#ser aaron hawthorne

[weirdefilippis]

Happy Dragon Age Day!

This year, for Dragon Age Day 2022, we’re donating copies of our work, Dragon Age and otherwise, that we will sign (and for some, so will Autumn).

It is all to support Trans Empowerment Project, so please go to the Unofficial Dragon Age Day campaign on Tiltify and see if any of our stuff seems worth a donation.

We have Dragon Age comics (Knight Errant, Deception, Blue Wraith, Dark Fortress, and the Wraiths of Tevinter Hardcover collection) plus New Mutants, New X-Men, Hellions, Maria’s Wedding, and Batman Confidential!

[dalishious]

Catching up with Thedas

We’re getting another time-skip between Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Trespasser DLC and Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Here’s a summary of things that have happened in the supplementary material leading up to this. Obviously, major spoiler warning for everything discussed here.

If this summary intrigues you, I would definitely suggest checking out the full stories for yourself. They’re all great—especially the comics. The characters in the comics are so good and that’s not something you get to appreciate just in summaries.

Major takeaways:

The Venatori are still active, especially in Tevinter, where a woman named Aelia (who is now imprisoned by the templars) took over after Corypheus was defeated and attempted to raise a powerful demon buried under Minrathous. The demon is still resting there, and the remains of the Venatori are still about. Although, the Antivan Crows have been hired to assassinate Venatori agents, and are picking them off one by one

The Qunari are invading the north again, and the following cities have been taken over: Ventus (Tevinter), Carastes (Tevinter), Neromenian (Tevinter), and Treviso (Antiva). They plan to move further into Rivain. However, the Antaam are on thin ice with the rest of the Qun, having acted against orders in the city of Ventus – suggesting there may be fracturing of leadership. This is further implied through the Ben-Hassrath declaring neutrality on the war with Tevinter. At the same time, the Qunari are also searching elven ruins trying to gather information about the Dread Wolf

There is a group of elves known as the Agents of Fen’Harel infiltrated all over Thedas and stirring up shit, including fanning the flames of war between Tevinter and the Qunari

The red lyrium idol has been everywhere, man… It was taken out of Meredith’s statue by the Carta, somehow wound up Tevinter, possessed by House Qintara, where it was traded it for information to House Danarius, where it was then stolen by Cedric Marquette, who gave it to Tractus Danarius, who brought it to Nevarra hoping Mortalitasi would help unlock it, where it was then taken back to Tevinter, only to somehow end up in Solas’s hands

Speaking of red lyrium, guess who is also still active? The red templars. And they are serving none other than an awakened but still crystalized Meredith Stannard in Kirkwall, who is known as “The Crimson Knight” by her followers

All Grey Wardens have been summoned to Weisshaupt for reasons unknown

The Grey Wardens have uncovered the remains of a dwarven thaig called Hormok, where beneath it they found elven ruins with signs it was a place of worship for Ghilan’nain. In these elven ruins, they find a magic pool that turns creatures into spliced-up monsters with parts of different beings melded together. While the wardens destroy this place, there are still eleven others out there somewhere

The Arlathan Forest has come alive with magic, changing place and time within it

Solas is in possession of an elven artifact called “the crucious stone”, with unknown powers

Dragon Age: Knight Errant (9:44)

Vaea is an elven squire to wandering knight Ser Aaron Hawthorne. She is recruited by Charter to rescue Tessa Forsythia and Marius (from the Magekiller comics) from where they were caught on their mission. They were sent by the Inquisition to infiltrate Starkhaven’s palace and steal a book with research on red lyrium in Sebastian Vael’s possession. Vaea successfully rescues them and then steals the book herself, but not without a fight with Cedric Marquette, an Orlesian scholar who is also after the book on behalf of the lingering Venatori. It’s found out from the book that the Venatori may already be in possession of red lyrium, and Vaea offers to go to Tevinter to investigate. Aaron agrees to join her, aware and supportive of her work for the Inquisition.

Dragon Age: Deception (9:44)

Olivia Pryde is a con artist working in Ventus, Tevinter. The city is under high tension because of an imminent Qunari invasion. She pretends to be a Magister investigating Calix Qintara, the son of a reclusive fellow Magister, until it’s discovered that Calix is also a con artist. They try to outdo one another in a con contest against sister and brother, Francesca and Florian Invidus, but both are revealed as liars. In their fleeing, they run into Ser Aaron Hawthorne, who coaxes them into helping with his and Vaea’s mission. Vaea’s goal is to steal the red lyrium that was taken from Kirkwall supposedly held in the Qintara estate. Also ending up as part of their plan is a deal with two Antivan Crows, (later revealed in Tevinter Nights to be Teia Cantori and Viago De Riva). While the Crows create a distraction—though one that ends up with the death of Florian—Olivia and Calix con their way into getting floor plans of the Qintara estate, which Vaea uses to successfully break in. Unfortunately for everyone, Francesca pushes her way through and demands to speak to Magister Qintara to reveal Calix has been posing as his son, only to find out that Magister Qintara has been dead for years, and his former elven slave Gaius has been posing as him in order to collect valuable information to pass on to the Agents of Fen’Harel. Vaea discovers that the vault that was supposed to contain the red lyrium is empty, having already been sold to House Danarius. At the exact same time, the Qunari attack the city of Ventus, throwing their mission into a very time sensitive window to escape. Olivia sacrifices herself in order for Vaea, Aaron, Calix, and Francesca to flee the city.

Dragon Age: Blue Wraith (9:45)

Outside Carastes, which has been overrun by Qunari, Cedric Marquette flees from a chasing squad of them with a strange sarcophagus-like device in his possession that he is taking to Magister Nenealeus, who trains slaves into perrepatae; mage-killers. (He was the Magister who trained Marius.) Also chasing after Cedric is Vaea and her crew, hoping he will lead them to Castellum Tenebris, home of House Danarius, where they want to recover the red lyrium. Francesca leaves the group, and Vaea decides to chase after her to convince her to stay with them. Francesca is told by a family friend that her father was taken by the mysterious Blue Wraith (AKA Fenris). She decides to pursue Fenris and rescue her father in an attempt to prove her worth to him, with Vaea tagging along. They find Fenris, but it turns out he did not in fact take Francesca’s father, but rather her father is working with Magister Nenealeus. Inside the Nenealeus’s estate, they discover it has been overrun by Qunari, and overhear an enslaved elf tell the Qunari that the Magisters plan on using an elven sarcophagus artifact to infuse an elven perrepatae with lyrium. Fenris flips out and attacks, recognizing that they have restored the means of which he was experimented on. Meanwhile, Aaron and co. track Cedric down to his meeting with Nenealeus, and the Magister, realizing they are being watched, uses the sarcophagus on a human slave. The slave goes crazy and attacks Aaron’s party, before exploding. With Aaron’s party as well as the Qunari in pursuit of Nenealeus, Cedric, and Francesca’s father, they launch several more human explosives to escape, but Francesca “rescues” her father. He is furious at her for this, and attacks, forcing Francesca to kill him. Calix realizes he’s not cut out for such death and destruction, and departs from the group. Fenris joins them, and together Vaea, Aaron, Francesca, Tessa, Marius, and Fenris head for Castellum Tenebris.

Dragon Age: Dark Fortress (9:45)

Tractus Danarius, bastard son of Magister Danarius, welcomes Nenealeus and Cedric to Castellum Tenebris, which sits on the outskirts of Neromenian. Nenealeus reveals his plan to infuse the elven perrepatae, Shirallas, with red lyrium, believing he will be so powerful as to drive out the Qunari and then expand Tevinter’s control of Thedas back to the glory days of the empire. Vaea and Fenris capture and interrogate Tractus while the others act as lookout, and gather the information needed. Fenris wants to kill Tractus, but Vaea convinces him not to, as they need to get out of Neromenian ASAP since the Qunari picked the perfect time to invade. The Qunari find Tractus still tied up and he tells them about the ritual as well, so they prepare to go to Castellum Tenebris too. Vaea manages to sneak into the castle and then lets in the others through a secret passage. At the end of the tunnel they find a chained up high dragon. Vaea and Fenris attempt to flee the dragon while Aaron, Francesca, Tessa and Marius fight off the Venatori, while the Qunari attempt to break in through the front gate. While all this is going on, Nenealeus completes the ritual on Shirallas, infusing him with red lyrium. Fenris makes a deal with the Qunari to join forces against the Venatori. Marius and Vaea are able to take out Nenealeus, and Fenris and Aaron are able to defeat Shirallas, with the help of Cedric who switches sides at the last minute and reveals his weakness. This comes at the cost of Aaron’s life, though. Tractus gets away, and forces Cedric to hand over the red lyrium idol he stole. Solas watches this from an eluvian.

Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights (post-9:44, exact times unknown)

[RELATED POST – Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights Review]

(For more information on Tevinter Nights, I recommend checking out my review linked above.)

Three Trees to Midnight

After the Qunari took over the city of Ventus, they sent the healthy men into work camps on the outskirts of the Arlathan Forest, put to work cutting down trees. Myrion is one such worker, but is secretly a mage. He is chained up to an elf named Strife and immediately calls him a “filthy knife-ear” three times in the same paragraph, insulted to be paired with him. (He continues to do so the entire story, by the way.) They get in trouble for fighting. Strife is revealed to be an undercover Dalish, (though originally from Starkhaven). He was sent to rescue another Dalish elf named Thantiel who uncovered the Qunari invasion plans, though Thantiel was poisoned with an overdose of qamek, irreversibly turning him into a mindless labourer as well. Strife uncovers the plans and he and Myrion escape into the Arlathan Forest, after Myrion uses his magic to help them get away. In the forest they meet up with Irelin, a shapeshifting member of Strife’s clan, who takes off to spread word to other Dalish Clans of the Qunari plans to move into Rivain. The Qunari are also tracking the two escapees, and when the lead Qunari catches up to them, they take him out with the power of teamwork. When the rest of the Qunari catch up, the Huntsmaster reveals himself to actually be Saarbrak of the Ben-Hassrath, sent to investigate the Antaam working against the Qun’s orders in Ventus. Saarbrak kills the lead Qunari and lets the escaped prisoners go. They free themselves from the chains tying them together, and Strife leaves with Irelin, who came back for him.

Down Among the Dead Men

Audric Felhausen, a new member of the Funeral Guard, is recruited by the Mortalitasi’s Mourn Watch, (an elite fraternity among the Mortalitasi that act as guardians of the Grand Necropolis,) to track down and find the pre-maturely possessed corpse of nobleman Penrick Karn in the Grand Necropolis. Karn is after Duke Janus Van Markham, who also died in the mutually-fatal duel Karn perished from. Audric and Mourn Watcher Myrna head into the tombs after Karn. In their exploration, Audric comes to realize that the human Audric was killed at Karn’s funeral, and is actually a spirit possessing Audric’s body. Myrna hoped that taking Audric with her would help settle him into peace. In the end, Audric challenges Karn to a duel, but when Karn breaks the rules of the duel, Myrna rids the body of the spirit of Pride within it. Back in the Mourn Watch headquarters, Audric is offered a position in their library.

The Horror of Hormak

I actually already wrote out a long summary of this story here: [LINK]

Callback

(I’ll be honest: I only skimmed this one. It’s boring as fuck and I told myself I’d never read it again the first time I slogged through it, but here we are… So if I missed something actually important, my apologies. But I doubt it.)

Sutherland and Company, as well as a bunch of other NPCs from Skyhold, return to the Skyhold fortress to investigate why the remaining caretakers have gone silent. They end up fighting a demon of Regret, formed out of the plaster of Solas’s murals. They send the spirit back to the Fade, and leave Skyhold abandoned.

Luck in the Gardens

This story is told in the form of “Hollix” (an alias), the Lord of Fortune protagonist who is a master of disguise, recounting it at a tavern in Dairsmuid. Hollix tells a story about how they were hired by Dorian Pavus and Maevaris Tilani to hunt down a monster that was terrorizing Minrathous, called the Cekorax. The monster was first encountered by the Venatori, who were searching for an old cave under the city. It steals the heads of its victims and makes them part of it. They are able to destroy the Cekorax with the help of Dorian and a little girl named Mizzy.

Hunger

On their way to Weisshaupt, the dwarven woman Evka Ivo from Orzammar and elven man Antoine from Orlais, both Grey Wardens, stop in a small Anderfells village called Eichweill. They come to find out that people are disappearing in the village. The two come to uncover that it is werewolves responsible for the disappearances. The son of a noble named Renke starved in the woods and attracted a hunger demon, turning him into the first werewolf. Evka and Antoine hunt Renke down and fight him, and Antoine ends up getting bitten himself. However, they set a successful trap back at the village and kill Renke, believing Antoine and the others affected are now safe from the curse with its source defeated, and the demon banished.

Murder by Death Mages

Lord Henrik, a Mortalitasi, tips off the Inquisition that there is a plot to assassinate a noble in Nevarra. Sidony (from Dragon Age Inquisition’s multiplayer) is sent by the Inquisition to stop this, as she was raised by Henrik. She goes to meet Antonia, another Mortalitasi mage and friend of Henrik, who invites Sidony to attend a party hosted by a noble named Nicolas Reinhardt, where she will be able to meet with a man named Cyrros. Cyrros is an elf who has everyone in debt to him by knowing the secrets of every noble in the city, and Antonia suggests he will be able to help Sidony discover the assassin. Sidony recruits Cyrros as a partner in her investigation, after he says he believes it’s a Mortalitasi responsible. They find Reinhardt’s dead wife, and Cyrros attacks Sidony. She wakes up and overhears Nicolas Reinhardt reveal that he hired Cyrros to assassinate his political rivals and blame it on the Mortalitasi, but now thinks Cyrros killed his wife, which Cyrros denies. Sidony raises the corpse of Reinhardt’s wife and commands it to attack them both, killing Reinhardt and Cyrros. Sidony believes everything to be over, and goes to Henrik’s funeral, where she meets Antonia again. Antonia spills that she was the one who killed Henrick and Reinhardt’s wife, and traps Sidony in the tomb. Sidony somehow escapes though and goes after Antonia, planning to kill her.

The Streets of Minrathous

Neve Gallus is a private investigator hired by Otho Calla to uncover if Quentin Calla (his nephew) has fallen back in with the remains of the Venatori. Neve follows Quentin and witnesses his fatal stabbing by a figure in a bronze mask. The next day, Neve is told by Knight-Templar Rana Savas that another suspected Venatori was murdered the same night, named Lady Varantus. Neve is invited into the Templar investigation, up until the Varantus family request it closed to avoid bad press. Neve then meets a mysterious man who tells her the murderer, named Aelia, is after a set of clay discs held by Venatori agents, and gives her one of these discs. Aelia ends up attacking Neve for the disc—or rather, the “seal” as she calls it, and leaves Neve for dead. Neve saves herself though, and meets the mysterious man again, who is really a man named Flavian Bataris. Flavian reveals that there is an extremely powerful demon sealed beneath the city of Minrathous, and Corypheus planned on releasing it to destroy the city and build the centre of his new empire over it. The plan fell to the wayside when Corypheus was defeated, up until Aelia took over the remains of the cult, and now plans on summoning the demon herself. Neve informs Knight-Templar Savas of this plan, but storms out in frustration over the Order’s lack of willingness to do anything about it. Neve then heads into the Catacombs where Flavian told her the ritual would be held, and tries to stop it. At first she is unsuccessful on her own, but then three templars, including Savas, show up to back her up. They defeat the Venatori and arrest Aelia.

The Wigmaker Job

In Vyrantium, Ambrose Forfex, a successful wigmaker, is told by Crispin Kavlo and Felicia Erimond that he should cancel his wig show because The Antivan Crows have been assassinating Venatori agents. Ambrose decides to put on the show anyway. Sure enough, Lucanis Dellamorte and his cousin Illario Dellamorte prepare to infiltrate the party. There is a bit of tension between them, because Illario wants to become the next head of the House after their grandmother Caterina steps down, but people talk about how Lucanis should take that position, despite him having no desire to do so. They are interrupted by someone poorly trying to listen in on their conversation, and kill the eavesdropper. In his pocket, they find a letter sighed ‘A’, believing him to be sent by Ambrose. After sneaking into the party in the courtyard, Illario distracts a guard with his charm in order for Lucanis to get the keys to the place. They regroup after Lucanis kills the other guards inside. They find an enslaved elf girl, but Lucanis refuses to kill her, and she is all too happy that they are there to kill Ambrose, so they let her go. In Ambrose’s work room, they uncover the secret to his perfect wigs: He feeds his slaves red lyrium to create red-lyrium infused hair. Lucanis destroys the elven artifact Ambrose keeps in his workshop to prevent the veil from tearing, and while the party is erupted with demons. Illario leads the slaves of the estate that are able to escape to safety and freedom, while Lucanis confronts Ambrose. Ambrose shovels his magic wig hair into his mouth and becomes an abomination, but Lucanis still successfully kills him. The following day, Crispin and Felicia visit Magister Zara Renata and inform her that Ambrose is dead. Crispin says Zara will likely soon be a target herself, to which she responds that she has plans to take down Lucanis.

Genitivi Dies in the End

This story is impossible to make a summary of, because it’s told in the form of Philliam writing down what happened but full of fabrication, making it unclear what is real and what is fake. So nothing really matters. The only known fact is Rasaan, (a Qunari tamassran introduced in the Those Who Speak comics,) is leading a search for elven ruins trying to find information on the Dread Wolf. That’s really all that matters, I promise.

Herold Had the Plan

Dwarf Bharv and elf Elim, two Lords of Fortune, were after an amulet held at the Grand Tourney. Their friend Herold already died, and now they are on the run from Starkhaven guardsmen, along with their hired help, Panzstott. It turns out Panzstott is the real reason they guards are after them, as he stole the precious Celebrant sword, supposed to be given to the winner of the Tourney. He is working for a woman named Lady Lucie, who promises that she will help Panzstott find his sister, who left to become a Grey Warden and has never been heard of since. Lucie believes the Celebrant belongs to her, because her dead husband was the last Champion. A fight between everyone and the guards ensues, where Elim and Bharv are mortally wounded—however, it turns out the amulet has magic healing powers, and saves Bharv’s life. He heads to the pre-arranged meeting spot and gives the amulet to Vaea (from the Knight Errant-onward comics.)

An Old Crow's Old Tricks

After a group of Tevinter soldiers led by Magister Bicklius attack the Dalish clan Oranavra, the remaining clan members reach out to make a contract with the Antivan Crows to kill the soldiers. Lessef, an elderly Crow but still deadly, fulfills the contract, killing the soldiers one by one. In the end, she stands off with Bicklius, and in addition to killing him, steals back a precious halla statue he stole from the clan. Lessef then runs to her getaway boat yelling in Qunlat so that the soldiers she let chase her believe the attack was from the Qunari. Her partner Tainsley sails them away, happy that his uncle’s clan will get their halla statue back.

Eight Little Talons 🖤

All Eight Talons (the leaders of the most powerful Crow branches) are called to a meeting at the Verdant Isle of Lago di Novo by First Talon Caterina Dellamorte, to discuss the impending Qunari invasion of Antiva. Fifth Talon Viago De Riva is the last to arrive, where he meets Seventh Talon Andarateia “Teia” Cantori, (both of whom were first introduced in the Deception comics.) At their first meal together, the group argue while Third Talon Lera Valisti is notably absent. Viago and Teia are sent to investigate where Lera is, and find her dead, with her body displayed mimicking an infamous Crow murder of the past. The finger-pointing starts immediately and Caterina puts Verdant Isle on lockdown, forbidding anyone from leaving. This especially pisses off Sixth Talon Bolivar Nero. The next morning, they find all the servants have been murdered. Eighth Talon Giuli Arainai was also murdered the same night. Both again, in the style of famous Crow events. Caterina orders Viago and Second Talon Dante Balazar confined to their quarters, as they are the number one suspects. Teia ignores the rule about no visitors and breaks into Viago’s room anyway, where the two come up with a plan to coax the truth out of Dante, with a mixture of Teia’s natural silver tongue and a truth poison of Viago’s making. They are able to confirm Dante is not the killer. That evening, Teia and Fourth Talon Emil Kortez find Dante dead, while at the same time, Viago is attacked by a poisonous snake hidden in his clothing. Before he perishes, Teia returns to his room and finds anti-venom among Viago’s many alchemical vials. They figure out the killer is Emil, and upon confronting him, Catrina takes him out with her cane. Before Emil dies, he reveals he was contacted by the Qunari, and made an agreement with them that if he could destroy the Crows, they would invade peacefully and Antivans could keep their way of life, without submitting to the Qun. The remaining Crows then all stab Emil to death. With the killer dealt with, Catrina, Viago and Teia all make a plan, and send written orders to the head of each House, (the heirs, in the case of those now dead.)

Half up Front

Vadis, runaway daughter of a Magister, and Irian Cestes, former elven servant, are thieves for hire working in Minrathous. They are hired by a mysterious elven woman to steal back an artifact known as Dumat's Folly, which is said to be a piece of the Black City, from the Archon’s palace. They discover that the artefact has been stolen by the Qunari, and are able to track the thieves to Kont-aar in Rivain using blood magic. The two travel to Kont-aar and sneak onto a dreadnaught holding a ton of magic objects the Qunari are studying. But the whole thing turns out to be a set-up by the mysterious elf. She reveals several things in her villainous gloating: That she works for the Dread Wolf, that she has possession of the real Dumat’s Folly, and that the “Dumat’s Folly” that Vadis found on the dreadnaught is actually a magic bomb soon to explode. Her goal is to implicate a Tevinter mage in the destruction of Kont-aar. Vadis and Irian overpower the elf, but the elf bites down on a poison pill hidden in her mouth and dies. Vadis blows the dreadnaught out to sea using wind magic, and she and Irian escape on a lifeboat just in time to avoid the giant explosion. Back on shore, they are interrogated by Ben-Hassrath agent Gatt (from Dragon Age Inquisition), who shares that they were tricked into stealing the artifact in the first place by an Agent of Fen’Harel among their ranks. Gatt says that the Ben-Hassrath will remain officially neutral on the invasion. Gatt suggests they go to Kirkwall, but Vadis and Irian decide to go to Val Royeaux for a vacation instead.

The Dread Wolf Take You

Charter (from Dragon Age Inquisition) attends a meeting with some of the best spies across Thedas at a place called the Teahouse in Hunter Fell, Nevarra. At the table is a dwarf from the Carta, an Orlesian bard, a Mortalitasi mage, and a mysterious Executor from across the sea. She says she invited someone from Tevinter and the Ben-Hassrath, but they both declined. First, the dwarf tells a tale about how he and his crew used a special solvent that softens lyrium, allowing them to extract the red lyrium idol from Meredith’s statue in Kirkwall. At the meeting location a man from House Qintara (from the Deception comics) shows up and takes the idol. Also at the meeting were former templars looking for the solvent that softens red lyrium, but they were all killed in their sleep by the Dread Wolf. The Mortalitasi speaks next, about how a man from House Danarius, (that being Tractus from the Dark Fortress comics), brought the idol to her group of mages, asking for help unlocking it. They do so in a ritual, but it draws the attention of the Dread Wolf, who is angered by them using his idol to “vandalize the sea of dreams”. One of the Mortalitasi mages fled with the idol leaving the rest to die, but the speaker managed to escape with her life. Finally the Orlesian bard speaks of how the idol wound up in auction house in Llomerryn, where the Dread Wolf himself took possession of it. By this time though, Charter has come to realize that the Orlesian Bard is actually Solas in disguise, and asks for her life. Solas kills the other attendees, but spares Charter. She tells him he doesn’t have to do this, but Solas insists he does, before leaving.

Dragon Age: Absolution (post-9:44, exact time unknown)

Elven rogue Miriam and Orlesian human warrior Roland, a couple of mercenaries, are recruited by Fairbanks (DA:I) to join his group, who are tasked by the remains of the Inquisition to steal a magic artifact known as the Circulum Infinitus from the Summer Palace of Nessum in Tevinter. The group also consists of the dwarf warrior Lacklon, the tal-vashoth mage Qwydion, and lastly human mage Hira, who Miriam has a romantic history with. Miriam and her deceased twin brother Neb were formerly enslaved by the man now studying the Circulum, Rezaren Ammosine. She is reluctant to return to Nessum, but Hira convinces her to help. Their heist does not go as planned however, and Hira is captured while Miriam is gravely wounded, but the others scoop her up and flee. Rezaren uses blood magic to contact Miriam in her dreams and tries to convince her to return to him so they can be like his idea of a family, but she refuses. It’s also revealed through flashbacks that Miriam was forced to kill Neb when Rezaren’s mother put a demon inside him to prevent Rezaren from failing his Harrowing, except Rezaren used blood magic to bind a spirit to his body that he now controls. Rezaren’s hope is to use the Circulum to bring Neb back to life for real. Miriam and the rest of the gang stage a rescue mission for Hira, but when they regroup back at their base, it’s revealed that Hira was planning on betraying them to “The Crimson Knight”. Rezaren chases after them, and manages to begin the blood ritual to try and bring Neb back. Neb’s spirit destroys his body rather than return though, and Miriam is able to kill Rezaren. She then asks Hira to choose their relationship over her quest to destroy the Tevinter Imperium, which Hira refuses, and flees with the Circulum, intending to bring it to none other than an alive once more Meredith Stannard from DA:2. Meredith is leading what remains of the red templars. Miriam and her friends vow to chase after Hira and stop her.

Dragon Age: The Missing (post-9:44, exact time unknown)

Varric Tethras and Lace Harding are tasked by Charter to try and track down Solas, all the while stalked by a mysterious figure in Venatori Assassin clothes. Their adventure first takes them to the Deep Roads under Marnas Pell in Tevinter, where they encounter two Grey Wardens, Evka Ivo and Antoine (from the Tevinter Nights story, Hunger). They find an abandoned hideout with an invitation to the home of Lady Crysanthus in Vyrantium, where they investigate next. When they arrive in Vyrantium though, they find it under siege by the Qunari. This doesn’t stop them from breaking into Lady Crysanthus’s estate though, where they meet the Antivan Crows Viago De Riva and Teia Cantori (from the Tevinter Nights story, Eight Little Talons). Viago and Teia were there to kill Lady Crysanthus, but Solas beat them to it by turning her to stone. They discover evidence that Crysanthus was working for the Venatori, who are after an elven artifact called “the crucious stone” located in the Arlathan Forest. Viago and Teia share that the Crows are working against the Venatori, before they all part ways. In the Arlathan Forest, Varric and Harding encounter a group of “Veil Jumpers”, led by Strife (from the Tevinter Nights story, Three Trees to Midnight). The Arlathan Forest has turned into a place of chaotic magic, where space and time mix and mingle in strange ways. The Veil Jumpers help Varric and Harding get to the temple where the crucious stone is said to be located. Within the temple though, they only find a note left by Solas asking them to stop interfering with his plans – Solas now has the stone. Varric and Harding next travel with Minrathous to meet private investigator, Neve Gallus (from the Tevinter Nights story, The Streets of Minrathous). Neve says that Solas has been busy in Minrathous, attacking Venatori, stealing their artifacts, and freeing their elven slaves, who in turn are rising up in his name. Neve shares that there is a group called the Shadow Dragons that helps those who have escaped slavery as a lead about the elven rebels. They find an elf that Solas freed, who shares that there’s a meeting of escaped slaves planned that night at the docks, but Varric and Harding piece together that the Venatori know about the meeting and will attack. They decide to give up chasing Solas in order to help the elves. Varric realizes that there’s no way they will catch Solas at this point, because he knows them too well – so he says they need new help.

Short Stories

Minrathous Shadows (post-9:44, exact time unknown)

A templar named Tarquin plays a card game with a magister, and confronts her on being a Venatori cultist. It’s revealed that Tarquin and the deal are part of a group called “the Viper”?

Ruins of Reality (post-9:44, exact time unknown)

Strife and Irelin (from Tevinter Nights) are lost in the Arlathan Forest, as the forest has come alive with magic, changing and shifting to the point where Strife’s map is no longer reliable, nor is the passage of time. Strife carries an ancestral journal from the Morlyn that began rewriting itself. They find copies of themselves—Irelin says either a mirage or an echo—running around. Irelin turns into a bird to snatch a crystal halla figurine off a statue they find, and the spell ends for a time.

The Wake (post-9:44, exact time unknown)

Viago de Riva, Illario Dellamorte, and Teia Cantori (from Tevinter Nights) all attend an Antivan Crow funeral, implied to be Lucanis’s from Illario’s drunken story-telling about the two as children and him saying “I was always right behind him, you know? Now there’s nobody for me to follow.”

Won't Know When (post-9:44, exact time unknown)

Evka Ivo and Antoine (from Tevinter Nights) fight off a darkspawn horde so a group of miners can escape. They ponder the dangerous nature of being Grey Wardens, before Antoine asks Evka to marry him, and Evka says yes.

As We Fly (post-9:44, exact time unknown)

Neri de Acutis and his sister Noa are old Antivan Crows fighting the Qunari occupation of Treviso.

-----

Like these kinds of meta pieces? Please consider supporting me on Patreon, where you could have viewed it a few weeks earlier!

[himluv]

DA Review Series: Knight Errant

<<< Previous Review: Last Flight

Title: Knight Errant Author/Illustrator: Nunzio DeFilippis + Christina Weir/ Fernando Heinz Furukawa Publication Year: 2017 In-World Year: ~9:44 Dragon Verdict: I found this graphic novel to have a tighter plot and sharper writing than Magekiller. It also featured enough familiar faces to keep me very much invested.

Knight Errant follows wandering knight of Ferelden, Ser Aaron Hawthorne, and his elven squire Vaea. The duo travel across Southern Thedas telling tales of adventure and noble deeds, all in an effort to promote Ferelden and keep the peace. Or, at least, that's what Ser Aaron does. Vaea has something of a five-fingered side gig.

It's her penchant for flawless thievery that's caught the Inquisition's eye, and while visiting the new Viscount of Kirkwall, Charter approaches Vaea with a job. Break into the dungeons in Starkhaven's castle and free the two Inquisition agents being held there.

Vaea says no, that she doesn't do causes. But while she's been double-crossing Templars and dodging Charter, Varric has worked his magic on Ser Aaron. The Viscount offers the knight and squire an invitation to Starkhaven for Prince Vael's birthday, and Ser Aaron cannot refuse the chance to regale the Prince with his stories.

So, Vaea takes Charter's job after all, freeing Tessa Forsythia and Marius from the Prince's dungeon. But, the job's not done. Tessa and Marius were in Starkhaven to steal a journal from Sebastian, a job they obviously failed at.

Against her better judgement, Vaea takes it upon herself to complete the mission. But there's more than one thief in Starkhaven, and a Magister in Tevinter as their sights set on that journal. Vaea and Aaron must work together to not only steal the journal before the Tevinter agent, but also to pin the theft on him and avoid suspicion.

Overall, this was a very fun story set after Trespasser. There isn't much lore here, though. We know that red lyrium is still a factor and that someone in Tevinter wants to know more about it. We see Tessa and Marius again, which was nice. And of course I loved seeing Varric and Sebastian.

But the standout for me here was Vaea and Ser Aaron. I found their relationship very sweet, almost tender. I know they appear in later comics, though I don't quite recall the specifics. But, I look forward to seeing them again!

[lairofdragonagelore]

Comic: Deception

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

This post has the following points:

Story

Relevant Details

Characters: Two con artists that try to trick Tevinters in order to earn money and leave the city before the Qunari attack.

There is no relevant lore in this comic. We only learn that Ventus has fallen under Qunari invasion. This is a very forgettable comic in terms of lore.

[Index page of Dragon Age Lore]

Story

In this story, the group follows the lead of the piece of Red Lyrium to Ventus/Qarinus, where there are rumours of an incoming Qunari attack.

This is a story about two [irrelevant] con actors who are trying to scam some people in the city to get enough money to leave before the Qunari attack. They end up sabotaging each other’s work and later competing against the other. It ends up in a more comical situation than in a serious story. Dorian appears in the process, showing that he knows they are scams. They end up involving two young people, Francesca and Florian Invidus, falsely accusing them of being Venatori, when in fact, Florian and his father are involved with the Venatori.

Meanwhile, Dorian, Ser Aaron Hawthorne, and Vaea are investigating the Qitana state in order to look for the red lyrium track they were after in the previous comic. Somehow, they manage to bring these two con actors into their mission, who unintentionally get Florian killed when they use a pair of Antiva Crows in a diversion. When Francesca finds her brother’s body she swears vengeance.

When the group manages to enter the Qintana state, they discover that there is no magister family called Qintana. In their place they find a non-mage elf who uses pyrotechnic to emulate magic. He is another performer, working on this une the command of his magister master. This story is filled with performer chars.

The elf claims that their lead is not a mere piece of red lyrium but a weapon imbued in red lyrium [good, because it made no sense to track a piece of red lyrium when the whole south is covered in it and Venatori were cultivating it in Emprise du Lion]. They finally learn that the weapon went to another place: The fortress of House Danarius, former master of Fenris.

They decide to go there [next comic], but before they can leave the house, the Qunari invade the city. Only with the sacrifice of one of the actors, they can escape. They bring Francesca with them, after dealing with her rage for getting her brother killed.

This comic is not strong neither in lore nor chars. It’s more about the nature of the people and how the expectations on them are different things to what they truly are. It follows the moral that was created around Ser Aaron Hawthorne’s legend in the previous comic, where characters from tales are more inspiring than the real people from which those tales were based on. Furthermore, it’s a story that wants us to reflect about human nature, unreliable narrators, and how life is a grey thing despite people wanting to see it in white and black, making it look shinier in tales of taverns.

Relevant details:

Why the title? It’s titled that way because many characters in this story are performers: they pretend to be what they are not. The whole series of comics from the Knight Errant on seem to focus on that narrative concept.

Time: After defeating Corypheus and [maybe] after the DLC Tresspasser. I assume this because Varric is Viscount of Kirkwall.

Characters: We have repeted information about Vaea, Ser Aaron Hawthorne, and shallow information about two irrelevant con actor chars. Nothing truly important to say here.

Concepts : There is no lore-content in this comic. What we can squeeze as such is that Ventus has fallen under Qunari invasion.

[swxftmuses]

𝒂𝒎𝒆́𝒍𝒊𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒘𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒆

𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑓𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑠, 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑔𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑎 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠

( currently OPEN for plots )

nascimento: 24 de fevereiro de 1998 (east hampton, ny, eua)

idade: 23 anos

signo: peixes

reside em: east hampton, ny, eua

ocupação: estudante de medicina na columbia university

qualidades: leal, inteligente, sociável, bondosa

defeitos: ingênua, medrosa, frágil, manipulável

𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 ;

em berços de ouro e talheres de prata fez-se a infância de amélie, a pequena princesinha dos hawthorne. sendo caçula e menina, foi ainda mais mimada por conrad e maglietta do que seu irmão mais velho, christopher, especialmente para tentar suprir a falta da presença dos pais no dia a dia. com os pais sendo médicos e, portanto, passando bastante tempo fora de casa, amélie foi praticamente criada por professores particulares e empregados da casa, tendo inclusive sido educada em casa, jamais tendo colocado os pés em uma escola. afinal, seus pais queriam dar a melhor das educações para que amy fosse plenamente capaz de escolher de que maneira seu futuro seria brilhante.

praticamente protegida às sete chaves, amélie sempre sentiu que via a vida lá fora acontecer por trás dos vidros da janela de casa. não indo para a escola e vivendo em uma vizinhança reservada, não tinha amigos além do próprio irmão, no máximo se estendendo a amizades com os filhos dos amigos de seus pais que vez ou outra compareciam para jantares formais. apesar disso, amélie tinha uma natureza expansiva e curiosa, que a fez insistir tanto para poder frequentar uma escola que ela finalmente conseguiu a permissão dos pais para tal. entretanto, preocupados com a educação da filha e também querendo protegê-la dos problemas com garotos, a mandaram para um internato só de garotas na inglaterra para que fizesse os quatro anos de ensino médio.

por mais que fosse melhor do que ficar sozinha, o internato ainda estava longe de ser a tão sonhada liberdade de amélie, que ficava sempre dividida entre a curiosidade e o medo do desconhecido, vez que faziam o mundo afora parecer um bicho de sete cabeças, mas o pouco que experimentava dele só a fazia querer conhecer mais. se seus pais diziam fazer tudo para protegê-la dos males do mundo, então deveriam ter alguma razão, não? por outro lado, sua maior esperança era entrar para a faculdade, onde certamente poderia conviver com todos igualmente e finalmente ter a tão sonhada liberdade.

e, de fato, o mundo tinha sim males que os olhos de amélie não eram capazes de enxergar, pois sua criação a tornou bastante ingênua, e por consequência um alvo fácil para aqueles de malícia mais aguçada. ao iniciar a vida acadêmica da graduação, completamente sem referências para além dos filmes de romance que via, amélie acabou se perdendo no sonho de viver um conto de fadas quando começou a namorar com aaron - um rapaz filho de um casal de amigos de seus pais, também conhecido como o genro dos sonhos para conrad e maglietta -, pois o que jurava ser amor só cada vez mais a machucava. apesar de ser perfeito aos olhos dos sogros, aaron era o completo oposto de amélie, tão bem vivido no quesito de malícia que sabia muito bem esconder seu mau caráter por trás da cara de bom moço. sem responsabilidade afetiva alguma, aaron cada vez mais faz amy questionar-se sobre o que é de fato o amor... e, mal sabe ela, que talvez a resposta certa esteja bem nos jardins de sua casa.

𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚 ;

conrad hawthorne (pai, 60); maglietta hawthorne (mãe, 55); christopher hawthorne (irmão mais velho, 28).

𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒏𝒔 ;

seu sonho profissional é se tornar médica, assim como os pais, seguindo para a área de pediatria, pois adora lidar com crianças.

sabe que aaron a trai, porém jamais teve coragem de confrontá-lo, especialmente por sua mãe não ter acreditado nela quando a mesma a procurou para conselhos. afinal, para os hawthorne, o casamento é mais uma questão de status do que amor, e a família de aaron também é de grande influência.

a família de amy é muito religiosa - apesar de nem sempre cumprir com os valores cristâos -, mas amy se considera religiosa só por seguir o que foi imposto pelos pais, e não por realmente acreditar.

amélie está sempre envolvida em atividades de caridade, especialmente em projetos que envolvem crianças e idosos, pois tem o dom de lidar com eles e conquistar sua simpatia.

𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒔 ;

plot: east hamptons, 2022. ⸺  aquele romancezinho bem água com açúcar de adolescente, que muse a é dondoca, riquinha, e muse b era pra ser só o cara que faz algum trabalho braçal em sua casa… mas acabam se conhecendo melhor e quando percebem, estão apaixonados (só que a família dela jamais aceitaria ela com alguém da ‘ralé’ como ele, então tem que ser tudo às escondidas rs).

pairing: xxx

pinterest: xxx

muse inspo: xxx

dynamic inspo: xxx

blog: xxx  

[saturnisaturnip]

A knight and his daughter squire ❄️

[ryuichifoxe]

Ser Aaron is the first bit of personal art I’ve done since the first week of this month and the artblock/carpal tunnel combo hit. Couldn’t resist.

[nightingaletrash]

not me modding in a cameo for Ser Aaron Hawthorne ._.

[faerunandferelden]

tevinter nights is a must read

okay so at the beginning of dragon age 4 there will certainly be a bit of exposition pertaining to the new cast of characters and the new location for the game. you know, the standard “who are you” and “what’s going on”

but holy shit guys. nearly every single story in tevinter nights takes place after inquisition and it is the perfect primer leading up to DA4. I understand if you don’t normally read the books or the comics in between games but I gotta say that you should make this book the exception. From qunari plots, potential power players, and the machinations of one certain cunning dreadwolf, tevinter nights has so much to offer. 

[dragonagegallery]

Ser Aaron Hawthorne

Comic Art     Character Sketches

[weirdefilippis]

Wraiths of Tevinter comes out this coming summer. Library edition size, with artwork scaled to its most magnificent best.

Collecting Deception, Blue Wraith, and Dark Fortress… and picking up where Knight Errant left off!

Dark Horse Announces Dragon Age: Wraiths of Tevinter

Dragon Age developer BioWare and Dark Horse Comics have announced Dragon Age: Wraiths of Tevinter, a deluxe oversized hardcover collection of the three most recent Dragon Age comic series. Specifically, the hardcover collects Dragon Age: Deception, Dragon Age: Blue Wraith, and Dragon Age: Dark Fortress into a single tome. Dragon Age: Wraiths of Tevinter is set to release on August 23, 2022 and will retail for $39.99.

“When a red lyrium artifact of devastating power surfaces in the Tevinter Imperium, the Inquisition mobilizes knight Ser Aaron Hawthorne, elven thief Vaea, and magekillers Tessa Forsythia and Marius to retrieve it,” the official description of Dragon Age: Wraiths of Tevinter from Dark Horse Comics reads. “Along the way, they will acquire a fledgling con artist and a troubled mage as allies, as well as Fenris, the legendary Blue Wraith. But the Venatori have mobilized forces of their own, and it will take cunning, bravery, and sacrifice to stop their dark intentions from being realized.” [source]

[weirdefilippis]

We went all in and commissioned @dalishious to work their magic and create DA Keep style tiles for some of the characters in our Dragon Age run.  They also did romance-style tiles.  We may eventually post those too.

Dalishious... these are AMAZING.

[samsdaomods]

Ser Aaron Hawthorne The Wandering Knight By Lakia1250

Time to embrace the comic! As we know, comics follow BioWare's own canon (for example Alistair being king) but for most parts they also create canon by themselves. And since Knight Errant states that ser Aaron was in Ferelden during DAO, hey, why not have him there? As ser Aaron is a comic character, there are no in-game resources for him so there's not much interaction with him. This mod will simply mark his presence during some events he was/could've been a part of.

DOWNLOAD

[lairofdragonagelore]

Comic: Knight Errant

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

This post has the following points:

Story

Relevant Details

Characters: We are presented two new characters: Ser Aaron Hawthorne of Ferelden, who is an old, drunk, landless knight, former soldiers of Ostagar, and his [city] elven squire: Vaea, who is a smart thief, and steals to give to local poor people in the city they are staying.

There is not much lore, only three things to highlight:

The red lyrium corpse of Meredith. In the comics, she is still in the Gallows in display. In the book Tevinter Nights, she was removed from there since red lyrium is very contagious, you don't want to have it growing it in the city.

The Red Lyrium Idol has self-regenerative propieties. It's implicitly stated in the book Tevinter Nights, and it's shown in the comic Dark Forterss [The Red Wraith has a sword made out of the fragment of the red lyrium idol which allows him to heal quickly].

Some narrative situations put the vhenadahl as an element that makes it look like a bad omen symbol. It seems to be related to tragedy and violence [which seems to coincide with the general impression we got from Felassan, detail in the post of the mural about the “Red Lyrium Idol”]. The local Dalish claim that the vhenadahl is a symbol to have a non-questioning attitude, that may have a reflection in the idea of "leaving alone whatever evilness is hidden below it", as if it were a cautionary tale for Elves in order to avoid investigating dangerous paths [deeply related to the codex where we see elves collapsing the Deep Roads]. 

[Index page of Dragon Age Lore]

Story

The Knight Errant, called Ser Aaron Hawthorne of Ferelden, is an old, drunk, landless knight who wanders around Thedas. He claims to have been a hero in Porstmouth: the city had earned its independence from Orlais when he was a teenager, and he managed to avoid a second war immediately after. He was also part of Loghain’s army when they retreated, abandoning Cailan. Now, he is a decadent, wandering knight who adopted an elf as a squire [who is also a kind of a daughter for him].

Both of them come to Kirkwall for a diplomatic banquet, but his squire, called Vaea, sneaks into the city to speak with someone who hired her services: a former templar who wants to steal a box where Meredith used to put all the bribes she received.

As she tries to reach this box, we see the state of the Gallows that Varric had informed her it was off-limits: It’s an abandoned place, with Meredith’s red lyrium body still there. 

This is a bit weird and bad in terms of lore because she may have severely contaminated the Gallows already. It also makes little to no-sense for her to be there. First, we see her in the Black Emporium in DAI [Xenon and his Black Emporium], and second, Varric is now viscount, and he knows how dangerous and contagious this lyrium is to leave this statue as a display. Why is the statue still there!? It makes no sense, specially when Varric’s main quest in DAI was about destroying big pieces of red lyrium due to the danger they represent [which, let’s be honest, it seems to be worse, since the idol’s piece had worse effect than as a whole, according to DA2 Red Lyrium]. Only in Tevinter Nights Varric “realises” it’s dangerous and removes it from the Gallows. Honestly, the lore is extremely inconsistent about what happened with this Meredith’s red lyrium body. I’m absolutely denying the existence of the lore-aberration of DA:Absolution. Let’s that shit die in netflix and never remember it again, pure shallow commercial crap.

Vaea’s comment when she sees Meredith’s corpse highlights the fact that she doesn’t see the sword. We know the sword broke into pieces when Meredith tried to draw more power from it, and somehow, its pieces ended up inside her body, since in Tevinter Nights we learn that an agent of Fen’Harel removed the whole red lyrium idol again, intact, from this statue’s chest [I’m a bit disappointed with all that treatment of the idol and Meredith’s corpse, to be honest]. In the novel it was stated that the “idol” may have self-healing properties, which is more or less in-lore when it comes to the comic Dark Fortress [the weapon created from the idol gives to the Red Wraith healing propierties].

Later, Charter finds out what Vaea is doing in the city, and convinces her to help agents of the Inquisition that have been caught in Starkhaven: save them or eliminate them before they speak. Without much choice, Vaea accepts and with Varric, they arrange the travel to Starkhaven without informing the true reason of this to Ser Aaron Hawthorne, who is tricked to go to the city as a ferelden ambassador.

For the first time, we see the city of Starkhaven.

During the banquet, there is a confrontation between Ser Aaron Hawthorne and Cedric Marquette, a scholar of the university of Orlais. They accuse each other of being a grave robber and thief. Meanwhile, Vaea tries to locate the agents of the Inquisition inside the palace cells and helps them to escape. We recognise these agents: they are Tessa and Marius from the previous comic: Magekiller.  

They ask her to conclude their incomplete mission: to find the red lyrium research that Sebastian has in his possession before the Venatori would steal it. This is another ridiculous concept in my opinion, forced in this way just to make a cameo of Sebastian: Why does Sebastian care about red lyrium? Is he not more interested in controlling mages because now he swore vengeance against Anders—if he survives DA2? Or just because the whole world of Thedas is in a Templar-Mage war, and we know he will always choose the Templars. Why would he have this dangerous research so easy to be stolen? [the research is in his chambers, like a reading before going to sleep, lol]. Anyway, clearly the DA comics became weaker over time, and their quality in terms of lore went to hell with each series.

In the end, Vaea steals the research, gives it to the Inquisition, and Ser Aaron Hawthorne discovers that she is a thief and supports her, confessing he always knew it. He never minded it because Vaea kept helping the poorest ones in the city they visited, so the fact that she stole from the rich to spread to the poor was not something he felt offended about, quite on the contrary.

Relevant details

Why the title? It’s based on Ser Aaron Hawthorne, who is a character more important in stories than in his real life. He is the embodiment of the concept that stories should not tell the truth but inspire people. That the comic focus on Vaea too is meant to signify how stories work: it’s all about who narrates them and how, and sometimes, the real person behind the legend of a tale protagonist is a drunk knight, while his great deeds are from his squire.

Time: After defeating Corypheus and [maybe] after the DLC Tresspasser. I assume this because Varric is Viscount of Kirkwall.

Characters: We are introduced to Ser Aaron Hawthorne and his squire, the city elf Vaea.

Vaea is a standard city elf from Edgehall, west of Ferelden, who had an uncle that left the city to join a local Dalish clan. At some point, the Arl of the city destroyed the vhenadahl as a response to the elves asking for improving the walls of their alienage, weakened after the Fifth Blight. Despite this agression from the Arl, the city elves ignored it and brought a new sapling given by the nearby Dalish. Then, the Arl confiscated the new sapling just because [another ridiculous narrative conflict]. This made the tension grow and ended up with the Arl’s people killing the Dalish and some city elves. From a narrative point of view, this seems to link the tree vhenadahl with events related to tragedy and abuse of power. The tension between the Arl and the city elves was stopped when Ser Aaron Hawthorne intervened in this situation, and invited Vaea to become his squire since her uncle was killed with the violent event. From that moment on, both of them have been travelling all around Thedas, developing a Father-Daughter relationship. 

Who knows why, but for some design weird and fucked-up reason, Vaea is drawn, sometimes, with goat-like eyes. Like, seriously… elves have big nice eyes, this is so…. disturbing and annoying. 

We know little about “the true” Ser Aaron Hawthorne. There are thousands of stories about him and his “heroic deeds”, but it’s always clear that nobody knows how much of those stories are made up or romanticised. This is a typical, recurrent concept in DA series. 

Ser Aaron Hawthorne is presented as a figure who lives on legends that were built around him. Now, he is a drunk, decadent [”errant”] knight that we suspect has many wrong things in his past. The tales he narrates are never accurate; the stories other people talk about him are as inflated as his own. His character feels a variation of Varric’s: he is not about historical accuracy but inspirational tales because behind the tales, all characters are lame, sad, and terribly flawed.

The whole comic revolts around Ser Aaron Hawthorne’s stories, which are incredibly unreliable. It’s impossible to know where the truth is: some describe him as a hero, others as a scam, others as a thief. As DA series always loves to emphasise, he is a story with no clear truth, and depends more on what the listener wants to believe than what truly happened in his life. 

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

There is no much lore content in this comic either. Firstly, we have Meredith. As I said before, it makes little sense for her to stay in the Gallows as a statue, specially knowing how much Varric cares about destroying every chunk of red lyrium that may be infecting the environment around. 

The second concept I think the comic highlights is the vhenadahl. We see its design as it is in DA2: red trunk with white spiralling vines drawn on it. The philosophy that this comic tries to associate with the vhenadahl is to exist without questioning much and without changing the world. This is truly a strange philosophy considering how much the elvhenan loved to modify reality and bend it to their will.  But on the other hand, and thanks to the concept of the codex Veilfire Runes in the Deep Roads, we have the impression that the vines, that may be associated with the vhenadahl, are meant to hide something terrible underground, and keep it still. So the concept of letting things exist without changing them, without poking around, and having a more passive attitude towards life, seems to fit this need of “leave things unshaken, so they don’t become a threat”. It seems to imply that whatever was buried and hidden below in the codex, it should stay that way for everyone’s sake. Longer analysis about the vhenadahl is done in the context of the mural “Red Lyrium Idol”.

Finally, the last thing lore-wise we can relate in this comic is that the Venatori wanted a journal about red lyrium that, for some weird reason, Sebastian had in his possession. I personally feel this so stupid. Again, I feel these comics from Magekiller on are quite weak in terms of narratives and lore. It seems they improved a bit in The Missing. We’ll see.

[weirdefilippis]

If you like hearing us talk, then this is for you! We talk about our run, our process, our dog, Thedas, Fenris, Mages vs Templars... you name it!

I’m beyond privileged to have interviewed the amazingly talented and kind Dragon Age Comic Writers Nunzio DeFilippis & Christina Weir. @weirdefilippis We spent an hour and a half chatting about their incredible comic run. The lore, insights and secrets they revealed are mind-blowing and thirst-quenching! They shared: cut plotlines involving Valena, Sigrun, Calix & Fen’Harel himself, a pitched Lily & Jowan mini-series titled: ‘Blood Lily’, BioWare’s *chef’s kiss* response, how Autumn is doing, how to properly say “Vaea”, their favourite Taylor Swift songs, fandom opinions, hypothetical future mini-series plot directions, major spoilers on Dark Fortress, alternative story beats, BioWare’s involvement, the creative process, proposed comic pitches, excitement for the next game and so so much more! It was an absolute pleasure to speak to the pair and geek out about Dragon Age with them. Content like this is what I created my channel for! You can watch the full interview on YouTube or listen on the go!

[wepepe-draws]

A sketch wip of ser Aaron being a proud dad to Vaea ☺️