#sight seeing in Thedas

[pandorazlost]

A bit of sight seeing in Thedas.

[vigilskeep]

i bet with certain f!aeducans you could make the entire dao party have beef with gorim saelac to a degree you couldn’t even imagine

[martyrmarked]

sidri works incredibly hard to care for anyone that comes under the inquisition's protection, actively using the inquisition's influence and power to garner resources. she'll lose sleep by staying up too late to personally write letters to merchants requesting to open trade through once treacherous routes, she'll carve out time to meet with any middling noble at skyhold willing to help fill the inquisition's coffers.

she feels personally responsible for those looking to the inquisition, and following all of the death and chaos at haven, makes it her personal mission to do everything she can in her own right to help those unable to help themselves. she thinks often of the envy demon at therinfal and reminds herself that all of the power she's accumulating can be twisted and made rotten regardless of her desire to do good with it and, subsequently, she's content to have it diminished for what she considers to be a far greater cause.

[notebooks-and-laptops]

The thing that still gets me is. Look. Culture wise. Lore wise. Why are ANY of the factions who side with the elven Gods actually siding with them. Obviously the darkspawn are controlled by Ghilan'nain so that's fine but:

The Venatori; largely upper class Tevinter mages, are working with the ELVEN gods???? The elves they believe are so beneath them that they quite literally form a slave class? And they're just willing to be subservient to them without any pushback whatsoever???

The Qunari; strong philosophical/religious philosophy which does not incorporate God-like figures. Culturally very against the idea of chaos (which Ghilan'nain and the blight very much symbolise). From what I can see, the Antam left the Qun because they believed that it wasn't following it's own principles well enough; are they really going to randomly start following gods from some bas religion. FURTHER these gods are powerful mages. Qunari historically are very against powerful mages. I mean, there's a whole DLC about how they decide Solas is a huge threat on sight and needs to be eliminated immediately.

And THEN you have the fact that these two factions, the ANTAM WHO ARE INVADING TEVINTER AND ACTIVELY MAKING SLAVES OUT OF TEVINTER CITIZENS AND DESTROYING THE MINDS OF TEVINTER MAGES are going to just be fine with working with THE TEVINTER IMPERALISTS WHO BELIEVE THAT TEVINTER SHOULD RULE ALL THEDAS AND THAT MAGES ARE GREAT.

Surely these two groups should be the MOST diametrically opposed to working with one another because even if they can wipe out everyone else together, for either to achieve their stated aims the other HAS to cease to exist.

It would be interesting if they were sorta going at this like...the way that the Soviet Union and the US worked together in WWII but then it erupted into a cold war once their mutual enemy was defeated. Or if the gods were hiding the fact they were working with both of them. But that doesn't seem to be the case.

It's just. It's a wild choice. It's basically 'evil people work with evil people no matter what' which is categorically just not how things work.

[skelebellie]

i like to imagine mourn watch rook as someone generally pretty good natured. major purple rook vibes and knows when it’s time to lend a helping hand. you have to be in order to work with nevarra’s grieving families. sure, they might get a bit frustrated/angry at the usual inequalities of thedas, but nothing out of the ordinary.

and then the team gets to weisshaupt, and you can see their brows furrow as they argue with the first warden. thinking about all the lives lost because this bald egg of a man (foreshadowing) can’t temper his pride. the anger almost invisible until it breaks like a thin string and their jaw clenches. their patience vanishing into thin air.

“you know what, i tried.”

before they knock out the first warden into next week, evka giving them control over the situation. and rook moves like a well oiled machine. not a stumble in sight as they start planning counter maneuvers.

and all of a sudden the team remembers that the jovial funny bone guy has been fighting hordes of undead and necromatic uprisings in the darkness of nevarra. digging their way out of bone and decomposing tissue just to see the listless green flames of the mourn watch.

[ajastu]

good morning. i still cant get over that fucking 'wanton massacre' post from yesterday

Like, don't get me wrong. I do agree that it would be interesting to revisit the whole architect plotline n maybe explore some more the consequences of darkspawn being able to be 'awakened'.

but oh my god. im going to chew this bone a little bit, as a treat

There are a lot of reasons why this take, worded like it is, is bad. Nothing against OP, obviously, i just want to put my thoughts into words. for funsies. this is enrichment in my enclosure

First of all. we do have to establish that this is a game we're talking about, and games have to conform to certain requirements for the sake of gameplay design. Having darkspawn as an enemy has been a staple of the franchise for as long as it existed, and so there is nothing 'weird as hell' with the fact that veilguard continues that trend.

Now, if we talk about purely just the lore, not looking at gameplay...there is a huge difference between a darkspawn and someone who is tranquil. The main one being: tranquil people do not try to kill other people on sight. They are also not able to infect someone else with the blight. And, if we look at the definition of 'wanton' in this context...

The lore never presented non-awakened darkspawn as harmless or able to be reasoned with. It has also never presented the tranquil as a danger to other people.

So, killing the tranquil? that Would be a wanton massacre. Killing the darkspawn? I'm afraid that's just self defense.

The fact remains that it takes a certain process done by a certain guy (The Architect) to 'awaken' a darkspawn. Even if he could teach someone else to perform the ritual, we are still talking about the few vs however fuckoff many darkspawn there are in the world. Not to mention, it is not guaranteed that the awakened darkspawn will even choose to remain peaceful, as was the case with The Mother in awakening.

And the existence of The Architect and his group of peaceful darkspawn isn't even common knowledge in Thedas.

So, even if the game did decide to go into all that and maybe pursue the avenue of awakening the darkspawn etc etc etc....what should the people of Thedas do in the meantime? Because that will not be a quick and easy process. And the darkspawn are not going to just stand patiently in line to The Architect's Awakening Kiosk.

Again, I do agree that it could be a fun story to explore. It would also be a whole another game that will require a completely different plot direction, and it is kind of unreasonable and unfair to present this as a failure on veilguard's part. For a story to be coherent, it has to follow a certain thread and theme, and that becomes even more strict and difficult to navigate in an rpg game like dragon age, which has to account for different player choices.

Hell, even some of the choices we are presented with in veilguard could mean wildly different outcomes for the state of the world (keep archive or not, return griffons to the grey wardens or not...even taash's quest-line, while not making you choose that particular aspect directly, has very different implications for the future of the antaam). And i honestly don't know how easy it would be to navigate if we do, by some divine miracle, get da5 one day.

It is similar to the criticism of "well why couldn't we choose to tear the veil down!". There is a story that needs to be told, and it needs to account for a lot of player choices, and so something as radically world-altering as tearing down the veil simply cannot exist in the canon of the franchise. It will lead to two completely different games down the line. there was only ever going to be one choice possible: either keep the veil, or destroy it. Not both.

And, arguably, veilguard actually opens the door to the possibility of exploring a different side of darkspawn with the ending where you convince solas to bind himself to the veil.

'I cannot kill the blight, but i can help to soothe it's anger'

Like, you see what im saying here? This could be argued as a possible beginning to the reform of how the blight works, generally. So, instead of relying on one guy to awaken all the darkspawn, perhaps the blight itself would let them 'awaken' on their own once it's sufficiently soothed. Of course, this is all theory and speculation and just a fun thought exercise etc etc etc, but it's the best shot for the possibility of exploring this topic properly in-game. Not that i think that this is the direction that will be chosen necessarily, but you know. nothing is certain at this point.

IN CONCLUSION, I think that this once again comes down to how people let their disappointment over a game not meeting their expectations cloud their judgement. If you think about it without letting your emotions control the narrative, it is quite reasonable that veilguard would not be exploring the darkspawn awakening aspect of the lore. There's just no space for it in the narrative that was required. Hell, they obviously had to cut it as much as they possibly could afford to, thanks to the development hell the team was put through. Exploring this plotline in a way that would do it justice would have been impossible in the game, and it would have cheapened both this concept AND the overall narrative.

Criticizing veilguard for this is similar to criticizing, i don't know, a cheese store not selling your favorite candy. Not the best metaphor, but you know.

It could be a fun discussion. It could be a fun project, to really sit down and work out the logistics of this whole thing. It could become a creative endeavor, but instead it's used as a way to dunk on datv for no reason, and i just think that's a fucking shame

[emmg]

I heard you were hungry for jacking-it Emmrich and I’m in the kitchen making a snack, do you want something? Heads up, it’s not like a peanut butter and raisins on celery after school kinda snack, more a pint of ice cream with chocolate syrup and crumbled cookie pieces on top at 3 am kind of snack except the ice cream is smut, the chocolate syrup is angst, and the crumbled cookies are em dashes.

Emmrich stood stiff as his unwanted erection in the centre of his Lighthouse room. His hair, by contrast, fell uncharacteristically limp. He could feel the unstyled strands tickling the new lines across his brow he feared — in that distant, ironic way one experiences fear in the aftershocks of unthinkable calamity — would soon become permanent. His arms hung similarly at his sides, useless and impotent as the rest of him. Except, of course, the only part of himself he did not need alert and ready for action just now.

It had been three days since the fight against the gods on Tearstone island. Three days since Davrin had fallen, Bellara was captured, and Rook lost, imprisoned beyond reach in the deepest recesses of the Fade. Three days since Emmrich had slept more than a few fitful minutes, consumed more than a thoughtless gulp of tepid tea and whatever tasteless food the others prepared and Manfred thrust into his increasingly clumsy hands. Three days since the lauded scholar — whose intelligence and expertise in the Fade was the very reason Rook had recruited him in the first place — had been able to put together more than two consecutive coherant thoughts that weren’t abruptly derailed by the instrusive image of her outline suddenly vanishing from his sight, his reality, and the dry heave of his stomach that inevitably followed.

Rook — his Rook, as she’d been in his thoughts for longer than Emmrich cared to admit to anyone, including himself — was gone.

Alive? Dead? Injured? Bleeding out into the ether? Slowly slipping into madness? It was impossible for him to know; a particular ironic cruelty for a man who treasured knowledge above grave gold. And the likelihood of his ever finding out what had become of the woman he’d grown to care for so deeply — to love; he made himself think the word now even if he had been too cowardly, too consumed with his own insecurities to say it to her — was too slim for his tired mind to catch upon it; hope a splinter under his skin too small to be grasped by even the most delicate of instruments, but impossible not to feel.

And he felt. Oh, he felt.

Emmrich shifted in place, adjusting the front of his trousers ostensibly to ease the strain, though he knew full well his needy, neglected cock would take even the brush of his hand through fabric as an overture. After all, it had been three days. He had not gone three days without Rook since he’d met her; nor, since the miraculous bud of their romance had blossomed, gone such an inhumane amount of time without her touch. He had always been susceptible to ritual, and so she had become. His body had learned it could rely on Rook’s as surely as did the rest of Thedas, grown accustomed to drowning each day’s tensions and stresses and the looming spectre of unknown doom in the sound and smell and sight of her.

Only Rook’s body, along with her clever mind and indomitable spirit, was lost to him, now. She could not ease this crushing pressure of panic, of regret, of growing despair, of a nerve-rattling rage he had experienced only a handful of times in his life, of the simple, primal need to have her again — to see her, to touch her, to clutch her body to his and hear her voice assuring him that she was alright, that he was alright — with her wit or words or the subtle, grounding weight of her atop him, or underneath him, or wrapped around him. She was gone.

She was gone.

The thought threatened to splinter Emmrich’s aching head and upend his empty stomach, yet refused, perversely, to reach other key parts of his anatomy.

He’d already cycled through the old standbys — breathing exercises; book after book on the deeper Fade; reams of notes begun meticulous and trailing into indecipherable scrawls; a cold bath, the unheated water raising goose pimples across his flesh but doing nothing to cool his boiling blood — all to no lasting effect. There was nothing for it. He wanted Rook. Needed her. She had caused this onset of madness and only she could drive it back.

In desperation, Emmrich ran a hand through the loose hair teasing his forehead and blinked at the haphazard stacks of books, the laden shelves, his armory of distractions, searching for something, anything, some solution, some salvation. If nothing he had gained over the last fifty-odd years could help Rook, surely, surely, he possessed something to subdue his other pressing problem.

Then his gaze fell on the crude statuette of a raven alighting on a skull…

Rook’s sole contribution to the room. ‘I saw it, and … I don’t know. It made me think of you for some reason.’ A pointless bit of frippery. A priceless treasure, because she had given it to him.

…and the last of Emmrich’s self-restraint collapsed. He had the strength to fight nothing, including his own base need, any longer.

He listened. The clomp of Manfred’s boots could not be heard on the landing above or in the hall without. He skirted one tower of books to lock the door, then clambered over the low ledge of another to reach the high-backed chair — Rook’s chair, the one she always took when visiting; before she had begun simply seating herself in his lap — and dragged it towards the dying fire, fumbling shamelessly at his trouser buttons on the way. The thought occured as he dropped into it that the upholestry might still hold her scent, but his ready erection had already sprung free, a single bead of moisture leaking from the tip as it met the Fade-perfect air. To change position required more energy than he could muster now.

On the same principle, he did not bother removing his rings or bangles — let them rattle, let them chafe —nor unwind his waistcoat or make any effort to keep his shirt out of harm’s way. A disciplined voice at the back of Emmrich’s head chided him for this. He ignored it. What was one more indignity? He swiped a thumb across the dripping head of his cock, and, when that proved insufficient moisture, licked his palm unceremoniously before setting a quick, almost cruel pace. He kept his eyes shut as his hand worked. This was his body’s affair. He could not stop it, but nor would be give it the satisfaction of true participation. This was something to endure not enjoy.

I have a bit of a backed up ask box (for which I am SO SORRY) and I all but squealed when I saw this delicious masterpiece. Oh gosh I’m sorry for noticing it earlier because I want to erect a statue in your honor. ARE YOU KIDDING ME????? This is so delicious 🥹

Angsty, smutty, UTTERLY DELICIOUS

Seeing the raven and even that making him horny because it’s Roooook who gave it to him. Uughhhhh this is so me-coded, you don’t even understand.

THANK YOU FOR THE MIGHTY FINE MEAL, nay, a BLESING

*rings the bell of depravity*

EMMROOOOOOOK ENTHUSIASTS WE HAVE BEEN FED

[loredrinker]

Solas' Blurred Motivations

I've been enjoying discourse around Solas, lately it seems to be how he views modern elves. Some argue that he doesn’t care about them, while others insist that he does. 

What if the issue isn’t whether he cares or not, but how his reasoning has blurred over time? 

Solas’ has never acted out of apathy. On the contrary, he is an emotional being. His choices are driven by urgency, conviction, and a ruthless determination to see his plans through. The closer he gets to his goal, it seems the more ruthless he becomes. Is this ruthlessness innate - or is it the desperation of a man who believes he has one last chance to set things right?

Even if Solas comes to accept the people of Thedas as real, I don’t believe he could ever truly accept Thedas as his world. He will always see it as a broken version of what should be - and that’s where the blurring comes from. He convinces himself that restoring the ancient world is the same as saving modern elves. But it never can be. 

His regret mural with Mythal is a good indicator. It shows us that even Solas, through his own memories, recognizes that his justifications are flawed: 

"Why should I not tear down the Veil and bring immortality to all the elven people? They deserve it!" 

In his mind, he isn’t imposing destruction. He has rationalized destruction as salvation. 

But Mythal exposes his self-deception: 

"The elven people of today do not deserve to see the world they love be torn apart to salve your conscience!" 

Solas has lost perspective. His reasoning is no longer about the elves, but about his guilt, just as it was in Inquisition: 

"I was too weak to unlock it after my slumber. The failure was mine. I should pay the price. But the people... they need me. I'm so sorry." 

Solas was framing his actions as something for the people back in Inquisition - but his self-imposed responsibility was distorting his reality then – a distortion we see in how even Solas recalls that memory in Veilguard. 

Anyone under prolonged stress, trauma, and guilt will begin fusing personal needs with external justifications. Solas isn’t thinking clearly - his reasoning has become warped.  

I truly believe Solas does not operate in malice. He is not evil, is not led by hate. Some may see him in absolutes, I can't. His goal of returning to the elves what he had taken shifts into an obsession with the Veil itself, regardless of consequences. Any compassion he may have held for modern elves is blurred over time by his guilt for what he did to the elves of the past. Blurred by his guilt of what he did to the Titans.

So, I don’t think it’s that Solas doesn’t care for modern elves – he has tunnel vision. He can't see that modern elves might not want his world - because he can never actually live in theirs. 

Mythal’s Death 

It’s interesting that Solas leans more into ruthlessness after Mythal is murdered. Before, he was a revolutionary leader - freeing slaves, fighting against tyranny. But after Mythal’s death, he becomes something else. His choices grow colder - sacrificing spirits, elves, and allies alike.

Felassan notices this shift - Solas is no longer leading a freedom movement, but pursuing vengeance. His mission to destroy the Evanuris has overtaken everything. And we see this pattern repeat in Veilguard - after Inquisition. Solas consumed by his goal, withdraws from those he created connections with, just as he did with Felassan. The isolation of a revolutionary who no longer listens. 

The closer Solas gets to his goal, the more consumed and desperate he seems to become. He loses sight of the people in his pursuit of 'saving them' (in pursuit of a world that Mythal would have 'wanted').

When Ideals Become Chains

Fiction is full of characters who lost themselves in their ideals. People so consumed by an end goal that the means overtake the original intent. I think of Boromir from The Lord of the Rings - his intentions with the Ring were initially good. He wanted to protect his people so badly, but he became obsessed with its power and nearly lost himself. Or Anakin Skywalker, whose fear of losing Padmé, his mother, pushed him into desperation, leading him to betray everything he once fought for. 

Solas has ideals, but he’s lost sight of them and his belief in freedom does not make him immune to war’s darker influences. War does not leave its fighters unchanged. Soldiers return from battle with fractured identities, blurred morality, and wounds both seen and unseen. The longer they fight, the harder it becomes to separate the cause they once believed in from the choices they made to survive. Why can’t this aspect be applied to Solas as well? He's been in war for millennia.

Solas may, deep down, truly want to restore immortality, to restore magic - but the path to hell is paved with good intentions. He sees only his sin, his failure, the suffering his actions have created.

I don’t think Solas can ever exist in Thedas as it is today. It’s no longer his world. Leaving to enter the Fade prison seems the only path left to him, especially if he chooses it willingly. He may come to accept that modern Thedas deserves to endure, but that doesn’t mean he can endure within it. 

Discussions about Solas often call for nuance, to think in terms of grey rather than black and white, yet many still judge his actions in absolute terms - either as wholly justified or entirely unforgivable. In reality, his choices and actions exist in complication and complexity.

[ryoskuna]

I will never regret making my first Veilguard playthrough with a Veil Jumper Rook. Writing for Zen and getting to play a character whose devotion is not only in service to her people but recovering their history and their ancestors’ lives and way of living so that they can choose how to proceed with a history that’s been pieced together, held by few, and told to them in ways that through the sight of the Chantry and Tevinter has been completely washed and subjugated for their sake of their narrative, has been nothing but refreshing.

I love history, so much so I got my first degree in it. And we see it in game that if we do not look at history and learn from it, it’ll try to repeat itself. Key example is Aelia as a negative, and then we have the history of the Titans where because that history was taken from them, they considered themselves lost (just as lost as the modern elves are, which I think is an intentional parallel). They try to rebuild themselves and in turn, those with stone sense physically reconnect to their ancestral history and now learn how to feel about what’s been done, who they were, and in turn what the lost and had taken away from them by the ancient elves.

Having my VJ and elven Rook apologize to Harding for that is powerful to me, because not all parts of history are savory. They’re uncomfortable. But we learn from that discomfort to not let it happen again. To reconcile. To move forward. In Zen’s attempts to learn about her people’s past, she learns about the dwarves and the Qunari, and even the humans. Harding and Zen don’t stop being friends because of their ancestors’ actions, it strengthens their friendship because they can empathize with each other’s collective pain, the disconnect from their roots that they’re trying so hard to regain and preserve again. At the same time, they acknowledge this with their teammates and it also helps them guide Taash into being both Qunari and Rivani (this shouldn’t have been a choice anyways tbh) because all of their lived experience is intersectional. Zen wants to know how people live. Not just how they lived, but how they live, present tense.

The Veil Jumpers are a fairly new organization made between probably post-Trespasser. They’re just people who came together, was willing to go into a forest to learn more about ancient history of a complex society, and had the ability to physically withstand being in the heavy, long-lasting magic that is Arlathan Forest. They don’t have any old money ties so to speak, or any long lasting impression in society (not yet) like the Lords of Fortune or the Grey Wardens. But they’re trying their best.

Strife and Irelin are doing the best they can with their bag of misfits. And they’ll take anyone who is willing to work.

By the end of the game, not only has a VJ rook learned how the past looked, but how to lead and live in a different and hopefully, brighter future. Also, how cool is it that a hero of Thedas is from a brand new and considerably smaller faction?? Talk about legacy.

[guacamolleee]

can we speak in flowers

(Read on AO3)

For the Fade Server's first collaboration event. I was partnered with the lovely @bionicgrapejuice who'll be sharing her art soon too. Rook here is her Delilah Ingellvar 🥰

Mature. 4,385 words

Summary:

Emmrich found himself hesitating. What could he say to her?

It was, perhaps, too forward of him to even do this, to pen his admiration in written word then retch it at her feet — too much, too sudden, indelicate and indecent. He had not been meant to see the drawing, and an ugly feeling akin to guilt gnawed in his gut. He had placed it back, tucked it right under the same book at the same angle, and then ran to his room as if he were afraid of being caught. And now, his quill lingered too long on the paper and the ink fell in droplets, obscuring her name.

The ink ran, then dried, unfurling like petals.

Petals. An epiphany.

—

Or, Emmrich leaves flowers for Rook.

Preview under the cut

The lunaria, native to Antiva. In late spring, it was a four-petaled flower, deep purple with small white centers that eventually gave way to coin-like paper-thin silver silques, fruits, like tiny moons against the mid-summer heat. While the fruits were prized in Antiva for both its unique appearance and alleged truth producing properties — Emmrich would not comment on the veracity of that claim, he was not quite as skilled a poisoner as he was a scholar — he was much more fond of the purple blooms themselves. Soft to the touch with a subtle, sweet smell, it was meant to convey honesty and admiration, both of which he had in abundance for the object of his affection.

The second flower — a jasmine, deeply fragrant with bright yellow petals and glossy lance-like leaves. A common enough bloom, trailing across many a wall and fence of homes in northern Thedas. But there was beauty in its ubiquity, hiding in plain sight, truly blossoming for those that cared to stop and admire them if only for a moment. His affection was obvious, Emmrich thought, common perhaps, but timid still in what must be a sea of Delilah's admirers.

It was a humble little offering — a pair of blooms, tied together by a thin red string, spelled ever so lightly to stay fresh just a little longer. It occurred to him then, as he traversed that short corridor between his room and hers, that perhaps Delilah had no interest in floriography in the slightest.

If she did not, then these were simply beautiful flowers to adorn her room for a week or two.

But if she did — she would understand his message: shy admiration, a hand outstretched in timidity and hopeful affection. Perhaps, if Emmrich allowed himself to dream, she would respond in kind.

(Read on AO3)

[isaidyoulookshitty]

idk it is so upsetting to me that veilguard is the first dragon age game i won't be replaying. when i was 15 i played origins so many times (almost a dozen) it is one of the only games i have ever 100% finished. da2 was the same! and while i didn't make it through as many playthroughs of inquisition i put hundreds of hours into it and made an effort to get to the bottom of everything the game threw at me. until veilguard, i had bought every available dragon age dlc for all games, tried to play almost every route given in the story choices, and spent hours reading through codex entries to soak up as much lore as i could.

veilguard has rendered all of that completely null.

it feels almost spiteful at this point that this new frakenspliced bioware cared so little to honor the bones and meat of the first three games. 15 years i have spent loving and cherishing (and criticizing) this franchise and now i feel like a fucking idiot for it. my grey warden? canonically awol and never addressed again. hawke? irrelevant and, for some players, potentially stuck in the fade forever. inquisitor? stripped of any complexity or depth i had given her in favor of the most syrupy, out of character fairytale true love's kiss ending with a man that shattered her worldview and broke her heart. how do you take 10 years to craft an ending this dissatisfying and thoughtless?

and the world i spent a decade and a half fighting for, shaping with player choices, and calling home? gone. "overwhelmed by the blight." literally scorched earth for the next game to build on with whatever the writers pull out of their ass to make players forget all about the original dragon age. it's tragic! disrespectful to longtime fans at best, at worst it feels intentional and like i am being made the butt of a joke told by writers who in the promotional material sound like they could not even be assed to play the games they're attempting to draw from. veilguard is just a product to be sold, not a story worthy of The Dragon Age Setting.

and i haven't even touched on all my gripes with the game's writing, the sanitization of any canon conflict that could be uncomfortable or difficult to address, the stale and cutesy therapyspeak and lessons in basic morality that are baked into every in-game interaction (most of which are shallow and all the same anyways) compared to the dialogue trees from the other 3 games. it is so frustrating to see that the devs chose to cave to a decade of vitriolic fandom politics in favor of addressing the kettle they wrote themselves into.

instead of hand-waving racism toward elves, the panic over qunari, the isolation of the dwarves, the corruption of the chantry, the abuse in the circles of magi, and slavery in tevinter, we should have been given the chance to confront all of it. to put a real end to it. we will never get to do that now. in fact, in their failure to follow through, bioware has only succeeded in exacerbating all of these issues. they have made the elves, which they have openly ADMITTED were "inspired" by Jewish and indigenous peoples, their mouthpiece for white guilt and shame passed down from one's ancestors (while also gutting elves' religion, culture, history, social differences, etc. i could go on). they PERPETUATE the same stereotypes of barbarity, violence, and warmongering imposed on the qunari by the rest of thedas by continuing to make them an opposing enemy force with the exception being a couple of friends they have neatly packaged for us. the unsatisfying conclusion to the mage-templar schism in inquisition is inconsequential. who the player chose to HEAD THE SOUTHERN CHANTRY as divine is deliberately made irrelevant. the dwarves are still isolated and ignorant of their origins save for harding (assuming she doesn't end up killed) and a single closed-off group. and the slaves in tevinter (again, mostly elves)? conveniently kept out of sight and conversation when we finally get to minrathous. everything that happened to fenris to make him the character he is, arguably the most impactful and sympathetic out of all the da2 companions, is not even addressed, much less tackled. all of it is swept under the rug.

i wanted dragon age: dreadwolf. i wanted a solid conclusion to a story almost 20 years in the making. a dragon age reboot might even have been a great idea somewhere down the line, but this was not the game to do it with. it was supposed to be a sequel and they couldn't even get that right. did i enjoy parts of it? of course! i finished it! but i won't be doing it again. the game clearly intends you to, considering a significant portion is locked away by decisions players are forced to make pretty early on, but i can't make myself do it. it makes me way too sad.

i could go on about how i, a queer and nonbinary adult fan, thought their handling of gender and LGBTQIA+ identities was heavy-handed, infantilizing, and felt so out of place within the setting it makes easy fodder for the "woke=broke" crowd that wouldn't have been receptive to queer rep anyway, but that would need to be another post in itself. not to mention the romance! unfortunate that i chose to romance lucanis not knowing his is now notorious for a lack of content, meaningful dialogue, pacing, and actual development. i won't even get to see the other romances in comparison because, as i have said, i will not be replaying.

[droodlebug]

wouldnt it have been so much more interesting if the blight was borne from the dying bodies of the titans and attacked the elven gods that killed them. a natural twisting force not unlike a system of mushrooms as the last, unwilling creation of beings that shaped the earth seeping out as they decay. creating the blight, a rot that doesnt fully destroy but changes people and things. the blight coming knto contact with the souls of the old gods, the dragons, and them becoming something new, something able to direct everything else affected by the product of dead titans.

wouldnt that have felt like a much fuller world. wouldnt it have been a cool thing. if we had a war between the elvem gods and the titans. the elven gods having taken form, unknowingly hurting the titans in the process. the titans retaliate, trying to blot out and fix the new pain. the elves are dying, and if not dying becoming terribly injured and experiencing pain they never knew as spirits. they dont know what else to do but to fight back. to do the same. try to fix the new pain. they kill the titans in the process. they dont speak each others language. they each see the other as unjustly hurting them.

the elves not used to physical being. only having known spirits, seeing the dwarves and thinking they are just a tool made by the titans. not Knowing they are people, not having the experience to know, much in the way people in modern thedas assume spirits arent people. not realizing the depth of their actions for years, not until the blight leaks from the titans bodies enough to see the light of day. not realizing the full personhood of dwarves until they take up arms to push back that blight. only then realizing the mistake and feeling the regret.

maybe this is where solas' part in this leads to a rebellion. he begins to blame the elven gods, other than himself and mythal, for being short sighted, for urging him to make a body he didnt want and fight a war he had no interest in, for the gods not knowing everything in their full depth before following through with destruction. and then solas follows down that same path. raging a war, spreading lies he has convinced himself of, that hes made to justify his actions against the gods. they didnt enslave other elves, but solas is convinced everyone was as unwilling as he was whether or not that was the truth. they hurt him, so he must make the pain go away. at any cost. and he divides the fade to make them go away, not knowing the consequences of that action. history repeating ad infinum.

but idk maybe im just better at worldbuilding and making compelling history where nobody is Just Evil than bioware is <3

[thesummerstorms]

I really really like very over the top, stereotypically fanficy fanfic tropes. (Getting into SVSSS and its fic made it so much worse tbh.)

But that said: the trope where something happens a character temporarily regresses BOTH physically and mentally to a child? I can't necessarily say the set up is ever gonna read as realistic to me for a DA Fic, but damn can my brain still play the consequences straight.

In the case of my mage Crow Rook:

Rook scrambling up to hide in the rafters somewhere because she's terrified and overwhelmed; everyone except Davrin is freaking out that they've lost her...

But then she voluntarily makes an appearance to very seriously warn Bellara that there are Templars are around. Because in that moment the last thing she remembers is being eight and being dragged across Thedas against her will to a Circle.

Yet she vaguely knows that Templars dislike the Dalish and recognizes that Bellara is a mage. She is worried because Bellara doesn't know and is going to get caught because of how obvious she's being. So of course she has to take the risk to say something.

Lucanis shows up and starts admonishing her in Antivan (he is very stressed) and she visibly relaxes at hearing it. She asks if he's a Crow and, if so, can someone pay him to take her back home to Antiva, since Crows aren't afraid of Templars. (She does not have a financial plan in place. She just wants to Go Home. Lucanis still looks Upset.)

She still won't come within catching distance until Davrin steps in with Assan. (They actually found her first, but he didn't want to spook her/was trying to strategize.)

She eventually decides she will come down from the roof beams (saving everyone's nerves) but only with Assan staying physically between her and the others minus Bellara and Davrin. (Bellara because she's clearly also an Apostate and thereby unlikely to rat her out, Davrin because he has a Griffon and in Rook's mind this is also shortly after the HOF ended the Fifth Blight)

Child!Rook very seriously tells Neve that she is very pretty

Lucanis is stress cooking and baking the longer this situation takes to sort out, and eventually Rook and Assan both take to shadowing him from a slight distance in hopes of treats

Rook peppers him with questions in Antivan that she feels too insecure to ask in a way that everyone would understand. He earns her trust by not lying or sugar coating.

Rook is a little terrified of Emmrich, partially because of the skeletons, more because she has incorrectly put the pieces together and thinks he's akin to a southern Circle's senior enchanter

Rook doesn't trust Harding because Harding (with the best intentions) tried to feed her. Harding just thinks that child Rook was a picky eater.

Taash has said some variation of the phrase "that's messed up" a truly ridiculous number of times since this all started. And some point they and Harding throw together some simple puzzle traps to keep Rook entertained.

At some point, for some reason, she's older (~12 ish,) but not back to normal. Idk, it's how the trope works

Lucanis drags Viago back to the lighthouse in lieu of trying to find the words to explain this back in Treviso, much less to convince Viago he isn't lying or impaired

The second Rook sees Viago step into the library, she shouts his name and makes as if to dart behind him before catching herself

He goes pale and still at the sight of his protege as a literal preteen again. But when he sees her mix of fear/relief he barks out a sharp "Come here"... And steps in front slightly to let her hide behind his cape

It's something he never would have done back then... But this Rook is just young enough not to know that yet and she scrambles to safety

Viago is way more anxious about the security of "child" Rook than he was about actual child Rook de Riva. But after all now he is in a position where he can afford the luxury of caring, of doing something differently

Child!Rook being way too trusting of the Veilguard for a Fledgling who wants to survive. She's eating whatever she's handed, has worked her way up to standing close to Neve and Lucanis now, is willing to curl up and take a nap in a room full of the "strangers" because she was mildly sleepy

Lucanis begging Viago not to correct her on the mild parts of it because it isn't like she's actually a child. Deep down, she's a Crow. She knows. Can't they just... Let the not-actually-a-Fledgling have this comfort? Just this once? Since they can afford to let her be a child now, even if they couldn't have back then?

[serstolas]

Our Road Less Traveled

Davrin Appreciation Week 2025, thank you @datvcompanionweeks for organizing this.

Day 6 prompt: The Road Less Traveled | Thrill of the Chase

(Also thanks to @serensama for the A Word With Friends Prompt: Apricity. Definition: The warmth or light of the sun in winter A noun.)

Read it here or on AO3

Dawn broke cold and clear over their campsite. Rook would have preferred to stay under the warmth of the blankets with his husband, but Davrin was already pulling away. Davrin chuckled softly as Rook grumbled. “Come on, Vhenan,” the Warden said in his ear. “We need to get going. The sooner we pack up, the sooner we can be on the road.”

Rook groaned and curled into a ball under the blankets for another few minutes as Davrin walked to the small spring they’d camped beside. He broke the ice on the surface to fill their water skins.

Assan squawked as he saw his father come out of their lean-to . He stretched and rose from the nest of evergreens he’d slept in the night before. He trotted over to the hole Davrin had made in the ice and took a drink of water. He chirped questioningly at Davrin.

“Go ahead,” Davrin told the griffon. He watched the griffon fly off, then turned towards the lean-to. “Are you getting up, Rook?”

Rook muttered and crawled out of the lean-to. He yawned and rubbed at his eyes,“It’s too blazing early, Davrin.” 

“If we start now, we should reach that village by nightfall, and you can actually sleep under a roof for once,” Davrin promised him. He handed his husband a hearth cake. The Crow grumbled but accepted the food. They made quick work of breaking down their camp. In less than half an hour they had everything rolled up and packed away. 

Assan returned from hunting and eating his breakfast. Rook suspected he had caught a rabbit or two. The griffon could make quick work of small game. He landed in front of Davrin and Rook and cocked his head at them. “Ready to go boy?” Davrin asked.

The griffon gave a squawk of agreement, his talons digging into and breaking up the frozen soil. He waited until Davrin gave the signal, and then trotted ahead of them. He stopped perhaps a hundred meters ahead, and waited.

“It almost never gets this cold in Treviso or Salle,” Rook muttered as they followed the griffon. 

“You were the one who wanted to come with me,” Davrin replied mildly. “I did warn you what traveling with Assan and I would be like.”

“I know,” Rook acknowledged. “I didn’t like the idea of letting you walk away and never seeing you again, and you were getting restless, so joining you on the road it was.” He glanced at the griffon. While they traveled during the day, Assan would often range ahead of them and then circle back. He never got quite out of sight though. “The accommodations sometimes leave something to be desired, but the company makes it worth it.” He quirked a smile at Davrin as he spoke.

Davrin reached down and took Rook’s gloved hand in his own. Rook interlaced their fingers in response. The Crow could feel the heat of the Warden’s touch even through their gloves. They felt comfortable enough to walk without their hands constantly on their weapons. 

When they had first begun their journey south, they had been unsure what they would encounter. There were some lingering darkspawn. The longer they spent traveling from settlement to settlement, though, the less darkspawn they encountered. Davrin theorized the surviving darkspawn had fled to any cave or tunnel system they could find. Without Ghilan’nain to command them and the remaining archdemons dead, there was no one to command them.

The effects of the blight were worse in more populated areas. The gods had likely targeted villages and cities to disrupt the south. Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain had not wanted anyone in southern Thedas to help the efforts against them in northern Thedas. As they traveled they found some towns being slowly reclaimed, and others completely abandoned. 

Now they traveled towards the town of Southwold. Southwold lay west of Ostwick. It had been a small village before the Sixth Blight, but had suffered less damage than other towns and villages in the area during the Blight. As a result, it had grown in size, due to survivors seeking refuge and shelter there. It was close enough to the Vimmark Mountains, though, for a few of the surviving darkspawn to harass it.

They had heard of Southwold’s troubles from a wandering merchant and his son. Since Rook had just completed a contract in Markham, they decided to follow the lead from the merchant for now.

Assan, Davrin, and Rook were hard to pin down these days. They often would spend a few days at a settlement. Sometimes the survivors needed Davrin’s darkspawn or monster hunting skills. Sometimes they needed help clearing areas or blight. And occasionally they might need help dealing with some local noble who tried to take advantage of their situation. Viago would have disapproved, but Rook was happy to offer his services for free in those cases.

Between walking and the sun as it rose higher in the sky, Rook felt himself warning up. It would never be as nice as cuddling with his husband under their blankets, but it did help with the chill.

“Starting to warm up?” Davrin asked as he glanced at the Crow.

“A bit,” Rook admitted. He lifted a brow. “I know you promised me an actual roof over my head tonight, but depending on the state of the village, you realize we may not get that, right?”

“Call me optimistic,” Davrin grinned. “If not, maybe we can find a tent.”

Rook glanced towards Assan who ranged several meters ahead of them. “It’s a pity he’s not a packhorse and can’t carry a tent.”

“He would probably tear it to bits the second you tried to use him like a pack animal,” Davrin chuckled. 

“Assuming he didn’t bite me first,” Rook snorted. “I suppose we can always build another lean-to.”

Davrin squeezed his hand lightly. “Do you really mind so much?”

Rook smiled. “Taking the road less traveled with you? No. I’m with the man I love and our feathery kid.” He glanced down at their entwined hands and then back at his husband. “As long as I’m with you, I’m happy. I love you, Davrin.”

Davrin’s smile matched the apricity of the winter sun. “I love you too, Rook.”

[felassan]

EA site update:

"The Dread Wolf Rises Dragon Age Day 2023 Happy DA Day to our friends across Thedas!"

"[Mark] Dragon Age has always been a franchise about characters. Characters to fall in love with or to learn to loath. Those characters need a place in which to live, to fight, and to love—a place that shapes them and the events they find themselves swept up in. Today we explore the place they call home that forms the stage for everything that you do: Thedas. Corinne and the Dragon Age: Dreadwolf team have created a game that celebrates the rich and varied past of the franchise while crafting new experiences and stories. It has been incredible to come back to BioWare and see all of the progress they’ve made, and I’m excited for some of that world to be shared with all of you today. [Corinne] Thank you, Mark! I fondly remember playing each entry in the Dragon Age franchise, being completely immersed and enamored in the world you all had built. It amazes me to be here now, working alongside you and the team, to bring new stories and characters (not to mention a few returning characters) to all of the fans of the franchise. Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is the product of hard work and love. We know how much this world means to all of you, how these experiences stay with you. We want to get it right, so we’ve taken our time. We're so excited to join in this celebration of all things Dragon Age and the incredible fandom that surrounds it. Within the dev team, we’ve been eagerly awaiting Dragon Age Day as the enthusiasm, stories, charity, and artwork you share motivates us to be our best and create new experiences for all of you. To celebrate DA Day, we’re sharing a look at a few of the in-game locations you’ll explore on this new adventure (and perhaps a little more for those who listen closely). The stage is set. The Dread Wolf is ready to make his move. Oh, and one last thing before I go… In summer 2024, we’ll be fully revealing Dragon Age: Dreadwolf to you! We honestly can’t wait. See you all in Thedas, — Corinne Busche, Game Director & Mark Darrah, Sr Production Advisor"

"You’ve visited the lands of Thedas thrice before in our games and many more times in comics, books, art, and short stories. This time, you’ll be venturing to places unseen and returning to places from long ago. To celebrate Dragon Age Day, we wanted to show you some of those sights. [link to new trailer] We stand on the precipice of change. This is a world brimming with stories and characters waiting to meet you. The fate of this world teeters on the edge of a knife. In past games, you only got to see a slice of the world. In Origins, it was Ferelden—a land ravaged by war and Dark Spawn. In II, it was Kirkwall and its locales—festering with corruption and a dark underworld. And in Inquisition, you ventured across much of Orlais—facing down political intrigue as often as combat."

"This time, however, much more of Thedas is yours to see. The desolate, beautiful badlands of the Anderfels with curtains of distant mountainous spires. The twisting canals and gleaming towers of Antiva, where Crows may lurk in any shadow. The turquoise seas of Rivain with its rushes of greenery and hardy sea-faring people. And of course, there’s more."

"We felt this was best for the tale we wanted to tell this time and we hope you enjoy it as much as we have! It’s allowed us to create many more locations than past games, including both some you’ve longed to go to…and some you’ve never heard of before!"

"To help capture the wonders of Thedas, we partnered with three wonderful artists from our exceptionally talented community and gave them an early look at what you’ve now seen. We’ve always been so fortunate to have such an incredibly skilled community of artists, and getting to work with these three was a true joy! We asked each of them to create a vista of one of the three regions in the video based on their interpretation of it in their own unique styles. Please enjoy their wonderful work, and be sure to send them some love when you check out their personal channels for more of their art!" [link to art]

"Turning our focus to your closest kitchen, if you’re looking for a fun gift this holiday season or want to try some Thedosian dishes yourself, we’ve got you covered with Dragon Age: The Official Cookbook: Tastes of Thedas from our partners, Insight Editions! This project was lovingly crafted by the author, Jessie Hasset, as well as members of our team who have an affinity for the kitchen and a love of cuisine."

"The cookbook features recipes suited to all skill levels, but we know that jumping in may be a daunting task for some. To help you out, we’ve partnered with MisoHungrie, a wonderful YouTuber who specializes in cooking, with a particular knack for video game and entertainment-related dishes. If you’re looking for a place to start on your culinary journey, check out his video and follow along. And be sure to let us know what you think of these Thedosian delights! In addition to this, there are two giveaways you should keep an eye out for! For the first, our friends over at Insight Editions are giving away five copies of the cookbook on their social channels, so be sure to check them out. And it doesn’t end there. For those of you who decide to try your hand at making a culinary delight from the book (including one of the ones we’ve released separately), be sure to follow our own Dragon Age social channels for the second giveaway. Keep an eye out for the opportunity to submit your creation for a chance to win a BioWare Gear Store package, including the brand-new Morrigan romance bundle! Details on that giveaway will be posted next week."

"As we mentioned earlier this year, we’ve partnered with Dark Horse to create a digital package of all their comics for Dragon Age and Mass Effect on Humble Bundle. Visit the Humble Bundle page to find out how our partners are working to support Child’s Play, an organization that seeks to make the lives of children in hospitals more comfortable through the enjoyment of games. There’s no better time than the holidays to bring a smile to someone’s face. BioWare is also supporting a few local charities this month that focus on helping the most vulnerable in our communities via food banks. This includes the Edmonton Food Bank, the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, Les Banques alimentaires au Québec, and the Central Texas Food Bank. All of them provide food to thousands of people each month and rely on kindhearted donations and volunteers. If you’re wanting to give back this holiday season, please consider supporting Child’s Play or donating to your local food banks. Many communities also accept non-monetary donations of canned, dried, and packaged goods, clothing, and other useful supplies. However you choose to support those in need, know that every bit helps and can make a big difference in someone’s life, whether they’re in your community or around the world."

"An insult that he took as a badge of pride. An insult to inspire hope in his friends and fear in his enemies. That is what Fen’Harel, the Dread Wolf, truly is. Not a man who sees himself as evil, but someone who believes he’s fighting for a good cause and is willing to get his hands dirty. This long-awaited chapter of Dragon Age is fast approaching—the time close at hand. We’ll see you next summer with answers to your questions, including ones you have yet to ask. With that will come our full reveal including new trailers, gameplay, and—of course—the long-awaited release date. The Dread Wolf will rise once more and we’ll have much more to share with you as we approach Summer 2024. Please keep an eye on our social channels for all the latest information on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf’s reveal and beyond. Know this, though: The Dread Wolf has not been idle these past years. His reach is far, and soon his plans will come to fruition—a cataclysmic rejoining of magic and realms hundreds of years in the making. Will you be able to stop him? We hope so. Always believing in you,             — The Dragon Age Team"

[source and full post]

[frotees-corner]

Antivan Crows Hot Take

Why I think it's short sighted to say that the Antivan Crows were sanitized in Veilguard (because I keep seeing that take and it keeps driving me nuts). There will be Spoilers in this for both the game and the tie-in materials pertaining to it!

Tl;dr: Remember that story about a bunch of blind guys describing an elephant? It’s like that.

Dragon Age is pretty great and consistent about always showing us the world of Thedas through the eyes of unreliable narrators. Much like real history!

Even the historical footnotes we find in codex entries are penned by individuals with very clear biases. Like Brother Genitivi, one of *the* sources for general and historical information on the various regions and people of Thedas, was/is a devote chantry scholar, so everything he wrote has to be viewed with that bias in mind. (There is s whole story in Tevinter Nights about how the authors of these texts will on occasion deliberately shape their recollections to influence popular opinion.)

Up until Dragon Age: Inquisition, Zevran Arainai was our only true window into the Crows (if you ignore the early tie-in materials, which I do, because they don't play nicely with the game canon).

Zevran was born to a prostitute and sold to the Crows, like some expendable object, to be trained as an Assassin against his will. After surviving his deadly training, he was used as the equivalent of a footsoldier, only to be discarded and (attempted to be) hunted down as soon as he failed a contract and started making his own decisions. Zevran has always known that he was expendable, both to his mother and the people who purchased him, and doesn't seem to feel any great affection for either of them. Of course he would have a *very* different view of the Crows than the ones we meet in Veilguard (I will *not* be ignoring the tie-in material explicitly referenced in the game, i.e. Tevinter Nights, The Wake, and The Missing) :

Lucanis Dellamorte, grandson and heir apparent to the First Talon, who was born into wealth and priviledge and knew he wanted to become a crow like the rest of his family ever since he was a little boy (even after watching his parents and most of the rest of his family get brutally murdered in a war of succession).

Viago de Riva, a literal bastard prince who chose the harsh life of a Crow over a comfortable life in exile and is hinted at harbouring designs on the crown of Antiva.

Andarateia Cantori, who started life as a street urchin and clawed her way up to the seat of seventh Talon as the youngest Talon in the history of the Crows. Teia is described as viewing the Crows as family, even going so far as addressing Caterina Dellamorte as Nonna, which is not all that surprising if you consider that joining the crows probably pulled her out of a miserable life with very little prospects. Becoming a Crow allowed her to shape her own life as she saw fit, attaining rank and priviledge thanks to her own skills.

Of course these people will see the Crows more positively than one of their discareded foot soldiers! And yet they *still* mention, both exlicitly and implicitly, that the Crows are a deeply flawed organisation.

Lucanis mentions both the harsh, torturous training even he lived through as a fledgling both in-game and during The Wigmaker's Job, as well as the Crows' unfortunate tendency to stab each other in the back. He also acklowledges how Zevran's desertation lead to the deaths of several 8th Talons and ensured that the Crows no longer take contracts in ferelden. Teia and Viago have a conversation in 8 Little Talons that highlights how different Talons (and thus different houses) have very different ways of approaching a contract - with many of them having very little reservations when it comes to killing innocent bystanders (see also Illario's reaction to Effe in TWJ). That entire story makes it pretty clear that they are both outliers among their peers, and not just because at least Teia refuses to hurt servants, but also because they recognize the threat that awaits Antiva if the Crows cannot find common ground and forget about their petty squabbles for a time. Them being such determined patriots is an exception, and not the rule for the Talons of the Crows. Heck, Emil's whole betrayal and his reasoning for it underline both the changes the Crows have gone through over the centuries, their inherent corruption (it's all about the bottom line) and their backstabbing nature!

Ivency goes into this, too, and yes, they're a traitor and all, but they're not entirely wrong in their judgement of the Crows, either. (Though neither is Viago when he says that the Crows *are* the oversight.) And yes, you may complain that a lot of this is only really accessible when you've read Tevinter Nights, but it's not like it's necessary to follow the plot of the game - it's really only relevant if you are interested in and care about the lore and the development of the world of Thedas. And then you might as well read the explicitly referenced tie-ins to answer your questions.

(I might do Tevinter next, because that's the other one people keep complaining about being sanitized.)