#random chantry sister

[sovaharbor]

finally finally FINALLY started actually playing this town. i'm working out some issues with some mods but it's fineeee. kinda just treating this first rotation like a trial run as i work out those issues lmao. i named this town starkhaven and it is very vaguely dragon age inspired (mainly me popping statues of andraste in a few households, using chantry sister outfits for the ""clergy"" required by the medieval charter challenge, also elves. and magic. witches/warlocks + werewolves are the only occult types i plan on allowing i think?)

either way, i digress! i've been kinda obsessed now that i finally started playing and considering all the work i've put into downloading cc/mods and Building this town, i am very proud of myself :+)

[sluttyquarantinetheory]

There is something really funny about how adjacent to the Hero of Fereldan Hawke is. Isabella banged the warden. Anders was recruited by the warden. Bodhan and Sandal traveled with the warden. The warden passed through Lothering like a week before Hawke's family fled. The warden is close friends/lovers with a random sister from the chantry in Hawke's hometown. Merril possibly knows the Hero of Fereldan. Random people who were aided by the warden show up everywhere. Hawke and the Hero of Fereldan are like a running bit about how Spider-man and Flash Thompson are never in the same room at the same time.

[moghedien]

the timeline of Leliana’s Song vs things said in the city elf origin leave wiggle room for interpretation of exactly when Adaia died and there’s no clear answer for that which I love because I go feral for the potential there

like I’m obsessed with the idea that maybe Adaia did escape the dungeons and maybe she did tell her teenage child that there was a good human that saved her. And that child got their mother back for a little while and was old enough to consider that maybe their mother wasn’t lying and there might be a few decent humans. And then more humans caused trouble and Adaia was killed and there was no “good” human around to save her this time.

And the idea of this random good human becomes like a bitter thing in her child’s mind because the child has seen no evidence of this. They’ve only seen the evil humans can commit in them. They took Adaia twice. But that doesn’t change the fact that a human DID save Adaia from being tortured and killed in a dungeon. They got Adaia back for a little while because of a good human and it becomes a sort of nagging bitter feeling they feel conflicted about.

And then that child grows up and has a wedding that humans use as an excuse to hurt them and their family. They’ve never met a good human. Maybe some (like the priests) will tolerate them enough to perform chantry rituals for them. Duncan may have only helped them because he wanted to conscript them into the Wardens and take them from their family when they’re needed the most.

So Adaia’s child is taken from their home because they’re useful to humans. They end up getting burdened with responsibilities because they’re useful and because of the skills Adaia taught them. They end up traveling with a number of humans. They get exposed to the world outside of the alienage for the first time. Things probably change slowly for them, as they’re getting closer to people and experiencing more. Some humans will like them because they’re needed to save the day. Some humans might just be nice to them for no reason. Then again, a lot won’t and will resent them regardless. Some will just pretend not to notice that a knife ears is leading the Wardens, but it’s clear they do. It’s both validating and complicating their worldview. Maybe their mother wasn’t lying about a human saving her because they were just good. Then again, maybe the human just saved a random elf by happenstance and not from goodness.

They probably get close to number of their human companions in a variety of ways. The fact that the humans are all different and get along to varying degrees is probably complicating their worldview. The fact that they might try to get closer to an elf for no obvious reason instead of sticking together probably complicates it more. Everything is probably very confusing for a very long time.

Maybe Adaia’s child recruits a strange Chantry sister from Lothering, another human. Maybe they find themselves getting closer to her in ways they never expected possible with a human (or with another woman even). And then they find Leliana more and more complicated the more they get closer to her. She’s Orlesian and Ferelden. She’s a spy and a killer, but a Chantry sister and the most earnestly devout person they’ve probably ever met. She’s says offensive things about elves to their face and then actually apologizes to them and thanks them for showing her it was offensive. She will talk big about her seduction skills and then stumble every step of the way as she’s trying to flirt with them. Information about her history and her life trickles in slowly as she gets closer to them and is willing to reveal more.

By the time they’ve learned much about Leliana, Adaia’s child probably realizes how complicated the world actually is for everyone. Maybe they’ve met the dalish and found themselves being looked down on and treated either as human would be or as a child. Maybe they’ve gone to Ozrzammar and realized that oppression can exist outside of human and elves and the Chantry. Maybe they’ve returned home. Maybe they’ve tried to return home and found they weren’t allowed in, to protect them from the rioting elves within. Maybe they’ve saved the queen. Maybe they’ve killed Logain. Maybe they’ve slayed the archdemon and saved the whole damned world by the time it comes. It could be never or after these or anywhere in between when it happens.

But imagine Adaia’s child who is not an adult with a very complicated and shifting worldview, who used to only have the concept of there being at least one good human to complicate their world. One good human that gave them their mother back for a little while at least. And now they’re close to a human. They’re in love with a human who is extremely complicated and who won’t tell them honest truths about her past until they’re very close and much time has passed. Time in which their worldview has probably shifted a great deal and got much more complicated.

Imagine how it would go for Adaia’s child in this circumstance when the details of Leliana’s past finally come out and she’s willing to talk about them. When they find out that the same estate where she was betrayed and tortured was the estate they rampaged through, slaughtering humans to save their family and themself.

And it isn’t even pride that makes her reveal it. She isn’t bragging. She didnt feel like she was a good person in the moment. She struggles to feel like she’s a person now, even when she knows her actions are for the greater good. So imagine Adaia’s child when Leliana almost offhandedly mentions saving other prisoners from the dungeon. Including an elven woman who said she’d tell her child about Leliana and the fact that there are good humans like her.

[eastgaysian]

the other trevelyan siblings i'm in full dragon age mode now sorry. been cooking up guys for 7 years ☝️🤓. rhion is the eldest then owain then valerie then caden they all have problemsissues to varying degrees. rhion was revealed as a mage at age 9, mom wanted to try and hide this, dad immediately marched over to the circle, and the general family atmosphere after this was one of emotional neglect by parents who should've gotten a divorce. owain is the only one who has any kind of relationship with their parents/maintains even token contact with his siblings. more infodumping ⬇️

rhion: existence is almost forgotten by everyone except owain and maybe their mother, it's hard to tell. chose to become tranquil at 18 following the death of a "close friend," sean, during his harrowing. probably a girl but that's like one of ten identity crises to deal with after accidentally getting a magical lobotomy reversed. (either by gaining the anchor/becoming inquisitor, or due to Shenanigans with owain in a universe where caden is inquisitor.) prone to crying profusely at random times for no apparent reason, generally lacking in emotional regulation skills due to a lack of practice for over a decade. recently i've been charmed by the idea of inquisitor rhion romancing blackwall...

owain: one year younger than rhion. they were close as children and used to regularly exchange letters before rhion became tranquil, after which owain would only send letters on rhion's birthday and never read the terse replies he received. has much warmer memories of his early childhood/his parents than valerie or caden. well-liked/well-connected, charismatic, his hunting parties are popular social events, but totally uninterested in managing an estate due to never truly accepting his role as heir. something of a confirmed bachelor due to an infamous incident where valerie seduced a prospective bride, as well as his reckless lifestyle. still has a pretty good relationship with valerie, they stay in contact, but he wishes that she didn't agree with their parents on the sole point that he needs to get it together and take over the estate. notably, a close friend of the prince of starkhaven.

valerie: black sheep of the family, a popular topic of gossip among the nobility of the free marches, much to the trevelyans' chagrin. barely remembers rhion and thinks ewan's lying to himself when he fondly reminisces about a warm, affectionate childhood. ran away several times in her youth, finally left for good after the previously mentioned seducing-owain's-fiancee incident (which they deliberately planned together), which convinced her parents to give up on trying to drag her back. sister-in-law to the warden-commander surana, and as such gained a degree of his outsized political influence in denerim - officially a lady-in-waiting to queen anora. the most principled and politically shrewd of the siblings, but also capable of being petty and vindictive, even ruthless.

caden: white boy who sucks. kind of 'got away' with being trans since he was always going to be dedicated to the chantry in some way anyway, so arranging an advantageous marriage was never a concern, and if he wants to become a templar instead of a chantry sister who gaf. was like one when rhion was taken away, so he has no memories of or attachment to his eldest sibling, if he even remembers that rhion exists. basically hasn't talked to his parents or valerie since he was recruited at age 10, was sent off to the hicks (ansburg circle) when he completed his templar training, regards the order as his family. owain tries to keep in contact but caden kind of thinks he's a gay loser. he still holds onto all the letters and writes bare minimum replies to the ones he deems 'important enough.'

[vigilskeep]

Curious what u think of the judgment side quests in DAI? Somere fine but for most the options while judging are 'death sentence' 'imprisonment' or 'indentured servitude' which are all pretty bad?

i mean i think it’s up to you whether you consider dealing out premeditated punishments worse or better than killing dozens of randoms at a time out in the exalted plains or whatever. neither of those things are great but remember that it’s only the people in charge who ever get the privilege of trial

sorry to be a nerd here but i’m way more interested in the political implications which are fucking insane. so one of the absolute most prime functions of a quasi-medieval king is adjudication. one of the reasons the aristocracy even lets there be a king is because someone has to make those decisions to end disputes—usually what land belongs to who, because that’s what it always boils down to—so that people’s rights are respected and we’re not just in all out warfare all the time. higher authority is useful. and sometimes that search for higher authority that can actually enforce the result needs to go beyond the borders of your kingdom. the church fulfils this role a lot, especially between kings, but you also know a king or emperor is powerful and respected as hell when they’re getting called on to adjudicate disputes even outside of their own borders. this half-remembered over simplified summary of historical information that is no doubt making someone shake their head in despair all goes to say that the fact that the inquisition is overseeing justice on orlesian and fereldan territory is insane. i could believe it for orlais, which is obviously in civil war and full of desperate nobles whose land rights and grievances are not getting attended to in the slightest, if it weren’t for the inquisition inexplicably getting to judge and potentially humiliate a grand duchess. the EMPRESS’ COUSIN OR THE EMPEROR’S SISTER. and as for ferelden, a country that holds its freedom as its highest ideal, and very much has its own monarch?? what the fuck is going on. the inquisition isn’t even chantry-backed it’s a popular army of fanatics led by a handful of rebels who were close to a dead divine. on what fucking authority?? the fake herald of andraste’s?? arl teagan kill these fools. i would be surprised if the punishments of anyone who isn’t dead outlive the inquisition btw even if just for orlais and ferelden to assert their authority again

i really enjoy the judgements on a player level i think they’re fun and i like when what the inquisitor is doing actually makes sense for a leader of this scale of organisation instead of wandering around the forest personally mining the inquisition’s supply of iron or whatever tf

[thedinanshiral]

How have the dragons aged.

I have to address the identity crisis many are having around Dragon Age. Namely, what is Dragon Age? What makes Dragon Age be Dragon Age?

Dragon Age is everchanging, it always tries new things, introduces new protagonists, new companions, new conflicts and cultures to navigate through. Maybe it'd be easier to define what Dragon Age isn't. Dragon Age isn't unchanging, it isn't stagnant, it isn't a single uniform thing, and tryingto reduce it to such will always result in failure.

The simpler, more obvious answer when searching what defines a Dragon Age game is worldbuilding, storytelling, characters. Dragon Age isn't about a specific, limited game genre, a set-in-stone gameplay style, or a single character that must always return for it all to make sense, and it isn't a determined art style either.

Dragon Age is Thedas, with all it contains. It's the lore, and i assure you it has not been retconed and the games haven't been rebooted, because everything's been a conscious choice that makes sense in-world. And because at this point Thedas is its own, none of it has to adjust to what we expect of it.

From a technical standpoint it's simply not feasible to include every decision from past games, there's just too many, and frankly many don't change anything on the grand scale of things. I saw this happen with the Keep, many of the choices available for DAO and DA2 i couldn't even remember. Maybe they mattered then and there, and served their purpose with exposition, but clearly whatever my Warden decided to do with the werewolves in the Brecilian forest was never going to define the fate of the world. So devs have to decide which choices matter in the big picture, the biggest picture they can think of, and work from there.

Many were very upset certain decisions from previous games weren't affecting Veilguard like they imagined, and it wasn't just choices but lore as well. But lore in DA can be tricky for some; it's not presented by an omniscient narrator, quite the contrary, the lore in DA has always been presented by UNRELIABLE narrators, questionable and extremely biased sources like Orlesian scholars and Chantry sisters, or sources who are just as clueless about it all as the players, as random farmers, adventurers, common folk just leaving notes and letters behind, even gossiping. The lore in Thedas is presented in a similar way as our own history is: records are missing and maybe later rediscovered, some authors have an agenda, victors write history and the defeated and conquered are silenced and their version of events lost to oblivion, things go terribly misunderstood for ages and upon new findings hopefully they get corrected. There has even been quests exemplifying this, so the game itself is telling us repeatedly to question everything. We don't know Thedas as well as we like to think we do, and we've only participated in a couple of decades of its ninth age.

Disclaimer tho, this post is not an invitation to argue with me, to tell me how wrong i am and how much you disagree with me. I know these are controversial points a lot of people are very upset/annoyed/disappointed with, it's why i'm addressing them, i have read enough of that side and i'm simply providing an alternative and nope, i will not budge on any of this (: If you disagree just go on with your life, best of fortunes to you and have a nice day!

[SPOILERS AHEAD]

Who the Warden was and what choices they made as an individual don't matter much going forward, only that they stopped the Fifth Blight; that and that alone is their real contribution to thedosian history, when you really think about it, if you can put nostalgia on break for a bit. I love Hawke, i do, but they were just a lil' guy doing the best they could with the cards life dealt to them. Interesting things happened to them, not the other way around. And we can all agree the defining moment in DA2 was the fireworks, and that wasn't even Hawke, it was Anders. The Inquisitor is a bit more relevant, if only because of an extra unfortunate case of wrong time, wrong place. Again, fate just messes with people in Thedas in unforeseeable ways. What do you mean you found a blighted Magister Sidereal sacrificing Divine Justinia during the Conclave, and accidentally touched an acient elvhen artifact that marked you as the new key to the Fade itself and granted you power to close holes in the Veil from where demons come out??? Oh, y'know, just another Tuesday in Thedas. But that's where it gets more interesting, Inquisition is where certain players showed up, and with them came revelations. The Golden City is not so golden, the Maker is not sitting in a throne, at least one ancient Tevinter Magister is walking around blighted, the Evanuris weren't particuarly nice, some ancient elves still live, Flemeth is Mythal, and Solas is not just an apostate hobo mage who knows stuff because he "saw it in the Fade", but because he is the Dread Wolf, the one responsible for the Veil and how it reshaped the world.

That was a lot to take in, and it changed everything.

The Inquisition choice most people are upset about that didn't carry into Veilguard is who drank from the Well of Sorrows, because of the implications of whoever did being bound to the will of Mythal. The reason why that is inconsequential now is simple: Mythal is dead. There's no longer any will to be bound to! And you could counter saying Mythal has been dead for a long time, yes, but the fragment that survived through Flemeth was possibly her strongest, and she's gone too. Morrigan in Veilguard explains what she has of Mythal now is just her memories and knowledge; there's no will left, only a fragment here or there with no real power to exhert over anyone. We can see the consequences of drinking from the Well already in Inquisition, when we meet Flemeth through the Eluvian, and she either controls Morrigan or controls the Inquisitor to stop Morrigan. But once Flemeth is gone, that power is gone too. Therefore, as much as you might hate me for saying it, who drank from the Well of Sorrows doesn't matter anymore.

Another thing people are mad about is they don't get to see racism, slavery and oppression, which is...odd, that you'd want to see that so much not having it ruins the whole game for you. Personally i'm no fan of torture porn, and i can infer a lot from blood magic ritual sites littered with charred corpses and blood splatter decorating the walls. That's what we got and i don't need much more. Yes, we got see to Tevinter. Ok, not the whole of Tevinter, just Minrathous. Ok, not Minrathous per-se, but Dock Town. We can visit the poor area of Minrathous. Who's gonna have slaves when they're poor themselves? Oh yeah, Halos the guy that fries fish by the docks is gonna have an elven slave to mistreat in front of Rook just to remain truthful to the lore we got so far, sure. That sounds ridiculous to you? Good, it should. Seeing Dock Town is not retconing the awful bits of lore about Tevinter, it's adding to it. Minrathous is not the jewel of an empire, it's a big city and like all big cities it has its ugly side, it has slums too, it has areas where the poor live poor lives barely making it day by day, under the thumb of an elite that doesn't even know they exist nor would they care at all if they did. We may not get to see slaves being abused or people being racist towards elves but we can hear how common people keep disappearing, and later find out some Tevinter mage needed bodies for their rituals. We find so many bodies, such gruesome scenes...

Another complaint i've seen around is how who was chosen as Divine in Inquisition doesn't matter because apparently there's no Chantry in Veilguard and that goes against the lore, etc. In short, that's like complaining there's no Protestantism in the Vatican. The North is not under the Orlesian Chantry influence, Tevinter has its own version of the Chantry, their own Divine, their own expressions within the faith. Who was chosen as Divine south of the Waking Sea probably, most likely, doesn't even faze them. If there's a chantry to have any influence in the areas we visit in Veilguard, that would be the Tevinter one, but even so the North is a very particular region. We learned in previous games that magic is to be feared and therefore controlled, that dealing with spirits is unwise at best, and that the risk of possession leads inequivocably to abominations and must therefore be avoided at all costs, spirits are to be avoided, they can turn into demons, everything is demons! Bodies are cremated to prevent possession and anyone claiming to be talking with spirits is identified as an abomination. Yet in Rivain, which is not under the Chantry and has a history of cultural and religious diversity, seers can commune with spirits in a harmless way, and work together just fine. Meanwhile in Nevarra, there's a whole institution dedicated to the preservation of the dead, the communication with the decesased, spirits and demons, a whole branch of magical studies and applications revolving around diving into what Andrastianism warns against, and it's done in a very solemn manner and benevolent attitude. Tevinter's main difference with the South comes from a different interpretation of the Chant of Light, where if magic is to serve man, then those in power who are to serve the people should be mages, so they're ruled by a mage supremacy and their entire society is defined by it. It makes, in game, within the lore, perfect sense that we don't get overly religious andrastians crying for the Maker to deliver them from demons and possession and the evil of magic in a region where all that is everyday's bread and butter and people are generally cool with it or at the very least used to it. Harding talks a a bit about the Maker, Neve admits she can't keep up with the andrastian festivities, and i guess the only case for the Andrastianism we know would be Antiva, but let's face it, a kingdom ruled from behind the curtains by an order of assassins for hire isn't gonna be very adept to following religious tenets. (As a small note of colour, there is a Chantry building in Antiva, unaccessible as far as i know, and right across it through the canals there's a nug statue, one could say a golden nug statue but on its four legs, not like the one we had in DAI. I like to think that's Schmooples, and a hint that by default the Divine is Leliana but that's just me ok she's my Divine).

I also want to talk about "those across the sea". For people who got or learned of the secret hidden post-credits scene, it may have felt like that reveal automatically invalidated everything we ever did in every game so far so nothing really matters anymore, but that's not the case. The choice of words they use was deliberate by the devs, Epler said that much on Bluesky. These mysterious figures "balanced, guided, whispered". They did not "control" or "forced". They did basically no different than what Flemeth/Mythal had been doing, giving history a nudge when needed. They manipulated different actors throughout history, but didn't exactly force their hand. The Magisters decided to follow the whispers of their gods and try to break into the Fade because of their own greed for power. Loghain betrayed Cailan and the Wardens because of his own feelings, Bartrand fell to the power of the red lyrum and refused to listen to his own family. These beings, whatever they are, have influenced the stage setting it all up for their arrival, but ultimately it was people's choice, by their free will, what had the final say. Loghain could have respected his own King whom he had a duty to serve, Bartrand could have listened to Varric, everyone under their influence could have broken out of it if they wanted to do differently.. but they didn't.

Lastly, I've seen comments about how Veilguard is a "soft reboot" because of how it handles the events in the South, virtually erasing it so nothing from previous games mattered and now there's a "clean slate" to take the series to new places instead of ever returning to Ferelden. First off, nothing says we had to return to Ferelden at all. Guys we had THREE games in Ferelden already, let it rest. Secondly, the events from previous games do matter, they have all led to the events in Veilguard: Varric wouldn't have been at the right time and place to join the Inquisition if Hawke hadn't become the Champion of Kirkwall making himself a POI for Cassandra, nobody would have been at the Conclave if Anders hadn't set the fuse, and Anders wouldn't have had Justice and later Vengeance if Awakening hadn't happened. So Varric and Harding wouldn't have been chasing after Solas at all, nobody would even know he existed, without a long chain of previous events from all games and pieces of media in this series. It has all led to this moment, and for that it has all mattered. Ferelden and the South being destroyed is consistent with them experiencing two blights at once, with enhanced new darkspawn, with two blighted Evanuris on the loose. It's the end of the world! And this time there's no magic hand to save the day, the people in the south are just that, people. Trust the Inquisitor and their allies to do their absolute best to face the threat, that's all we can do. Life and history moves on. And just as the North, where most Blights took place, with the first one lasting a hundred years, survived and eventually thrived so can the South, they can eventually recover, heal, and real world limitations aside, it'd even be possible to be part of that effort. I can easily imagine a new protagonist taking the action back to the South, contributing to the efforts to recover after the double Blight, helping Ferelden and Orlais stand again. Not to mention, with how deep and rich Thedas is in its worldbuilding, if BW wanted to "reboot" they could just pick any place, any point in history, any faction, create new ones, and just go wild with it. What happens in the South in Veilguard is not necessary at all for a reboot, so it's there at the very least to show how desperate the situation is, how high the stakes are. I think the updates we get from the Inquisitor are there to really make us feel it, and as Rook try our best to solve things on our end because the sooner we kill the archdemons, the sooner we end Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain, the better the chances of the South to survive this calamity.

I could keep writing but this is long enough. I'm not done playing The Veilguard (on my 2nd and 3rd run!), and i keep taking oh so many notes, but i wanted to lay down my thoughts on these few points first. If you read this far thank you and i'm so sorry, it's annoying how i can pull a counter for everything, i know.

[dreadfutures]

203 Dragon Age: Inquisition Quests

A prompt list of selected quests, for randomized writing prompts. Please send the number AND say that this is a DAI Quest Prompt when you prompt someone.

The Wrath of Heaven

The Threat Remains

In Hushed Whispers

Champions of the Just

In Your Heart Shall Burn

From the Ashes

Here Lies the Abyss

Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts

What Pride Had Wrought

The Final Piece

Doom Upon All the World

Haven's Best and Brightest

Know Thy Enemy

Mixing Potions

Passing Notes

Piece by Piece

The Right Armor

A Common Treatment

A Healing Hand

A Rare Treatment

A Spirit in the Lake

Agrarian Apostate

An Advanced Treatment

Apostates in Witchwood

The Ballad of Lord Woolsley

Bergrit's Claws

Blood Brothers

Business Arrangements

Conscientious Objector

Deep Trouble

East Road Bandits

Failure to Deliver

Farmland Security

Flowers for Senna

Hinterland Who's Who

Holding the Hinterlands

Horses for the Inquisition

Hunger Pangs

In the Elements

In the Saddle

Letter from a Lover

Love Waits

Master of Horses

My Lover's Phylactery

Open a Vein

Playing with Fire

Praise the Herald of Andraste

Return Policy

Safeguards Against Looters

Shallow Breaths

Stone Dreams

Strange Bedfellows

Templars to the West

The Mercenary Fortress

The Vault of Valammar

Trouble with Wolves

Where the Druffalo Roam

Lost Souls

Beacons in the Dark

Beneath the Mire

Cabin Fever

Holding the Mire

These Demons Are Clever

After Skyhold

Cleaning House

A Glowing Key

Holding the Storm Coast

Keeping the Darkspawn Down

Red Water

Sutherland and Company Missing

Vigilance on the Coast

Wardens of the Coast

Still Waters

Capturing Caer Bronach

Burdens of Command

High Stakes

Holding Crestwood

Homecoming

The Naturalist

Weeding Out Bandits

Wyrm Hole

A Bear to Cross

A Corrupt General

A Deluded Chevalier

A Fallen Sister

A Lover's Promise

A Puppet Master

A Vicious Thug

Chateau d'Onterre

Devotion

Fairbanks' Trust

Fairbanks Patrol Under Attack

Holding the Emerald Graves

Last Wishes

Motherly Encouragement

Noble Deeds, Noble Heart

Not Everyone's Free

Observing the Menace

Safe Keeping

The Freemen of the Dales

The Knights' Tomb

The Tiniest Cave

Victims of War

Watcher's Reach Refugees

Capturing Suledin Keep

A Timely Intervention

Breeding Grounds

Caged Confession

Call Me Imshael

Mama's Ring

Quarry Quandary

Red Captors

Rocky Rescue

Securing Safe Passage

Sifting Through Rubble

Stalker Stalker

Take Back the Lion

The Corruption of Sahrnia

They Shall Not Pass

Turning the Tables

Valeska's Watch

Words not Hollow

A Dalish Perspective

A Familiar Ring

A Father's Guidance

A Well-Stocked Camp

Another Side, Another Story

By the Grace of the Dalish

Calming Victory Rise

For the Empire

From the Beyond

Ghilan'nain's Grove

Holding the Exalted Plains

Lay Rest the Ramparts

Left to Grieve

No Word Back

Pressed for Cache

Scattered Glyphs

Silence on the Plains

Someone to Lose

Something to Prove

The Golden Halla

The Spoils of Desecration

Undead Ramparts to the West

God of Secrets

Runes in the Lost Temple

Ruined Blade

Assault on Griffon Wing

A Manuscript of Some Authority

A Stranger Rift in the Ruins

A Tevinter Relic Hunt

Fortress Squatters

Frederic's Livelihood

Holding the Western Approach

Hunting Patterns

Into the Approach

On the Chantry Trail

Sharper White Claws

The Heart of the Still Ruins

The Trouble with Darkspawn

The Venatori

This Water Tastes Funny

A Prideful Place

The Door in Par'as Cavern

The Temple of Pride

What It's Worth

Shard Collector

Sand and Ruin

The Tomb of Fairel

Field of Bones

Let's Slay the Beast

Ameridan's End

Avvar Allies

The Basin Beckons

Beasts at Bay

A Father's Name

Guests of the Hold

Hakkon Wintersbreath

Hakkon's Trials

In Exile

It Remains to be Seen

Jawbreaker

Lead the Charge

The Loss of a Friend

The Mystery of Winter

The Nox Morta

On Ameridan's Trail

Storvacker Caged

They Came From Somewhere Else

Up and Away

What Yet Lingers

Where Once We Walked

Builder's Towers

Chronicles of Forgotten Wars

The Descent

Exploring the Deep Roads

Holding the Deep Roads

Killing Me Softly

On Broken Knees

Rune-Warded Gate of Segrummar

Sacrificial Gates of Segrummar

A Second Rune-Warded Gate

A Warm Welcome

[purplecritter]

Dragon Age: Vows and Vengeance (Ep. 3)

Official episode transcript here

My notes while I was listening under the cut... Spoilers ahead!

“Another infernal quake” & “The shaking grows stronger” if I had a copper for every time they reference to unrest in the undergrounds in v&v I’d have three bits. Which isn’t much but it’s enough to buy riveting items such as “Cracked Templar Insignia” or “Lace Collar” or “Gallstone” in DA2.

“the elf said to dig here, so we dig here” Solas bestie I hope you know what you’re doing

YUCK the sounds are EW. The description of the Blight from the devs interviews are also disgusting (/positive, I love that it’s gross)

I know, logically, they wouldn’t bring back the Children from DAO:Awakening randomly like this. But I can hope okay. Sooo Spiders? Or fucked up Ghil creatures?

Not too familiar with the inner workings of the Chantry so I checked the wiki: affirmed is a rank of Chantry brother/sister (along with initiate and cleric). Clerics are scholars or knowledgeable in arcane matters; Initiates get essential but probably thankless tasks (meal-prep, cleaning, repairing, etc). Lay brothers/sisters are “affirmed” since they affirm their belief in the Chant of Light, in exchange for a life of contemplation without expectations of taking actual vows.

“Ask forgiveness for our prideful ways!” “Renounce your pride!” yeah Solas did you ask forgiveness to the Maker yet? Maybe if you do your plans would go a little better just saying 

“Really intense eyes, not a hair on his head” lmao

Barkeep sounds nevarran? Or might just be a voice similar to Cassandra I guess

Okay yes give me the food lore. Fruit stews in the Anderfels that smell like shite, Anders fic writers take notes here

“Historically, dried fruit represents–” LET THEM TALK

“If my studies of the Fade have taught me anything,—” oh where have I heard that before… “—it’s that the future always hides in the past.” Hence Solas deciding to destroy the Veil in the near future to go back to the past :)

“Another Blight, but worse” be still my beating heart

Ohh forbidden are in the Deep Roads, always goes well

“Solas? He vanished right before things went bad” uh huh

“You best be yanking my chains” love that

“You stay out of this, little egg, before you get cracked” I know this was said to Drayden but Rook needs a label printer to cover the Lighthouse floor to ceiling with this. For their enrichment and Solas’ annoyance

I love Drayden’s nerd ass

“Wanted for murder, treason, high crimes against the imperium” the basics, really! You’re not really a DA protag if you don’t have “Enemies fear me, Authorities want me” booty shorts

DAVRINNNNNNN

OHHH we’re getting the moment he meets Assan?? 🥺

NOOOO WAIT what if the Darkspawn stole the griffins I swear to ghdfijs. If fucking Genlocks get griffins before the Hero of Ferelden I swear mine is abandoning the search of the cure just to protest

Wardens once again not beating the “I drank the Joining Juice so I will drink literally anything” allegations

“The crumbling face protruding from that cliff. It’s the statue of the Green Guardian” “The way it juts right from the stone, like Grunsmann himself is trying to break free from time’s prison” stop rewind.

HOORAY for random minor character lore reference!! There’s a bow in DAI and this is its description: The Anderfels' "Green Men" warriors began with a hunter of the Merdaine: Grunsmann, who famously saved the people of Hossberg from starvation by crossing darkspawn lines in the First Blight. The order begun in his name leads caravans through the dangerous Wandering Hills to the distant port of Laysh and comprise the best marksmen in Thedas. Fun fact: Laysh is the very last inhabited place that we know of on the western side of Thedas before the Volca sea. It was built specifically to trade with people from across that sea (their ships always had dwarven captains, and no elf was ever with them, and they don’t speak any of the Thedosian languages), they had wares and spices and were interested in lyrium. Until the 4th Age (Black Age, since it’s when the Chantry split in Tevinter), when they stopped coming–none of the ships from Thedas that tried to follow them ever made it back. “Recently” some of these people (Voshai) settled in Laysh because of an unspoken cataclysm that made them flee their homeland. ANYWAYS

“According to the writings of Ferdinand Genitivi,” RETURN OF THE KING 🎉 “not even insects and worms can survive these lands. A body would never decay.” Uh. Blight really did a number on the Anderfels

Nadia not wanting to think too much about the people who aren’t alive feels like foreshadowing. Bestie I don’t think you can evade that for long no matter how good a rogue you are

Davrin is COCKY in battle! Okay!!

I always do a double take whenever people act like “The Dread Wolf” is so unknown, but I guess unless one was Dalish or had experience with ancient elven lore, average people wouldn’t really know about their deities? It’s just that our player characters have always been really “traveled” by Thedas standards and I need to forget about the meta.

Oh Drayden shamelessly thirsting after Davrin was not on my bingo card but. It’s incredibly funny if only for the people who think Drayden is Solas in disguise LMAO

Harig: “I only want what's coming to me.” Davrin: “Men like you will always get what's coming to them.” TELL HIM!!!!

I wonder how different the beginning of DATV would’ve been if our Inquisitor did a major information campaign re: Fen’Harel. Like, absolutely plastering every wall with posters “Bald mage with wolf-jaw necklace approaches you? Beware, the Dread Wolf seeks to destroy the Veil!” Especially if they didn’t disband, the wording in Trespasser made it seem like they’d be more obvious as to why they’re still around (apart from being the “personal guard of the Divine”)

Not the water dripping sound 💀

“Snailroot” as a makeshift pain-killer, whump writers write that down. It apparently tastes like boiled ass water (quoting)

You can tell that Nadia is the protagonist because she has main character headaches. Let’s take ibuprofen together 

Ohhh Drayden’s fear being “ironically, spiders”

Lord of the Rings references my beloveds

Every time they encounter a creature bigger/nastier than usual I think of Ghilan'nain and I wonder how much influence on the waking world the trapped Evanuris had before being released

UH OH Davrin is TOO COCKY in battle! Bestie did no one tell you “regrets” is the theme?! Don’t risk hubris please!!

Moment of silence for yet another mentor Warden lost early in the mentee Warden’s character arc

Davrin continuing the Inquisitor’s tradition of blocking creatures in the Deep Roads by using flimsy collapsed tunnels 

MOSAIC WITH WOLVES!! EVERYONE STOP WE’RE TAKING RELIEFS OF THESE. “This is no ordinary mosaic. Look at the way the circle is split down the middle. The top half is onyx. It's like a mirror! Look close. You can see your reflection in the darkness” = classic Fade “And this portrait below, the figures are upside down and pointing to the stars” “Ah, see those small wolf totems? Those are just like the ones the Dalish place in their camps in Arlathan. They're for the Dread Wolf” the people of Thedas want action figures too

+ ancient elven dialect “Guide me on the path that splits the land between sun and moon”. Andruil is called “Sister of the Moon” in a codex, while the sun is usually associated with Elgar’nan (or his “father”), but it’s also worth mentioning that the same story that describes Elgar'nan fighting the sun and chucking it into the Fade describes the star as the remnants of the sun’s lifeblood. Given the prominence of the eclypse iconography in DATV, I am so looking forward to learn more of these celestial bodies’ origins or symbology 👀

Don’t think I didn’t miss the fact that Davrin knows an ancient elven dialect enough to read it and translate it on the spot 🧐

Random eluvian activated by pretty mosaics is fun idc

“may Andruil guide you on your path” I’m gnawing at my enclosure’s bars. Pretty sure they didn’t want to talk too much on Davrin’s relationship with his clan during marketing but they did say it’d be different from Bellara

Marvel Cinematic Universe reference 💀

Nadia and Drayden's dynamic is growing on me with every episode. Boy I sure hope nothing bad happens to either of them 🙂

[hemerasiae]

Temporary Bio (because Carrd is my enemy)

CRESCENTIA VESPER WREX ' ROOK ' ➜ she/her / cis woman / lesbian ➜ 32 / human / mage ➜ 5'6" / athletic & lean ➜ FC: Denée Benton

Born as the second oldest of three daughters in the Free Marches' city-state of Wycome, Crescentia comes from a long line of mages. As the 'freest' state, Wycome is also known for its incredibly liberal Circle of Magi. Their mages, upon completing their Harrowings, integrate fully back into society and serve their community under the watchful eye of their superiors. This practice, which drew ire and criticism from the Chantry, saw a drastic increase in failed Harrowings and a significant improvement in the mental well-being of the Circle mages.

PLACEHOLDER POINTS

✦ befriends Clan Lavellan as a child, where she ultimately finds her barn owl companion, Gibbous (Gibby); learns a lot about magic and Dalish culture in general from the Clan and brings them any supplies within Wycome city limits, if ever needed ✦ Gibby is not a regular barn owl companion (he's a cool barn owl companion); there is something otherworldly about him, providing him an unnatural longevity ✦ Gibby is a Spirit (and Crescentia is aware but has told no one) ✦ Crescentia's already strong, natural sense of intuition has blossomed under Gibby's proximity to abilities similar to Rivain's seers (but it is very unpredictable and random) ✦ the Wrexes are 'friends' / allies of Vivienne and become known to the Inquisition through her ✦ Crescentia, her mother, and two sisters help the Inquisition fight with Clan Lavellan during the assault from the townsfolk ✦ works with the Inquisition as an agent within the Free Marches; leads her to connect with Dorian, as she wants to learn more about Tevinter ✦ moves to Minrathous when she is recruited for Maevaris and Dorian's Lucerni ✦ joins the Shadow Dragons once the Lucerni are dissolved ✦ living full-time in Minrathous for roughly 10 and a half years as of Veilguard

[fandom-geek]

anyway just realised i completely forgot to make a post abt completing the first part of the arl of redcliffe quest and the broken circle, so thoughts!

...i had completely forgotten that alistair does know who his dad is.

on that note, alistair does say that duncan also knew, but it's not entirely clear if alistair told him (and duncan pretended not to know already), if the reverend mother told him (and he pretended not to know already), or if duncan was actually transparent about already knowing but just didn't say how.

alistair also gave me the quest about finding goldanna, which again makes me think abt fiona. when he eventually finds out that his mother is actually an elven mage who is alive, he's gaining a living mother and losing a sister who... doesn't want anything to do with him (from what i recall), but is still alive and has her own kids. which isn't necessarily much, but when alistair's spent most of his life thinking that she's his only relative, that's some complicated grief to have. especially if he finds out that duncan did know abt him and promised to look after him secretly (as per the calling).

anyway - back to the quests!

defending redcliffe was. a pain. the mayor did not survive, despite me turning on easy mode. i was tempted to try a few times to get the cutscenes for "you saved everyone" but i hate the long walk between the two fights so fuck that. rip mayor dude, you were decent.

the redcliffe sideplots! hi bella and kaitlyn! i not-so-immediately showered them in gold so they can both yeet away to denerim. apparently i may have fucked up getting kaitlyn's "marry bann teagan" ending by not buying the sword, but i also gave her a ton of money so who knows. we'll see when i get to the epilogue. also yeeted the blacksmith's daughter back to her dad, so i've finished all the redcliffe side quests i actually care about that are the most significant.

you know how i was complaining abt veilguard because of eurogamer's review of the press demo the other day? there's a good chance that plots like bella and kaitlyn will be non-existent there given the "can't really interact with any random city npcs". so. that'll be a fuckin tragedy if that's the case. same for the whole of redcliffe, actually - even if they're not questgivers or lack extended dialogue, it's a town that actually feels like a town thanks to the variety of npcs you have.

redcliffe castle wasn't too painful to get through, and it's actually pretty interesting in hindsight of the later games. connor, unlike wynne (who we shall meet shortly), cole and anders, is kinda our foremost example of an abomination actually living up to their name. and the boy is creepy, even if him making bann teagan dance is lowkey hilarious. sorry teagan.

i had completely forgotten how alistair goes from "he's an abomination, we must kill him D:" to "...we can save him? oh thank fuck". it's pretty interesting that despite being raised as a templar against his will, he'll repeat the chantry's stance at first but he's immediately pretty glad if you offer a reasonable alternative - no matter how much it stands in opposition to the chantry.

broken circle time!

it's very funny how your introduction to the templars is "all the mages are corrupted and lost to demons.... we must kill them" only to immediately go through and realise they've managed to clear a section, courtesy of wynne and her spirit of faith. i reblogged a piece of meta abt this a while ago, but this quest is nowhere near as morally grey as some ppl make it out to be. the templars are practically buffoons (with some having the excuse of being tortured) who do literally nothing to solve the situation, while the mages are actively risking their lives to save each other. cullen is just... urgh. it says something that wynne is willing to defend him by saving he's been tortured, and the fucker doubles down on his "murder all mages, even the kids" rhetoric. i really hate that bioware retconned his endings from da:o.

it's kinda a shame that despite alistair telling you that the templars are addicted to lyrium, it never actually comes up in the broken circle. cullen being tortured and in withdrawal would be a bit more interesting to explore, but idk. would it be insane of me to draw a parallel between a tortured cullen thirsting for blood and a contemporary usa jumping to indiscriminate warfare over 9/11? .... yeah? ok, fair enough

wynne, my beloved! i hadn't realised how blatant it is almost from when you meet her that she's been possessed by a spirit to help her keep working past her own literal death. she also immediately adds a much calmer adult voice to the party, even if i wanted to yeet morrigan into the abyss with the "survival of the fittest [and none of the circle mages are it]" bullshit she kept spewing when we first met wynne. darling, please get over your elven-god-mother's brainwashing some time this game, it's deeply frustrating

(also, morrigan gave me her quest to steal flemeth's grimoire while murdering her mum! wooooooo!)

the fade is the fade. mildly less tedious with a guide in hand, but annoying as hell. i conceptually get what bioware was going for - the companions' nightmares and the shapeshifting are both fascinating narratively and gameplay-wise, but the trudge to get there is frustrating as hell. there's a line btwn purely linear levels and forcing ppl to slowly backtrack a ton, and this doesn't achieve anywhere near the balance it needs. though it does reinforce that the mages are significantly more willing to save each other, regardless of the risks to themselves.

oh, and it always cracks me up how much weisshaupt looks like ostagar. i know they only had so many tilesets for decorating, but the main part looks practically identical to the raised platform/lower hall where you meet alistair and later having the meeting with loghain/cailan.

i burnt through health poultices like no one's business on this level, so the final boss was fun. not actually that bad, but i had to seriously micromanage the party's healing post-fade onwards. plus preventing him from corrupting the mages is hilariously easy once you've got the litany.

managed to run into zevran on the way back to redcliffe (and stopped by honnleath too), so now i've got another rogue and shale. i get there's plenty of worldbuilding reasons for you to have less mages than rogues/warriors but with my poor cousland also being a rogue, this party feels insanely rogue heavy.

camping was also pretty funny, bc wynne basically threw a ton of her major dialogue conversations at me back to back. alistair also snogged my cousland despite much teasing, so that was fun. speaking of things i had forgotten, i had definitely blanked on zevran's backstory in the crows frequently involving torture as a training method. wonder if they'll include that in veilguard since one of your companions is the grandson of the head crow (i fucking doubt it).

back to redcliffe - not much to say except the fade section here is pretty interesting. it's heartbreaking that saving him means damning him to the circle but hey, at least he's only stuck there for the next seven years! given his age, he probably doesn't even go through the harrowing before the circles dissolve.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage]

Dragon Age really peaked with Loghain as an antagonist, and it sucks because Meredith was right there. But unfortunately, she was heavily underutilized and it drives me nuts.

Y'know, when Loghain says everything he did was for Fereldan, I believe him. When Meredith says everything she did was for Kirkwall, I roll my eyes and say, "Mmhmm, sure, I totally believe Kirkwall is your first priority. Your head definitely isn't shoved up your own ass."

Her words never match her actions, so why should I believe anything she says?

She claims she's not a tyrant, but she breaks Chantry law frequently to make harrowed mages tranquil over petty things. She's executed mages at random to make an example of them. She lets her templars do whatever they want to the mages... but y'know, she's definitely not a cruel, oppressive leader or anything.

She claims she keeps Kirkwall safe from dangerous blood mages, but remind me, who actually stopped Quentin? The blood mage who murdered several women, including Leandra, so that he could stitch them all together to recreate his dead wife? Oh right, it was Hawke who put a stop to that, not Meredith or her templars because none of them believed Emeric or put in the actual effort to do their job.

She claims she has to enact the Rite of Annulment after the Chantry blows up because the people will demand justice... as if she didn't already send for permission to carry out the rite at the beginning of Act 3. If you wanted to give the people justice and blood, you'd demand to publicly execute Anders, the one who actually did it. Why pretend to be sympathetic and patient when you wear your bloodlust on your sleeve?

My interpretation of Meredith has always been that she's self-righteous and egotistic. Maybe she didn't start out that way; I'm aware that her backstory involves her sister turning into an abomination who then murdered her family and 70 more people, all because Meredith's parents didn't send her to the circle in the first place. This left Meredith an orphan and that's why she has such a strong and harsh opinion of magic. I mean, fair enough. I'm not going to pretend like that's not understandable.

But, I think there came a point where it stopped being about protecting Kirkwall from magic, and it become more about how much power Meredith could grasp in her iron fist, and then abusing it to prove herself in charge. And no, it's not the corruption of the red lyrium; Meredith was corrupted long before she got her hands on that idol.

I mean, c'mon-- she wears a goddamn replica of Andraste's crown, okay? Meredith really believes herself on the same level as Andraste. Do you want to tell her, or should I, that if Andraste ever came back and witnessed the bullshit that happened in Kirkwall, she'd run Meredith through herself?

Hate to break it to you lady, but the Maker isn't going to make you his new bride because you murdered an entire tower of mages.

And it drives me nuts because she has the foundation to surpass Loghain as most interesting DA antagonist. But just like with a lot of things in DA2, there wasn't enough time dedicated to her. What do you mean I only get to talk to this lady at the end of Act 2 and in Act 3? You spend nearly two acts building her up and that's it?

Oh and don't even get me started on how underutilized Orsino was because oh my god-

[shannaraisles]

The Warden's Witch, Part 2 - for @euryalex

The second part of @euryalex's requestioned crossover with Wyll Ravengard and their Tav, Tara, transplanted into Dragon Age to see what might happen. They have reached Redcliffe, and a reunion awaits ...

The Warden’s Witch, Part 2

“What a cheerful place this is.”

Wyll glanced at his companion, fighting to keep the amused expression from his face, as much for his own sake as for the sake of the villagers around them. Tara was not exactly forgiving when it came to misunderstandings regarding his amusement at her often sardonic pronouncements, something he had gleaned was likely due to the circumstances of her childhood. As it was, he would rather not have her glowering at everyone they met because she thought he was laughing at her, especially not in a village that looked to be on its last legs. 

“You can hardly blame them for their lack of friendliness,” he said, careful to walk at her shoulder. They’d had enough of random accusations of apostasy for a lifetime; he’d been passing her off as a Grey Warden just to save the arguments, but even that could invite some violence since the losses at Ostagar. 

“I thought you were the one who said a fraught situation brings out the best in people.”

“In my defence, I did also state that poor circumstances also bring out the worst in people,” he said, letting her see his smile as he spoke. This should be safe enough to show amusement with. “As it did when you fell in the lake.”

“I did not fall in the lake,” she snapped at him, cheeks colouring in either embarrassment or annoyance. Possibly both. “That oaf of a Qunari knocked me into the lake before I had a chance to dodge.”

“It did save your life, though.”

“You said you weren’t going to mention that again.”

He could feel her glowering at him, unable to smother his smile now it was out. She was an absolute delight to tease, so unused to company that was not her apparently awful mother and sister that she rose to the bait every time and could not be induced to laugh at herself unless there was some reward in it for her. He did think he was making some progress on that front, however. She was smiling right now, after all. 

“I don’t believe I -” he began, cut off by an unexpected but wholly heartening yell from the doors to the Chantry.

“WYLL!”

He spun about at the sound of his name, just able to register the accelerating form of a fully armoured Alistair Theirin heading straight for him, and brace himself, before they collided in a crash of dented breastplates and palpable relief. Hands clasped arms, shoulders, gripping tight, temple to temple without a care for how unmanly such a display of emotion might be. The last time they had seen one another had been just days before the Ferelden army took on the rising Blight in the Korcari Wilds. Not to shed a tear for themselves, and for those who were no longer here to share their joy, would be a disservice to all. 

“Where were you? You’re alive! How did you get out of that mess? Did Loghain’s men get you?”

Alistair’s questions fell thick and fast, no breath left between one and the next in which to answer ... and indeed, Wyll did not feel particularly up to answering some of those questions. Though he knew his bargain had been kept, and Alistair had, indeed, survived the horrors of Ostagar, he could not help the shame of knowing that he had abandoned his brothers in the days before they were near wholly wiped out. 

“What’s this about Loghain?” he asked, latching onto what he thought might be the safest part of Alistair’s eager curiosity. “We heard that Highever was attacked and the teyrn’s family murdered, but nothing about Teyrn Mac Tir.”

“He abandoned the king and the Wardens on the battlefield, even though we’d lit the beacon to summon him,” Alistair burst out, too enthused at seeing a fellow Warden to moderate his tone at all. “Because of him, the king ... all the Wardens ... Duncan is dead, because of him! But he’s telling everyone that the Grey Wardens were the reason for the massacre!”

“That does explain that little interaction on the road a few days ago,” Tara commented, drawing Wyll’s attention away from his overly-excited brother-in-arms for a moment. 

“True,” he agreed, looking back to Alistair to find the young man eyeing Tara warily. “Ah. Alistair, meet Tara. She’s ... the reason I’m still alive.”

“She looks a bit, you know, witchy,” the younger man said, lowering his voice but not enough to avoid her hearing that. “Where did you meet?”

Wyll hesitated, and instantly regretted it as Tara spoke up. He could hear her unamused raised eyebrow as she considered Alistair.

“I swooped down upon him in the Wilds and carried him off,” she said, her tone more of a taunt than a tease. “Isn’t that what witches do?”

“Well ...” Alistair flushed, rubbing a hand awkwardly against his shoulder, a little shame-faced at being called out on his mild bigotry. “I’ve only met one that actually swoops. The other one is just mean all day long.”

“How did you get out of there?” Wyll asked suddenly, his curiosity daring to risk Alistair’s attention coming back to his own escape. “The darkspawn advance has the country to the south entirely blockaded against any kind of travel.”

“We had help.”

As Alistair said this, his brows drew together, betraying that he wasn’t wholly pleased with the help he had got. But ... Wait. Did he say ‘we’? Did someone else survive that bloodbath? He followed his fellow Grey Warden’s gesture back toward the Chantry, and found himself looking at a pair of young women bearing staves. One was oddly familiar, though Wyll was sure he had never seen her before; the other was entirely unfamiliar, but he was also struck by a strange sense of familiarity. Had Gazarath given him something more than just his brother’s life?

“We?” he queried, watching as the two women began to make their way across the barricaded square at Alistair’s wild gesticulation.

“Oh, that’s right, you never met Cecilia.” Alistair offered a vague shrug. “She’s the newest Warden.” His eyes told Wyll the rest of that secret unspoken - that Daveth and Jory had not survived the Joining. Perhaps that had been a blessing in disguise for them. “The other one is ...”

“Morrigan.”

Wyll’s head snapped about faster than was entirely comfortable, finding Tara staring down the Chasind-like woman now coming to a halt not far from them. Her dark eyes were fixed on the strangely yellow gaze of the other woman, both of them seeming to take stock of the other as they ignored their companions.

“Tara. How delightful to find you hale and well. And here Mother was so certain you had died on us.”

“I’m sure her heart was breaking,” was Tara’s less-than-friendly response to the less-than-cordial greeting. “How did you crawl out from under her wings?”

“I was ordered to leave,” the other woman - Morrigan - said, and she did not seem impressed by this herself. “Perhaps if you had not rushed off with the first handsome fellow you found, you might have been ordered out of the Wilds in my place.”

“I am not the only one who found a handsome fellow to rush off with, it seems,” Tara responded, and for a long moment, the two women stared at one another, unspoken words flashing back and forth between them. 

Alistair and Wyll exchanged a look, neither one apparently sure quite what to make of this. Cecilia, on the other hand, took the opportunity to offer Wyll her hand.

“It’s good to meet another Warden,” she said, her smile strained. “We have a lot to talk about, but ... this village is under attack at night. Will you stay and help us defend them tonight?”

He blinked, tilting his head thoughtfully. It was tempting; he and Tara had done little but run from fights since leaving the Wilds. It would feel good to stand shoulder to shoulder with a brother and fight once more.

“If my lady agrees, then I would be honoured to do so - “

“Of course I agree,” Tara interrupted, turning away from her silent conversation with Morrigan. “These people will fall over in a stiff breeze. I will not abandon them as others I have known might.”

“We have already begun organising the defence of the village, sister dearest,” Morrigan said, stepping to her shoulder. “Do give your assistance. You were ever talented with storms.”

Whatever had been unsaid between them seemed to have cleared the air somewhat, but there was a tension there Wyll wasn’t sure he wanted to look into. Both women crackled with magical energy; only an idiot would step directly into that path without knowing at least what had caused it. Tara’s lips twitched at the other woman’s comment, and he realised she was trying not to smile. Not as much an enemy as I first thought, then, he mused, mentally kicking himself as he realised who this must be.

“An honour to meet you, Morrigan,” he said, offering her a courtly bow. “Your sister speaks highly of you.”

“Oh, what a pretty liar you have here, Tara,” the woman responded, laughing in apparently glee at his bow. “Do try not to break him.”

Tara offered her sister a sharp glance. 

“I’ll wager two bags of lyrium sand you break yours first,” she countered, and again, Morrigan offered up that slightly unsettling laugh of hers. 

“I look forward to seeing you win.”

As the two witches stepped away, leaving the three Wardens standing together in the midst of a gaggle of somewhat confused and relieved villagers, Wyll heard Alistair’s muttered comment on the very cusp of hearing. 

“What did I say? Swooping is bad.”

[greypetrel]

*crashes inside as if I was Grond but instead of bringing death and destruction I serve tiramisù in cute mugs*

👀 for the emoji meme, I'm deffo picking Radha and Garrett because I always give them microscopic crumbles of love and this needs to change. So, for the both of them:

💥 COLLISON - what emotions do they have trouble dealing with?

🔪 KNIFE - how do they react to injury / misfortune befalling their loved ones (significant other, family, friends)? do they put themselves at blame?

📎 PAPERCLIP - a random fact.

Bonus for The Holy Raccoon Trinity:

💙 BLUE HEART - do they miss their s/o easily? how do they act when their s/o isn't around?

*orders the soldiers to OPEN THE DAMN DOORS, and take a spoon for the tiramisù*

Tis the prompt list!

💥 COLLISON - what emotions do they have trouble dealing with?

Garrett: Inadequacy. The feeling of not being enough. Good enough, powerful enough, talented enough, despite his best effort. Seeing efforts thrown into a gutter because it was simply not enough? That's something he really struggles to accept.

Radha: Helplessness. The feeling that there's nothing to be done about a situation. Oh no she will stand up and fight instead of just sitting there and doing nothing and accept something negative. There's something she can learn to fix it, she's sure, some solution to be found.

🔪 KNIFE - how do they react to injury / misfortune befalling their loved ones (significant other, family, friends)? do they put themselves at blame?

Garrett: He's calm with injuries, but that's because he's a Healer. He will know when one is fatal or not, and act accordingly. Will try to help, fix the problem how he can. On the blame: he does feel guilty, but the blame? He won't actually take the blame for other people's action, even if he had a part in it. His biggest regret is Anders: he does feel guilty because he thinks he could have done more, listened to him more, talked him out... Blaming himself? it wasn't him who made the Chantry explode, ultimately.

Radha: She has no magic, and just a bland knowledge of herbs she picked up from her mother. She could use elfroot to some extent, she'll go around and ask for help and assist how she can. Or lure in the room to check that the doctor is a good one and won't do anything funny. Glaring at him. She does take the blame on some occasions. Aisling travelling south? She's deeply convinced it's her fault for not insisting more. She won't let it destroy her, but could go out of her way to fix it and find a solution and clean her own mess. Travelling south too anyway to kidnap her sister back, namely.

📎 PAPERCLIP - a random fact.

Garrett: He proposed to call the mabari "He's-a-Cat" for funsies. Still thinks it's a genius name for a dog.

Radha: She left a dead rat in Celene's own bed at the Winter Palace. Right below her pillow, before heading back to Skyhold.

💙 BLUE HEART - do they miss their s/o easily? how do they act when their s/o isn't around?

Raina Elizabeth Hawke, first of her name, Khaleesi of the Great Landfill Sea, Queen of the Knitters, Raccoons and Trashcans, Breaker of Balls, Mother of Critters: If the absence is long yes, a lot. Won't act on it because she realizes that she can't ask a person to just stay with her 24/7, and she knew what she was going to with Isabela. She'll power through it and pour the excess frustration into knitting, finding herself something to do, organise a huge party. find some shenanigan in town to solve, fight a Qunari invasion, jump on a crazy mission to save the Wardens...

Oh look I wrote a ficlet ages ago.

[carnalapples]

hiiiii i have some questions….

10. Has a piece of writing ever “haunted” you? Has your own writing haunted you? What does that mean to you?

13. What is a subject matter that is incredibly difficult for you write about? What is easy?

17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.

32. What is a line from a poem/novel/fanfic etc that you return to from time and time again? How did you find it? What does it mean to you?

Hi Rowan!!! 🫂 Thank you so much for the ask, I loved thinking about all of these!

10. Has a piece of writing ever “haunted” you? Has your own writing haunted you? What does that mean to you?

There are a lot of pieces of writing that have haunted me, but I'll share one of the first: I first read When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead when I was younger, and I remember first reading it and feeling unsettled, feeling like I had stumbled into something I didn't understand. I re-read it recently for fun, and the impact was different. I really admire authors who write for younger readers, middle-grade novels, etc, giving kids these excellent books that get them thinking about the world.

More recently, a poem: "Reverse Suicide" by Matt Rasmussen was so simple and haunting; it perfectly captures that sense of wanting to wind time back.

I think my own writing haunts me in a couple of ways, different from reading other media: maybe if I wasn't able to finish something, or I couldn't articulate something how I wanted to—or maybe if I really liked something I wrote and it reminds me of a certain time in my life, and I want to hold on to that.

13. What is a subject matter that is incredibly difficult for you write about? What is easy?

I'd say two things that are difficult are revenge and grief. When I write about revenge, I get caught up in the big picture, in trying to make it mean something. Grief is even harder, I get lost in the details. It becomes very personal. I often write by trying to imagine myself in a situation or drawing on what I've felt; that makes writing grief difficult. A lot of things I love reading are hard for me to write.

What's easy? I'd say... growing up and feeling too young, wanting and imagining, missing people, the casual ways we love and hurt each other. Families—I love writing about family dynamics. Established patterns and adventures.

17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.

I have so many random details about this arranged marriage AU!

Aside from the Anderfels, I think I'm most curious about the Free Marches, so I have set the majority of it in Tantervale.

I love thinking about my Trevelyan's family. I imagine her as the youngest with one brother and one sister, the eldest. Though it has nothing at all to do with this WIP, I like thinking about how any of the three of them could have been Inquisitor: Aarush would be an archer going to bat for his sister, Kalpana a sword + shield warrior trying to protect her but stifling her. I think he would fall for Cassandra while trying to mess with her, and she would fall for Josephine who finally convinces her to loosen up...

I'm playing with the idea that lyrium dulls templars' senses of taste—and one facet of Cullen's healing is getting to taste and find joy in food again

Rylen has taken over Cullen's job and Hawke loves to hound him. I love to invent details that do not carry over so for one line of this fic, Rylen has a sister who is a mage. She is likely the reason he became a Templar.

One big thing about leaving the Circle for Ashna is not being a few floors away from a library, and she can't help but miss that; I'm thinking of whether Thedas libraries are mainly the domain of scholars/universities unless sponsored as a Chantry initiative. People would buy books instead, if they have the money—making them a luxury (Back to Wynne and her novels)

32. What is a line from a poem/novel/fanfic etc that you return to from time and time again? How did you find it? What does it mean to you?

I'm going to nerd out a little—I'm really fascinated by translation in literature and how much the translator can shift meaning through their word choice. There's a lot of power there. From "La siesta del martes" by Gabriel García Marquez:

She was riding with her spine firmly braced against the back of the seat, holding in both hands a handbag of flaking patent leather. She had the careful serenity of someone used to poverty.

I first read this in a Spanish class, and the whole story is full of rich details. Every line matters, there are no wasted words. It's one of my favorite short stories.

Another line I keep coming back to is from this poem (one of my favorites) by Pablo Neruda:

Their volume of kisses breaks and goes under / fought at the gate of the summer wind

The imagery is light and fresh and it brings the idea of change, the freedom of summer—I think this is my favorite translation of this poem and pulls beautifully from the original. Another, from "Nothing but Death":

...and there are beds sailing into a harbour where death is waiting, dressed as an admiral.

[vigilskeep]

minor question but do you think amell/surana would survive the whole situation with jowan without duncan's intervention? i feel like greagoir would have them executed and irving wouldn't back them up which is kind of depressing. since you're so full of amazing ideas i was wondering if you had any thoughts on that?

i think amell/surana getting recruited by the wardens was always irving’s plan. it is not remotely a coincidence that it happens on either route. irving definitely discusses it with duncan prior to the origin, sets it up as a “reward” for their loyalty if they betray jowan, and if they help jowan, irving seems to side with greagoir but is also the first one to point out there’s nothing he and greagoir can do to deny the right of conscription. it’s not random that the origin always ends up with the chantry sister punished and irving’s apprentice in the wardens, and if i was feeling particularly self-indulgent, i might even argue it’s not random jowan manages to inexplicably make it out of the tower either

from my personal understanding of the situation, i simply don’t think anything would have been allowed to go down the way it did if irving didn’t have duncan in play. he would have set things up differently

also like, on a super basic level... i don’t think it’s a coincidence that amell/surana’s harrowing takes place the night before duncan arrives, right? that was to prep them as a suitable candidate for the wardens. and the reason jowan comes to you after your harrowing, rather than doing it when both your phylacteries are in the repository, is, as lily explains, that only a templar and a harrowed mage together could open the first door into the basement. (kind of a cold move from jowan, actually, if your warden is the type to want to be free too, to only tell them abt it when their phylactery is gone, because it’ll be easier to get down there. although to be fair i don’t know what they could’ve done as two apprentices, but he could’ve said ahead of time.) anyway my point is that for one thing, if irving hadn’t moved the harrowing up for duncan’s arrival, amell/surana wouldn’t even be harrowed and wouldn’t be able to get into the basement at all, so... pretty difficult to smash any phylacteries etc.

[hawkepockets]

Melantho questions! Was Melantho interested in/involved with Tamlen pre-mirror? What's Melatho's opinions on humans vs elves (and dwarves if applicable). Opinions on magic/mages/spirits/demons? I'm interested in learning these things as the story goes on but I'm wondering if you know anything upfront/that you want to share upfront.

ahh you read my mind, the first two were exactly what i was thinking about for her!! & #3 is a great question 🫶

☝️ yes, mela & tamlen were involved! they were each other’s best friends, worst puppy crushes, and first time. it was a match the clan really approved of too, and although their elders never deliberately put pressure on them to wed, mel & tamlen still felt it.

but as a couple, they didn’t quite work. tamlen would do anything for melantho. he was too pliable & sweet to keep a pilot flame of attraction lit between them. add in merrill, and now you’re cooking.

having her girl rival on one arm and her boy protector on the other kept mela challenged and interested. it wasn’t a mature, sexual poly relationship yet—they were all too young, and mostly just teased each other with kisses and fell asleep in a pile like kittens, but they might have been if not for the mirror.

marethari did not encourage all three of them bonding. merrill was her First, tamlen was paivel’s favorite student of lore, and melantho was ilen’s apprentice. if the trio were to follow in their mentors’ footsteps as adults, clan sabrae would have a keeper, hahren, and master craftsman that were romantically & sexually bonded, taking each others’ sides against the rest of the clan or turning on each other in the case of marriage troubles… an unpleasant & unstable concentration of power. no, far better to keep ambitious, magical merrill out of it. a future hahren & apprentice craftsman being sweet on each other was not much threat to anybody.

but if merrill had been there when the eluvian was found, maybe the girls could have held tamlen back from touching it—or maybe there just would have been that much more hunger and curiosity in the room, and one more body tainted by the mirror.

✌️ melantho HATES humans. i’ve seen some criticism of clan sabrae, and marethari & ashalle in particular (bc of their close involvement with mahariel but also, if we’re tbh, their being women) for withholding the truth about what happened to mahariel’s parents until they were grown, and i agree that was hurtful & contrived for shock value… but it did make me ask myself what if they’d been right to keep it secret?

so melantho was told, very young, that her parents had run afoul of the shemlen & been killed in a random, common act of human violence, and that wrenched, tore, and twisted at her from when she was a child. it changed the shape of her heart. and while everyone in sabrae has a healthy wariness/resentment of humans, mela’s intensity about it is alarming and out of line. it comes over her like a fever sometimes, killing her lively personality, lighting up her eyes, and making her hiss and spit at anyone who so much as sighs out loud about the clan needing to relocate so much. even her little sister leidy avoids her when she’s in that temper.

tamlen & melantho killed all three men who found the eluvian ruins, and duncan really did need to drag her kicking and screaming to ostagar. she’s mean and impertinent, assuming the worst of every shem she meets there right up to their king. and the night of her joining, before the battle, alistair caught her in the act of poisoning the soldiers’ cookpot with what was left of the darkspawn blood, and had to restrain her from setting loghain’s tent on fire… which he might soon come to regret.

she hasn’t met a dwarf yet, but all she’s heard about them, as inventors of enchanted items & berserker rage, makes them sound very impressive and strange.

✌️☝️ melantho knows magic is dangerous, but had never heard about the chantry’s dogma about it before meeting alistair & the tranquil at ostagar, and it completely takes her aback. she thinks of demons and possessed people like rabid animals—sick predators, something you come across on rare, unlucky occasions in the wilds, something to be mercy killed from a distance if possible but not approached. sure they’re frightening. no need to get idealogical about it. and she associates them with locations haunted by elven tragedies, not with mages.

merrill, leidy, and marethari are mages, and they’re precious to the clan, and to her. even fearmongering about blood magic and darkspawn magisters makes little impression on mel. her mages know what they’re doing, and it’s not the business of an ordinary hunter/crafter to judge their choice of spells. as for blackening the seat of the maker, creating darkspawn, locking each other up in towers and branding each other’s foreheads… well that all just seems like shemlen acting badly.

she may get more invested later ;-)