#titans and kal sharok

[dreadfutures]

those big evanurisy strokes are definitely filled in and i am having a blast

desperately gotta get this fic finished before all my lore theories are proven true lmao

[mabaris]

the thing I’m very interested to see is Harding’s relationship to other dwarves as her weird magic manifests.

she’s a surfacer; I feel like no matter what happens, Orzammar dwarves are going to point at her as an example, saying, “this is what happens when you lose your stone sense, you basically become a human, and this is why you should stay underground because we’re safe down here”

[lavellane]

i dont like the idea of everything being linked to the fade or the elves and mages etc etc and i think ive said that several times atp. but yknow what i DO want linked to everything? the deep roads actually. and im being serious abt that

[baejax-the-great]

If the Blight is defeated, does this mean we can reclaim the Deep Roads now

[dungeons-and-dragon-age]

oooh right i forgot about this dude

[felassan]

Hello! I know a lot of elven lore stuff has been shared with us and confirmed but I was wondering if any dwarf lore or titan stuff maybe has been glossed over or if I just haven't seen anything, thought you might know if so

hello! ◕‿◕ speculation about plotbeats aside, in the marketing/info for DA:TV they haven't really mentioned much dwarf or titan stuff. Kal-Sharok was mentioned here (unclear if that means we are going there or not). The Deep Roads are confirmed as a location that we will visit. this looks like Deep Roads concept art (this one is also interesting). Rook can be a dwarf. creatures that look to be darkspawn afflicted by red lyrium (lyrium being called the blood of Titans) are known to be monsters that we will fight and a problem that we will encounter in the game. Harding, a dwarf, now has unexpected magical powers. given what happened to Valta in The Descent DLC, I [speculation] wonder if this has something to do with the titans.

[erosathelstan]

Spoilers for DATV.

Don't read until you've finished it please.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

As a Solasmancer, I don't think playing Veilguard is as rewarding for non-Solas appreciators as it is for us. Like, sure. You could absolutely go fuck Solas up in the ending, but what of the life lived before Veilguard? What of Inquisition's other companions? If you romance anyone other than Solas, I feel like those supposedly meaningful and driving connections are sidelined. What of a Hawke or Alistair trapped in the Fade? Not even a single mention of them, or a remembrance.

I get that we are facing powers never before seen in the world of Thedas, and that miniscule moments may be overlooked in the grander scheme of two fucking blighted gods escaping their prison but holy fucking shit, I would want to know what happened to other characters I have grown to care about! They made Morrigan's fate matter in Inquisition, to a degree - why can't it matter now? Especially when Kieran, a LITERAL PURIFIED FRAGMENT OF A CORRUPT ANCIENT GOD, may exist? That could've and should've meant something! Even the origins of the blighted lyrium idol did not feel as substantial as it should have!

And the Titans! Why are they a mere honorable mention apart from Harding's questline after all the set up they'd done in The Descent DLC? The people of Kal-Sharok! I would've loved to have so much more of them, of how they live now despite the Blight and under Valta's protection. Make no mistake - I enjoyed Harding's questline, cried really damn hard about it, but the story of a whole people lost and disconnected to who they once were could've been a much bigger plot point considering that there are two or even three races that share the same story. Modern elves, the dwarves, and the Qunari are such lost people with beautifully tragic histories that I wish were not mere hints, but fully (or at least, partially more) explorable areas in the story. It would've driven the choices regarding what to do with Solas even deeper.

I enjoyed the experience, though. I feel very vindicated with the theories I have long since kept to myself as well as witnessed others discuss within the community. It's just that, despite the rollercoaster ride DATV took me through, I feel like a lot more could've been done for the time it took them to make it. And I wish they'd had the freedom or means to do just that.

Maybe in the next games, they would.

[dalishious]

as a dwarf fan the way a lot of the da fandom are elf fans im SO pumped for kal-sharok info!!!!!!! ever since it was first mentioned in origins ive been dying to know more. i hope we get a large amount of info/plot on the titans too, bc that was a huge thing to just drop in a dlc. it seems like it could be relevant bc its implied they were hunted down by the ancient elves. (also just because im here talking about dwarves, the brosca origin doesnt get enough love. from casteless to paragon, literally not existing to your people to being revered by them is SUCH an interesting character line)

I am obviously more of an elf fan, but I definitely think dwarves have a lot of interesting lore too! So I am looking forward to more information as well. :)

[notebooks-and-laptops]

* I've left dalish/elvish stuff off here because that's pretty much expected of Dreadwolf with it's set up

[yolatirra]

Okay, with all the Game Informer information I'm going to take a stab at some speculation for where the story is going & what's going to happen.

This turned out to be... a very long post.

---The Evanuris---

First of all, I was right that the male figure is Elgar'nan! Not that it was an uncommon theory, but I still haven't seen anyone else pointing out that his symbol is an eclipse, so I'm still running with my Elgar'nan - God of Darkness/Eclipses theory. But I'm still not sure exactly what to say about it other than that.

We can now make a pretty solid guess that the final voice in the Thedas Calls teaser trailer is Elgar'nan. His dialogue suggests that he's trying conquer the world, which makes sense. He was the leader of the elven pantheon, and likely kind of a tyrant. Ghilan'nain, on the other hand, I suspect cares more about doing her weird experimental stuff than ruling the world. I suspect each one will be causing different problems for us.

-Ghilan'nain-

Ghilan'nain might be attacking places and/or sending monsters to attack for her, in order to collect material for her experiments, meaning people, animals, lyrium, red lyrium, and other stuff. She may have particular interest in Seheron, Par Vollen, and Rivain, because of the Qunari presence in those places. There's also the tentacle monster we see over Rivain in the Thedas Calls trailer, and the voice associated with Rivain saying "Glory to the risen gods, they come to deliver this world".

I've always suspected she has some connection to the Qunari, because they seem to be a created race, and she's the most likely candidate for having created them. If a Tevinter magister was responsible for creating the Qunari, it may have been the Augur of Mystery, aka the high priest of Razikale, who is almost certainly either Ghilan'nain herself or a dragon who is closely connected to her.

There are also the thaigs. In Horror of Hormak, we learn that there were 12 mountains that (probably) Ghilan'nain sent elven prisoners to. There were also 12 great Dwarven thaigs. With the creepy lyrium pool in Hormak destroyed, that leaves the 3 currently inhabited thaigs, Orzammar, Kal-Sharok, and Kal-Hirol (which was only recently reclaimed). Of these, Kal-Sharok I think is the most likely for us to visit, since it's furthest north and we've heard of vague weird stuff happening there. So I suspect Ghilan'nain will be up to some shit over there.

I'm also wondering now if the lyrium pools are directly powered by titans in some way, which would explain why they are seemingly in the same places as the thaigs. Or maybe they just need to be built near titans for better access to lyrium.

There's also the Scaled Ones. If they end up being relevant, they're probably connected to Ghilan'nain.

-Elgar'nan-

I have fewer guesses about Elgar'nan, but I expect he'll go after Tevinter. He might kill the Archon or the Black Divine, or both. I could see him convincing many magisters to follow him, just by offering them power. The Venatori in particular would probably be happy to follow Elgar'nan, since they're already familiar with red lyrium, and Elgar'nan probably knows how to use red lyrium far more effectively than anyone else in Thedas. I wouldn't be surprised if Elgar'nan fully takes control of Tevinter at some point in the game.

---Locations & Companions---

-Seheron & Par Vollen-

We don't have any confirmation or even strong hints that we'll be visiting these places, but it wouldn't surprise me if we do. We should at least be learning a lot more about them. I think with Ghilan'nain in the picture, we may even learn where the Qunari actually came from, or at least get some clearer hints about it. It would be cool to finally learn what the Fog Warriors are.

We've been hearing about the Qunari less than I expected in recent news, but they may just be choosing to focus on Solas and the Evanuris for now.

-Rivain-

Taash is probably from Rivain, going by her being a Lord of Fortune and her location in the reveal trailer, so that's one connection. There's also the "glory to the risen gods" voice from the Thedas Calls teaser, which is probably either a Qunari leader or a Rivaini spiritual leader of some kind. Or, if the Lords of Fortune have a leader, that's another option.

-Antiva-

The "the crows rule Antiva" voice from the Thedas Calls teaser is probably a leader of the Crows. I'm going to guess this is Caterina Dellamorte, grandmother of Lucanis. It would make sense that we have some connection to her through Lucanis. Either he gets us access to Caterina, or Lucanis joins us because we talk to Caterina. That said, the world seems to think Lucanis is dead according to "The Wake", and something weird is going on with him, with all the weird purple eyes and wings symbolism, so who knows.

-The Anderfells/Weishaupt-

I'd love to see more of the Anderfells besides Weishaupt, but I'm guessing Weishaupt will be a very important location in this game. I suspect the blighted forest we see Davrin in in the reveal trailer is either south-east of Weishaupt in the foothills of the Hunterhorn mountains, or north in the Donarks.

Really hoping we go to the shore of the Volca Sea at some point, but there's no particular evidence for that.

I think Weishaupt is going to be pretty much destroyed in this game, and we may visit it more than once.

-Nevarra-

The Necropolis is going to be important somehow, but I can't even guess at how. Maybe there's some old artifact buried in its depths and we have to find it? Maybe there's a particular spirit living down there we need to talk to? Maybe, like much of Thedas, the Necropolis is actually Old As Fuck and there's elven stuff at the bottom.

Emmrich, of course, will be our guide.

-The South-

I doubt we'll be going anywhere we've been before. Skyhold seems to have gotten its farewell in Callback, so as much as I'd love to see it updated in pretty graphics, I don't think we'll go there. Though maybe we could see it in a flashback, and find out why it's called Tarasyl'an Te'las. I could also see a quick visit to Val Royeux to talk to the Divine or whoever is on the throne, but I think it's more likely they'd come to us in the north or we'll just talk to them via letters or through the Inquisitor.

-Tevinter-

Okay, I think there are going to be some BIG changes to Tevinter by the end of this game. I expect Elgar'nan to kill most of its existing leadership, so by the time we take down Elgar'nan, Tevinter will need a completely new government.

I think the Tevinter-Qunari war will be resolved in the first half of the game, because both sides are going to be taken over or destroyed by the Evanuris. "Peace" via conquering.

---Plot---

-Prologue Predictions-

Here's my guess for "where the hell is Varric when Rook & the others are in the fade?"

While I, like most people, agree that Varric's death has been HEAVILLY foreshadowed, I don't think he dies this early on in the game. The devs and the community council members keep saying he's a major character, and I don't think they would keep emphasizing that if he dies a few hours into the game. At least a couple community council people have even said they do not know Varric's fate, and they've played a good bit further than the Game Informer article described. I do, however, think Varric will die at some point in the game, either at the midpoint or sometime during the second half. I doubt all the foreshadowing is purely a red herring.

I also think a part of the ritual site scene was cut out of the gameplay trailer. After Solas blows away the statue, I think Varric tries to take the dagger away from him while he's distracted, and probably succeeds. Either Varric has the dagger, or he gets it away from Solas and it falls off the platform (which I think is more likely). He then falls down the stairs, which is why we maybe see him in the background in that one shot. I doubt Solas attacked him or hurt him intentionally, but he may have used magic to pin him in place, which would explain the green glow & why the blurry figure seems to try to get up, but can't.

What I'm not sure about is how Rook's blood gets mixed in with the ritual. Maybe Rook helps Varric get the blade away from Solas, and ends up getting cut by it? Maybe there's some kind of fight between Solas and the Evanuris and Rook gets caught in the middle?

Moving on past the gameplay trailer, I don't think Varric gets sucked into the fade with the others. Either he manages to hide from Ghilan'nain and Elgar'nan, or they dismiss his presence as unworthy of their attention and leave without hurting him. A few things could happen after that.

Varric goes back through the eluvian and arrives back in Tevinter as expected. He goes to the Inquisitor or to Dorian, seeking help from old friends because he has no idea what happened to Rook, Neve, Harding, and Solas.

Varric goes back through the eluvian, but it takes him somewhere else, because it's not working right with Solas stuck in the fade. From there Varric still finds his way back to the Inquisitor or Dorian, or he ends up lost somewhere.

Varric gets picked up by other Veil Jumpers, and we meet up with him soon after the quest with Bellara. This could also happen if he tries going through the eluvian and it doesn't work.

If Varric ends up lost somewhere but isn't picked up by the Veil Jumpers, I think he'll end up back with the Inquisitor or Dorian regardless. I doubt we'll spend multiple missions trailing after Varric.

While the idea of Varric getting stuck in the fade with Solas is funny, I doubt it would actually happen. One, I don't know if anyone but an Evanuris could survive the fade prison Solas has created. Two, it seems like a waste of Varric as a character. Presumably he wouldn't be able to communicate with Rook the way Solas can, so he'd just be absent from the story until he and Solas are freed. That doesn't line up with him being a "major character".

Could the Evanuris capture him? I guess, but... why? These are elven gods, and we know the ancient elves didn't really see the dwarves as people ("witless, soulless"). What information would they expect to get from him? They likely wouldn't consider using him as a bargaining tool either. They'd be more likely to kill him than capture him, but even that I think is unlikely. I think they'd just ignore him, or not even notice him.

When Rook leaves the Lighthouse and ends up meeting Bellara, they're trying to get back to the ritual site. Why would it be important to return there? Two reasons. One, figure out where Varric is and if he's dead or not, and two, retrieve the ritual dagger. I doubt it ended up in the fade with Rook, because that would be way too easy. We'll have to search for it. That'll be the first big goal of the game.

If we meet up with Varric after the quest with Bellara, either he has the dagger or he doesn't. If he does, cool, we have it now. If he doesn't, we have to keep looking for it. I suspect he wouldn't have it.

From here, Bellara acts as a guide to get us back to the ritual site. The dagger is likely still here, and I suspect that recovering it will allow us to travel through the eluvians accurately. It's possible we'll have to keep searching for the dagger, but if I'm right about it acting as something like a key for the eluvians, we'll probably have access to it pretty early.

At this point, if we haven't met up with Varric yet, we'll probably seek him out. I would assume Harding knows how to get in touch with him and/or the Inquisitor, so this may be where the Inquisitor gets introduced. It seems a little early to introduce the Inquisitor, but maybe the pacing of it works out. Besides, I don't think Rook at this point would feel they have the authority to start giving orders or leading people on missions. They aren't a leader yet, so they're going to seek out leadership.

I kind of doubt we'll have a full dual-protagonist thing with Rook and the Inquisitor, but the Inquisitor may be playable for specific story sequences. The possible specializations for the Inquisitor are mostly not present in this game, so trying to transfer their abilities and playstyle to Veilguard wouldn't make much sense. They could have a very simplified playstyle in comparison to Rook, but I think it's more likely the Inquisitor just won't be playable in combat. They could join the party as a guest though, like Varric does in the gameplay trailer.

So, we might meet with Varric and/or the Inquisitor here, and this might be where our group gets the Veilguard name. Together we decide on our next mission.

With Bellara, Neve, and Harding in the party, we need a warrior, meaning we'll probably go to Rivain or Weishaupt next. I think, considering that darkspawn showed up in the Arlathan Forest during Bellara's intro mission, Weishaupt is more likely. Either we hear of something going on there, or we choose to seek out the wardens for help/advice/information.

It's also possible we meet Davrin somewhere else and go to Weishaupt later on, but if so I can't really predict where. Maybe Varric or the Inquisitor are already aware of Davrin and introduce us before we head over to Weishaupt.

-Major Plot Threads-

I think we'll have three major plot threads through the story.

Elgar'nan conquering and Ghilain'nain experimenting

Solas being trapped and us finding a way to free him (if we choose to)

The Tevinter-Qunari war & conflict between Qunari factions

There may also be a fourth one involving the titans but it's hard to guess at that with how little we know about them.

-Misc. Guesses & Theories-

From here it's a lot harder to speculate about anything specific, so here's a list of my guesses for future events:

If I were to guess about the order the rest of our companions will join in, I'd say Lucanis > Taash > Emmrich, mostly just because of their classes. I could see them joining in any order though.

Bellara manages to repair the housing for the archive spirit that we find in the veil bubble during her intro quest. It ends up living in the Lighthouse and either acts as our crafting/upgrade person or is a source of elven history.

Elgar'nan will fully take over Tevinter at some point.

The big circular building hovering over Minrathous will be involved in the final conflict somehow, though I doubt it's where the final battle will be. It might even crash down on the city at some point, leveling a good chunk of Minrathous.

Final battle will be in the black city.

Over the course of the game, Solas will try to convince us to free him. We might be able to choose whether or not to listen to him.

We are able to free Solas in the last 3rd of the game. Or, something happens that results in Solas being freed. The Inquisitor is present for this event and this is when their reunion happens.

Dorian & Maevaris show up in the story when some shit goes down with the Magisterium, maybe Elgar'nan convincing the other magisters to join him.

Either we meet the Inquisitor first and hear the Dorian's voice for the first time over their communication crystal thing, or vice versa.

Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain are both against us, but not necessarily working together. They may even end up fighting each other. We know the Evanuris often fought amongst themselves, after all.

The old gods Lusacan and Razikale are to Elgar'nan and Ghilain'nain, respectively, what Corypheus's red lyrium dragon was to him. In Trespasser Solas says Corypheus "discovered the secret of effective immortality". Since the Evanuris were already immortal, I would assume this refers to them coming back from being killed, as Mythal can.

Lusacan and Razikale are ancient great dragons, not just high dragons, and are thus incredibly difficult to kill in their own right. They are also more intelligent, possibly capable of speech.

Elgar'nan is the one who murdered Mythal.

Mythal shows up in dragon form toward the end and fucking wrecks Elgar'nan, maybe saving Solas from dying/sacrificing himself in the process (okay this one's less of a prediction and more "what if!" but still)

I think the Titans and Sandal will be relevant to the story but I can't even guess at what their roles will be at this point.

And that's a long enough post. I'm sure I'll have more theories as we learn more.

[blighted-elf]

Before more stuff gets revealed, this is my Veilguard bingo card. Most are just wishful thinking/not super serious/onefear.jpg (if you want to yell at me for something pls just shh and make your own instead)

Copy and pasted them because some are a bit tricky to read. - The Blight originated from the Titan that Mythal angered >:( Under Kal-Sharok? - Something Merrill said in DA2 is proven correct yet again 💅 - Evanuris 1v1 cutscene. Fight fight fight - Sera shows up and everyone except me and my fellow neurodivergent wlw mutuals complain about it - The fatness slider isn't actually that fat - We can give the Inquisitor a prosthetic arm :3 - The drinker of the Well of Sorrows is akin to when Ghilan'nain was made a god (Divine Mantle and all that) - The neglected Ferelden throne plotline standing there like 🧍 three games later (I'll take even a codex entry at this point) - The Evanuris areeee the Old Gods reveal (wow who saw that coming) - Ghilan'nain and Andruil toxic yuri <3 - Someone actually remembers The Forgotten Ones - The Inquisitor says something out of character - The Black City = blighted Elvhenan - At least one returning character is significantly more pale than they were previously - Sandal shows up alone because Bodahn is dead :( - Sandal shows up WITH Bodahn because weird Dwarven magic - Falon'Din is there and Elgar'nan is real mad abt it - Dirthamen is there - Qunari origin reveal (elf + dragon magical breeding) - Andruil is there and blighted - There will once again be no bathrooms at the home base - Despite the extensive character creator, monolids and hooded eyelids STILL clip - Dirthamen and Falon'Din are the same person/being. Surprise! - We have to choose between two characters dying again (the Bioware classic)

[butterflydm]

Story missions and lore updates in DAV...

I think that the Dragon Age series might have my favorite lore that I've ever run across in a video game. It has so much depth and the history of it is just so palpable playing the games. From the very beginning, using the codex system as a way to give information that was very much biased in-game, never free-floating knowledge but always knowledge that was tied down to specific people in the specific cultures that they were writing in.

Even before we started getting some of the big historical revelations in this game, I've been blown away by getting to visit all these places that we've only gotten to hear about or meet the occasional companion from in the previous games. Actually seeing Treviso! Touring Minrathous! Spending time in Nevarra! And each of the environments feels so rich and like so much time and thought was spent on fleshing it out.

I've played some big side quests involving Mythal and Solas, and pushed forward with the next story mission, so there's some big-ish lore spoilers below.

We've gotten so much information that has exploded basically everyone's religion, but none of it actually contradicts the previous lore, because all of that was in-world beliefs that were written down by people in the game world. I love it!

The Tevinter Old Gods were really the dragons that the Evanuris had bound to themselves, and were able to whisper to the ancient Tevinter magisters because Solas didn't understand the nature of the bond between the dragons and their masters. So the Evanuris... were making an escape attempt. There were seven Tevinter magisters who breached the Golden City in an attempt to obey their old gods. The reason that the dragons told them to go there was because they were hoping it would free the Evanuris. But it failed. They released the Blight instead.

Theory: Andraste connected to a Spirit of Faith, and that's where she got all her ideas that she then went running with, and which eventually became the Chant of the Light that we have in the present day. Probably already been speculated before, I wouldn't be surprised! We know that spirits can give people these kinds of big revolutionary ideas (see: Anders).

It's really spirits all the way down, like turtles, it feels like. Spirits are so integral to everything. Spirits and the Titans (I might want to do my second Rook as a dwarf, because that would be a very different and interesting perspective than my elf Rook has, I think. Solas harmed the dwarven people in a very direct and clear way).

It sounds like humans also already existed. But then spirits used lyrium to forge bodies of their own, becoming the ancient elves, who then became truly mortal over the course of living in the world.

Also! Oh! Learning that Solas was originally a spirit really does give even more poignancy to his and Varric's disagreement over Cole, and whether Cole should become more 'human' or remain as a spirit. Solas regrets his choice. He doesn't want Cole to also regret it.

I did a quest for Harding and we learned that dwarves are essentially small pieces of the Titans -- what has survived of them. So when they say that they came from the Stone... they really did. It was neat. We went to a Kal-Sharok outpost and talked to Shaper Valta (who is now a very big statue). As soon as Harding mentioned Kal-Sharok, I was hoping it would mean Valta.

I did the next big quest and everyone is shook. Especially Darvin and Lucanis -- Lucanis feels like he failed and Darvin is feeling a bit of a loss of purpose, since he killed an Archdemon and didn't die.

Both Varric and Solas continue to be good advisors, I think -- Varric is good as a team adviser (morale and such) while Solas is a better war adviser. But I think both are useful for Rook. I really do love how their dynamic was brought forward and continued from DAI.

Next, we're trying to strengthen people's resolve and get our alliances strengthened as well. Kinda giving me a ME2 vibe with regards to that and I wonder if the endgame of this game will have a 'Suicide Mission' type of component, where different characters' survival depends on if you helped them keep their focus and how strong your alliance is with their faction.

Lucanis is making Rook work hard for that romance! One single flirt with Taash and Rook was being asked if they wanted sex! But I've flirted with Lucanis at basically every turn, and we have still not kissed. I feel like that "Let me in!" at the gates meme, lol. We might have to finish his personal quest before we can move forward with the romance.

I finished up the Solas side-quest and have learned the extent of his history and his regrets. Getting that nice long conversation with Morrigan was great, and I loved seeing all the memories. Solas did a lot of things that he now regrets, and yet he keeps trying over and over. His pride can't let him stop, I think, no matter how many mistakes he makes.

I talked with Mythal (the spirit-side) and was able to talk her into handing over her essence (I did restart the conversation once when I fucked it up; I admit that! But I really feel like my elven Rook should be able to convince her. It also sounds like having the essence might end up affecting how the endgame goes, and I want to see it, lol).

Next time around, I plan to tackle Lucanis's personal quest, and then move forward with Neve's story quest.

[nadas-dirthalen]

Whoever writes the codices over at BioWare has my eternal thanks, because I'm out here misty-eyed about Kal-Sharok just reading these tiny little mementos. Weeping about Emmrich consoling Harding on the nature of spirits, souls, and the spirit-soul exchange across the Veil.

I still think that the next game (or the one after) is going to show us that a mass movement of spirits is what's going to fix the Titans, and I'm in mourning over it in advance, because this is a wound that's stayed open, barely allowed to scab, for millennia.

Thank you BioWare for making me mourn... the ground. The sky. Everything that ever was and ever will be. Thank you for wrapping that up in Paragon Metez.

[ivanovaisalwaysright]

DATV Companion Guesses

Before any trailer or game play drops let's have some fun.

"We’ve tapped into Dragon Age’s deep lore and explored its most iconic factions to bring each of the seven companions and their stories to life,”

So 7 companions = 7 factions

The most likely guesses are the four factions featured in The Missing, the comic lead-in for Veilguard.

Grey Wardens (probably the elf Davrin from the leaks)

Antivan Crows (Lucanis Dellamorte?)

Veil Jumpers - Group working to manage the dangerous weird magic in the Arlathan Forest, contains Dalish, city elves, and humans at the least. (An Arcane/veil Archer, per one of the trailers?)

Shadow Dragons - Tevinter group who helps escaped slaves, possibly includes The Viper & Tarquin whom hunt down a Venatori collaborator in the Minrathous Shadows short story. (Neve Gallus? She is a contact of theirs, or they seem like the kind of group Calpernia would be a part of now Corypheus isn't around to shield her from the altus venatori members, or of course there's Viper himself)

The remaining 3 slots I'm guessing will be someone from the Inquisition and The couple of other factions featured in Tevinter nights and the da day short stories.

Secret Inquisition (probably Scout Lace Harding given the red headed f dwarf rogue in the leak)

The Mourn Watch - specialist group within the mortalitasi (Greater Dead, aka a complex spirit in a corpse? or a necromancer, perhaps Emmrich?)

Lords of Fortune - adventurer for hire group out of Rivain, including jobs like hunting monsters, delving into ruins, and stealing valuables. (A good place for a female Tal Vashoth fled south from Kont-aar?)

Honorable mentions - if one of the above didn't make it/is a background instead, or the secret Inquisition character is just a temp companion, some other good possibilities:

The Executors

Qunari

Kal sharok

The Siccari

My first choice for understudy would be Kal sharok - perhaps connected to the titans, Ghilan'nain's monster pools, or some other ancient mystery/dark secret. But whose to say?

Unlikely more than 3 of these will actually be familiar names.

Look forward to seeing if I get anything right 😛

[bunabi]

Do you have any working theories about how the red lyrium idol seems to have been made in the image of Ghilan'nain? The idol predates the Darkspawn, having been ominously swapped for a thaig's entire population

Honestly I completely forgot it was a plot point

I see some resemblance but I don't know 🤐 could be her foci

You make one by 'sacrificing' a Titan, so maybe smoking an entire dwarven thaig garners the same result

She better stay away from Kal Sharok if thats the case

[chronurgy]

Okay since it looks like we're really actually genuinely going to (probably) get a new dragon age game soon, here's some (specifically story) stuff I'm hoping to see:

Kal Sharok - either a companion from there or a chance to go there, please please please I HAVE to learn what their deal is

Anderfels companion, especially a warden one - I'd love to get into messy warden politics in the country they rule but don't technically rule

Minrathous - I've needed this city injected into my veins ever since I saw that neon lit, floating building concept art and learned they host laser light shows there it looks sick as hell and I can't wait to see them contrast the barbaric south with the enlightened north and the horrible bloodshed that sustains it 🖤

Par vollen or any sort of permanent qunari settlement - more information about everyday life under the qun please! It's obviously hard to do that when the qunari don't make alliances as a rule and also they're actively at war with the imperium and the rest of thedas, but still

A religious schism within the qun - the qun is all about things following their proper nature, but who decides what the proper nature of things is? People, of course! And people will always disagree. It'd be interesting to meet an offshoot who claim that they're the ones following the "true" qun and it's actually the rest of qunari society that has failed to follow the correct path (I know this will never happen, no one else in the world would actually want to play religious schism simulator 4)

A foreign born mage who came to tevinter to avoid or escape the circle could be fascinating - I think there's a lot of conflict embedded in that character that could be used to great effect. What's their social class in tevinter? How do they justify the things they see? Do they even try?

Sick fucked up red lyrium magic - lyrium potions restore mana, what do red lyrium potions do? Hopefully let you do horrible and fucked up magic. Red lyrium was so cool in da2 and I'd be ecstatic if they'd return to those roots for it

Antiva - a plutocracy with a haunted marsh? Sign me the fuck up

The half destroyed ruins of a city decimated during a past blight - make the blight scary! Remind us of all that has been lost, and let us see some of that history firsthand

Just ANY followup on the lore from the descent dlc - can we get more about the titans please???

A diversity of opinions on Solas and his plan among the dalish - please let them be people with conflicting beliefs and desires and not just one monolithic group I'm begging

Related to the point above - a dalish companion would be excellent, especially if they could help bring that insight to the party

I wanted to get this out before we see the trailer and gameplay so I'm definitely forgetting some stuff. This is also just my personal list of things I'd like to see. I'll probably do another one focusing on more gameplay and mechanical things.