#solas is fun but half this idea is about turning the thing he created against him to get vengeance for what he did to the titans

[cybershock24601]

Was just reminded of MDZS today and started thinking that there might be some similarities between my Watcher Rook and WWX (not that many but a few) and now I've not only decided that my Rook is going to go around with a little red ribbon in her hair in honor of everyone's favorite necromancer but I am concocting an endgame canon divergence fic centered on the Regret Prison because I want to give Rook her own Yiling Laozu moment like this (please take this mini clip to get the vibe I'm going for although the whole scene is excellent)

I'm thinking in this au, Rook gets stuck in the Regret Prison for longer and with things deteriorating in Minrathous so much, the team decides that they have to put aside looking Rook to do what they can to stop Elgar'nan and save the team member that was kidnapped on Tearstone Isle. Romanced Lucanis takes it the hardest but is good enough at compartmentalization to set his grief aside for the sake of finishing the job because he also knows Rook wouldn't want them wallowing over her death. (In fact Watcher Rook probably casually talked about her death a little too much because she had been planning her funeral since she was 5 years old like most little girls do their weddings and wanted it to be the greatest party she would never see because, ya know, she'd be dead for it)

Only for everyone to get to Minrathous and things are terrible but the plan is working until all the fires in the city turn an eerie fadetouched green and the dead literally start rising from their graves. Everyone is sure they're fucked until those corpses start launching themselves at the darkspawn and especially the Venatori. All those people the Venatori so causally executed in the streets and left their bodies just lying around is coming back to bite them as the dead start taking their revenge.

And its not just the dead, as the darkspawn too start to turn on their own kind and the Venatori as well. All accompanied by an eerie whistling that sounds like its coming from everywhere and nowhere at once.

Everyone is freaking out about what is going on and Solas is super worried because he likes to be the guy who knows everything and now some unknown factor has seized control of the darkspawn from Elgar'nan and is doing more damage to his forces then Solas has in weeks.

The team has at this point joined up with Solas though none of them are happy about it because as far as they're concerned he killed Rook. Solas probably even tries to use Rook as leverage because he only imprisoned her and he will be able to free her, he promises, so long as they help him stop Elgar'nan. It is a deal reluctantly taken up though its not like anyone is happy about it. In fact they're digging into him with even more ferocity then in canon, especially Neve because not only did this guy kill Varric but he hurt Rook too.

So everyone (Neve and Davrin only at the moment bc everyone else has job to do) is together when they see Rook, red eyed and blighted, paler then ever with black veins crawling under her skin and wreathed with a green necrotic glow as she commands not only the dead but the darkspawn with expert precision. Neve and Davrin are a mix of relieved to see Rook and terribly concerned because she looks awful, clothes ripped to shreds and stained black with Blight, her hair wild and unkempt, and walking around barefoot and wild eyed as she approaches. Solas is way more concerned about this feral wraith coming right at him because he doesn't even get a chance to open his mouth before Rook is on him and trying to murder him.

It takes all of their strength to get Rook off him because she is determined to choke the life out of him for what he did to Varric - and herself because the Regret Prison wasn't just some quick walk through regret lane in this au. Instead of it only seeming like hours for her, it was like weeks or perhaps years because time sort of loses all meaning in the Fade. Especially when you end up where the Blight was imprisoned and must contend with the purest form of anguish in the form of the Titan's trapped minds.

Rook is not only dealing with her own regrets and grief but being forced to contend with those of the Titan's after millennia of torment. Rook is pretty much trapped in the void and it is destroying her mind because there's just so much rage and anguish all around her as she contends with not only the emotions of the titans screaming in her mind, their song turned discordant and chaotic, but the psychically manifestation of it too. Rook cannot help but think back to Harding and how it was a miracle she managed to come to terms with the enormity of the Titan's rage.

In the end it was Harding, who was lost at Tearstone Isle, that gives Rook the key to escape the place because just as Harding accepted the Titan's rage, Rook takes on their pain and promises to get revenge on those that consigned them to their endless dreaming.

Instead of Rook walking out of the Regret Prison after coming to a place of peace and acceptance and right into the arms of those closest to her, she emerges Blighted and enraged, and yes, she's accepted that Harding and Varric made their choices but that sure as hell doesn't mean she isn't going to get revenge.

There isn't time to explain all that to everyone though because Minrathous is still under siege and they have a god to kill, two if Rook has her way. Instead Solas does some very fast talking, hands off the lyrium dagger to Neve as Davrin and Assan sit on Rook to keep her from trying to kill Solas again and the guy wolfs out to attack the archdemon and get as far away from the mage supercharged by the Blight trying to kill him as he possibly can.

With Rook there drawing upon the Blight to strengthen her magic and her newfound connection to the Titans letting her rip control of the Blight away from Elgar'nan, getting to where the Blight is being controlled is a breeze. Rook just has to whistle once and suddenly the tendril is uncoiling and Bellara is freed. (I think Rook controlling the Blight through whistling would be fun because it connects with the musical nature of the blight's call)

I know Elgar'nan is probably in his throne room freaking the fuck out as he feels his control over the Blight slipping and desperately trying to claw it back and failing. He exerts more and more force to put it back under his command but fails against Rook's hold on the blight because her power over it is coming from a place of true empathy and understanding after spending who knows how long locked away alongside the Blight and instead of forcing the Blight to do what she wants she calls to it and offers it purpose to soothe its pain and resentment. Not to mention Rook harnessing the power of the blight to augment her own necromancy to raise the dead to enact vengeance on their killers.

Anyways I haven't thought much further then this other then there being a touching reunion when everyone links back up before the final push and seeing everyone together again helps settle Rook down and soothe her own rage to know everyone is safe. Lucanis definitely starts crying when he sees Rook again because no matter how controlled or repressed he is, he can't stop it with how relieved he is to see Rook alive as he hugs her close to him and buries his face in her neck while Spite's wings pop out to encircle them both as the two of them cling to each other half convinced this is some sort of cruel dream. It doesn't matter how terrible or terrifying Rook looks at the moment in her Blighted state, Lucanis is not letting go of her for even a second and Rook is alright with that as she clings back just as desperately.

This definitely has a Solas gets punched ending but instead of the team jumping in to help Rook which fits very thematically for the base game as Rook succeeds because she has people on her side where as Solas stays the lone wolf, it's Rook shrugging off his magic with her own blight augmented power, using the atrocity he created against him to throw him into the regret prison and into the hungry, grasping grip of the Blight that is all to eager to visit torment on the one responsible for it's own pain.

[planesofduality]

Full Transcript edition:

“The Story Behind Solas with Dragon Age Lead Writer Patrick Weekes” by Dialogue Wheel/Video Game Sophistry

Reblog of one of my first posts ever. I didn’t understand how tumblr worked back then really, and long story short, I split the transcript of this interview  into 3 parts :) I’d probably do things differently now. Reblogging it as a single transcript for my own convenience, as I still refer to some of the things Weekes said here from time to time!

Interview is from before Trespasser DLC; posted to YouTube 12/20/2019 

Note: pseudo-reblog

“Interview with lead writer for Dragon Age Patrick Weekes years ago about how the enigmatic character Solas was created, here is what that magic elf could have up his sleeve for us in Dragon Age 4.” Not my interview, just wrote transcript of questions and answers for reference. 

Full video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFx1nCdZFjw&t=1s

Time: 2:54

Solas, tell us about little old Solas. Talking about your other characters you created we always start at the beginning. Pen to paper - How did the idea of Solas first start? What was that first iteration?

So actually Dave and Mike both, you know, we - everyone knew who Solas was - everyone knew what the ending was going to be with him. And, you know, Dave and Mike said, “Well Dave is writing a ton of the crit path, the main part of the game. Dave really wants to do Dorian, that’s very important to him, and are you comfortable writing this guy? Are you comfortable writing someone who is going to be, in some respects, deceiving the Inquisitor for the entirety of the game?” And, honestly, how do you turn that down?

Time: 4:02

So really it was that simple then - from there, in the way you described it, they already had some ideas and some concepts about what Solas needed to bring?

Oh, yeah. Originally, one of the most difficult parts of writing him - and, you know, I said Iron Bull was the one closest to how I originally planned him - Solas and Cole are probably tied for least like how I originally wrote them. And, really, it was getting past the secret. It was getting past Fen’Harel.

Iron Bull: badass former spy, the opposite of Sten.

Blackwall: awesome Grey Warden who is not actually a Grey Warden.

Solas: He’s Fen’Harel…

Okay, can he tell you he’s Fen’Harel? No.

Okay, well what are we going to talk about?

[Pretending to be Solas:] “Hey Inquisitor, I’m still not Fen’Harel, do you have any questions?”,  “I will not take any questions about whether I am Fen’Harel.” That was the big stumbling block of writing him.

I remember the first draft… the first draft all we talked about was elves. It was elves all the time. Every conversation went “Elves, elves… Elves were awesome back in the old days.. Everything was great with the elves.” And then you’d go, “You really like elves huh?” “No, shut up - I’m not Fen’Harel.” And we all kind of looked at that and went, that’s not really much of a character hook. You cannot have a character hook built on something that you only reveal after the play has watched the credits. That is how we got to Fade expert. That is something where, if something had gone terribly wrong, if we were six months from shipped and we decided not to do anything with elves in the future, we could have taken the Dread Wolf out of the equation entirely and a mage named Solas who loves the Fade, is an apostate but without all of the fear and anger that you think of when you think of an apostate, but is just this guy who wants to travel through dreams and find mysteries and explore… that was a good enough character to stand by itself. That is what it took us a couple of drafts to get to.

Time: 7:04

You mentioned the first two phases of Solas - share with us a little more of that journey, when you finally go to this character that could stand on its own. If you don’t mind, a little more of that journey- was it just those first two and now everything’s cool?

First draft was “ ‘Elves, elves’ but ‘I don’t like elves’”. Second draft was about how much to tell. I think in the next draft it was significantly closer. Anyone who looked at that draft - and, you know, I apologize to anyone who looked at that draft - but, anyone who looked at that draft you would find places where “Oh okay that’s the Solas I know and love. There he is. He likes the Fade.” That’s something that’s actually interesting. But, he lied a lot more. And it actually really weakened his character. We played it so close with both Blackwall and Solas - both characters are the liars who don’t actually lie. They will tell you almost truths. With Blackwall - he never actually flat-out says “I am a Grey Warden.” If you ask him what it’s like being a Grey Warden he will say "Well  a warden embodies this and a warden embodies that… I’ve been blessed in my travels.” You know, he never actually quite says “I’m a Warden.” With Solas it’s the same way with the hand wave of ‘in the Fade’. I would start putting ‘in the Fade’ at the end of a lot of sentences.  “Yeah turns out that all of the stuff you thought was true in history was wrong… because I saw it…. in the Fade.”

In revision 2, he lied a lot more. On the one hand it worked, on the other hand it made him less tragic, more of jerk when we got to the reveal. So that is how we got to what we made him into: this character who is intelligent, wise… Solas will think very carefully before he tells you anything and anything he tells you is exactly as much as he wants you to know. That actually led to one of the funny little game moments - one of the last things we do is add the places where characters will approve or disapprove. I think what I want Solas to approve us is you actually asking questions . He’s kind of unique in that regard -  What Solas approves us is people who are interested in finding out knowledge. Whether they are finding it out from him or they’re talking with other people, Solas wants people to explore, he wants people to find information, he wants people to learn. What he disapproves of, honestly, more than what you do, is in many ways how you do it. You can do the thing that he wants you to do, but if you do it in a knee-jerk way, Solas hates that. He wants to know that you are carefully considering your options and taking a measured approach.

Time: 12:16

When it comes the characterization of a character that you’ve already been give at least some sort of name to. We know that this character is some sort of trickster god - when you were trying to develop and make him some a stand-alone character, did you ever have to rely on what the mythos already established of this particular kind of eighth-seat god that maybe a lot people hadn’t heard a lot about?

Well, I think, like we talked about before, one of the great things about the Dragon Age universe is everything that you learn in a codex entry is something that someone else heard in a story and wrote it down somewhere and you’re reading half of the book. So the good news on that is anything we wanted to do with Fen’Harel, there was so little and what was in there was already so sketchy that we had all the freedom we needed to play with him.

That turned out to be a nice thing because I think if we had someone that was completely by-the-books, already established, their character already given, it would feel like more of a letdown to write that as a character or you would have to play against type, you’d have to do something completely different to show he wasn’t just what the stories wrote about him. And, you know, in some ways that is both liberating but also disappointing to people who might have liked  the original stories. This was a fun experience of getting to fill in some of the gaps.

The only thing I think we had to struggle against is that anyone who hears “trickster” or anyone who hears “oh, he’s chaotic and unpredictable” it feels like there is a natural urge to go to “He’s Loki in the Avengers. He’s the guy who’s gonna make large grand-standing plans.” Or, you know, “He’s the Riddler, who’s gonna leave clues to test you.” We had to get away from that: “Let’s tone that back a little bit, let’s not have him be the Jack Nicholson Joker version of the Dread Wolf.”

That’s quite a quote.

You got Dorian as a large, grandiose , extravagant figure and it would have been easy to have him go that way. It was fortunate that we had Dorian as the mage who had the larger-than-life persona already to make Solas be the quiet one.

Time: 15:21

Was there ever an instance where you were really pushed with giving some indicators to the player that Solas may have some connection to this going through the gameplay? Because you do see a lot statues of Fen’Harel. There’s many instances of where you’re discussing it, you’re traveling through those lands. Where do you walk that line, how do you walk that line, or do you just completely disregard it whatsoever?

The goal we had is we wanted the very careful players, the very sensitive players, who were playing attention and watching every scene with Solas to know that something was up and to want more answers and then go to “OH MAN” as soon as the stinger after the credits rolled. But we wanted most players to just go “Oh, okay, he’s like ‘Fade nerd.’ He’s like ‘hippie guy.’”

The other thing we wanted was everyone on their second playthrough, as soon as they talked to Solas to be like “Oh, man, he’s just saying it. He just flat-out said it right there and I missed it completely the first time!” I think we called it the “inevitable in retrospect”- or the “slap the forehead on the second playthrough” style of writing, where we wanted people to see that the most interesting thing about the trickster god is he’s not actually that great of a liar - He is almost telling you a lot of the time. And, you know, some of the tragedy is it that you never had the chance to actually ask, “Wait -are you Fen’harel?”

Time: 17:13

We talked about leaving breadcrumbs, what that meant. Now the big turn, the big scene at the ending:  How did this come about, were you really involved in that sort of process and are you happy with it?

Oh, I’m absolutely happy with it. It went through several iterations,. Mike was hugely involved. The writing was definitely done by Dave; it was a huge crit path moment. He had me give a look at the Solas voice, I think I looked at it, I don’t think I actually changed a single word in the final one.

We had versions where after the main plot it was actually going to be a full plot where you the player went and were actually present when Solas confronts Mythal. We had a part where we said, “Wow that’s too big, a lot of players are gonna miss that, we’ll make it a DLC.” So it was gonna be a separate DLC where that happened. At one point we said “No, this is too big, we actually - let’s cut it and address it next game.” So it was going to be this thing that we pushed off into some future content.

I am really happy with what we went with, because, I think, you know, for my money, that short, little Marvel-style, after-the-credits stinger is what we needed. We needed something so that everyone who was paying attention and everyone who was really invested could go “oh my god!” And go, “Okay, so, just in case you were wondering, we’re not done, we have more stories to tell, and we are confident enough in what we are doing that we are willing to throw that ball.” That stinger is essentially us throwing a football to future us, trusting that we are going to catch it. Because, you know, at the end, we had that level of confidence. We felt that we had that level of confidence, we felt we made a really good game. Dave led an amazing team of writers, and I’m really touched that he has the confidence to believe that I’ll be able to carry that on for him.

Time: 19:49

When we spoke to Dave, one of the big moments that he mentioned, was when he created kind of a long-term idea for what’s going to happen in the Dragon Age universe. And to hear him say it, he mentioned that what he originally wanted for Dragon Age: Inquisition couldn’t happen - it was far too big - it wouldn’t work. And you guys had talked about  taking that concept, finishing Inquisition somewhere in the middle of that concept arc, and then using at least an influence or something like that to affect the franchise going forward.  Speaking with you now, as someone who has taken up the reins, do you know what I’m talking about? Am I talking crazy? Where do you see it going?

Um…

Reasonably - of what you can say on this.

So here’s the last scene of the next game… (laughs). I think there’s an extent to which no plan really survives contact with the audience when it comes to video games. We look at how fans react, we look at what hit, what rang true with everyone. You know, it’s funny, having people react angrily actually isn’t as bad as having people ignore things sometimes. Having people react angrily  means they were definitely emotionally engaged, so you know you hit something there. Whereas having fans go, “I don’t know, fine, I guess, whatever” and move on means, “Okay, I don’t know if that’s what we want to go back to. We didn’t actually get anything from them there, they didn’t actually remember that later.” So that’s a phase that comes after every game we ship. We look at what hit, what missed, and where we want to go from there.

Now that said, Dave’s future plan is, I think, fantastic, epic, and heartbreaking. Our plan is to use that as our starting point. To look at where we want to go, what we want to do, and it will not be - and I, you know, Dave and I have talked about this - it will not be the story that Dave would tell if he were still here as lead writer. Because it could never be that. We can get into that when we talk about Cole a little bit, but if I tried to do that I would just be doing a bad impersonation of Dave Gaider and no one is ever going to be as good at that as Dave is. My goal going forward is to, as lead, put my own spin on that process, put my own spin on the plots going forward, on the thematic elements, while keeping those same thematic elements that we had. Because, I think, what Dave has set in motion in three games, countless DLCs and expansions, is something that can endure: The idea that no choice is ever really that easy and that the great events always stem from human-understandable motivations.

So, that is where I think where we are going to go, as vaguely as I can say.

Time: 23:30

Speaking of specifically to Solas: His continuation of the story. Adding that little “Marvel moment” at the end - what do you think that did for the crit path and the overall arc of the story that players experienced in Dragon Age: Inquisition. Do you think they would have been more satisfied if there was  a DLC or is that just us gamers complaining because we can’t get everything we want right away?

Well, I think you want to leave people wanting more. “Man I wish you guys had done more” is a better problem to have than “Man I wish you guys had done less.” So, I think, looking at it from inside the studio, we didn’t have the resources to do much more than we did. So it was never going to be the big moment right then anyway. From my perspective, the reason I’m really happy we have it is, like I said, I thought it was a vote of confidence. The team is still the Dragon Age team and it is still the writers and designers who did everything else, who made such wonderful characters and were responsible for such fantastic plots.

Time 25:10

Well, again, looking at that in its completion, it’s good to see that even a character that needed to give you a stinger in your estimation didn’t take away, I guess, from the overall story you were trying to tell.

Well, thank you. Yeah it was obviously the moment we were building toward, but again, the goal was even if we didn’t have that stringer, he was still an interesting enough character that people would have not felt cheated that he was in the party.

Time: 25:35

One of the most beautiful scenes I think in Dragon Age Inquisition is the scene that you get with Solas if you play as a female elf Inquisitor. Talk a little bit about that choice to have this romance option very, very specific. It’s race- and gender- specific. Why that scene - what that scene meant and a lot of the subtext, because it is a very rich sequence of scenes, not just one. And, I think it’s really one of the most interesting romances in the game.

I love that scene because that scene for me shows how far we’ve gone past - not the make myself irrelevant anymore - but how far we’ve gone with the digital acting. Jonathan Epp the cine-designer for that scene put it together and when you take everything that Gareth David Lloyd - the voice actor - everything he did on his lines. And just putting so much tragedy, and making it clear in every line that he wants to say more than he can. And with Jon Epp the cine-designer, just in the wordless scenes: showing the tragedy, showing the heartbreak, showing how much he does genuinely care against his better judgement, and how he finally forces himself to step away.,

You know how I said when we were talking about the Iron Bull - everything, every major moment we do, is there for a specific type of player fantasy fulfillment. And you know, not all types of fantasies are the happy ones. There’s a reason why The Phantom of the Opera was on Broadway for so many years and it’s not because it has a happy ending.

The Phantom of the Opera isn’t exactly the theme for the romance -  the razor was something closer to almost professor and student in some ways. He definitely comes across as a mentor in some ways. When he finally steps back it is him beating himself up, not you, saying “Wow what I have done here is actually really unfair to you, and you, player, at the time don’t know that I’m beating myself up because I’m actually  1000s of years old and not the person you think I am and it’s disrespectful to you for me to continue this relationship.” So it’s a very moral perspective for our ancient, quasi-evil, trickster god to come with.

Time: 28:41

And it’s amazing because it’s another instance of content that so few players would actually get an opportunity to see. When it comes to making it that specific, I guess, why was that choice made? Because usually a lot of your content - most of the Dragon Age content - it’s very easy to get really rich, wonderful characters right in your face and have those wonderful “eat-em-up” experiences, why for this one was it such a steep price to get in?

You know, I won’t lie, a lot of it came from some of our designers. Some of the women in the design department really, really loving his voice and saying, “You are absolutely fools if you do not make him romance-able in some capacity.” And, really, his story overall is - and, you know, I think we’ve only hinted at that but I think we have hinted at it enough that I can at least say this part of it - his story isn’t a happy one. His story is one, where, if you look at him and Mythal, there is clearly some grief, there is clearly some tragedy. And, adding in the option - even for players who don’t take it - on my end as a writer,  knowing that some players will have this as a star-crossed, forbidden romance, you know, it makes him more sympathetic. It’s important to me as a writer because when you’re writing about someone who, according to Flemeth, is at least somewhat responsible for the bad guy getting the magical item that he used to blow up half a mountain in the prologue, it’s important to have something in there that you can always have, as a writer, look at as your touchstone and go “This is a real person. This is someone who experiences sadness. This is someone who falls in love.” Even if he doesn’t do it with that Inquisitor on that playthrough, this is always someone who can be like that.

Time: 30:58

Where do you see a character like Solas ending up?

(Big sigh) Musical theater.

(laughs) Right when we reach those beautiful moments, Patrick!

I think that it is fantastic that people have emotionally engaged with Solas and I hope we get a chance to explore that in some future content.

Alright and that’s the most that we’re getting right now.

Time: 31:37

Oh, and here’s a little tie in: Here Lies the Abyss, the demon that spoke to Solas - what was all that about, what was that going on?

Oh yes - the demon who speaks perfect Elven!

Yes perfectly to him, and if you remember any of that - did you have anything to do with that?

Yes, Here Lies the Abyss was mine. It was a fun plot. It was a terrifyingly difficult plot, because - I’m not sure how clear this is to players that have one done one playthrough or with one import state - but your key characters throughout the events at Adamant Fortress and then the events of the Fade, it’s a customizable Hawke. Which means it could be a male Hawke or a female Hawke and within that, Hawke from Dragon Age 2 is characterized by one of three different attitudes: friendly, grim, or sarcastic. So, that’s three attitudes times two genders, that’s six different Hawkes and three different possible Grey Wardens: Alistair, Loghain, or Stroud.  So, the process of going through Adamant Fortress and then going through the Fade was a crazy juggling act of trying to keep track of “Okay, now one of these five people, these five Schrodinger’s cat quantum people, will say this line, and then another of these five Schrodinger’s cat quantum people will respond with this line.”

It’s important to remember that as we went through everything in Adamant Fortress and the Fade was taking place in that contest. There was a long period time when we were looking at that really going, “Okay, I just have to hope this actually makes sense when it’s nothing but Alistair and my sarcastic female Hawke.”

But, to actually answer your question. As I recall, the Nightmare, who as a friendly, chipper guy was basically - I do basically two types of villains: I do the villain who thinks he or she is the hero, and is misguided and has opposed goals, and is kind of tragic and tortured in that way. And then I do the mean-girl villain who says snotty high school insults.

That’s it - that’s the gambit.

Well, just about, yes. I’m looking forward to see who writes the villain in the future Dragon Age games - so get ready for either tragic pathos or really, really good high school mean-girl zingers.

As I recall, he was speaking Elven to Solas and if I remember right, he said, “Your pride is responsible for everything that has gone wrong” and I think he said “You will die alone.” And then Solas said something that translates to either “Nothing is known for certain” or “Not necessarily.”

And what does all that mean?

Well I think it’s fascinating that people are emotionally engaged, and I hope we have the chance -

It was a very asked question - it was a question that was asked a lot. Specific to that.

Oh, I’m not surprised, and I hope one day that we can tell you. But, obviously, that demon knows that Solas is hurting and Solas feels guilty about some stuff and really wanted to dig in there, and Solas was shouting back.

Literally just describing what happened (laughs). All right, so something that will clearly be talked about in other games.

TIme: 36:22

Dealing with this particular quest I really think that this was one opportunity to involve the Grey Wardens in a story, and a world, that kind of progressingly, after the first game had less and less of a need to exist - let alone in the world - but in the main characters arc. Talking to David I remember initially there was some idea for this particular mission they would just fall into the hole and be hanging out in the Deep Roads, and having out with the dwarves, so tell us a little bit about this creation.

A lot of the process of writing these large plots, like I talked about the razor, you figure out what the core concept is, you always start with a lot of things, and in most cases what you then end up having to do is cut. And if you’re not someone in the studio, talking about having to cut things sounds like you’re losing awesome content, you’re ruining what would have been clearly the best part of the plot. Inside the studio though, most cases what you’re cutting is the stuff that didn’t actually help tell the story you wanted to tell.

So yes in the original version, in a very early draft, actually this was before I was actually on the plot - this predates me - there was, yes, going into the Deep Roads, and when you fell in instead of ending up in the Fade you ended up down in the dark. And finding out what the Grey Wardens in this version of the story had been involved with the Architect from Dragon Age: Awakening. It was an interesting direction, and it was, I think, a very cool direction, but it did not help tell the story of the Inquisition. It was more a story of “Hey, if we wanted to do more with the Hero of Fereldan, here is an interesting place we could go” and it did not help tell the story of “What is the Inquisition doing?” “What is Corypheus doing?”, “How do these two organizations bounce off each other and who’s caught in the middle?” So trying to come to terms with the Grey Wardens in this game not being the protagonists, not being the group that is in the center of the action but being the group that is caught in the middle of this power struggle was something that led to us having to eventually do the re-jiggering that got us to the plot you saw.

[dareactions]

DAI companions meeting Adaars mercenary band for the first time (romanced too, if possible)

Cassandra: The seeker isn’t entirely sure what she expected, but to see the Inquisitor practically attacked through physical affection by other Qunari weren’t close to it. She did her best to remember the names told to her and properly connect them to faces- but it was incredibly difficult with everyone but one named Kaariss, because he was the only one who fit the ‘obnoxiously loud poet’ description the Inquisitor had given her. The group is confusing to her, if only for their rather dysfunctional conversations- she had heard both the Inquisitor and Shokrakar tell the earlier mentioned poet that if he didn’t stop, they’d sew his mouth shut. They are close though and she admires their loyalty to one another.  If Romanced: She is nervous, and Cassandra is very rarely nervous these days. The seeker feels such relief at earning even an inkling of approval from Shokrakar she swears she could pass out at the spot from the lingering tension in her shoulders. Eventually, the seeker is found wishing that the Inquisitor had been quiet about their relationship because suddenly Kaariss wants to write love poetry inspired by the two and Ashaad (two?) keeps asking if there are kids incoming. No matter what they start a conversation with, Cassandra is left groaning with a red face as the group laughs at her and the Inquisitor’s despair.

Solas: The group is too loud, that is his first-ever comment about their visitors to the Inquisitor. He has no clue why they are at Skyhold, but he cannot WAIT for them to leave- there is something about a man named Taarlok asking to overlook your paperwork 8 times in a row that really makes Solas blood boil. Then that annoyance turns into slight admiration, at their bond- their willingness to throw themselves into danger for each other and the family-like relationship they all share. Solas starts to appreciate their smarts, their views on the odd and peculiar as well as the insight they can give on any changes the Anchor has seemingly caused the Inquisitor’s personality.

Dorian: The mage has to admit he is having the time of his life, Beyond Solas annoyance and Cassandra’s sudden inability to speak when someone says something rather extreme- it’s the interactions between Valo-Kas and the Chargers that has him on the floor holding his stomach while laughing. It’s like watching a group of toddlers try to pick who gets the swingset first, except with pointy and sharp weapons involved. He gets along with them surprisingly well, sure there are some snide comments about Tevinter and the occasional magic insult at first but - nothing he can’t throw back at with ten times the force. Soon he finds himself dreading the day they leave because who will amuse Dorian then? If Romanced: He doesn’t want to say that their approval of him means the world, but it sort of does. The inquisitor deeply respects Shokrakar, a woman who could snap Dorian in half, and to Dorian that means she is important enough to try and get her to like him. And it takes a while, they poke and prod at him to see how he can hold himself and when all things are said and done- Dorian is left victorious. Well, as victorious as he can be with Kaariss shitty poetry thrown at him. The Inquisitor goes out of his way to state that Dorian shouldn’t have worried one night, because Shokrakar had mentioned in a letter that she already liked Dorian due to the fact that he ‘Makes the red magic fucks implode’ with his magic.

Sera: There is nobody in the entirety of Skyhold that is as excited as Sera is, she is visibly shining when the Valo-kas are introduced to her. She fits in faster than anyone else because she is practically on the same wavelength. Sera will poke fun at Kaariss, call Taarlok a huge nerd and ask Katoh to throw her up onto the tavern roof just to freak out the Inquisitor- she fits in as if she was apart of the Valo-kas herself. Sera doesn’t look out of place with how she acts, something that is absolutely horrifying to the Inquisitor. If Romanced: Shokrakar narrows her eyes at Sera the first time they meet, but then simply nods and states that the inquisitor picked someone good and that she quite enjoys the jar of bees idea. After that there are no worries, Sera is family. The Inquisitor will be seen smiling fondly at her partner together with the mercenary group because it just looks right. The loud laughter, obnoxious jokes, and borderline violent comments just feel like home- for once the Inquisitor goes to bed knowing that everyone she loves and cares for is in the same place, and Sera notices that. She is just happy to have new friends honestly, but it warms her heart to see the person she loves so relaxed for once. One day Ashaad brings up marriage though, as a joke because he heard some human mention it- and Sera threatens to spike his next drink with mabari urine.

Blackwall: Because clearly having two giants who can see when you lie from a mile away wasn’t enough. The Warden frowns when he first hears about it, tension clear in his face for days before he finally settles down and realizes he can just ignore them if all things fails- well, at least he thought so. But Sata-Kas starts taking refuge in the stables and suddenly Blackwall is having casual conversations on the daily, while he doesn’t find himself getting overly close with the mercenary group- he has nothing against them. Sure they make him nervous but he sees no reason to avoid them at the end of the day, Blackwall has to admit he loves the chaos they create during late nights in the tavern though. It’s enough to make potential stress worth it. If Romanced: Shokrakar threatens him the first time they meet, fully aware about the events of Blackwall leaving- and what he has done. Word travels fast and even faster when mercenaries are involved, he knows this better than anyone. After that initial threat though she is surprisingly relaxed, simply happy to see the Inquisitor well- happy. Sure, they poke fun at him and do some jokes that honestly makes him want to crawl into the dirt but he can tell they mean well..though if he has to sit through Katoh trying to choke out Kaariss one more time he might just stop showing up to the late night drinking sessions.

Iron Bull: He is excited and rivals Sera in that regard, his curiosity gets the better of him because Bull is no longer apart of the very organization that the Inquisitor’s mercenary group was disowned from or simply had denounced. There is some lingering tension from rivaling opinions but they get along swimmingly and Bull feels nostalgic somehow. He can spar with Sata-Kas and has to agree with Shokrakar about the poetry. Bull feels at home and especially during the late nights in the tavern when Krem and the others join- laughing loudly with the Valo-kas about past adventures and tales. They can drink together for their fallen friends and count their blessings. If Romanced: Nothing is really different, other than the fact that Shokrakar feels the need to speak to bull in private. The woman is clearly very nurturing, while head-strong and a bit foul with her expressions. He simply ensures her that the Inquisitor is a good person, someone he adores and while they can butt heads he would do nothing to hurt their member emotionally or physically- he isn’t out to break the Inquisitor in any manner or collect information.

Varric: He gets ideas right away for stories, something only fueled by Kaariss mediocre storytelling and awful poetry skills. Varric finds himself especially getting along with Taarlok, the two spending hours talking business and eventually the topic of their fallen friends does get brought up. Varric finds a new respect for the Inquisitor, because they have felt the same type of mourning that he has. They have lost friends, people that were like family and somehow not even shown just how much it hurt them. Varric realizes with the Valo-Kas visit, the Inquisitor was someone entirely different before the conclave, sure their personality may be the same and so their morals- but they’re emotionally aged now. They’ve been put in charge by force and he didn’t honestly realize how much that had affected them. Varric also learns that drinking games with the Valo-kas and the chargers is dangerous, like super dangerous- holy shit they tried to throw him twice last night.

Vivienne: Ugh, is all she can really say about the matter. They are loud that’s for sure. Vivienne respects them though, because their skills are impressive. She might consider hiring them in the future should she ever need to, but often times she finds herself avoiding the Tavern even more- but the Inquisitor needs it, the familiar smiles and laughs. If it’s for them she supposes that she can stand the overly violent mercenaries for one more night- or two.

Cole: The Valo-kas finds him a tad creepy at first, but eventually warms up to the lanky tall man and his odd sentences. Cole likes being around them, because they like being around him. They’ll laugh and joke, send deadly glares to people who dare make comments about his odd behaviour and at one point Shokrakar attempts to give him two very big beer glasses because ‘he was a growing man’, which Cole wasn’t entirely sure what it meant. Varric had stopped that though. He enjoys their bond- their happiness.

[luxalupinlvr]

Your Worship: Chapter Fourteen

My list of excuses this time: I didn't get less busy, and while I wrote this over my break, I was delayed in posting this because I am now studying abroad in the UK. You might be groaning and thinking "she won't write another chapter for six months!" and while that's not an impossibility, I really want to write the next chapter (much) sooner than later, as I'm excited to have finally hit the point the story has. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Read it on ff.net or ao3.

Jethann wasn't sure about this whole being-everyone's-guide thing that Solas was on about, not when it took him half an hour to even find north on a compass. He couldn't speak for anyone else, but their weeks spent traveling to Solas's claimed new home did not go quickly. Firstly, they spent a couple days arguing in their little camp, deciding which way to go. Josephine had initially wanted to find refuge with a court, but that would ally them too closely with any one nation. Cullen wanted to go back to Haven and rebuild it, but they all knew that Corypheus could still be there, and he could come back at any time before they were ready. Haven had not been meant to be permanent, and Cullen conceded that point before long. Leliana wanted to murder some people, although Jethann wasn't sure to what point. She had one, but no one quite followed it. Cassandra had no plan, but she did enough angry grunting and sighing to make up for it.

Solas's plan won out. Jethann could have told them that it was going to, but they had decided not to listen until they'd exhausted every other possibility. And they said time was sensitive! Jethann was getting the feeling that it was anything but.

But the getting there…Jethann was not a fan. Day after day of traveling in the snow with only the food they managed to hunt was not his idea of a good time. He complained to Varric and Varric only, though, as it was no one's idea of a fun time, and he had no intention of making everyone think of him as a whiner who didn't care about them when he was, in fact, a whiner who did care.

Still, even though his boots might not have existed for all the good they'd done him, even though he rolled his eyes every time another sprinkling of snow heralded a new snowstorm, even though he spent his evenings rubbing out sore feet, he couldn't help but stare at the castle that Solas led them to. Of all the things he'd expected, this wasn't one of them.

"This whole castle, all to myself?"

"No," said Solas. "We'll be there too."

"If you must," was Jethann's reply.

It wasn't easy to mask what he felt as he looked down at that castle. No, that wasn't the right word for it. Fortress. Small city. New start. Large city. The way it looked made him feel like it was created from the hills themselves, not built from new stone but carved out of the craggy mountains, every block of hard rock chipped away at until this fortress stood, waiting for Jethann and the Inquisition at his back.

He couldn't help it. He smiled.

At first, nothing changed. When they made it to the mountain fortress—only accessible from a single bridge crossing a huge chasm—the Inquisition's first action was to set everything down and go about making sure they were allowed to be there, while the quartermasters, seneschals, and other administrators of the Inquisition went about making sure that everyone had somewhere to sleep where they weren't tripping over each other. Josephine was the leader of these, and it wasn't until she received word from both Orlais and Ferelden that this place didn't belong to anyone, that they really began to move in.

Jethann filled these days with a mixture of being useful and making himself as scarce as possible, something, as contradictory as it sounded, he often managed to do at the same time. It was quite simple; blend in and help some other elves move boxes or assist some workers with cleaning out the untouched rooms of the fortress. When he wasn't doing that, he was playing cards with Varric and Bull, or talking with the three, plus Cassandra, that he'd affectionately begun mentally referring to as the Advisors about the state of their new home and the Inquisition. The Inquisition's prognosis? Not deathly ill, anymore, which was nice.

He knew, after a week or so, that it wouldn't last. He was more surprised by the realization that he didn't want the temporary anonymity, brought about by necessity and a set of common clothes, as much as he thought he would. He itched to do something, and when, after walking out of the fortress to blend in among a few former Alienage elves who'd arrived the day before, Cassandra beckoned him over, he found himself glad. How times changed.

He was a little more concerned when the others parted like water, leaving him along with Cassandra. Not that he hadn't been alone with Cassandra plenty; he was still getting reading lessons from her, after all. Still, it was hard to put the past behind him, even if it was from a future that had never really happened. It made it all the worse that Cassandra had no idea about it, as it made any strange behavior on his part impossible to explain.

Oh well. There were more important things to worry about now that they had relocated to the fortress Solas called Skyhold and that they knew a terrible darkspawn of some sort was out for their blood. Even the beauty of the trees around them (especially after the snows they'd trekked through to get there) were tempered by the fear that Corypheus could pop out under any rock and smite them all. At least, Jethann assumed other people had that fear. He'd feel silly if he was the only one.

"They arrive daily from every settlement in the region," said Cassandra. Jethann looked around to see what she was talking about, instead of at the combination of armor and regular clothing that Cassandra combined to make her present outfit, which was more aesthetically pleasing than Jethann would have given her credit for being capable of. He wondered if it was on purpose or not, and if he was being uncharitable in thinking probably not. Who knew? Maybe Cassandra had many sides to her that he hadn't seen. Most people did, after all.

When he looked around, however, he knew what she meant. New people were constantly streaming into Skyhold, buffeting their defenses and building their civilian forces. Even thinking in such military terms gave Jethann the shivers. Right now the new faces were all from local areas, but it wouldn't be long before they came from all over Orlais and Ferelden. If this lasted.

"Skyhold's becoming a pilgrimage," continued Cassandra. She walked backward for a moment, her eyes locked with his face. He was about to comment on the strangeness of the position before she turned and began to walk normally, Jethann following her as she kept speaking. "If word has reached these people, it will have reached the Elder One. We have the walls and numbers to put up a fight here, but this threat is far beyond the war we anticipated."

They were walking up steps now. Jethann appreciated the feel of the warm air on his face as they did so, its presence a constant reminder of how glad he was to get out of the frigid mountain air. Haven had been okay, but the year-round snow had gotten old, and it cheered Jethann that he'd be coming back to green grass and trees bristling with leaves after a mission.

"But we now know what allowed you to stand against Corypheus. What drew him to you."

"The Mark, you mean?" said Jethann. "Or the Anchor. That's what he called it."

"The Anchor has power, but that's not why you're standing here." Cassandra's expression softened, and it was then that Jethann realized that she'd been rehearsing this speech to herself. She'd been pretty good in her recitation of it so far, so good that he hadn't realized that it was pre-planned until now. That was saying something, at least as far as his own belief in his own ability to read faces and intentions went.

Cassandra was walking faster now. "Your decisions let us heal the sky. Your determination brought us out of Haven. You are the creature's rival because of what you did— and we know it. All of us."

There were lots of steps. Jethann wasn't an idiot, and he knew she was leading him up somewhere high, somewhere were, perhaps, a lot of people could be addressed. He could feel his face warming up. That combined with her words? He wasn't sure what was happening, but he could tell it was big.

"Cassandra," he asked. "What are you saying? What're you saying, really?"

"The Inquisition requires a leader." She paused, taking a moment to stray from her script. "Jethann, you have already been leading it. We have been taking your orders without realizing it, and you have shaped us—often in ways many did not expect, and sometimes in ways many did not like—without us even realizing in the moment. I know I have not always been your staunchest supporter, but I believe this is the right move. You once told me that the Inquisition cannot hide who their Herald is, but had to embrace you for all of you, including your past. I can think of no better way to show our support than this."

Jethann's mouth was open in shock, although he didn't remember opening it in the first place. "Wait? This is for real?" He could see Leliana standing to his side, holding a big ceremonial sword. That was answer enough. "Cassandra, I only just recently accepted that I was ready to be a part of the Inquisition in general, but to lead it? I'm not ashamed of who I am, but that's completely different than leading an entire group of people!"

Leliana raised her head slightly. "You will not be alone. You will have help."

His nickname of the Advisors really was apt, he realized. That he'd already named them that internally only proved Leliana and Cassandra's point. "You want this, both of us? Josephine, too? And…And Cullen?"

"The Commander was not ecstatic," said Cassandra, a smile playing about her lips. "But he said that you had inner strength enough to play the part."

"I wouldn't play with any part of it," said Jethann. "Having advisors is one thing, but being an actor is another."

Leliana was smiling now too. "Only a turn of phrase. You sound ready to accept."

"You two are lucky I've spent so much time coming to terms with the Inquisition recently," said Jethann. "Not just the Inquisition itself, but what I'm willing to do for it." And to use it for, in some ways. He was still no devoted servant of the Maker, but he would wield peoples' faith to enact some good. He'd change the minds he could and make the world a little less uptight, both when it came to things that happened behind closed doors and things that didn't. It already seemed to be working on Cassandra. Maker, he was already thinking like the Inquisitor they wanted him to be.

"You're right," said Cassandra. Her tone was serious now. "We are lucky. I more than the rest, for you had to convince me of more than you did many others. I would look at the world with a narrower view without you."

Jethann couldn't help but smile. "Are you saying you approve of my brothels now?"

Cassandra took a deep breath. He felt a little bad; the tic at her temple told him that he was taking advantage of her good will. "I…understand the need for them. But please, the people are waiting for you."

"Still," said Jethann softly, betraying a part of himself that he had tried to keep hidden more than anything else. Later, he would think on this moment and think of it as one of the few times he'd let a crack in his armor open so wide. At least it was only to Cassandra and Leliana (although the latter could do much with the information). "All this, to an elf, and one of my background?"

"I would be terrified to hand this power to anyone, but I believe it is the only way. They'll follow you. To them, being an elf shows how far you've risen. How it must have been by Andraste's hand. What it means to you, how you lead us, that is for you alone to decide."

Before now, the word Jethann would have used to describe his feelings about his involvement in the Inquisition was "reluctant." He wasn't sure what he would replace it with, but he can at least say he knows that that word no longer fit.

"Well," said Leliana. "Stop dallying, and get up there."

"If only I'd been told ahead of time," said Jethann. "So that maybe I'd have some time to think about it, and wouldn't keep everyone waiting for what's going to happen."

"If only," said Leliana. "Unfortunately, that was completely impossible. Up you go!"

He climbed the last few steps, grateful for the laughter to mask the butterflies in his stomach. "I feel like I'm at the world's biggest surprise party," he grumbled, but if Cassandra and Leliana heard, they didn't say anything.

Jethann looked at the sword that Leliana was offering to him. It glittered in the sunlight that pushed past the mountain peaks to land on this blade, with its golden dragon hilt. He thought of the giant and the dragon he'd seen battling on the Storm Coast when he saw it, and of the battle with the Blades of Hessarian that he'd undertaken because of it. He wasn't sure if the sword was just ceremonial, but considering its size, that's all it was destined to be. He took the sword; it was as heavy as it looked.

He turned to face the people below. Not everyone currently burrowing into the corners of Skyhold in the name of the Inquisition was present, but he would say that most of them were, all crammed into the courtyard together, faced turned up eagerly at the news. Did they already know what was happening, and were looking forward to it? Were they all just captured by the excitement of the moment, letting themselves be corralled into the courtyard by the very few who actually cared? Were they all just thinking about dinner and hoping he finished up whatever he had to say as soon as possible?

Regardless of what they were thinking, he was going to speak. Maybe being a leader was being self-centered enough to think that paying attention to you was the most important thing in peoples' lives.

Jethann raised his voice to "let the entire Blooming Rose know that the latest customer is actually two customers in a trenchcoat" levels to make sure everyone heard him. "I have been asked to lead, and I will. Someone must stand against Corypheus, and I will be that person—that elf and a former prostitute, as many people will try to forget. You are the people who will not forget, and for that, I thank you. I will try my best not to fail you, and I could not do it without you. The Inquisition is for all, and we stand for Thedas."

He stopped speaking, feeling like the biggest idiot who'd ever gotten in front of a group of people, but Cassandra was smiling when she stepped up next to him. "We will go where you lead us." She took another step forward, addressing Josephine, who stood in the audience below. "Have our people been told?"

"They have," said Josephine, stepping forward. He'd seen her smile many times before, but he didn't think he'd ever seen it so wide. "And soon, the world."

"Commander, will they follow?" crowed Cassandra, loud enough that Jethann wondered if Corypheus, wherever he was, could feel the echo reverberate around him.

Jethann hadn't spotted Cullen in the crowd until then, but now he was impossible to miss as he pushed his way to the front of the crowd and bellowed, "Inquisition! Will you follow?"

He would have waited with baited breath for the audience's response if they had given him time to; instead, they roared, and he knew the answer. It had all happened so fast. One second he was helping a couple newcomers fix up Skyhold and the next he was standing above the inhabitants of the whole fortress, pledging to lead them, and, amazingly, getting a positive response. He scanned the crowd and did find a few sullen faces, people who, for one reason or another, had not accepted him enough to get swept up in this excitement. He hoped that was normal; in this atmosphere, with praise for him on the wind, he was inclined to believe so. He lifted the sword into the air at Leliana's subtle nudging, and the cheering rebounded.

"Will you fight?" shouted Cullen.

The cheering continued. Jethann wouldn't have expected such a rousing of the people from Cullen, but here it was. The man sure could put on a good show. After all, he'd been doing it for years in Kirkwall.

"Will we triumph?"

The cheering, if possible, grew louder. Jethann realized he was smiling too, and not just some coy smile that he'd plastered on to trick his way into getting what he wanted. It was the kind of smile that had snuck up on him when he wasn't looking, and now he just couldn't seem to get rid of it.

"Be careful," said Leliana behind him, quietly enough that Cassandra didn't look over. "You don't want it to go to your head, now." The admonishment was gentle, but some of the elation faded. Would Leliana had said that to an Inquisitor with different origins?

"I know," said Jethann. "It's just nice to enjoy the moment."

"Of course," said Leliana. "But it is not wise to go seeking more."

"I'm going to ignore you now," said Jethann. "In favor of appreciating this one while it lasts, since you're so determined to be a buzzkill."

The attention was nice. It said a lot about how good he felt that he bounced back from Leliana's words, ones he wouldn't have expected from her; she'd always seemed to be on his side, so to speak.

"Your leader, your Herald, your Inquisitor!" was Cullen's final shout, unsheathing his own sword and pointing it towards the platform on which Jethann stood. If he'd been told a few years ago that Cullen Rutherford was going to point his sword at him, he would have said two things: first, he would have asked which sword, and second, he would have said that that could be by no means a good thing. How different things had become.

Jethann felt good. That had been rare before and after the Conclave, and he knew this feeling wouldn't have been possible without it. For better or for worse, his fortunes had been raised from that tragedy. The Anchor pulsed in his hand, beating to the rhythm of the cheers.

After the whole cheering-their-new-leader thing was done, Jethann had to forget the nice warm feelings it brought on and remember that, as the new leader of the Inquisition, he had to go and do things befitting his position. Namely, ordering people around. The weight that dropped onto his shoulders as the realization of his new responsibilities set in was twice that of before, and he briefly wondered if it wasn't too late to say never mind to this whole Inquisitor business. Unfortunately, he knew it was, and he followed the others into the main hall of Skyhold, which had remained untouched as the Inquisition had moved in. The others, except Cassandra; she disappeared once the cheering was over. Apparently she was not going to be one of those advising him in the coming…was it months? Surely not years. Years was a much longer term commitment than he was used to.

They opened the huge from doors to find…well, a mess. That's all Jethann could describe it as at first glance. There was old wood everywhere, and the stained glass windows were covered with dust and grime. The stone walls looked like they had seen nothing but scurrying mice for three times as long as Jethann had been living.

"Well," said Jethann, surveying it. "It could be worse."

"That's the spirit," said Leliana.

"So this is where it begins," said Cullen. For all that Cassandra and Leliana had said about him, and all that he had done in rousing the Inquisition to his leadership, Cullen stood the farthest from Jethann at all times and only addressed him when he talked to everyone. Jethann, for his part, returned the sentiment.

"It began in the courtyard," said Leliana. "This is where we turn that promise into action."

"But what do we do? We know nothing about this Corypheus except that he wanted your mark," said Josephine.

Jethann paused, waiting for someone to give her the answer. A beat passed before he realized he was the one they were waiting on. Some advisors they were. "Well, we know a little more than that. He wants to restore Tevinter, which implies that he himself is from Tevinter. So we're not starting with nothing. My bets are off on him attacking us directly again after the mess of Haven, at least for a while—we should get as much information on him as possible."

"Yes," said Josephine. "One must know their enemy, after all."

"And we do have an advantage," said Leliana. "We know what Corypheus is going to do next. In that strange future you experienced, Empress Celene had been assassinated."

"Imagine the chaos her death would cause," said Josephine. "With his army…"

"An army he'll bolster with a massive force of demons. Or so the future tells us," finished Cullen.

Jethann didn't struggle to keep track, but it certainly did not escape him that his new position was not an empty one. Without him, Thedas could fall. He didn't love everything about the world, but damn it, he lived in it. That was a lot of responsibility for anyone.

"Corypheus could conquer the entirety of southern Thedas, god or no god," said Josephine.

"I'd feel better if we knew more about what we were dealing with," said Leliana.

Jethann was about to open his mouth and respond, his thoughts swirling, when a new voice entered the conversation.

"I know someone who can help with that."

Jethann smiled at the sight of Varric, wearing a red, open-chested shirt with embroidery that glittered in the shafts of light from the door, as he walked in.

"Ah…everyone acting all inspirational jogged my memory, so I sent a message to an old friend. She's crossed paths with Corypheus before and may know more about what he's doing. She can help."

"Well, that solves one of our problems already," said Jethann. "We wanted information on Corypheus, and you've delivered someone who has it. Good on you, Varric."

"Don't get all blubbery on me on your first day on the job," replied Varric. "We need you in top shape."

"Blubbery? Is there some rumor going around that I tear up at random times? Of all the vile rumors going around about me, that one might be the worst."

"No, there isn't. Your reputation is safe," said Varric, smiling.

"From that at least," said Jethann. "When does this friend of yours get here?"

Varric looked around, which piqued his interest. "She's actually already here. Parading around might cause a fuss. It's better for you to meet privately. On the battlements. Trust me—

it's complicated."

When Jethann glanced around him, he saw that Leliana, Josephine, and Cullen were looking at each other in confusion. Then he and Leliana met eyes, and Jethann found himself smiling. She'd figured it out too.

"I'll see you at cards tonight?" said Varric, in a tone of voice that made it sound like he'd already suggested it to Jethann prior. "That is, if you haven't been worn out by the time night hits."

"It takes a lot to wear me out," said Jethann. Varric waved as he walked away; Jethann watched him go. It felt good, knowing Varric was his friend.

"If Varric has brought who I think he has," said Leliana as Varric left the room. "Cassandra is going to kill him."

Jethann couldn't help but laugh at that one. They talked for a little longer about their plans, about how quickly they could get Skyhold fixed up and what their approaches to learning more about Corypheus and taking their stand against his plans would be, before Jethann felt comfortable excusing himself. They'd only talked for a couple of hours, but he was exhausted. The sun was still going strong, which felt unfair; shouldn't the day tire when he did?

Then again, he was grateful it didn't. After all, it would be a pretty gloomy world if that was the case. He left the fortress's main hall and went back outside, unsure what to do with himself for a while. He had all these responsibilities now, but no way to alleviate them. He'd have preferred to have just gotten them all done at once, like ripping off a band-aid.

If that was the case, he knew where to go; the battlements. Jethann was already finding himself a hypocrite in the band-aid scenario, because instead he snagged an apple and found himself a seat away from the hustle and bustle of a group of people attempting to make an old fortress livable again. This ended up being behind a tree, where Jethann sat on a stump and crunched away the apple to his heart's delight.

He'd just reached the core when a voice close to his ear said, "Inquisitor!" Jethann wasn't proud of how high he jumped.

"Sera!" he said, turning to face her. "To what do I owe this pleasant surprise?"

"It is Inquisitor, then?" she said. "I like it. It's gonna give some bigwigs some big headaches. Ha, see what I did there? Big and big."

"I see," said Jethann. He looked around for somewhere that Sera could sit, but his stump was all on its own. Sera solved his problems by plopping down in the grass and wriggling about until she was comfortable and her knees were covered in grass stains.

"Remember that war we talked about stopping?" asked Sera, hands reaching to tug grass from their roots in the soil as if by instinct. "Full of little baddies I can stick with little arrows?"

She took an especially large clump of grass and flung it at Jethann, who dodged most of it but still had to sift it out of his hair, which was in better condition than he'd expected it to be by now.

"That's not a friggin' Archdemon, is it?" said Sera, tone increasing in volume with the anxiety in her voice.

"What, you think I saw that one coming?" asked Jethann. "I'm not happier about it than you are, or any less surprised. I'm probably the one who's going to have to face up against it or whatever." He hadn't really thought about that before, and when the terror of the idea hit his lower stomach, he decided right then and there that he wasn't going to think about it again.

Sera scoffed. "Are you sure you're as surprised as me? A surprise would be, 'Oh, I stepped in dog shit." No one says, 'Oh, a magister god monster, I'm surprised. Impossible things aren't surprises."

"There's no use in getting mad at me," said Jethann. "Besides, I'm pretty damn sure I was even more surprised than you. It's not your jaw he broke."

Sera's eyebrows shot up. "He broke your jaw? I didn't know that."

Jethann shrugged and, unable to help himself, winked. "I know it's hard to tell, what with how perfect my face is."

Sera's snort was legendary. "You make me wish I had stepped in dog shite just so I could throw it at you."

"You'd put your hands in dog shit just to throw at me? I'm touched."

"That's what friends are for. We are friends, yeah?"

Jethann couldn't hide a smile. "Yeah, I'd say so."

"Good. Friends get to tell other friends when they think they've mucked it up along the way."

Jethann felt worry wash over him, but he kept his tone light. "What did I muck up? I know it wasn't my makeup."

"Back in Haven, when we were leaving and Coryphy-shite was raining his army down on us and all that. You said the little people would understand if we had to leave some behind. People who got trapped or slowed down and all that. That surprised me. You're a little people, or you were."

"Yeah," said Jethann, his chest heavy. "I know what you mean. You're right."

Sera's expression of surprise was so exaggerated that he didn't know whether to laugh or to be insulted. "What?" she said, voice high.

He shrugged. "I said it to get things going. It wasn't right. Of course those people wouldn't understand why I was leaving them behind. Maybe a couple would, but most of them? They'd want me to save them. If I were in their place, I'd want to be saved."

"Then why'd you say it, if you knew it wasn't true?" said Sera, narrowing her eyes.

"Because true or not, it boosted morale enough for us to do what we needed to do. We couldn't save them, no matter how much we wanted to. And trust me, Sera, I wanted to."

He shot her a grim smile. She stared at him in reply for several long moments before saying. "I get it. I don't love it, but I get it."

"That's what friends are for," said Jethann.

She punches him in the arm; it was harder than he'd have liked. "Don't get a big head about it," she said. "I'm gonna go stake out the fancy rooms—see if there's anything fun in 'em. I wanna talk about Coryphallis more, but not now."

She scampered off before he had time to blink or even say bye. He liked Sera, even if he didn't always agree with her. He was glad to know she liked him enough back to call him a friend. He wondered if she would have warmed up to an Inquisitor that wasn't from the same kind of background as her so quickly.

Jethann had only gone about thirty steps on the half-grass, half-gravel path when he nearly ran right into a familiar, well-dressed figure. "Ah, Vivienne," he said. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Vivienne let out a semblance of a laugh. "You owe it to yourself, for nearly running into me. I'm half-tempted to say you look a mess, just to fuss over you, but that would be untrue. You do not look a mess. Your version of style is in top form."

"Is that a compliment? Coming from you?" said Jethann, his tone teasing rather than spiteful.

"I did not say I like your version of style. But I can respect it."

She was looking up at the fortress with appraising eyes. Jethann had never had a truly deep conversation with her. The closest they'd come was a talk about what he planned to do with the rebel mages, and he could tell that she wasn't satisfied with his answers, thinking him foolish and inexperienced for wanting to free them.

She hasn't been overly hostile to him, though. That was always a good sign.

"It was a mistake to use Haven as a base of operations. The town was completely indefensible."

"We did all sort of sit down in the ruins of the Conclave, didn't we?" said Jethann. "I'll be the first to admit I didn't know any better. I'm new to this whole thing."

"It is a credit to you that you do not attempt to push the blame on someone else," said Vivienne. "Inexperience is not in itself a sin—but you must make up for it quickly."

"No pressure or anything."

"The enemy struck a serious blow against the Inquisition. We must recognize that. You must."

"I do," said Jethann. "I am not as inexperienced as all that."

"Good," said Vivienne. "Our enemy advances, Inquisitor. We must not sit idly by. Act first, and teach them to fear us."

"You think I can?" he said, genuinely curious.

"Yes," she said. "We are not close, but I am not blind. You can become the leader the faithful require, but you must do it soon."

"I'll do everything I can," said Jethann. "And before you say it, yes, I know. I'll make sure it's enough."

Vivienne's smile was definitely not a figment of his imagination. "You took the very words out of my mouth."

He bid her farewell and deliberated what to do next. He saw Blackwall and considered walking up to him for a conversation, but he had some more pressing personal business he'd been neglecting. He needed to see Cassandra.

He found her, but it took a while. Instead of relaxing (or in her case, the opposite) in the outdoors like the others, she was inside Skyhold itself, past all the boxes and crates being unpacked. More importantly, she was with Varric. Most importantly, it turned out she'd heard who was waiting on the battlements for Jethann.

"You knew where Hawke was all along!"

"You're damned right I did!"

"You conniving little shit!"

She swung for Varric, missing him only because she didn't adjust for height. Jethann found himself bounding up the stairs. Varric was his closest friend, and he found that he cared for Cassandra more than he realized. He definitely didn't like seeing them going at each other.

"You kidnapped me! You interrogated me! What did you expect?"

Jethann was going to intervene, there was never any doubt of that. But he did doubt how he should do it; and that hesitation meant, when he put skidded into the room and put himself between them, intending to shout at them both, Cassandra's next punch landed on him.

He landed on the floor, pain blossoming in his jaw. Cassandra and Varric were both staring at him in horror.

"Now look what you've done!" sais Varric, voice rising with real anger. "You've gone and punched the Inquisitor!"

It took a few seconds for Jethann to recover from the pain, but when he did, he said, "Hey, someone's gotta knock me off my pedestal, right?"

From Cassandra's look of horror, Jethann concluded that she didn't think it was funny. Even Varric wasn't laughing. His own attempt at humor ended as the pain flared back again. His hand shot to his cheek and came away with blood.

"Now look what you've done!" said Varric, turning to Cassandra.

"I didn't mean to—you can't get out of this because—Inquisitor, are you all right?" Cassandra seemed torn between her anger and concern for Jethann. Touching.

Jethann reached a hand in his mouth to make sure all his teeth were where they were supposed to be. Satisfied on that front, he looked up at both of them, not bothering to get up. "Well, what do you have to say for yourselves? Cassandra, did you start this?"

His jaw was aching something fierce, but he had a feeling that this fight wasn't going to stop unless addressed, and he hated the way they were looking at him.

"We needed someone to lead this Inquisition. Leliana and I looked for the Hero of Ferelden, but he had vanished. Then we looked for Hawke, but…" Cassandra cut off, shaking her head. "I don't want to do this now. I cannot believe I punched you. I am so sorry."

"It was an accident," said Jethann. "Not that it doesn't hurt. I just don't want it to happen again."

"It won't," said Cassandra fervently. Varric's expression was so derisive that Jethann was grateful that her gaze was trained on his and not the dwarf's.

"That's not what I mean. This fight. I don't want to have to stand between you two, or anyone else for that matter. We can't afford to into fights like this. I need both of you, dammit. I can't do this by myself." His tone wasn't emotional, but it still took him quite a lot to say those words.

Varric and Cassandra both had the decency to look ashamed. "What is this about?" said Jethann, finally pulling himself up, wincing at the pain. "Is it just because Varric didn't tell you about Hawke, Cassandra? Is that really all this is?"

"You make it sound like so little," said Cassandra. "With Hawke, we could have had a chance to save the Divine. If Varric…"

"Varric was protecting his friend," said Jethann. "I think you've forgotten that I know Hawke too, Cassandra. She's only human." He paused, letting a joke pass him by because of the gravity of the moment. Maybe being a leader was all about not utilizing every opportunity for a saucy comment. "She couldn't have saved the Divine. Stop dealing in 'what ifs.'"

Cassandra stared at him. "When did you get so wise?"

"He's older than he looks," said Varric.

"Oh, now you believe me," said Jethann. "Cassandra, I know you're upset. But put yourself in his shoes."

"Everything he does," said Cassandra, whose gritted teeth either represented anger or an internal struggle. "Everything he does is for his own goals. Not for the Inquisition."

"That's not fair," said Jethann. "And you know it. Besides, he looks out for his friends, and I happen to be one of those. And I'm with the Inquisition."

Varric looked at Jethann with an eyebrow raised. "I do care about the Inquisition for itself, you know," he said. "But I get what you're going for."

Jethann turned to Varric. "Can you leave us alone for a bit? I'll see you later tonight at cards, after all."

"Really? She just punched you, you know."

"It was an accident."

Varric shook his head, clapping Jethann's bony shoulder on the way out. Cassandra moved to the window, staring out of it instead of facing him. He stopped right before he hit the top of the stairs. "You know what I think? If Hawke had been at the temple, she'd be dead too. You people have done enough to her."

Jethann cast a glance back at him. He was pretty sure everything was fine between them, but he'd make sure that night at cards. Cassandra was more uncertain. He moved toward her, so many things to say that the words he was trying to keep suppressed ended up being the ones that bubbled out.

"Do you really wish Hawke were in my place so much? Am I doing that bad of a job?"

Cassandra straightened up, turning to him with a look of deep surprise on her face. She hardly ever looked so open. It's too bad it only happened when he caught her off guard.

"That is not why I am trying to say! I only wish Hawke had been there…she would have been able to save…"

"Varric didn't cause what happened at the Conclave," said Jethann.

Cassandra shook her head. She sat down on an old chair, leaning forward so that her hand was pressed on her knee. He sat in the chair across from him, all thin limbs. "You're doing a fine job so far. I apologize if I led you to believe otherwise."

"I suppose I can't complain," said Jethann. "I haven't done much of anything, after all. It's only a been a day."

"No," said Cassandra. "You've been doing a fine job for some time now. If I'd sat Varric down, made him understand why it was important to find Hawke, maybe she would have understood, but I didn't, did I? I didn't explain anything to him. And I clung to my hopes of who would lead us, without realizing who already was."

"But you agreed with the others, didn't you?" said Jethann. "When it came to picking me for that ceremony out there?"

"Yes," said Cassandra. "That is what opened my eyes. Began to. But now I see…Hawke was not the person we needed for this job. I judged you harshly when we met, but I was wrong to. I am angry with Varric, but it is unwarranted. The Maker sent the right person. I said as much earlier, but only now is it sinking in. I need to be better than this. I must be smarter, more open-minded. I don't deserve to be here."

He'd never thought she'd feel these things, let alone express them. "Yes, you do. I don't know what the Inquisition would do without you."

Cassandra lifted a hand to his cheek, brushing the bruise already forming. He didn't flinch, although it hurt a little. "You would not have this."

"Accidents happen," said Jethann. "I've had worse." Her touch was cold, the feel of a worn glove against fractured skin. He was still disappointed when she pulled away, gaze trained on her brooding eyes.

"That does not make it right," said Cassandra. "I don't know what is to come, Jethann, but you're more than I could have hoped for."

"No pressure," whispered Jethann, shutting his eyes ever-so-briefly, a second-long respite from the outside world, even as it threatened to break in.

When he opened them again, Cassandra was watching him. "I would not trade you for Hawke now. Know that."

Jethann nodded slightly, trying to let her know that he caught the sincerity that broke her voice when she spoke. "I've better get to Hawke before she starts wondering if I'm ever coming to those battlements."

Cassandra blinked several times, as though she were breaking a spell. "Oh, yes. Of course. I apologize if I've been keeping you."

"Not at all," said Jethann. "I'm glad I found this fight, although I wished I'd managed to intervene in a manner that cost me less of my pretty face."

"I will find you a balm for that," said Cassandra quickly.

Jethann leaned forward slightly. "I was looking for you, actually. I never responded to Serendipity. The reply is embarrassingly overdue. And I would like to send a second letter, to my…brother. I can't do it by myself yet."

Cassandra seemed taken aback, but after a moment she nodded, smiling uncertainly. "Yes, of course. I can help you with that. When you have a little free time, come find me."

He stood up. "Will do. Try not to get into any more brawls, will you?"

"No need to say it again," said Cassandra, looking slightly disgruntled. Sometimes it was hard to tell if she was upset or if that was her natural state. He waved in reply, his last glimpse of her rewarded with a slight smile.

Jethann walked down the stairs, heart neither light nor heavy, but a mixture of both. He would process it all later. He had a Champion to greet.

[planesofduality]

The Story Behind Solas with Dragon Age Lead Writer Patrick Weekes - Dialogue Wheel (Part 2 of 3)

Full video: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFx1nCdZFjw&t=1s

Part one here

Time: 12:16

When it comes the characterization of a character that you’ve already been give at least some sort of name to. We know that this character is some sort of trickster god - when you were trying to develop and make him some a stand-alone character, did you ever have to rely on what the mythos already established of this particular kind of eighth-seat god that maybe a lot people hadn’t heard a lot about?

Well, I think, like we talked about before, one of the great things about the Dragon Age universe is everything that you learn in a codex entry is something that someone else heard in a story and wrote it down somewhere and you’re reading half of the book. So the good news on that is anything we wanted to do with Fen’Harel, there was so little and what was in there was already so sketchy that we had all the freedom we needed to play with him.

That turned out to be a nice thing because I think if we had someone that was completely by-the-books, already established, their character already given, it would feel like more of a letdown to write that as a character or you would have to play against type, you’d have to do something completely different to show he wasn’t just what the stories wrote about him. And, you know, in some ways that is both liberating but also disappointing to people who might have liked  the original stories. This was a fun experience of getting to fill in some of the gaps.

The only thing I think we had to struggle against is that anyone who hears “trickster” or anyone who hears “oh, he’s chaotic and unpredictable” it feels like there is a natural urge to go to “He’s Loki in the Avengers. He’s the guy who’s gonna make large grand-standing plans.” Or, you know, “He’s the Riddler, who’s gonna leave clues to test you.” We had to get away from that: “Let’s tone that back a little bit, let’s not have him be the Jack Nicholson Joker version of the Dread Wolf.”

That’s quite a quote.

You got Dorian as a large, grandiose , extravagant figure and it would have been easy to have him go that way. It was fortunate that we had Dorian as the mage who had the larger-than-life persona already to make Solas be the quiet one.

Time: 15:21

Was there ever an instance where you were really pushed with giving some indicators to the player that Solas may have some connection to this going through the gameplay? Because you do see a lot statues of Fen’Harel. There’s many instances of where you’re discussing it, you’re traveling through those lands. Where do you walk that line, how do you walk that line, or do you just completely disregard it whatsoever?

The goal we had is we wanted the very careful players, the very sensitive players, who were playing attention and watching every scene with Solas to know that something was up and to want more answers and then go to “OH MAN” as soon as the stinger after the credits rolled. But we wanted most players to just go “Oh, okay, he’s like ‘Fade nerd.’ He’s like ‘hippie guy.’”

The other thing we wanted was everyone on their second playthrough, as soon as they talked to Solas to be like “Oh, man, he’s just saying it. He just flat-out said it right there and I missed it completely the first time!” I think we called it the “inevitable in retrospect”- or the “slap the forehead on the second playthrough” style of writing, where we wanted people to see that the most interesting thing about the trickster god is he’s not actually that great of a liar - He is almost telling you a lot of the time. And, you know, some of the tragedy is it that you never had the chance to actually ask, “Wait -are you Fen’harel?”

Time: 17:13

We talked about leaving breadcrumbs, what that meant. Now the big turn, the big scene at the ending:  How did this come about, were you really involved in that sort of process and are you happy with it?

Oh, I’m absolutely happy with it. It went through several iterations,. Mike was hugely involved. The writing was definitely done by Dave; it was a huge crit path moment. He had me give a look at the Solas voice, I think I looked at it, I don’t think I actually changed a single word in the final one.

We had versions where after the main plot it was actually going to be a full plot where you the player went and were actually present when Solas confronts Mythal. We had a part where we said, “Wow that’s too big, a lot of players are gonna miss that, we’ll make it a DLC.” So it was gonna be a separate DLC where that happened. At one point we said “No, this is too big, we actually - let’s cut it and address it next game.” So it was going to be this thing that we pushed off into some future content.

I am really happy with what we went with, because, I think, you know, for my money, that short, little Marvel-style, after-the-credits stinger is what we needed. We needed something so that everyone who was paying attention and everyone who was really invested could go “oh my god!” And go, “Okay, so, just in case you were wondering, we’re not done, we have more stories to tell, and we are confident enough in what we are doing that we are willing to throw that ball.” That stinger is essentially us throwing a football to future us, trusting that we are going to catch it. Because, you know, at the end, we had that level of confidence. We felt that we had that level of confidence, we felt we made a really good game. Dave led an amazing team of writers, and I’m really touched that he has the confidence to believe that I’ll be able to carry that on for him.

Time: 19:49

When we spoke to Dave, one of the big moments that he mentioned, was when he created kind of a long-term idea for what’s going to happen in the Dragon Age universe. And to hear him say it, he mentioned that what he originally wanted for Dragon Age: Inquisition couldn’t happen - it was far too big - it wouldn’t work. And you guys had talked about  taking that concept, finishing Inquisition somewhere in the middle of that concept arc, and then using at least an influence or something like that to affect the franchise going forward.  Speaking with you now, as someone who has taken up the reins, do you know what I’m talking about? Am I talking crazy? Where do you see it going?

Um…

Reasonably - of what you can say on this.

So here’s the last scene of the next game… (laughs). I think there’s an extent to which no plan really survives contact with the audience when it comes to video games. We look at how fans react, we look at what hit, what rang true with everyone. You know, it’s funny, having people react angrily actually isn’t as bad as having people ignore things sometimes. Having people react angrily  means they were definitely emotionally engaged, so you know you hit something there. Whereas having fans go, “I don’t know, fine, I guess, whatever” and move on means, “Okay, I don’t know if that’s what we want to go back to. We didn’t actually get anything from them there, they didn’t actually remember that later.” So that’s a phase that comes after every game we ship. We look at what hit, what missed, and where we want to go from there.

Now that said, Dave’s future plan is, I think, fantastic, epic, and heartbreaking. Our plan is to use that as our starting point. To look at where we want to go, what we want to do, and it will not be - and I, you know, Dave and I have talked about this - it will not be the story that Dave would tell if he were still here as lead writer. Because it could never be that. We can get into that when we talk about Cole a little bit, but if I tried to do that I would just be doing a bad impersonation of Dave Gaider and no one is ever going to be as good at that as Dave is. My goal going forward is to, as lead, put my own spin on that process, put my own spin on the plots going forward, on the thematic elements, while keeping those same thematic elements that we had. Because, I think, what Dave has set in motion in three games, countless DLCs and expansions, is something that can endure: The idea that no choice is ever really that easy and that the great events always stem from human-understandable motivations.

So, that is where I think where we are going to go, as vaguely as I can say.

Time: 23:30

Speaking of specifically to Solas: His continuation of the story. Adding that little “Marvel moment” at the end - what do you think that did for the crit path and the overall arc of the story that players experienced in Dragon Age: Inquisition. Do you think they would have been more satisfied if there was  a DLC or is that just us gamers complaining because we can’t get everything we want right away?

Well, I think you want to leave people wanting more. “Man I wish you guys had done more” is a better problem to have than “Man I wish you guys had done less.” So, I think, looking at it from inside the studio, we didn’t have the resources to do much more than we did. So it was never going to be the big moment right then anyway. From my perspective, the reason I’m really happy we have it is, like I said, I thought it was a vote of confidence. The team is still the Dragon Age team and it is still the writers and designers who did everything else, who made such wonderful characters and were responsible for such fantastic plots.

Time 25:10

Well, again, looking at that in its completion, it’s good to see that even a character that needed to give you a stinger in your estimation didn’t take away, I guess, from the overall story you were trying to tell.

Well, thank you. Yeah it was obviously the moment we were building toward, but again, the goal was even if we didn’t have that stringer, he was still an interesting enough character that people would have not felt cheated that he was in the party.

Part 3