#rook wants to save the world no matter what but lavellan wants to save her brother-figure from himself at the same time

[mythalism]

on solavellan becoming andraste and the maker, and applying the concept of mantling to dragon age

for the uninitiated, mantling is a concept from the elder scrolls series that refers to the process of a mortal becoming a god by becoming so much like them that they become indistinguishable, and thus, the same. its synonymous with the use of the term "apotheosis" within the same universe, but also distinct, because it specifically involves "re-enacting the Mythic patterns established by the [Gods] until their power is surrendered to the mantler. In the process, the mortal and the deity become metaphysically synonymous with one another, allowing the mortal to claim the office and sphere of the mantled diety for themselves, reshaping them in the process." (x)

sound familiar?

but first, there are several examples of how this works narratively in the elder scrolls universe. one of the best is probably the mantling of sheogorath by the player character in the shivering isles DLC of the elder scrolls IV: oblivion.

at the climax of the DLC, the god of madness, sheogorath, for whom you've been doing quests for for quite a while now, basically reveals that he molded you into someone who could take his place as the Mad God, as his time is running out due to a long running divine cycle of order vs. chaos called the greymarch. its all very mythological and confusing and not really relevant to this but im including these quotes from re-watching the quest (x) to refresh my own memory and give you an idea of the general vibe:

the realm is crumbling, the cycle of destruction is imminent, and its god bemoans the loss of the world he loves but cannot stop his own demise. the only way to save it is if someone else becomes him - takes the throne, assumes his office, sacrifices their individuality and mortal desires for what the realm needs and mantle it's god...... this is literally solas mantling the maker like cmon!! and if i was in charge at bioware you can bet your ass that rook would've been mantling the dread wolf as thedas' new trickster god as solas took on a different godly role considering how he literally molds rook in his image and TELLS THEM THAT.......... but thats an essay for another day.

the player character of oblivion begins as sheogorath's champion and eventually becomes him, lavellan begins as andraste's herald and eventually becomes her as she walks her path, culminating in her decision to join the maker in the golden city for eternity, effectively uniting their mythology so that they become indistinguishable.

the player character of morrowind also goes through a similar process that the inquisitor does, as a prophesied savior navigating the role that has been thrust upon them. in the elder scrolls III morrowind, the story revolves around you being the prophesised "nerevarine", the second coming of the hero, indoril nerevar, who will cast down the false gods and expel the empire from their homeland. in reality, the game makes it very clear very quickly that no one has any fucking clue if you are actually the nerevarine, but the empire is going to MAKE you into the nerevarine by making you "walk the path" laid out in the prophecy. and thats what the entire main quest is; you re-enacting the prophecy to literally become the prophet that the world needs. the game never answers whether or not you actually were the nerevarine, but at some point, the distinction ceases to matter. you've become them.

you can see how similar this is to an inquisitor walking the path of andraste, to solas being forced to walk the path of the dread wolf and later the maker. whether or not they are one and the same is irrelevant, when you become mythologically indistinguishable, when you become what the world needs you to become, who you were ceases to matter.

in my original post about this i mentioned CHIM as well and CHIM is a very unruly, not even fully canon concept within the elder scrolls. so i dont really want to delve super deep into it because its fucking insane for one but also because it doesn't fit quite as well as the framework of mantling does, but there are a few things said about CHIM in elder scrolls that just feel soooooooo similar to what we see in dragon age that i want to share them because i truly think there is a thread of inspiration to be followed here.

CHIM is basically enlightenment in the elder scrolls universe where someone within the games reaches a state of divine lucidity. its been compared to lucid dreaming by one of the tes devs, or "divine hypnagogia", and the final state beyond CHIM, called Amaranth, allows a character to realize they exist in a video game. LMAO. so when i say solas and lavellan achieve something akin to CHIM i do not mean it literally, i do not think they are breaking the fourth wall and realizing they exist in a video game, nor would i want that. i would actually hate that as a writing decision. but whats interesting is the language that is sometimes used to talk about CHIM, and the way solas and lavellan's ending involves them reaching a sort of peace and acceptance about their place in the world as mythological figures instead of individuals.

i wrote this in response to an ask once and i've reposted it several times and i'm doing it again now because honestly it was the best way to articulate this and i dont think i can recreate it LMAO; "solas and lavellan are at once both finally free of the burdens of the myths and expectations that follow them as the dread wolf and the herald of andraste because they have left the mortal world that forced them into those roles and stripped them of their personhood, but they have also completely submitted themselves to those roles by submitting to the logical conclusion of the myths that they could not escape. for the dread wolf, it is earning his redemption through his willing submission to his own trap. its the logical, full-circle mythological conclusion to the trickster who trapped the gods, now trapped for eternity himself. for the inquisitor, it is andraste's herald finally sharing andraste's fate, choosing to leave the mortal world behind to ascend to the golden city alongside the god that she loves. both (presumably, for a lavellan) have tried to reject the myths attached to them over and over and over, but in the end they choose them willingly, and that choice at once binds them to those myths forever while simultaneously freeing them from the burden of them. its giving oedipal greek tragedy of attempting to outrun your fate and it finding you anyway, just when you thought you were finally making your own choice, but with a hopeful and bittersweet spin."

this is what i mean when i say they have achieved CHIM, as "a state of being which allows for escape from all known laws and limitations" (x) the laws and limitations from which they have escaped are not the confines of a video game, but rather the confines of the mortal roles that they were both thrust into against their wills and stole everything from them, as the herald of andraste and the dread wolf. for solas, i think you can even extend this to him being able to escape the literal physical confines of the body he did not want by returning to 'heaven' (the fade), a place of mutability and possibility, without the laws and limitations of the physical world. for lavellan, we see her make a choice to pursue her own happy ending, regardless of what the world needs (though there is an argument for this being the best decision for the world considering how it will help solas heal the blight, but i think the implication is that she's doing it for herself) after losing her agency, individuality, life and freedom to the role of the inquisitor. as ameridan says, "take moments of happiness where you can. the world will take the rest." and she does. she ascends past the bounds of the physical world, the title of inquisitor, the world that took so much from her, and finds her happiness in transcending those limitations and literally fucking off to heaven. its so great.

so when i refer to lavellan as andraste or solas as the maker, it is in this context that i mean it. i dont actually think lavellan is literally andraste reborn or something, or that solas was literally the maker. i think the maker was probably slightly inspired by solas's deeds like the creation of the veil and black city, but theres plenty in the chant of light that also does not fit him or the two of them at all. dragon age has very intentionally not disproved or proved the existence of the maker, and i think that is a good choice and its far more interesting that way. solas is already responsible for like half of the problems in thedas, connecting EVERYTHING back to him is a bit lazy in my opinion. i think the idea that the concept of a creator borne out of a bunch of different myths across time is far more compelling. so i dont think they are 1:1 the same or a reincarnation or anything, and thats why the concept of mantling works so well in this context.

solas is not the maker, but he has functionally become the maker by walking the narrative path of his own story. lavellan is not andraste, but she has functionally become andraste through walking the path of her own story. its about a sort of narrative and mythological apotheosis, where the world sees you one way to the point that you become that way. it works perfectly in the context of dragon age's focus on storytelling, propaganda, and how belief creates reality.

these two are bound to a sort of narrative inevitability in a way that most dragon age characters are not (except perhaps morrigan. honorable mentions to hawke, varric and alistair) but i think its a large part of why they are so compelling. they are inseparable from their own stories. they are bound by this sort of narrative destiny to serve both the overarching story of the dragon age games, but also the mythological stories within thedas in a way thats almost in contrast to the medium of a video game based on player choice- but i think its intentional, and i also think this sort of narrative destiny functioning as its own trap or prison is part of the reason their story is the strongest part of veilguard. from an essay on fatalism, something that solas himself ascribes to by his own admission "Destiny is not so much a necessary outcome as it is an outcome that is necessary given some larger sense of purpose” (x).

in conclusion: ✓ re-enacting the mythic patterns of andraste and the maker's story via their roles in the world and their decisions, such as leading the armies of the faithful as andraste's did, or shaping the world the way it exists presently and creating the veil and the black city as the maker did ✓ become metaphysically synonymous, via becoming virtually indistinguishable in terms of their role in the world ✓ take their office - by finally reuniting within the black city ✓ reshape it for themselves - by healing the blight and making it golden

:D

[annalyticall]

From the start I made my Rook with the hope she could have an antagonistic relationship with my Inquisitor so I'm glad I'm able to get a little bit of that

[thedinanshiral]

Meet my Inquisitor(s)

While i wait for a release date, editions details, just anything really..i decided to talk about my beloved Lavellan(s).

I did this really fun thing where i just took what Thedas had to offer and played with it, so i made Lavellan twins and made them both the Inquisitor but in different timelines.

First there's Gallia Lavellan, First of her clan, sent to spy on the Conclave who becomes the Inquisitor, romances Solas, becomes best friends with Dorian, and decides to disband the Inquisition after the Exalted Council to save the love of her life.

But in a different timeline the Keeper of their clan decided not to endanger their First and only other mage and sent a hunter instead, and that hunter was the First's twin brother, Adrienn. The events unfold as they were meant to and Adrienn becomes Inquisitor, romances Dorian, becomes friends with almost everyone and also disbands the Inquisition to save his friend from himself.

Now, they both have a life outside of the events of the game when the other is Inquisitor.

When Gallia is Inquisitor her clan survives the attack in Wycome, but life in the dalish clan always felt too small to her brother Adrienn and soon after, inspired by their close encounter with annhilation, he decided to go out and see the world, to live his life to the fullest. His journey took him many places but he ended up settling in Rivain for a while where he decided to join the Lords of Fortune and try to make a name for himself.

When Adrienn is Inquisitor a few unfortunate choices at the war table end in the destruction of Clan Lavellan, with very few survivors eventually rescued and taken in by Adrienn. His sister was fortunately away at the time making deals with another clan in the region. With what little remained of their people under Adrienn's protection and having learned what he shared with her of certain revelations about their people she decided to go on a journey of her own, to find more of their true but lost history. This journey takes her north, to Arlathan Forest, where eventually she joins the Veil Jumpers to explore the ancient elvhen ruins and uncover all their secrets.

At some point along the way both twins in their respective timelines changed their names and identity to both protect their sibling and themselves; what the Inquisition's enemies could do with the knwoledge that the Inquisitor had a twin, or how their personal life choices could affect the other's reputation was something neither wanted to find out.

And so time passed until Solas was finally located, and a new group of brave people was formed to stop him, the Veilguard. While the Inquisition was no more, the connections and reputation the Inquisitor amassed throughout the Inquisition years and beyond was considerable, and so when Varric and Scout Harding went on to search for people Solas wouldn't know, the Inquisitor had at least one person to recommend for the task: their twin.

I designed them based on Abelas, i wanted them to be somewhat closer to what ancient elves looked like (as far as we knew back then) and he was the only reference. Both have the Mythal vallaslin mainly because it's my favourite but Adrienn has the full version while Gallia has a partial one. As Inquisitor however she gets it erased by Solas once she learns vallaslin are slave markings. Her commitment to knowledge, truth and their true heritage is one of the things that make her her, no matter what path she ends up taking.

If it's possible to romance Solas as Rook in a worldstate where Solavellan never happened, i intend to make use of the twins' alternate timelines so former Inquisitor Adrienn asks his sister "Rook" join the Veilguard ..where she'll meet Solas, and the inevitability of their fate manifests once again, as this would be another world.

They're both good and just, but Gallia is definitely the scholarly type and certainly more polite, but not so warm after certain events in her life. Meanwhile Adrienn is definitly more chatty, on occassions shameless, one could argue more fun to be around and more inclined toward earthly pleasures. Being twins and looking alike didn't mean they had the same upbringing; once Gallia's magic manifested they were led through very different paths, with Adrienn learning to hunt and track, being told his duty was to provide for the clan and protect it, as he spent most of his time amongst their people, while Gallia had to spend hers in lectures from their Keeper, reading scrolls and books, learning how to control her magic, oftentimes in solitude mastering her powers and discipline, and with the weight of their clan's leadership on her shoulders from too early an age, the voice of their Keeper always echoing in her mind, "you will become Keeper one day, you must be ready".

As is the case for many of us, i'm quite attached to my Inquisitor. Gallia is my canon Inquisitor, she's about 37 or 38 years old by now, and she let her hair grow longer than ever and often wears braided to the side. I hope the new CC in The Veilguard allows for something like that.

[rookinthecrownest]

Hey anon I just realized I was pulling questions from a different Rook questionnaire list and it's probably not the one you're referring to (I forgot I had this other one in my queue LOL) so I'm just going to answer both.

23: What do they do after an absolute crisis?

Madeleina has a bad habit of isolating herself after a crisis. She worries that if she can't maintain her composure, she'll be seen as weak. This was sort of drilled into her by her military upbringing at the hands of the Mercar family. The ability to remain calm, focused, and lead with a clear mind no matter what crisis may befall you was a value ingrained to all the Mercar children by Legatus Charon Mercar.

As such, sometimes she's afraid to let her companions she when she is struggling. After choosing to save Treviso, and seeing the devastation in Minrathous, she's more reserved and withdrawn, not wanting the Veilguard to see her fall apart. She knows intuitively that it's not a healthy way to handle a crisis, and wouldn't dream of considering her friends weak for falling apart if they were in her shoes, but old habits die hard.

In the Mercar household, their motto was very much, 'toughen up, deal with your shit, get back in the game, don't let them see you falter. When you command legions, you can't afford to show weakness.'

20: Would they side with Solas or fight him?

Madeleina would fight Solas if he truly couldn't be swayed to stop his plan to tear down the Veil. She doesn't see how drowning the world in demons and causing mass hysteria/chaos would help anyone. Although she, like Solas, dreams of a better world, she doesn't think that tearing down the Veil is the way to do it.

She does end up redeeming Solas in the game, convincing him to uphold the Veil with Harrehn Lavellan at his side. So she doesn't actually end up fighting him.

10: Are they proficient in playing any instruments?

Her father was a bard, who knew how to play many different instruments. His favourites were the Lyre and the Lute. He would teach her how to play both here and there before he left for work in the evenings. She wouldn't say she's particularly proficient at either of them, though. She had some further musical education at the hands of Livia Mercar, but found it was hard to make any headway into proficiency with how much her life revolved around combat training and magic.

She has a novice-level of ability with the Lute, Lyre, Fiddle, and Piano-forte. Just enough to play a little ditty that sounds good, but not enough to really be considered proficient.

23, 20, and 10 for Madeleina!

23. What does Rook wear in the off hours? Do they like dressing up?

Madeleina's usually wearing the purple Shadow-Dragon pyjamas. Purple, surprise surprise, is one of her favourite colours (*cough* Lucanis *cough*). And Lavender, her favourite flower, is her favourite scent as well. She prefers practical and comfortable clothes over fashionable clothes because she was partially raised in a military family. Much of her adolescence was spent learning hand-to-hand combat on top of mastering her magic, so she was usually in some kind of training ensemble (lightweight, breathable, plain). Eventually she was sent to the Circle in Minrathous where she was afforded very few chances to dress up (she basically lived in Mage's robes here) so it's not something she ever got into. That being said, I imagine at some point, after the events of the game when things have calmed down, she starts enjoying herself as she explores different styles of dress and fashion. I think this would partially come about because of spending more time with Teia (I can see Teia showing Mads her wardrobe and her falling in love with everything in it).

20. What's it like to see them smile? Laugh?

If you ask Lucanis, he would describe her smile as wide, warm and inviting. Her eyes seem brighter, and they crinkle at the corners because she tends to smile with her entire face. Her laughter is infectious because similar to her smile, it's completely unrestrained. If Madeleina thinks something is hilarious, she's laughing with her whole chest, and maybe even snorting too. She had a lot to unlearn after leaving the Mercar family to join the Circle and the Shadow Dragons. Growing up there, one couldn't be too loud, too smiley, rambunctious, too anything. They were disciplined in all things, so there was rarely a time for her to express how she was really feeling. But with the Shadow Dragons and her friends in the Veilguard, she's learned to let go a lot, and you can tell when she laughs/smiles it's quite genuine.

10. Does Rook know their history? Do they know of the HoF, Hawke, and the Inquisitor?.

Madeleina is fairy well read on both world history and military history, so she does know about all three heroes. But she is the most familiar with the Inquisitor, Harrehn Lavellan. She thinks it's kind of cool that all three heroes are female mages, like her (Serafina Amell, Marian Hawke, and as mentioned, Harrehn Lavellan).

It was actually through reading about Dorian Pavus' contributions to the Inquisition, and his later efforts to establish the Lucerni to bring about change in Tevinter, that inspired her to join up with the Shadow Dragons. Dorian is a bit of an idol/mentor to her. One day, she catches him outside the Magisterium after a session and asks him how she can help. He ends up connecting her with Tarquin and Viper. Dorian helps her maintain a 'cover' for a time, as she's both a Circle Mage and a Shadow Dragon until she's graduated. He makes excuses to her preceptors in the Circle for her long absences so she can go on missions. Her life gets tremendously easier once she has graduated the Circle and can dedicate herself more fully to being a SD.