID for "Leliana died" is not the same as "Leliana was killed at the Urn." Using the plot flag editor, there are two different flags for her death:

Did the Warden kill Leliana after destroying the Sacred Ashes? - Did the Warden kill Leliana after a crisis unrelated to the Urn of Sacred Ashes?

Both of these plot flags are found in in the DA:I files, but her conversations with the Herald/Inquisitor about dying at the Temple of Sacred Ashes use the flag for "Did the Warden kill Leliana after a crisis unrelated to the Urn of Sacred Ashes?", and not the one that is... actually about the Ashes. I don't actually know if it's possible to kill her in any other way in DA:O, honestly.

Hope this helps :)

Edit: Sorry looking back at the question, I never really answered. If you defile the Ashes and do not kill Leliana, the game will go based off the romance/approval flag - DA:I doesn't read the "Warden defiled the ashes" flag, only Leliana's fate.

[thedragonagelesbian]

11, 13 and 21

canon worldstate questions!

11. what are their religious beliefs, if any?

vidreu aeducan: the stone rejected them when they were struck from the memories but it's fine (lying) and they dont swaddle themself in darkspawn blood and gore thinking about the flesh growing in between the fissures and rough-hewn gaps (not literally but metaphorically... and also a little bit literally...............)

cyrus hawke: even from the earliest days, cyrus was among the least andrastian of his family. malcolm had it drilled into him in the circle, and leandra grew up in the servants quarters of the amell estate removed from the alienage's modified worship of the creators. they passed their faith on to their children, and bethany took to it in particular, but cyrus was never interested in big philosophical questions or transcendental contemplation. what mattered to him was acting in the here and now.

as kirkwall weighed on his soul, though, he found himself reaching for dalish faith (as merill teaches it to him) more and more often. it's a way for him to connect with a people, history, and culture beyond the walls of the city of chains, and he desperately needs that kind of spiritual relief.

yiseeril trevelyan: it's ~~~~~~complicated~~~~~~~~~~~; born to a devoutly religious family before being sent to a circle in the heartland of chantry power, yiseeril was the picture of piety growing up. to the extent that that faith was shaken by a rogue templar preaching divine mandate as he made her tranquil, she swallowed that doubt the instant she came back to herself in the clutches of a seeker of truth and the primordial soup of a divine inquisition. when the people of haven proclaimed her to be the herald of andraste, she was all too eager to embrace it and the certainty that came with it, knowing that everything she had suffered up to that point meant something because she was Chosen.

fast forward to here lies the abyss and cassandra's personal quest. realizing that it was an accident that bestowed the mark upon her and that all the years of being lost to herself could've been undone at any time, yiseeril's faith shatters. she is nothing and no one; this house of cards she's built around herself to be a mythic, divine figure comes tumbling down

yiseeril struggles with her faith for the rest of the game--for the rest of her life, really--though always in private; being the herald of andraste remains politically advantageous, after all. but her trajectory is one of moving away from grand religious sublime and toward living in the everyday, the moment to moment, the trivial, and she's at peace with faith being something she now does from time to time rather than being everything that she is

13. their thoughts on the Grey Warden order?

vidreu aeducan: it is a job to dru, but it's a job she loves that lets you get away with a lot of not-so-ethical magic shenanigans in the name of a cause that means a lot to her personally. and also clarel did nothing wrong.

cyrus hawke: before here lies the abyss, cyrus' (negative) feelings toward the wardens were always about specific members (i.e., the hero of ferelden sparing loghain or larius threatening his mother to force his father to do blood magic) but not the order as a whole. once upon a time, watching a bunch of soldiers unquestioningly follow orders because they thought they had to to save the world would have struck him as tragic, but he has very little sympathy left to spare the wardens at adamant

yiseeril trevelyan: no strong feelings; yiseeril has an innate sympathy to those who do irrational things from a place of fear for their lives, so she lets the wardens stay in orlais, but she doesn't care about them beyond that

21. what is their biggest regret?

vidreu aeducan: defiling the urn of sacred ashes and having to kill leliana & wynne; dru doesn't share many personality traits with their younger brother but 'i always know what's best and thus i should not take into consideration the opinion or feelings of others except as a means to my own unassailable ends' is. one of them, at least at the beginning of the game. she's not cruel, just curious to see what defiling the ashes will do and careless wrt how that would affect her companions, whom she assumed would continue following her without question because what else were they going to do? stab her???

(thought seconds before being stabbed)

the regret is immediate, and though it does little good, they carry the dishonor of their actions that day for a long time, warming their cold pragmatism

cyrus hawke: every time he hasn't done enough to save someone. many such instances, but the one that gave him the most active and reckless grief was bethany being taken to the circle.

(everything that happened with anders is not the biggest regret, because it is so long and slow, this dull but constant ache and dead weight he drags with him for the rest of his life)

yiseeril trevelyan: she's never done anything wrong in her life, ever. i thought i might finally get her to regret something with the well of sorrows, but her only regret from that was that it upset sera, and they made up so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

(we'll see if veilguard changes that...)

[thegeminisage]

DRAGON AGE MASTERPOST: VIDEO EDITION

tumblr is hostile to human life and won't let me put more than 100 links in my dragon age masterpost. hence, i have decided to split the video links into their OWN POST even though that's annoying.

shorncanis clips:

shorncanis sea of blood clips

shorncanis clips from the big city choice

shorncanis coffee date

shorncanis ghilin'nain fail

shorncanis and harding over coffee

shorncanis bloodbath + pantry fumble

shorncanis and davrin getting drunk

ALL dialogue choices from inner demons but i accidentally left the shorncanis mod on

lucanis commentary:

brief lucanis comment about an underground passage in docktown

lucanis the necropolis hater

lucanis in where the dead must go

lucanis recognizing the desperation demon

some misc lucanis commentary

misc rook and lucanis banters/remarks

glitches/out of bounds:

dragon pancaked me during "fire and ice"

glitched black city

weird crow glitch + some viago/teia

out of bounds water glitches in rivain and dock town

using mods to get out of bounds in treviso

modding too close to the sun (MAJOR FLASHING WARNING)

out of bounds and into the skybox in hossberg

other:

sea of blood with lucanis in prison clothes

trans and ND dialogue w/ taash

lucanis and illario "dueling" in murder of crows

da:i vids:

as of now, all of these are like a decade plus old lol.

ps3 da:i glitching me into the falling animation forever

snoring dragon

ps3 da:i glitching with unrreachable loot

getting stuck under the map at valammar

my friend enjoying the cullen romance way less than i do

very serious solas cutscene interrupted by, of all things, wolves

more da:i jump animation glitching, but this time, on ps4

da:o vids (featuring @viagothots):

i'm a former origins skeptic, playing it through for a dear friend, and trying to keep the good moments <3 we are doing a tabris warden romancing zevran!

early struggles with chests in the brosca and aeducan origins (also features struggles with audio levels; watch your volume)

some clips from the aeducan, amell, and tabris origins (we were still trying to decide on a warden at this point)

very special video of a couple of skeptics being impressed with ostagar (lengthy textpost about my initial frustrations with origins + isolated clip of the big cutscene is here)

being insanely gay for morrigan and her super hot mom

characters just fucking vanishing glitch

misc clip of the circle + an earthquake glitch

early zevmance content

collection of brecilian forest clips, w/ bonus zevmance content

zevran's sex poetry

flemeth beating my ass

clips from the deep roads, which were wretched

clip assortment of ma & pa kent, beating flemeth, and zevran changing heights for the kissing scene

soldier's peak dlc, which includes a game-breaking glitch

some tooling around on denerim sidequests, and meeting isabela!

urn of sacred ashes clips, which includes a very VERY long walk down

some late-game companion quests (includes a lengthy discussion of which wardens i like for which romances both in the video and in greater detail in text below the cut)

the end of zevran's companion quest, the earring, and wynne's apology

arl's palace + fort drakon (slightly upsetting but hilarious dog glitch at the end)

[eurekq]

least fun as in the one you always dread doing most in a replay

[vigilskeep]

Top 5 dragon age origins main quests

1. a paragon of her kind is my best bestest friend i wish i could live in orzammar even if i would definitely die as a pawn in political infighting. worth it

2. broken circleeeee. i love mages. i love. towers. my dad is there. niall also. i get to see into my friends’ psyches

3. redcliffe is a lot of fun! i love the guerrins i would like to put them in a jar with some leaves and study how they live. downgraded a little for less fun unique lore and because walking corpses are resistant to cold magic

4. urn of sacred ashes would get a much higher grade if it was easier to justify my characters even doing it

5. nature of the beast is a great time but it gets pushed down because i think the framing of the dalish having to let go of their resentment for “long past” human crimes in order to achieve the best quest resolution sucks, and also because my inventory always gets full halfway through the ruins, and i don’t like how the werewolves move, it freaks me out

[dragonagekeeper]

Wynne Polls / DAO Companion Polls

Dragon Age Origins Polls

See choice descriptions from Dragon Age Wiki/Keep below

Wynne alive & well

Wynne survived the Fifth Blight.

2. Wynne died at Broken Circle

Wynne died during the events at the Broken Circle.

Wynne will turn on the Warden later if the Warden decides to side with the trapped templar Cullen higher up in the tower.

3. Warden killed Wynne

The Warden killed Wynne after poisoning the Urn of Sacred Ashes.

Wynne will turn on the Warden if the Warden destroys the Urn of Andraste during the quest The Urn of Sacred Ashes, either immediately if she is in the party, or else when you next return to camp.