sylantis

[sylantis]

No. 1 - the War of the Banners flashback from for love is strong as death

They stood upon a shelf carved into the rock, with rough hewn walls and ceiling surrounding them on four sides, including the rock face from which they had just emerged. But the floor underfoot was inset with dizzying patterns of mosaic tile, smoothed with traffic over time but with colors undimmed. Ahead, an arcade towered before them, where a succession of six majestic columns had been carved to give the impression they were holding the ceiling aloft. Beyond the arcade, a narrow bridge crossed a deep ravine, punctuated at regular intervals along its length with plinths, upon which sat marble sculptures, carved (Agnes could only assume) to glorify the features of Van Markham patriarchs by now long dead.

And—across the bridge—there it sat: creamy ivory, as polished bone; run through with spokes of blade-sharp buttresses; the many rings of its fortifications surrounding one central tower that loomed so high into the ether above them, Agnes had to crane her neck to see the top of it; that venerated and august monument that so few mortals had laid eyes upon, that the late Kyna Thalberg had prepared hundreds of years ago for the Van Markham family: The Ossified Bastion of the Valorous Dead.

There was not so much as a single skeleton outside its walls to guard its gate or its bridge. Yet according to Emmrich, this was the Baron’s stronghold—it did not make any sense that it should be left so vulnerable.

“Lieutenant, something’s not right.”

Watcher Braam’s voice carried an anxious pitch to it; Agnes had little patience to soothe her, staring as she was at the puzzle in front of her, across the ravine. “Indeed,” she replied, distracted. “It is as silent as the grave here—which ordinarily would be reassuring, but after all the trouble the Baron has been causing the last few weeks, I find it somewhat suspect.”

“No, that isn’t it,” Watcher Braam urged, her voice rising to something akin to a whine. “I mean, something’s really not right. Didn’t anyone else feel that? Just after we came through that crack in the rocks?”

Agnes’ ears had popped, and she’d felt an odd itching at the base of her skull… but she was not as sensitive to the Necropolis nor the magic within it as some of the other, more accomplished necromancers, like Watcher Braam. Agnes hadn’t thought anything of it. “What did you feel?”

Liesbeth Braam looked green in the face. “I think we moved.”

Agnes heard the indrawn breaths around her, saw the body language of everyone in the group go rigid with terror all at once. It was not possible, and all of them knew it, including Liesbeth—when the Necropolis was on the verge of rearranging its architecture, there were often signs, ways to prepare. But Agnes had come to know Liesbeth better from working closely with her in their pursuit of Baron Van Markham—Liesbeth did not strike Agnes as the kind of person who would jump to such a wild conclusion out of fear, nor would she say something quite so provocative if she hadn’t been fairly confident it was true.

Agnes turned to Rolf. “Magnusson, take Heulte with you and check the path behind us.” As they left, Agnes organized the remaining Watchers into groups, and—out of an abundance of caution—had them shelter themselves against the pillars at the edge of the rock shelf, where they would be obscured by any spectral eyes that might peer out of the narrow windows of the Bastion beyond. As they lay in wait for Rolf’s return, Agnes kept her eyes trained on the Bastion for any sign at all of activity, of movement, of what might lay inside, but it was of little use; the Bastion kept its secrets.

And Rolf Magnusson and Finnegan Heulte returned to the group with more bad news. “No good,” Rolf told them, bluntly. “There is no path.”

“No path?” Agnes repeated, trying to ignore both the rising chorus of profanity ringing out in her head and the uneasy whispers and murmurs of the group of Watchers around her. “But that does not make sense—surely there should still be some path?” 

For even if impossible had happened, and the Grand Necropolis had shifted its variable halls, and the path did not lead them back the way they had come, through the Crystalline Catacombs, it should surely lead some where— to some other part of the Necropolis. (How they would then navigate the newly shuffled halls to resurface again in the Mourn Watch residence, Agnes could not say—but that was another problem entirely, best addressed after they addressed whatever was happening in the Ossified Bastion itself.) But then Watcher Braam spoke up quietly, beside Agnes, refuting that assumption with a chilling supposition:

“Not if we’ve been severed from the Grand Necropolis entirely.”

Then the whispers ceased utterly, and the group of Watchers fell silent—not only silent but still. This implication was so dreadful and terrible that for a moment none of them dared draw breath under the weight of it.

‘That is not possible,’ Agnes was desperate to say—but if all her expeditions down into the Necropolis’ lower levels with Emmrich had taught her anything, it was that there were perils in the Necropolis older and more powerful than even most Watchers understood; that the further into the hallowed halls of mourning one descended, so too did the likelihood increase that the Necropolis residents one encountered there would be less benign, and less benevolent. 

[read full fic]

—

I’m really proud of all the writing I did this year! So for the last ten days of 2024 I’m going to be reblogging my 10 favorite pieces that I wrote.

When I started putting this list together, I knew right away what my No. 1 was going to be. I think one of my favorite things about writing fan fiction is... metaphorically getting to come into a piece of media like I'm on a HGTV show, knock out all the walls, and make the house 2x bigger. I've spent so much time in the Necropolis the last six months, it just feels very real to me—it's one of my favorite places in Thedas. Maybe the favorite. And while there is plenty to be said about the writing in general in Veilguard, I really loved that there were just enough breadcrumbs between the MW faction origin, the King Markus reveal, and the rest of the world building for me to stitch this backstory together for Agnes.

Also like!!! Rolf again. 2025 is going to be a good year for Rolf. I'm going to make it up to him for everything I put him through with Agnes.

[sylantis]

No. 5 - when I am laid in earth

Part 1 of 4 | 3.9k wc Emmrich Volkarin x Rook, Bellara Lutare POV.  Post-Veilguard/Veilguard spoilers. 

They were burying Emmrich Volkarin, and Bellara Lutare was late. It was almost impossible to tell in the Grand Necropolis, without the angle of the sun to judge by. Or, like, any clocks to speak of. But Bellara knew it in her marrow. 

As usual, she’d managed to bungle things up fantastically. She’d been so determined to be at the ceremony on time, she’d actually emerged through the eluvian into the Grand Necropolis a half hour early— an accomplishment that had required her past self to leave her present self about three dozen reminders in the form of taped-up notes and enchantments across her laboratory, begging and beseeching her to leave at the appropriate time and not get too distracted by artifact she’d been working on the night before. It didn’t have anything to do with how much she cared about Emmrich. It was just that this particular artifact was the kind of puzzle she most loved—enchantments layered on enchantments, the kind that probably took entire centuries in the weaving—the spellwork was as delicate as lace, but strong as chainmail—and, well… Bellara knew she sometimes had a tendency to get carried away. But today wasn’t the day for that. 

Funny enough, the thing that ended up distracting Bellara was actually how worried she was—not about any artifact or experiment, but—about Rook.Bellara had been so eager to get to Rook’s side upon her arrival in the Necropolis that she’d waved off the help one of the young Mourn Watch initiates had offered her and descended the lift into the lower halls herself, making straight for the Vaults of the Beloved. Bellara was in her sixties now, and her memory was not what it used to be, but she was confident she knew where she was going. Emmrich had shown her his burial plot about two years before, when Bellara had come to visit him. Not long after he’d found out he was dying.

Unbeknownst to Bellara, however, the Grand Necropolis had reordered its variable halls since then. So even though Emmrich’s burial plot used to be two lefts and a right past the Vaults of the Beloved, it was now… well. Actually, Bellara had no clue. And by the time she realized to her complete dismay what had happened (remembered that the Necropolis did that, and that she wasn’t actually going insane) she was so hopelessly far from the lift she wasn’t sure she’d be able to find her way back. 

Not for the first time, and probably not for the last, Bellara was grateful the Crossroads had never been anywhere near as capricious.

[link to full piece]

--- I’m really proud of all the writing I did this year! So for the last ten days of 2024 I’m going to be reblogging my 10 favorite pieces that I wrote.

This idea made me so sad but it also kind of grabbed me in a chokehold and would not let me go until I wrote it. I have the rest of this outlined and it's going to be. So much. I really have to be in the right mood to write it though because it is just like dragging myself through a mud pit of grief. I also really enjoyed writing Bellara! She's going to feature prominently in one of the upcoming chapters of my longfic, so this was also a little bit of practice for writing her character.

[sylantis]

Oh Sylvia has more than made me eat my words! I have my quibbles with the game overall, but I was delighted by the writing around Nevarra and Emmrich (including both paths)!

At the risk of sounding 'uncool', I'll say that I'll be one of the disappointed people if the Emmrich is a skeleton theory does turn out to be true.

One of the things that Emmrich being a romance option has brought to the forefront for me is the dearth of older-looking romance options in existing major RPGs. Older romance options are either not depicted as looking old/are supernatural in some way (Solas) or relegated to being mostly a novelty or joke option (Fire Emblem). I find it sadly humorous that there is a clearer example of a skeleton romance in a major RPG (Fane) than a serious older romance. For a game series that holds authentic representation to be important, I would find it disappointing if the first time an older romance option was presented was in reality just another retread of a supernatural romance.

And as someone who went through Fane's romance, I mostly remember the route being treated as a novelty/joke option by most of the fandom (not helped by how the start of the romance is depicted). If these asides from the devs are indeed hinting at a skeleton romance, I find it concerning that it's already being played off as being humorous. There's always been for me a shade of mockery with how older romance options are presented. With Fane, at least it was clear what to expect. I would be annoyed to go through the game feeling like I'm going through a 'novelty' option without knowing that's what it was.

But the absolute worst part for me about the skeleton theory is that one of the unique aspects of Emmrich's character--his treatment of death--would for me be greatly diminished. An older man facing his mortality and impending inevitable death with kindness and helping others with the same process is something I haven't seen portrayed in media. It's poignant in its groundedness. A skeleton doing the same just does not hold the same resonance.

I remember a quote some time back stating that there would be no 'bear sex' equivalent in Veilguard. I would be on the side of seeing little difference between 'skeleton sex' and 'bear sex' in terms of how both will be treated--as mainly content meant to be humorous.

These are just my feelings on the matter, and of course reasonable people may have differing opinions. The execution is also important, and perhaps I'll come to change my opinion after playing the game even if the theory is true. But I wanted to air this out since it has been irking me since the beginning when the theory started to pop up.

[sylantis]

Not sure if this has been posted yet, but yet another glimpse into kid-Emmrich from a banter between Harding and Emmrich.

Me too, Harding. Me too.

(Everything in the dialogue about Emmrich as a kid melts my heart. And of course it would be his neighbor's pig, since his family was too poor for luxuries like pets.)

(screenshots taken from this video)

[sylantis]

Quick PSA for the Emmrich-mancers. In regards to the thing that gets revealed midway through his quest line about what he desires (you'll know what I'm talking about when you get to it), you don't have to worry too much about it if that isn't what you want.

This is coming from someone who wrote an overly long post talking about how I did not want it in the game. More detailed spoilers below the cut.

You can tell Emmrich to not become a lich, and it doesn't have any negative impact on the ending you get. And you get a very satisfying emotional moment as well.

[sylantis]

ghost rain

[sylantis]

At the risk of sounding 'uncool', I'll say that I'll be one of the disappointed people if the Emmrich is a skeleton theory does turn out to be true.

One of the things that Emmrich being a romance option has brought to the forefront for me is the dearth of older-looking romance options in existing major RPGs. Older romance options are either not depicted as looking old/are supernatural in some way (Solas) or relegated to being mostly a novelty or joke option (Fire Emblem). I find it sadly humorous that there is a clearer example of a skeleton romance in a major RPG (Fane) than a serious older romance. For a game series that holds authentic representation to be important, I would find it disappointing if the first time an older romance option was presented was in reality just another retread of a supernatural romance.

And as someone who went through Fane's romance, I mostly remember the route being treated as a novelty/joke option by most of the fandom (not helped by how the start of the romance is depicted). If these asides from the devs are indeed hinting at a skeleton romance, I find it concerning that it's already being played off as being humorous. There's always been for me a shade of mockery with how older romance options are presented. With Fane, at least it was clear what to expect. I would be annoyed to go through the game feeling like I'm going through a 'novelty' option without knowing that's what it was.

But the absolute worst part for me about the skeleton theory is that one of the unique aspects of Emmrich's character--his treatment of death--would for me be greatly diminished. An older man facing his mortality and impending inevitable death with kindness and helping others with the same process is something I haven't seen portrayed in media. It's poignant in its groundedness. A skeleton doing the same just does not hold the same resonance.

I remember a quote some time back stating that there would be no 'bear sex' equivalent in Veilguard. I would be on the side of seeing little difference between 'skeleton sex' and 'bear sex' in terms of how both will be treated--as mainly content meant to be humorous.

These are just my feelings on the matter, and of course reasonable people may have differing opinions. The execution is also important, and perhaps I'll come to change my opinion after playing the game even if the theory is true. But I wanted to air this out since it has been irking me since the beginning when the theory started to pop up.

[sylantis]

The Inferno

[sylantis]

can't wait for veilguard (say the one who's been into dragon age for 2 months oops)

[sylantis]

i see taash never skips leg day 👀 [x]

[sylantis]

ONE MONTH until Dragon Age: The Veilguard launches! We'll see you in Thedas on October 31.