#v; we fly on wings and wheels ( merrill | dalish )

[ourdawncomes]

Clan Sabrae limits their clan to three or four mages. At the start of Origins their number is down to two due to the death of their Keeper and Second, Marethari’s partner, who are killed in an attack from a hostile Avvar clan. Their reasoning for this isn’t so much that they fear mages, as Merrill says magic is a gift, but they live in a world of humans and Templars and lack the numbers to defend themselves should the Templars take notice. You see hints of this in Dragon Age II, where the harbouring of Feynriel leads to the camp being threatened by Templars. The clan does have a disdain for blood magic, mostly due to the influence of Marethari, but beyond that is positive towards mages. They would not leave a mage child behind without knowing they have someplace to go, hence why they gladly take in Feynriel in Act I. I also consider Merrill’s DA2 codex entry mostly non-canon, the idea that magic is dying out among the Dalish is silly and doesn’t match with what we know of magic in Thedas in general. I prefer the retcon of World of Thedas where it was misfortune that led to the trade happening, and consider her codex entry kind of at odds with what we know about the Dalish from our encounters with Zathrian’s clan without taking into account DA:I’s lore. After Marethari’s death the probable next Keeper would be the clan’s travelling Keeper, who returns after the events of Merrill’s Act III personal quest to lead the clan. It would certainly be an easier explanation than bringing in a Keeper completely unfamiliar with the clan.

Clan Alerion does not limit the number of mages in their clan. They wander the plains of Nevarra, a place where the power of mages is comparable to that of the Imperium. I wouldn’t say it’s more friendly to the Dalish as a result of that, but nor do I think Nevarra would devote its Templars (which I’m sure it has, but idk what role they play) to hunting Dalish mages. What Clan Alerion’s First had to go through was likely similar to what Lanaya describes when you ask her how she became First in Origins, it was a competition between several mages. Merrill did not take part as she was four-years-old when she went south, and was likely something like the ninth or so mage in her clan. I also imagine they were more favourable to less common forms of magic.

I generally believe the “three mage rule” being something that’s true to some Dalish clans and untrue for others, often defined by any number of things from their surroundings to their Keeper to the discourse that arises within their clan. What flies in Nevarra would lead to a slaughter on the outskirts of Kirkwall. Also while I can’t say what the writers had in mind, I personally don’t see a moral equivalent between Templars enforcing these rules and Dalish clans doing so, as it’s likely that without the Chantry these questions wouldn’t be asked in any Dalish clan in the first place.

[ourdawncomes]

i wanted to note something in that queued post but didn’t want to in the tags, i think the quote is good in that a nomad life is good and i think many dalish wouldn’t want to give that up. even merrill, who very much does want to remember elvhenan and the dalish kingdom, loves a lot about it. but it does make me think of the ways in which the dalish aren’t truly free. as with all things dalish, it’s to varying extents between clans and even between individuals.

as others have noted before, freedom for apostates is freedom with caveats. templars are to be avoided, magic is practised in secret or not at all, many apostates we know either have moved around a lot themselves or live as hermits (the hawkes vs morrigan of that hedge mage who lives in the Brecilian Forest). we see in da2 that templars threaten dalish camps, due to their protection of feynriel and sometimes if they linger too long in one place. in da:o’s mahariel origin humans finding the camp is cause enough for them to leave even before the blight moves in. a human war stops keeper hawen’s clan in its tracks.

what i’m saying is that regardless of whether or not sb wants to live a nomadic lifestyle or establish a homeland for the elves, there’s a lot that should change for the good of the dalish, and all elves for that matter.

[ourdawncomes]

❛ A happy ending cannot come in the middle of the story. ❜ for Merrill

The Last Unicorn | Selectively Accepting | @ghilannainguideme

Merrill hiccups, a tiny sound which is painful in her chest. She wipes slick tears from her cheeks, keenly aware of the vallaslin her palms smooth across. The stinging had subsided weeks ago, but sometimes they don’t feel like hers. Or, like a mistake. Something she’d gotten accidentally.

Lyna’s words register late, and she tries to breathe in so she can say something. But her breath hitches, and all she can manage are a few tiny gasps before she can clamp her mouth shut. Fists curl in her clothes, knuckles white and wrapped in her skirts. “Maybe– maybe so, but…” she manages, before she has to pause and inhale. A few seconds pass before she allows herself to release the breath. “When do stories end, while we’re still busy living them?” Surely it isn’t always like this, until she dies? Surely one day she’ll know what she’s doing? “How do we know when they’re over?”

Something in her chest contracts, and the beginning of a sob lodges itself in her throat when she remembers the disappointed look in Marethari’s eyes. “I don’t think I’ll ever be the Keeper she wants me to be.”

[ourdawncomes]

tag drop

#cracks in the vein ( crack )

#sulahn’nehn ( music )

#the dawn will come ( queue ) merrill tags

#the dalish pariah ( merrill | about )

#what’s in your mirror? ( merrill | visage ) #it’s a keeper’s job to remember ( merrill | ic )

#we have our own stories( merrill | headcanons )

#i haven’t exactly had any friends ( merrill | squad )

#merrill x bethany tag tba

#v; we fly on wings and wheels ( merrill | dalish )

#v; first in exile ( merrill | acts 1 & 2 )

#v; a new path ( merrill | act 3 )

#v; emma ghildirthalen ( merrill | inquisition )

#v; daisy chains ( merrill | modern )

vivienne tags

#sentimentality is not an option ( vivienne | about )

#the high priestess  ( vivienne | visage )

#i’m never truly out of my element ( vivienne | ic )

#a leash can be pulled from either end ( vivienne | headcanons )

#inquisition tag tba

#v; the jewel of the high court of orlais ( vivienne | circle )

#v; great things are beginning my dear ( vivienne | inquisition )

#v; magic exists to serve man & never to rule over him ( vivienne | divine )

# v; a leash can be pulled from either end ( vivienne | enchanter )