dragon-age-codex-entries

[dragon-age-codex-entries]

Codex entry: "Sera Was Never"

Sera was never an agreeable girl— Her tongue tells tales of rebellion. But she was so fast, And quick with her bow, No one quite knew where she came from.

Sera was never quite the quietest girl— Her attacks are loud and they're joyful. But she knew the ways of nobler men, And she knew how to enrage them.

She would always like to say, "Why change the past, When you can own this day?" Today she will fight, To keep her way. She's a rogue and a thief, And she'll tempt your fate.

She would always like to say, "Why change the past, When you can own this day?" Today she will fight, To keep her way. A rogue and a thief, And she'll tempt your fate.

Sera was never quite the wealthiest girl— Some say she lives in a tavern. But she was so sharp, And quick with her bow— Arrows strike like a dragon.

Sera was never quite the gentlest girl— Her eyes were sharp like a razor. But she knew the ways of commoner men, And she knew just how to use them.

She would always like to say, "Why change the past, When you can own this day?" Today she will fight, To keep her way. She's a rogue and a thief, And she'll tempt your fate.

She would always like to say, "Why change the past, When you can own this day?" Today she will fight, To keep her way. She's a rogue and a thief, And she'll tempt your fate.

—As performed by the bard Maryden Halewell

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Codex entry: "Samson's Tale"

Samson, templar fame, Raise your shield of shame.

Samson's letter caught, Left unfought defamed.

Armor laced with blood Shall reclaim his name.

Samson's broken heart Shall revoke his claim.

Samson, knight in red, He hath lost his way

Samson, martyr rage. Soon the world will pay.

—As performed by the bard Maryden Halewell

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Codex entry: "Rise"

Find Me Still searching For someone To lead me Can you Guide me To the revolt inside me

Promise Surviving The Breach

Promise Surviving The Breach In the Sky

Templar Igniting Fire inside me

Maker Remind me Gone are the days Of our peace

Now we reside In the great divide

No promise Surviving The Breach In the Sky

—As performed by the bard Maryden Halewell

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Codex entry: "I Am The One"

I feel sun Through the ashes in the sky. Where's the one Who'll guide us into the night?

What's begun Is the war that will Force this divide.

What's to come Is fire and the end of time.

I am the one Who can recount What we've lost.

I am the one Who will live on.

I have run

Through the fields Of pain and sighs.

I have fought To see the other side.

I am the one Who can recount What we've lost.

I am the one Who will live on.

—As performed by the bard Maryden Halewell

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Codex entry: "Enchanters"

Enchanters! The time has come to be alive With the Circle of Magi, where we will thrive With our brothers.

Enchanters remind That time will not unwind. The dragon's crooked spine, Will never straighten into line.

What we plea will be A faithful end decree, Where a man will not retreat From the defeat of his fathers.

Enchanters! A time has come for battle lines. We will cut these knotted ties, And some may live and some may die.

Enchanter, Come To Me Enchanter, Come To Me Enchanter, Come To See Can-a you, can-a you come to see, As you once were blind In the light now you can sing? In our strength we can rely, And history will not repeat.

—As performed by the bard Maryden Halewell

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Codex entry: "Empress of Fire"

Empress of fire, In the reign of the lion, Eclipsed in the eye of The empire of we Orlesians.

Empress of fire, What season may come, We fight for the day You'll restore our heart And bring us to glory.

We are forever In your graces.

Empress of fire, Save us, everyone. The nation reviles, The course is but run, and end has begun.

Empress of fire, Believe in us all. Embrace us with arms, And dress us with swords, And light up our hearts with blood so bold.

We are forever In your graces.

Empress of fire, In the reign of the lion, Eclipsed in the eye of The empire of we Orlesians.

Empress of fire, What season may come, We fight for the day You'll restore our heart And bring us to glory.

—As performed by the bard Maryden Halewell

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Codex entry: The Wrath of Heaven

"Those who oppose Thee Shall know the wrath of heaven. Field and forest shall burn, The seas shall rise and devour them, The wind shall tear their nations From the fact of the earth. Lightning shall rain down from the sky, They shall cry out to their false gods, And find silence."

—Canticle of Andraste 7:19

"Who was Andraste? This question has lingered in the ages since her death, not as easily answered as the faithful assume. Born an Alamarri slave in the frontier realm of the Tevinter Imperium, now Ferelden, the Chant says she is the Bride of the Maker—that He told her in a vision of her role leading the rebellion against the corrupt magisters.

Is it true, or, as some early Andrastian cults believed, did a friendly spirit bestow this "vision"? We must remember that legends of Andraste were multitude in the years immediately following her execution, and beliefs we take for granted belong to the "cult" victorious in suppressing all others. Indeed, even to suggest there was once disagreement was considered the direst heresy… until today, when we have lost even the memory of disagreement. All we know for certain is that Andraste inspired a world gripped by tyranny and chaos, that she helped spark a war which tore all of Thedas asunder."

—From Questioning the Chant by Magister Vibius Agorian

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Codex entry: In Hushed Whispers

"Those who had been cast down, The demons who would be gods, Began to whisper to men from their tombs within the earth. And the men of Tevinter heard and raised altars To the pretender-gods once more, And in return were given, in hushed whispers, The secrets of darkest magic."

—Canticle of Threnodies 5:11

"The fifth stanza of Threnodies is a complete retelling of the creation story appearing in Stanza One. The authors are clearly different, with notable disagreements on the nature of spirits and the ultimate cause of the Second Sin. This stanza lays the blame for mankind's corruption squarely on the Old Gods rather than on a flaw inherent to human nature; therefore, historians believe a Tevinter author, perhaps even Archon Hessarian himself, wrote it.

In the eleventh verse, we see this illustrated most clearly. "The demons who would be gods," can be no one but the Old Gods; they are credited here not only with broaching the Golden City, but with gifting the secrets of magic to humankind. The implication is that without this instruction, these "hushed whispers," no magic would exist."

—From The Chant of Light: Literary Analysis and History by Sister Tessaria

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Codex entry: Here Lies the Abyss

"Here lies the abyss, the well of all souls. From these emerald waters doth life begin anew. Come to me, child, and I shall embrace you. In my arms lies Eternity."

—Canticle of Andraste, 14:11

"Chantry sisters have long debated this section of the Chant of Light. It is tempting to assume that the "well of all souls" is a literal well, but such imagery appears nowhere in Andraste's other works. An examination from Threnodies 1:4 yields clues:

From the waters of the Fade you made the world. As the Fade had been fluid, so was the world fixed.

It is possible—even likely—that the "emerald waters" Andraste refers to are the substance of the Fade, which began as an "ocean of dreams" (Threnodies 1:1) and was reduced to a well—bottomless but limited in scope—by the Maker's creation of our world.

Is Andraste urging the listener to come to the Fade? Should we take "From these emerald waters doth life begin anew," as literal evidence of reincarnation—or even of life after death, as the Cult of Spirits suggests—or as a figurative benediction indicating that the Maker is the source of all life, and in finding His embrace for Eternity, we will only be returning our souls from whence they came?"

—An excerpt from Reflections on Divinity, by Revered Mother Juliette

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Codex entry: Doom Upon All the World

"And so is the Golden City blackened With each step you take in my Hall. Marvel at perfection, for it is fleeting. You have brought Sin to Heaven And doom upon all the world."

—Canticle of Threnodies 8:13

"There is very little of the infamous Thirteenth Verse that we can take literally. It speaks in the voice of the Maker Himself; since He has never deigned to speak to His children directly, we can rest assured it is a work of fiction. There are facts, however, that support it, at least in part. Records remain from the time prior to the First Blight saying that, yes, seven magisters did open a portal to enter the Fade physically. These seven—whose true names we have lost either to legend or deliberate obscurement—did so at the behest of the Old Gods, who "whispered from their ancient prisons." We also know that the Golden City, visible from every part of the Fade by any mage at the time, turned black as night the moment these seven breached its gates. Everything else—the accusations of "sin", the suggestion that these seven became the first darkspawn, that they were directly responsible for the Blights to come—all of that is conjecture."

—From Questioning the Chant by Magister Vibius Agorian

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Codex entry: In Your Heart Shall Burn

"Then the Maker said: To you, My second-born, I grant this gift: In your heart shall burn An unquenchable flame All-consuming, and never satisfied. From the Fade I crafted you, And to the Fade you shall return Each night in dreams That you may always remember Me."

—Canticle of Threnodies 5:7

"In passages one through six, His first children wanted for nothing; freed from need, they could only praise. But it was hollow, without cost. We—and all the physical—were created immutable, that our works would require struggle. A wonder created of wood and stone proves more intent than any wish of the Fade.

Here in the gentlest verses of the Chant, we see how great His gift and how stern His punishment. To inspire, He gave us dreams, such that we would strive to make this limited world reflect His glory. Some look upon that nightly memory and feel only desire, as though owed His splendor. We, the second children, were meant to master the wonts and wanes of emotion and childish pursuits, to honor at a distance and move ever forward. We failed in this, and the weakest of us did act as petulant infants, clawing back into His sight. Because we could not master our desire, because we acted on pitiful instinct, because we dared look upon our Maker to fulfill our need and not His, He is lost to us.

But He is merciful while stern, and we remember what we have lost. His second children can learn, grow, and change. If we cannot, then we are no better—and no worse—than His first children."

—From The Word and Challenge of the Chant by Revered Mother Hevara

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Codex entry: Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts

"The Old Gods will call to you, From their ancient prisons they will sing. Dragons with wicked eyes and wicked hearts, On blacken'd wings does deceit take flight, The First of My children, lost to night."

—Canticle of Silence 3:6

"The Dissonant Canticle of Silence is an alternate creation story to the versions in the Canticle of Threnodies. Much of the Canticle is written from the point of view of the Maker Himself as He addresses humankind, which is why it was ultimately considered a blasphemous presumption and removed from the verses of the Chant. Popularly attributed to Archon Hessarian, Silence depicts the Maker as more sorrowful at the corruption and betrayal of His children—both spirit and mortal. He mourns the fall and corruption of the Old Gods as His own mistake, and urges His mortal children to turn aside from the dark path their elder siblings have led them down.

Most historians agree that Archon Hessarian had indeed likely written this Canticle during the bloody Tevinter Transfiguration. Literary scholars of the Imperium often cite this as one of the oldest recorded pieces of propaganda. In the sixth verse, the grieving Maker calls upon His mortal children to acknowledge that the dragon gods have manipulated and deceived them, and to throw off their corruptive influence and return to the Light. As the people of Tevinter rose up and slaughtered anyone remaining faithful to their Old Gods, this became the rallying cry of the most terrible bloodbath in the history of the Imperium."

—From The Chant of Light: Literary Analysis and History by Sister Tessaria

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Codex entry: Worn Pillars

A sketch of the pillars, followed by another drawing imagining the pillars as part of a grand monument, with appended notes on the subject:

"The remains of the structures surely predate the Second Blight. Perhaps older. My knowledge of ancient Imperium architecture is limited. There are some similarities, but I'm uncertain of their origin. One of the miners thinks they're elven—of course this is based on a few carvings he found that "look sort of elfy." The pillars are unlike the ruins one sees in the Dales. Of course, these would be much older than anything found there."

—Excerpt from the journal of Henri Ducette, Envers Mining Company representative and amateur historian

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Codex entry: Winter Palace

The Grand Apartments

This wing once served as a home-away-from-home for members of House Valmont's four cadet branches, but it has fallen into disuse since Emperor Florian's reign. The late emperor would not allow relatives more distant than his siblings into the Winter Palace; for years the entirety of the Grand Apartments was closed off.

—Excerpt from Architectural History of Orlais, Volume 1 by Elodie Ferrneau

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The Servants' Wing

During her reign's fifth year, Empress Celene substantially expanded the palace servants' living quarters. They now encompass a large stretch of garden which the landscape architect Trenou designed; it is considered one of the finest examples of his style in Orlais.

—Excerpt from Architectural History of Orlais, Volume 1 by Elodie Ferrneau

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The Grand Library of Halamshiral

The Winter Palace's collection of book is one of the world's largest; only the library of the University of Orlais and the Imperial Palace library compare. Famed cabinet maker Gustav of Val Fontaine designed and built the shelves, the finest examples of his marquetry technique still in existence.

—Excerpt from Architectural History of Orlais, Volume 1 by Elodie Ferrneau

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The Verchiel Fountain

Emperor Judicael I commissioned this massive fountain to commemorate House Valmont's historic victory against Xavier Drakon. The four lions represent Emperor Alphonse Valmont and his three younger brothers—Duke Isidore d'Arlesans, Duke Yvon of Savrenne, and Duke Stephan of Val Montaigne—who took the field against the usurper.

—Excerpt from Architectural History of Orlais, Volume 1 by Elodie Ferrneau

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Le Requiem

After his coronation in 8:84 Blessed, Emperor Florian commissioned the building of a chapel in the palace of Halamshiral as his first act, to honor his infant daughter Evangeline who died in the Hundred Days' Cough outbreak of 8:77 Blessed. The chapel contains exquisite murals Empress Justinia herself painted, of the life and death of Andraste.

—Excerpt from Architectural History of Orlais, Volume 1 by Elodie Ferrneau

[dragon-age-codex-entries]

Codex entry: What Pride Had Wrought

"And as the black clouds came upon them, They looked on what pride had wrought, And despaired.

The work of man and woman, By hubris of their making. The sorrow a blight unbearable."

—Canticle of Threnodies 7:10-11

"Pride! What other sin wounds us so deeply as pride? It drove the old Tevinter magisters to blacken the Golden City, it pushed Maferath to betray Beloved Andraste, and it has made fools of kings and peasants ever since the Maker formed us from nothing.

Pride disguises itself in surety. Who among us has not looked at our fair country and thought "Surely we are safe here, under protection. Our world will last forever, for we are mighty and wise." These verses say to the faithful: go and look upon the ruins of old, and ask who remembers the faces of those who dwelled there? Only the Maker's knowledge is complete. The words He gave to us through Blessed Andraste are the one true constant in our world. A land without the Chant is doomed to be forgotten by time."

—Notes on the Chant of Light, by Mother Bezoria of the Grand Cathedral, 9:37 Dragon

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Codex entry: Way of the Templar

From a treatise on lyrium and its varied forms. Ser's words make one passage stand out:

"The means and usage employed by the templar are far stronger than even the droughts of magi, and are of considerable danger to the uninitiated. It is not something that is introduced in gradual fashion. Rather, it is a great infusion that is daily held in check by ritual maintenance."

An account:

"We entered the makeshift chantry, and my comrades-to-be were arranged as though an honor guard - the trainer waiting to receive me. I was invited to pass among them, and it seemed important that each step be my will. Any reluctance would have signaled that I was not ready. They were boisterous and encouraging, slapping hands upon my shoulders as I passed. Upon reaching the trainer, he turned to me. Before him was the boxed philter I had prepared. He nodded, as if to ask if I was ready, and I returned the gesture. His eyes were solemn as he raised a mailed hand. It was bathed in the shapeless glow of lyrium far too strong, prepared in a way I did not know.

The hands of my fellows, still on my shoulders, gently turned from welcome to restraint, and my arms were made immobile at my sides. I felt a rising alarm, but my certainty beat it down, as it would many times in my career. The trainer pressed the glow against my chest, and in an instant all was pain and white. When next I had my senses, there was much camaraderie and rejoicing, but also knowing looks. Each day, I felt a hunger deeper than I had ever known, and woe be me if it went unfed. I cannot imagine bearing it without the support of the Order and my certain purpose."

Several instructions for handling lyrium follow.

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Codex entry: Way of the Tempest

From "Of Storms: Notes on the Tempest in Practice." Kihm's words make one passage stand out:

"They expect folly in the Tempest and are fooled, for there is no madness in knowing the absolute limit of ability and charging to that edge. Wars may be a tactical affair, but the one-on-one meeting of combatants is decided by the one who first realizes they are in mortal peril and commits fully. Many reach that point; the Tempest starts there. By the time their foes have risen to match, it is too late."

And another:

"They asked what type of shot they should encase the mixture in, expecting some trebuchet pot or a vessel fit to pour over a palisade. I bade them make it by the barrel and store it in my quarters with a thousand glass vials. They were afraid, and I smiled."

Another still:

"Forward! Ever so! Where you were is dangerous! Where you go is dangerous! Different reasons, both to your advantage! Leap! Then leap again! Looking is for witnesses, not the disaster!"

Also one more:

"I did not say I was unappreciative, nor unimpressed. That you were a sight to behold is not in question. All I noted is that the Tempest is offensive not just in ability, but in what condition you leave the field. I should like a hundred of you to deploy in the cities of my enemy, and not a one to stand as defense in my own home."

A series of unstable brews follows.