#Ancient Herald

[crazysnor1ax]

Starvetober Day 5 - Cycle

[inbarfink]

[simaswatt]

I looooove the Ancient Herald an wish we had more lore about him.

[chiropteracupola]

Creamthing d'or passant reguardant, by a sheaf of arrows percée ...and Montjoy also.

[creamthing is the creation of the inimitable @samsketchbook; despite this choice of adjective, I have nonetheless tried my best at a little heraldic creamthing]

[the-uber-goober]

Scavenger King Ship Names!!!!

Thank you to @whippiekippy and some people in the Cherrypie Bakery Discord Server owned by @rubicons (sorry for the @s everyone)

Green = Already named

Pink = Made by other people

Survivor x SK: New King

Monk x SK: Angrec, Peaceful Protest, World Peace

Hunter x SK: Anarchy, Pearl n Carry

Nightcat x SK: Cepheus, Saturn, Starry Night

Gourmand x SK: Shared Union

Artificer x SK: Regicide

Rivulet x SK: Poseidon, Atlantis

Spearmaster x SK: Herald, Spear Hill

Saint x SK: Theocracy, Ancient Royalty

Enot x SK: Party Leader, Lovebomb

If you don’t understand a name, feel free to ask for the reasoning!

[radabeast]

been ruminating on the emerald herald for a while. i got a theory

created by vendrick and aldia likely. to be born as a "Great Soul", a power large enough to feed the flame and link it, artificially. she is a failure, of course, because the hubris of man. but she becomes linked to the fires somehow, and serves as the role of our firekeeper

she talks about her death and/or "the end of her journey" multiple times also, apparently implying that she might be bound to die when the fire is linked again. THEORY:

shanalotte is the first (or one of the earliest) iterations of unkindled. she was made to link the fire, was unable to do so and burned in it. but then she was summoned by the fire itself, again, in order to find a more proper candidate, that being you, the protagonist

later on, in ds3 proper, there's a lot more candidates to choose from, so there's a lot more unkindled. but as of ds2 not only is shanalotte among the only canidates available, it's a role (of sorts) that she was born and created for. so that's why uhhhh the fire manifested her and not any others more apt warrior-types (like the lords)

the fire was also in need of at least one firekeeper in general, with all of them in recent ds2 history having been exiled anyway. so kind of an all-in-one

[miisfits-toys]

Ironing out some world-building things...

Spring's Herald being the oldest and longest established of that divinity has a vicious claim on how fae appear to the common man, (pretty, harmless, fanciful,) and it's something she'd like to keep!

Her primary aides in this are: Her enforcer, keeping people in check and the tune to be pure; Her representative, secondhand, and automatic authority wherever she may stick her nose; Her groundskeeper, keeping her domain tidy, by any means; and Her propagandist, an attentive, dutiful host who welcomes all to the mirth.

Do not mind the veneer of glitter and pomp, do not mind the untamed chaos behind the mask, ok?

[ancaxbre]

Hermes statue from the archeological museum of Messini, Greece.

[hawke-ondary]

have this fic idea where andraste herself stumbles out of the fade during the inquisition prologue, just after the inquisitor stops the breach from growing. idk i just think it would be funny for roderick to look Bride of the Maker Andraste of the Alammari in the eyes and say the inquisition is heretical

[direwombat]

what horror creature are [your ocs]?

tagged by @socially-awkward-skeleton​ to do this uquiz! (thank you so much this one is super neat!

tagging: @natesofrellis​, @thomrainer​, @harmonyowl​, @funkypoacher​, @confidentandgood​, @strafethesesinners​, @adelaidedrubman​, @aceghosts​, @schoute​, @jacrispea​, @poeti-kat​, and anyone else wanting to do a fun little uquiz for their ocs

A FALLEN ANGEL. you once were innocent and pure, until the sins have chained your soul.

A WALKING DEAD. even though your brain died long ago, your heart won`t stop beating. you`re rotting as you walk, worms piercing through your skin, and nobody knows what you`re searching for. and nobody wants to.

KATHERINE VOGEL (RDR2) + PAOLA ORSINI (UNCHARTED)

A GHOST. your death was painful and long, you choked on screams and ripped your skin til the very last breath. your restless soul is forever stuck in the room that you died, searching for peace.

[must-mofasa]

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[noirslaughter]

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ★ ── NOSTALGIA N' DUMP ̟ꜜ₊

[judahmaccabees]

[lavenderprose]

Big fan of the culmination of the Inquisitor/Cullen romance being they settle down with a dog somewhere in Ferelden. I enjoy imagining that there's more to their story, and the Trespasser post-credits implies as much, but it's hilarious to imagine like. Oh a nice couple just moved in next door. They're an objectively very normal looking sort of guy with Strong Silent Type vibes and his wife THE INQUISITOR. The HERALD of ANDRASTE. Like oh hello Cullen From Next Door and your lovely wife THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST. It's so nice to meet you. Would you like some canapés. No please do not show me the scar where the Ancient Elven God you befriended and then fought cut off your arm.

[suzannahnatters]

So here's one of the coolest things that has happened to me as a Tolkien nut and an amateur medievalist. It's also impacted my view of the way Tolkien writes women. Here's Carl Stephenson in MEDIEVAL FEUDALISM, explaining the roots of the ceremony of knighthood: "In the second century after Christ the Roman historian Tacitus wrote an essay which he called Germania, and which has remained justly famous. He declares that the Germans, though divided into numerous tribes, constitute a single people characterised by common traits and a common mode of life. The typical German is a warrior. [...] Except when armed, they perform no business, either private or public. But it is not their custom that any one should assume arms without the formal approval of the tribe. Before the assembly the youth receives a shield and spear from his father, some other relative, or one of the chief men, and this gift corresponds to the toga virilis among the Romans--making him a citizen rather than a member of a household" (pp 2-3). Got it?

Remember how Tolkien was a medievalist who based his Rohirrim on Anglo-Saxon England, which came from those Germanic tribes Tacitus was talking about? Stephenson argues that the customs described by Tacitus continued into the early middle ages eventually giving rise to the medieval feudal system. One of these customs was the gift of arms, which transformed into the ceremony of knighthood: "Tacitus, it will be remembered, describes the ancient German custom by which a youth was presented with a shield and a spear to mark his attainment of man's estate. What seems to the be same ceremony reappears under the Carolingians. In 791, we are told, Charlemagne caused Prince Louis to be girded with a sword in celebration of his adolescence; and forty-seven years later Louis in turn decorated his fifteen-year-old son Charles "with the arms of manhood, i.e., a sword." Here, obviously, we may see the origin of the later adoubement, which long remained a formal investiture with arms, or with some one of them as a symbol. Thus the Bayeux Tapestry represents the knighting of Earl Harold by William of Normandy under the legend: Hic Willelmus dedit Haroldo arma (Here William gave arms to Harold). [...] Scores of other examples are to be found in the French chronicles and chansons de geste, which, despite much variation of detail, agree on the essentials. And whatever the derivation of the words, the English expression "dubbing to knighthood" must have been closely related to the French adoubement" (pp 47-48.)

In its simplest form, according to Stephenson, the ceremony of knighthood included "at most the presentation of a sword, a few words of admonition, and the accolade." OK. So what does this have to do with Tolkien and his women? AHAHAHAHA I AM SO GLAD YOU ASKED. First of all, let's agree that Tolkien, a medievalist, undoubtedly was aware of all the above. Second, turn with me in your copy of The Lord of the Rings to chapter 6 of The Two Towers, "The King of the Golden Hall", when Theoden and his councillors agree that Eowyn should lead the people while the men are away at war. (This, of course, was something that medieval noblewomen regularly did: one small example is an 1178 letter from a Hospitaller knight serving in the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem which records that before marching out to the battle of Montgisard, "We put the defence of the Tower of David and the whole city in the hands of our women".) But in The Lord of the Rings, there's a little ceremony.

"'Let her be as lord to the Eorlingas, while we are gone.' 'It shall be so,' said Theoden. 'Let the heralds announce to the folk that the Lady Eowyn will lead them!' Then the king sat upon a seat before his doors and Eowyn knelt before him and received from him a sword and a fair corselet."

I YELLED when I realised what I was reading right there. You see, the king doesn't just have the heralds announce that Eowyn is in charge. He gives her weapons.

Theoden makes Eowyn a knight of the Riddermark.

Not only that, but I think this is a huge deal for several reasons. That is, Tolkien knew what he was doing here.

From my reading in medieval history, I'm aware of women choosing to fight and bear arms, as well as becoming military leaders while the men are away at some war or as prisoners. What I haven't seen is women actually receiving knighthood. Anyone could fight as a knight if they could afford the (very pricy) horse and armour, and anyone could lead a nation as long as they were accepted by the leaders. But you just don't see women getting knighted like this.

Tolkien therefore chose to write a medieval-coded society, Rohan, where women arguably had greater equality with men than they did in actual medieval societies.

I think that should tell us something about who Tolkien was as a person and how he viewed women - perhaps he didn't write them with equal parity to men (there are undeniably more prominent male characters in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, at least, than female) but compared to the medieval societies that were his life's work, and arguably even compared to the society he lived in, he was remarkably egalitarian.

I think it should also tell us something about the craft of writing fantasy.

No, you don't have to include gut wrenching misogyny and violence against women in order to write "realistic" medieval-inspired fantasy.

Tolkien's fantasy worlds are DEEPLY informed by medieval history to an extent most laypeople will never fully appreciate. The attitudes, the language, the ABSOLUTELY FLAWLESS use of medieval military tactics...heck, even just the way that people travel long distances on foot...all of it is brilliantly medieval.

The fact that Theoden bestows arms on Eowyn is just one tiny detail that is deeply rooted in medieval history. Even though he's giving those arms to a woman in a fantasy land full of elves and hobbits and wizards, it's still a wonderfully historically accurate detail.

Of course, I've ranted before about how misogyny and sexism wasn't actually as bad in medieval times as a lot of people today think. But from the way SOME fantasy authors talk, you'd think that historical accuracy will disappear in a puff of smoke if every woman in the dragon-infested fantasy land isn't being traumatised on the regular.

Tolkien did better. Be like Tolkien.

[ladyofc]

Something that always makes me point at screen about Solas saying walking through a world of tranquil, is that the comparison isn't a one to one and he even admits that he was wrong for it.

But it makes me think about all the spirit theories when it comes to an unveiled world. How everyone is basically severed from themselves in a sense. Everyone used to have a connection to their spirit and therefore everyone could do magic. The reason why elves (modern) produce less and less mages is because the more you reproduce the more you become physical.

Solas talks and talks in a romance about seeing Lavellan's spirit, we don't know exactly what that is but they have given us a lot of hints about it. Specifically with the one person you wouldn't think, Varric.

When talking about being the Herald and what the people see, he says on some effect of

"The only Hope they have is you."

----

I mean what else other than a Hope spirit would get religious people to sing after their holy town was destroyed.

Hope would be able to stop Leliana from killing a man that might be valuable later, Hope would get her to move on from Justina.

Hope would be able to help Cassandra rebuild the Seekers, help her see the path as divine.

Hope would make it possible for Dorian to reconcile with his father AND inspire him to go back to Tevinter with the ideals of the Inquisitor.

Hope would be able to forgive Thom and help him redeem himself because we saw the hints of how good he tried to be.

---

And to really nail in the point, Hope would be able to show an Ancient Pride spirit that the world is real. That no, this isn't a world of tranquil and that a romance and hell even a friendship almost made him completely drop everything because he loved his friends.

And as Cole says about the Inquisitor:

"You're too bright. Like counting birds against the sun. The mark makes you more. But past it... [the part that changes due to origin] And past that, the weight of all on you. All the hopes you carry, fears you fight. You are theirs.