#while she survives to be recruited in act 2

[darthkvznblogs]

I know it’s a barely developer-approved exploit but getting to recruit Minthara on a good guy playthrough had me like:

[unoriginal-and-dumb]

Decided to redraw my first oc (ON AGGIE BECAUSE ALL I FUCKING DO IS DRAW ONAGGIE APPARENTLY)

It’s name is Suit-009 😁🥳

If you are curious I will quickly explain its lore and uh that’s it yah. (I don’t rlly post my ocs like ever but I dunno hour long drive got me being thoughtful as usual)

Before everything I MADE THIS WHEN I WAS 14 THIS PREDATES AMONG US AND LETHAL COMPANY DO NOT SAY THAT IM RIPPING IT FROM THOSE I DID IT FIRSSTTT

Humanity is on its last limb, the earth is practically an unlivable husk especially due to immense overpopulation

So basically, there is a group of 9 scientists tasked with finding a habitable place that human can colonize or a place that can be harvested for resources

The team lands on an alien planet and begin research. They are all scientists and all are capable of running and surviving on a spacecraft or in a hostile environment, so that’s not particularly a worry.

The ninth crew member, suit numbered 009, was recruited specifically for his scientific studies, yea they are all scientists but he’s like THE scientist. The guy that’s goes hmm yes nod nod URETHRA! All that.

Anyway they find some crystal fragments and decide to do some extensive research on it due to energy signals coming from it. Having something that creates energy like said crystals would be extremely useful if they could replicate it in some form

009 goes and studies it yea yea whatever. Idc. But like it starts taking awhile and the crew leader 001 (she does have a name it’s Hailey but I dunno abt anyone else I WAS 14.) anyway she goes and is like hey buddy how pal pick up the pace you’re taking long as hell

And he’s like SIR YES SIR, but it’s been a while now and he’s kinda being freaky deaky. None of the other crew realy took notice of him kinda acting tweaked out since they were never really close beyond coworkers unfortunately

But UH OH! The crystals actually have some dumb shit that like attracts things/people to like investigate it (the energy thing) but what it actually does is kinda cause people constantly around it to be like overly obsessed with it and also kinda become stupid

So the thing with the crystals is that if it somehow gets into your blood stream it starts forming more crystals as like a way to grow. They aren’t particular just an inanimate object, it has a goal to grow and it can’t just grow from nothing sooo

Anyway 009 is like tweaked out because it’s actually just a suit with a corpse and crystals piloting it

Eventually Hailey realizes this but I mean it’s not gonna go out without a fight

So suit-009 grabs a fire axe and axes down the entire crew, once it’s finished it just folds over, using the surrounding and remaining biomass to consume and grow yaaaay

Oh just some thing I thought was neat, if you were to pop off the hazmat mask the head would be absent and replaced with a horrible mass of bloody crystals isn’t that exciting

That’s pretty much it yea. Hey by the way did you know I love Dead Space 2, Don’t Escape 3, The Thing, and Alien? Haha yea anyway I LOVE SPACE I LOVE SPACE I LOVE SPACE I LOVE SPACE I LOVE THE HORRORS OF SPACE I LOVE SPACE I LOVE SPACE SO MUCH SPAAAAAAAACEEEEEEE WOOOOO YEA SPACE!!!!!!!!!!!)!)

[randomnameless]

WDYM only Alain can get the killing blow on Baltro???

TFW the Tricorns keep on whacking him to no avail, ditto with Magellan :(

even if plot wise it makes sense

@pandp-author Feathershields are absolutely ridiculous lol, Fodoquir basically exists and makes mage teams/teams where Sorceress try their "surprise you're frozen !" combo completely meaningless !

Sanatio's healing is completely stupid too lol, too bad we can't play more maps with the angels/feathered people, because they're fun to use!

I'll make a more detailed post about the epilogue later but plot wise for the final chapter, as expected, Gharnef Baltro backstabs the Red Emperor, it is revealed Ilenia - Alain's mom - survived in the prologue, but Red Emperor Galerius Galvius when defeated body/soul hopped on hers so she became his unwilling medium (which raises all sorts of questions here, when Alain kills Galvius during the "Rescue Scarlett" mission, did he aleady kill Ilenia and Baltro resurrected her, but she's somehow still alive and not a zombie?) but ultimately she is free when Baltro uses Galvius' soul to open the "gate to the netherworld" or something, to use the souls of the Zenoiran currently in limbo as fuel for his spells.

Given how Baltro notes that the Cornian Royal fam has the blood of the Maiden who survived the sacrifice of the Unicorn and its curse 800 years ago, I guess he implies that is the reason why Ilenia makes for a better host than the random Valmore - the previous human who was Galvius' host - but then it raises the question of Giethe hunting Virginia : wouldn't she have been used as a spare ? Granted, given how Galvius incarnates in the flesh of people who defeat him, the only way to incarnate in Virginia would be for either her or a random to kill Galvius while he's using Ilenia's body (and Virginia would later kill the random).

So I guess if Giethe brought her head Baltro would have been "you dumb fuck", but Alcina's plan to uwu with Gerard in Alain's body wouldn't put a dent in his plans, since he could get rid of Gerard in Alain's body to put Galvius instead if needed.

As cheesy as it was, I liked how the plot unfolded here - despite his "perfect lord" appearances, Alain still wants revenge for his mom and didn't forget what happened 10 years ago : if the player chooses to give Alain his vengeance, despite learning the plot and the truth about Zenoira, he... actually kills his mother, and Baltro is still Baltroing around.

If he acts as the better person and the "saviour", he tries to offer mercy to Galvius, despite him killing his mother and plunging the continent in a sea of blood, which gives Baltro the occasion and opportunity to betray Galvius, thus freeing Ilenia without killing her, and it gives the party the occasion to kill/banish him to oblivion instead.

The usual "follow the plot = you're rewarded + vengeance is meaningless" trope.

Of course I can't talk about the final map without ranting about the green NPCs that are here to "help" you - nice nod to have them be Drakengardians to echo Gilbert's earlier (at the end of arc 2!) words of sending Drakengard's help to help Cornia when it will be needed - sure his help is green units + Hermann (one of his retainer that is blue this playable \o/) but it's a nice nod to the former plot and you can honeypot about the political ramifications of this move (the Liberation Army led by the Cornian prince helped free Drakengard, so now the Drakengard Army will help the Cornian prince to free his country?).

No such lines about the enemy Bestrals - who as Bestrals can't be soul snatched - who are recruited by Dyna who basically tells them "wtf dudes stop fighting with them and join us instead!" but I confess I laughed at their names (il y en a qui s'appelle Paulo mdr, pourquoi pas Bébert pendant qu'on y est?).

Too bad the named minibosses aren't more developped, but I wonder if in the Norbelle aka worst ending we get to fight Reimann and pals instead.

Oh well, I'll have other occasions to replay that map to get the different endings - at least the normal one on this PT (the one where Alain kills Galvius but fights off the possession thanks to his magical plot ring that resonates with the plot ring of his partner).

[aza-writes]

Revenge or Revolution

Chapter 2

• District 2 • Five Years Before the Revolution •

I shade the dragon's tongue, having him breathe fire onto my notes, causing the lettering to melt and drip to the bottom of the page. It's not like I'm missing anything that important. It's going over the survival tactics for freezing and Arctic-related arenas, which there have been very few of.

They're very boring, most people freeze to death before the actual killing begins. The two times there was an Arctic-like arena it wasn't received well by the capital. Besides, I know every survival tip about the Arctic.

1. Find a waterproof and windproof shelter 2. Ice fishing is the easiest way to find food but it's also the leaves you exposed to the other tributes. Rabbits will be your best bet for food even though they blend in with the snow. 3. Watch for bears and wolves

That's all that is expected for me to know at least, the games are so unpredictable that even the best training alone isn't enough to have a tribute win the games. The game makers do what they want, but it's very unlikely for them to do anything in that cold of an environment.

My teacher drones on and on about some I have known since I was ten until she's cut off by the loud chime of the intercom. 

"Ivory Kentwell, to the Head Dean's office, Ivory Kentwell."

My head snaps up, and everyone's eyes are on me. There's no reason for me to be in trouble, so this is it. The meeting. I have been chosen to volunteer.

I have the opportunity to be a District Two's female tribute. I have the opportunity to be a District Two Victor.

I get up and try to hide the smile that creeps along my face. I can't look too giddy. I need to compose myself, I need to be professional.

I pick up my things and pack them into my backpack. My hands shake a bit, everyone's eyes are still on me. Boys stare in disbelief while girls look either jealous or in awe. The mixed reactions are expected, but I love them all. I love how people are thinking about me. They know why I've been called. Everyone in the school knows.

I smooth out my uniform before I leave the classroom. The halls are silent, but some students are peeking out of the classroom windows watching me march my way to the Dean's office. I manage to stay calm as a few quiet whispers hit my ears.

"She's so young! How did she make first string?"

"Are fifteen-year-olds even allowed to be called so early?"

"I can't believe she beat everyone."

"I bet she's gonna win. Have you seen her throw a knife?"

That last one almost broke my stoic expression.

All the compliments and gossip mean there'll be a district buzz about me which will create more capital buzz. I'm almost guaranteed an abundance of sponsors. Better yet, I'm the first person to be called to the office which gives people even more of a reason to start placing their bets now. They even called me before any male tributes. This is everything my mother always wanted. 

I knock three times before entering the Head Dean's office. My eyes land on the Dean who was speaking with my parents and Clove. 

Parents; plural My dad is here. He came home for me. The whole year he has been home for around five weeks total. He's constantly traveling for his job as head peacekeeper. He's either at headquarters training recruits, meetings at the Capitol, or protecting President Snow. But he came here for me. 

Another smile tries to push itself onto my face, but I keep my stoic expression. This is a professional meeting, I have to act perfectly. Everything my mother has taught me has led to this moment. 

"Miss Kentwell, please have a seat." Head Dean Clemonte nods at me, keeping her face as expressionless as mine. She's not a very personable person, and by the stories of my mother and father, she's been like this ever since she started teaching. 

I follow her instructions and sit down. "Thank you, Miss." I'm in between my parents, Clove is sitting on a bench against the back wall. I wonder what she's thinking right now. Is she proud of me? Sad I'm leaving? Worried? I want to get into her brain. 

My mom places her hand on my shoulder beaming with pride, my father looks at Dean Clemonte, a soldier look on his face. 

"Now, I assume you know why I called you in here today, but for formalities, I will be reading from the official documents." She clears her throat, my mom squeezes my shoulder, my dad is still expressionless, and I'm dying to know what Clove's face looks like. "Congratulations Miss Kentwell, you have been chosen as the first string of potential volunteers for the 69th Annual Hunger Games." 

Holy shit, I actually did it. A sigh of relief leaves my body, a weight being taken off my shoulder. I did it. My hard work paid off! I'm first string, I'm going to be in the games! 

"With this, you will be required to attend Intensive starting tomorrow at 5 a.m. You will officially be excused from Inclusive and will graduate from District Two Preparatory with the grade you currently hold." 

Good, I'll finish at the top of my class, that's another thing for my mother to brag about. But bragging is deserved at this moment, I am the first-string female. I gave up my childhood for this. I deserve this. 

"At Intensive, you are expected to continue to prove yourself. Your ranking may change due to your performance." She clears her throat and looks me in the eyes. "Ivory, this school has a long history of Victors, even more so female. We have the most female victors out of every preparatory in this district. People are doubting you because you are young, but your rankings cannot be ignored." Head Dean Clemonte places the paper down on her desk and leans in closer. Her eyes are locked in on mine, a narrow and serious expression coating her face. "There is no room for failure. If you do not win, this will cause great shame to District 2. Do you understand?" 

I take a long deep breath. I assume it was only a few seconds but to me, it feels like hours have gone by. "Yes Dean Clemonte, I understand." 

All Dean Clemonte did was nod and straighten out her desk before pulling out a folder stuffed with papers. As she hands them to me I can feel my mother's death grip on my shoulder. It's not out of anger or anything, just her trying to mask her excitement for me. She can't have a beaming smile, that wouldn't be proper for this occasion. She composes herself the same way she has taught me to. Face stoic, emotions calm. 

The folder of papers wasn't thick by any means,  no more than ten papers with only a paragraph or two on them. All they said were "Will you volunteer in your respected order" and "Will you attend Intensive" in different ways. I was signing my way into the games, I was signing my way to becoming a victor. 

"Very well Ms. Kentwell. I will send these to the mayor and have copies sent to you as well as the other institutions. You are dismissed from classes for the rest of the day so you have an opportunity to pack for Intensives. Collect your things and check out as you leave." 

"Thank you for the opportunity Dean Clemonte. I will make our district proud." I stood up, as well as the rest of my family. My father is the first one to leave, walking straight out of the office and into the hallway. My mother ushers Clove and me to follow, her trailing behind us but not before thanking Dean Clemonte. 

"I knew you could do it." Clove's voice is a whisper, a true whisper. Her tone was exactly what I expected though, cocky. 

I nudge her a bit, she pushes back. A small giggle follows soon after, interrupted by my mother's fingers snapping once loudly to get our attention. 

"Girls, knock it off." Her teeth are sneered together, her voice is a hiss. "Act like you want to go into the games, not like idiots who so happen can throw a knife." 

"Yes, mother." Clove's arm moves against mine, her posture straightening up at my mom's words, but I don't move. 

I keep my relaxed posture until my father enters my sight. All he does is lift his chin, and I do the same, earning a huff from my mother. 

"Congratulations Ivory." My father doesn't talk much, and his voice is very stern. He used to be a bit more open but once he got promoted to Captain he stopped talking. He has seen so many things he isn't allowed to talk about, so he just stopped talking. "May the odds be ever in your favor." 

I can feel my cheeks tense, a smile spreading across my face. "Thank you." 

My mother clears her throat and smiles. "Well, let's go- Alister! You're leaving?" 

When I turn back around, my father is out the door. "I'm going back to base. It's a busy time." He doesn't even turn around to call back at us. He's in a rush. He didn't even change out of his uniform to come here today. 

Now that I think about it, I don't see him much when he isn't wearing it. He's always coming and going. 

My mother groans before straightening herself up. "That's fine. I need to get back to work anyway." She leans down and kisses Clove on the head. "Get back to class, you still have learning to do." She then looks back up at me, eyes are stern and almost angry. I don't know why she would be angry though, I just made her dreams come true. "Go home. Pack your bag in under an hour then go straight to studying. We'll celebrate tonight so you can leave early tomorrow morning." 

She places her hands on my shoulders and kisses my cheek. "I'm very proud of you darling. Our family will gain so much from this." 

A small smile spreads across my face, boasting with pride. "Thank you, mother." 

She pats my shoulder then turns to the main entrance. No more goodbyes, no more "I love you", just me, left alone to clean out my locker and to continue studying.  

••••••

Series master list

[gardensystemtv]

Been thinking about how we don't get to import a lot of choices from the past games into Veilguard. And on the one hand, it's a shame we don't get to see more of our past faves. On the other hand, that gives us room to decide for ourselves what our companions were up to in the time period soooo.... Here is my attempt at it! All of this are events pre-veilguard starting, and I do my best to avoid any Veilguard spoilers, but regardless, part of my ideas are based on what we see of factions in Veilguard so... beware spoilers?

Origins characters: Ending headcanon changes: The land given to the Dalish is the Kocari Wilds, including Ostagar, instead of the Hinterlands. And the land remained under Dalish control, despite the political difficulties with Ferelden.

Warden Ellaine Mehariel: Found her cure for the calling finally. Re-united with Leliana, but with Leliana's duties as the Divine, Ellaine could not spend as much time as she wished with her. So Ellaine moved to Ostagar to aid the Dalish lands there, and act as an important liason to Ferelden and the Chantry.

Alistair: Remained a Warden. Stayed with the Adamant Wardens and joined the Inquisition. When the Inquisition got Disbanded, Alistair originally went to Weisshaupt, but too many arguments with the First Warden made the situation difficult. Ultimately, he returned to Amarantine alongisde his girlfriend Bethany Hawke to aid the Ferelden Wardens in rebuilding there once more.

Morrigan: With Keiran no longer holding the soul of an old god, Morrigan did her best to raise and educate her son as a regular mortal. Ultimately, Keiran joined with the College of Enchanters to train in magic, while Morrigan moved north to handle the Fen'Harel threat.

Barkspawn: remains Ellaine's most trustworthy and loyal companion.

Leliana: Acting as the divine, her ability to help the inquisition is limited. Yet her support of the Dalish in Ostagar are essential for their stability. While it lends her some political enemies, her close ties to Ferelden help her maintain just enough stability to avoid Southern Thedas throwing itself into chaos once more.

Sten: With his sword recovered, he returned to the Qunari, having learned much from Ellaine, and even respected her immensely.

Wynne: Acted as the court enchanter for Ferelden for a while, until eventually the passage of time caught up with her and she passed peacefully.

Zevran: With the aid of a few friends, Zevran was able to turn the hunt against the Crows, turning the hunt around on those who dared take a contract on him. Eventually, this put enough pressure on the crows that they revised and adjusted their recruitment methods. No longer would the crows press slaves into becoming assassins, and Zevran was declared a free man with no obligations to the Crows.

Oghren: When all the Wardens in Southern Thedas began hearing the Calling, Oghren ignored the ridiculous ideas of some of the other Wardens. Instead of going to Adamant, or hunting Alistair, Oghren sent himself to the Deep Roads. In time, as he ventured deeper and deeper, Oghren stopped hearing the calling. So he worked with the Legion of the Dead to recover lost thaigs for Orzammar. Oghren would never return to the surface, but would build fortifications in Caridan's cross, shared among the Legion and the Wardens, and recruited new wardens from the populace of Orzammar.

Dragon Age 2: Marian Hawke: Did not give the Inquisitor time to argue in the fade, she held off the demons to allow Alistair and the Inquisitor to escape. She spent near two years wandering the fade, barely surviving only off the aid of a few generous spirits and wisps. Ultimately, when she escaped the fade, it left her forever changed.

Aveline: Aveline remained with the guard in Kirkwall, being a key figure in allowing the city to rebuild. Ultimately, taking over the position of Viscount from Varric, reluctantly.

Fenris: Fenris continued hunting slavers across Tevinter. Never officially joining the Shadow Dragons, but the faction knew how to inform Fenris when a slave caravan would be vulnerable to attack.

Anders: Died in Kirkwall

Isabela: originally helped Zevran get free from the Crows permanently, before returning to Rivain and forming the Lords of Fortune.

Sebastian: Ruled Starkhaven as prince, helping Kirkwall rebuild. Guided Starkhaven into providing aid to the Inquisition, and became a prominent supporter of Divine Victoria

Merrill: Aided the city elves during the Mage/Templar rebellion. She considered aiding the elves near Ostagar, but ultimately ended up working together with the mage Morrigan to figure out more about Eluvians. Originally she wished to aid the Inquisition, since the Inquisitor was a Dalish mage too. But with Hawke landing in the fade, she urged Morrigan to provide aid instead, and used the Eluvians to find Hawke. Ultimately, this brought her to Arlathan forest, and when the Agents of the DreadWolf and the Qunari messed with the Eluvian network in the south, Merrill found a way to use it to enter the fade physically. After returning from the Fade with her wife Hawke, Merrill fell in with the Veil Jumpers, aiding them as much as she could, especially when it came to Eluvians, but also trying to stay out of danger for her own and Hawke's sake.

Inquisition: Inquisitor Almithara Lavellan: The Inquisitor disbanded the Inquisition to avoid being shackled to the Orlesians for the pursuit after Fen'Harel.

Andara Lavellan: Acts as the Left hand of the Inquisitor. As her older sister, she always was protective. She continues to keep an eye out in her protection, and works closely with Charter, the spymaster of the new Inquisition. Andara also occasionally tracks and assassinates Venatori in Orlais and Ferelden.

Sera lavellan: Wife to the Inquisitor, Sera continued to aid Almithara through the best and worst times.

Thom Blackwall Rainier: No longer pretending to be a Warden, Thom Rainier got the chance to redeem himself, and continues to help others find their path to Redemption. Now acting as the Right Hand of the Inquisitor. The Men of the Blackwall act as a military force that carries no banner but their own. Yet often show up as a show of force to aid the Inquisition. When the Antaam try pressing into Southern Thedas, Blackwall fights to the last to send them back.

Cassandra Penthagast: Still working to aid the Inquisition, Cassandra often acts as a bodyguard for the Inquisitor on Diplomatic missions, and as an envoy and close friend to Divine Victoria.

Cole: Returned to the fade, teaching many of the other benevolent spirits about what life is like for the mortals on the waking world.

The Iron Bull: The Iron Bull and the Chargers still support the Inquisition, unofficially. Acting as Mercenaries, yet refusing to take jobs for Venatori, and specializing in sending those Tevinter bastards back to the Imperium in pieces.

Dorian: Returned to the Imperium as a magister, forming the Lucerni alongside Maevaris. Using his knowledge of the Magisterium to help expose Venatori and pass their identities off to the Inquisition.

And lastly, a bit of my Rook before becoming... Rook.

Lilya Aldwir grew up in a Dalish clan near the Exalted Plains. When the Breach opened, the clan moved further north, despite the dangers of the Imperium. When the Tevinter Imperium threatened the clan, Lilya escaped from the slavers pursuing her with the aid of the Mourn Watch, spending some time in the Necropolis to hide. She was contacted later by the Shadow Dragons, they had found more of her clan who were taken by slavers. Lilya worked together with a Maevaris Tilani to rescue those of her clan she could. During this time, she learned more about being trans from Maevaris, and began to realise she was transgender herself. When her clan was safe, she joined the Veil Jumpers. Getting help from the healers with her transition. When Varric and Harding came asking for help against the Agents of Fen'Harel, Lilya was put forward as the best person to help, due to her history with the Mourn Watch and Shadow Dragons giving her connections the others could not use.

On one of the first jobs with Varric and Harding, Lilya got hit with a power surge from an ancient artifact. Aside from the lightning shaped scars she still bears from it, this seemed to have amplified some of her abilities, giving her combat moves that seem amplified by magic, despite not being a mage.

[dragonagekeeper]

Disclaimer: Whether Isolde sacrifices herself or not is a separate choice in the keep, but I have included it here as the epilogue talks about them both within the context of Connor's situation.

The Arl of Redcliffe Polls

Dragon Age Origins Polls

See quest and choice descriptions from Dragon Age Wiki/Keep below

Before the arrival of the Warden, Connor began to demonstrate magical abilities. According to the laws of the Chantry, this would result in the child being sent to the Circle Tower for tutoring, as well as forfeiting all rights to lands and titles. Scared of losing her son and ashamed of his magical power, his mother Isolde, the Arlessa of Redcliffe, decided to hire a tutor to teach the boy in secret, the Blood mage Jowan. Her intention was that Jowan would help her son not only control his powers, but also conceal them from others, allowing him to escape the grasp of the Circle and the templars.

However, Jowan was sent to Redcliffe by Teyrn Loghain to poison Arl Eamon, a task in which he succeeded. In an attempt to save his father's life, Connor naively allowed himself to be possessed by a Desire Demon—becoming an abomination. While the desire demon sustained Eamon's life, he still remained comatose. Under the demon's influence, Connor sent hordes of undead to attack Redcliffe Village at night. Connor is first encountered in Castle Redcliffe. He will occasionally have brief moments of lucidity, coming around only to find that he's lost time and has absolutely no clue what is going on.

Connor died

Connor did not survive the ordeal in Redcliffe.

“Lady Isolde bore her husband another child, this time a girl. The birth was difficult, however, and Isolde died in Eamon's arms. He named the child Rowan, after his own sister, and raised her with a loving hand. When she began to exhibit affinity for magic at a young age, he gave her over to the Circle for training--but continued to visit her and loved her no less than before.”

2. Connor alive, but is possessed

Connor was briefly freed from the demon's influence, but it retained a hold on the young mage.

Made deal with demon

“While Eamon planned to send Connor to the Circle of Magi for training, the boy grew strangely ill and the trip was delayed... and then one day Connor simply disappeared entirely. After a frantic search, he was eventually given up for lost. His disappearance remains a mystery to this day.”

If the Inquisitor recruits the mages in Inquisition:

If the Warden allowed Connor to be possessed, however, then he does not appear in either Redcliffe Village or the alternate future and his fate is unknown.

3. Connor is alive and not possessed, but Isolde sacrificed herself

Connor was freed from the demon's possession by the Warden's direct intervention.

Isolde gave up her life to fuel a ritual that could save her son.

No deal made with demon

“Connor was sent off to study at the Circle, and considering his earlier experiences, he excelled in his training and easily passed the Harrowing to become a full mage. At his father's urging, Connor accepted a position in Tevinter to undertake formal study of the Fade.”

According the Dragon Age Wiki: "This will happen if you let his mother, Lady Isolde, sacrifice herself to perform Jowan's blood ritual not using the Circle of Magi's help."

4. Connor is alive and not possessed, and Isolde survived

Both Connor and Isolde survive the events at Redcliffe castle.

If Connor is saved and the Desire Demon killed or scared away, Arl Eamon may merely comment that Connor has been acting strangely. This will happen if his mother, Lady Isolde, also survives the events in Redcliffe.

Regardless of whether Isolde sacrifices herself or not, the following occurs in Inquisition:

If Connor survives the events of the Fifth Blight, and the Warden did not allow the Desire Demon to possess him, he can be encountered at Redcliffe. Connor states that he was a member of the Ferelden Circle when it dissolved, which led to him joining the mage rebellion. He admits that he originally voted against the dissolution of the Circles. Even so, he followed his fellow mages into rebellion and initially thought well of his fellow mages as before they weren't summoning demons or using magic irresponsibly. 

[friendsim2]

I think that having Amisia as the outsider creative against the system was not necessarily the best use of the character. I think having a character like charun would have been better as their art is more avant-garde and outsider. Also if you were going to have a system supported empire person vs a person in a more freedom artistic breaking the mold way a better comparison for two appositions on privilege and creation could be Nikhee moolah and vikare ratite. Both being engineers but with nikhee having easier access to resources and it being expected of indigos vs vikare where it’s going against what the empire wants or him and any materials he needs he has to scrape together and or make do.

(director/lead writer responding)

Interesting perspective here, and I see your points, although a couple things specific to our interpretation of the game world and also the setting-specific stuff we've interpolated from canon:

Charun, while definitely a more "outsider" artist in terms of how they do their trash stuff, is a lowblood who happened to get caught up in conscription. So Amisia has had the position of being allowed to be creative and finding the whole thing kind of stagnating as they realize in the last few years that what the Empire will allow them to do is always going to be limited by what the Empire will allow. I think parallels here might be something like the vibe in the indigo car in Act 2, where the indigo-bloods are just kind of sitting around having this pointless academic-esque discussion with Joey because what else are they going to do? They're almost at the top of the pyramid, but find little satisfaction in it. And we see that with other indigos as well - Galekh isn't satisfied with his role as an enforcer of the system, Zebruh isn't really happy with who he is despite his power over others.

I think your point about Nihkee is a good one, but there's a very specific (and as-yet-unrevealed, so obviously you wouldn't know about it) reason why she isn't in that role. There are hints at what's happening with her, although they do require doing a bit of digging around inside of Volume 10's hacking segment specifically. Might've put some hints inside Volume 9 as well, but all of it is completely optional content and it's still kinda vague, but you might be able to start to piece together what's going on. I suspect, given the topic, that this ask might've been sent after playing Volume 8 so I suppose you also wouldn't have seen stuff from Volume 10, lol.

While I see your point about Vikare, and the idea of resource allocation definitely fits in with his route in FS1, I would say that from his route we kind of get "aspiring engineer" since he hasn't actually, like, built a successful design or anything. He has dreams and aspirations, but the Empire provides absolutely no path for him to make them a reality, especially given he's a lowblood. We don't necessarily go into this in hyper-specific detail, and it isn't canon (since canon says basically nothing about military structure), but we developed some degree of hierarchy for how the Alternian conscripts are handled, similar to how IRL military structures work. So, as a bronze blood with no particular cultural exemptions (like what's going on with Chixie) who got recruited into the Fleet (unlike Skylla, who's infantry), Vikare is trained in a role that is a bit more survivable (unlike Marsti and the other rust blood pilots, who are considered more disposable). So he ends up as a transport pilot through a combination of aptitude and enthusiasm. Not an engineer, because that kind of technical role is reserved for teals who aren't in Legiscorpus and jades who are in the Fleet. Maybe a particularly talented gold blood but, yknow, bigotry.

Anyhooo, thanks for the ask - it was an interesting one to talk through.

Full disclosure - I'm kinda mixed on answering "you should've done it this way instead" type asks - not because I think it's bad form or mean-spirited to send them, but just because I think that the whole "respond to all criticism" thing is kind of a trap for creators. You're allowed to have different opinions about the world we created, or think decisions we made didn't fully land. Similarly, we may not agree with your interpretation or just not want to do things the way you would've done them - and I don't want folks to think that translates into somehow attacking you for your thoughts/opinions.

That being said, I think you made some interesting points about Alternian hierarchical structures that were interesting to talk about, especially since some of them tie into our particular take on how the Alternian military is organized that doesn't necessarily get spelled out completely in-game. Plus, the whole plot of this game was laid out pretty far in advance. And some small details have changed, but some stuff - including what's going on with Nihkee Moolah - has been decided a long time ago, even if you're not gonna find out about it until later.

[blackjackkent]

How about 2, 4, and 6 for Rakha from the Tav as a Companion ask meme? I'd like to know #6 for research purposes. 😏

(30 questions for your Tav!) or Durge in this case XD

2. Describe their tent setup! What’s on the outside? The inside?

Rakha has a VERY spare tent setup at first. Black cloth, bedroll, and for a while absolutely nothing else. She does slowly start accumulating items as they travel but it's a super random collection - anything that the group encounters that she wants to take a closer look at and understand, particularly random magic items once Gale has stopped needing to eat them. It looks like a very random collection to anyone else but to her it's like those light shows you can buy to project on the ceiling - watching the Weave swirl and undulate around all the items.

Scratch sleeps in her tent a lot too as time goes on; he seems to realize through some animal instinct that his presence has a calming effect on her. (When, eventually, Wyll starts coming there too, Scratch definitely is a bit jealous at first. XD )

4. What would your Tav’s romance scenes look like? How many would they have?

I'm kind of guessing at this bc I haven't seen how Rakha's relationship with Wyll is going to play out, but I am guessing her romance arc would be similar to Lae'zel's and would start with very no-strings-attached sex. Unlike Lae'zel's though, it would start at a higher approval level - most of her approval would come from you answering her repeated questions about everything factually and without judgment, and from encouraging her to control the Urge rather than submit to it.

Turning point would presumably surround whatever happens in Act 2 where you learn that [REDACTED] and would involve being there for her in experiencing the knowledge of actually having a past for the first time. Kind of like Astarion's romance, I think the sex would actually decrease in importance in the later acts compared to getting close to her emotionally.

IDK though. I would be curious to answer this question again later in the game lol.

6. How would the player go about meeting them in Act 1? What is their introduction?

Meeting Rakha almost certainly involves finding her in the middle of throttling someone to death. Probably one of the surviving mind flayers in the wreckage of the Nautiloid. She's blood mad and exhausted and very much under the control of the beast. You have the option to stop her from killing the mind flayer (which starts you with negative approval), helping her (positive approval), or watching it happen (neutral). Afterwards, she's much calmer and asks a lot of flat questions about what's going on. Unlike Shadowheart she reveals her memory loss immediately. And you have the final option to either recruit her or decide she's too dangerous to have around and kill her.

The worm connection:

Narrator: As before, a spasm of pain, and you brace yourself for another flood of memories, another past life revealed. But instead... there is nothing, a yawning gulf of blackness, tinged red with the iron smell of blood, and blood, and blood. You are hungry for it, starving. Everything else is a blank, a mystery even to yourself.

[rosered282]

Dragon Age Absolution!

Beware of Spoilers! And Dragons! Under this read more

Somehow Meredith Stannard has returned

*cue groaning from the entirety of Kirkwall*

I thought the show was cool, could’ve def benefited from a longer run time to give us more time to get to know the characters, especially Miri and Hira’s relationship given that at the end we’re expected to be fully invested in it and feel as betrayed as Miri but… nope! I’m just kinda meh about it (as opposed to when Miri and Qwydion hugged that had me melting)

Genuinely hoping that they don’t have Miri get back together with the woman who tried to sell her back into slavery (even if it was only “temporary” using Hira’s own words) because that’s a big yikers island moment.

I was mostly invested in the other members of the group, Roland, Lacklon, Qwydion, and of course our tragic Fairbanks (rip you fine Orleasian, I am so sad about your death). Mostly because of their personalities and how well they meshed together, Roland and Lacklon stole the show for me, that dip was *fans self*.

I did very much enjoy Miri’s arc of confronting her past and coming to terms with her brothers death, it was great and I loved the scene between her and her brother, the acting there was great.

Tevinters be vinting, the guy failed his harrowing and only survived because his mother forced the demon out of him and into the body of Neb, I was not surprised when he did blood magic he went off the deep end (also because of Miri’s rejection of him calling her his family when she was really his property but I’m not gonna psychoanalyze Rezaren, we’ll save that for never). Tassia was really cool! We’ve never seen a Tevinter Templar before and it was interesting to see how compared to southern templars they don’t seem to do much fighting at all. Tessia really did appear like the most battle hardened out of all the other templars there (as befits her Knight Commander status), or were those just recruits?

The animation when it came to fighting and doing magic was great, the blood magic especially was amazing and I can’t help but imagine what my own characters look like while doing these cool spells without the limits of a game engine. The only part it was kind of off with was when the dragon showed up, very jarring 3d animation there, it didn’t blend well for me.

Of course there’s also the extra lore bits we got!! The fact that the person that made the circulum was a Pavus?? Did NOT slip my attention BioWare, Dorian told the inquisition about this artifact I know it!! Only a bit sad that Rolland, Lacklon, and Qwydion disrupted the ritual at the end because I wanted to see what happened next. Oh and the spirit of Wisdom having those eyes that are the same as the wolf that’s behind Solas all the time 👀 I see you BioWare. Also the connection between Qwyndion and the dragon 😭, 

A little bit miffed on the Meredith reveal honestly, like… is she just under Kirkwall? Hanging out with a bunch of red templars? How has she been running a whole espionage thing underground with them and Varric, who is Viscount of Kirkwall and also knows almost everything going on there, just has no idea??? (Especially when we know her body is still in the Gallows, does Varric just let her chill there? “Yeah don’t mind the red templars rowing to the gallows, it’s just Meredith trying to start a war again” What's going on???) I know it’s bait for a season 2 but like… can no antagonist Hawke kills stay dead???

Also mad about Fairbanks’s death, he was a fav side character, a good man that wanted to do right by his people and he dies thousands of miles from home by a traitor, who will probably end up being redeemed I guess idk.

Anyways those are my rambling thoughts, stay tuned for more if Netflix decides not to can it after this one season. 6.5-7/10

[thekingofwinterblog]

Dragon Age Imperium - Chapter 1.

Summary:

All the Origins PC's join the quest at once. 3 survive the blight. and it all spirals from there...

An alternate timeline set in a world where Hawke becomes Viscount directly after Act 2, amongst other different turns of fate.

A new Arlathan is founded in the bracilian forest after the blight, The Dwarven Empire is on the rebound, both the young Hawke siblings lived, Hawke Killed Talis for the list of Qunari Spies, and so on.

The Dragon Age is an era of blood and chaos, of Empires falling and rising. Waning Orlais, Rising Ferelden, Resurgent Orzammar, a new Arlathan, and at the southern end of the Free Marches, the City of Kirkwall, gets a new Monarch, who is forced to play the game of internation politics, to lead her nation to glory... Or fall into the dustbins of history.

The year was 37 Dragon.

It was a bloody year, as 3 different wars burst into life across southern and middle Thedas.

Kirkwall, and all its neighboring enemies in the Free Marches, Orlais, and the Triple Alliance between Ferelden, Orzammar, and new Arlathan, and the war between Mages and Templars.

All 3 would have enormous consequences, up there with Andraste's march on the Tevinter Imperium, the Qunari invasions, or the destruction of the Dales.

All 3 had also been bubbling under the surface for a good while by the time the monstrous apostle Anders lit the fuse in Kirkwall.

The Templars and the mages had been a boiling pot for centuries only waiting for something to rip the lid off it and expose everything to the world.

The more recent developments outside of the Circles and Templar conflict, could however be traced back to the end of the Fifth Blight, and the Developments created by the four Grey Wardens of Ferelden who survived the Blight.

A number of Grey Wardens survived the battle for Ostagar. 3 Humans, one which was the second in Line to Highever, one a King's bastard, and the third a Mage of the circle Tower.

2 Dwarves, one a casteless Thug, and the other a Princess.

3 Elves there were, one Dalish from the wilds, one elf from Denerim's Alienage, and the third a boy forced at a young age into the Circle Tower.

All of these had been recruited by the Grey Warfen Duncan, in the time period leading up to the Fifth Blight.

Of these lot, only 4 survived the decisive battle for Denerim.

King Alistair of Ferelden. His Queen, Daemona Cousland more commonly known as the Hero of Ferelden, Galenhad Surana, the first Elvhen monarch in centuries, and Princess and Paragon Moria Aeducan of Orzammar, also the new Teyrn of Gwaren.

Of the three nations who emerged from the Blight, bloodied and bruised, Ferelden was the lynchpin for what would come afterwards.

The kingdom had suffered a catastrophic loss of people in the war, with a tenth of it's entire population lost, either to death at the Darkspawn Horde, starvation from the ensuing Famine, and having fled abroad to escape the Blight.

Still, stubborn and fierce as a mabari, Ferelden bounced back, in large part due to it's new monarchs.

Alistair Theirin, first of his name was a charming man, who despite his ability with the sword, and strange form of humor had a remarkable ability to make men like him... But it is acknowledged by most that the true driving force of his government was his wife, the Lady Daemona of house Cousland, known far and wide as the Hero of Ferelden.

It was Daemona who was the leading driving force behind Ferelden's recovery and reformation period after the Blight, both militarily, politically, and economically.

She reformed the military, by remaking the common footsoldier into the famed Ferelden Longbowman, which would in time be remade into the Ferelden Bolter, but for it's era would become known one of the most feared soldiers in the known world. She also defeated the minor invasion of Darkapawn of Amaranthine, and founded the city of Vigil's Keep.

She also reformed the political structure of the Kingdom, by turning the Landsmeet into a permanently sitting body, rather than just something called when the King needed something, or the years taxes would be called. This made taxation of the lands, despite their devastated state at the time, much, much more efficient.

And finally, she drastically overhauled the economy at the time by introducing what for the era was modern technology in as many ways as she could, encouraging the widespread implementation of things such as water mills, repairing the Imperial Highway, and making plenty of newer mills and roads, as well as rebuilding the capital. The only thing she failed in in this regard was the woefull failure of Ferelden naval technology to catch up with the rest of the world.

Alistair was a well liked figurehead and symbol to rally around, while his wife was the true power behind the throne, an arrangement both seemed perfectly content with.

The second part of the triumvirate was also the youngest.

New Arlathan was the newest state in Thedas by quite the wide margin, it's lands having been granted as a boon to Galenhad Surana, former Elf Mage of Ferelden's Circle. It's population at it's inception was comprised of the Dalish Clans of Ferelden, along with the Kingdom's city elves, and the majority of the Elven tower Mages who fought in the Blight, and jumped at the chance to escape having to go back to the tower once the war was over.

Needless to say, this state was highly, highly controversial from it's very inception. A state for Elves, harboring Mages, led by a Mage king? In the long term, there was no way this was going to stand withoth some massive opposition, and fallout.

Orlais had been a staunch opposition to the formation of the new Elvhen state in the Brecilian forest following the Fifth Blight but had not been in a position for a military invasion until the Chantry officially opposed Ferelden's relationship with this new state, and called for its destruction, as well as giving them an excuse, as well as Chantry approved blessing to invade Ferelden once again.

The third part was, by contrast, far and away the oldest one.

Orzammar had no quarrels with Orlais, or the Chantry… But was dragged into the war as a result of the Triple Alliance between the resurging Dwarven Empire, Ferelden, and New Arlathan, which had been so instrumental in their quest to retake the Deep Roads and Thaigs under Ferelden.

The Alliance had been formed behind the scenes in the aftermath of the Fifth Blight, thanks to the Work between King Galenhad, King Alistair, his Queen Daemona, and Teyrna Aeducan(Former princess of Orzammar) of Gwaren, who served as go between between surface Kingdoms and her brother Bhelen.

It started as better trade deals between Orzammar and it's neighbors. Then became military support to fight Darkspawn underground. And finally, as Bhelen became more and more controversial amongst his own nobility, it became a full-blown military alliance on which effectiveness he banked his entire offensives against the Darkspawns, and by extention his political career.

Hence why the continued wellbeing of Ferelden and New Arlathan was extremely important to Bhelen and his dreams of one day restoring the Dwarven Empire to it's old glory.

And so, the official signing of the Triple Alliance came about.

Both of these conflicts were in many ways, inevitable. The only question was when and how the spark for war for war would be lit.

The great battle that would lead to the unification of the Free Marches from a loosely connected confederacy of city-states, into a unified political entity was not.

It was a conflict that had only taken root a few years earlier, after the death of the previous Viscount during the Qunari invasion, and the rise of the next one.

The year was 34 Dragon…

---

34 Dragon.

Knight Commander Meredith was annoyed.

That part wasn't unusual. Meredith had never been famous for her ability to remain calm and level-headed under pressure.

Her mood as she stomped through the Gallows on the way back to her room however, was blacker than it had been in a long, long while.

The Qunari was finally gone... But it their place had come other worries that had replaced them.

Dumar was dead, and so the throne of the Country was now empty.

Not a problem, if she could Trust the nobility to elect a new Viscount who understood the duties of his office, and the devotion it required to the Maker and his Servants.

She could not. Kirkwall's nobility was a decadent flock of sheep that could barely know where they were supposed to go withouth falling off a cliff. And that was on a good day.

This was not a good day. In fact, she doubted it would be a good year.

There was no way she could trust Kirkwall's future to these lot.

All it would take was a wrong choice for the Throne, and they would be right back to the old days, when the Viscount got it into their head of acting above their station.

The first election was to be held in a few days. Those might take a day or months, depending on how unified the nobility was regarding their choices.

Not that there would be a question of how long.

Meredith would shut down the election before it could begin. There was sinply no way she could allow it, as the city was now. Mayhaps later, when the situation had calmed down...

But the Throne and the Question of who would sit in it was but one of her problems.

The other problem was the newly chosen Champion of Kirkwall.

Daemona Hawke, scion of the Amel family was anything but what a proper Champion should have been. Openly supportive of the Mages, having the audacity to have sheltered an apostate since she came to the city. Her very first action as Champion had been to add to that, as she put both a heathen Elvhen Blood Mage, AND a Grey Warden ABOMINATION under her official protection putting them above the law of God and Men!

The woman, thinking her new title made her above any sense of decency, had even had the audacity to request her sister be transferred out of the Circle and into her care!

There Meredith had put her foot down. Bethany Hawke would not leave the Gallows so long as she lived.

Unfortunately, that was where her ability to do anything about the damned Rogue ended.

The title DID put her above the Law unfortunately. So long as Kirkwall adored her, Daemona Hawke was untouchable.

There wasn't much she could do about it right now, but someday... Someday there would be a straw that broke the back.

As Meredith finally reached the door to her office, she entered, the klanking of angry steel clad feet loud and obvious as she opened, then shortly after, closed the door behind her.

She glanced over to the side of the wall, where on a rack, her new weapon was lying. A massive red sword, looking like someone had taken a giant red ruby and chiseled it down to a triangular sword.

In the brief moment after she closed the door behind her, Meredith's thoughts went to the beauty of the Blade, so wonderous it was almost like it sang to her...

Then a sharp, excruciating pang of pain bloomed in her neck.

Her eyes immediatly widened, and she tried to react, but her mody wouldn't move, whatsoever.

Nothing except her eyes, which went down to where a long, narrow blade puked out from her mouth, like a blood coated, grey tongue.

"Should have let Bethany out of the circle Beredith~"

The low voice in her ear made a tsk, tsk sound.

Then the blade was wrenched back, and existence ended.

The figure was clad in black and dark blue from toes to head, with the only exception beong the white symbol of the Qun on the chest and Back .

Just as precationtion in case she was seen after all.

No one in Kirkwall would doubt the Qun ordered her death.

As it happened, she wasn't.

She came in just as easily through the tunnel system form Kirkwall through the Gallows, as she had coming in, getting rid of the clothing in the darkness of the sewers, as she made her way through the tunnels, beneath the River, and then up into her own mansion in Hightown, where a warm bath awaited her.

---

Hawke laid back in her bath, taking deep breaths, smelling the incense of roses.

After a while, she began scrubbing the sweat and other odors and fluids off her skin.

Ah… How wonderful it was to be filthy, filthy rich.

You could do a lot of things as rich folk.

More as a Free Marches Champion.

Champion of Kirkwall… It had a nice ring to it. Power too.

Her companions got to walk freely around, and display their talents and abilities as they saw fit… Even Anders and his crazy spirit friend.

What it had not done, however, was free Bethany from the Gallows.

That had infuriated her… But Lord Commander Meredith had been hard on the subject.

Champions had a lot of freedom in the world… But she was not willing to bend far enough to have a mage released from her precious Gallows.

Meredith was a real, bloody hardliner. The worst kind of Templar. The ones who believed they were truly, completely in the right.

She would never let Bethany be released into her care…

Which was why earlier that night, Meredith had gotten a knife across the throat.

It had taken a while to set up and create an alibi for herself, but when Meredith was found in the morning, no one would be able to trace the murder back to her.

Hawke suspected the next Knight Commander would be less obstinate on the matter.

---

Though she did not know it then, by killing Meredith when she did, Hawke had unintentionally drastically changed the political trajectory of Kirkwall forever.

Had she lived just two days longer, Meredith in her quest to turn Kirkwall into a templar-ruled police state, would have shut down the Kirkwall nobility's election for the next Viscount.

It was their custom, that if the royal dynasty died out(As it just had) there would be an election amongst the rich lords of the White City of chains, to choose the next monarch, and by extension the next dynasty from amongst their own ranks.

Meredith would have rather rudely interrupted this custom, and denied the election of a new leader, and as she saw it, a political rival for power in the city-state.

But with her gone… Well, even if she had left written orders(which she had not) there were none amongst the temporary leadership that followed her, who had the guts to so blatantly challenge the nobility of the city.

And so, as the Templars were scrambling in the wake of the Knight Commander's assassination, the election for the next Viscount was held 2 days after Meredith's death.

As for the choice of the next monarch, a various number of lesser nobles stepped forth to cast their names as candidates.

None gained traction though. No one had the support, the abilities, charisma or the clout to get the rest to follow.

It was very much the same as the last time a Viscount had been elected.

Then one name was tossed forth... More to ask why she hadn't been named before that as a candidate, rather than to suggest she was the obvious choice.

That was all it took.

Several nobles enthusiastically vouched for her her, having had personal dealings with her, where she had left quite an impression.

Those who did not know her personally, also vouched for her. She had quite the reputation... But truthfully, killing the Arishock and saving them all had left far, far more of an impression than any rumors and tales.

And so it was decided.

Lady Hawke would be the next Viscount of Kirkwall.

---

Varric Tethras in his early years had never expected to live through interesting times. Oh sure, the usual backstabbing feuds and developments that came with being part of a merchant city-state and a Dwarven Merchant guild, was to be expected.

But actual, real, lasting changes in the world at large?

That was generally something he'd not thought he'd see in his lifetime.

The Dragon Age might be full of… Well, Dragons, but the world he'd be born into would still be the same as the one he'd been born into.

The words on the page beneath him told a different story.

The pages told of how the Triple Alliance had retaken Bownammar, as the latest Thaig under Ferelden to be reclaimed from the Darkspawn.

It was the latest in a series of spectacular victories beneath Ferelden's soil.

Cadash, Kal'Hirol, Aeducan, and more, all had been retaken from the Darkspawn in less than 10 years.

The victories would have been surprising enough on their own, but it was the source of those victories that was the bigger surprise.

Orzammar, the beacon for dwarven pride, and nobility with a collective stick up its collective backside about everything, was starting to change.

A lot. The new King Bhelen might be the same kind of bastard all power-hungry Dwarven nobles were, but the man had vision, ability, and a love for practicallity that genuinely surprised Varric.

Casteless being armed, surface dwarves being allowed to resettle underground in the retaken Thaigs to bolster their numbers, and actual coordination with their surface allies becoming the new norm.

Hey, it only took nearly a 1000 years... Give them another one, maybe they'd remove the distinction between surface Dwarf and "Regular" ones entirely.

The changes were simple really. So simple Orzammar could probably have used the tactics they were currently using, to do this ages ago.

The Deep Roads, once the Dwarves' biggest marvel, had become their greatest weakness after the appearance of the Darkspawn. They had swarmed through the tunnels, cutting each Thaig off from all the rest, killing and slaughtering as they went until only 2 kingdoms were left, both surviving by cutting themselves off from the network as a whole.

The Dwarves had been utterly dependent on the Deep Roads to thrive. Take that away, and they had no way to help one another, as each thaig fell one by one.

And of course, because of the countless labyrinthian network of tunnels, it had been a nightmare to try and retake lost Thaigs.

You would have to fight your way through every single road, all the way to your destination, and if at any point the way back got cut off, you were dead.

That was the way it had been for centuries and centuries… But things changed.

Now they were using the cramp, narrow corridors and tunnels in an offensive manner, to deny the Darkspawn the ability to use their greater numbers to full use.

The strategy was simple.

Cut off and fortify every single path you found, except for one, then kill everything single thing you found through that pathway until you found other paths through the roads.

Then cut off all the roads except one, and go through that one, and kill everything you found until you found another entrance. Rinse and repeat.

Only once you found no other paths on your way, did you go back to open one of the other pathways, and begin the process there.

It was a stupidly simple tactic, but it wasn't the only innovation they had now.

They'd also invented some new tactic called Halberds and Bolts.

He wasn't entirely sure how it worked, but there was a pike wall, and crossbows involved.

And of course, the most logical innovation was coordination with the surface.

This tactic worked a lot better when Ferelden and New Arlathan would simply supply them from above through reconquered Thaigs, rather than have to rely on some stupidly long supply train all the way back to Orzammar.

Even if the Darkspawn broke through the fortified doors at some point in the Deep Roads, this wouldn't be the automatic death sentence it had once been.

It would take a long, long while, but unless something changed, this strategy might actually see the Dwarven Empire triumph over the Darkspawn at long last.

And hey, if they were really lucky, maybe it would happen before the next Blights.

The new King Bhelen had taken a bad, bad situation, and turned it around.

As he was reading, he heard through the wall a familiar whistling, grinned, and sat up, quickly jumping out of bed and getting dressed, before opening his door for one of the more lovely women in Kirkwall… And by far the deadliest.

"Morning Varric."

"Hello, Hawke. Come on in."

They quickly seated themselves in their usual chairs, with a familiarity that spoke of total casualness.

"So Hawke what brings you here today?"

"Can't I just want to see my favorite dwarf?"

"Oh, you can… But the four last times you came by you wanted to hear about news from home, and not much else."

Hawke grinned sheepishly.

"Alright. Guilty as charged. Though I must say Varric, you're not in a position to judge… I know how much you read up on Bhelen's side of the Triple Alliance."

"Bhelen's side? I'm not Bartrand Hawke, why would I be interested in stuffy old Dwarven crap, like Orzammar's campaigns?"

Hawke narrowed her eyes, and without a word went over all the various Dwarven crap that Varric had chosen to decorate his home away from home with.

"I could not begin to tell you where I got that notion… But whatever, any news from the south?"

He shrugged.

"Not much… Or at least not much I think you'd be interested in… More mines opening, new trade routes… Oh, wait, there was one thing."

From his stack of papers, he fished out about 9, before handing them to Hawke.

"Newest Ferelden fashion developments… Or what you guys call fashion anyway."

"Oh!"

Hawke quickly snapped them up and began looking them over.

"Hmmm… So Redcliffe is moving back towards traditional clothing… Interesting. I guess Teagan wants to distance himself from Orleasian fashion as much as possible."

"Is… That a bad thing? Don't you guys hate Orlais?"

"Oh, we do! But going back to the past for fashion isn't exactly… Well, you've seen Ostwick fashion right?"

"The ones that have men running around in those checkered skirts?"

"Kilts, yeah. Those guys still think it's Calenhad's time…"

She shook her head and began flipping through the pages.

"Oh, but here! Here is real fashion! Highever and Denerim are switching over from casual plate armor to Brigandine coats!"

Varric looked down as she put them on the table. Neither of the two examples was a particularly stylish example of Brigandine armor… Well except for different helmets at least.

"You know, sometimes I forget that and Aveline are both from the same stock."

"Heh… Maybe I should show this to Aveline! I'm sure she'd appreciate-"

From downstairs, someone called out her name in a very loud, and frantic manner.

"Ah, Carver… Wonder what my little brother wants now."

"Maybe the little Hawke finally wants to make a move on Daisy, and wants your advice."

As they heard Carver make his way up the steps of the Hanged man, Hawke chuckled.

"The Maker will return before that happens."

Sure enough, Carver burst into the now unlocked room, panting, and looking absolutely frantic.

"Sister!"

"What is it little Hawke? Do you need some help wooing Daisy?"

"What? Wait-NO!"

"History would suggest otherwise brother, or have you already gotten some Advice from Isabella?"

"Can you two PLEASE not talk about this right now!? This is serious!"

"...Fine, Carver… What is it then… An-Damn, you are drenched… Did you run all the way here?"

"Yes! An hour after you left we got a message from the Viscount's palace!"

"What do they want now?"

"They elected you Viscount!"

"What." Two voices said in unison.

"They held a vote earlier today over who would be the next Viscount after Dumar… And you won. In a landslide they said. You're the next Viscount of Kirkwall!"

"Well… Shit."

Hawke, for once in her life, looked absolutely stunned… Then a missive grin appeared on her face.

"But that means… That means I can just appoint Bethany as my Court Mage. Rulers have the right that that right? I remember old Willhelm got to live free as one right!"

"Wh-THAT'S what you're focusing on?"

"Eh, it's the most obvious benefit. Oh, and I get a shiny crown too… Varric is that crown the Viscount had the official regalia, or can get something personalized made?"

Varric smiled.

Still the same old Hawke.

"Eh, I think you can. What did you have in mind? A band with a ferocious Hawk at the front?"

"Oh, that's good! But I was thinking more that old design in Gold, or Silver… I mean did you see that crown? Great design, but in dark Iron? Who makes a crown in Iron?"

"I don't know, it's better than a Throne of the stuff, I mean imagine how uncomfortable that would be."

"Can you two PLEASE take this seriously? This is big news."

"Oh we are, we're just having some fun along the way Carver. Well, let's get the band together and have a pint before I head back to Hightown. This is gonna be great. All the problems the city had with the Qunari are gone now! Which I get to swoop in, and not only take all the credit and glory for fixing it, but I get to come in and rule without any huge issues breathing down my neck."

She grinned. Then suddenly had an epiphany.

"Oh and Varric? Congrats."

"On what?"

"On becoming the new Viscount's right-hand man of course! Is there a title for that? Or just… Royal advisor?"

Carver rolled his eyes.

"If you want to give him a fancy title, you should just marry him… Then you could call him the Count Regnant."

It took a moment before both of them realized it was a joke.

"Well look at that, the Little Hawke finally started to grow a sense of humor."

The younger sibling, and new heir to the throne of Kirkwall, groaned.

Chapter 2

[archduke-enver-gortash]

i am so sorry for the amount i am about to send you. general 5, 8, and 9. story specific 1, 5, 10, and 11? you dont have to answer all of them lmao

zeke’s story will never be at full potential without the durge stuff and you didn’t ask for any durge related ones so i will just pretend that he’s still the most specialest bhaalbabe ever just as a companion lol. i’m gonna excuse this self-indulgence by reminding myself that i heard that default durge was supposed to be a companion early in development? anyways.

5. Are there any instances where your Tav can permanently leave the party, depending on player character actions?

surprisingly it would be pretty hard to get rid of him once you invited him to travel along with you. i wrote a little fic about this scenario a while ago and he’s just a massive self-centered dick when you recruit him but he’s also so insanely confused. not even mentioning the memory loss, he’s a sheltered, paranoid, stressed to hell and back guy who’s being exposed to a new environment and he’s clinging to anything that makes his confusion a little easier—zeke doesn’t know a life without being led by someone, so even if he thinks your leadership is lofty he’ll probably stick around for a while at least, even if you don’t exactly want him around, like a cockroach infestation.

8. What do they say when the Player Character asks them to stay in camp?  How about when the Player Character asks them to come adventuring again?

“Pah, y-you think you and your sorry excuse for a brain up there would survive for A SECOND without my expertise? S-Suit yourself. “ *looks away from player pouting*

“Aha, aha, look who’s here again! Knew you’d crawl back to me. Yes, I suppose I could consider coming with you… Just say the words ‘You were right, Zeke.’ and my mastermind is at your side again. He-Hey! Wait! Don’t leave! For fucks sake, I’m right behind you…”

9. Does your Tav have any escalating conflicts with one of the other companions, like Lae’zel and Shadowheart’s knife-fight?

oh god of course. it’s zeke hello. first off we have karlach.

act 1: i think after you’ve traveled with them both for a bit and have beaten the “paladins”/she has revealed her backstory, you get a scene in which you approach zeke like usual but see that his eye is completely blue and bruised, and if you press him he says “that brute devil attacked him for merely trying to have a conversation with her. his fault really, for assuming that she’d be good at anything but mindlessly bashing people’s heads in” (wild statement to make with 6 cha lol) if you then question karlach about it you find out that he was actually incessantly pestering her with questions about her past, completely disregarding her trauma or or discomfort. (this is because his like brain like. tingling? at the gortash mention but he doesn’t know that yet so neither does the player)

act 2/3: so, i haven’t used karlach beyond act 1 yet because i attacked the grove with zeke, so i can’t include anything about her personal quest, but i think they’d sort of. hesitantly grow together over act 2, only for that to get shattered on the big reveal tm at the coronation. there’s so much that can be said about this and i’m already rambling like crazy so i’m gonna summarize: karlach gets super duper fucking pissed, but also is probably smart enough to notice how gortash hurt zeke, not how he hurt her but not any less cruel, when zeke’s mental health starts to deteriorate after reuniting with him. so you can keep them in the party for a while longer together—until zeke straight up tries to murder karlach for being a threat to gortash in a weird panic attack induced mania. he will not have anyone steal his kill. you can either kill him then, let him kill karlach, or knock him out and send him away, but you cannot keep him in your party if you don’t kill karlach.

uugh yikes. shart time!

these bitches are also fighting tm. zeke in the early days essentially sees her as a rubik’s cube to solve, a way to distract himself from his own memory loss by seeking recognition in hers. so while his pestering of her is out of genuine interest, it’s certainly not any less annoying.

zeke also has a complicated relationship with shar. he can get behind the “shadows” aspect, loves those as a stalker, but he has the chronic need to solve mysteries, uncover secrets, know everything, so sharrans are obviously not to keen on him lmao

1. How does your Tav advise the player character when it comes to the Dream Visitor?

zeke is incredibly distrusting of. well. anything really, so he will advise you to be wary, but he is also smart enough to realize that what they’re saying about them being the only reason they’re protected from the absolute is most likely true, so he tells you to keep them around for as long as they’re useful.

5. How do they react to the Player Character taking their first tadpole power?

asks you how it feels to be one step closer to squid town, then dismissively waves his hand and probably makes a comment how it’ll be fine: there’s not much up there to burrow into anyway. if your approval with him is high he’ll still say that line but sound notably different—louder, more venom, stuttering a lot more, trying to overcompensate for his clear worry for you.

10. How do they react if the PC licks the dead spider in the Gauntlet of Shar?

wants a bite! zeke is a full body investigator, meaning that he’s not above licking and sniffing everything that seems even mildly intriguing to him lol

11. What do they say if the PC tries to force them to go up on stage with Dribbles the Clown?

you don’t get approval or disapproval, when you first prompt him to go he remarks something along the lines of “of course you’d pick me! not like the audience would cheer for any of the other losers in our party” but when you actually force him he’s really nervous lol “o-obviously every good comedian re-rehearses their jokes before! wh-what? no i can improvise, it’s just- well- i’d be at an obvious disadvantage…” and so on lmao

[ndostairlyrium]

peeks >:3

Questions you said??

for Ela: Family, n6; Specific question n2, 10, 22.

for Hawke: Party, n2; Specific question n3, 7 (very important.), 12

for Ankh: Family, n4; Specific question n2, 3 and 8

Too many? in Eric Idle's voice

Ela:

6 - [Life, I assume?] Which aspects of the culture they were born into holds the most significance for them?

She was a noblewoman, but not a firstborn, so she has spent less time than Fergus studying for perfecting a role of responsibility. Being proud while acting charitable towards who's in need, I would reply. First one coming from her upbringing, second one coming from her religious beliefs - she claims she's not a believer but I doubt you can cleanse entirely from a cult so similar to christianity.

2 - [DA:O] How did they feel about being recruited into the Grey Wardens? What were Ostagar and the Korcari Wilds like for them?

She didn't really want to be recruited, her ambitions were different. Also it wasn't her decision and she fucking hates when she's forced to do something so massive without her consent. It was frustrating, to say the least, so she tried to read into it as if it was her father's last gift to her before they parted ways. An honorable cause for an honorable woman. That helped her to familiarize better with what was going on. Ostagar was terrifying, because she could see everything that was wrong with fereldan society in a smaller scale. The Korcari Wilds were haunting but at least it was a good chance for her to blow off some steam.

10 - [DA:O] What was their nightmare in the Fade during Broken Circle?

I think I already elaborated on this somewhere else, hold on

Adding the original post from @zevsurana >here< - I really suggest you to follow them as well, because they always share some quality a++ content 👌👌👌

22 - [DA:O] If your Warden survived, did they continue to serve the Grey Wardens? What is their life like after the Blight?

She survived and she continued to serve the Grey Wardens. Her main goal after the Blight was to find a role within the order's ranks, because she felt like her job wasn't done after all. What happened during Awakening confirmed this, so when the Mother was defeated, she started to investigate more on that, by traveling through Thedas to find more clues.

Hawke:

2- [Party] Which companions (or advisors) are they closest friends with? Who do they respect?

He's super attached to Varric and Isabela, being the ones that constantly offer him drinks and shoulders to cry on. But the real deal is Fenris. The two of them started to talk more once Carver got recruited into the Wardens. Hawke felt like he could really avoid to shoot jokes to lighten the mood in his presence, he became comfortable enough with him to just speak his mind and show - to himself first - that he can allow himself to be serious and sad sometimes.

3 - [DA2] What was their relationship like with their father before he died?

Actually, I don't think I've ever explored this! O: I think they were close, but there was some resentment because the twins weren't treated fairly. They both had to count bigger responsibilities than their ages combined in one way or another. Carver was being left behind constantly, Bethany was instructed to keep a low profile and act proper, as if they both were nuisances. He was the best teacher, but he wasn't the perfect dad - but who is tho?

7 - [DA2] What did they name their Mabari?

Cane Dog. Just Dog.

12 - [DA2] How did they feel about becoming the Champion of Kirkwall?

Would have been better if a salary came along with the title. It was fine, well deserved, also it provided him free food and drinks for a while. He boasts about it, but in truth he just doesn't care about titles.

Ankh:

4 - [Life] Describe their family. Who were they close to? Were there any particular childhood friends?

I often talked about her mom and dad, but I never mentioned her inner circle! She has four best friends back home, experienced hunters and overall cuties (except for Fern, Fern is there to look good and somatize). Two of them go back to childhood, the others came along later. I will draw them one day once the chapter is out and about lmao Are step-mothers a thing in dalish culture? Because if so, Deshanna would totally fit that role. Luckily, she's not a Cinderella step mother kinda deal. She was there when Ankh's real mother died, she taught her how to read and behave with other people, and she helped her being independent and responsible for herself and the clan.

2 - [DA:I] What was their reason for attending the Conclave?

To spy on the humans, mostly. She offered to get there to take notes and report back to the Arlathven, as an ambassador. Actually, she wasn't supposed to be alone as she would meet with others to represent her people officially. The clans needed to know if what was happening was a real threat and she was ready to go, along with others from different clans. Another reason would be that she urgently needed to change air because in her opinion the Dalish can be quite shy and selfish when it comes to interacting with other cultures.

3 - [DA:I] How do they feel about bearing the Anchor? For what did they declare the Inquisition stood for?

About the Anchor, she's torn between believing it was destiny, and thinking she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. About the second question, for her I picked "the Inquisition is for all" option. She wants her people to be recognized as equals (socially and bureaucratically), and at the same time she knows that's a slow process that will continue way after she'll die. However, she's trying her best to set an example, being a clever and graceful leader.

8 - [DA:I] What did their Nightmare appear as in the Fade? What was on their gravestone?

Already replied it here💛

The ask meme

[randomnameless]

Drankengard done (land 2!)

A lot of nice things in this part, so far it feels like the most FE-like land, and some characters from this land are really interesting!

l firstly love how the plot starts with "we have to rescue this midget prince from 100k soldiers" in one of the few defend maps of this game with various catapults and other engines to attack/defend against a cluster of loldiers coming at you - that was nice compared to the nigh useless ballistas and other engines in FE.

Granted, Gilbert's defining moment after being revealed is basically protecting his vassal from a gotoh-like character who's twice his size and more or less recruiting her for the defend map -

(localisation thingie : no "kisama" for eng/fr script Gilbert, sure it's kind of complicated to put it in words - like an agressive "you" - and yet it gives some nice characterisation, after Amalia rekts Leah and while Gilbert is standing seconds before being surrounded by 100k peons in front of someone who's basically stronger than anyone else around, he is still angry and pissed for his friend's sake) -

Just before being upset at asking our party - aka a foreign nation who was at war with his for the last few decades and revealing that his dad only granted asylum to the princess of said foreign nation to marry her to his heir to conquer it later on - for help.

Hopefully for him his game is no Triangle Strategy, so no one will actually tell him to eat shit because he wasn't the one who liberated the land even if he participed to instead worship the "foreign" person who led the liberation army.

Hell, idk what kind of PR campaign Gilbert and his few loyal soldiers pulled out, but some NPCs are really acting as if he liberated his kingdom single handedly lol

His relationship with his elder brother was sort of developed in the main plot - but more in the equivalent of the support convos - but as I said in another post, I really loved that part where he feels like he's still a second prince, and if his older brother returns, older brother should get the crown even if older brother feels like dirt for failing his country and his father, and became a wandering... mercenary who's busy saving priestresses from jails (and leaving them in the middle of battlefields).

Ultimately, they reunite and more or less solve their issues, and Ludwig manages to tell him that he wouldn't be half the king Gilbert is, because Gilbert is the one who led a rebellion and ultimately led Drakengard free, is loved by this people etc etc.

TBH, while it was short, this was a nice character arc -

(complete with the support/rapport convo just after the final map I unlocked where Gilbert, wanting to know how the common people live in his kingdom, gets plastered with the a random worthless bandit/merc who's freaking out from the entire situation lol)

The other major character from Drakengard is Virginia, the MC's older cousin!

We first see her being kind of pushy and overbearing, sometimes taking the initiative to do rather extreme stuff (wanting to fetch her axe instead of recruiting the earlier worthless bandit/merc), but she's still deferring to the MC, save for a certain mission - because, and kuddos to the game for going there, while Virginia's story is basically a tragic Marth's, aka, when her kingdom was invaded she had to run away to a foreign state for asylum but without any Jeigan, she believed for 10 years and never stopped believing that she was the only one who survived, and thus it was her role and duty to restore the Cornian line on the throne and take back the country from the evil Empire.

And... MC pops up, as the rightful - aka the son of the late queen as opposed to her mere niece - heir thus Virginia's hopes of becoming the Queen and the one to restore her nation vanish.

So kuddos for the game to basically have Virginia tell her cousin that while she was happy to see him and learn he was alive after all those years... she also felt jealous, because the 10 last years she spent having this dream and hope to be the one to restore the country... vanished in 10 minutes lol.

She's not going to challenge Alain's claim to the throne and instead will support him.

Granted, this moment becomes ten times more interesting if you do her own mission before - aka the one where she zerg rushes against the dude who slaughtered her retinue against the advice of Jeigan Joseph and becomes a dreaded green unit (who loses her promotion somehow???), running in a battlefield full of catapults to have her vengeance.

Remember when I said one of her first defining moments is when she asks to be handed her axe to get rid of a worthless merc instead of recruiting him? Well, her words back then were something like "your men died for you, so you can't beg for your life" or something like that, we learn in her own mission that she was basically talking about herself.

Basically, kid!Virginia was supposed to have her Jeigans and Cain/Abel/Draugs and they were supposed to escape and run away together to Drakengard... but they were slaughtered by some general of the evil empire who thought bringing her head would make a good offering to the evil emperor, so the Jeigans, Cains, Abel, Draugs etc etc laid down their lives to allow her to escape - we have a voiced FB with a few images and a battle cinematic, where the knights basically say they will die to make sure she'll be able to escape, and will slow down the evil general with their corpses if needed.

The entire platoon of knights died, and Virginia has been carrying this trauma for ten years, dreaming of having her revenge but never once confiding in anyone from Drakengard about it - not even in her (Gilbert's) vassal Leah who she seemed to be close too earlier.

Short story, the general holds a fort and is supposed to be called back to the evil empire's capital for some reason, and instead of waiting for his departure to recapture the fort, Virginia storms at the general to have her revenge (accompanied by the knights who were just squires when she had to leave, and thus couldn't be there when their senior knights were slaughtered and want revenge as much as she does!).

You have to send Joseph to talk to her to have her turn blue again (and promoted again thank gods) and the re-recruitment scene is cool for 2 things :

1/it's Joseph, not Alain who talks to her because her beef and the one who talked to her and the one whose plan is ignored is Joseph - I love it when the MC isn't at the center of everyone's universe

2/Virginia during this convo notices her friends/knights are injured (they have the injured sprite) and realises she was going to send to their death the last remaining members of that platoon, chastises herself and her next battle lines are something like "I won't let them die/bleed anymore" or something and it's fucking powerful because hey, besides some "vengeance is empty" that she will get later on herself, part of what makes her see reason is the realisation that her allies are injured and were going to die in her quest, and she can't have that anymore (nice ludonarration moment here, Virginia is a tank, if her allies are injured, it's because she wasn't tanking well enough!).

"Vengeance is empty" moment : the evil general who slaughtered her former knights doesn't even remember the people he slaughtered, or the mission where he hunted her, aka, she's been obsessing for 10 years over something her so called "nemesis" forgot.

End of the map, the realisation that her vengeance was nothing + she put her close allies' lives in danger (+ the little bit of salt when she mentions that Alain is the Cornian Royal people should follow because he is royalty) make her want to leave the army as fitting punishment - which, you know, coming from a series where some lord basically goes 1VS1 against the guy who killed his dad and who was followed by his kid sister who put herself in mortal danger but only receives a scold from his not-mom and slap on the wrist just makes me side-eye FE Tellius' writing even more.

Anyways, while I read on redshit that some people were pissed because "wah wah Virginia is a character who does foolish things and there are consequences about it she should be exiled forever or something", she obviously doesn't leave the army because, all of her close allies ask her to stay. Hell, Alain only gives one or two sentences that are dispassionate compared to the other 4 - again to show that MC privileges aren't everything at least plot wise - but the main voice is Leah's - aka her (well) Drakengard retainer!

When earlier Virginia told her that this story and her choice had nothing to do with Drakengard - because it's about Cornian knights who died during her flight from Cornia - Leah now reminds her that she became someone important for Drakengard too, and you know, the 10 years she spent here ? It's not just only background to give some fluff for a teatime line, no, it has more implication, if not only to have this moment where Leah says that Virginia's pride, bravery and hope to restore her country also influenced and inspired people (Gilbert, the second son who had to assume the role of the King when no one else was left!) around her and made the people of Drakengard also hope to liberate their country - if she leaves now, the named character from Cornia will miss her, but also "Drakengard" in general.

To cement her words, after this map we can talk to some Drakengard NPC who's all "wow Princess Virginia is so cool she defeated the bastard in charge of this fortress!" and while idk if Leah's speech + that NPC were added to make the ending where she becomes the queen of Drakengard (save for Alain marrying his cousin) more plausible, but it was a really nice addition.

Adding to that the fact that Virginia is the one who's basically telling Alain (and informing the player) about various map hazards like geysers around the land, giving some backstory about the desert along with Leah and also the one who tells the party about a sort of shortcut/secret passage and yes, we get it that she lived for 10 years in that land and knows it enough to act as a guide, but also that the people around know her.

I mean compare with a game where some dude apparently went to a school in a foreign capital but when he marches on said foreign capital or talks to people who also attended that school he never mentions it - it's like night and day.

Final "daw" moment that is both tied to her character but also, another example that Alain isn't the center of the universe... Virgnia is the one who tells Alain to talk to Aramis (the eldest prince who became a merc!) and ask him to talk to Gilbert to put his worries aside about the throne and the succession and ust, to reunite with his younger brother.

The characters concerned (Gilbert and Aramis) thank Alain for giving them the occasion and push to talk to each other - not knowing this was something Virginia planned, because while hers and Gilbert's issues are sort of similar (the not "legitimate" heir who took the mantle of restoring their country to glory and believed it so for the last decade, only for the legitimate one to return), she has a good enough read on Gilbert to know that he needs to talk to his brother to put his doubts and questions about his legitimacy aside and accept that he is the King.

Coming from a series with "avatar scissors", the bonds and links between the characters was really something I enjoyed, Alain will not pop up and tell Gilbert that he is a good king and should get over/or deal with his doubts about his brother, Alain isn't the one who gives the most meaningful speech about why Virginia is important to Drakengard and hell, we don't even see the exchange we know he had with Aramis to convince him to talk to Gilbert, because the most important scene here isn't the Alain-Aramis dialogue, but the Aramis-Gilbert one. Gilbert doesn't want to free his Kingdom because he envies Alain or Alain told him to do so, it's something he wants to do being inspired by Virginia.

In a nutshell, Drakengard's major characters were a good surprise and their stories and quests were cool.

More minor character wise...

We get the Drakengard version of the same plague we saw in Cornia, but instead of having "clerics" perform experiments on infected people to find a cure, the accent here is put on a wyvern knight who was to enforce a lockdown, to prevent the plague from spreading and well... no fines in this setting, instead she runs them through with her spear.

IDK how that game would have been received just after Covid lol

All jokes asides, just like the Cornian version of this plot heavily suggested, the plague was devised by the evil empire to cut down the forces of the rebellion and make sure this land would be able to be conquered easily.

Why are the imperials killing people? Well, it might have to do something with the fact that the totes-not-gharnef old sorcerer guy is a necromancer...

Leah's quest explored a little more the background info that "Drakengard and Cornia used to be at war" thingie, with random green units also mounting a liberation army but refusing our help, and we know how this ends with green units, we basically have to save them.

Map ends with some Drakengardians - who swore allegeance to the evil Empire? - still willing to fight us, and Alain asking Leah to please ask them, as a Drakengardian (?) to surrender because if someone from Cornia asks them they will refuse.

Also it's a bit of a character exploration, for once the usually demure + always in the back behind Virginia asks the Liberation Army to do something and insists even if people refuse, straight up saying that in that case (if they refuse) she's going to help the green NPCs herself since she's strong enough to do so and it's cool because I think at one moment Virginia sighs/laughs, but not in a derogatory way, but more in some "damn she's becoming like me" way - which is alluded to in ther rapport conversation, Leah seeks to emulate her bold and fearless (being a green unit) behaviour.

I haven't seen a lot of convos with the desert people we recruit - thank goodness we're far from Hyzante's clichés even if the "people in the desert are bandits and former prisoners" trope is still here, but given how the ones who attack us were brainwashed by the evil Empire, it's not as aggravating as, well, Nopes or Hyzante.

Gameplay wise :

Damn if promoting your units cost medals, but it's so worth it to have more than one action (at least) per turn ! It also means we can use entire new strategies because now the turns are at least longer than one round each!

Drakengard fills the Jugdral quota with the group of units coming all at once at you sometimes lol, but I loved the aesthetic difference that ultimately became gameplay difference between this area and Cornia, basically we have more mountains to less space to manoeuver the non flying units, the enemies use AoE engines to ruin you or at times, AoE map abilities from their own units to deal some annoying amount of damage.

The cities are larger so instead of fighting in a meadow with one or two small buildings here and there, at times the fight takes place in an entire city, so again, it means reduced mobility and of course, desert sucks because, just like FE, you can't move well in the sand.

Lolcalisation wise :

Virginia "I have never been fond of court formalities" says a desert full of bandit isn't a place for "royalty like us"? When the "us" is both her and her cousin reknown for their martial abilities?

What the fuck does it mean ?

At least in FR it's "a lot of people avoid this place" and not just "royalty like us" - which doubles as ridiculous because in the "people avoid this place" it's again the trend of Virginia being a tour guide of Drankengard, telling Alain that people from Drakengard think about the desert, eluding this part is also, in part, eluding part of the knowledge Virginia has about Drakengard.

I think the localisation took the "royal pride" that defines her and exaggerated it to "royal arrogance".

IDK if the meaning is the same in english, cretin is an insult like in french, but damn if you say to someone the are a "crétin" they will feel offended and insulted because that's way more rude than calling someone an idiot!

:/

And I also have a bone against whoever thought it was a good idea to throw "pseudo elvish" words in the localised script (sadly we followed this :'() when the japanese audio doesn't use them at all, was it to pretend the evles from Fevrith have a different language because Tolkien shall be universal, or what?

Elf land doesn't see that interesting plot wise compared to Drakengard, and I'm not saying this because of my Alcina bias lol but I'll just have to wait and see!

(poor hodrick is being slaughtered by those pesky pointy ears and their hybrid attacks, tfw armor not withstanding magic is universal, I'll have to promote Miriam asap to protect him or just bench him :/)

[themaresnest-dumblr]

Stranger Things Thoughts

The other half won’t approve, but as your humble narrator has access to binge watching the entirity of ‘Stranger Things’ from start to finish, decided to see what the fuss was all about.

First impressions?

It’s kind of a crossover between the video game Half Life and Goosebumps, and get the suspicion it was aimed at the Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Stephen King fans type target market.

It’s definitely a ‘binge watch’ series - just don’t see how it would have survived as a traditional one hour and one episode a week to hold people’s attention span, as some of the cliffhangers are weaker than train station cafe tea.

Will is really Fiver from the film version of Watership Down. Or Harry Potter’s scar. Just the scar.

Finn Wolfhard and Noah Schnapp were definitely recruited for reasons other than their acting abilities (ie. appealing to Jimmie Savile/Mrs Robinson types), because both are incredibly piss poor. It becomes quiet frightening as the show progresses how often Caleb McLaughlin’s over-the-top angry guy stuff appears to be to overcompensate for both being so insipid. Finn Wolfhard in particular seems to have the acting abilities of a blobfish.

By contrast, Gaten Matarazzo may have a face only a mother could love, but he carries a frighteningly large number of scenes without anyone really noticing it. He’s the Cartman of the gang, but all in a good way. Aside from being the originator of some of their most ‘cunning plans’, he’s the only one who appears to have learned good real life lessons from playing D&D: that is, to succeed against adversity, you need to stick together as a team, each playing to their strengths to compensate for other’s weaknesses.

Millie Bobbie Brown’s acting chops are formidable, but her constant use as a Deus Ex Machina becomes a little wearing after a while. On the other hand, her transformation into David Vanian of the Damned in Season 2 was hilarious.

Natalia Dyer’s jawbone is made from tungsten. There can be no other explanation.

Charlie Heaton is the reincarnation of Déagol from The Lord Of The Rings movies.

That Billy character had the worst case of being closet gay and aggressively in denial about it since Vaas Montenegro in Far Cry 3.

When Will suddened declares that the Big Bad is back in Season 3, right after his fall out with his buds not wanting to be stuck in his D&D timewarp, isn’t it jarring that no one questions it? After all, mega-convenient way of getting the gang back together on his terms, yes?

David Harbour’s Angry Dad routine gets wearing REALLY quickly in season 3.

Why does Winona Ryder’s character give the constant appearence of being a recovering alcoholic?

Steve Harrington’s reaction to Robin admitting she was a lesbian (while turning him down) is ludicrously out of context with what would actually have happened to any woman admitting as much in the 1980s, especially slap bang in the very year the AIDS panic took off in the U.S. (largely after haemophiliac teen Ryan White contracted it via a dodgy blood transfusion, bringing out into the open American’s utterly f**ked up pay-for-blood donation system into question).

Why are none of the kids playing computer games? At all?

The music is meant to be 80s, but they have some real issues with it as much as the supposed 80s clothes and haircuts.

(Here comes the Madame Lee bit, concentrate!)

Season One - It’s Meant To Be 1983, but ....

Jefferson Airplane - 'She Has Funny Cars' and 'White Rabbit'

By the 1980s, Jefferson Airplane were Jefferson Starship, and the drugged out hippies like so many psychedelics and prog rockers had gone down the AOR/Cock Rock route.

By the timeline of 'Stranger Things' the band was falling apart as their brief period of late 70s success burned out - ironically they were to score their biggest hits as plain old post-court case Starship were forced to go even more commercial, with global No.1's with 1985's 'We Build This City (On Rock 'n' Roll)' and 1987's 'Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now' (the latter the theme song to the hit movie 'Mannaquin') - after which they all but vanished. Jefferson Airplane's back catalogue meanwhile was virtually unsellable at this time.

The inclusion of 'White Rabbit' may have been a scriptwriter's brick joke - as during Eleven's brief runaway in season two, she changes her look to one resembling to a remarkable degree David Vanian of the Damned during the period when, in sheer desperation for a hit outside of the UK, the band did a cover of Jefferson Airplane's most famous track (it flopped, as all covers of this song tend to do).

Toto - Africa

The song which has become an internet meme was released in 1984 ... a year after the events of season one.

The Clash - Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

The other 'theme song' for Season One, played umpteen times during the series. A hit in the summer of 1982, rush released in panic by CBS after the original taster single flopped.

Contrary to historical revision, The Clash were never a major band in the punk era and largely enjoyed only a few minor hits: the major exception was this Mick Jones written track and drummer Topper Headon's 'Rock The Casbah', both for 1982's 'Combat Rock' - when the band had been told by CBS to write a commercially sellable album or have their contract terminated (contrary to the name, it sounds more like a funk record

But by 1983, The Clash were effectively no more: band 'leader' Joe Strummer's ego couldn't handle 'his bass player' and 'his drummer' getting the band's first two truly global selling singles (the two Strummer singles from the album, 'Straight To Hell' and 'Know Your Rights' flopped), and sacked Jones in a fit of pique, after which Headon resigned.

Brotherhood Of Man - Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree

This one is positively embarrassing. Brotherhood Of Man never recorded this song until 2002.

To be fair, a lot of people do get this Brit band (punk's most famous victims: a former Eurovision song contest winner dropped by their record company abruptly after scoring their final No.1 'Figaro' because they were 'old hat') mixed up with Tony Orlando's Dawn, who did the original global hit.

The Bangles - Hazy Shade Of Winter

The Bangles may have covered it in concert, but it was never released on record until 1987.

Foreigner - Waiting For A Girl Like You

From 1981, two years earlier.

Peter Gabriel - Heroes

Oh FFS! Gabriel's murdering of the late David Bowie classic only happened in 2010 for his cover versions album 'Scratch My Back' aka 'Utterly Out Of Ideas'.

Joy Division - Atmosphere

Four years too late, or five years too early, depending on your point of view.

By the timeline of this, nazi bigot Ian Curtis had done the world a favour and hanged himself four years prior (this song was released as a post-suicide cash in, but flopped), and Joy Division had changed name to New Order precisely to cleanse its association with him (ironically they had a mammoth global hit with 'Blue Monday', one of the songs of the 1980s, in 1983, but it never made the show.

A remixed and cleaned up version of 'Atmosphere' was released as a successful standalone single in 1988, as Joy Division's back-catalogue became more critically reappaised with the success of New Order and the moribund far-right no longer being considered a matter of wide scale concern.

Season Two - It's meant to be 1984, but ...

Devo - Whip It

From 1980. Even more ironically, by 1984 the band were virtual pariahs in the United States having 'sold out' their sound for the sake of their New Zealand fanbase (the only place they were ever truly successful). New Zealand wasn't long in following suit ...

Duran Duran - Girls On Film

Arguable. Three years too late - but the song did very heavy rotation in 1983 and 1984 on MTV, bringing them to mass attention, but never became a U.S. hit - it was the follow up, 'Hungry Like The Wolf' which broke the U.S. for them.

The Clash - This Is Radio Clash

Flop single from 1981, except in Sweden where it reached No.9 - a year later.

Shock Therepy - Can Do What I Want

One year too early.

Fad Gadget - Back To Nature

Again, one year too early.

John Carpenter - The Bank Robbery

One of the most infamous show howlers. The song comes from the 1981 movie 'Escape From New York' ... except it never made it to the soundtrack and indeed remained unknown to the general public until making it on a collection of 21st century 'lost' soundtrack tunes.

The best known example of the show's producers self-indulging rather than keeping things on theme.

Season Three -  It's meant to be 1985, but ...

Stray Cats - Rock This Town

Not only was it four years too late, but the band had split two years earlier and were by that time in the zeitgeist regarded as something of a joke - an attempted reunion in 1986 ended in near empty halls and humiliation all round, as by this time more visually appealing bands like King Kurt and The Cramps had taken up whatever rockabilly audience remained.

Cutting Crew - (I Just) Died In Your Arms Tonight

This walking abortion of a song from a walking abortion of a band encapsulated everything bland and faux about the 1980s, but it wasn't until the summer of 1986 it appeared.

Go-Go's - Get Up And Go

From 1984 - by which time the Go-Go's had messily folded and were already forgotten. By the following year, the success of Belinda Carlisle further hastened their erasure from the zeitgeist, and it’s only in recent years their ‘legacy’ has been reappraised.

Foreigner - Cold As Ice

Those involved in the show seem to have a major hard on for Foreigner, but putting this song, which sound dated enough upon its release in 1977 - never mind 1985 - was beyond belief.

Trevor Jones - The Pod Dance

Taken from 1983's 'The Dark Crystal' soundtrack - just about the only time having a tune vastly out of place song worked, during the painful to watch sequence where Will attempts to get two of his friends to play a session of Dungeons & Dragons, unable to accept that their interests have moved on to girls - Will's timing being especially poor as both are suffering crises in their respective puppy love lives.

Will - already silly looking enough with his pudding bowl haircut - appears utterly ludicrous to the point of disturbing in a purple wizard outfit complete with hat and starry cloak (he looks like the sort of children's entertainer that gets arrested on child molestation charges), trying aggressively to get his friends to care less.

You'd have to go back to the film 'Ghostworld' for a better sequence of watching childhood friends drifting apart, and 'Stranger Things' succeeded in five minutes what it took a whole film to do, and the choice of music was perfect.

By contrast ...

Dame Vera Lynn - We'll Meet Again One of the songs of World War Two, especially to armed forces personnel being sent across the world with the very real prospect of never seeing their loved ones again, it's often been used ironically (eg. the multiple nuclear bomb ending of the film 'Dr Strangelove'), it was also the first single to feature a synthesiser (yes, really!)

Its use at the end of the episode where evil Billy has escaped back to the spider monster thing's lair, knowing now Eleven and the rest of the meddling kids are onto them, is jarring.

Possum River - Stand Up and Meet Your Brother

From 1971 - complete self indulgence. Didn't even go with the carnival sequence.

Yello - Goldrush

A full year too early.

Hmmmmm, onward to Season Four, which is all about The Ginger One, well it will need to have a bloody amazing script to pull it off, as she was someone only stomachable in small doses at the best of times ...

[warriors-rewritten-chaos]

Major Arc 2 Changes/General Summary *OUTDATED*

Second verse, same as the first (not)!

Leopardstar gives birth to Tigerstar’s kits (the two were in a political marriage while TigerClan was a thing). Only two survive, Muddykit and Darkkit, and she isn't a good mother to them and avoids them as they both resemble Tigerstar very closely. Ironically, this makes it easier for Tigerstar to recruit them to the Dark Forest’s cause, as they are starved for parental love, which Tigerstar provides them (as a manipulation tactic)

Brambleflower (Brambleclaw) and Hawkfrost are recruited by Tigerstar as they are in canon. Brambleflower wants nothing to do with him but is too afraid of Tigerstar to say no, while Hawkfrost is swayed by the promise that Tigerstar will help him, his mother, and his sister be respected and accepted in RiverClan (also yeah, Sasha stays in RiverClan with Hawk and Moth instead of ditching them). Tawnypelt is approached by Tigerstar in her dreams as well but rejects him immediately. Since she spent the most time with him while he was alive out of all her siblings she knows exactly what he wants and that she wants no part in any of it. And although he tries, Tigerstar is unable to speak to Mothwing at all since she’s an atheist. So that leaves him with Muddypaw, Darkpaw, Hawkfrost, and Brambleflower as his proxies

Brambleflower is Squirrelpaw’s mentor, which gives her more motivation to follow him when he and the other Journey Cats leave

Yellowfang mentors Leafpaw as a Healer, with Leafpaw also being able to communicate with StarClan if need be. Later on, Shrewpaw begins to see bizarre visions and joins on as a Seer apprentice. He still gets hit by a car after being lured out of the Medicine Den by a strange hairless cat spirit (I wonder who this could be?) but he survives because it just barely clips his leg. Yellowfang retires immediately after Leafpool and Shrewsight earn their Medicine Cat names

Crowpaw still has a crush on Feathertail, but she doesn't reciprocate his feelings in any way because he is a CHILD and she is an ADULT. Crowpaw also gets a crush on Squirrelpaw over the course of the Journey

The Tribe of Rushing Water has been reworked to be less of a collection of racist Native American stereotypes. Their new name is the Lunar Feles. Any major changes related to them can be found in their intro post

Feathertail almost dies killing Sharp Tooth. Although she lives, her wounds are too severe for her to travel. She and Stormfur remain behind in the mountains while the others return to the Clans

Brackenfur is made ThunderClan’s new Deputy on the Journey after Frostfur choses to stay behind

On the Journey, Onewhisker brings a kit that he says is his daughter to Whitetail to raise. He doesn't mention who her mother is or if she had siblings either

Mudclaw’s rebellion happens, with the addition of him being a Dark Forest trainee, so Tigerstar makes his kits participate and help as well. It ends disastrously for Mudclaw’s side, with Onewhisker killing him and sending him to the Dark Forest. This defeat emboldens Hawkfrost, who has grown tired of acting as his father’s errand boy and realized that he was never going to help him, and he cuts all ties with Tigerstar and the Dark Forest and just leaves, much to Tigerstar's rage. Darkpaw also leaves at this point, but Tigerstar doesn't fight his decision because he thinks Darkpaw is too weak to be of any real use to him anyway. Of the remaining two, Brambleflower is still too afraid to leave for fear of retribution by Tigerstar, and Muddypaw is too corrupted by Tigerstar’s views to see reason anymore

Since the Lunar Feles are capable of solving their own problems (and have been long before the Clan cats came along), the rogues in the Mountains are driven away and Small Brook, Stormfur, and Feathertail remain in the Mountains instead of returning to the clans

Daisy joins ThunderClan with her three kits and Cloudtail helps her out and teaches her the ins and outs of Clan life. When Brightheart admits that she’s jealous of all the time he’s spending with Daisy, he apologizes and from then on he makes sure to find plenty of time for her and their family in his schedule as well

Meanwhile, acting on her father’s orders, Muddyhollow attacks Darkheart in an attempt to kill him when the two are left alone for their First Vigil after they become Warriors. Darkheart manages to escape and flees to WindClan to hide. Hawkfrost and Brambleflower secretly conspire to thwart Tigerstar’s upcoming assassination attempt on Firestar. Firestar loses a life, but Brambleflower saves his Leader from the trap and Hawkfrost kills Muddyhollow while she is distracted yelling at Brambleflower and trying to kill him for betraying Tigerstar. The river runs red with her blood. Darkheart chooses to remain in WindClan even now that Muddyhollow is dead, as he likes it better there. Now notorious cat racist Tigerstar has kin in every Clan (except SkyClan... for now...)

Leafpool and Crowfeather have a short fling together. After they cut it off, Leafpool discovers she’s pregnant. Uh oh...

[night-gay]

Into The Anthill pt 20 - How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?

While Hank’s last major storyline happened in the background of West Coast Avengers, this time he was front and center in the action. Issues 33-36 were definitely written with fans of the Tales to Astonish run of Ant-Man in mind, with so many of his early enemies coming out of retirement to take another crack at him. They even had him working with Wasp again and reunited him with his long-lost first wife when it was all over. Too bad she now had a giant brain strapped into evil A.I.M. supercomputers.

...and also she wasn’t the real Maria, but we’ll get to that next time.

🐜🐜🐜

West Coast Avengers Annual vol 1 #2

Hawkeye organized the second annual Avengers East v West baseball game and this time the Silver Surfer interrupted it. The ECA were killed by Grandmaster so The Collector helped the WCA and Silver Surfer enter Death’s Domain to save their allies (LA Espirita could not come because she can’t die). Grandmaster manipulated the teams into fighting and captured Death while they were distracted.

Avengers Annual vol 1 #16

The Avengers challenged Grandmaster to a game to save Death. He summoned copies of their deceased allies and enemies alike to defeat them (Swordsman, Bucky, Korvac, etc). Hawkeye tricked him into giving up his plans for a simple game of chance and rigged the game so he’d lose. With Grandmaster defeated and their bodies returned to life, they resumed their ballgame. 

West Coast Avengers vol 2 #25-31

Taurus of the Zodiac Cartel reached out to Hank and Iron Man for help in stopping Scorpio, who had killed all the other human members of the Zodiac and replaced them with life model decoys. After the Avengers won their first fight, Scorpio replaced Hawkeye with an LMD (Saggitarrius) to infiltrate the team. Mockingbird and Tigra eventually discovered Saggitarrius, but apparently Tigra had been replaced by Leo and arranged this to evade suspicion. The original Taurus got away when the Avengers and Zodiac fought again, but Moon Knight tracked him down and tried to kill him. Hawkeye reminded him that Avengers are not allowed to kill, still unaware that Mockingbird had killed Phantom Rider back in the wild west.

Solo Avengers vol 1 #8

Hank was called in as a suspect in a string of robberies where the perpetrator may have been changing size to evade security. He suggested that the new Yellowjacket (Rita DeMara), Ant-Man, or several others could have also done this, but he was still their top suspect. He was able to catch Dr. Nemesis in the act, using some of his old shrinking tech to frame him. 

West Coast Avengers vol 2 #32-38

With Iron Man now off the team, Wasp stopped by to fill in temporarily (and check on Hank). After a short adventure at the Grand Canyon, Hank intercepted a message from the Hungarian government discussing what to do with Maria Trovaya (his first wife). The team flew to Hungary to investigate, where they were greeted by El Toro, Madame X, and many of Hank’s other enemies from his earliest adventures. Only Hank and Wasp escaped the trap and fled to safety. There, he helped her to regrow the antennae she’d forgotten she had long ago to control the local ants. They followed a lead from the ants to a high-security prison cell containing Vision and Scarlet Witch. Quicksilver arrived to reveal that this was all part of his plan to kill the Avengers and become the new King of Evil Mutants. Wonder Man broke them out of their cell but they were ambushed by the Scarlet Beetle, another of Hank’s oldest foes. 

The Avengers briefly escaped, but were soon stopped by Quicksilver and The Voice. He revealed that after Hank targeted communist supervillains to avenge his wife’s death, they began to recruit and upgrade his villains to get back at him. The Voice ordered the Avengers to hunt and kill Hank, which they had no choice but to obey. Hank survived long enough to find his first wife alive, her body strapped into a machine and her brain grotesquely enlarged. She was being used as the living cortex of the facility’s computer, and once Hank was able to wake her up she used her connections to disable the villains and free the Avengers. Hank quit the team on the spot to help Maria recover, setting up in a lab not too far from the Avengers Compound. Mockingbird quit the Avengers when they got home due to Hawkeye not taking her side when he learned about the Phantom Rider situation; Tigra and Moon Knight quit in solidarity.

Minor/Cameo appearances from this period

Iron Man vol 1 #229