#and the future of elves in orlais

[thevulturesquadron]

Anyone who claims that the secret ending in Veilguard is disrespectful or nullifies agency in the previous three games is either unable to traverse layered storytelling or is being ignorant on purpose.

I am not sure how someone assumes that it was about mind control or magic when games upon games the fantasy setting in Dragon Age has been a medium for telling stories about the nature of people, about different perspectives, about the dangers of applying singular ideals to a complex existence, about how people and the ways in which they interact shape destinies.

How can you not be excited to learn that there’s a world outside Thedas, that the web is more complicated and that when one wrestles to break the threads it vibrates all the way to the spider letting it know it’s dinner time?

[lizzybeeee]

THE ENTIRE DRAGON AGE AMA IS A DUMPSTER FIRE

They avoided all the high-rated questions with genuine criticism (not blind hate!) and went for questions that were safer and allowed them more leeway. After that awful IGN article and that treatment of Davrin...God, just put it down. I have no faith that BioWare will be able to continue Dragon Age or Mass Effect with the respect it deserves.

Edit - They had an opportunity for genuine discussion with fans who were concerned/unhappy with the way Veilguard was -> people unhappy with the story, the marketing, the lack of 'RP' options in an RPG, etc... Instead they just doubled-down even more, avoiding those critical questions, with no real acknowledgement that fans have very reasonable problems with this game.

Some Highlights & My Initial Ramblings Below:

The Executors

"They attempt to manipulate events in the most subtle way they can manage."

So, very clear that they're not simply observers of what is happening in Thedas: they're manipulators...

"Magical Illuminati Confirmed! Lizard People Did 9:30 Dragon!!!!"

All that complexity of character -> his hatred of Orlais, his experience as a general, his relationship with Cailain, and the influence of Howe...all diminished. Any influence from a shadow cabal is too much influence - all the humanity of Loghain's choices/consequences...God, what a waste.

Not to mention what this does to other events/characters in the series -> they imply they've been intervening as far back as the magisters breaking into the golden city. I do not find this compelling! At all!

2. Solas and the Executors

Oh my god, he sounds like such a fucking Mary-Sue I'm so sick of Solas at this point -> "Actually, I know more about the Executors than anyone alive - not even the rest of the Gods know as much as me."

("I'm also, like, an Ancient Elven God, I'm responsible for the Blight and the Veil, and I kind of locked the Gods away cause they were evil - but, like, I'm really sad about it. Also the Herald of Andraste thinks I'm cute <3")

<- Previous comments: massive oversimplification, obviously

But I miss the days when not everything was about Solas. It removes so much interest and wonder in this world when the fucking egg is behind it all. I loved him as a character in DAI and now I just feel this bone deep tiredness when I see his stupid face.

Don't you dare threaten to bring Gareth David-Lloyd back -> keep him away from this mess!

3. The Fate of the Rest of the Evanuris

Yay. I'm so looking forwards to "The Return of the Elves: Electric Boogaloo 2" - it was done so well the first time!

"It was the elves all along!"

The only character with any potential to be interesting is Andruil*, but how they handled all this lore was done so shallowly and so poorly that I find it hard to give a damn anymore. Not to mention that the game literally mentions Ghilan'nain mourning Andruil - so is this a retcon/redirection/or have you confirmed that one of the most interesting members of the Evanuris' is dead?

*interesting in that she's established in lore to potentially have a tonne of really cool things attached to her (the void armour, the great weapon she has etc...). The rest of the evanuris are nowhere near as well established as she is.

4. Southern Thedas, Sociopolitical Issues, and Future Games

NOW YOU WANT TO INCORPORATE GEO-POLITCAL EXPLORATION?? You avoided any meaningful discussion like the plague in DATV but now you're acknowledging it?? OkaY. okAy.

They couldn't even give us the long-term ramifications of the mage/templar war how the hell am I supposed to believe that they will be able to pull off 'elven gods are real' etc...? For a game series that totes : your choices matter -> they have not proven that they have been able to show that in a meaningful way. They literally cleaned the slate with this game to avoid doing that.

So, what, does that mean that the Veil is never going to come down now? Or are you going to have the entirety of Thedas build themselves up again just to have the Veil fall and send things into chaos once more?

What a fatalistic, miserable outcome for Thedas -> why the fuck would anyone bother to live in Thedas if you're going to keep throwing meteorites at them? By all means, change/conflict has to happen for the series to move forwards...but this is just so miserable at this point.

(The Elder Scrolls, at least, gives people room to breathe between crisis' or sets them up in different areas of the world! Bethesda treats past installments/your decisions with greater respect than DATV does.)

Even, then, if the Veil remains up, that means that the spirits are just trapped in the Fade being miserable for the rest of existence. The entire series has been humanizing spirits, from Justice to Cole, and now they're just throwing in the towel? I guess they can stay in the fade now! Problem solved!

What do you mean the Evanuris are not a threat anymore? IN A PREVIOUS QUESTION YOU LITERALLY SAID SOME ARE STILL POTENTIALLY KICKING AROUND THE BLACK CITY?

Weakened, sure, but Solas was 'weak' in DAI. You're giving yourself an out if you decide to go back to the elves again. Please do, I'd love more content on how the elves alone fuck everything up!

5. More Southern Thedas, the Chantry, and Tevinter

Thanks for the confirmation that things in the South are so fucked up that they have to work alongside the 'Slave Capital' of the known world to rebuild!

Slavery was one of the biggest things that caused a rift between the north/south chantry system -> one of the reasons why there were exalted marches -> a uniting belief in the south is that slavery is fucked. They didn't address slavery in DATV - what hopes are there that they will do so effectively in a future game?

Don't tell me that Dorian fixes everything off screen either -> either he solves slavery off-screen or the south is being forced to work the slaver-capitol because their land is nuked and they have no ground to stand on.

I'm so thrilled.

6. Solas and the Idol / The Blight

I will never get over Solas fucking curing the Blight off-screen and no one asking questions/giving a shit. Hello?? The Hero of Ferelden would like a word with you???

So the Blight is calcified in Minrathous, at least, but everywhere further away is still fucked! Once more, the South is doomed to suffer from the long-term effects that regular blights have -> not to mention the red lyrium (which still exists according to the AMA) across the south.

I don't care; it's lame. It's a lame way to conclude the blight and I hate it. This game did not earn 'cure the blight from thedas' at all. You could have had us learn how to soothe a titan and see how that can diminish the blight but you did it this way.

Another 'magical ritual' because Solas has such a good track record with them lmao.

7. The Agents of Fen'Harel / The War with the Qun / The Crows

Turned him against the idea of being a leader???!!

Fen'harel's Call to the Elven People After the events at the Winter Palace, elves left the Inquisition under mysterious circumstances, as did elven servants across Thedas. None could say where they went, but those who believed the Inquisitor's story about Fen'Harel wondered just how large the Dread Wolf's forces were... and what the ancient elven rebel had planned. This is from the Trespasser Epilogue, Epler!

Your concept art for Joplin literally had him as a leader of a faction of elves. Just be honest that it's a retcon and you changed course - don't try to save face with this reasoning.

About the Antaam: "We needed some big mindless bad guys to fight and so we did this because we didn't want to address the Qunari War/Invasion we set up in Trespasser".

You had to canonize Sten as being alive and Arishok in order for this reasoning to work -> you didn't even come up with an alternative Arishok to take Sten's place.

Yeah, the exchange that set up the Crows we see in the game as "idealists" did not make the game. I can confirm that!

I'm sorry, "Caterina kept Illario in check?" as in, 'kept him an idealist and not the usual Crow'? The woman that beat him with a cane and starved him and his cousin to train them as Crows. Fuck off.

lmao -> tell me you're coming up with this on the spot without telling me that you're coming up with this on the spot.

8. World State Discrepancies - Isabela

Outright ignores the very real criticism about the marketing from this game and World States.

"there are absolutely places where we unintentionally suggested there was a hard canon (...that Isabela is always assumed to have joined Hawke's party.)"

Unintentional?

Excuse me, you have her talk about Merrill and the Kirkwall Crew as family - that was not unintentional in the slightest. Not to mention Sten, Blackwall, Sera, and Cole are canonized as being part of your world state no matter what.

You had a story you wanted to tell - one that only fit a few world states - and you went ahead with it and disregarded those choices. Don't try and lie about this all being a big misunderstanding.

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Edit - They could have taken the opportunity to address the very reasonable criticisms that people had with this game but they cherry-picked questions and avoided/minimized anything remotely critical.

They could have provided us some insight into the game development time but each time they approached the topic they settled for "we're happy with what we delivered and it was well optimized."

They had an opportunity to acknowledge that people were bothered by the handling of the lore/stories (to potentially mention they could course-correct/ rethink their plans) but instead they doubled down on everything that they did and even 'justified' some decisions. They doubled down on the Executors, Solas's changing motivations, the destruction of Southern Thedas, and the elves/Solas being at the heart of everything etc...

This AMA basically confirmed that the only reason they did what they did to the south was for a reset -> It's not a compelling or fulfilling narrative to have everything we've done reset back to ground zero off-screen. BioWare games differentiate themselves from other RPG's by their import system from previous games - it was compelling and exciting! With DATV they set the expectation that BioWare can outright throw out entire games worth of choices/build up, not solely retcon them.

Justifying your choice to water down the lore/world of your story by saying you'll address it in the 'next game' does not instill me with confidence, BioWare! It doesn't explain that lack of it in this game either!

They avoided every question that, rightfully so, pointed out the misleading comments made by devs in the pre-order period of the game:

the fact that there were only 3 imported choices from previous games was leaked by a reviewer -> BioWare was vague from the start about choices

that this game was the most 'romantic' in the series

that world states/ headcanons wouldn't be disrespected

that there are 'lore' reasons for bad darkspawn design

that there are lasting, impactful choices/consequences to be made in this game

that the lore/world was not watered or toned down

that companions are deep and you can disagree with them etc...

BioWare's behavior towards their customers in the lead up period to this games release was downright scummy. I absolutely felt misled after playing the game for myself and recalling what I read in interviews put out. While EA is undoubtedly poison, you can't hold them solely accountable for this.

I feel for the individual developers who worked on this in what was undoubtedly a toxic environment from EA - but I feel that it's pretty clear that BioWare itself has a lot of problems within and in their leadership/executives. Working for EA does not give them an excuse to mislead their customers.

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I already had a very grim outlook on the franchise from the end of DATV but this literally look my interest out the back and sent it to God. What a disaster.

[blackberry-sage-tea]

Apologies but I have another stupid long analysis post. Been thinking about this and I think Veilguard defenders aren't necessarily wrong that Veilguard's main choices "matter" about as much as prior game choices matter--that is, in that they have a superficial impact on dialogue and story paths, while the core narrative is ultimately unchanged (albeit it has way, way less of those superficial changes). Dragon Age's main appeal as an RPG series (imo) is that it tries to balance player freedom with having a coherent and emotional narrative in a way that a lot of RPGs can't (either because they let you kill major NPCs if you want or because the endings diverge so heavily the next game has to be 100 years later), so it's always been more limited in what you can do. It's mostly always been down to dialogue, cameos, and side quests.

But the thing about Veilguard's major story choices is that it doesn't give you any context to appreciate what you're choosing or why you're choosing it. And so they FEEL like they don't matter in a way that prior games never had a problem with.

In DA:O your major choices come at the end of a quest chain. Harrowmont or Bhelen, werewolves or elves, mages or Templars. These choices have very little impact on the rest of the plot, your story is not significantly different for picking one or the other (except for, again, the superficial things). The thing that makes these choices feel weighted is not the consequences of which ally you have at the final battle or a single paragraph at the end, it's that you spend a lot of time building up to them--you are given the full context for what you're choosing, the game is asking you to make a decision on a topic that you are now very well informed on. You know what the stakes are for this choice, even if you don't see it outside of an epilogue blurb.

Awakening, similarly, has its main story choices near the end--Do you save Vigil's Keep or Amaranthine? Do you side with the Architect or against him? These impact the plot almost not at all because of their placement, it's a "future consequences" thing, but it feels like it matters because the game has spent its whole runtime telling you what choices you're making and building them up through its side quests. It's asking you what you think is most important.

DA2, same deal. The lesser story impact on your choices is, in this instance, more of a technical constraint this time around (the game is very unfinished so you're pretty much press-ganged into the Templar route for a good chunk of it) but all of the choices you make are based around things the game is constantly giving you context for. How you feel about the Qunari, how you feel about Templars and Mages, how you feel about the Chantry, these are things the game is ABOUT and so there are no major story choices where you ask yourself, "why should I care about this?"

Inquisition fumbled this a smidge, I think. The mage-Templar choice is a very early one, and it's given to you without much time to build context for it (if you're a new player, that is), however that's the choice that has a little more story impact than normal and unique quests for each so it's not as big a deal. The other choices though, they also come at the end of questlines where you get to know the stakes and the characters involved. Who do you leave in the Fade? Do you wish to redeem the Grey Wardens or not? Who do you think is the best ruler of Orlais? Should you drink the Well of Sorrows, given what you've learned of Elven history? I have my criticisms of the writing for these quests but like most people I appreciate in hindsight that it still followed the pattern of "your choices matter because you know what you're choosing and why it's important".

Veilguard doesn't do that, and that's why its major choices (what few there are) feel like nothing despite arguably getting the same amount of story impact that previous games did (ie, its mostly dialogue changes and slightly different side quests).

Who do you pick to help you in the opening? I mean, does it matter? The situation is dangerous whether they're helping you or fighting demons alone, there's not really any way to anticipate that the one who comes with you is getting seriously injured outside of "this is a video game". Should you help Treviso or Minrathous? Well, I mean in-universe as Rook I'm doubtful that there's anything I can actually do to save a whole city given my lack of resources (plus each city has a collection of warriors about as capable as me) and tbh I barely know anything about either one because this is pretty early game, I've just been focusing on recruitment thus far. Do you punch the First Warden or not? Yes…? I mean I get that it wants to give you a choice but I've been given no indication that there's a guy capable of reason in there--even the whole "You're hearing your Calling" thing is given AFTER the choice is made, and it's not like punching out the First Warden would have major consequences for the Wardens as an order, he's just a politician. Do you pick Davrin or Harding for your secondary team? Am I supposed to know in advance that this is going to get them killed? I'm picking the person I think is best for the job, and sure enough they successfully do the thing I picked them for. It's only later, after the choice is no longer relevant, that the consequences bear fruit. Do you pick Neve or Bellara to undo the wards? I mean there's no reason why that choice leads to Elgar'nan grabbing one or the other, it's literally just who is standing closest to the mirror when he shows up.

And this isn't even going into things like "Who should be Archon?", which is relegated to a single fucking side quest (unless you saved Treviso in which you have no choice) and your options are "reformist who wants to use dirty tactics" and "reformist who wants to use naive tactics" given to us after having 0 development on Tevinter's actual sociopolitical system and how it works other than "it's bad". Oh, and both candidates promise to support each other with no hard feelings and none of the people you ask have strong feelings one way or the other, just vague preferences.

You see where I'm going with this, right? The ONLY major choice the game has you make that it has spent the whole game building up to is how you want to deal with Solas, but to a long-time player who got more, BETTER context for who he is in Inquisition and Trespasser, it feels painfully unfair and lackluster in execution (it's not an exaggeration to say this game told me nothing about Solas as a person that I didn't already know going in, except for the things that directly contradicted his prior characterization). And of course, that's just one character--you're not being asked to make a decision that impacts the world (because the world consequences are the same no matter what), you're just deciding what flavor of Solas you want for your ending.

Your major choices don't matter not because they have less impact than prior games (which is a separate argument), or because there's less of them (this is true but it's not the point I'm making here), but because these choices are arbitrary as hell in the moment you're making them. You're not given the tools to care about them. All the reasoning people give for one or the other? Entirely meta or based on future knowledge. The narrative doesn't inform the decisions, the mechanics do.

[lafaiette]

The level of disappointment I feel for the new dragon age game is just so consuming. Like I'll admit that after so many years, I didn't think it would hold true to what the previous game set up. But I hate that I was right, and I hate that a game series I loved so much sas turned into what it is now. I didn't buy it at launch because I wanted to wait for a sale, but with all that I'm hearing I'm wondering if it's even worth it. I'm just so sad for how this all went and I wish it hadn't happened. It even makes replaying the old games feel like scorched earth because nothing I do will have an effect on anything. It never mattered. The game that said my choices matter has now said "actually you never mattered" and I'm so heartbroken about it.

It even makes replaying the old games feel like scorched earth because nothing I do will have an effect on anything. It never mattered. The game that said my choices matter has now said "actually you never mattered" and I'm so heartbroken about it.

This is also one of the most painful parts for me, together with the way they handled - or ignored - a majority of the established lore.

In Veilguard, we learn that the majority of the South is basically gone: Denerim is lost, Redcliffe is under siege, getting help from the dwarves of Orzammar, who are already stretched thin. The ruler of Ferelden is never addressed - what happened to them? Are they still alive? Are they defending Redcliffe? We'll never know.

Orlais is also lost. Val Royeaux and Halamshiral are barely holding on, and a noble faction decided (for some stupid reason) to join the Venatori and spread even more chaos. The ruler of Orlais is never addressed - are they dead? Did the rebel nobility kill them? What happened to Briala's elves? We'll never know.

Kirkwall has fallen, and Aveline has been forced to evacuate the city and move the few survivors to Starkhaven. We know that Varric is dead, so Aveline or someone else will have to take his place, if Kirkwall can even be recovered (doubtful at this point).

The Blight is back in Ostagar and the Korcari Wilds, too, with only some Avvar and Alamarri clans keeping things under control while in a temporary truce with Ferelden.

Everything we ever accomplished in DA:O, DA2, and DA:I is gone. They turned the South into a blank state so they can leave it there, ignoring it, now that the focus will be on Those Across the Sea, as the secret ending slide shows. This blank state will also allow them to return to the South, should they ever wish to, but without the need to take into account the players' past choices, because everything we knew, everything we built and fought for, is gone.

"Oh, Ferelden changed so much in the last twenty years or so, ever since that terrible Blight caused by the elven gods!"

"Orlais isn't the same anymore, there is another civil war because we lost our previous ruler. Who was it? Oh, I don't know, I wasn't born yet, I couldn't care less."

"Pity about Kirkwall. I heard it was a shithole, but the beer at the Hanged Man was apparently pretty good."

^ This is what we will get in the future.

[dragons-and-ages]

As much as I usually prefer playing mages and elves… reading The World of Thedas vol 2 in preparation for a new playthrough is actually getting me hyped to play a Cousland.

Reading about my soon-to-be Amalthea Cousland’s parents is simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking:

Her mother, Teyrna Eleanor Cousland, was raised on the deck of a ship and was a fierce rebel raider known as the Seawolf during the time of the Orlesian occupation of Ferelden. After Maric retook Denerim and mobilized the northern banns to defend against Orlesian retaliation by sea, she met her future husband:

I considered the name Dane, from Fereldan legend, but I think Amalthea’s mabari will have to be named Mistral, after her mother’s ship.

After the war, when Bryce returned to Highever:

“Teyrn Bryce spent four months receiving oaths and taking possession of his ancestral home, and every day without fail he sent a letter to Lady Eleanor - sometimes more than one a day.”

The shanty in question:

I think that, even if this was something Eleanor “never shared with her children” they still learned about it from other sources. I have a feeling that a young Amalthea (or “Theo”) got in trouble when she learned the song and got caught belting it in the castle.

Years later, as Highever mobilized to assist King Cailan at Ostager, Theo would have a few notes stuck in her head, plaguing her as she couldn’t remember what song it was from… Until several weeks later, when she would hear the song played in a brothel in Denerim and the enormity of the loss of her family would finally hit her like a meteor.

The book has this to say in the section about Arl Rendon Howe:

Bryce was his friend during the rebellion against Orlais. They, along with their friend, Leonas Bryland, survived the massacre that was the Battle of White River together. Bryce was still his friend after Leonas cut contact with him. Bryce and Eleanor Cousland were at his wedding. They were the only people at his wedding. They were his friends.

They were his friends and he still slaughtered them.

I’m so unwell about this.

[dalishious]

Why does sera disapprove of putting Briala on the throne? Briala will help give elves a future in orlais, and sera is all about helping the “little people”?

Because Kristjanson decided it was more important to yet again show how much Sera hates being an elf than actually make sense.

[purpledemonlilyposting]

Going off her streams Lily really seems to like Veilguard, what's your opinion on the game? (I'm sorry I never caught your gaming streams pls don't hit me)

It's... complicated. At the beginning of last year I was sure Dragon Age was dead for good when I heard Mary Kirby had been let go from the company. And I still have no faith in any future installments, especially with Sylvia Feketekuty now also leaving the company.

(For context: Kirby is the writer of Varric and was the lore keeper for Orlais and the Qunari. Feketekuty wrote Josephine, Emmrich, Hezenkoss and a good chunk of the Mourn Watch.)

So on the one hand I liked getting most of my lore answers from Veilguard and I really like the gameplay. I had a blast playing rogue especially (haven't quite warmed up to mage, might try warrior).

On the other hand... it's undeniable the writing is a downgrade. Which is unfortunate because that's typically the best part of these games and why the fans love them. And it was likely interference from "sensitivity reader" types or some of the team self-censoring for the same motive.

We finally see Tevinter, where slavery is infamously legal and a key part of their Roman Empire-like social and ruling structure, but we saw more of the horrors of slavery in past games than in Veilguard.

I played an elf and would have conversations with Davrin about how elves are discriminated against but I never once experienced it. Give me that conversation in Ostagar in DA:O where the quartermaster assumes I'm a servant because I'm an elf and I get to be really really Dalish at the ignorant shem. Or that conversation where you can make Leliana sweat with shem guilt as she tries to assure you some elven servants are REALLY well paid in Orlais like fr. Hell give me even Fenris rolling his eyes at being called a manservant in Mark of the Assassin.

They definitely sanded off rough edges in other places too. The Crows, or at least the Crows in Treviso, are suddenly not as ruthless and don't torture kids to turn the survivors into trained assassins. Other aspects like them being akin the to assassin's guild in Discworld and basically controlling large portions of the country were already there though.

And then just the dialog and character interaction. Yes I'm afraid to inform you everyone talks to each other like HR trained co-workers at a business convention in LA.

And then there's Taash. The true blight on the ass of this series. I dunno what the fuck happened there. I know Patrick Weekes started identifying as non-binary like 4 years ago but even "woke" brain worms couldn't make someone's writing take THAT much of a catastrophic nosedive. Especially since Solas' writing is still intact.

Someone else must have come in and gave it all a terrible rewrite, and you can kind of tell because there seems to be scenes missing from the plotline and a far superior child of an immigrant story peeking out from underneath.

So overall a very flawed game, disappointing in many ways, but it does have some flashes of brilliance in places and fantastic gameplay. I'm glad we at least got something after they left the franchise languishing for 10 years and cancelled the 4th installment twice despite Inquisition having Bioware's highest first two week sales ever.

[silent-words]

oooh that ship questionnaire is wonderful! 4, 11, and 18 for Dorian and Inky!

Hi! Yes, it is, but I wish there would be something more DA-specific (about mages, elves and other societal problems). Nonetheless, I'm thrilled to answer it!

4. Have they ever been forced apart due to circumstance? How did they handle the distance?

More than once. First after the fall of Haven, when Dorian was sure Dionysios, the heroic fool, had died in the avalanche. It was for several hours, but for Dorian it was an eternity. They hadn't even been together yet. And our resident Tevinter, of course, wondered, why it hurt so much (because he was in denial of feelings, naturally). Meanwhile Dionysios was busy trying to survive and drag his own body towards the Inquisition camp.

Next time it was before the Exalted Council, but only for a couple of months. They were both rather occupied with different things, and they knew they would meet again.

And after the Council... comes the 8-year long-distance relationship. They have to live in different empires (Dionysios moves Inquisition to Orlais to become the Divine's personal guard), and they can't leave their posts. Dorian is a magister, and Dionysios has to track down Solas.

Dionysios handles it very poorly. He develops depression a couple of years after he loses his arm: doesn't get out of his room, doesn't sleep, doesn't talk to anyone other than Dorian through the sending crystal. The worst thing is that Dorian doesn't even know at first, because all he hears is a cheerful voice of his lover, who always says that everything's alright. He discovers it from the Inquisitor's second in command, Cassandra, who is also Dorian's best friend by that time. Magister Pavus, horrified, arranges, with Cassandra's help, Dionysios' journey to Minrathous. There the Inquisitor consults healers, is fussed over by Dorian and finds another purpose for the Inquisition. They start helping the refugees from the Tevinter-Qunari war. That's how Dorian ends up with 4 adopted mage children during Veilguard, but it's another story altogether XD

Since then Dionysios visits the Imperium quite a lot, and Dorian always worries about him. Dorian himself handles the distance between them better, because he's good at enduring and living in the Imperium, and now he has something he had never had before the Inquisition – a hope for a better future.

After Veilguard Dionysios refuses to come back to Val Royeaux, stops being the Inquisitor, and starts living with Dorian at first as a fiance, and then as a husband (Archon's consort?).

11. Have they said "I love you"? If so, when was the first time?

They have, but it took some time. Dionysios is ready to profess his feelings, he does it while kissing Dorian in the Skyhold library (who said libraries are for reading?). The Tevinter is so surprised, that he nearly tosses his lover over the railing. But then he starts calling Dionysios "amatus". The latter learns later what it means.

After the confrontation with Solas during the Exalted Council, while Dionysios lies in bed without his arm, Dorian realises, that he could've lost his amatus without saying about his feeling in the Common tongue (or is it Trade tongue?). So he enters the room, sits on the bed and says "Dionysios, I love you". Dionysios is happy.

Well, from then on they say these words through letters and the sending crystal.

18. What qualities do they have that complement one another? Are there any that sometimes cause friction?

Dorian is six years older (Dionysios is 24 at the beginning of the Inquisition), he has more experience living in society and is generally much wiser. Dionysios spent 17 years in the Circle of Magi, was locked up in the former Tevinter Lighthouse, so doesn't know many things that are considered natural and universal outside the Circles. Dorian helps the Herald (and then the Inquisitor) with understanding the world. Yet Dionysios has the ingenuousness (I hope it's the right word), he has fresh eyes and looks at problems differently. And he retains it through the years. That's why Dorian likes to ask for Dionysios' opinion when already working as a magister.

If we speak about friction, we should remember that Dorian is passionate. He learned to be reserved, but beneath the mask he has a lot of passion and a lot of feelings. Dionysios is also passionate and, on top of that, short-tempered. So if they have an argument, it's a show. They can shout, stomp and glare at each other. After the first incidents they developed a rule "no magic used during arguments" (two upset mages can be dangerous to each other and everything around them).

Also Dionysios is bad at taking hints, and he never knows whether Dorian is joking or not (I based Dionysios on myself, actually).

[lectorel]

Dalish Political Opinions:

I've been working on worldbuilding regarding Dalish culture and beliefs, as a framework for writing stories more focused on Dalish characters and clans. This is a rough draft of what different clans might believe and practice, and how those attitudes could differ.

The Future Homeland:

Building a Neo-Arlathan: The great city should rise again, as the jewel of the Dalish culture. We'll benefit most from having a single, large city with strong defenses and room for the clans to overwinter.

Reclaiming the Dales: The Dales should be ours. We should have a wide range of settlements from tiny homesteads to a capital city, dispersed and defended so that we can never loss everything in a single siege.

Founding a Third Kingdom: We need to find a new place to live and build a kingdom, bringing the best of Arlathan and the Dales to a fresh slate.

Nomadic Life: the Dalish are best served by continuing to be nomads, with only semi-permanent encampments and small settlements. We are best served by finding better ways to bring wealth with us and defend ourselves while on the move, not putting a target on our backs by having a fixed location.

Religion: 

Literalists: These are the stories we have, which we believe are the truth of what happened. The moral and social rules they lay out should be followed as strictly as possible

Reconstructionists: Our myths may be missing information or misconstrued. What matters is that we act in good faith, keeping to the core tenets, and continue searching for more evidence of our past. The details of the rules are less important than the intent.

Functionalist: it doesn't matter if our myths are true or not. What matters is the fact that they're ours, and they show us what it means to be Dalish. Rules can be discarded entirely if they no longer work for a clan.

Diplomacy:

Non-Dalish Elves:

Isolation: we should have nothing to do with anyone outside the Dalish Clans. In an ideal world, we would have a country all our own that no one outside of the clans even knew existed. The elves of the cities are not our concern.

Expansion: we should actively be bringing non-dalish elves into the clans. In an ideal world, all elves would be Dalish.

Collaboration: We should develop positive relationships with elves outside the clans, without recruiting. In an ideal world, the Dalish would be independent but have friends, business partners, lovers, and allies who were of many faiths.

Dwarves:

Alliance: The dwarves' religious beliefs are perfectly compatible with Dalish beliefs, and both groups specialize in areas the other lacks. We're natural allies, and should seek to strengthen ties.

Non-Interference: The dwarves are not our problem, and there is nothing they can offer us that would make it worth getting involved in their politics or the mess of the darkspawn in the deep roads.

Hostility: The dwarves have never helped us, they've never acted even when it would cost them very little. They have no magic. They're not like us, and they can't be trusted.

Humans:

Hostility: Fuck Orlais, fuck tevinter, and fuck everyone who allies with them. Shemlens can't be trusted.

Strategic Ties: Many, if not most, humans are awful, but individual ones can be trustworthy. Maintaining ties with the morally upright among them will keep us safer than a universal rejection.

Sympathy: We have a great deal in common with the poor and unwelcome of human society. What is done to them, and what they do in response, could make them valuable allies if we approached them in the correct way.

Qunari:

Most clans outside of the free marches don't have an opinion about the qunari. Clans within the free marches range from 'well they scared the shems' to 'and they scared us'. It's expected to be a major subject of debate at the next Arlathvhen

Magic:

Political beliefs about magic can generally be split into two attitudes: enthusiastically embracing it, or accepting it with reservations. (There are a few fringe clans who reject it entirely, and require non-mage keepers, firsts, and seconds, and a few more will allow non-mages as keepers without requiring it, but they are very rare.)

Political opinions about magic map very neatly to geographic location - the closer a clan's territory is to Tevinter, the more suspicious that clan is of magic. It was the northernmost clans that took the precept of the three mage minimum and decided it would also be their maximum.

Northern clans, if they're sending extra mages away, will travel south to make sure the young mage isn't picked up by Tevinter. Not doing so can result in a clan's leadership being declared illegitimate at the Arlathvhen.

As a result, most non-Dalish are not aware of the variety of opinions regarding magic, and assume that all Dalish clans allow only three mages.

Dalish clans in Rivain, on the other end of the spectrum, pride themselves on having as many mages as possible, to the point that not having a mage available to be a clan's Second is a bad omen and sign of potential disaster. This has, in the past decade, lead to what the Dalish call 'Rivaini diplomacy' - the practice of Rivaini clans sending members to live with clans adjacent to Tevinter, for the chance to adopt any young mages the clans send away.

[songofamazon]

Hello! 3, 7, or 14 for the Aldwir asks, if you want!

Thank you @hyperions-light for the asks! I finally have the spoons to work on this one. The full list of Aldwir Story Time prompts is here.

I chose 14, "Rook coordinating with the Dalish to help reconstruct more of the Elvhen language."

This happens some time after the end of Veilguard, when things have begun to settle down, but Vel is not one to stay still.

“Okay, so did we hear from Clan Sabrae?” Vel asked brightly, leaning over the wicker table in her study—floating in the air, with her own private waterfall, and tiny grove of trees, where the Elvhen once sat—surrounded by elves from all over Thedas.

Well, most of Thedas.

And that was the issue at hand.

“Not yet,” Irelin replied, checking her notes, “But they are known to range quite far south this time of year. A reply could take time.”

“Right, no worries,” Vel tried not to bounce in her seat with impatience. “So we’ve got a couple dozen clans agreeing to work with us?”

“And the city elves of at least Starkhaven and Kirkwall—what’s left of it anyway,” Merrill, her cousin Elanna’s friend from her travels and eluvian expert, put in. Her Southern accent always made Vel smile. “City elves have their own traditions, I’ve learned, and they’ve kept different parts of the old ways than the Dalish. We should contact the others.”

“Yeah,” Bellara agreed, “That’s what Antoine was saying, especially in Orlais near the Dales.”

“We should write to Marquise Briala,” Loranil suggested, another of Elanna and Harding’s friends from the Inquisition, “She’s quite a hero in the Dales, to Dalish and not alike, after saving so many lives during Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain’s Blight. Many elves there want to rebuild a free life there.”

“Or here,” Strife nodded. “We’re already seeing Orlesian migrants coming to resettle in Arlathan, now that it’s gotten out what we’re doing.”

“Resettling Arlathan,” Bellara said in an awed whisper. “For the elves. For better lives for everyone.”

Vel’s heart skipped a beat at the thought too. They were doing it. The dream that she’d never thought could actually come true.

With the resealing of the Veil, all magic was less potent, including that which had long slumbered in Arlathan. Now, it slumbered again. The ancient magic tech could still be reawakened with enough spell-work, usually, so the Veil Jumpers still had their job in scouting and securing the safety of Arlathan for others.

But the worst and most confounding hazards of Arlathan were at the very least tamed, if not eliminated all together.

There were still some magics, like whatever kept Vel’s office and nearby home floating amid a tangle of ancient trees and waterspouts, were too stubborn even for the strengthened veil. Perhaps the Veil would always be thinner over Arlathan.

But a homeland wasn’t the only thing Vel was going to help the elves reclaim. Their civilization needed a language to bind together the elves from all over Thedas, to tie them to their past, and to carry them towards their future.

“And reclaiming our language: Elvhen,” Vel said firmly, “Everyone has their own bits and pieces. We all know some greetings and slang, but the keepers have kept fragments of our language alive over the ages for this day.

“The old songs from your clan that you don’t know the full meaning of, maybe someone else does. Maybe the spirits do! Let’s ask all who are willing, and fill in the gaps ourselves, for us,” Vel found herself on her feet, fist raised in enthusiasm.

“The spirits of curiosity draw near, as do those with affection for Arlathan,” Taís Merevar said, a Dalish keeper and seer from Rivain who brought her clan to Arlathan after the Blights settled. “Surely among them are those who know words from our ancestors.”

“And I got as much language as I could from that stubborn archive spirit before I freed it,” Bellara waved a heavy tome of notes over the table, “Plus all the history it deigned to share.” There were two more volumes on the table beside her.

“For once, I miss having the Fen’harel in my head,” Vel laughed and sank back into her chair. “He’d love to teach me about old Elvhen, but he’d probably lord it over me for a while first. Nah. Elanna can have him. I hope they’re enjoying the fade.” Finding all eyes on her again, she cleared her throat, “Anyway! We’ve heard from most of the Dalish clans, but Merrill is right. We should send people to visit the human cities to see what the elves there can teach us.. Loranil, you can write to Briala?”

“It would be better coming from you, Rook,” he deflected, “I’m a nobody who used to fight for the Inquisition.”

“This is your chance to be a somebody,” Strife argued. From everything I’ve heard of the woman, she does her best to do good for the elves.”

“And Taís, you can connect us with settlements in Rivain?” Vel asked. The dark-skinned woman nodded.

“I’ll work with the Shadow Dragons to contact other Tevinter elves,” Strife offered, “We’ve got a long history, separate from the South.”

“That leaves Rivain, Nevarra, Ferelden, and the Anderfells,” Vel counted off on her fingers. “I bet Tea has connections to at least the elves in Treviso.”

“I will speak with her,” Irelin volunteered.

“And I’ll take the Anderfells,” Davrin looked up from his whittling.

“Assan and I need something new to chase after. And I’ll see if I can catch up with Antione and Evka. Antione might already have something, what with his hobby of story collecting.”

“Thanks.” Vel would miss him, but Davrin was a man of the hunt. There was no keeping him in one place for too long, and his stay in the Lighthouse had been pretty considerable already.

“I think,” Loranil started hesitantly, “Sydony, another elf from the Inquisition, has some connections in Nevarra. I could write her too, and see if she could help.”

Vel nodded. “That would be great!” Emmerich wasn’t going to be of much help. An expert in the fade he might be, but his network was rather limited to the Necropolis. Though maybe there were some very old dead that remembered the language of the elves! Maybe he could be of help after all! Vel made a mental note to ask him next time she popped in for a visit.

“Carver has been wanting to visit his homeland in Ferelden, now that the Blight has receded,” Merrill named her surly human partner, whom Lucanis was currently entertaining with knife throwing lessons below, “And I’d like to check in on my old clan, Sabrae, too. Are there any Eluvians positioned there for travel?”

Bellara thought for a moment. “The closest I can get you is Skyhold, I think.”

“Wonderful! I’ve always wanted to see Skyhold,” Merrill beamed, “Though I suspect Carver might dislike the cold.”

“And when you get back,” Bellara interrupted eagerly, “We can keep working on that eluvian research. I think we almost have the basics figured out. Maybe if Magister Pavus—I mean Archon Pavus lets me borrow his sending crystal, I can examine the similarities and—“

“Someday you two will outdo June,” Strife chuckled.

“Ma serannas, ma’falon,” Vel concluded with a grin, “We are Arlathan. We are our language. And someday, we’ll all know how to speak it, too.”

As the others said their goodbyes and filed towards the ladder, a tall, graying elf who had spent the meeting silently against the wall broke from the shadows and approached her.

Holding out a pair of halla leather journals, a slow smile spread across his face. “You do me proud, da’len.”

“Father,” Vel took the books reverently, but stood tall before him, “I wasn’t sure if you got my invitation until you showed up.”

“What you asked of me takes time,” he nodded to the journals, “But that is all I could recount on my way here. There may be more later.” Vel’s eyes widened. “This is—“ She flipped through the top volume: songs, tales, sketches, Elvhen words and phrases. “Wow!”

The smile reached his eyes. “As you said, this is a day we Keepers—and all that have come before us—have kept the ways for. We may make a Keeper of you yet. But,” he said, drawing her into a sudden embrace, “You didn’t have to save all of Thedas, defeat three gods—“

“Technically two,” Vel cut in, “Elanna and what’s left of Mythal helped convince Fen’harel to stand down.”

He chuckled. “Just listen to yourself! But you didn’t have to do any of that, lead the resettlement of Arlathan, or knit together the fragments of our language for your mother and I to be proud of you. We already were; just for being you and staying true to your heart.”

He released her, but Vel hugged the journals and the freeing warmth that came with his words close to her chest. “Ma serannas a hundred times over, Father,” she babbled. “There is still so much to learn, and—“

“And I think I’d like an introduction to that handsome Antivan down below,” His eyes narrowed mischievously, “I believe your friend Bellara said that he was also with you as one of your ‘Veilguard.’”

“Uh, Lucanis?” she squeaked, face growing suddenly hot. “Sure. I’m sure he’d love to meet you too.”

“I thought as much,” her father chuckled as he retrieved his staff from where it leaned against the wall. “Well, lead the way, da’len.”

[thesummerstorms]

Honestly every time you have to decide a nation's ruler in Dragon Age it sucks at least a little bit.

Harrowmont seems kinder/more honorable/is less likely to have everyone killed in a despotic plot. But not only do the epilogue slides indicate he ends up being ineffective to the point of damaging Orzammar, he's also entrenched in the Dwarven cast system. He has zero compunctions about spending the lives of the lower castes/doesn't see them or as anyone from the surface as fully being people. Depending on what resources you leave him, he either further empowers the nobility at the cost of everyone else and starts a war with Fereldan, or he is so politically weak he only manages to further isolate Orzammar before dying and leaving another succession crisis. He refuses to help Fereldan in any meaningful way in either case.

Bhelen is a fucking asshole, a kin-slayer, a tyrant, a scheming despot eroding anyone's ability to check his personal power. He takes out the entire nobility's power so he is the absolute authority. He will feed whoever he wants to the Anvil if it's left intact, with no pretensions of trials or criminality. But he actually does actually reduce restrictions on the non-noble castes, even letting the casteless arm themselves. Orzammar holds out better in matters other than internal politics if he's made king, reclaiming more of the deep roads and proving ready allies to Fereldan. Yet you never know how far he will go.

So which flavor of asshole are you picking?

Either human ruler in Orlais is an asshole who will shed non-human blood to preserve their own political power. At most you have the narrow divide of 'this one is a glory hound imperial expansionist who will probably drag Orlais and Fereldan back to war' versus 'this one made a play for Fereldan by offering marriage to their cheater dead king but will probably not start a war'.

Briala is an interesting complication, but if you pick the former she loses a lot of her power to check Gaspard when the Inquisition ends or is absorbed into the Orlesian Chantry; in the latter, her complicated feelings for a lover (who slaughter her family and people for politics) are going to limit her effectiveness as a check on said lover's power.

So which asshole are you choosing?

The Landsmeet seems like the least complicated of the choices. The fandom is still pretty damn divided.

On the one hand, you have the lovable companion character who has absolutely zero training in statecraft and previously was so adverse to leadership he dumped all of it on the newly inducted trainee he had known for a few days. Who seems to have a kind heart but absolutely no sense of direction.

On the other you have a woman who has been more or less raised to the throne, including explicit training in statecraft, does have the practical political and governing experience, but comes off as cold/calculating/personally ambitious. Who still deeply loves and defends her war criminal father, tries to protect the legacy he destroyed himself by mass murder/assassination/ selling elves into slavery.

As for the future of those two rulers... I know a lot of people headcanon that because Maric was able to get Fiona pregnant, Alistair also has magical Theirin blood and will have children with their Warden. I personally don't see any reason Anora and Cailan's conception issues couldn't have been Cailan's issue or why she wouldn't eventually go for a political remarriage; I have her in a political alliance with the older Cousland brother with two daughters.

But as canon actually stands neither can or will have children, due to Warden's blighted blood, biology, or inclination. As someone said recently in a post I saw but didn't save, either way Fereldan is looking at another succession crisis within the century.

Knowing that, who do you choose?

The Dragon Age Protagonists are actually kind of awful kingmakers is what I'm getting at here, but it's impossible to be otherwise without better options and more resources to put pressure on their respective thrones.

[crossdressingdeath]

Briala: The elves of Orlais have a future. For the first time in centuries. If only Celene... My people will find a way to repay you. I promise you. Alaris: Just use this opportunity well. Briala: I will. I've been waiting for this moment all my life.

I wish there was an elf dialogue option here... The energy of this moment is so good with Lavellan, I'd love the option for them to explicitly say "Just use this chance to help our people". I mean that is the implication with "Just use this opportunity well" but I'd like to actually say it. The alliance between Lavellan and Briala is everything to me actually and I really want to hear that it's still going well in DAV.

[scvcnofswords]

while i know the game tries to point-blank say the south fell entirely to the blight in an effort to likely set up a soft world-reboot for future matters, as far as my own canon, i diverge pretty heavily from that in veilguard and post-veilguard verses.

as long as it's happening in a world where Regin is inquisitor, there's a couple of very important things that apply to my thedosian canon (whether or not Litriu is this world's hero of ferelden, but i do default to li being the HOF when Regin is Inquisitor. it just helps me streamline how i want the world to be working.)

for starters, Litriu and a handful of 'her' wardens defied the First Warden's orders, and did not recall to weisshaupt. they remained in vigil's keep and amaranthine to help combat the Blight, because Litriu has been using vigil's keep as the place she returns to ever since the events of Awakening. She's been traversing all of Thedas looking for a cute for the Blight and the Calling (and reminder that in her own canon/my canon, she IS successful through the use of great dragon blood that she obtains in the wilds of Antiva, and secretly begins distributing, first to her own wardens and companions, and then to the Order after the events of Veilguard (or has distributed, depending on how things end for her with Veilguard). So, during the events of Veilguard, Amaranthine functions almost as a forward-camp, a bastion for those helping to combat the evanuris and the Blight, and is run by Litriu or by a chosen Second.

furthermore, through the events of Inquisition, Regin placed Briala in power- and also gained a lot of blackmail material and information that she'll be able to leverage. she placed leliana (hardened) into the position as divine, and all of this was essentially her setting up with one goal in mind-

pressuring briala and gaspard into returning the Dales to elvhen sovereignty. (by which I mean; the Exalted Plains, the emprise du lion, and the Emerald Graves.) by using her own almost 'deified' identity as inquisitor and chantry-figure, the weight of the divine, this IS successful- though it takes time and does result in multiple assassination attempts against herself and against Briala and Gaspard. she may have only learned to play chess during Inquisition, but she learned well- and set up a hell of a long endgame, to ensure that even if she died in the process, the Dales returned to the elves. it's why at TIMES in conversations with chantry-officials during Inquisition, Regin would neither confirm nor deny anything to do with Andraste or the Maker after being made Inquisitor.

anyways.

during the events of Veilguard, Denerim falls as do most eastern Ferelden cities- i imagine that the forces of the Evanuris didn't just sweep down from the North and blanket the continent; i feel like they would have made almost more of a pincer-movement, the horrors of the Blight creeping out of the Brecilian forest alongside agents like the Antaam or Venatori, taking the easternmost border of ferelden entirely and sweeping west- whilst forces from the evanuris did the same thing on the northwesternmost side of Orlais - surging down as an incursion from the Anderfels and swept east, with the intent of meeting in the middle.

the city of Amaranthine also falls again and is burned to rout the Blight and to try and belay the surge of the Blight, but only Vigil's Keep ends up spared that awful fate. redcliffe doesn't entirely fall but is badly damaged by the Blight and is left only about half-habitable. Regin and Morrigan use their connections through the Crossroads and Eluvians to strategize with Litriu and with Orzammar, and they end up making an almost 'perimeter' with manpower, magic, wards and stone- about half of the Hinterlands (the westernmost half), parts of the Korcari wilds, and the entirety of the Frostback mountains and basin serve as the perimeter- that is the line that they keep the Blight off of at all costs, keeping Skyhold as the main place to protect refugees. this is mostly successful, beyond small scars of the land where the Blight and its' agents of corruption did manage to encroach before being burned out. anora does not fall with denerim and she escapes to either redcliffe (which she then uses as her own base of operations, coordinating with Li and with Regin) or she uses it as a waypoint before falling back to Skyhold entirely. much of ferelden's army does manage to recover themselves within redcliffe- i would say about 35-40% of ferelden's army is lost when Denerim falls. Crestwood is somehow spared from entire corruption and ruin, but the storm coast is very nearly consumed. Lothering is lost, as is the majority of the Bannorn- however while Amaranthine is ruined and Vigil's Keep is protected, Highever manages to remain standing, though only barely. West Hill and most of the Storm Coast are consumed by the Blight- and the Fallow Mire is almost entirely covered in it, the land buried beneath the rot and tendrils.

as far as Orlais' side of the map goes- the Dales themselves are the perimeter, because the Evanuris moved so fast that Regin and her forces were not able to organize quickly enough to stop that encroachment- the world after all in the events of the last Exalted Council of Halamshiral had done its' absolute best to strip the Inquisitor of all of the power they'd begged her to take, and thus she didn't have enough forces or legitimacy until after Val Royeaux had already fallen- and Gaspard with it, though Briala was able to escape and breach the eluvians with a small force to warn Regin and set things into motion. The Dales themselves (the plains, the emprise du lion, and the emerald graves) alongside part of the Armor Wilds serve as the perimeter- are where the borders are set into place to keep back the Blight. There are scattered pockets and cities/villages in Orlais that do not fall- the map isn't entirely wiped clean with corruption and ruin- but the majority of Orlais is laid to waste- the evanuris focused more heavily upon Orlais than Ferelden in my opinion, due to the events of the world that they've watched- and i don't think they did this in any way to 'avenge' the elvhen, but out of rage that Orlais, like Tevinter, try to model itself in THEIR image but claim all of it to come from its' own mind and inspiration rather than admitting how much of their culture and structure were scavenged from the carcass of the empire that they built.

regin works with morrigan, litriu, briala, leliana, (gods i love women LMAO) and with rook to maintain these borders, using Skyhold as a base of operation, but keeping herself moving almost constantly, so that no one can ever be sure of where she is long enough for an organized attempt at 'cutting off the head' of the Southern resistance. as such she will also, at times, join Rook in the Lighthouse for strategy and for debriefing of information so that they can keep as up-to-date as possible and keep the flow of information moving between them. she ALSO, at times, will join Rook in the field so that she can keep apprised of movements of the factions that are most heavily operating in the north and in the monsters and tactics the evanuris are using.

after the end of Veilguard, much of the Blight recedes- it calcifies and dies in many places, though not all. i think it does in a way become easier to cure using litriu's discovery of the great dragonsblood- perhaps to the point that high dragon blood could also be used, if not as a total-cure than as a 'management' substance until that which can cure it can be introduced. orlais and ferelden are respectively about 70% and 55% ravaged by the Blight and the scars are deep- but they will recover.

Skyhold itself is untouched, mercifully, and remains strong and proud- but Orlais is left with the entire ruling bloodline wiped out, and Ferelden having to rebuild almost its' entire infrastructure and seats of power.

orzammar fares the best, i think. they neither lost their seat of power nor their ruling family and bloodline, and their efforts alongside regin and the inquisition establish them firmly with the entire south owing them a rather massive debt.

[skyheld]

FEN'HAREL & THE EMERALD KNIGHTS

inspired by @keepslore *blows u a kiss*

in the dales, the high priest of each of the creators oversaw that creator's domain throughout the nation. this was part of how it was governed. the high priest of dirthamen oversaw education but also ensured important information, such as population numbers, was gathered and properly archived. the high priest of mythal oversaw laws and the application of justice and so on. they were part of the council which governed the dales, along with the leaders of the main regions.

each region of the dales has its own defense, consisting of a small standing guard force and a larger trained militia, the members of which had regular jobs but would be called on when necessary. they kept peace within the nation and took care of smaller threats like the occasional warband on the border and dangerous wildlife. the emerald knights were an elite force for greater threats, such as hostile avvar holds or ciriane raiders, dragons, and demons. while the knights prayed to andruil before a hunt and elgar'nan for protection, they didn't have a specific deity to call upon in battle.

the defense of the dales was a noble thing, but none of the high priests wanted it because they didn't want to acknowledge that war would be such an integral part of their nation. it hadn't been for elvhenan (surely) it shouldn't be for the dales. and while it was important to them now, would the creators accept it? would they approve of one of them being appointed as the god of war in their absence?

the first of the emerald knights and their first commander, mathalin, sat on the same council as these high priests. his squire, sulan, always walked with a wolf at his side. the wolf, remarkably intelligent and extremely loyal, planted the seed of a thought: that Sulan, and the knights in general, had been blessed by fen'harel. the dread wolf was said to still walk among mortals, and while the tales cautioned against trusting him fully, he watched over the elven people in his own way, teaching them, among other things, never to let down their guard.

calling upon fen'harel in battle also made sense because the emerald knights were initially far too few for open battle. the dales was a nation built from scratch. all they had was what they'd carried from tevinter or picked up during the long march. they had to be clever and patient rather than boisterous and brave. when the war with orlais broke out the force was larger than ever and very deadly, but this, too, was one of fen'harel's lessons: to keep them off your backs, make them dread the very thought of crossing you.

some said that marching on val royeaux was the slow arrow finding its mark.

in the aftermath of the fall of the dales, there was some resentment towards the emerald knights for stretching themselves too thin in their attempt to take val royeaux. some thought that if they hadn't, they could have successfully defended the border against the exalted march and the dales would have remained. their bravery during the last defense of the dales was never in doubt and the resentment never grew to such proportions as to cloud their memory. however, among the elves who choose not to submit to the chantry and accept living in their cities, there was a general consensus that the glory of the emerald knights was a one and done thing. it wasn't to be replicated, and future generations shouldn't be told of them in such a way that it made them want to be like them.

their enemies knew very well what god's name had been called on in battle and did all they could to stamp out that particular worship even above that of the others. while those who would form the dalish clans were never under orlais or the chantry, propaganda spread among the city elves found its way to the clans throughout the centuries, and over time, views of fen'harel shifted. he had been called on many times in the battles for the dales, but if he was ever there, even in spirit, he made no difference to the outcome. as such, he was retired from the position of war-god without ever having claimed the title, although he stayed to protect the outskirts of dalish camps as he'd once been said to patrol the borders of the dales.

[vigilskeep]

Getting on the I love how you think about your OCs train with a question about Nennaia's traveling/quests choices: how did she decide where to go after the map opened up after Skyhold? What was her first choice and why? Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us and no worries if you don't feel like answering! <3

because i get very indecisive in my gaming when u can choose which quests and areas to do first, i use my arbitrary powers as puppeteer to decide that only one of the next main quests after arriving at skyhold makes sense to have a hard time limit: wicked eyes & wicked hearts, which is set at an event u do not control and would presumably in-world have a date u do not control. so i send my inquisitors to the exalted plains and the emerald graves first, rushing to gain a foothold in orlais and a position of power from which to be taken seriously at the winter palace, rather than essentially only being known for pretending to divine power, allying with the rebel mages, and falling back from haven

however on a more character-driven note, i think given the two options, nennaia would prioritise orlais over the wardens anyway, mostly because of the information you get during in hushed whispers. naia is very scared of the future she saw in that quest, a world in which the people she loves have no chance at all. the destruction of thedas is her duty alone to prevent. and while both of the main quests after skyhold are relevant to that future, you only find out where the demon army comes in after playing hide and seek with hawke and the warden across both crestwood and the western approach. so naia is much more aware from the start that the next step towards corypheus’ future is the empress’ assassination. (it’s why letting that assassination go ahead for the sake of putting briala in power was such a dangerous sacrifice in her mind, and is something she still worries over. was it worth making that gamble to improve the elves’ future, when for all she knows, by doing so she may have handed orlais to corypheus and robbed them of any future at all?)

she would also lean towards the plan that involved visiting the exalted plains and the emerald graves sooner. i doubt clan lavellan would have travelled so far south in her lifetime, and i’m sure she has spent decades hearing of the dales and longing to see them for herself one day. she experiences great wonder and grief there and her desire to safeguard those areas in whatever way she can is fierce

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hellooooo, for the bicep curls: dorian from DAI, bitter?

The sun is only just settling on the gardens of the Winter Palace, gilding the fountain and trellises and samite-and-silk gowns. The slaves—oh, pardon, Dorian thinks ironically, servants—are passing what the Orlesians must think is a decent red. He holds his goblet at what he knows is an insouciant angle, watching through the open archway into the collonade around the ballroom floor. Gets too cold in Orlais for a true expression of this grape, which came down from Tevinter during the Swords Age and which was bred by vintners considerably better than whatever passes for an oenologist in the fetid South; nevertheless it is alcohol, and despite warning glances from Leliana and Cullen and Josephine in quick succession, it is doing the trick. He'd think Josephine at least would have the sensitivity to get him a bottle on his own. It's not like his problem is subtle.

Then again they're all busy, aren't they. The ballroom's a positive riot of activity, fans fluttering and whispers passed and new futures being forged. Dancecards filling out. Dorian, of course, has been pressed for a turn or two around the floor, because despite his status as a frightful bloody magister and despite this frankly dreadful red uniform they're all wearing—another miss from Josephine, and if he were in a better mood he'd query whether she were feeling all right—he does have this face and this body he's worked for (without blood magic, thanks very much) and his wit is charming indeed. Would be. If things were otherwise.

Another pass through the archway. He squints against the hard slant of dying light. The servants—elves to a one, the South's protestations that they believe in free choice really need more work—light candles, lanterns, clever little non-magical reflectors that pass a glow across the whole garden and scatter refractions across the many masks of the attendees. A woman near Dorian is wearing a positively exquisite version of silver-lace studded with chrysoprase, curved impenetrable as plate over her brow. Her interlocutor—impossible to tell whether a suitor or lover or her true-wedded husband—wears gold with improbable demonic embossing, his expression largely obscured other than the sly smile as he leans into her ear. All very charming, really, though childish. A real courtier knows that the mask sits high and hard under the thinnest surface layer of the skin. It's what separates a wittering pretender from someone who has something to lose.

Another pass—only, no. This time they pause in the archway. Dorian's fingers do not flex on the goblet and his expression does not change. The Inquisitor wears the same uniform they all do—why they call it a uniform—but he wears it rather better. Not for the first time, Dorian suspects that the stupid thing was chosen specifically to fit the man's frankly astonishing shoulders, with the rest of them left to flounder in the best fit they could. He watches while Leliana murmurs something no-doubt portentous in their lord's ear and then steps gracefully away, and then there's a full minute where the man stands and looks out over the ballroom, and then off to something Dorian can't see, his profile strong in the glowing light. He's frowning about something and Dorian would go to him, would ask—would make a jest, would ante some devastatingly trenchant observation—but he's pinned here, in the garden, fifty feet from everything worth having.

The witterers have been asking about the Inquisitor. If he's set to inherit in Ostwick. If he's promised to anyone. If he has a lover, and if so who might it be—perhaps the lovely ambassador, or perhaps the stern seeker, or some other lucky woman entirely, who could roll onto her back and receive the great weight of the savior of the South between her open legs, and perhaps thereby get a new family line that would rival any in Orlais?

When Dorian can't sleep he occasionally thinks on what his father's great plan was, for the ritual. Presumably to rip the proclivities out of his mind, leaving torn-open earth and roots that would rot behind. The great family Pavus has been bred for centuries, hoping to create the next Archon, and he has rather ruined their chances by refusing to dump seed into the most appropriate bride. Even for blood magic, though, the kind of deep work required to change this most essential part of his nature would be tricky, and his father is a mage of some power, but. Dorian has thought, sometimes, what if his father performed what is in the end a much simpler ritual—for work on the body is brute-force, rather than the delicate surgery required for the mind—and then one day Dorian would wake to be, perhaps, Isadora, and Isadora's preference for muscle and masculinity and beautiful, thick cocks would be no impediment to the project for a future Archon at all.

He gulps his wine and empties the goblet. A wave and a slave fills it, immediately, and he takes it to his mouth and breathes in the perfume but doesn't drink. Rancid cherry, sickly sweet. Granted his preference is to take rather than be taken but he could learn to like it the other way, given sufficient motivation. His tailor would fit him out in something exquisite, a rippling whitesilk waterfall edged with the dawnstone appropriate to an Altus, and he would be announced at court unmasked and he would descend to the ballroom and he would let his hand be taken by a man with beautiful shoulders and a quick crooked smile and hard calluses where he held a broadsword and he would say then my lord, I am yours to command, and in the style of the court it would be nothing but polite fiction, a thrust to be met by riposte, but it would earn him a broader version of that smile he's dreamt of for months and he would mean it, mean it, mean it.

"There you are," Trevelyan says, like it's a relief. Dorian pulls his eyes from the gold-gleam of masks and finds his lord agitated. "I think I've worked out a way into the library. We've got work to do."

"No time for wine?" Dorian says, lightly. He hasn't a care in the world.

Trevelyan huffs, a dimple creasing his cheek. "Maybe later. I'll need to wash away this night when we're through. Save me from grasping women. And all these masks!" He shakes his head. "Ostwick might be small but at least it's honest."

Dorian smiles at him, the expression perfectly practiced and perfectly precise. "Three cheers for honesty, eh? Lead on."

When the Inquisitor turns Dorian drains the goblet of wine. He drops it into a perfectly trimmed rosebush and a branch cracks but the Inquisitor is already yards ahead and doesn't notice. The sickly-sweet will stay on Dorian's tongue for hours.