#trespasser fresco

[kissingagrumpygiant]

i wonder whats the significance of bald art in ancient arlathan

[babe-a-yaga]

Trespasser mural???

[secretmage]

The Din'anshiral | DeviantArt

"I walk the din’anshiral. There is only death on this journey."

Faux stained glass 'triptych' art of Solas' journey, inspired heavily by the frescoes, art, Veilguard gameplay trailer and of course Nick Thornborrow's amazing The Chant stained glass, as a sort of companion piece to my previous stained art Dragon Age: Trespasser a long time ago (WHERE I SAID I WOULDN'T DO A TRIPTYCH BUT LOOK WHERE WE ARE NOW??) this took me more than a week of sleepless nights so imma lie down now bye (Find the WIP Gif here!) edit: prints for anyone who wants them!

[maythedreadwolftakeyou]

HAPPY VEILWEEN (eve)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am SOOOOOOO happy with how this year's fen'o'lantern turned out, based off some of the frescoes we see in Trespasser. it's a bit of an evolution of my 2020 jack o'lantern based on The Tower. I also have a video showing all the sides :)

now back to going insane until i can finally see this elf again tomorrow 🙏

[lafaiette]

Some spoilers for Veilguard

I'm still convinced Solas was the happiest he had ever been when he was in the Inquisition.

Addressed as a scholar and wise expert of the Fade, asked for advice on magic and lore, surrounded by people who can potentially become dear friends and respected companions, potentially falling in love with Lavellan and being seen by her as simply Solas, and not the rebel god Fen'Harel. Some people consider him a bit odd, yes, and some can't help but refer to him as "messere", after witnessing his wisdom and knowledge, and talent with ancient elven frescoes.

"He wants to give wisdom, not orders", Cole says in Trespasser, and we're all sure he's referring to him, to what really drives him, his true passion: learning and sharing knowledge, asking and answering questions, not planning rebellions, killing, and lying. And for some time, Solas was able to live that simple life, so be what he really wanted to be: a man, not a god.

Now, in Veilguard, he's forced back on the path of rebel and trickster, and he's treated just as the Evanuris treated him during his rebellion.

Everyone in Thedas is looking for him (the Venatori, the Antaam, the ex-Inquisition); everyone is talking about him, everyone knows what he did (the Veil Jumpers in Arlathan say he's "a bastard", "the god of lies", but acknowledge the good reasons behind his rebellion); his agents kill and steal in his name; Rook and their companions explore his main base and peer into all his memories and regrets without permission, because they see him as an adversary, so they feel allowed to do that.

He's not the nondescript, respected hermit mage of the Inquisitor's inner circle anymore - he's a well-known, feared, hated, misunderstood figure once again, forced to constantly flee and hide in dangerous, ruined, forgotten places (in the comic The Missing he sleeps in a small room underground, surrounded by darkspawn!).

He's under the spotlight once again, starting a ritual he doesn't really want to do ("Do you believe that I would do this if there were some other, better option?").

I think he will never be able to be friends with Rook, at least not in the same way he was able to be friends with the Inquisitor and the Inquisition companions, because his full identity is out in the open now - he's too important, too awe-inspiring to be simply seen as Solas the Fade expert. The Inquisitor, Varric, and Harding are the only ties to that innocent time he has left.

So I'm hoping he will be finally allowed to be who he really wants to be at the end of Veilguard: not a feared divine-like figure, but a scholar who wants to spread wisdom and live in peace.

[hoboblaidd]

Little Lighthouse headcanons too small for their own post:

The Lighthouse is pure magic. Physics, etc. is more of a suggestion than a reality.

It’s a purposeful reflection of Elgar’nan’s ‘own tower of learning’, the Vir Dirthara. It’s symbolic that this was a place of free knowledge for all classes…but also because Solas knew it would piss him off.

The less welcome you are in the Lighthouse, the harder it is to discover its secrets, and the less it will adapt to you. But it’s not Solas that determines who is and isn’t welcome, it’s the Lighthouse itself (otherwise the chess club’s rooms would morph into a shoebox lol).

Solas built the Lighthouse but it was never just his. It was a beacon and the center of the Rebellion’s operations. In the Dragon Age, it served the same purpose for his Agents. Since Trespasser, Solas has been its only permanent corporeal resident, but many other Agents stay there and have rooms.

The Lighthouse was a refuge for freed slaves and rebels, but not the biggest one. Most refugees came to it as a beacon, but it’s also a travel hub: they used its Vi’revas to settle at other safe houses like the massive ruins in Trespasser.

Many of the wisps are themselves refugees from the various wars, both ancient and modern. Some showed up, some simply manifested, and all are welcome. Don’t let him know Neve tried to trap one in a box.

There have always been more spirits in the Lighthouse than just the Caretaker and the wisps. They’re older and more intelligent, and choose whether or not they want the mortal residents to see them. As the game goes on and the chess club digs in, more spirits corresponding to their emotions come to the Lighthouse.

But if an extreme crisis happened, all other safehouses could evacuate to the Lighthouse. It’s impenetrable, and can accommodate everyone.

Many of the floating buildings we see are like the tardis - impossibly bigger on the inside with more rooms than they should have. There is also way more to the Lighthouse structure than just what we see.

Felassan and the other people who live(d) there still have rooms and their own personal touches all over. They’re very hard to access since after Solas came back, he effectively tried to wall them off.

The tower he made for Mythal is still there, but it’s completely inaccessible.

There is so much more art and music littered throughout the place, and soooo many more secrets to discover. Tons of puzzles and tricks and secret pathways. 

The caked up elf is one of the hidden frescoes.

All of Solas’ lego sets tactical models are here and still enchanted to move, but they’re in a gallery war room that needs to be discovered.

The fish are rescues from Ghilan’nain’s ascension massacre. Solas named none of the fish, but it’s because naming something implies ownership. He’s happier to think that they have their own way of addressing themselves/each other.

The giant Fen’harel altar in the center of the courtyard is a walkie-talkie. Solas hears everything in the courtyard.

The armor and weapons Solas ‘stole’ when he left the Inquisition is in the Lighthouse. You just have to find it. If they were mastercrafted/enchanted, they’re harder to find.

[lagunapoint]

Veilguard is nice. Cool interactions, great romances, excellent graphics, excellent combat. I love flashy slashers, so it worked for me. But wraps up in a blanket of sadness at some point, it becomes clear that I kind of like it, but the little elf Inquisitor inside me misses Inquisition, which was completely forgotten in this new part :( I don’t miss the circles and the templars, I miss the little details that built the atmosphere. I’m not saying they should’ve made Inquisition 2. I like the new story, but it would’ve been great to find more little details and Easter eggs. Yeah, it was cool to find the note about Gordon Blackwall. Why didn’t they add more things like that? For a new player, it’s new info and world expansion, and for us, it’s just nice.

But the reason for my post is that yesterday, I got blown away by this fresco.

Here’s Trespasser, the conclave, the rebellion, the ancient elves, Solas, the qunari, the wolf, magister Alexius (?????), the creation of the breach why am I whining if it’s right here- Inquisition? But you know where this fresco was? In the ass of Minrathous. I’m not sure many people would have the patience to get through that quest to this fresco. And if they do, it’s super easy to miss, just by flicking the camera too fast, because this fresco is BEHIND A DOOR hahaha, and because it’s dark! Anyway, because of this drawing, I’ve been whining all morning and floating around like a storm cloud above my keyboard.

So. We’ve got the qunari next to Solas, but there’s not even a hint of the Inqui. I don’t know, maybe the second qunari is supposed to be the Inquisitor? What a load of crap. Okay. How do you draw the Inqui here if everyone’s is different? Just add the Anchor? Didn’t we have enough Anchor symbolism in Inquisition? Where is the Inquisitor? Why add such an important moment (SOLAVELLANS, I’M HORRIFIED) and not include the Inqui?

And now let’s play riddles. Up top there are pieces of frescoes from the Skyhold rotunda. First there’s the tevinter magister from the third fresco of Solas, which appears after choosing the Templars or the mages. If you choose the mages, Solas paints two versions of the future, and at the center is a magister - Alexius, since he’s a key figure in that storyline. And now this magister is painted on the wall of the Minrathous. Is it the same magister? Alexius? Why is he here :( Or has this image now become a generalized representation of 'bad magisters'? Either way, there are even some long-forgotten magister, but no details that would hint at the key character - the Inquisitor. Was this really not that important all this time? 🥲  A reference to the temple of mythal and part of the fresco about the explosion at the conclave, the creation of the breach, and the wolf, black, with no white elements, as part of the conclave fresco. The absence of the second wolf on the right - it’s just empty lore imao It’s probably unlikely, but could this drawing here be meaningless? Maybe someone just added elements they liked? It reminds me of a podcast where the words of Solas and Elio’s ritual were the lyrics to the song 'I Am The One,' which played during the sex scenes in Origins. I didn’t know whether to laugh or focus.

In general I’m satisfied and unsatisfied at the same time. Can someone share their thoughts on this drawing with me, please? Or on all of this eh? <3

The frescos from Skyhold

[smitten-miqitten]

One thing I really appreciate about Veilguard is that it puts an emphasis on Solas's artistic side.

In Inquisiton it was absolutely there, but very rarely commented on.

This man made gigantic frescoes on the walls of the rotunda (and probably the one in Inky's bedroom, given the style similarities) and the only real comment on it that comes to mind is a note you find on the scaffolding (iirc) from one of the dudes tasked with restoring Skyhold that provides a brief analysis of the artwork. Afaik, our companions are never like "Yo Chuckles, what's up with the fuckoff-huge paintings you're doing? Where'd you learn to do that? WHY are you doing that, even? Can you paint a picture for me?"

Nobody gives a single shit til kiiiinda Trespasser. It's only really in supplementary materials like books and comics that the fact he paints really even comes up.

In Veilguard it's front and center. He's got a music room full of paintings. We see his regret murals. We analyze the murals, discuss them, making it clear that painting is how he processes things! We see the paintbrushes, making it obvious HE painted these things. We see multiple different instruments, and notated sheet music, expanding our understanding of his artistic endeavors to music as well.

It gets talked about, it matters. It's in even the least-attentive player's face and informs them about the character. Love it.

[deilmo]

The first freed elvhen

"He did not want a body. But she asked him to come. He left a scar when he burned her off his face."

The recent discoveries made about ancient Elvhenan revealed a story painted with much more gray areas than was first believed. Some of these new historical documents depicts Fen'Harel as a liberator of enslaved elvhen, removing their markings and welcoming them at his side to fight the Elvhen gods' seemingly tyranical and crazed leadership.

While the veracity of these discoveries are yet to be proven, it has irremediably changed the field of Elvhen studies moving forward. Some historians hope to find written records to link to this new discovery. While unlikely, as the Elvhen seemed to favor frescoes to teach the illeterate masses, a record of the freed slaves could help historians draw a tangible timeline of the late days of the empire. Similarly, crawling back up those same records to the first freed elf could help scholars to single out the trigger that launched Fen'Harel into action.

Professor Bram Kenric - 9:49

-

Useless details to throw at you:

Solas is wearing an archer's armor, hence the gloves, the forearm brace, half plate and single shoulder pad concentrating on one side. Legends in game describe him as a warrior, an archer, and Inquisition as a mage so i picked an archer. Though I picture him more like those veil jumpers archers we've seen in DA4 multiple trailers that seem to use a mix of archery and magic.

His hair ornament is inspired by Mythal's statue in Trespasser having a reversed moon instead of her head

Yes, his scars are there, and they're fresh!

I tried to recreate a lonely and isolated feeling that I think would illustrate the sadness of Solas freeing himself. Alone. As the trailblazer, no one would have been there for him except himself

There's two version of this drawing but I'm posting this one first because it's closer to the vision I had

This idea is at least a year old, I remember making a thumb-sized sketch in a corner of a work sheet when I had it, then promptly forgot about it until this week-end. I ended up drawing it while watching the XBOX Showcase live.

[bardandbear]

The Dread Wolf Follows

Something interesting I've noticed is that much of the artwork depicting Solas/Fen'harel not only has the two as distinct entities, but usually the dark wolf appears as a threatening, looming over Solas or even in opposition to him. Obviously we have The Tower as his non-romanced tarot entry, but much of the Trespasser and pre-release content follows this pattern too.

The only time the wolf is depicted without Solas in the image is his own unfinished fresco in Skyhold. The wolf-like creature here matches the Solas/Fen'harel fresco we got in Trespasser with the same belly markings, so I think it is safe to assume they are the same creature. Interestingly, it isn't actually shown killing the dragon (Mythal), but almost mourning her.

While the simple and popular explanation for the wolf is that it's Solas's elvhen god animal form, I do wonder if the separation is actually more deliberate, especially after reading The Callback in Tevinter Nights. Spoilers for Tevinter Nights and DA4 story details released in the promotional material below the cut:

But here, unfinished, was the outline of a beast that stood over both dragon and sword. This was not the battle, or the victory. This was after. And the beast was not a dragon. The outline alone might have allowed that assumption, but now, filling with black and red, it was something other. The creature was reptilian, but also canine. The snout was blunted and toothy, but edges came to a point in houndlike ears. As the mass of plaster filled the shape, it began to rise, revealing scales and tail, and paws with talons. It looked like two figures painted on either side of a pane of glass, then viewed together, their forms confused. A wolf that had absorbed a dragon, and now stood crooked over all. [...] The limb folded into the creature’s layers, each movement adding to the rasping sound. It rose to its full height, as high as the panels would’ve allowed, and bellowed its name so loud that dust fell from the walls. “I am Regret!”

The regret that has spawned from Solas's room in Skyhold takes the form of a wolf/dragon demon of regret, and later sees a 'glimmer' when it is slain that it pursues. We also know from various DA4 story spoilers that regret is a major theme of the DA4, and that Solas's regret in particular will be a focus to the point where we will actively fight them (presumably in similar spirit/demon form).

For a long time, Solas has been running from regret, barely outpacing it with new plans to fix things that inevitably feed the emotion. Literally, figuratively, metaphysically it has been following him for millennia. It takes the form of the wolf because Solas hates what he has had to do in the dread wolf's name, he hates that his legacy has been further corrupted by it, he is haunted by the dread wolf. The dread wolf is regret, always one step behind him, the tower that threatens to crush him, the reminder of what he's done and what he must do. While it remains, he can never just be Solas. I really hope the 'good' ending is finally freeing him from its shadow.

[raptorbox]

hiya and happy dadwc! how about "maybe this was a bad idea." from the forbidden love list. i was thinking maybe anise/solas, but maybe it could also be good for solas/varric or all three of them as a thruple?

hi hello thank you for the prompt and for the thruple, i'm so into it

so, some post-inquisition, pre-trespasser hurt/comfort between anise and varric re: solas!

502 words | inquisition | anise lavellan/varric/solas | @dadrunkwriting

“And you’re…going back to Kirkwall?” Anise asks, tries not to sound…something, maybe bitter, maybe jealous, perhaps afraid?

Varric adjusts his coat over his shoulders. His things are packed. Bianca rests against one of Solas’s frescoes. “That’s the plan. Someone’s gotta make sure that place doesn’t go up in flames.”

He sounds nonchalant, but he’s yet to look Anise in the eye.

Anise, seated at Solas’s desk, glances around the room. Memories of her, Solas, and Varric fill her mind, of chuckles and whispers and kisses and touches in the night. While she always knew it had to end eventually, that the Inquisition would someday have no reason left to stay together, she hoped she could have clung to her boys a while longer.

Then Solas disappeared. Then Varric needed to return home. Then Anise will be alone.

“Maybe…this was a bad idea,” Anise utters, voice quivering, hand over her mouth, “what have I done?”

Varric’s gaze snaps to her and he rushes over, takes her hand from her face and holds it in both of his. “You’re not blaming yourself for any of this, are you?”

Anise rubs at her eye with her free hand. “I—I don’t know.”

Varric cups Anise’s cheek, runs his thumb over the wetness forming around her eye. “Come on, now. He’ll come back. It’s not over, Anise.”

Anise sniffles, leans into Varric’s hand. “You really think so?”

Varric grins. “If there’s one thing I know about Chuckles, is that he can’t leave you alone.”

Anise’s giggle comes out bubbly with the sob she’s been holding back. “You, neither.”

“That’s right,” Varric chuckles, “he’s got it in for both of us. You’ll see, he’ll come back telling us something new.”

“And you will, too?” Anise asks. “Viscount Varric must come with some interesting stories.”

“You bet it does.”

Varric leans up and Anise meets him halfway in a soft kiss. Varric rests a hand on Anise’s thigh, trailing upward, while Anise tucks her fingers around Varric’s neck. Anise slips off Varric’s lips and tips her forehead against his, eyes shut.

“I’m going to miss you so much, Varric,” she whispers.

“I’ll miss you, too, Anise,” Varric says, kisses Anise’s cheek and steps back. Where Varric’s warm hand was on Anise’s face and thigh are suddenly cold.

Anise stands up. “I’ll…let me help you with your things.”

“Anise.”

Anise looks down at Varric. “Yes?”

“This wasn’t a bad idea,” Varric says, “I’ve known my share of them. This was one of the better ones.”

“You can’t stay one more night?” Anise asks with a smile, the coyness of it lost to the puffiness in her eyes.

Varric laughs. “Wish I could! I’d rather not piss off my escort more than I already have.”

“I suppose that’s fair.”

Anise picks up Varric’s bags with ease; Varric grabs Bianca.

“You have to write me,” Anise says, “or else we’ll spend far too long chatting when we meet again.”

Varric grins. “Like that’s such a bad thing.”

[megthemariner]

For the oc symbolism game!! How about🏆and ☕️ for Eliana!

These were SO fun to think about!

Questions from here

🏆- important/sentimental possessions

I headcanon that anything she had on her pre-ToSA explosion was destroyed or lost, either in the fade or from the explosion itself.

So these are things she got throughout the events of the game:

Small, assorted stones she finds pretty or interesting. She keeps one with her at all times. It helps her feel connected to nature, even just a little, when she’s stuck indoors or in a city for a while.

A journal she presses flowers & herbs in, and writes about all she’s learned and seen, specifically to give to share with her clan once she can return home again.

A set of casual clothes and a halla pelt blanket from the Dalish clan in Dirthavaren that she traded some great bear hides and other supplies for

And post-Trespasser, some time before Veilguard, she finds a small, ancient-looking pendant with an engraving that matches some of the frescos she’s seen in other ruins in the Crossroads. She puts it on a leather cord and wears it as a necklace. (It’s based on the coin/D2 from this, which I own irl and wear as a necklace)

☕️ - what are your character's go to comforts, and why?

Sleeping in the halla pelt blanket, especially when travelling. It reminds her of travelling with her clan. Aside from that, there aren’t very many things, mostly people or places:

She likes tending to Skyhold’s gardens in the early morning hours, before most people are awake. It always feels good to get her hands in the soil, and helps her feel grounded and more like herself.

She ‘hides’ away in Sera’s room at the tavern when she wants to avoid dealing with nobles or other inquisitor duties. Sometimes they sneak off to the kitchen to make cookies or run around Skyhold playing pranks on people. Eliana really loves how much Sera doesn’t care that she’s the ‘herald’ or the inquisitor.

And when she really needs a break from everything, or comfort without having to explain why, she goes to Cole or Solas. She typically goes to Solas if it’s past the evening meal, and there aren’t as many people in the Great Hall or the library. Cole always knows what she needs, and helps out in his own ways. Sometimes he just leads Solas to her. Other times he reminds her of memories of her clan, or just listens to stories about them. Once he brought her to a bunch of kittens that had been born in the barn a few weeks prior.

[lostinquisitor]

i need some solas approval thoughts from ameridan

open inbox !!

it's complicated.

writing with you is actually the first time i've really spent much time thinking about how ameridan might interact with solas pre-trespasser, because in my fic canon solas has already left the inquisition by the time of the basin expedition. overall, he approves of solas. if the inquisitor is someone ameridan does not particularly like, he greatly approves of solas (never underestimate the power of a shared bitchfest). i'm gunna bullet-point out the main bits:

greatly approves of the respect solas shows to spirits

mildly disapproves of solas' apparent lack of caution around spirits

greatly approves of the empathy solas displays, both in general and with specific regard for ameridan's experience himself

approves of solas using his specific role as somniari to advise the inquisition, even if that advice is something ameridan might not always agree with

greatly approves of solas' artwork, mosaics were more popular in the kingdom era and so seeing the frescos at skyhold is a genuine delight

mildly approves of solas hating tea so much, this one surprised me but i guess he just thinks it's really very funny for a grown man to wrinkle his nose like a cat about something like this

neutral about solas' occasional brutality towards enemies; ameridan himself had to make such choices in his own day and knows first-hand how a moment of mercy can bite you in the ass, even if it's objectively 'correct' to offer that mercy

disapproves of solas' opinions about the evanuris for obvious reasons; i thought this might be a greatly disapproves from him, but i think as a priest of dirthamen specifically he's aware that the old empire was not.... always kind, and that the same virtues that the evanuris are to be admired for must also be guarded against corruption the same way one would guard the nature of a spirit, which is just a funny coincidence i'm sure

mildly approves of how critical solas is of the circles, but mostly because he's grateful that solas escaped them, he does not like what he's been told and he is a little selfishly pleased that someone he might consider a friend didn't have to suffer under the thumb of a system ameridan and telana helped to build

disapproves of how critical solas is of the qun, mostly because ameridan himself is SO curious about it, and solas' whiplash response to it really cuts off his chance to further interrogate and understand that system of philosophy and governance, not EVERYONE can wander around the fade to learn everything they wanna know young man!!

disapproves of solas' disdain for both the dalish and the city elves, though i think he might also come to share some of that disdain as he actually learns about how things are in the dragon age...

approves of solas' stories, he's a nerd and frankly it's great to think about these things instead of his own life

by and large ameridan tries to withhold his judgements of most things and people he encounters in the dragon age, especially in the first year after 'awakening'. he is so hopelessly behind history and culture here that he knows anything he is thinking and feeling about these events won't be very nuanced, because how could they be? he can provide insight into his own age with a level of nuance and detail that history has forgotten, but he is even more blind to the future than they are blind to the past. he is very deliberately holding his tongue and locking his opinions up in a little box for quite a long time. but let's get into his approval of solas post-trespasser a bit!

it's still complicated.

solas being the dread wolf is something he only disapproves of if he meets solas in the inquisition, regardless of whether or not he considers him a friend; if they have not met before he's neutral because he already knows the dread wolf exists

he is also surprisingly neutral about solas' veilfall plans; it surprises him a bit in the details, or at least the details solas is claiming about why he rose the veil, but... the dread wolf is going to be doing dread wolf things, and he doesn't really have any judgement for that, it would be like getting angry at a spirit like spite for doing something spiteful, it's in the name

greatly disapproves of solas' claims about the evanuris being evil, but when he sees elgarnan and ghilannain himself during veilguard he can at least admit when he's wrong and takes this one back; he still insists that the gods must have been good and worth following at some point, but he can see they clearly are not those things now, and solas likely was not lying when he says he sealed them away with good reason

approves of solas causing trouble, because it makes ameridan feel like his own life led to him being in the dragon age for some sort of divinely portioned reason, but he is aware that this feeling he has is a little, uh, unhinged and never speaks about it, but he is in visibly better health and energy during the wolf hunt just because he has something worthwhile to do and in a round-about way he's grateful that the dread wolf is giving him that

the only time he ever takes anything solas does as the dread wolf personally is when he finds out elandhris is an agent of fen'harel, which he GREATLY DISAPPROVES of and for the first time becomes genuinely furious about in a way he hasn't been with anything else solas has done; even if elandhris doesn't corrupt into obsession, he feels that solas is deliberately exploiting its nature and probably 'misusing' it to exploit others

[moonlightheretic]

One last moment

Armored fingers folded over into loose fists; Solas set his weight into the gold flecked mural and leaned in. “I must leave you, Vhenan.”

He pressed his head against the cooling surface, “I am sorry.” His eyes squeezing shut and his mouth twisted into a grimace as regret stained his tongue in the aftermath of those words.

“Rest assured, I will find her and I--” The breath shivered in his throat, “—will right these wrongs.”

Reluctantly, Solas withdrew. His hand relaxing into an open palm as it swept down gently caressing the fresco before him.

“One day you will understand.”

With his shoulders slumped he turned from the wall, his gaze trespassing over a fluid barrier encompassing a Dawnstone casket. From his cloak, he produced a small bundle cushioned in cloth of gold and stepped into the barrier.

The portrait of a woman painted behind him shimmered in metallic hues, the twinkling eyes chaperoned by false light and diaphanous powder. Six violet amethysts crushed into submission and subjected into the landscape of a grieving man’s regret. Sapphire pinched into the intricate lines of her vallaslin, Mother of pearl pressed into porcelain-snow skin, and obsidian stroked into ribbons of midnight-colored locks. Gold-leaf adorned her neck in ringlets, lavishing even more opulence upon the figure.

His shadow lengthened with each step and those carefully constructed eyes followed his form as he approached the casket in the center of the room.

The Dread Wolf bent humbly at the lip of the crystal casket, his fingers teasing the string of the bundle free, the fabric hissing like serpents against his metal hands. The luminous material swooned over his fingers and lying in the center was the Jawbone amulet.

He plucked it from the deflated fabric, and it dangled over the edge, frothing whisps unfurling from the opening just below. With a single whisper, he ushered the surface to divide and recede.

Solas held the cord with his other hand and placed the amulet on the still chest of someone lost, delicately curling the cord around her neck. His voice, an entanglement of sorrow, now victim to the sight below him, willed his lips to move, “I will return her to you,” and a single tear plummeted into a familiar face.

“Farewell.”

[wyvernscales]

My Meta/Analysis

I don’t really know how to make one of those fancy masterlist pages for myself, so this will have to suffice for now. Just wanted a hub for some of the posts I’ve been making as of late.

For the tag, click here

Theories:

Old God Soul Andraste? 

Kirkwall and the Second Sin

Lore:

Signed Languages in Thedas 

Envy Demons 

The Nightmare Demon 

Dragon Age: Inquisition Locations

Observations:

My Magnum Opus: The Trespasser Mural/Skyhold Fresco/Dread Wolf Rises Analysis 

On Hawke and Dragon Age 2 

Darkspawn Ichor

Comparing the Inquisitions

Warden Brosca and Orzammar

David Gaider on the Evanuris and Old Gods

Flemeth? Andraste? Mythal?

The Wardens are not a Great Order

My Novel Reviews

The Stolen Throne

The Calling

The Masked Empire

Asunder

Last Flight

Upcoming: Uthenera and Tranquility, Evanuris Expanded, Background Specific War Table Missions, The Avvar/Alamarri/Clayne

[hoboblaidd]

random headcanon question: Where does Solas sleep during Inquisition? Is it that couch? Does he just collapse at his desk sometimes? Or is there a bed secreted away somewhere we don't see?

For a while I thought it was the couch, but thinking about it it's too exposed. Sleeping out in an open air rotunda with at least three points of access is not going to jive with his rebellion mentality of watching his flank. So I imagine that on the way to Cullen's tower, before leaving the rotunda proper, there's another passageway like that from Josie's corridor down to the cellar. There must be servant's quarters in a fortress that big, and I think Solas dropped his stuff on one of the beds down there and claimed it as his own.

He has his own room, like that of a housekeeper or butler so he has some privacy, but it's nothing fancy. Sparsely furnished, and the woven bedframe and thin mattress provide little comfort. The vermin situation is also not great, though luckily they're higher in the mountains so it's more persistent roaches and rats than the more annoying flying insects.

While he never thought to have belongings, since this was supposed to be a quick fix and then on to the main event of tearing down the Veil, he accumulates a host of dog-eared books, weathered scrolls, dubious artifacts, recovered instruments, etc., as the year drags on. He keeps them all in his organized mess of a room, including whatever notes he took during the day at his desk. He also fills it with paintings - nothing as grand as his rotunda frescoes, but more like those smaller paintings we find during Veilguard, and all over the walls (you can't vandalize a fortress if it was your fortress first). Painting helps him think, or sometimes more importantly, not think, so he's doing it constantly.

He'd never admit this, but he also likes living amongst the servants. Were they 'people' to him when he started in Haven? No. But for thousands of years at the Lighthouse or the elven ruin barracks we find in Trespasser, he's lived among hundreds or thousands of refugees and freed slaves learning what it was to be free. The din of servants talking, laughing, gossiping, etc. is so painfully familiar to him. It's like the best sort of white noise. It helps, too, that most are elven, just because that's how it goes in Thedas. He learns to see them as people, to hear their struggles and their lives in alienages or Orlesian slums. He grows to care for them as well as the nebulous "People" he let down.

Plus, it makes eventually recruiting them as agents or using them as soft spies that much easier, because they all know him as simply Solas, the Inquisition 'advisor' who humbled himself to live amongst them instead of the more comfortable rooms for higher ups. He's one of them. Older and wiser maybe, but just another elf. It's an incredibly useful recruitment tool.

But yes, he’s also absolutely fallen asleep in that ridiculously plush chair in the rotunda.