#this is mostly a character study on emmrich

[absoluteditto]

Upon returning to the lighthouse, after watching Emmrich take a particularly heavy blow, one that was nearly fatal, Rook nearly tears his robes off of his shoulders to see the freshly mended skin. She was the one who healed it, but she needed to physically see that he was alright. Emmrich started crying when he saw the sheer relief in her eyes, but didn't realize until a few hours later that he hadn't felt so truly cherished in quite some time.

He wanders out of his room during the evening on one of their free days to find Rook dozing off on the couch in the library/meeting area. The book she was reading has long since fallen to the floor, and while he likely has the strength to carry her, he does not want to risk waking her. Instead, he takes a quilt from his room and lays it over her. When she wakes, she looks at the quilt fondly and notices a small embroidered signature along the edge. The quilt was made by his mother. The following day, he finds the quilt neatly folded atop his desk along with a handwritten note written in her elegant script. As he pulls the quilt to his chest with a smile, he realizes that she'd sprayed the slightest bit of lavender scented perfume over the quilt.

One day, Rook decides to teach Manfred sign language. She will steal him for around an hour every few days, and slowly but surely he begins to learn. One day, Emmrich takes note that his ward has been gone far longer than usual and decides to set out in search for his companion. His search leads him to the dining room, where he sees Rook sitting with Manfred and having a full conversation with him, while she translates the whole conversation to Neve. His heart feels full as he realizes that there is nothing in the world that he would change if it meant ending up here in the long run, in finding his family amongst the mismatched puzzle pieces that make up the Veilguard. These people who have come to mean so much to him.

[flowersforthemachines]

Some facts about Lucanis (and also Spite and the Crows) gathered from the banters

I went through all companion banters on DanaDuchy's channel after playing the game to write down all facts about companions/the world that I haven't seen brought up anywhere in the game as a writing reference (and for funsies).

Note: This list may not be exhaustive. I might have missed some something or didn't write it down because I considered it common knowledge. If you have anything to add, please DM me or send an ask! (do specify what banter the information is coming from, though)

Note 2: Posts from this series (mostly) don't include information from banters specific to quests or between companions and faction members. I plan to do another playthrough to capture more of those and will add any relevant info to the character posts.

Other characters' posts: Bellara, Davrin, Harding, Emmrich, Neve, Taash. I'm also planning a post about just the Lighthouse some time later

About Lucanis: 

Family and the past:

Lucanis learnt to cook while helping the kitchen staff at the villa when he was a little boy. One of his motivations was learning how to make churros

Side note: Lucanis mentions that cioccolata calda was his favourite drink when he was a baby, and he serves churros to a romanced Rook who picks cioccolata calda as their favourite drink. It’s all coming together! 

Lucanis wanted to be a Crow when he was a child (at least most of the time)  

All of Lucanis's relatives were Crows as well, and all of them were killed by a rival Crow house

Lucanis says Caterina would be proud of Illario hiding his plans well, as well as killing her 

Lucanis says that the hard part about setting Illario free would be convincing Caterina 

Lucanis says that nightlife was more of Illario's thing, and he never got out as much

On Crows and Antiva:

Viago still stares daggers at Lucanis for throwing his (Viago's) pet snake out of the window in a dream

Lucanis doesn't like it when people confuse murder and assassination ("Murderers are hobbyists, we are professionals")

Lucanis has taken contracts in Orlais

Lucanis doesn’t know Treviso as well as he once used to 

Heir didn’t train Lucanis

Lucanis says he has never killed an innocent “by his count” (other people may disagree) 

Lucanis doesn’t think of the Crows as a “big organisation” (unlike the Inquisition) because they stab each other too much

Lucanis became a mage-killer at Caterina’s behest (she wanted to tap into new markets)

The nickname “The Demon of Vyrantium” came from Tevinter news-sheets, though Lucanis thinks Viago started it

Lucanis says that there aren't any special tricks to killing mages. Though, if nothing else works, you can try pissing them off, as that could attract a demon that would eat the mage

Lucanis once killed half a dozen venatori while stuck inside an elevator 

Lucanis doesn’t consider himself a gentleman assassin, manners are less important than getting the job done

Lucanis sometimes spares his targets. He mentioned letting go of a servant who killed her master, as well as a 14-year-old boy. He thinks it’s wrong to kill people so young because they still have time to change

Lucanis doesn’t accept contracts without merit, and the merit is decided by the talon of the house

General:

Lucanis can make bread

Lucanis has never been to Ferelden

Lucanis isn’t interested in killing wyverns, just looking at them :)  

Lucanis has a pet snake 

Lucanis stays awake at night by cleaning his gear, exercising, studying Orlesian and knitting ("it’s just another kind of blade work") 

Lucanis doesn’t understand a lot of things people find attractive

(In a conversation with Harding) Thinking about cooking was one of the things that helped Lucanis stay sane in the Ossuary (the other was thinking about killing his enemies) 

(In a conversation with Davrin) Lucanis survived the Ossuary by shutting down and not thinking about anything except escaping

These two points sort of contradict each other. Either an inconsistency or Lucanis describing his experience differently to different people. 

The Wetlands ruined at least one pair of Lucanis’s boots

(If Rook chooses to save Treviso) Lucanis offers to pay for any supplies the Shadow Dragons may need 

Lucanis doesn't get a better bed because he's afraid of accidentally falling asleep 

Lucanis can identify the killer’s weapon and the height difference between them and the target just through the blood splatter left at the scene

Lucanis considers Grey Wardens dangerous 

Lucanis doesn’t like necromancy, because bringing people back to life is a waste of hard work

Lucanis finds the ice coffee from Minrathous offensive (Harding describes it as “snow, but made of coffee, sweet, and with cream and toffee sauce on top”)

Lucanis had never been in a romantic relationship before Rook/Neve

Relationships with other companions: 

Lucanis gets into reading Bellara’s serials (very passionately - they chat about it a bunch)

Lucanis is outraged that the Veil Jumpers don’t get paid for their work and offers Bellara his contract negotiator

Lucanis made biscuits for Assan

Lucanis is sceptical that the griffons will be safe with the Wardens

Lucanis think that Assan shouldn’t go soft (referring to the time he took care of a halla) because he is a predator at heart

(If Emmrich becomes a lich) Lucanis offers to hold a funeral for Manfred

Lucanis and Harding talk a lot about dreams (mostly silly things like showing up naked for the job, getting chased by someone/something etc.)

Lucanis thinks Harding is deadly with her bow

Lucanis offers to pay Harding for being his lookout/aide at the rate of 6000 gold per contract

Lucanis offers the help of his contract negotiator to Neve after he finds out she doesn't have one

Lucanis made deep-fried peppers for Taash

About Spite: 

Emmrich can hear Spite even when he doesn’t take over Lucanis’s body (at least from a close distance)

Spite is impartial to Emmrich, believing him more than Lucanis

Emmrich says it’s impossible to separate Spite and Lucanis without killing them

Emmrich encourages Lucanis to read to Spite to bring them closer. Lucanis agrees to let Spite pick a book

(If Emmrich becomes a lich) Spite asks if he and Lucanis can get rid of their skin too 

(If Manfred is revived at the Necropolis) Spite asks Emmrich to teach him how to use fire magic. Lucanis isn’t thrilled by the idea

Emmrich sets up wards to prevent Spite from leaving the room when Lucanis is asleep

Spite no longer sleepwalks after “Inner Demons” because he apparently understood the concept of space

By the end of the game, Spite has agreed to stop sleepwalking completely

Spite controls the wings (confirmed in banter with Harding) 

Spite wants to try swinging off the astrolabe at the Lighthouse

Spite is very excited about Manfred having hands and feet (Curiosity. Has. Feet!)

Spite finds the wisps in Neve’s room unnerving (as do Lucanis and Neve)

Spite likes to play with whetstones Bellara got for Lucanis (Bellara got them from the Irelin who supposedly got them from somewhere in Arlathan) 

Spite wants to try eating self-lightning candles at Blackthorne Manor

About the Crows: 

Crows frequently visit Nevarra and have received 20 contacts to assassinate the king. The King has been poisoned 7 times

Crows get a lot of contracts for Divine Victoria

Some seers in Rivain are powerful enough that there are contracts on them as well

Caterina once killed a man with a thimble

When Crows kill someone, most of the time they want others to know it was them (rather than presenting the death as an accident) 

The crows buried six different Eight Talons and rarely take contracts in Ferelden after the Zevran fiasco

[ishaslife]

welcome, weary wanderer 🌖

ABOUT ME:

name: Isha

age: 21

gender and pronouns: female, she/her

MBTI: INFJ-T

socials: YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest

games: dragon age, bg3, ffxiv, elden ring, hakuoki and other visual novels, love and deepspace, wayhaven chronicles and many others.

hobbies: playing video games, occasional writing and reading, making ambience and playlists, cooking & baking, making moodboards, photography, learning/studying history, literature, fables, myths, legends and simping over fictional men alongside being delulu. This may be TMI but, I am a university student majoring in English Literature.

favourite music genres: kpop, dreamcore, folk, high-fantasy ethereal, soundtrack, 2000s rock, 80s-90s synth pop and rock, vaporwave.

I make ambience and playlists on YouTube, my channel is linked above. My content focuses on imagined ambiences and playlists, i.e. how I imagine a fictional place to sound based on descriptions and music representing characters, locations etc. However lately, I have also been dabbling in theory videos.

romances and favourite characters (at least those I can remember off the top of my head):

Alistair Theirin, Fenris, Solas, Emmrich Volkarin (dragon age)

Astarion (baldur's gate 3)

Harada Sanosuke (hakuoki)

Gilbert Redford (piofiore)

Hattori Hanzo (nightshade)

Zayne, Caleb (love & deepspace)

Hien Rijin, Aymeric de Borel, Haurchefant Greystone, Emet-Selch (ffxiv)

Hebaron Nirta (under the oak tree)

Nate (Nathan) Sewell (the wayhaven chronicles)

Jaime Lannister, Jon Snow (asoiaf)

Popular work on YouTube:

astarion is falling in love with you (bg3)

valyrian ambience (asoiaf)

an evening with astarion (bg3)

shadowlands of asshai (asoiaf)

Fanfiction:

unbroken oaths (series) [fandom: under the oak tree, RI: Hebaron Nirta] MLIST

a starlit rendezvous [fandom: baldur's gate 3, RI: Astarion.]

Posts a lot about: everything fantasy, but mostly video games. As of August 2023, the blog has been very focused on Astarion and Baldur's Gate 3 but I also post about ffxiv, dragon age, asoiaf, hakuouki, lotr, gothic arts and literature, history to list a few of my interests. My interests are ever changing and when I get obsessed with something new, I post about that thing for months.

I also write character/game analysis on this blog along with sharing my thoughts on video games, film, television, characters, themes etc. This blog is not political and I have no wish to make it so, it is a place where I share my work and interests.

I don't make new posts everyday, but there are a lot of reblogs.

Moodboards:

Astarion Ancunín (bg3)

Hebaron Nirta (under the oak tree)

Hien Rijin (ffxiv)

Dame Aylin (bg3)

Zayne: Foreseer (love & deepspace)

Xavier: Lightseeker (love & deepspace)

Dr. Zayne (love & deepspace)

Solas (dragon age: inquisition)

Sylus: Relentless Conquerer (love & deepspace)

Enjoy your stay 🤍

[mediumsizedwildcat]

For the Rook questionnaire, 25 and 45 for all four of your Rooks!

Very interesting questions and something I've wondered and thought about before! Thank you for asking! <3

Unfortunately, my answers will probably be very basic xD but i also don't know that many characters off the top of my head, so... Forgive me for being basic? xD

If you want to ask more questions from the Rook questionnaire (it's spoiler free), my ask box is open and I welcome any and all questions about them! (my rooks)

This is a looong post, so I'm putting a read more cut here :3

25. How does Rook like to spend their free time?

a. Luke definitely likes to read, though he hasn't allowed himself much free time. With the Shadow Dragons he was mostly working, only brushing up on some things so he wouldn't stand out too much. Of course he had to hone his skills, too. In a way, the Veilguard actually show him how to relax. Now he watches Davrin carve and might even take up drawing in the future, who knows? He also sews so he doesn't forget how to fix his armors and clothes.

b. Before the Veilguard, Stellan never really had free time. They're too used to being the target, so they've been doing stuff that looked intimidating, like sharpening weapons or training. In the Lighthouse, they're trying to learn about the things the others like. They're learning how to make coffee for Lucanis, trying to figure out how to get through to him that Spite is a person, too, reading the books the Lighthouse's bookclub is up to, learning the finer arts of cooking... They're also writing down what transpired so far and sometimes just sit and stare at the walls, thinking everything that's happened so far through.

c. Nalaya absolutely loves entertaining Manfred. He helps him with his chores, asks him for tea, tries to get a closer look at everything in and around Manfred. She enjoys dragon talk, too, or listening to Emmrich's seemingly endless wisdom. Training with Davrin and Lucanis, philosophical conversations with the Caretaker, you name it. Only reading gives him a headache, so he leaves that up to the professor. And when Nalaya's really lucky, he can find Emmrich in a position where he can just slot in and get some cuddles.

d. Robin has spent the last few years fighting darkspawn and is secretly terrified by their new forms, so he's using Davrin's carvings and some rough drawings he made himself to study them. Antoine is right, the Blight is changed, and it scares the shit out of Robin. However, when he's not studying one of his new fears, he likes to explore. The Lighthouse, the save parts of the Crossroads, and of course Solas. Which means going through drawers and every conversation he's had with the man. He keeps busy with work and tries his best to help people, so there isn't much free time for him, anyway.

45. Who was Rook’s closest friend before joining the Veilguard?

a. Luke didn't have that many friends. Of course he knows fellow Shadow Dragons and could cooperate with them, but what does “close” even mean? He did like to get on Tarquin's nerves and Tarquin let him get away with it the most, but does that make them close friends? Probably not. Luke may also be a bit too paranoid to have close friends, always looking where he could help the most people and how. Unfortunately, the answer is Tarquin, and Luke wouldn't like this question.

b. Stellan's closest friend... Well, as an Antivan Crow, Stellan didn't make friends with most others. There's a sort of friendship going on with Viago, but Stellan has a hard time trusting people. They weren't born into a house and became a Talon's favourite, so friendship tends to mean a dagger in their back. No, thank you. Even with Viago it is a very tentative relationship, though it might count as the “closest” friendship he's had. They work hard, alone, and don't mess up contracts. (Being able to leave was a blessing in disguise.)

c. Nalaya's closest friends before the Veilguard were wisps. There are many of them in the Necropolis and Nalaya trusted them with a lot of things. He even went on a date with a wisp once! They were both children then, but wisps tend to be more understanding than mortal people, in his experience. If hard pressed about his closest mortal friends, he'd have to say VORGOTH and Myrna. Really, he prefers the company of fadefolk.

d. Robin's closest friends are hands down Anotine and Evka. When he joined the Wardens he was in a bad place, mentally and physically, and he fought every Darkspawn he could see. While he wasn't the friendliest (Evka had to knock him out a few times) Antoine and Evka never gave up on him. He wouldn't be the man he is today without them, and he's not afraid to admit that anymore. They taught him kindness and compassion and blighted or not, he wouldn't have it any other way.

[bendingwind]

Hi you wanted to hear more about my Dragon Age world states, didn't you? Naturally you do. I have more PCs than are listed here because I've played Inquisition *mumble mumble* times, these are just my three worldstates that are complete and that I've played end to end.

can't help but pull the earth around me

This is my sandbox worldstate, where I play each game blind and make decisions solely based on ~character vibes~ (I usually make choices within characterization for my PCs, but I craft the PCs that would make the decisions that lead to the story I'm trying to tell in later playthroughs. In this worldstate I just create whomever.)

The Hero of Ferelden is Elemere Cousland, bastard daughter of Eleanor Cousland, though acknowledged by Bryce Cousland. Her bastardry is a semi-open secret given that she looks nothing like either of her parents and her mother's affair wasn't entirely discreet, so she's trained to be a warrior because it's felt her prospects will be better in the army than the marriage market. She learns she's a bastard pretty early in life, and works very hard to prove she's good enough all her life. Her relationship with Fergus is rocky, but she's very close to her mother and to Bryce, who favors her. She and Alistair fall in love, though the path to that is not exactly smooth, and she marries him after the Blight. She's the POV "you" in Hero.

Marian Hawke spars with her father from an early age, and thankfully shows no signs of magic. However, when her sister is revealed to be a mage, her parents make the decision to send her to train as a templar in Gwaren, feeling it will take suspicion off the family if there's a templar sibling. She is deeply unhappy with her training and tries repeatedly to get herself dismissed, with no luck. She begins seducing chantry novices, but none of them will turn her in, until she hears of her father's illness and arranges to be caught herself, after which she is finally dismissed. Bethany nurses her through her lyrium withdraw; possibly at the cost of keeping their father alive, for which Bethany never forgives her. You know most of the rest of the story, but in this one, Bethany is a Circle Mage and Marian sides with the mages despite her misgivings due to her mother's death at the hands of blood magic.

The Inquisitor is Emira Adaar, qunari mercenary from Aqun'anti-koslun, a large settlement of Vashoth and Tal-Vasoth west of Wildervale. They support themselves through some farming but mostly through various mercenary bands, including the Valo-Kas. Emira Adaar was second-in-command of the Valo-Kas, a position she inherited from her cousin Mayan Adaar, before becoming Inquisitor. You know most of her story, too, but: she recruited the mages and she shared a certain multi-cultural, self-discovery journey with Sera. She's briefly mentioned in and yet, by heaven, i think my love as rare though I don't remember in how much detail. When that was intended to be a series, she was Dorian's soulmate (soulmates are often platonic in this 'verse).

Lynette "Rook" Ingellvar has been raised by the Mourn Watch since she was found abandoned as an infant (she's the bastard daughter of a bastard Pentaghast and only 3/4 elven, but she doesn't know that and never learns that and goes through a whole phase of studying her heritage as a teenager). As an ambitious young woman she is put in a position of responsibility but upsets several nobles, resulting in being temporarily sent away from Nevarra to accompany Varric on his adventures, and well, we all know where it goes from there. She pursues Emmrich out of ambition initially, but ends up falling in love with him and encouraging him to fill his life's dream and become a lich. She saves Treviso, loses Harding, and gets her happy ending.

and all of the ghouls come out to play

This is my canon worldstate, the first one I seriously plan out. It features the PCs who had the highest odds of making the cut (there are flowcharts and I once built a calculator specifically to figure out the odds of any given PC being the main character of a given game. I am a nerd, this should surprise no one.)

The Hero of Ferelden is Anatia Brosca, casteless dwarf of Orzammar. Anatia has been roaming the Deep Roads since she was a child, in search of Deep Mushrooms to sell to help support her family and her mother's drinking habit. She's discovered there by the cartel, who put her to work in their smuggling operations. Her story spirals out from there, and she falls in love with Zevran along the way, two mercenary-minded people finding a way to be together precisely because the level of trust between them is so clearly defined.

Marian Hawke is a mage, and furious at the world for the way it has treated her. Despite his mistrust of mages and her mistrust of him, she and Fenris find a way to be together.

The Inquisitor is Mayan Adaar, reluctant qunari mercenary. As a child growing up in Aqun'anti-koslun, she wanted to be a tamaassran, but her magic manifested when she was fourteen and she was redirected into training as a mercenary mage, all the healer support mage roles being filled. She almost gets out after rising to command the Valo-Kas (Shokrakar oversees all of the mercenary bands in my headcanon, not the Valo-Kas specifically) and marrying her second-in-command; when she gets pregnant, she is able to secure a position teaching new mages back in Aqun'anti-koslun and plans to retire. However, as they make their way back to Aqun'anti-koslun, they are attacked, and her husband is slain and she loses her unborn child. She miserably assumes command of the Valo-kas once again, and there her story begins. Wary of magic like most Vashoth mages who are only so far removed from the Qun, she sides with the templars, and she ends up with the Iron Bull. She features in half a dozen, at least.

In progress: Velriel "Rook" Aldwin, Veil Jumper and Davrin romancer

under the starry skies we are lost

This one features some of my absolute favorite PCs. Why isn't it my canon state, then, you ask? Because all of them are extremely unlikely to end up where they do (except Marian Hawke who has a 50/50 chance of being a mage I reckon). Also because this is the worldstate where I ignore canon the most.

The Hero of Ferelden is Noirin Surana, elven mage. She was born to a Denerim washerwoman and a passing Dalish elf, and passed on to the Circle at the earliest opportunity when her magic manifested. At the Circle she was badly mistreated, but a promising student nonetheless. However, her nerves and anxiety due to her mistreatment cause her Harrowing to be pushed back a few times, until she is finally Harrowed at 25, after which our story begins. She romances Morrigan thanks to the power of mods, and when it comes time to conceive the old god baby, she tricks Morrigan into agreeing to a threesome by stating it's the only way Alistair will agree, hijacks the magic and works some more magic so that she ends up the one pregnant, and then marches off to fight the archdemon. Morrigan doesn't realize anything's up for a couple months, after which she seeks out Noirin, Noirin confesses, and they ride off into the sunset together after bickering a whole lot. Noirin makes an appearance in all my possessions for a moment of time.

Marian Hawke is not a mage, and once again gets sent to the templars as in the first 'verse.

The Inquisitor is Eilona "Trev" Trevelyan, youngest daughter of Bann and Lady Trevelyan. The Trevelyans traditionally have three children; one for the land, one for the Order, and one for the Chantry. When her elder sister Cateline, destined for the Chantry, proves to be a mage, her parents decide to have another child: Eilona. Eilona is free-spirited and a bit wild, and runs off with her cousin Arina to tour the countryside at a young age, where she falls into a number of bad habits, chief among them drugs like "blue ruin", an addictive lyrium/deathroot/royal elfroot admixture. After she nearly dies of an overdose at eighteen while touring Kirkwall, her parents send her to live with her aunt in the Hercinia Chantry, and after a couple of years of good behavior they allow her to come home. However, she quickly falls into bad habits again, resulting in another trip to the Chantry, and after a few years of back-and-forth like this, a mostly-clean Trev is sent to represent the Ostwick Chantry with several sisters at the Conclave, where she becomes Inquisitor. Cullen knew of her reputation in Kirkwall and is initially very judgemental and dismissive of her, while she falls in love with him. When she discovers how he really feels she is deeply hurt, but works to shape up and live up to his expectations. He, in the meantime, comes to see the good side of her with some unsubtle nudges on the part of Leliana, and they fall in love. Also she sides with the mages in remembrance of her sister, who dies attending the conclave as a mage representative. She's in runaway and Blue Ruin (WIP).

Antonia "Anette" "Rook" de Riva was orphaned at a very young age, when the king ordered her family (minor nobility from near Brynnlaw) assassinated. She was found after the killings, and brought back to House de Riva by her birth parents' assassin, Cayetano. He and his husband Liam, a former Orlesian bard he met in his line of work, raise her for a few years until they are killed in the same internal battles for power that kill Lucanis' parents. Anette, six, is sent to become a fledgling. Three years later, a sixteen-year-old Viago joins the Crows, and Anette takes him under her wing and teaches him the ropes of fledgling life. They are often partnered together in the years that follow, until he gains his mastery through his understanding of poisons and she lags behind, her magic having finally manifested and caused her career to pause for retraining. After she learns to control her magic, Anette is primarily used for jobs that need to be flashy and brutal and often large in scale, which means they pay well but are fewer and farther between. Additionally, because she is flashy by design, many Crows look down on her and she is not in high regard when she attacks the Antaam and is sent off with Varric. She and Lucanis fall in love, though it's not a great match and they struggle a lot.

honorable mention

Because I love her I also have to mention Inquisitor Ynés Lavellan, who lost her entire family except for her son and spent years finding work as a guide taking academics, lords of fortune and other looters to elven sites to make enough money to support herself and her son after being unable to find a clan that could take another mage. She eventually rejoins clan Lavellan after two of their mages die in an epidemic and brings her son Mihail (another of my PCs) with her. By the time of Inquisition she is 42 years old and attends as a spy for her clan; she sides with the mages naturally, and romances Blackwall, though they nearly don't make it through the reveal of his true identity and her son never forgives him. Also she punches Solas because he's a dick about the Dalish, and I consider this a core component of her characterization. She's in sing me a lullaby.

Because I love him, I also have to mention Isbrand "Brand" "Rook" Thorne, Grey Warden and Neve romancer. He's featured in A Boy's Plan, in which he thinks he can evade going to a Circle by joining the Grey Wardens directly, and is set straight.

[maythedreadwolftakeyou]

Here's mine!

Rook: Juniper Aldwir, a dalish elf mage, I mostly went for the direct/aggressive dialogue options with a few of the more positive/nicer or joke-y options in companion convos. I went with the spellblade specialization and ended up loving it after a rough mage start. I also played arcane warrior/knight enchanter my first DAO and DAI runs though so. lmao. i have a type.

Faction: Veil jumpers! How could I not go with the scientific study of weird magic group... I've decided she's more on the geography and cartography side of the profession rather than mechanics/tinkering like Bellara, which is why she's not the one fixing the broken objects you encounter herself. I imagine she's the one drawing maps of all the places you go, making notes of interesting landmarks/items, etc. the crossroads drives her insane (bc it drives ME insane) because of the weird half reality half fade logic to the locations, travel, etc.

Companions/NPCs: My go to companion squad was Lucanis and Davrin or Taash for the best combos/fighting, and Emmrich because I enjoyed his comments/character a lot too. NPC wise, of course finally seeing FELASSAN!!! was great and he got so much more content and dialogue than I expected. was cheering every time i found another codex entry from him, and the Betrayal fight ruled. otherwise, like most everyone else i LOOOOVEEEE Teai & Viagos Divorced Energy... i'm obsessed. And then Antoine & Evka for actually wholesome, and Vorgoth bc idk wtf is up there but its sexy. but also THE CARETAKER what IS it... i have so many questions... that i will be filling in with weird headcanons probably. I also liked listening in on the two fledgling crows on the balcony who have a ton of unique banters, and a couple other npc banter points idk how to describe lmao. Some of the spirit ones in the crossroads I wish we got more of.

Romance: Lucanis my BELOVED obviously i am doing... an insane amount of lucanisposting lately... yeah I've got the full brainworms. even though the game itself was lacking in content my neurons are instead working overtime to try to fill in everything the game left out

Major decisions: I saved Treviso because Minrathous JUST had its turn being saved, shouldn't they like??? be mobilizing the ARMY they actually have over there by now??? they should have been better prepared idk what else to say. insane it got hit a 3rd time at the end anyway so i stand by my choice in picking Antiva. As for the companion endings, I felt most didn't really make a difference to me, with the exception of Emmrich. I kept manfred on this run becuase I was NOT ready to say goodbye to my gentle skeleton son 😭 next game i will romance Emmrich and make him a lich tho. As for the ending... I sent Harding to lead the second squad and Neve was the one who got mirror-kidnapped. Whcih did leave for an absolutely devastating post-Nightmare-In-Dreamland fade sequence where Rook suddenly had NONE of the companions she started the game with. Getting hit with losing Harding, losing Neve, and then the realization that Varric had been dead the whole time definitely makes for some angsty roleplay opportunity, though I do wanna replay it with Bellara in the final position just so I can watch her stand up to the gods, because i think that'd be pretty great. Ending-wise: I'm a Solavellan fool who's been pining for a real life decade now almost so I of course went for that lmao. I will play through all the other options just for the drama of it all, and probably come up with some adjusted exact sequence for how things go as a headcanon, but yeah.

again pls feel free to reblog & add yours, i've really liked reading about the couple who've answered so far :))))

ok i know ive been doing a lot of bitching about the game etc but putting that aside for a moment. Now that more people have finished Veilguard, I'm curious about people's first playthroughs!

What kind of Rook did you make (lineage, class, dialogue personality options, etc)?

What faction did you play as?

Fave companions and npc's?

Who did you romance?

The major choices--what'd you do? (which city, saved, notable companion routes you strongly prefer, what went down in act 3 and endgame...)

Any particular missions/lore you were excited about?

you don't have to be a mutual to reply to/reblog this! im just curious what we all veered to for the first run. i'm doing a second one now making different choices but it's interesting to compare people's first instincts.

[flowersforthemachines]

Some facts about Emmrich (and also the Necropolis, Nevarra and other related things) gathered from the banters

I went through all companion banters on DanaDuchy's channel after playing the game to write down all facts about companions/the world that I haven't seen brought up anywhere in the game as a writing reference (and for funsies).

Note: This list may not be exhaustive. I might have missed some something or didn't write it down because I considered it common knowledge. If you have anything to add, please DM me or send an ask! (do specify what banter the information is coming from, though)

Note 2: Posts from this series (mostly) don't include information from banters specific to quests or between companions and faction members. I plan to do another playthrough to capture more of those and will add any relevant info to the character posts.

Other characters' posts: Bellara, Davrin, Harding, Lucanis, Neve, Taash. I'm also planning a post about just the Lighthouse some time later

About Emmrich:

Family and early life:

“Volkarin” is a commoner’s name. Emmrich’s father was a butcher, and his mother was a cook 

When Emmrich was around 5 years old, his neighbours had a pig named Lucy. He was very fond of her, and she’d always let him hug her around his neck

Emmrich grew up poor (clocked by Neve based on the way he always saves his candle stubs, shows up first for meals and never leaves food on his plate) 

Emmrich grew up hearing that all dragons were so hostile they had to be slain and is surprised that Taash has found ways to deal with them peacefully 

General:

The gold Emmrich’ wears is called “grave-dowry” (or “grave gold”). It’s a Nevarran custom to wear precious objects one would like to take to their grave

Emmrich’s bracelet (not specified which one) was gifted to him on the day he became a full Watcher. The ring with a large stone was the last gift from his father. The skull pin doesn’t have a story, he just likes it

Emmrich isn’t fond of the Nevarran nobility

Emmrich’s shaving cream smells like potash (at least to Taash)

Emmrich uses moss perfume with flowers

Decades ago, Emmrich used to see an Orlesian woman who was an art appraiser

If Emmrich wasn’t a watcher, he would like to be a botanist

Emmrich displays some interest in Ferelden, mentioning that many of its heroes greatly shaped the history. Harding says that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said about her homeland

Emmrich doesn't like beer because it's bitter

Emmrich prefers tea (he mentions purchasing a Brynnlaw curled-leaf blend in Nevarra), but he can also drink coffee 

Emmrich doesn’t eat meat (seafood and insects included), but he indulges in cheese. It seems to be a Watcher thing - he says that each Watcher must decide what they will and won't take a life for, and meat crosses that line for him

Emmrich likes melons, mushrooms and pineapples. He also enjoyed a plate of fried leeks and potatoes at Halos’s stand in Minrathous

Emmrich always thought he’d get married one day

After a Minrathous merchant sells Emmrich fake charms, he causes him to see skeletal faces on the windows and hear spirits whispering that false goods endanger lives as punishment. Emmrich agrees to stop once Neve tells him that she can convince the merchant to get back to selling linen if the visions cease

On magic and studies:

Some deaths may leave emotional imprints so intense Emmrich may feel them decades later 

Emmrich thinks the magic of old Elven artefacts is “rigid” 

Emmrich isn’t very good at figuring out Elven artefacts (by his own admission)

Emmrich’s first published work was A Monograph on the Vagaries of Determining a Body's Time of Death

Emmrich is roughly familiar with the dragon anatomy

Emmrich knows a lot about how bodies work (muscle-wise etc.) from the time he performed autopsies 

Watchers study the death practices of other cultures. Emmrich knew about Eb-ketarra and the Rivaini traditions even before Taash performs them at the end of their questline

On life in the Necropolis: 

When Emmrich fell for another boy during his youth, he showed him a corpse he was allowed to practice dissection on. The date was ruined by a passing wisp possessing the body and causing it to sit up and ruin the mood 

Emmrich tutored Dorian during his term in the Necropolis (“Tremendous potential, but appallingly flippant towards the dead”)

Emmrich and other watchers live in the Necropolis (Emmrich has a flat there)

On life at the Lighthouse:

It took 8 skeletons half a day to bring that slab of marble into Emmrich’s room

He didn’t bring his entire collection of books to the Lighthouse (there are more)

Emmrich talks to skulls in his room 

Lighthouse kitchen reminds Emmrich of the mortuary

Relationships with companions:

Emmrich offers to introduce Bellara to Audric, the Necropolis librarian (who appeared in Tevinter Nights’ Down Among the Dead Men)

Emmrich calls the Archive spirit a work of art  

Emmrich and Davrin disagree on parenting methods. Emmrich thinks Davrin should better discipline Assan and teach him boundaries, while Davrin suggest Emmrich should let Manfred learn more on his own (e.g. let him fall so he learns how to get up) 

Emmrich turns to Neve when he needs help acquiring some reagents he can't get his hands through normal ones, and she agrees to help him out (smuggling is involved)

Emmrich isn’t too thrilled about Neve taking over the Threads, questioning of what’s going to become with the organisation and the future and thinking it may become corrupt (sort of mirroring the way Neve is apprehensive about his lichdom) 

Taash likes Emmrich’s lich helmet. They are not usually fond of skulls, but that helmet is fine because it’s on fire

Taash thinks that gemstones like amethyst or green opal would look good with the lich helmet

Emmrich doesn’t seem to like unrealistic books as he criticised Harding’s “Gore-Knight” novels for their incorrect interpretation of magic. He is worried about people misunderstanding magic and spirits

Emmrich calls himself Harding's 'de facto physician'

On Manfred: 

(If Rook chooses to save Treviso) Manfred brings Neve tea by his own volition. Emmrich thinks it's because Manfred sensed she might need a friend

Manfred is as aware of his surroundings as most people (to a certain degree)

(If revived at the Necropolis) Manfred learns to say Emmrich’s name 

(If revived at the Necropolis) Manfred becomes much more talkative 

Manfred likes boiling tea because he is fascinated by steam

Emmrich suggests Manfred tries tending to plants in Harding's garden 

Manfred is curious about Spite and wanders into Lucanis’s room at night

Spite and Assan miss Manfred if he’s gone

On Lichdom:

Emmrich smells fine to Taash even after he becomes a lich 

Emmrich’s lich helmet burns with veilfire. He once tried using it in combat, but the flame ended up blinding him

Emmrich thinks Strife would no longer be interested in a relationship after he becomes a Lich. That doesn't prove to be true

Lich!Emmrich doesn't need to eat but still comes by the kitchen for company

The energy of Emmrich’s magic changed after he became a lich

Other liches call lich!Emmrich “Young Volkarin” 

Lich!Emmrich no longer has muscles, but when he tries out Taash’s pull-up routine, he can still feel something like “a spectral memory of flesh”, as if he had pulled a tendon

Emmrich starts seeing more books in the Lighthouse library after becoming a linch

About spirit, demons, and the Necropolis: 

There are spirits of Temperance and Diligence 

The Watchers avoid using the word “demon” because it creates bad expectations and can negatively influence spirits 

Some in the Mourn Watch suspected that elves originated from spirits, though it was just one of many theories, and not a particularly popular one

Chambers in the Necropolis can go missing (according to MW!Rook, they turn up, eventually)  

Even after the despair demon is banished from the Necropolis, the halls remain cold. However, the effects will abate with time

There are horses on display in the Necropolis

Watchers rarely get possessed thanks to the special wards of the Necropolis. Possessions also don’t happen as often because the necromancers already provide spirits with bodies, so they don't need to possess anyone by force

Bellara calls the background magic of Necropolis tidy and quiet

There something called “The Deep Necropolis” featuring sections like “The Unspoken Valley” and “The Charnel Bridge” (which has something called “nightmare fog”) that hosts all kinds of entities. Bellara is very excited to visit once the nightmare fog clears

Vorgoth ensures that the transgressions of those who use magical to cruel and abusive means will not be tolerated (whatever that means)

About Nevarra:

Many great Nevarran artefacts have been lost to time, including the Skull of Sabinar, the Key of Dead Dreamers, and the Crown of the Moon

There are strict rules about selling enchantments in Nevarra. You can’t sell anything without a licence and an inspection from the mage Circles

A Tevinter poem “Faustina's Song”, a romantic epic from the Steel Age, is very popular in Nevarra, and its quotes are used on ‘more than one’ epitaph in the Necropolis. Neve is surprised people even read it outside Tevinter 

Pineapples don’t grow in Nevarra

[flowersforthemachines]

Some facts about Bellara (and also the Veil Jumpers, and other random Elven things) gathered from the banters

I went through all companion banters on DanaDuchy's channel after playing the game to write down all facts about companions/the world that I haven't seen brought up anywhere in the game as a writing reference (and for funsies).

Note: This list may not be exhaustive. I might have missed some something or didn't write it down because I considered it common knowledge. If you have anything to add, please DM me or send an ask! (do specify what banter the information is coming from, though)

Note 2: Posts from this series (mostly) don't include information from banters specific to quests or between companions and faction members. I plan to do another playthrough to capture more of those and will add any relevant info to the character posts.

Other characters' posts: Davrin, Harding, Lucanis, Emmrich, Neve, Taash. I'm also planning a post about just the Lighthouse some time later

About Bellara

Family and past:

Bellara’s mother is a woodworker who sells furniture in Orlais, and her father is an herbalist. He taught her about deadly plants (for her own safety)

Bellara didn’t tell her parents about Cyrian’s (second) death

Bellara once broke both of her arms while racing an Aravel 

Bellara learnt magic from her Keeper and later the Veil Jumpers, but she also studied a lot on her own by reading books and just trying things out

When she was little, Bellara wondered what it’s like to settle down instead of moving all the time (just like Davrin did) 

General:

Bellara can better focus on writing when she has background noise (like Rook talking)

Bellara likes tea (but can also drink coffee after she pulls an all-nighter, which seems to happen pretty often)

Bellara liked Lucanis’s grilled fish

Bellara didn’t know any Qunari recipes before joining the Veilguard

Bellara wouldn’t want to be an assassin, but she would be interested in taking lessons from Crows about assassination techniques

Bellara thinks that most people in Tevinter are condescending, even the nice ones 

Magic and life with the Veil Jumpers: 

Bellara once found an artifact that was basically an ancient elven mechanical toothbrush 

Bellara is a Veil Jumper because Arlathan is her home, and she can’t stand by and do nothing. Also, because of the artefacts

Part of the reason why Irelin and Bellara broke up is that Bellara became too consumed by studying/fixing artefacts 

Bellara and Davrin agree that the Veil Jumpers’ odds are even worse than the Wardens’

Bellara thinks that the ancient Elven magic feels cold

Bellara didn’t find anything on the Devouring Storm in the libraries or Circles. Vorgoth and Myrna never heard of it either 

Life at the Lighthouse: 

Bellara owns a bronze candleholder shaped like a fennec

Bellara thinks that the Fade in the Lighthouse is almost too calm compared to Arlathan

Bellara likes her space in the Lighthouse and feels like “it's been waiting for her”

The Archive sometimes stares at people who come by

Bellara eventually suggests that she and Lucanis completely take over the cooking. Everybody except for Harding dreaded any meal not cooked by them anyway and gleefully agreed

Antoine let Bellara borrow his compound for flaming arrows to see how it reacts in the Fade (she doesn’t speak about the results, but she used at least one compound for testing without incidents and later wants to borrow more) 

Relationships with companions: 

Bellara offers Davrin to listen about his findings regarding the Gloom Howler as he searches for the missing griffons, saying she's a good listener

Bellara asks Neve if she can become a Shadow Dragon and is very excited when she hears “Yes”

However, when Emmrich offers her to join the Mourn Watch, she turns him down saying that the Veil Jumpers need her. 

A writing inconsistency. Probably. 

Neve once saw Bellara poking around Assan, trying to figure out if he was real or some clever mechanical contraption 

Bellara wants to make pillows out of Assan’s molted feathers (but Davrin refuses because he finds it weird)

Bellara made dog biscuits for Assan (that Davrin accidentally ate the first time). The next time she brought a batch, she left them in a box labelled “Assan biscuits inside, do not eat.” Assan liked them!

Bellara once covered Assan in olive oil thinking it could improve his wind resistance and let him fly faster. Didn’t work. 

Bellara offers Emmrich to co-author a paper about ancient elves after they find out elves came from spirits

Bellara asks Emmrich about vampires multiple times. According to him, when a Hunger Demon possesses a corpse, the resulting abomination can seek out blood, sort of resembling a vampire. They can't turn into bats though

According to Neve, some magisters in Minrathous have tried bonding with Hunger Demons which resulted in them having immense power but also a craving for blood 

Bellara and Harding swap books for reading

Bellara gets into lifting using Harding's rocks

Bellara doesn’t think she needs to threaten Lucanis when she finds out he and Neve are dating because Neve could wipe the floor with him herself if she wanted (Lucanis agrees) 

Bellara is fine with Lucanis taking on Ghilan’nain’s contract (“Whatever we were worshipping, it wasn’t her") and cheered him on at Weisshaupt

Bellara asks Neve to beta-read her story

(If Neve and Rook are in romance) Bellara thinks that solving cases together is romantic

(If Neve leaves after Rook chooses to save Treviso) Bellara kept notes of everything that happened while Neve was away to help her adjust after she’s back

About the Veil Jumpers:

Bellara mentioned that a certain elf camped in some ruins, and one day woke up stuck in the clouds. The Veil Jumpers haven’t figured out a way to get them down, so they just send them food and water

Veil Jumpers use some of the artefacts they have recovered as weapons. However, they don’t use them often, since most of them need to be charged after one use, and nobody really knows how to do that 

Veil Jumpers eat whatever Arlathan Forest provides

Though Bellara also mentions she doesn’t forage in the forest anymore. Strife does, however, he always finds something edible

It’s hard to say how many Veil Jumpers are out there because people die/go missing/leave too often to keep a proper count

The Veil Jumpers once found an artefact that caused whoever activated it to get sucked into the Fade. One guy got trapped inside because he used it even if the others told him not to. Bellara is weirdly nonchalant about that whole thing

The Veil Jumpers once found something like an entrance to the Deep Roads on the Southern Edge of Arlathan Forest. The group that found it sealed themselves inside and destroyed the entrance, leaving a note telling the others not to enter. Davrin hypothesises it could be one of the pools similar to the one we saw in the Horrors of Hormak

Ritsivas from the Veil Jupmers is non-binary (mentioned by Harding in a conversation with Taash)  

Misc:

The power crystals are called “June'suledin'bellanaris'ena'ghilan'lasa'shiral”. You may infer the reasons everybody just calls them 'power crystals'

Not all traps in Elven ruins were originally meant to be traps, but their magic is old, so it doesn’t recognise modern people and can backfire. And sometimes magic just degrades over time and accidentally rips the Veil, summoning demons

Andruil’s Gauntlet is an ancient site meant to test hunters who want to wield the mightiest weapons. It’s filled with traps, and no one has made through it in ages. It was made by Andruil’s priests to test the warriors of Elvhenan 

Clans Nuvenis and Sabrae live in Ferelden. Harding’s village traded with the Sabrae in the past