lore-ren-theories

[lore-ren-theories]

Blight corruption, blood magic, and archdemons

Is there a link between blighted individuals who survive a long time after being blighted, and heavy use of blood magic?

Elgar'nan, Ghilan'nain and the other Evanuris were unkillable thanks to their archdemons. They're confirmed to have used blood magic.

Isseya did not die to the calling and used a lot of blood magic on the Griffons.

Corypheus and The Architect survived being blighted and did a crazy amount of blood magic, Corypheus even retained his memory and sense ofcself like Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain.

Avernus did blood magic in his experiments and he lived unnaturally long.

Some blood mages in Thedas used blood magic to extend their lifespan or at least look young, but as blood magic makes it harder to 'enter the Fade' according to Solas, perhaps there is a link there? Because these blood mages were bound to the waking world, the Blight could not take them entirely?

In addition to that, because the Evanuris had slumbering archdemons, part of their souls remained unblighted within them. They spoke to people in their dreams but wouldn't being blighted mean they no longer have the same kind of connection to dreams? If a part of you remains asleep while you are blighted, does that keep you safe?

If I understand correctly, the Architect seems to imply that the archdemons instantly become blighted upon waking up. I find the idea that dreams offer protection somehow really near.

Despite all of this, I do think that the Blight still controls blighted people as much as they can control it, perhaps as a survival mechanism, through twisting their motivations in its favour:

Ghilan'nain and Elgar'nan become obsessed with blighting the entirety of Thedas. It'd make more sense for them to retreat and build their strength but they're insanely arrogant and go on the attack right away.

Corypheus, disillusioned as he is, wants to tear open the Fade and sit on the empty throne in the Black City. This would release all of the Blight.

The Architect in The Calling wants the world to be blighted so darkspawn become the only people alive, and in Awakening wishes to free Urthemiel from the Blight, which only unleashes more Blight upon the world

Isseya becomes twisted and confused and believes she can offer salvation to the Griffons by blighting them, despite this being the complete opposite of her ideals while alive. If brought to her senses, she straight up dies

Avernus wishes to unlock the power of blighted blood magic, which would give the Blight a very different way to survive, but a way nonetheless.

I don't really have a grand conclusion here but I think it's interesting how the Blight controls the people that aim to control it. Makes me curious about The Stone. I'm also really interested in blood as power, as we don't know that much about it, as well as dreams.

[lore-ren-theories]

Decided to make this its own post - Storyboard sequence screenshoted from this post by @dragonagegallery. Artist credit and source: Nick Thornborrow

Let's review the final imagery for this sequence step by step bc there's cool parallels between them and some earlier murals and loooore!

First we have Solas, presumably before he was called Solas, standing under a three-layer sun with 16 triangles, there's four light beams coming from the sun.

Then Solas is stood in front of the six-eyed Dread Wolf that's now obscuring the light beams. The sun has also changed colour. I think this may be indicating where in the elven cosmogeny story we are: after Elgar'nan threw down the Sun and Mythal raised the moon as the Sun's pale reflection. Solas in front of the moon alongside the wolf is also reminiscent of this mural:

We see the entire sky covered in triangles that are typically associated with the Fade or the Veil.

Next the imagery is changed from the storyboard, where we see the idols of the Evanuris instead of what's presumably the golden city/Arlathan. It's night here and it seems even more likely that we're seeing a moon.

This image has a parallels in its composition with this mural! Light and dark are inverted however, which makes sense when you think about how night used to be day before Elgar'nan changed that.

But it also calls back to the first image in the sequence and depicts certain elements from Threnodies, in the chant:

The children of the Maker gathered before his golden throne and sang hymns of praise unending. But their songs were the songs of the cobblestones. They shone with the golden light reflected from the Maker's throne. They held forth the banners that flew on their own.

Now this could just be a fun coincidence, but I think it may be a deliberate nod to the chant because we see cobblestones on the ground there. We see that where there once were mountains we now have buildings, just as pointy but nowhere near as majestic. This could also be about the Moon being a reflection of the Sun's former glory. Then there are the Evanuris, spirits, the banners that fly on their own, or fly without wind as is written earlier in Threnodies.

I'm keeping these next three images together. Note how the city has disappeared: the trees that were previously in the background are now all that remain.

The last image with the Evanuris becoming the life force of the veil is, again, a mirror of the Creation of the Veil mural from Trespasser.

There's also the DA4/dread wolf promo images, this one could be an in between step here:

And finally, Solas begins to tear down the Veil:

Which similar to this image, but it's upside down:

And to highlight some elements from the storyboards. This image in particular:

Earlier in the storyboard the mandala is described as a magical seal, in the final sequence it slowly rotates to eventually slot into place. The light at the center was white but is now green, the colour of Fade/rift magic.

Some elements of this mandala can be found in art used for codex entries:

In image one, when the two circles overlap, a third circle with the Fade in the middle appears. Image two seems to depict Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain in the Fade, protected from some kind of dripping black goo. The third image is a seemingly incomplete version of the mandala, but it does have a faded and possibly crumbling circle in the middle.

These seals are noticeably different from other magical seals, wards, spells etc. in the game that are depicted in a similar way:

We know from dialogue between Solas and Emmrich, combined with the Magic Dampener Notes, that the Veil is a direct inverse of Solas's magical signature, which likely means that this is how he shields the Fade from the world. Makes me wonder if the magical seal is a depiction of his magical signature.

Anyway, no real conclusion to this, just thought it's really neat and wanted to share!

[lore-ren-theories]

Was going to quietly edit this post but I actually noticed something while looking at codex art for another post:

The pattern on the circles around Elgar'nan and Mythal's hands? We've seen it before.

It's very similar to the orb of destruction. Another very cool detail!

The murals from Trespasser and Veilguard are still pretty consistent in Veilguard in terms of how Solas depicts specific people and concepts. I first noticed this after seeing this great post!

Creation of the Veil

The blight is depicted having 14 feathers/eyes(?) around it in the Trespasser mural, and if has 14 tendrils in Veilguard

In the Veilguard regret, the placement of the columns that are coming out of the circle, with Solas's body in the middle, looks like a callback to the way these are laid out in the Trespasser mural

There are seven Evanuris that power the Veil so obviously they're gonna be present in both images, but still it's neat how it's been inverted, bringing them closer to the blight.

Solas is in a very similar pose in both the Trespasser and Veilguard depiction of this event. While he isn't holding anything, the big central circle is similar in colour in both.

Elgar'Nan

These two images depict separate events, but chronologically may not be that far apart.

ELGAR'NAN IS THE SAME IN BOTH IMAGES. look at his stupid little pose!!! I love that. He's even got his little hand out the same way.

It's the circle with the star in it but it's been depleted? And there's light coming from above but it isn't going into the opening that's on the circle.

Ok this one's just for fun but Elgar'Nan has similar swirly bits around him. And the trees and light beams are placed in such a way that the they're not too dissimilar from the background in the Trespasser mural.

Do the orbs with a the star inside represent the type of magic that was used, or what these orbs were charged with—Green for Fade magic, gold for Celestial? Over the years I've seen many suggestions that they're Titan hearts that were fashioned into foci. Maybe this artifact that produces cheese is one?

The unfinished mural of Solas killing Flemythal and the corresponding trespasser regret probably also have similarities in the shapes/composition, but checking that required some cutting and rotating that I couldn't do as easily on my phone.

Anyway lemme know if you've noticed any more parallels!

[lore-ren-theories]

noooooooo the extent of parallels between Cole's personal quest in inquisition and Solas being a spirit—I know many have pointed out how Solas being confirmed to be a spirit recontextualises Cole's personal quest.

Cole's personal quest and the contrast between Varric and Solas's views in it, in turn, also really furthers my appreciation of Solas's arc in Veilguard.

I'm partway through Noah Caldwell-Gervais' A Thorough Look at Dragon Age, a quote from the video:

"I love the idea that spirits have true, immutable natures. That the way they survive such a chaotic flux of improbabilities, is by being inflexibly true to themselves. It is the material world that is full of hypocrisy and contradiction by comparison. By siding with the world of spirits, Solas is admitting, essentially, that the human world is too hard for him. He is weary of everything that makes it so complicated and so disappointing. It would be easier to go back to how things used to be."

To me that last line sounds like one of the 'easy lies' Solas tells himself, but this did get me thinking.

Even before the Veil, Solas saw so many spirits corrupted after taking on a body. Becoming mortal (killable) and unchanging brings with it not only regret, but a very complex and foreign regret for somebody that used to be formless in an unfixed world.

From the DA wiki, a summary as I can't look up the conversation word for word right now:

Nevertheless, it is not unheard of for spirits to evolve and become more "human" by coming to terms with grief, heal from being emotionally hurt, and thus be able to learn from what they endured. By coming to terms with grief, a spirit is able to grow as a person and not "wash clean" like a spirit.

The way Varric continues to believe in Solas's ability to change despite his wrongdoings is something you can take on yourself as Rook, whether that's because you sympathise with Solas or because you want to honour Varric's wishes.

Varric says Cole needs to work through his emotions, Solas replies that a spirit doesn't work through emotions, it embodies them. Then Varric says:

"But he isn't a spirit, is he? He made himself human, and humans change. They get hurt, and they heal."

That's just like how Varric approaches Solas. Varric knows Solas is an immortal ancient elf, but he doesn't know that Solas was a spirit once. Even if he did, this line indicates that it wouldn't change how Varric would have approached him. Solas became 'human' by taking on a body, just like Cole did.

Solas admits to Cole: "I am not a spirit, and sometimes it is hard to remember such simple truths." but when you consider that spirits don't die in the traditional sense, this truth doesn't really sound all that simple.

Solas's biggest fear, dying alone, is something inconceivable to a spirit, and it's such a human fear.

Varric (or Rook's memory of Varric) tells Rook: "Because you always chose the hard truth over the easy lie. Solas, on the other hand..." which further drives the point home: Solas exists in a state of utter denial about how human he is.

Solas being in favour of Cole remaining a spirit reflects Solas's own regret of taking on a body, and fear for Cole's life in what's to come if Solas succeeds, it would also harm the world as spirits of compassion are already so few and far between. Yet Solas being in favour of Cole remaining a spirit may serve an additional purpose: one of denial.

If Cole can exist in this world and remain a spirit, then Solas can conveniently forget that he no longer is one himself. If Cole becomes more human, longer lifespan aside, how different is Solas really from others who are 'human', too?

When Rook asks Solas to atone for what he's done, Rook effectively asks him to also come to terms with his grief and take the time to heal from being emotionally hurt so finally he can learn from what he has endured.

Just like that you're extending the same opportunity to Solas, that Varric did to Cole: the opportunity to become more human.

I love Varric's view that yeah sure, Solas has all these extremely complicated reasons for doing what he did, but at the end of the day he can't bear to face the pain he is in. He's just as human as the rest of us, which means he can learn from his mistakes and that maybe some day, he can heal.

There's plenty to say about how Veilguard handled Solas's motivations for tearing down the Veil, how he's characterised, etc. but personally I'm a sucker for this kind of framing of his story.

It really resonates with me. Sometimes, you don't need complicated solutions to your problems. You don't need to deep dive into why you are the way you are, or why you do the things you do. You just need to share why you're hurting so you can get a hug, a comforting hand on your shoulder, and some much needed words of reassurance.

Every Solas deserves a Varric in their life.

[lore-ren-theories]

Until the very last moment, Solas stands tall in front of Mythal. Between them exists a shared understanding, seeing and being wholly seen. He is meant to be the personification of her virtues and he so intimately knows her regrets, for they are his own.

His servitude hanging by a thread, he is held upright only by the chains of his wrongdoings. With great shame he laments the things he has done in her name. By releasing him, she lets go of that thread, she lets go of him, she remembers how to embody mercy and halves his burden.

The Inquisitor kneels in front of him, but not in terror. Solas clutches his chest. He knows what he must do, only he can face his greatest fear. But this time, it is not an offering. This time, he does it for himself. This time, he is free.

How does one serve a god?

For the poor souls still in thrall to the Evanuris, that question has been answered for them. Service is no longer willingly given: it must be wrested, and it must entertain.

Mythal called her people together and offered this warning: "Shall you kneel in terror, work mindlessly, parrot my virtues, and think it the greatest of compliments to me? Do not merely follow the wise. Seek the wisdom they sought."

How, then, does one serve a god who scorns both servility and unexamined divinity?

The answer is in the trials they set for their chosen. We must embody their virtues, and know their regrets. There is no greater offering than to understand.

[lore-ren-theories]

Scrapped Executors mementos

In the DA:V script there's an area of scrapped content surrounding the Executors. There's conversations between Rook and the Executors from a series of scrapped fights.

Another section of the game script has these seemingly random lines in there:

In a video Ghil Dirthalen dubbed this "the poem of the executors" . I couldn't find any references to these lines in other areas of the game, but the way they're formatted is very similar to mementos and Item Descriptions.

I manually put the titles and bodies into categories (executors, city, storm, etc) and tried to match them to the best of my ability. Keep in mind this isn't canon because it's scrapped content. Results below the cut!

Quest of the Executors

We are across the sea, but the storm comes. We will play our part.

Cry of the Executors

We become as we are from what we will be, before we were across the sea.

Reveal of the Executors

Loose upon the sea they have created. We can guide these waves.

Service of the Executors

We are still too far across the sea of potential. More viewpoints, more vantage.

Tears of the Executors

The storm is their fault and their end. We will serve the unification.

Freedom of the Executors

Ages since war, division, the sea. Rage leaves no one left to create loss.

Eyes of the Executors

We cannot see you, but we use your choice to craft ourselves, our way back.

Pain of the Executors

This was decided for us long ago. The loss that begins the storm will happen.

Sublimation of the Executors

Are we up to this task? This path that leads back? The storm will decide.

The Hero

There is a hand behind the waves. Your hand. You bring your own storm.

The Family

They made no movement. What they saw is lost in the noise of the sea.

The Crime

They breathe our dust and dare exhale. Every choice offends, every wave upon the sea.

The Chose

Their actions start more than they end. The storm can feed.

The Vermin

They yearn while fearing that looking is a sin, mistake warning as the threat.

The Storycrafter

They cause one storm with the end of many others. The waves become as one.

The Promise

They sense the absence, but need portent to explain. Useful.

The Insult

They came after, or before and beneath notice. They think power is a word.

The Empty City

Witness how fractured their action. Their many ends divide our beginnings.

The Tethered City

The storm has reached it. It will gain speed, momentum, hunger.

The Untethered City

The sea grows ever deeper, the slaughter before the lamb.

The Black City

Made by enemies of one, belief of another, the caged gods of yet another.

The Potential City

More actions. Our hubris aside, the storm calls from across the sea.

The Shifting City

The skies are clear, the sea is finally still. The morning shall be red.

The Drifting City

Decisions within and without. What happens next will decide what happens before.

The Signaling City

The first of this age to be so much. We see the way forward and back.

The Sailing City

These paths are so old, they walk the same direction and believe they are first.

The Missing City

Grounded yet touches a wounded sky. The oldest walls have cracks to the true age.

The Demanding Storm

It feeds and demands to be fed so it may feed and demand to be fed.

The Calming Storm

It is calm watching it consume. If it had a will, would this serve it?

The Enviable Storm

Turn. Their grasp loosens even as it is more desperate.

The Devouring Storm

So many threads tying hands. It clouds our path, forward and back.

The Ever-Ending Storm

Endings are a more ordered start. Ending it all would allow starting it all.

The Singular Storm

Desperate dreams nudge and shift. A simple thing to guide them, and it.

The Peaceful Storm

The winds ebb and flow. Peace would mean stopping the sea, not the storm.

The Coming Storm

It comes across the sea. It will return, and it will feed.

The Eye of the Storm

It drifts without prisoners. Free for the taking, for commanding.

The Inevitable Storm

It is almost here. It is almost in the eye. It is almost hungry.

The First Wall

This disorder of choice brings a storm. Too many divisions for the resources at hand.

The Second Wall

Potential splinters cause a storm. We see it coming, we see us sending it.

The Third Wall

Contact with the deciders. Their splinters sting. Especially across the sea.

The Fourth Wall

Each "could be" is a splinter beneath the skin of unity. Define choice, splinter, skin.

The Fifth Wall

When all is spent, all is peace, returning to what will be known.

The War Remembered

There are other actors, other seas. They contribute, knowing or not.

The War Living

She was glorious. So were we. Unfortunately, true power cannot abide claims of the same.

The War Stragglers

She had weapons. We must assume. No trace remains, save the craters in existence.

The War Dead

There was something before the wave she set in motion, lost in all others.

The War Forgotten

There was a time before the sea. Or was there? Both can be undone again.

Almost our Beginning

Find the storm, the path, the end, the start. The order shifts, as orders do.

Almost their End

Those before will always be before. We breathe their dust, those who breathe.

The Known Unknown

The Highest Dragon

[lore-ren-theories]

The murals from Trespasser and Veilguard are still pretty consistent in Veilguard in terms of how Solas depicts specific people and concepts. I first noticed this after seeing this great post!

Creation of the Veil

The blight is depicted having 14 feathers/eyes(?) around it in the Trespasser mural, and if has 14 tendrils in Veilguard

In the Veilguard regret, the placement of the columns that are coming out of the circle, with Solas's body in the middle, looks like a callback to the way these are laid out in the Trespasser mural

There are seven Evanuris that power the Veil so obviously they're gonna be present in both images, but still it's neat how it's been inverted, bringing them closer to the blight.

Solas is in a very similar pose in both the Trespasser and Veilguard depiction of this event. While he isn't holding anything, the big central circle is similar in colour in both.

Elgar'Nan

These two images depict separate events, but chronologically may not be that far apart.

ELGAR'NAN IS THE SAME IN BOTH IMAGES. look at his stupid little pose!!! I love that. He's even got his little hand out the same way.

It's the circle with the star in it but it's been depleted? And there's light coming from above but it isn't going into the opening that's on the circle.

Ok this one's just for fun but Elgar'Nan has similar swirly bits around him. And the trees and light beams are placed in such a way that the they're not too dissimilar from the background in the Trespasser mural.

Do the orbs with a the star inside represent the type of magic that was used, or what these orbs were charged with—Green for Fade magic, gold for Celestial? Over the years I've seen many suggestions that they're Titan hearts that were fashioned into foci. Maybe this artifact that produces cheese is one?

The unfinished mural of Solas killing Flemythal and the corresponding trespasser regret probably also have similarities in the shapes/composition, but checking that required some cutting and rotating that I couldn't do as easily on my phone.

Anyway lemme know if you've noticed any more parallels!

[lore-ren-theories]

Rewrite of my interpretation of Elgar'nan: God of Vengeance and Mythal: The Great Protector because I changed my mind about it. This goes into Titans, tranquility, and Elgar'nan and Mythal's connection to the sun and the moon. Spoilers for Veilguard and other DA media. This will be a long one!

To start, this post assumes you have watched Solas's regrets and know what's in the DAV artbook! If not, this video summarises it things nicely :)

Codex entry #1: Elgar'nan: God of Vengeance

This codex starts in the time spirits had begun to create bodies for themselves out of Lyrium. It describes how Elgar'nan was the First of the Firstborn, and where he was born.

Long ago, when time itself was young, the only things in existence were the sun and the land. The sun, curious about the land, bowed his head close to her body, and Elgar'nan was born in the place where they touched.

This whole codex entry is part of the cosmogony of Thedas and like other religion in Thedas, probably isn't meant to be taken literally. That being said, we know enough about several elements mentioned in it to speculate what the different elements in it may represent, so that's what I'll be doing here.

The Sun:

The Helm of Solar is said to have contained the memory of an enraged sun that burned people's minds.

The Elven Star Charts note in Veilguard states the following: "Ancient elves drew from the magic of the celestial spheres, and wove their greatest enchantments beneath a darkened sun. A full eclispe approaches, which is an auspicious portent for our risen gods. —Philia"

The lines of the Fall of the Protector Revenant at The Gate of Pale Reflection from Veilguard: "A wisp of what was. An unjust end. Vengeance, unavenged. The sun snuffed out." (this may just be a reference to Mythal according to the game files)

The Dragon Age Vinyl cover and its variant show a dragon behind a floating (golden?) city, in front of something like an eclipse and a pale reflection of a sun.

Yavana tells Alistair that his heart beats with the old blood and that it "Sings of a time when dragons ruled the skies. A time before the veil, before the mysteries were forgotten." if Thedas was stuck in a perpetual day at this point, it wouldn't be far off to say that the sun ruled the skies.

Emmrich makes a bunch of interesting references to the stars in Veilguard - as a lich he mentions he hadn't expected the stars to whisper across the firmament, he also mentions that the eclipse is forcing alignment between the stars and powerful currents in the Fade.

The Dalish and Elvhen funerary rights differ in some of the wording in them: where the Dalish offer "a third to the sky, to share your story with the sun and the moon", the ancient elves granted a third "to the stars, to speak your life to the firmament".

The constellation Solium, thought to represent both the Sun and the Moon, as well as Elgar'nan.

The Land:

In one of Solas' regrets, Solas references the earth shaking as the first elves make their bodies.

The shaking of the earth is also mentioned in the Song to Elgar'nan codex entry

The Avvar god Korth is said to have grown cruel after sealing his heart away inside a golden cask that around which he raised the Frostback Mountains. He sent avalanches and earthquakes to torment the tribes of men.

In A Test of Faith, Havard's riddle: "The bones of the world stretch towards the sky's embrace. Veiled in white, like a bride greeting her groom. Of what do I speak?" The answer is 'the mountains'.

This Avvar image looks a lot like a Titan going mad, note the 'third eye' on its forehead, which in turn looks similar to the depiction of the constellation Fulmenos:

In short: there are some possible links between ancient elves, the Sun, the Land, mountains, and Avvar myths.

I would like to try to link this to the Old Elven Writing codex entry and the imagery of overlapping spheres - "For one moment there is a vivid image of two overlapping spheres; unknown flowers bloom inside their centers. Then it fades"

Spheres are also mentioned in other codex entries:

In the Emergent Compendium: Two shadowed spheres among stars subtitled "An eclipse as Fen'Harel stirred".

In Vir Dirthara: Raising the Sonallium there is another reference to a sphere, and magic being channeled into it: "In the distance, haloed by a blizzard of light, thousands of elves are maintaining an elaborate magical ritual that pulls raw essence from the Fade, funneled into a sphere in the air."

Veilfire Runes in the Deep Roads also mention a sphere, a firey one at that: "For a moment, the scent of blood fills the air, and there is a vivid image of green vines growing and enveloping a sphere of fire."

While depicting spheres rather than mentioning them, this Trespasser mural: "The runes say the Evanuris fought the Titans. They mined their bodies for lyrium and... something else. It's not clear."

This is a bit of a reach because ok people draw spheres and circles, but there's material related to Veilguard (from the codex, marketing, and the collector's edition artbook) with overlapping circles in them.

The sun and the land loved Elgar'nan greatly, for he was beautiful and clever. As a gift to Elgar'nan, the land brought forth great birds and beasts of sky and forest, and all manner of wonderful green things. Elgar'nan loved his mother's gifts and praised them highly and walked amongst them often.

The next part of the tale seems to describe how Elgar'nan observed the Titans and how when they are happy and tended to by the dwarves, they 'bloom' and either produce or attract animals, this is referenced to some extent in Vir Dirthara: A Flowering Imago. As we know Elgar'nan to be rather cruel, I wouldn't be surprised if walking among them meant he hunted them as he hunted the titans.

The sun, looking down upon the fruitful land, saw the joy that Elgar'nan took in her works and grew jealous. Out of spite, he shone his face full upon all the creatures the earth had created, and burned them all to ashes.

This is where things start going sideways for Elgar'nan, or I guess the Evanuris in general. There is a part of the Canticle of Threnodies in the Chant that I don't want to get into in detail right now, but I believe it outlines some things the Evanuris did in what Ghilan'nain calls the 'First Age of the Gods', a time of conquest.

The children of the Maker gathered Before his golden throne And sang hymns of praise unending. But their songs Were the songs of the cobblestones. They shone with the golden light Reflected from the Maker's throne. They held forth the banners That flew on their own.

From this, personally I can make out three separate things:

The Evanuris sang hymns of praise unending, but their songs were the songs of cobblestones - This means that they made bodies out of Lyrium

They shone with the golden light reflected from the Maker's throne - This I am unsure about, I have several guesses: the Evanuris built structures that were ripoffs from things they saw elsewhere, all of the Evanuris's knowledge and magic stolen from others, or the Evanuris looked like they were people capable of reflection (like mortals are with souls) but in reality are still nothing but spirits that can only reflect things that already exist.

They held forth the banners that flew on their own. - Earlier these are also referred to as banners which flew without wind. I figured this is either a reference to the Evanuris enslaving dragons, or how you could say that a spirit without a body back in the day sort of looks like a banner.

Plenty of transgressions that could make the Sun angry. Not trying to imply that the Sun is the maker here, this could simply be a vague memory of what happened to anger it. Back to Elgar'nan's codex.

The land cracked and split from bitterness and pain, and cried salt tears for the loss of all she had wrought. The pool of tears cried for the land became the ocean, and the cracks in her body the first rivers and streams.

This part of the tale specifically mentions the ocean, but ocean seems to be a word that is misremembered and mistranslated a lot. In Taash's quests, the Qunari mention an ocean where spirits mention the sea. In ancient elven funeral rites, a third is given to the sea to share your story with the heart of the world. The mournwatch speak of the dreaming sea, there are those from across the sea. It's hard to tell here if the ocean is meant to be the sea, referring to something like the Fade, or a literal ocean.

Here's three of my personal interpretations of the way the Sun killed all the creatures the Land had created:

The Sun is an angered Titan, spewing lava like in the artbook. The lava killed many elves that mined lyrium inside the Titans. The earthquakes the Titans caused cracked the land and the lava then liquefied lyrium, causing it to flow like rivers. The Sun could be a representation of the Titan's Spirit in a way. Perhaps one of the two overlapping spheres? Or the 'other thing' the Evanuris mined, aside from Lyrium.

The Sun is a dragon. I am unsure if that means it was a protector of some sort or not. If friendly with the Titans, perhaps it slept in somewhere in or near it. With the Titan angered, it woke up and decided to attack both the Titan and the elves, killing all life in or near it. The Titans could still crack the land through earthquakes, and dragon blood could be what melted lyrium.

The Sun is one of the things mined by the elves. Perhaps one of the spheres. Sylaise, as the hearthkeeper, was in charge of funneling magic out of this sphere, as per Vir Dirthara: Raising the Sonallium and magic and building elements were funnelled out of it to build Arlathan. They managed to expend one of these orbs and as a result, the Titan and all it had created died, and the land became infertile.

We don't know how Lyrium was refined, dragon flame could possibly play a part in this. Salt is also used to kill plants and melt ice and all kinds of things, so perhaps this means that the first deserts came to be as a result of this.

Either way it seems unlikely to me that the Titans actually created the sea, lakes, and rivers as a result of this battle. In the creaton story in the DAV artbook, there's already lakes. Unless this is about some part of the fade like the Emerald Waters in the chant, perhaps the Titans caused the first deaths and so the Void came to be.

Elgar'nan was furious at what his father had done and vowed vengeance. He lifted himself into the sky and wrestled the sun, determined to defeat him. They fought for an eternity, and eventually the sun grew weak, while Elgar'nan's rage was unabated.

I really wonder if this is what the Vinyl cover depicts. Elgar'nan, on top of a mountain, about to face off against a gigantic dragon.

Alternatively, this could mean that Elgar'nan and his armies fought a Titan until it eventually succumbed. He has these little Lyrium fragments on his collar from every Titan he defeated according to the Artbook.

I'm not sure what went down here, but Elgar'nan found a way to defeat the moon, or perhaps exhaust its magic somehow?

Eventually Elgar'nan threw the sun down from the sky and buried him in a deep abyss created by the land's sorrow. With the sun gone, the world was covered in shadow, and all that remained in the sky were the reminders of Elgar'nan's battle with his father—drops of the sun's lifeblood, which twinkled and shimmered in the darkness.

The Abyss reminds me of the words "Here lies the Abyss, the Well of all Souls" from the chant. I really wonder if an abyss created by the land's sorrow could mean that the Evanuris's actions caused the first deaths in Thedas. Alternatively, I wonder if the Abyss could be something like the Wellspring we find in the Descent DLC, perhaps it was filled with life in the past, the Deep Roads could have been too, but now they are mostly empty and devoid of life.

We've seen dragons trapped underneath the earth, so that wouldn't be unprecedented either.

The drops of the sun's lifeblood sound like they may be the stars. Either way, Elgar'nan started an age of darkness.

Codex Entry #2: Mythal: The Great Protector

Elgar'nan had defeated his father, the sun, and all was covered in darkness. Pleased with himself, Elgar'nan sought to console his mother, the earth, by replacing all that the sun had destroyed. But the earth knew that without the sun, nothing could grow. She whispered to Elgar'nan this truth, and pleaded with him to release his father, but Elgar'nan's pride was great, and his vengeance was terrible, and he refused.

So here Elgar'nan, or the Evanuris, find themselves in a predicament: they defeated the Sun, be it a Titan or a Dragon, and the world has gone dark.

This could be a representation of a dead Titan, perhaps it still stood as a mountain (the earth/Land side of it) but as it was no longer alive, the Evanuris could no longer mine it for Lyrium.

The earth that whispers here, I wonder if it could be someone like The Healer, that was magically struck from all the Evanuris' records. We also know Solas to be a spirit speaker, so it's also possible this was Elgar'nan being angry with Solas for telling him to stop killing, or to consult spirits.

It was at this moment that Mythal walked out of the sea of the earth's tears and onto the land. She placed her hand on Elgar'nan's brow, and at her touch he grew calm and knew that his anger had led him astray. Humbled, Elgar'nan went to the place where the sun was buried and spoke to him. Elgar'nan said he would release the sun if the sun promised to be gentle and to return to the earth each night. The sun, feeling remorse at what he had done, agreed.

This is a big part of why I believe the sea of the land's tears refers to either Lyrium, or the Fade. That imagery of placing her hand on Elgar'nan's brow... it sounds very familiar now that we've seen what's in the DAV artbook:

To me it sounds like this part of Mythal's tale depicts that she found the secret to making the Titans tranquil. Stepping out of the Sea of the Earth's Tears could mean that she returned with the Lyrium Dagger.

In addition to this, with all the connections between the Earth, the Land, and the Stone - Tearstone Island could be the place where she did this. It's also where the Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain went to create their own dagger during an eclipse.

It's also possible that the Evanuris fought a Titan until an eclipse just happened to come along, they noticed it made their magic more powerful, and so they set out to find a way to replace the moon with their own creation - more on that in a bit though.

I doubt Mythal truly made Elgar'nan tranquil, I can't imagine that going down well. We do know that Dirthamen and Falon'Din were split into two however, so perhaps that's what happened here?

At this point Elgar'nan speaks to the Sun and this somehow brings about day and night. I really don't buy this part, but do want to point out that in the game files there are references to Elgar'nan blighting the Moon. Here is one of them:

My best guess is that this is when the Evanuris first make a Titan tranquil.

And so the sun rose again in the sky, and shone his golden light upon the earth. Elgar'nan and Mythal, with the help of the earth and the sun, brought back to life all the wondrous things that the sun had destroyed, and they grew and thrived. And that night, when the sun had gone to sleep, Mythal gathered the glowing earth around his bed, and formed it into a sphere to be placed in the sky, a pale reflection of the sun's true glory.

So the eclipse ended, and the Evanuris were free to create as many bodies as they wanted from the Titans that were now made tranquil.

Interestingly, Mythal gathers the glowing earth around the Sun's bed and raises a sphere into the sky here, a pale reflection of the sun's true glory.

Something similar is also found in Avvar myths: the Lady of the Skies raised Belenas from the earth into her realm. It could mean nothing, but her heraldry might give us an idea of what might rest inside the moon:

Whether that could be the skeleton of a dragon or some type of fire bird, like a phoenix, beats me. Perhaps more likely to be the latter because of the tail.

Whatever it is, Elgar'nan was able to make one of the moons move, and in cut content, blight it. This being cut content may be referenced in the memento Moon Gems, though the moon that is moved doesn't seem to be Satina (the smaller moon).

What is interesting is that during the eclipse, the moon appears like a normal moon (you can see some of its craters) during the eclipse when you're viewing it from Thedas, but in the Lighthouse it looks like one big black hole.

Conclusion

Honestly, looking into this perhaps raises more questions than it answers, but I think it's interesting all the same because it drives home shows just how cruel the Evanuris were.

They made the Titans tranquil in order to mine them faster and build more, they imprisoned their fear and their rage and abused it, they enslaved dragons to become more powerful and live longer as well.

What they did to the Titans is inexcusable, and they did all of this before the Blight drove them even more mad and even more cruel, which they saw as an opportunity to gain even more power and control.

The lore in Dragon Age so far hasn't even truly scratched the surface when it comes to all the terrible things they have done, and nobody knows what the full consequences of their actions are.

[lore-ren-theories]

A while back I wrote a post on confirmation in Veilguard regarding what the Veil is, focused on the line from Emmrich linked in this video:

"The things it's opened my senses to are -oh. Of course. The magic playing around you. It's a perfect counterpoint to the Veil. An inverse signature of your creation."

And the codex entry Magic Dampener Notes where Bellara theorises about how the Lighthouse is protected from the raw magic of the Fade:

-Dampener creates a counter-resonance to the Fade. That's why it's safe to live here. No one's been torn apart yet (that I know of). -But the counter-resonance of the dampener is tuned to this specific part of the Fade. The more you move away from this spot, the less effective it would be. -There's a theory that every mage has a unique resonance—the way they touch magic is just a little bit different. -Theoretically, could you tune a dampener to a person's resonance instead? Make it so they couldn't use magic? -Would be hard to figure out someone's specific resonance. Would need examples of their magic. -Need third volume of Harris's Collected Essays. Will ask the professor if he has it.

I thought this was really cool and figured that the Veil may be a phenomenon localised to Thedas. I didn't really expect to also find a note on what the Fade is, albeit not in-game.

Prior to Solas creating the Veil, it seems that the Fade didn't exist because the Fade and the Waking World were one. Solas says: "Had I not created the Veil, the Evanuris would have destroyed the entire world."

We don't know what the world looked like before the Veil when waking and dreaming were one, but that's the world he wished to save. Solas's people are the ancient elves, but also spirits. So why did he create the Veil? (ETA: I know this doesn't reaalllly make sense because Mythal and Solas discuss being 'of the Fade' but I guess perhaps that means they were creatures of the Sky? Either way the Fade would have been different back then)

Locking the Blight and Evanuris in the Black City protects both those with physical bodies as well as spirits, because the Blight and the Evanuris are a direct threat to them. They enslave, corrupt, and abuse them.

Creating the Veil however, is a little bit more confusing. Did Solas intend to separate dream and reality from each other? Did he mean to separate magical beings from the world, and did he impose a barrier that only allowed more enlightened spirits like Cole to cross that barrier?

Perhaps this isn't canon or lacks context, but here is an excerpt from the DAV artbook:

"The Fade is the scrap heap Solas created when he made the wall of the Veil and threw all the magic in Thedas over it. It is inhabited by magical creatures, spirits, and demons. It is shaped by the dreams of people in Thedas. Some locations in the Fade seem coherent, resembling places from the other side of the Veil. Others are chaotic abstractions."

This really turned my thinking around. Before reading this, I had assumed that Thedas is the only part of the world with the Veil in place. Maybe it's safer to say that Thedas is the only part of the world with the Fade while the world is still one everywhere else?

That line of thought could turn into some of the things Spite writes down:

Drawn below is a decagonal diagram of perfectly even, intersecting geometric lines. Additional lines extend past the central diagram and reach the edges of the page. there is an INFINITE there is a SHELTER there is a STORM outside the center

Spite also writes about a peace (piece?) cut from the all, golden stranded weaves, a cage to keep them out, and him in. He also refers to a time when one was infinity.

Maybe the devouring storm is linked to all of this somehow. I have more thoughts on it but will have to properly write them down some other day.

[lore-ren-theories]

This concept has the text

"An artist's pitch for a potential end-game. Solas has raised the titan upon which the city of Minrathous had been built, in order to use its strength to tear open the veil."

Sooo i'm pretty sure the blighted roots we're seeing in Minrathous in the last mission are a Titan's then?

This item seems to be scrapped, but from the Paragon's Metal Beard: "This venerable helm is the finely crafted visage of a dwarven man, proud as the mountains and old as their roots."

It also has a connection with this codex entry from inquisition and the line "For a moment, the scent of blood fills the air, and there is a vivid image of green vines growing and enveloping a sphere of fire." After Mythal has slain a Titan.

And I think it may be mentioned elsewhere in the game but I couldn't find it anymore, lemme know if you can!

[lore-ren-theories]

It seems like Fall of the Protector revenant at the Gate of Pale Reflections may represent the Sun from Elgar'nan and Mythal's codex!

The Revenant:

Location: Gate of Pale Reflections

Voice lines: A wisp of what was. An unjust end. Vengeance, unavenged. The sun snuffed out.

Magic: ice magic

Elgar'nan and Mythal's codex entries:

"And that night, when the sun had gone to sleep, Mythal gathered the glowing earth around his bed, and formed it into a sphere to be placed in the sky, a pale reflection of the sun's true glory." - The Tale of Mythal's Touch

"Elgar'nan was furious at what his father had done and vowed vengeance. He lifted himself into the sky and wrestled the sun, determined to defeat him. They fought for an eternity, and eventually the sun grew weak, while Elgar'nan's rage was unabated." - The Tale of Elgar'nan and the Sun, the Sun was defeated and did not get its vengeance

From Threnodies, after the Veil is created, the Maker decrees opposition in all things: For earth, sky / For winter, summer / For darkness, Light / By My Will alone is Balance sundered / And the world given new life.

Additional info on the sun and the moon:

Elgar'nan's Helm of Solar contained the memory of an enraged sun.

There are references in the game script (unused lines) on Elgar'nan blighting the moon, implying it's a living thing

This may be about Satina, as the Moon Gems memento seems to imply there was cut content related to the moon: Fate-bound gems said to have rained down from a waning Satina, the smaller moon. Facets, cut by dying masters, each reflect a path not taken.

The constellation Solium is believed by many to have been a depiction of both the sun and the moon at once.

Eluvian can transport people to something that looks like the Deep Roads, but isn't? When the sun is acting 'funny' - Note: Too Deep

Information on ancient elven magic:

From a Veilguard note: Ancient elves drew from the magic of the celestial spheres, and wove their greatest enchantments beneath a darkened sun. A full eclispe approaches, which is an auspicious portent for our risen gods.

Spheres show up a bunch in ancient elven codex entries - [1], [2], [3]

Ancient elven magic feels almost 'cold', an internal sensation rather than an external one, according to Bellara in banter with Emmrich

All of this talk about something with a warm glow (like the Sun), but is actually cold (like the revenant's magic) reminds me of the Mystery Substance mentioned in Anaris's codex entries.

[lore-ren-theories]

D:AV confirms what the veil is

ahhhhhh!! Was watching FluffyNinjaLlama's Solas & Companions Banter video and the last one with Emmrich along with a codex confirms what the Veil is - a counter-resonance of Solas's magic signature, and it basically confirms that the Veil is probably the strongest in Thedas.

Explanation:

The codex entry: Magic Dampener Notes goes into the dampener around the Lighthouse that protects it from the raw magic of the fade:

"Initial notes on the dampener's operation:

-Dampener creates a counter-resonance to the Fade. That's why it's safe to live here. No one's been torn apart yet (that I know of).

-But the counter-resonance of the dampener is tuned to this specific part of the Fade. The more you move away from this spot, the less effective it would be.

-There's a theory that every mage has a unique resonance—the way they touch magic is just a little bit different.

-Theoretically, could you tune a dampener to a person's resonance instead? Make it so they couldn't use magic?

-Would be hard to figure out someone's specific resonance. Would need examples of their magic.

-Need third volume of Harris's Collected Essays. Will ask the professor if he has it.

Bellara"

Then lich Emmrich's line is as follows:

Emmrich: "The things it's opened my senses to are—oh. Of course. The magic playing around you. It's a perfect counterpoint to the Veil. An inverse signature of your creation."

So that means that Solas created the Veil based on his own magical signature, which is probably similar to the Evanuris' and possibly also the dwarves because the ancient elves' bodies were also made out of Lyrium right?

Then this line "But the counter-resonance of the dampener is tuned to this specific part of the Fade. The more you move away from this spot, the less effective it would be." imo all but confirms that the Veil is the strongest in Thedas. This could explain why the Qunari have forgotten so much of their history, and the dwarves from the west go to Thedas to trade for Lyrium.

This may also tie into Spite's musings:

"Drawn below is a decagonal diagram of perfectly even, intersecting geometric lines. Additional lines extend past the central diagram and reach the edges of the page.

there is an INFINITE there is a SHELTER there is a STORM outside the center"

If the infinite is the Fade, and Thedas is the shelter, then it makes sense that the Storm would happening outside of Thedas, which makes this an even clearer link to the Devouring Storm.

Solas's Orb of Destruction and the Anchor probably provide a hint as to what it is he sealed off from Thedas, I'm guessing it's specifically the power to turn dreams into reality that's somehow linked to the Titans (the spheres mentioned in some old codex entries with what seems like different worlds inside of them) but as not all magic is the same as the magic the ancient elves used, I'm really curious to see how the veil has affected other magic and what this will mean for Thedas in the future!