inquisitoralisia - Tumblr blog

[inquisitoralisia]

Dragon Age doesn’t know what century it’s in

So, what I think I miss most about Dragon Age: Origins is the way it felt consistently medieval.  Not completely, they brought in things from a lot of different cultures, and in fact, even managed to make up some of their own, but it was all woven into this framework of a series of different civilizations where the cultural fabric in all communities was membership to the same religion.  You had your outliers, to be certain–your pagan Dalish, your isolated dwarves, your foreign Qunari, but if you were part of what the Chantry would deem “civilization,” you probably went to your Chantry on a regular basis, even if you didn’t believe what they taught, because that’s where you got your news.  They even reinforce this mechanically with the Chanters’ boards.  (Something that notably disappears in Inquisition, when they really move away from this idea.)

In other words, it looks a lot like the actual Middle Ages, a lot more than “medieval fantasy” normally does, because it actually recognizes the role of religion as a keeper and transmitter of consistent culture.  More amazingly, its analog of the Roman Catholic Church isn’t automatically demonized… in a 21st century video game.  I was gobsmacked.  Sure, they definitely were much more of the “we must do this this and this to get the Maker to love us,” but that’s about what I expect from a religion that doesn’t teach that its slain founder was resurrected.

And even then, we get people like Leliana, who, despite all evidence to the contrary, believe the Maker is still working and still loving people.  (“Cool,” I immediately think.  "When this is over, can I have Leliana start a Reformation?“)

The problem is, in subsequent games Bioware started playing around a lot more with different cultures in space and time, which is completely fine.  But in later games, they didn’t make the same efforts to fit them in together with everything else.  Which is why I say Dragon Age doesn’t know what century it’s in.

So I finish Origins completely in love with Thedas and its culture.  It feels like a fully realized world, and if it draws heavily from fantasy tropes, that’s perfectly fine.  They’re still putting their own twist on them.

Then I start playing 2, and I run into this guy:

Keep reading

[inquisitoralisia]

Anders and the Blooming Rose

It’s a fairly minor part of his character, but I find it hilarious that Anders, “The Healer” of Darktown, really does not like the local brothel.  If you take him with you while purchasing “services” from Madame Lusine, you get this reaction…

“You’re not this desperate, I hope.  I treat a lot of these customers in my clinic.”

Then if you ignore the warning and do it anyways (you know, because Hawke)…

Anders: rivalry +5

It’s not a moral condemnation, a complaint about wasting time (à la Beth or Carver), or a vague expression of disgust (of the sort Fenris or Merrill reply with) — Anders, the closest in-universe equivalent to a doctor, is warning the player-character away from soliciting prostitutes on health grounds.

One interesting aspect of Dragon Age II is that it contains many more specific references to disease — which makes sense, given the medieval urban setting, where the top causes of mortality would realistically be infectious disease.  Gamlen explicitly refers to his parents dying of “cholera,” a highly lethal (even today, untreated cholera has a case fatality rate of up to 50%) water-borne illness, and the water supply in Lowtown is described as dangerously contaminated (Hawke can refuse to drink it “even on a dare,” Merrill refers to something “twitching” in the water even after boiling it).  A random NPC asking Lirene about “The Healer” complains, “I can’t get my brother off the boat. The grippe’s [i.e., the flu] got him bad.” Then there are the multiple references to unspecified STIs, all of which come from (or at least are associated with) Anders.

There’s an amusing line from Anders upon entering the Blooming Rose for the first time (usually but not necessarily during Enemies Among Us in Act 1):

“If someone tries to hire me again, I’m leaving.”

Now, some fans seem to read this as a claim that the Blooming Rose has tried to hire him as a sex worker, but I believe there’s a more plausible interpretation here. (Frankly, I have difficulty imagining that a brothel would be obsessed to the point of harassment with recruiting as their newest rent boy a man in his mid-30’s — and one who, need I remind you, lives in a mine shaft connected to a sewer and notorious for its toxic fumes, dumping of rotting corpses, and disease outbreaks. And no offense to any Andersmancer reading this, but is he really that good-looking?).

Most likely, the brothel is looking to hire an in-house physician (or Thedosian equivalent). Anders is referred to curing STIs and providing other reproductive care. In introducing him, Lirene says, “He’s closed their wounds, delivered their children.” One of patients in her shop can be heard crying out, “My mother’s in labor! The baby’s come early. Can anyone help her?” To which Lirene replies, “I’ll send word to the healer.” (Anders may have been delivering babies back in the Circle as well, considering that in MoTA, he says, “At the Circle, any accidental babies are taken away before the mother even sees them.” This could, however, simply be common knowledge among Circle mages). It’s also implied by Wynne that Circle mages practice contraception: “Such births [in the Circle] are seldom, as there are ways to prevent it, but it does happen.” Moreover, Anders appears to be the only person in Kirkwall willing and able to provide these medical services. There are references to useless quacks (e.g., “some purveyor of hensbane and leeches”), but it’s acknowledged in-universe that the only effective healing comes from mages. In DAI, the Inquisitor can express surprise at the presence of a “mundane” (non-mage) surgeon, who goes on to insist that such non-magical methods will be developed in the future, all of which further reinforces the (in-universe) social/cultural equation of healer as mage. Mage healers only appear to be let out of the Circle on rare occasions to treat members of the nobility, but ordinary people don’t receive such consideration. Even the viscount’s seneschal has to seek out Anders for help. In DAI, Cullen casually moons the idea of “healers’ clinics with templar support” (among other potential “opportunities to work outside the Circle”) as a totally novel solution to mage “resentment” over confinement. The Chantry thus far wasn’t willing to release mages to treat sick commoners even with phylacteries to deter escapes and Templar overseers breathing down their necks the entire time; in fact, they were rather reluctant to let out even a handful of senior mages to fight alongside the king against the Blight, something which threatened everyone’s lives fairly equally (and even then couldn’t resist the temptation to make the mages feel as unwelcome as possible). “The Healer of Darktown” was well-known to illicitly (that is, in defiance of Chantry restrictions) provide health care for free to the masses, and this service not surprisingly had earned him quite the number of admirers and defenders. Lirene resists being threatened for information about him by saying, “Any Fereldan in the city would lay down his life for the healer, after what he’s done for us,” and a mob of Ferelden refugees even prepare to attack the heavily-armed party out of fear that the latter might harm him or report him to the Templars.  His Act 2 Codex likewise reads: “When not with the Champion, he spends his time among the Fereldan refugees in Darktown, healing their ills and counting on their loyalty to protect him from curious templars.” Should it be a surprise then that a private business might be interested in his skills, especially when disease is threatening their bottom line and injuring customers?  

In the game, we actually see two frequent patrons of the Blooming Rose end up in Anders’s clinic for treatment.

Dissent (Act 2), if Isabela has been left behind:

Anders: …don’t come running to me next time you pick up one of these diseases.

Isabela: Isn’t that the point of magic?

Hawke: I don’t want to know.

Dissent (Act 2), if Isabela is in the party:

Seneschal Bran: And that will, ah, stop the itch?

Anders: Yes. Though I would stay away from women you meet in the port. Pirates tend to… dock in unsavory places.

Isabela: I heard that!

Anders: Just use the salve if it comes back.

This is probably also what Isabela is referring to in the opening to Speak to Fenris (Act 2):

Isabela: So the seneschal’s tax collector won’t be coming around again, like you asked. Funny story.

Fenris: I’ll pass, but thank you for the help.

Isabela: Spoilsport.

Seneschal Bran appears to be a regular with a particular fondness for Serendipity, a drag queen (or transfemme?) and one of the highest-paid workers at the Blooming Rose, whose gender nonconformity is generally Played for Laughs.  Bran can be seen on a “date” with her at Duke Prosper’s party during Mark of the Assassin, and Serendipity can later be heard commenting, “I haven’t seen the seneschal much lately. Don’t tell me the man’s gone religious” (to which someone responds, “No, he just keeps terrible hours now”).

Isabela, of course, talks about sex and her enjoyment of brothels (including the Blooming Rose) quite frequently.  In Dragon Age Origins, we meet her dueling two men at The Pearl (Denerim’s main brothel), and she can (in)famously be talked into a threesome or foursome with the Warden and their LI, although in that game it was unclear whether she was hiring prostitutes or simply ended up there in the course of searching for dueling partners (given that the building had been occupied by mercenaries, and one of the optional quests in Denerim is to clear The Pearl of disruptive mercenaries on behalf of the city guard) or following/checking on her crewmen. In DA2, it is confirmed that she was going to The Pearl for sex, and Anders remarks, “You used to really like that girl with the griffon tattoos, right?” to which Isabela replies with the name “The Lay Warden.”

(For now, I’ll just ignore the unfortunate implications of Bioware depicting a promiscuous black woman repeatedly contracting STIs and unrepentantly spreading them to white men for blackmail purposes.  But yeah, yikes).  

Historically, the emergence of STIs as a major social problem has been associated with urbanization and military mobilizations — basically, situations in which large numbers of individuals had opportunities for unprotected sex, especially with multiple partners, away from the usual social control mechanisms such as cockblocking parents (and virtually all sex was unprotected until latex condoms began to be mass-produced in the 1920s-30s). Without the safety measures we have in place in licensed brothels today (e.g., condom requirements, regular STI testing), brothels and red light districts were superspreader bonanzas, and perhaps unsurprisingly, medical professionals tended to take a rather dim view of them, to put it mildly. Modern readers often historical interpret opposition to brothels and camp followers (in the military) on the part of medical and public health authorities as expressions of prudery, religious conservatism, and/or misogyny, and to be frank, they very often were. Yet at the same time, in the pre-condom and pre-antibiotic era, STIs represented a major public health burden and cause of disability, disfigurement, infertility, and premature death, and there few practical measures beyond simply urging everyone to keep their pants on (which worked about as well as one might expect).

Circling back to Anders, it’s notable that he takes a much more negative view of sex in the second game than in Awakening, during which he seemed eager to hump anything that moved. This could at least in part reflect the influence of Justice, who seems to regard anything other than fighting for justice and engaging in public service to be "selfish” and even slothful (as in demon-y sloth). Or simple aging and maturity. Or, on a meta level, it could be an odd re-characterization due to the change in writer. But I like to think that his newfound discomfort with no-strings-attached boning is an unfortunate side effect of being a charity doctor working into the late hours to accommodate an endless stream of dick wart patients. It’s already a shame that his clinic and service for the poor is relegated to such a background element, especially given the role such work would realistically play in forming a person’s character. In terms of character development, it would have been interesting to explore how his work in the clinic could itself had a radicalizing effect — after all, it would bring him face-to-face with the tragic consequences of Chantry policy on mundanes (rather than just mages) as well as demonstrate magic’s contribution to the greater good on a daily basis. But this angle unfortunately never comes up in-universe.

TL;DR What I’m actually saying is that the real tragedy of Anders’s character arc is the profound decrease in sluttiness between the two games.

[inquisitoralisia]

i wish i could still pickpocket in inquisition simply because i can’t describe to you the amount of obscene joy i would experience hearing the various witty, dry, furious, or amused responses my companions would retort with upon finding my hands in their pockets

[inquisitoralisia]

how come nobody ever talks about meredith. meredith motherfucking standard THE scariest villain in dragon age (imo) how come we don’t write long meta posts about her

[inquisitoralisia]

Catching up with Thedas

We’re getting another time-skip between Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Trespasser DLC and Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. Here’s a summary of things that have happened in the supplementary material leading up to this. Obviously, major spoiler warning for everything discussed here.

If this summary intrigues you, I would definitely suggest checking out the full stories for yourself. They’re all great—especially the comics. The characters in the comics are so good and that’s not something you get to appreciate just in summaries.

This summary will be updated with the complete release of The Missing.

Major takeaways:

The Venatori are still active, especially in Tevinter, where a woman named Aelia (who is now imprisoned by the templars) took over after Corypheus was defeated and attempted to raise a powerful demon buried under Minrathous. The demon is still resting there, and the remains of the Venatori are still about. Although, the Antivan Crows have been hired to assassinate Venatori agents, and are picking them off one by one

The Qunari are invading the north again, and the following cities have been taken over: Ventus (Tevinter), Carastes (Tevinter), Neromenian (Tevinter), and Treviso (Antiva). They plan to move further into Rivain. However, the Antaam are on thin ice with the rest of the Qun, having acted against orders in the city of Ventus – suggesting there may be fracturing of leadership. This is further implied through the Ben-Hassrath declaring neutrality on the war with Tevinter. At the same time, the Qunari are also searching elven ruins trying to gather information about the Dread Wolf

There is a group of elves known as the Agents of Fen’Harel infiltrated all over Thedas and stirring up shit, including fanning the flames of war between Tevinter and the Qunari

The red lyrium idol has been everywhere, man… It was taken out of Meredith’s statue by the Carta, somehow wound up Tevinter, possessed by House Qintara, where it was traded it for information to House Danarius, where it was then stolen by Cedric Marquette, who gave it to Tractus Danarius, who brought it to Nevarra hoping Mortalitasi would help unlock it, where it was then taken back to Tevinter, only to somehow end up in Solas’s hands

Speaking of red lyrium, guess who is also still active? The red templars. And they are serving none other than an awakened but still crystalized Meredith Stannard in Kirkwall, who is known as “The Crimson Knight” by her followers

All Grey Wardens have been summoned to Weisshaupt for reasons unknown

The Grey Wardens have uncovered the remains of a dwarven thaig called Hormok, where beneath it they found elven ruins with signs it was a place of worship for Ghilan’nain. In these elven ruins, they find a magic pool that turns creatures into spliced-up monsters with parts of different beings melded together. While the wardens destroy this place, there are still eleven others out there somewhere

The Arlathan Forest has come alive with magic, changing place and time within it

Dragon Age: Knight Errant (9:44)

Vaea is an elven squire to wandering knight Ser Aaron Hawthorne. She is recruited by Charter to rescue Tessa Forsythia and Marius (from the Magekiller comics) from where they were caught on their mission. They were sent by the Inquisition to infiltrate Starkhaven’s palace and steal a book with research on red lyrium in Sebastian Vael’s possession. Vaea successfully rescues them and then steals the book herself, but not without a fight with Cedric Marquette, an Orlesian scholar who is also after the book on behalf of the lingering Venatori. It’s found out from the book that the Venatori may already be in possession of red lyrium, and Vaea offers to go to Tevinter to investigate. Aaron agrees to join her, aware and supportive of her work for the Inquisition.

Dragon Age: Deception (9:44)

Olivia Pryde is a con artist working in Ventus, Tevinter. The city is under high tension because of an imminent Qunari invasion. She pretends to be a Magister investigating Calix Qintara, the son of a reclusive fellow Magister, until it’s discovered that Calix is also a con artist. They try to outdo one another in a con contest against sister and brother, Francesca and Florian Invidus, but both are revealed as liars. In their fleeing, they run into Ser Aaron Hawthorne, who coaxes them into helping with his and Vaea’s mission. Vaea’s goal is to steal the red lyrium that was taken from Kirkwall supposedly held in the Qintara estate. Also ending up as part of their plan is a deal with two Antivan Crows, (later revealed in Tevinter Nights to be Teia Cantori and Viago De Riva). While the Crows create a distraction—though one that ends up with the death of Florian—Olivia and Calix con their way into getting floor plans of the Qintara estate, which Vaea uses to successfully break in. Unfortunately for everyone, Francesca pushes her way through and demands to speak to Magister Qintara to reveal Calix has been posing as his son, only to find out that Magister Qintara has been dead for years, and his former elven slave Gaius has been posing as him in order to collect valuable information to pass on to the Agents of Fen’Harel. Vaea discovers that the vault that was supposed to contain the red lyrium is empty, having already been sold to House Danarius. At the exact same time, the Qunari attack the city of Ventus, throwing their mission into a very time sensitive window to escape. Olivia sacrifices herself in order for Vaea, Aaron, Calix, and Francesca to flee the city.

Dragon Age: Blue Wraith (9:45)

Outside Carastes, which has been overrun by Qunari, Cedric Marquette flees from a chasing squad of them with a strange sarcophagus-like device in his possession that he is taking to Magister Nenealeus, who trains slaves into perrepatae; mage-killers. (He was the Magister who trained Marius.) Also chasing after Cedric is Vaea and her crew, hoping he will lead them to Castellum Tenebris, home of House Danarius, where they want to recover the red lyrium. Francesca leaves the group, and Vaea decides to chase after her to convince her to stay with them. Francesca is told by a family friend that her father was taken by the mysterious Blue Wraith (AKA Fenris). She decides to pursue Fenris and rescue her father in an attempt to prove her worth to him, with Vaea tagging along. They find Fenris, but it turns out he did not in fact take Francesca’s father, but rather her father is working with Magister Nenealeus. Inside the Nenealeus’s estate, they discover it has been overrun by Qunari, and overhear an enslaved elf tell the Qunari that the Magisters plan on using an elven sarcophagus artifact to infuse an elven perrepatae with lyrium. Fenris flips out and attacks, recognizing that they have restored the means of which he was experimented on. Meanwhile, Aaron and co. track Cedric down to his meeting with Nenealeus, and the Magister, realizing they are being watched, uses the sarcophagus on a human slave. The slave goes crazy and attacks Aaron’s party, before exploding. With Aaron’s party as well as the Qunari in pursuit of Nenealeus, Cedric, and Francesca’s father, they launch several more human explosives to escape, but Francesca “rescues” her father. He is furious at her for this, and attacks, forcing Francesca to kill him. Calix realizes he’s not cut out for such death and destruction, and departs from the group. Fenris joins them, and together Vaea, Aaron, Francesca, Tessa, Marius, and Fenris head for Castellum Tenebris.

Dragon Age: Dark Fortress (9:45)

Tractus Danarius, bastard son of Magister Danarius, welcomes Nenealeus and Cedric to Castellum Tenebris, which sits on the outskirts of Neromenian. Nenealeus reveals his plan to infuse the elven perrepatae, Shirallas, with red lyrium, believing he will be so powerful as to drive out the Qunari and then expand Tevinter’s control of Thedas back to the glory days of the empire. Vaea and Fenris capture and interrogate Tractus while the others act as lookout, and gather the information needed. Fenris wants to kill Tractus, but Vaea convinces him not to, as they need to get out of Neromenian ASAP since the Qunari picked the perfect time to invade. The Qunari find Tractus still tied up and he tells them about the ritual as well, so they prepare to go to Castellum Tenebris too. Vaea manages to sneak into the castle and then lets in the others through a secret passage. At the end of the tunnel they find a chained up high dragon. Vaea and Fenris attempt to flee the dragon while Aaron, Francesca, Tessa and Marius fight off the Venatori, while the Qunari attempt to break in through the front gate. While all this is going on, Nenealeus completes the ritual on Shirallas, infusing him with red lyrium. Fenris makes a deal with the Qunari to join forces against the Venatori. Marius and Vaea are able to take out Nenealeus, and Fenris and Aaron are able to defeat Shirallas, with the help of Cedric who switches sides at the last minute and reveals his weakness. This comes at the cost of Aaron’s life, though. Tractus gets away, and forces Cedric to hand over the red lyrium idol he stole. Solas watches this from an eluvian.

Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights (post-9:44, exact times unknown)

[RELATED POST – Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights Review]

(For more information on Tevinter Nights, I recommend checking out my review linked above.)

Three Trees to Midnight

After the Qunari took over the city of Ventus, they sent the healthy men into work camps on the outskirts of the Arlathan Forest, put to work cutting down trees. Myrion is one such worker, but is secretly a mage. He is chained up to an elf named Strife and immediately calls him a “filthy knife-ear” three times in the same paragraph, insulted to be paired with him. (He continues to do so the entire story, by the way.) They get in trouble for fighting. Strife is revealed to be an undercover Dalish, (though originally from Starkhaven). He was sent to rescue another Dalish elf named Thantiel who uncovered the Qunari invasion plans, though Thantiel was poisoned with an overdose of qamek, irreversibly turning him into a mindless labourer as well. Strife uncovers the plans and he and Myrion escape into the Arlathan Forest, after Myrion uses his magic to help them get away. In the forest they meet up with Irelin, a shapeshifting member of Strife’s clan, who takes off to spread word to other Dalish Clans of the Qunari plans to move into Rivain. The Qunari are also tracking the two escapees, and when the lead Qunari catches up to them, they take him out with the power of teamwork. When the rest of the Qunari catch up, the Huntsmaster reveals himself to actually be Saarbrak of the Ben-Hassrath, sent to investigate the Antaam working against the Qun’s orders in Ventus. Saarbrak kills the lead Qunari and lets the escaped prisoners go. They free themselves from the chains tying them together, and Strife leaves with Irelin, who came back for him.

Down Among the Dead Men

Audric Felhausen, a new member of the Funeral Guard, is recruited by the Mortalitasi’s Mourn Watch, (an elite fraternity among the Mortalitasi that act as guardians of the Grand Necropolis,) to track down and find the pre-maturely possessed corpse of nobleman Penrick Karn in the Grand Necropolis. Karn is after Duke Janus Van Markham, who also died in the mutually-fatal duel Karn perished from. Audric and Mourn Watcher Myrna head into the tombs after Karn. In their exploration, Audric comes to realize that the human Audric was killed at Karn’s funeral, and is actually a spirit possessing Audric’s body. Myrna hoped that taking Audric with her would help settle him into peace. In the end, Audric challenges Karn to a duel, but when Karn breaks the rules of the duel, Myrna rids the body of the spirit of Pride within it. Back in the Mourn Watch headquarters, Audric is offered a position in their library.

The Horror of Hormak

I actually already wrote out a long summary of this story here: [LINK]

Callback

(I’ll be honest: I only skimmed this one. It’s boring as fuck and I told myself I’d never read it again the first time I slogged through it, but here we are… So if I missed something actually important, my apologies. But I doubt it.)

Sutherland and Company, as well as a bunch of other NPCs from Skyhold, return to the Skyhold fortress to investigate why the remaining caretakers have gone silent. They end up fighting a demon of Regret, formed out of the plaster of Solas’s murals. They send the spirit back to the Fade, and leave Skyhold abandoned.

Luck in the Gardens

This story is told in the form of “Hollix” (an alias), the Lord of Fortune protagonist who is a master of disguise, recounting it at a tavern in Dairsmuid. Hollix tells a story about how they were hired by Dorian Pavus and Maevaris Tilani to hunt down a monster that was terrorizing Minrathous, called the Cekorax. The monster was first encountered by the Venatori, who were searching for an old cave under the city. It steals the heads of its victims and makes them part of it. They are able to destroy the Cekorax with the help of Dorian and a little girl named Mizzy.

Hunger

On their way to Weisshaupt, the dwarven woman Evka Ivo from Orzammar and elven man Antoine from Orlais, both Grey Wardens, stop in a small Anderfells village called Eichweill. They come to find out that people are disappearing in the village. The two come to uncover that it is werewolves responsible for the disappearances. The son of a noble named Renke starved in the woods and attracted a hunger demon, turning him into the first werewolf. Evka and Antoine hunt Renke down and fight him, and Antoine ends up getting bitten himself. However, they set a successful trap back at the village and kill Renke, believing Antoine and the others affected are now safe from the curse with its source defeated, and the demon banished.

Murder by Death Mages

Lord Henrik, a Mortalitasi, tips off the Inquisition that there is a plot to assassinate a noble in Nevarra. Sidony (from Dragon Age Inquisition’s multiplayer) is sent by the Inquisition to stop this, as she was raised by Henrik. She goes to meet Antonia, another Mortalitasi mage and friend of Henrik, who invites Sidony to attend a party hosted by a noble named Nicolas Reinhardt, where she will be able to meet with a man named Cyrros. Cyrros is an elf who has everyone in debt to him by knowing the secrets of every noble in the city, and Antonia suggests he will be able to help Sidony discover the assassin. Sidony recruits Cyrros as a partner in her investigation, after he says he believes it’s a Mortalitasi responsible. They find Reinhardt’s dead wife, and Cyrros attacks Sidony. She wakes up and overhears Nicolas Reinhardt reveal that he hired Cyrros to assassinate his political rivals and blame it on the Mortalitasi, but now thinks Cyrros killed his wife, which Cyrros denies. Sidony raises the corpse of Reinhardt’s wife and commands it to attack them both, killing Reinhardt and Cyrros. Sidony believes everything to be over, and goes to Henrik’s funeral, where she meets Antonia again. Antonia spills that she was the one who killed Henrick and Reinhardt’s wife, and traps Sidony in the tomb. Sidony somehow escapes though and goes after Antonia, planning to kill her.

The Streets of Minrathous

Neve Gallus is a private investigator hired by Otho Calla to uncover if Quentin Calla (his nephew) has fallen back in with the remains of the Venatori. Neve follows Quentin and witnesses his fatal stabbing by a figure in a bronze mask. The next day, Neve is told by Knight-Templar Rana Savas that another suspected Venatori was murdered the same night, named Lady Varantus. Neve is invited into the Templar investigation, up until the Varantus family request it closed to avoid bad press. Neve then meets a mysterious man who tells her the murderer, named Aelia, is after a set of clay discs held by Venatori agents, and gives her one of these discs. Aelia ends up attacking Neve for the disc—or rather, the “seal” as she calls it, and leaves Neve for dead. Neve saves herself though, and meets the mysterious man again, who is really a man named Flavian Bataris. Flavian reveals that there is an extremely powerful demon sealed beneath the city of Minrathous, and Corypheus planned on releasing it to destroy the city and build the centre of his new empire over it. The plan fell to the wayside when Corypheus was defeated, up until Aelia took over the remains of the cult, and now plans on summoning the demon herself. Neve informs Knight-Templar Savas of this plan, but storms out in frustration over the Order’s lack of willingness to do anything about it. Neve then heads into the Catacombs where Flavian told her the ritual would be held, and tries to stop it. At first she is unsuccessful on her own, but then three templars, including Savas, show up to back her up. They defeat the Venatori and arrest Aelia.

The Wigmaker Job

In Vyrantium, Ambrose Forfex, a successful wigmaker, is told by Crispin Kavlo and Felicia Erimond that he should cancel his wig show because The Antivan Crows have been assassinating Venatori agents. Ambrose decides to put on the show anyway. Sure enough, Lucanis Dellamorte and his cousin Illario Dellamorte prepare to infiltrate the party. There is a bit of tension between them, because Illario wants to become the next head of the House after their grandmother Caterina steps down, but people talk about how Lucanis should take that position, despite him having no desire to do so. They are interrupted by someone poorly trying to listen in on their conversation, and kill the eavesdropper. In his pocket, they find a letter sighed ‘A’, believing him to be sent by Ambrose. After sneaking into the party in the courtyard, Illario distracts a guard with his charm in order for Lucanis to get the keys to the place. They regroup after Lucanis kills the other guards inside. They find an enslaved elf girl, but Lucanis refuses to kill her, and she is all too happy that they are there to kill Ambrose, so they let her go. In Ambrose’s work room, they uncover the secret to his perfect wigs: He feeds his slaves red lyrium to create red-lyrium infused hair. Lucanis destroys the elven artifact Ambrose keeps in his workshop to prevent the veil from tearing, and while the party is erupted with demons. Illario leads the slaves of the estate that are able to escape to safety and freedom, while Lucanis confronts Ambrose. Ambrose shovels his magic wig hair into his mouth and becomes an abomination, but Lucanis still successfully kills him. The following day, Crispin and Felicia visit Magister Zara Renata and inform her that Ambrose is dead. Crispin says Zara will likely soon be a target herself, to which she responds that she has plans to take down Lucanis.

Genitivi Dies in the End

This story is impossible to make a summary of, because it’s told in the form of Philliam writing down what happened but full of fabrication, making it unclear what is real and what is fake. So nothing really matters. The only known fact is Rasaan, (a Qunari tamassran introduced in the Those Who Speak comics,) is leading a search for elven ruins trying to find information on the Dread Wolf. That’s really all that matters, I promise.

Herold Had the Plan

Dwarf Bharv and elf Elim, two Lords of Fortune, were after an amulet held at the Grand Tourney. Their friend Herold already died, and now they are on the run from Starkhaven guardsmen, along with their hired help, Panzstott. It turns out Panzstott is the real reason they guards are after them, as he stole the precious Celebrant sword, supposed to be given to the winner of the Tourney. He is working for a woman named Lady Lucie, who promises that she will help Panzstott find his sister, who left to become a Grey Warden and has never been heard of since. Lucie believes the Celebrant belongs to her, because her dead husband was the last Champion. A fight between everyone and the guards ensues, where Elim and Bharv are mortally wounded—however, it turns out the amulet has magic healing powers, and saves Bharv’s life. He heads to the pre-arranged meeting spot and gives the amulet to Vaea (from the Knight Errant-onward comics.)

An Old Crow's Old Tricks

After a group of Tevinter soldiers led by Magister Bicklius attack the Dalish clan Oranavra, the remaining clan members reach out to make a contract with the Antivan Crows to kill the soldiers. Lessef, an elderly Crow but still deadly, fulfills the contract, killing the soldiers one by one. In the end, she stands off with Bicklius, and in addition to killing him, steals back a precious halla statue he stole from the clan. Lessef then runs to her getaway boat yelling in Qunlat so that the soldiers she let chase her believe the attack was from the Qunari. Her partner Tainsley sails them away, happy that his uncle’s clan will get their halla statue back.

Eight Little Talons 🖤

All Eight Talons (the leaders of the most powerful Crow branches) are called to a meeting at the Verdant Isle of Lago di Novo by First Talon Caterina Dellamorte, to discuss the impending Qunari invasion of Antiva. Fifth Talon Viago De Riva is the last to arrive, where he meets Seventh Talon Andarateia “Teia” Cantori, (both of whom were first introduced in the Deception comics.) At their first meal together, the group argue while Third Talon Lera Valisti is notably absent. Viago and Teia are sent to investigate where Lera is, and find her dead, with her body displayed mimicking an infamous Crow murder of the past. The finger-pointing starts immediately and Caterina puts Verdant Isle on lockdown, forbidding anyone from leaving. This especially pisses off Sixth Talon Bolivar Nero. The next morning, they find all the servants have been murdered. Eighth Talon Giuli Arainai was also murdered the same night. Both again, in the style of famous Crow events. Caterina orders Viago and Second Talon Dante Balazar confined to their quarters, as they are the number one suspects. Teia ignores the rule about no visitors and breaks into Viago’s room anyway, where the two come up with a plan to coax the truth out of Dante, with a mixture of Teia’s natural silver tongue and a truth poison of Viago’s making. They are able to confirm Dante is not the killer. That evening, Teia and Fourth Talon Emil Kortez find Dante dead, while at the same time, Viago is attacked by a poisonous snake hidden in his clothing. Before he perishes, Teia returns to his room and finds anti-venom among Viago’s many alchemical vials. They figure out the killer is Emil, and upon confronting him, Catrina takes him out with her cane. Before Emil dies, he reveals he was contacted by the Qunari, and made an agreement with them that if he could destroy the Crows, they would invade peacefully and Antivans could keep their way of life, without submitting to the Qun. The remaining Crows then all stab Emil to death. With the killer dealt with, Catrina, Viago and Teia all make a plan, and send written orders to the head of each House, (the heirs, in the case of those now dead.)

Half up Front

Vadis, runaway daughter of a Magister, and Irian Cestes, former elven servant, are thieves for hire working in Minrathous. They are hired by a mysterious elven woman to steal back an artifact known as Dumat's Folly, which is said to be a piece of the Black City, from the Archon’s palace. They discover that the artefact has been stolen by the Qunari, and are able to track the thieves to Kont-aar in Rivain using blood magic. The two travel to Kont-aar and sneak onto a dreadnaught holding a ton of magic objects the Qunari are studying. But the whole thing turns out to be a set-up by the mysterious elf. She reveals several things in her villainous gloating: That she works for the Dread Wolf, that she has possession of the real Dumat’s Folly, and that the “Dumat’s Folly” that Vadis found on the dreadnaught is actually a magic bomb soon to explode. Her goal is to implicate a Tevinter mage in the destruction of Kont-aar. Vadis and Irian overpower the elf, but the elf bites down on a poison pill hidden in her mouth and dies. Vadis blows the dreadnaught out to sea using wind magic, and she and Irian escape on a lifeboat just in time to avoid the giant explosion. Back on shore, they are interrogated by Ben-Hassrath agent Gatt (from Dragon Age Inquisition), who shares that they were tricked into stealing the artifact in the first place by an Agent of Fen’Harel among their ranks. Gatt says that the Ben-Hassrath will remain officially neutral on the invasion. Gatt suggests they go to Kirkwall, but Vadis and Irian decide to go to Val Royeaux for a vacation instead.

The Dread Wolf Take You

Charter (from Dragon Age Inquisition) attends a meeting with some of the best spies across Thedas at a place called the Teahouse in Hunter Fell, Nevarra. At the table is a dwarf from the Carta, an Orlesian bard, a Mortalitasi mage, and a mysterious Executor from across the sea. She says she invited someone from Tevinter and the Ben-Hassrath, but they both declined. First, the dwarf tells a tale about how he and his crew used a special solvent that softens lyrium, allowing them to extract the red lyrium idol from Meredith’s statue in Kirkwall. At the meeting location a man from House Qintara (from the Deception comics) shows up and takes the idol. Also at the meeting were former templars looking for the solvent that softens red lyrium, but they were all killed in their sleep by the Dread Wolf. The Mortalitasi speaks next, about how a man from House Danarius, (that being Tractus from the Dark Fortress comics), brought the idol to her group of mages, asking for help unlocking it. They do so in a ritual, but it draws the attention of the Dread Wolf, who is angered by them using his idol to “vandalize the sea of dreams”. One of the Mortalitasi mages fled with the idol leaving the rest to die, but the speaker managed to escape with her life. Finally the Orlesian bard speaks of how the idol wound up in auction house in Llomerryn, where the Dread Wolf himself took possession of it. By this time though, Charter has come to realize that the Orlesian Bard is actually Solas in disguise, and asks for her life. Solas kills the other attendees, but spares Charter. She tells him he doesn’t have to do this, but Solas insists he does, before leaving.

Dragon Age: Absolution (post-9:44, exact time unknown)

Elven rogue Miriam and Orlesian human warrior Roland, a couple of mercenaries, are recruited by Fairbanks (DA:I) to join his group, who are tasked by the remains of the Inquisition to steal a magic artifact known as the Circulum Infinitus from the Summer Palace of Nessum in Tevinter. The group also consists of the dwarf warrior Lacklon, the tal-vashoth mage Qwydion, and lastly human mage Hira, who Miriam has a romantic history with. Miriam and her deceased twin brother Neb were formerly enslaved by the man now studying the Circulum, Rezaren Ammosine. She is reluctant to return to Nessum, but Hira convinces her to help. Their heist does not go as planned however, and Hira is captured while Miriam is gravely wounded, but the others scoop her up and flee. Rezaren uses blood magic to contact Miriam in her dreams and tries to convince her to return to him so they can be like his idea of a family, but she refuses. It’s also revealed through flashbacks that Miriam was forced to kill Neb when Rezaren’s mother put a demon inside him to prevent Rezaren from failing his Harrowing, except Rezaren used blood magic to bind a spirit to his body that he now controls. Rezaren’s hope is to use the Circulum to bring Neb back to life for real. Miriam and the rest of the gang stage a rescue mission for Hira, but when they regroup back at their base, it’s revealed that Hira was planning on betraying them to “The Crimson Knight”. Rezaren chases after them, and manages to begin the blood ritual to try and bring Neb back. Neb’s spirit destroys his body rather than return though, and Miriam is able to kill Rezaren. She then asks Hira to choose their relationship over her quest to destroy the Tevinter Imperium, which Hira refuses, and flees with the Circulum, intending to bring it to none other than an alive once more Meredith Stannard from DA:2. Meredith is leading what remains of the red templars. Miriam and her friends vow to chase after Hira and stop her.

Short Stories

Minrathous Shadows (post-9:44, exact time unknown)

A templar named Tarquin plays a card game with a magister, and confronts her on being a Venatori cultist. It’s revealed that Tarquin and the deal are part of a group called “the Viper”?

Ruins of Reality (post-9:44, exact time unknown)

Strife and Irelin (from Tevinter Nights) are lost in the Arlathan Forest, as the forest has come alive with magic, changing and shifting to the point where Strife’s map is no longer reliable, nor is the passage of time. Strife carries an ancestral journal from the Morlyn that began rewriting itself. They find copies of themselves—Irelin says either a mirage or an echo—running around. Irelin turns into a bird to snatch a crystal halla figurine off a statue they find, and the spell ends for a time.

The Wake (post-9:44, exact time unknown)

Viago de Riva, Illario Dellamorte, and Teia Cantori (from Tevinter Nights) all attend an Antivan Crow funeral, implied to be Lucanis’s from Illario’s drunken story-telling about the two as children and him saying “I was always right behind him, you know? Now there’s nobody for me to follow.”

Won't Know When (post-9:44, exact time unknown)

Evka Ivo and Antoine (from Tevinter Nights) fight off a darkspawn horde so a group of miners can escape. They ponder the dangerous nature of being Grey Wardens, before Antoine asks Evka to marry him, and Evka says yes.

As We Fly (post-9:44, exact time unknown)

Neri de Acutis and his sister Noa are old Antivan Crows fighting the Qunari occupation of Treviso.

-----

Like these kinds of meta pieces? Please consider supporting me on Patreon, where you could have viewed it a few weeks earlier!

[inquisitoralisia]

Ferelden travel: distances and times

Methodology at the bottom if you care about that sort of thing or want to argue.

End point -> End point -> real travel time (in days unless noted)

South Reach -> Dalish Camp -> 5.6

South Reach -> Lothering -> 5.1

Denerim -> Vigil’s Keep -> 3.4

Denerim -> South Reach -> 5.6

Denerim -> Dragon’s Peak -> 1.7

Highever -> West Hill -> 4.9

Lake Calenhad Docks -> West Hill -> 2.8

Lake Calenhad Docks -> Gherlen’s Pass -> 2.8

Lake Calenhad Docks -> Lothering -> 9.0

Ruins -> Heart of the Forest -> 4.5

Heart of the Forest -> Dalish Camp -> 4.2

Gwaren -> Dalish Camp -> 11.0

Orzammar -> Gherlen’s Pass -> 3.7  (Also distance from Orzammar to Ortan Thaig and Aeducan Thaig via Caridin’s Cross)

Lothering -> Ostagar -> 3.6  (Also distance from beginning to end of Dead Trenches)

Flemeth’s Hut -> Ostagar -> 2.1 to get there but only 1.5 to get back with Morrigan’s help (Also distance from beginning to end of Anvil of the Void)

Redcliffe Village -> Lothering -> 5.6

Redcliffe Village -> Gherlen’s Pass -> 5.4  (Also distance from beginning to end of Ortan Thaig and Aeducan Thaig)

Highever -> Vigil’s Keep -> 5.6

Amaranthine -> Vigil’s Keep -> 1.7

Haven -> Rainesfere/Sulcher’s Pass -> 4.5

Redcliffe Village -> Rainesfere/Sulcher’s Pass -> 1.7

Haven -> Temple -> 5.9

Honnleath -> Temple -> 7.6

Honnleath -> Redcliffe Village -> 5.6

Lake Calenhad Docks -> Kinloch Hold-> 3 hours by rowboat

Redcliffe Castle -> Kinloch Hold -> 5 hours by sailboat

Redcliffe Village -> Redcliffe Castle -> the map makes no sense here, so let’s call it an hour’s walk.  Isolde certainly didn’t run 22.5 miles in that outfit. 

—-

Some aggregate distances:

Highever -> Ostagar -> 20.3 through West Hill, Calenhad Docks, Lothering

Denerim -> Haven -> 23.9 via West Road through Redcliffe, Rainesfere, Sulcher’s Pass

Denerim -> Redcliffe -> 16.3

Flemeth’s Hut -> Lothering -> 5.7

Redcliffe Castle -> Haven -> 6.2

Redcliffe -> Denerim -> 4.5 forced march via West Road

—-

Methodology: using the map and scale included in the RPG guide, I came up with inch measurements for the distances on provided roads or, where roads aren’t shown (like to and from Haven and Honnleath) where it would seem natural to travel, like along a river. Deep Roads calculations were taken mostly based on the fact that in The Stolen Throne and The Calling the entrance Maric and co. use is somewhere not too far from West Hill and they come across Ortan Thaig after a few days, so it’s not like all those abandoned thaigs are neatly nestled under Orzammar.  Once I had scaled the Ortan Thaig map to fit that, I scaled the others appropriately, figured out how they’d all line up, and went from there.

I tried to get really ambitious and calculate Mercator projection compensation (where the map gets more distorted longitudinally the closer you get to the poles) but that’s a whole lot of math that I haven’t used in like twenty years so, no, that didn’t work out.

From that I calculated the distance in miles (D).

I then assigned a difficulty rating (X) from 1.0 to 2.0: the higher the number, the more difficult the travel.  Up to Haven?  2.0.  Along the West Road between Denerim and South Reach?  1.0.

Travel time (V) is calculated by using accounts from various population migrations in Europe and North America (not forced/death marches) where most people traveled on foot over varied terrain and averaged 20 miles per day.  Forced marches on roads go at about 70-75 miles per day, cross-country forced marches go at about 55-60 miles per day.

Sailboats travel at approximately 16 mph, rowboats at approximately 2 mph with an experienced rower, and horses at about 30 miles per day over long distances.

So the formula works out like this: (D/V) * X = real travel time (in days).

You may want to vary these calculations for bad weather by adding an additional difficulty multiplier.  For example, I assume there will not be snow along the road from Ostagar to Lothering.  I also assume there’s snow, but not a blizzard, in the Frostbacks.

I’m only providing end points and real travel times in this post because I’ll be damned if I can figure out how to get tumblr to manage a table without shitting the bed.  I’ll screencap my spreadsheet and post my whacked-out lined-up maps of the Brecilian Forest and Deep Roads later (maybe not today; I have miles to go before I sleep) and add them to this post or a new one that will link back to this one.

Here’s the link to the post with the spreadsheet and maps of the Deep Roads and Brecilian Forest.

[inquisitoralisia]

》Heroes of Thedas

[example page]  [example post]  [link to dollmaker]  [non-reblog template]

↠THE (WARDEN, CHAMPION, INQUISITOR):

INTRODUCTION

Name: -

Nickname: -

Motto: - (Words they live by. Can be anything; but for help/ideas: [list of famous mottos] [latin proverbs]  [latin phrases] )

BASICS

Race: -

Class: -

Ability Focus: (Their favored skill tree. [Abilities (Inquisition)]  [Talents / Spells  (DA2)]   [Talents / Spells  (Origins)]

Specialization: -

DETAILS

Alignment: [D&D Alignments]  [Alignment test]  

Personality Type: [list of MBTI types]  [MBTI test]

Archetype: (Their character type; their role in the story; one word summary. Help & examples here.)

Tarot: (The basis for their character tarot cards. [card meanings 01]  [02] )

Symbol: (A symbol that represents them. For a list of heraldic symbols & meanings: [01]  [02]  [03] )

RELATIONSHIPS

Romanced: -

Closest To: (Character(s) they got the most/fastest approval from.)

Clashed Most With: (Character(s) they got the least/slowest approval from. **Not necessarily their enemy; counts for which character took longest to gain friendship/approval from.)

TACTICS

Ideal Party: (Your go-to in-game party combo.)

Weapon of Choice: (Their favorite weapon and/or the name they gave it, if any.)

Favorite Ability: (Their favorite ability/talent/skill/etc.)

[inquisitoralisia]

All of the posts for Dragon Age 4/Retribution!

GENERAL DETAILS: (ALL VERBATIM FROM 4CHAN SITE)  >Game takes place primarily in Tevinter but we’ll have missions in the Anderfels, Seheron, Antiva, Deep Roads, and the Fade, etc.. >60% of the game world is represented by the capital city of Minrathous which is 200 times bigger than Denerim in DAO. >Minrathous will be a open and living city with moving npcs that walk around, buy goods, do busy work,, think of how npc’s acted within Novigrad in the Witcher 3. >The city will have large temples, statues, large buildings and towers, markets, docks, fountains, giant walls which you can explore and other cool areas like a coliseum and even an aqueduct which you can climb. >If you hadn’t noticed yet Minrathous will be heavily based on imperial Rome and Constantinople and in lore is the largest city in thedas with nearly 1 million inhabitants.  >The city is divided into 5 zones/districts with no loading screens to get into each one so it’s all integral. >The districts include, the noble district which is in the upper/Northmost part of the city set on a hill which will have three different staircases that can get you in and out of the district. >Within that district you have a smaller district encased in marble walls and only accessed by gate called the Imperial quarter which houses the Imperial Senate house, the Grand Library of Tevinter (lorewise its equivalent to the library of Alexandria and is nearly impossible to get into - there will be a quest dedicated just to that place), Archon’s Palace, the grand temple of Dumat and senatorial mansions. >The lower half of the city includes includes the market district, the “plebeian/worker class district”, the coliseum district which also includes an academy of magic, the library of minrathous, imperial army headquarters and finally the poor district. >The streets of Minrathous are all cobbled, the outside walls are large guarded by just as large juggernaut statues which are massive black golems. >The city has three bridges that connect it to the outside world which you can also explore before being told to turn around. >The other 40% of the game world will be large maps and dungeons similar to the zones in DA:I. >One specific zone will be a swamp marsh area where you’ll get one companion and a tied story mission. PLAYER CHARACTER: >Your character can only be human for story reasons, that means you won’t be able to play as a elf, dwarf, qunari etc… >Can play as male or female. >There’s a CC filter on being homosexual, heterosexual or bi and influence some dialogue line as well as romance options. >Your character’ last name is Lanius and will be referred to as such by all the NPCs and text. >DAR will be more story and character focused than DAI, you have a mother and father and a dead male/female that’s interchangeable based on your sex ie if you’re male you’ll have a dead sister and vice versa . >Your dead sibling is dead before game and will be involved in a form of a quest with your own mother. >Vastly improved CC system, you can literally make a young Liam Neeson type character if you wish, it’s that good and it’s the best CC system ever made. >You’ll have 7 companions, 4 males and 3 females. >Of those 7, one will be a dwarf, another an elf, and there’ll be a qunari companion. >If you take any of these characters on mission with you within Minrathous prepare to have racist encounters and with the Qunari a literal bloodbath. >The main female romance option of males is named Eva Scala and her father is senator Daedelus Scala leader of Populares faction of the imperial senate. >Your father is a minor noble of the equestrian rank and is leader of the knightly class of Tevinter, he is in constant conflict with the patricians/senators especially Scala. >The rest of the companions I’ll mention in the story bits. GAMEPLAY: >Will be more like DA2 combat and will have a vastly improved tactics system similar to DAO. >Loads of build variety. >Blood magic returns and your story is affected if you use blood magic/become a blood Mage. >NPCS and companions will mention that a lot if you actually choose the blood Mage path. >The canon is to play a Mage but you can still play as a warrior or rogue. >The rogue is actually super fun to play as, you’ll actually be a stealth assassin type figure if you spec into it. >Warriors are just warriors, still cool. >Items system is the exact same as DA:I. >RNG is more forgivable in DAR than DAI however the higher difficulty the less luck with RNG. >Can craft weapons and armour. >Can tint, color and modify your armour. >Weapons are less final fantasy looking. >Five different difficulties, easy, normal, hard, very hard, nightmare. >No new game plus. >Can customize companions. >You have a den in Minrathous similar to the assassin’s den in Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. >You and Daedalus Scala lead this secret society known as the Old Order whose fundamental goal is to bring back the last two untainted old dragon gods to fight against a “greater evil”. >You recruit people similar to how you recruited individuals in DAI and send them on missions of assassinations, political intrigue, resource gathering etc…pretty much similar to DA:I. >You get rewards for mission completion including exp, crafting resources, rare weapons and items, and Old Order points used to unlock perks in the Perk system. >The Old Order is integral to the story line but recruiting people and sending them off to missions is entirely optional. >Attribute system returns and is pretty much nearly identical to DAO. >Game is set in 9:51 Dragon. >the Qunari have invaded Tevinter in six different invasion points. >They’ve already conquered the northern half of tevinter except for Minrathous which is guarded by its powerful walls on land and by the Imperial Navy at sea. >You’re apart of a southern tevinter relief force. >Game starts off with massive cinematic battle. >You pick your gender, do your CC, pick your class. >You’re apart of a 4 man specialist commando force including yourself, Eva Scala which the commander, one warrior named Constantius, and a rogue named Justin (both of whom die at the end of the level). >The first area of the game is the army camp area. >Get assigned the mission by the general/commander Mage literally name Maximus Decimus (there’s there’s loads of name references to everything Rome and Roman including movies/TV shows) and dropped off immediately behind enemy lines. >Your goal is too pretty much disable the Qunari warmachines (cannons) and destroy their supply train. >There’s numerous cutscenes of a large grayish wolf stalking you. >Kill trash mobs of Qunari and Dalish elves in alliance with them. >Final battle of the level is with a powerful Saraabas. >Get confronted after the grayish wolf finally appears and transform to a giant 10 foot tall armored figure. >Pretty much destroys everything and sets giant balls of Fire on to the clashing armies. >There’ll be a warden civil war that you’ll have to resolve. >Assassination attempt on the Archon. >Salos burning and killing tevinter cities and both Qunari/Tevinter armies. >Second final level will be Solas essentially trying to destroy Minrathous just after you beat off a Qunari siege. >Final level is traveling to the forest of arlathan to kill Salos/Solas. >Ending choice is to kill, capture or save Solas. >Solas is the main villain in game. >Dorian cameo. >Inquisition and Grey Warden both mentioned. >Hawke/Stroud are in the Anderfell level.

[inquisitoralisia]

I heard something interesting happens if you try to pickpocket Duncan so guess what I’m doing?

Also. Why can’t I play the prequel where I romance him.

[inquisitoralisia]

I honestly think that like all of my issues with the plot structure of Inquisition can be summed up by this sign. It’s right next to a path up a hill at the Storm Coast, one surrounded by little boulders and rocks that have fallen. But at no point during gameplay does a rock fall.

Why bother putting this sign and the fallen rocks there if you’re not going to have a rock fall on the player?

Why include blatant character flaws in the companions that don’t serve much purpose beyond “rounding them out” by existing? Why have Dorian be focused on reforming all of Tevinter’s issues except slavery if it only comes up exactly one time in non-essential dialogue? That is a HUGE-ASS FLAW. Why give Sera such vitriolic self-hatred and internalized racism when oppressed elves are precisely the sort of ‘little people’ that she fights for? Why can the Inquisitor not talk about these things with them and help them realize that they need to change their thinking?? Can you IMAGINE the character arc Sera could have had???

Why can Clan Lavellan be killed if no one in Skyhold ever acknowledges it? The only possible purpose it could serve would be to provide emotional stakes for the odds the player is up against, but nothing emotional actually comes of it.

Why can you customize Skyhold if none of those changes make a difference? Why can you build up over 300 power at the War Table if it’s completely useless outside of main quests, of which there are ridiculously few?

Why have a storyline about Lyrium addiction among Templars if it’s never acknowledged that said addiction is entirely the Chantry’s fault?Why include Fiona in the game if all she ever does is stand in a hallway? For that matter, why make an entire game leading up to the mage rebellion if the ACTUAL BEGINNING of it is shunted off into a book that a lot of players won’t know exists and the rebellion itself is just going to be background noise in the next game?

Why are Alistair/Stroud/Loghain and Hawke in the game for literally about 1 hour (out of a solid 90, generally) if one of them has to die? The Inquisitor doesn’t know them. New players don’t know them. To have an actual emotional impact in-universe, they should be legitimately introduced into the story in a significant way. Instead they appear, die/leave for Weisshaupt, and disappear again. They do nothing; things happen to them.

There are so many signs for falling rocks, but no rocks actually fall.

[inquisitoralisia]

da extended universe roundup

dragon age is one of those franchises that sprawls over about 600 mediums so here’s a handy list of literally all of them, with links where i could provide downloads. if anyone has other links, or if i’ve missed something somewhere, feel free to add it on!

the games

origins – the first one, the best plot, the worst graphics, decent mechanics for an old game, broadest character development, as good as people say [xbox 360, ps3, & pc]

dragon age 2 – somewhere in the middle, smoother mechanics, deep rather than broad in terms of plot, world, & characters, better than people say [xbox 360, ps3, & pc]

inquisition – the latest one, the nicest graphics, broad rather than deep, actively pretty shallow in areas, nice cc though, not as good as people say [xbox 360, xbox one, ps3, ps4, & pc, though not all dlc are available on last-gen software]

the dlc

origins:

various add-ons, notably the stone prisoner which adds the companion shale

a tale of orzammar – prequel to dwarf origin [.dazip]

the darkspawn chronicles – play alternate plot as a darkspawn

leliana’s song – backstory for leliana

the golems of amgarrak – added quest in orzammar for the warden

witch hunt – sequel to origins involving morrigan

awakening – the main dlc, adds a significant sequel to origins, introduces anders

dragon age 2:

various add-ons, notably the exiled prince (adds the companion sebastian) and the black emporium (adds magic item store, your own mabari, & the ability to customise your appearance after the beginning of the game)

legacy – added quest in a new area, introduces corypheus

mark of the assassin – added quest in a new area, also felicia day is there

inquisition:

various add-ons, notably the black emporium again, although no doggo this time :(

jaws of hakkon – whole new area, multiple quests, explore the story of the first inquisitor & meet avaar, also there’s a bear

the descent – whole new area, deep roads but they’re pretty now, lots of dwarf lore, hopefully introduces stuff picked up in later games?

trespasser – the real ending to the game, why this wasn’t in the base game i’ll never know, it’s really good though like man, def introduces & develops stuff that’s gonna be important

the novels

the stolen throne – prequel to origins, the orlesian occupation of ferelden, introduces king maric & develops loghain [epub]

the calling – sequel to stolen throne, king maric, duncan, & the grey wardens, introduces fiona [epub]

asunder – prequel to inquisition, the development of the mage-templar war, introduces cole [pdf]

the masked empire – concurrent with inquisition, the orlesian civil war between celene and gaspard, develops briala [epub]

last flight – concurrent with inquisition, develops grey wardens in the anderfels, hopefully introduces stuff that’s gonna come up later [epub]

the comics

dragon age (idw comic) – prequel to origins, the daughter of a mage & a templar has a bunch of adventures, focus on circles & magic

dragon age (penny arcade comic) – prequel to origins, a bunch of templars try to find the witch of the wilds [webcomic]

awakening – prequel to the ‘awakening’ dlc, nathaniel howe breaks into his family’s home [webcomic]

the silent grove – sequel to dragon age 2, alistair, isabela, & varric go on an adventure in antiva, there’s stuff involving flemeth & maric [online]

those who speak – sequel to the silent grove, alistair, isabela, & varric in tevinter this time, isabela’s backstory is developed [online]

until we sleep – sequel to those who speak, alistair, isabela, & varric still in tevinter, varric’s backstory is developed, maevaris tilani introduced [online]

knight errant – concurrent with inquisition, an elven squire in kirkwall caught up in inquisition business [online]

magekiller – concurrent with inquisition, two badasses hunting down venatori for the inqusiition, also the archon is there, also lesbians [online]

the short stories

prequels to dragon age 2, companion backstories [anders, aveline, fenris, isabela, merrill, sebastian, varric]

the anime movie

dawn of the seeker – standalone movie about cassandra pentaghast fighting some dragons, fills in her backstory, fun in places but mostly only for the truly desperate [dub, sub]

the tabletop rpg

d&d style tabletop rpg in the dragon age universe, written pre-dragon age 2

being played on ‘tabletop’ with chris hardwick, kevin sussman, & sam witwer [part one, part two]

core rulebook [pdf]

the books

the world of thedas 1 & 2 – books full of lore, character backstory, art of characters, animals, & areas, purportedly written by brother genitivi

the art of dragon age inquisition – art book

dragon age library edition – compilation of the comics ‘the silent grove’, ‘those who speak’, and ‘until we sleep’

[inquisitoralisia]

ATTENTION DRAGON AGE FANS:

In an attempt to explore any impact of playing the series in chronological order or not, as well as reading/watching any extended materials, I have created a survey that I would really appreciate as many people as possible filling out!

Cross my heart, I will NOT write criticism of people’s opinions on the findings post, criticize people for only being familiar with x amount of things (which I don’t believe in anyway,) or anything of the sort. I also promise to keep things anonymous. What this survey is about is my interest in is analyzing the narrative’s consistency and fluidity, and how it affects player perception of some significant things. And a few other tidbits of relevancy. I think it would be an excellent source of information for future meta writing, maybe by me, and maybe by many others, too.

You do not have to have played all three games to participate! In fact, I am very interested in hearing from people who haven’t!

There are also a few different places to write in comments, but it is not necessary. Don’t feel like you have to.

If you could please take just a few minutes to fill this out, I would be very grateful! Also, please reblog so as many people with as many varying responses as possible may see it!

I’ll be closing the survey on October 1st, 2017 (ooh, very special month,) and will collect all the information and share then.

SURVEY LINK

[inquisitoralisia]

Things that an elven Inquisitor probably deals with

Diplomats and dignitaries attempting to address their advisers instead of them because consulting an elf is like consulting a servant

Someone suggesting they cover their vallaslin with powder or tinted creams when they go to court, likely in the name of being helpful

Never ending backhanded compliments. “Oh Maker, they know how to use a fork when eating? Goodness they must not be so barbaric after all!” “How nice it must feel to have risen up from such lowly beginnings. Surely they never imagined such splendor and power, it all must be so new and exciting.”

Being overly-sexualized due to their race. “You know, I’ve never seen elven ears up close. Am I wrong in thinking they must be delightfully sensitive?”

Being mistaken for a servant. All the time, often purposefully. 

Hearing knife-ear, savage, barbarian, heathen, and other more colorful terms both to their face and behind their back.

People talking slowly and loudly under the assumption that they cannot speak common. Add hand gestures for extra points

People marveling when they can speak and understand common without difficulty, thanks

Enduring suspicious looks and even comments when they dare to communicate with fellow elves in their own language. “You could be saying anything!”

Receiving gifts of art supposedly rendered in their likeness. But the portraits tend to hide their ears beneath hair and soften the angles of their faces. Curves and bulk are added in places where none exist and in short they look awfully HUMAN in all these paintings and statues

Hearing the phrase “for an elf/Dalish” way too much. “You’re very pretty–for an elf.” “You read so well for someone Dalish!” “You speak common so beautifully for an elf.” “You’re so intelligent for an elf.” Yes yes! They get it! They’re an awfully exceptional elf bc surely no other elves have any talents or wits or virtues about them whatsoever! 

Dealing with constant (be they subtle or obvious) attempts to convert them to Andrastianism or whatever the shems call their faith

Weird and offensive assumptions. “YEAH ya know what? We DO offer blood sacrifices up to our gods– or at least we’re about to start. I’ve been taught that they see killing off idiots as a particular act of reverence.”

[inquisitoralisia]

Taint Resistance in a Bottle - Random Thought Blogs: The Blighted Entries 2

Totally just a random exercise in speculation this week after reading some very interesting ideas about whether the taint could be spread from Grey Wardens to their LIs or to those healing them.  I highly recommend reading the excellent thoughts and evidence presented by the OP, @altalemur , @rederiswrites and @higheverrains.  My thoughts took a tangent, of course, that eventually circled back to become this post.    

I think there is a fairly simple, albeit probably magical, answer to the question.  Whatever gives the Grey Wardens their resistance to the taint makes it nigh impossible for them to pass the taint on to others.  Even with prolonged exposure to a warden’s body, like during a rare warden pregnancy, the warden is not contagious, including to the child.  In fact, we know that Morrigan had to go to extreme, probably blood magicky, means to have a baby with the taint.  Wardens just don’t pass it on.  Examples:

If Morrigan is involved with a male warden who refuses to do the Dark Ritual, she still gets pregnant with a taint-free Kieran (which implies there must be some consent on the part of the warden in order for the ritual to work).

Side note: The fact that Morrigan could have a baby with the warden without the Dark Ritual implies that the ritual had nothing to do with increasing her fertility.  The ritual was purely to pass the taint on to their child or create a connection with the archdemon.  Ergo, Morrigan probably was using other means (again likely magical) to ensure she became pregnant.

Fiona gives birth to Alistair, taint free.  

Side note: Fiona had been a warden for about a year when she became pregnant.  Same thing happens with Morrigan, if you do the Dark Ritual or the warden is romantically involved with her.  This suggests that a warden’s best chance at having children is during a 18-24 months window right after the Joining.

When griffons were forced to undergo a modified Joining ritual, they are completely unable to develop the Grey Wardens’ resistance to the taint.  This leads to their (near) extinction because they can infect each other with the taint, unlike wardens.

I suspect that when the first Grey Wardens discovered how to do the Joining, they also figured out a way to magically block, or resist, the taint…at least for a while.  If this theory is true, it would also give another reason for the Calling.  If the Grey Wardens eventually lose all their resistance they would become no different than a ghoul, who can and do spread the taint to others.  

“There are stories across Ferelden of these ghouls, maddened by the corruption of the blight, attacking their friends and spreading the corruption further. While it is likely that the sickness will eventually kill a ghoul, the dying strength of these poor creatures makes them nearly as great a danger as the darkspawn themselves.

They are no longer our friends, our family, or our countrymen. They are victims of the Blight, and must be given the same mercy Hessarian showed Andraste: a swift sword.”

It stands to reason that Grey Wardens who completely lose their resistance would then pass on the taint like other infected beings. (I wonder if the Architect’s accelerated ghoul program, which he used on Bregan, Genevieve, and Utha, allowed them to keep their resistance longer.  Utha seemed pretty lucid in Awakening.  I wonder if the Architect gave Seranni some form of the resistance too.)

A warden’s resistance to the taint is so powerful, in fact, that it literally blocks the song of the old gods in darkspawn.  The Architect needed the blood of wardens to free the darkspawn of their compulsion, or rather their resistance to the taint.

So yeah, that resistance that Grey Wardens have to the taint is probably what prevents them from spreading it to their companions.  Now the next question should be…what gives Grey Wardens that resistance?  Like I said before, I think part of the resistance is part of the magic of the Joining Ritual, but that doesn’t explain why some can survive the Joining and other die.  What makes a Grey Warden able to survive the Joining and develop that resistance to the taint?  Is it some innate quality or biologic feature in the warden themselves?  Or is it an outside force or aid?  

Leliana seems to have a natural resistance to the taint.  Maric is able to resist via potions concocted from  “rare herbs” and, possibly, his dragon flavored blood.  There are also suggestions that a person’s willpower can affect their level of resistance.  Former lead writer and ex “word of god”, David Gaider, said:

“Insofar as how long a Grey Warden could remain on the throne, it depends. The taint will make a Grey Warden age faster, so someone like Loghain isn’t going to be able to stay a Grey Warden for very long as he’s no young man. The “thirty years” quote is about the maximum, but the reality is that it depends on how often one is exposed to the corruption and sometimes just personal variance– even so, for a monarch to stay on the throne upwards of thirty years is no mean feat. I don’t really think that’s the limiting factor when it comes to this sort of thing.” (Bioware Forums, I miss your information if not the sea of negativity.  More interesting taint related info here.)

Another quote:

“But the idea is also that it varies. Thirty years is the maximum that you could probably expect. It’s going to vary for an individual according to their willpower and the level of their interaction with the darkspawn. During a Blight you can expect that the Grey Wardens are going to have shorter lifespans. Outside of a Blight the Grey Wardens would tend to live longer. We have instances in the game of people going on their Calling after five or ten years. Alistair’s thirty year quote shouldn’t be taken as gospel, that’s the way I like it.” (Interview with Gaider, posted on Swooping is Bad LJ)

I’m going to have to investigate this further, but I am pretty sure the level of resistance in each warden varies and can be affected by several factors.  

Taint Resistance in a Bottle?

“King Maric was given a leather satchel full of potions, each of them contained in a delicate glass vial.  According to the First Enchanter, this was a precious mixture of herbs that would enable Maric to resist the disease spread by the darkspawn.  He was, after all, the only one in the group without the Grey Warden’s immunity.  One full vial was to be swallowed each morning; according to Duncan’s count, that meant the King had a two-week supply.

Rather optimistic of the First Enchanter, really.” (The Calling, p. 71)

I’m very curious about the “rare herbs” mentions in The Calling and in the Joining ritual description.  I suspect that Marethari used a variation of the potion Maric took to keep Mahariel alive long enough to take the Joining.  The fact that none of our companions were tainted while killing the oodles of darkspawn in Origins would make a lot more sense if we had to make potions to help them keep their resistance up.  And here is the section of total speculation that began this whole post:

What could those “rare” herbs be?  (Possible ingredients list lies below the cut.)

(I mean, this could be critical information for those of us that like to write fanfiction and don’t want to totally hand wave encounters with the darkspawn by saying, “Once again, we’ve all managed to not get tainted in spite of all the people around us who are totally tainted now because darkspawn!”)

Keep reading

[inquisitoralisia]

I’m rereading the passages on the Qun in world of thedas and:

“As far as the Qunari are concerned, a symbol and its signifier are the same thing. Because of this, artists are part of the priesthood. Their role is considered to be one of research, discovering things that were not already apparent, rather than making things new.”

I mean, that use of an artist is pretty great imo because now I’m thinking about qunari art and how that would look, an how it may actually be a lot more abstract than we might at first assume, because they’re meant to re-examine things for more pieces of truth (if we take truth to be an actual thing with many observable facets, like a gem).

But my favorite part is about signifier and symbol.

In philosophy, a sign (a word or means of communicating) is composed of the signifier and the signified. For instance, the sign “cross” leads us to the actual object cross, which is a signifier, or symbol, and the concept it represents — let’s just say God even though it could have like 20 different nuances — is the signified. What the book is saying is that the signified and the signifier are the same; because all things are connected, because their perception of the world is so immediate and almost literal, to them, there is no distinction between the symbol and the concept, and there SHOULDN’T be. That is a distraction: you will inevitably argue if that is truly what the symbol represents, or if the symbol does the concept justice. That’s a pointless argument if it all comes packaged by default.

Like in the case of the cross, it could simply mean church or house of worship - a place. But once removed, it could mean the actual cross where the crucifixion occurred. Twice removed, and it could mean Jesus. Three times, his sacrifice and the idea of sacrifice as a whole. Finally, it could mean god (which is a sign in and of itself of all sorts of other concepts like goodness, infinity, justice, judgment, etc).

The Qun discards that entirely and says “no, these things are all the same.” Not that they are homogenous, but that they are all part of the same function or object and thus cannot be taken independently of one another, or questioned separately. A leaf pulled from a tree is still that tree. But without the rest of the tree, it dies and has no purpose. The tree in turn loses a leaf, which helped it complete its function and existence. It may not suffer like the leaf, but it is a loss that may not be easily replaced. You can’t understand the leaf without the rest of the tree, and without its leaves, the tree is no longer a tree.

On a philosophical level, this is a lovely idea, but taken to a large-scale society and placed under enforcement, this can be very dangerous too. Anyone who suggests that this leaf could be used for something else, and thus break the link between itself and the tree has broken a fundamental law of the universe as the qunari see it. “These things cannot be separated, so why are you separating them?”

But it also leads to what I like most about Qunari society: you are not alone. You do not experience existence alone. And you are not meant to. Each little piece - person - is different, but important. Leaving society will lead to struggles (and most first-generation immigrants can say this is very true). Staying and helping each other will help everyone flourish.

[inquisitoralisia]

The thing about the dalish is that they will never be what they were in Solas’s time, and that’s okay.

The dalish taking pride and wanting to learn their history is fine, it’s great even, but cultures evolve. Cultures change dramatically over time. No one can realistically expect the dalish, or elves in general, to be what the elvhen were. The elves have been through so much crap, and have lost so much of their culture. They’ve rebuilt some of it, and it only resembles what it was, but that’s not a bad thing. Cultures change. Both the dalish and the city elves have a unique elven culture and neither of them are “wrong” or even more right. They’re just different.

And I think this is my main problem with Solas. He’ll try to drag down everything the elves have struggled to built because they’re wrong to him. He will try to make them his version of right and completely disregard the fact that that is the very last thing the elves need.

The elves need people like Briala who will fight to secure their future and Merrill who will put to use the knowledge they have of their past. They don’t need Solas coming around and destroying the little they already have and reminding them how “wrong” they are

[inquisitoralisia]

Such is an act for demons.