#tevinter imperium

[theamazingstuffs]

Dragon Age Veilguard, pt7

[amaryllis-sagitta]

It isn't just about slavery, it's about the general level of disparity between Tevinter's social classes.

Cremisius "Krem" Aclassi mentions being pressured to marry a wealthy merchant's son to save the entire family from selling themselves into slavery because his father, a tailor, could barely make the ends meet. Eventually, Krem's father had to sell himself into slavery because slave labor run by a magister in the vicinity dispensed clothes for the common people dirt cheap, and thus put independent tailors out of business.

Slavery in Tevinter isn't just a matter of people (mostly elves) being captured and shipped from other parts of the world. It was built into the social system to potentially bind anyone who isn't a mage by some form of indentured servitude to one magister or another. There's an entire subclass of "servi publici" to describe people who go bankrupt and become slaves of the Tevinter state to do menial tasks.

I cannot stress this enough: for every Soporati citizen, slavery is what awaits at the bottom line of bankruptcy.

Even in DATV, Tarquin mentions that for most Soporati families, enlisting into the army is the only way to make ends meet, to the point that entire clans and generations consider this the only valid life path. Even he chooses to remain on the state's paycheck as a Templar and do their paperwork while fucking the system from the inside, because otherwise he'd probably have to be a full-time grunt or outlaw.

Based on the codex where Maevaris instructs Dorian about seeking aid from the Soporati, it is mentioned that in a few rare cases, non-magical citizens can reach wealth and status. These are mostly merchant lords and military clans, including The Mercars that a Shadow Dragon Rook hails from.

Based on previous lore about disparities in Tevinter, many people in Docktown should be on the verge of bancruptcy. Neve Gallus with her fancy fascinator and her fancy coat and her designer prosthetic should stand out like a sore thumb. Her presence there had better be justified by her care for the people of Docktown, because otherwise she'd have to look like a tone deaf dandy showing off how far above the others she is, and how much being a Laetan is a fuck you to everyone who doesn't find dormant magic in their bloodline.

Yet, what we see in Docktown is a pretty neat commoner district with a very fancy tavern that hosts live performances and regularly attracts people of all social standings, a healthy competition of merchants with colorful artisan pottery, and cool-looking floating newspaper stands. Neve's favorite fried fish vendor constantly offers her freebies like it's good business strategy.

THIS is why I'm on the team that claims slavery/ poverty isn't represented enough in Docktown.

Tevinter Slavery - Dragon Age Veilguard

Okay I love this game but it has flaws and the more i think about it the more I just... need to rant a little? Will put my rant under the cut because I know some people don't want to see that negativity.

Okay but what the fuck was that choice to just sort of ignore slavery in Tevinter? This has been built up since DAO when Loghain sold elves to Tevinter. Then in DA2 we have Fenris spending years being hunted by Danarius after he escaped.

Now we are IN Tevinter and we're just... ignoring all of that?? I know there is that codex entry from Dorian. Then we have that tiny side quest where we rescue slaves from the venatori. But even that's not Tevinter doing slavery, that's the bad Tevinter zealots doing slavery. As if all of Tevinter isn't built on slavery.

We are in Dock town. Where I assume slaves would be shipped into Tevinter but that's not what we see. I really thought we were going to have a big plot line with the shadow dragons fighting slavery and we didn't get that.

Like... was this EA stepping in and saying "No. No no. We can't talk about THAT."

Because why else would they just abandon this story that's been building up since Origins??

[the-northern-continent]

To me it 100% makes sense that the Inquisitor and Rook aren’t interested in blood magic.

When someone who grew up in Ferelden imagines a blood mage, they’re picturing their burnout cousin who brews moonshine and has punched a cop.

Northern Marchers, or anyone else who grew up within spitting distance of Tevinter, are picturing Mitch McConnell.

[julsera]

Thus I freed the elven people and,

in so doing,

destroyed their world.

[warden-enchantress]

"And so is the Golden City blackened With each step you take in my Hall. Marvel at perfection, for it is fleeting. You have brought Sin to Heaven And doom upon all the world."

[vasiliquemort]

Lies? In my house of God? More likely than you think.

[ekalita-blr]

Q: In your rich life experience, have you ever changed your image: cut your hair, dyed it, shaved your head??? Fashion Age: Podiumguard

[illusivesoul]

Another thing cause I'm still salty. You're telling me that a mage becoming Divine of the Southern Chantry wouldn't change the dynamics between Tevinter and southern Thedas? That we're going to be walking around Minrathous in Veilguard and no one will bring up the southern mage Divine?

Ok then.

[vigilskeep]

the basics of tevinter politics and social classes, as laid out in world of thedas and a little elsewhere

the archon is the supreme ruler of the imperium. their authority and magical power is believed to be divinely granted. they choose their successors before they die, so they are usually the sons, nephews, brothers, cousins, or apprentices of previous archons. (this phrasing implies that, like the black divine, the archon is always a man, and certainly the several named ones we know all are, but i’m not sure if this is necessarily always true.) if an archon does not choose his heir before he dies, the magisterium elects the next; these candidates cannot be magisters or hold rank in the chantry. technically the archon can overrule the laws passed by the magisterium, but he rarely does this. his power mostly stems from families vying for his favour, as he has the unique power to appoint magisters at will. a man named radonis is the current archon; he’s appeared in comics and a war table mission.

the magisterium are the mage elites who regularly gather to govern the imperium and pass laws. magisters become magisters in several ways:

one is chosen from each of tevinter’s seven circles of magi. it cannot be that circle’s first enchanter

the imperial divine and every grand cleric of the imperial chantry gets a seat

magisters can inherit seats

as i mentioned, the archon has the right to appoint any new magister if he chooses

tevinter society breaks down into four major social classes.

the first mage class is the altus class. these are descended from the original “Dreamers”, through ancient and wealthy magical bloodlines. most magisters come from altus families. characters like dorian and danarius belong to this class.

other mages belong to the laetan class. these are mages who cannot trace their ancestry to the dreamers, and may belong to families with no history of magic at all. many vie for power despite their origins, and one third of the imperium’s archons have been laetans. (the first laetan to rise to archon was such an outrage it caused a seventy year civil war, but that was, like, 1500 years ago-ish. they’re more chill about it now.) it feels safe to assume that neve gallus, who says in tevinter nights that she doesn’t feel at home in a wealthy estate because she has more templars in her family than mages, probably belongs to this class.

the soporati are non-mages who are still full tevinter citizens. they are allowed to own property and serve in the military, but they cannot have a direct say in government or rise above the rank of mother/father in the chantry. they can however be civil servants and merchants. a mage born to a soporati family is instantly a laetan.

slaves are not allowed to own property, or to hold military rank even when armed and serving as a personal soldier or bodyguard. they have become a more even mix of humans and elves since andraste’s time. mages can be slaves. if a slave is set free, either by their living owner before a judge or by their owner’s will upon their death, they are considered liberati. liberati are still not citizens and cannot have political say or hold military rank, but they can join a circle of magi, get an apprenticeship in a trade, take apprentices themselves, and own property. fenris was a slave, while his sister varania was implied to have become one of the liberati.

there is also a large surface dwarf population in tevinter. they are not considered citizens, but instead regarded as foreign dignitaries however many generations their families have lived in tevinter. they have large embassies in every major tevinter city, which at least in minrathous, neromenian, and qarinus are completely subterranean, meaning residents can retain their dwarven caste and may never come above ground all their lives. minrathous’ close ties to the dwarves mean it even has a massive proving grounds, as well as enormous stone golems known as juggernauts to guard the city gates. more than anywhere else in thedas, the dwarves do get a political say, with an elected body of representatives called the ambassadoria who advise the archon and the magisterium. it’s the imperium’s reliance on lyrium which gives them this kind of sway.

[clarencerambles]

[ede917]

Remember what I said about how much more opulent Orlais looks compared to Fereldan?

Denerim (Fereldan)

Val Royeaux (Orlais)

And now Minrathous (Tevinter Imperium)

Is it any wonder the Vints always refer to the south as a barbaric place if this is what their capital looks like?

And this is Minrathous after a thousand years of decline. Imagine what the Imperium must have looked like in its prime. Imagine what Arlathan must have looked like!

This is the kind of heavy lore that makes me love Dragon Age.

[shewolfofvilnius]

The dynamic between Neve Gallus and Knight-Templar Rena Savas in The Streets of Minrathous in Tevinter Nights is one of the least heterosexual things I've ever read. I know her character in the game is pan, but it still does not prepare you for the raw sexual tension of the equalist private investigator mage and the Templar she keeps going to see (and who ultimately rallies the troops to rescue her).

[ayamikasai]

I belong to you

Dorian x Lavellan OC Commission for DarkGoddessEris on TikTok ✨

Dorian needed more love on my page ✨

I am honestly so happy with this one. I pray and hope and beg that we see him again in VG 😮‍💨

♥️ Discord (junyami) for commissions!

♥️ Buy me a coffee!

♥️ Buy my prints!

♥️ Watch my speedpaints!

[jpegsthatmove]

When the chief complaint people have is “they’re major events, people would be talking about them!” it makes me realize how deeply poisoned we are by our perspective in the Information Age.

Communication is SLOW without telecom. It can take weeks or months to travel, fast travel exists in the game for your convenience and enjoyment not as a reflection of reality. What’s important gets filtered through the people carrying the news. They might not even report most things. But the time it gets there it’s not even new. Maybe a handful of enthusiasts go out of their way to be up to date about larger politics of the world, but that information requires time and money to care about. Tevinter is in a forever war with Qunari. Southern Thedas is not a priority for Tevinter, and vice versa. And 10 years on, it’s definitely worked its way out of the cultural zeitgeist. We’re not out here in the real world still talking about how the picked the most recent Pope, he’s just the pope now. It’s not new and noteworthy.

I mean, Ukraine and Palestine hardly get news coverage in the US and there are people who DO care. Why do you think Tevinter randos are still going to be discussing events that had almost nothing to do with them from a decade before? It’s just a bad argument tbh

[lavendarr00]

MINRATHOUS | DRAGON AGE THE VEILGUARD

[the-northern-continent]

I’m probably being way too suspicious, but what do we think is the under/over on this guy being Venatori?

might actually be a traitor for legit reasons

pulls punches, but only on one specific group of templars (were they supposed to pick it up? At this point, he thinks it’s still in the building)

seems confused why someone would want to interrupt a Venatori plan, instead of thinking that’s the obvious choice

surprisingly open to all that reckoning language

playing to his ego and bloodline works instantly

“to invoke change” sounds positive in this context, but it’s actually neutral — and the Venatori? Big fans of change.

response to being called noble: “we are who we are”

“[the Venatori] do not understand its power… or yours” sounds an awful lot like “this group, WHICH YOU ARE A MEMBER OF, hasn’t been appreciating your talents — it’s time for you to do what they couldn’t.” This is classic, straight-down-the-middle pride demon talk. He’s getting pride demon’d. By the pride demon. Or, if you prefer, pride spirit.