#Frostback Basin

[sinizade]

I made a little clothing guide for some Dragon Age regions

Some may not be exactly the same as the references that appear in the game or in the concepts, but I wanted to give a little of my vision to the guide.

Ferelden

Ferelden is close to the Frostback Mountains and Orlais and as Leliana and Zevran once said, Ferelden is cold, so I thought it would be a cool idea to put on thick clothes with a lot of fur so the Fereldans can protect themselves from the cold.

Tevinter

Dragon Age 4 is approaching and it's already evident that we're going to be in the Tevinter Imperium, so I discovered that a lot of Tevinter clothing was inspired by clothing from the Byzantine Empire

Orlais

We've already seen in the game and in the concept art that Orlais is all about being flamboyant and flashy and what's more flamboyant and flashy than mid-1500s fashion?

Antiva

Home to the two loves of my life, Zevran and Josephine, Antiva fashion is something I really love… The puffy arms, the breast-enhancing corsets, the leather vests, idk, I just like Antiva

Nevarra

I don't exactly have much to say about nevarra, but I did some research and found some concepts that I thought were interesting, I also saw in some places that said that the kingdom was inspired by the traditional culture of Spain

So I'll leave two references here

One for the traditional clothes and one for what I imagine might look like Nevarra dress

Frostback Basin

In Inquisition we can see that the clothes they wear are quite furry and well protected from the cold, so I think it would be a good idea to inspire some of their clothing in Inuit clothing

The Dalish (1/2/3/4/5)

Well, for the Dalish I had MANY ideas, among them think about adding traditional clothes from some tribes, native Brazilian/American, African, Hawaiian, Inca, Aztec and Mayan

Remembering that I made a great mix of traditional clothes from several tribes and not just one, and that I also have 0 intention of disrespecting any of them, if I have put something wrong or disrespectful you can be free to alert me

Orzammar

I knew little about Turkey, but when I went to research I ended up enchanted with some of the traditional clothes when I went to research about it and I thought that this style would go well with Orzammar

Par Vollen

For Par Vollen, I had a bit of trouble finding it, but I think clothing a little bit closer to the ancient Egyptian style would be something interesting. The light fabrics, the golden jewels adorning the body, idk, I like that idea

Rivain

I was doing some research again and found that part of Rivain's look was inspired by traditional clothing from Islamic Spain and Southeast Asia , so I looked around a bit for something to put here and add one more kingdom to the list

I hope you people enjoyed! Soon I will add more realms as soon as I finish my research

[illusivesoul]

Inquisition soldier in the Frostback Basin

[bambsik]

Frostback Basin is like, the most beautiful place, I swear

[lairofdragonagelore]

DLC: Jaws of Hakkon - Frostback Basin, Miscellaneous

Professor Bram Kenric of the University of Orlais sent word to the Inquisition that he had found clues regarding the final resting place of the last Inquisitor, Ameridan, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances in the early years of the Divine Age. He believes that this discovery would be beneficial to both academic research and the Inquisition itself, and asks that the Inquisitor join him in the Frostback Basin to help him in his investigation. 

The objective of the DLC seems to be learning a lot of lore about the last Inquisitor, a bit of the ancient Dalish of the time of the Second Blight, a lot of Avvar lore, and a strange, unique process of willingly possession of Avvar mages that changes the value of Avvar Knowledge in general.

I personally think that the most important role of this DLC is basically teaching us in a very explicit way that all the “official” History of Thedas may be a lie. It makes a parallel with any story we follow in DA series: the origin of the Qunari, the truth of the Maker, the creation of the Veil, the Truth about the Elven Gods, the Tevinter Magisters, the Golden city, etc. Every piece of History has been altered and twisted over time for political, cultural, or simply convenient reasons, and this is more than important to keep it in mind every time we appraise the value of a source.

In this post I gather some aspects that I did not know where to put in the other posts:

Kenric: The Scholar

The Icetroll

The Veil and the preservation of the Waking World

[This is part of the series “Playing DA like an archaeologist”]

[Index page of Dragon Age Lore ]

Kenric: The scholar

The DLC starts with a scholar looking for the last place of resting of the previous inquisitor, assuming it’s in the Frostback Basin. The gist of all this part and the whole DLC when it comes to Ameridan is that the Chantry knows little [or erased a lot] about this inquisitor because political reasons. Many of those mysteries are discovered by the end of the DLC, showing us how much the “official History” lies due to political or mass control reasons.

On the other hand, Kenric explicitly makes some comparisons with buckles and how History is told through the merging of cultures in a single place which has been inheriting the buildings of the previous ones: the resulting ruins is a combination of all the inhabitants through time. This is a nice call back to the player in basically all the series of DA; we have been seeing this since DAO, in the Ruins of Brecilian Forest where elven ruins were taken by Tevinters [or the other way around], or Kinlock Hold; a tower made by Avvar and dwarves which was taken by Tevinters first and then by Ferelden later to install the Circle of Magi of Ferelden, or Vigil’s Keep in Amaranthine which was made by Avvars and Dwarves and later taken by Ferelden. There are many examples along the series. So, basically, Kenric (and Collete) is there to teach us how to read the mess of the structures and buildings we see around.

When we discover Telana and the bits of information about what Ameridan was meant to do in this area, and under the orders of Drakkon, we speak with Kenric again, who gives us quite an interesting detail in terms of how researchers in Thedas work: beyond his personal information [you can check wiki for that] he tells us that the University of Orlais, with its flaws, has a broader open mind to the incorporation of elves in their researchers, and, as he says, to contact spirits in order to have firsthand reports of battles. 

This two aspects mean, implicitly, that most of the information we gather in codices that belong to well established books inside this world, lack of elven point of view [nothing new under the sun] and some of them may be complete and total lies considering that any researcher can say their work has been based on an interview with spirits. It’s so unreliable. However, honest researchers such as Kenric, who will base their research on true words givien by Spirits, may have quite a unique and high-quality information of an event. 

All over the basin we find typical Avvar statues: in particular those called The Keepers of Fear which are everywhere in these lands, used as columns with braziers to illuminate the area, as signs to guide the path to the nearby hold [Stone-bear hold], or merely as decoration in the land. We also find Eroded dragon skull and monoliths with ropes that we have seen in other parts of Ferelden.

It’s not unusual to find fragments of ruins. Some are a combination of Avvar/Ferelden art, like these monoliths with a rope on the top, others are columns that had fallen apart from Tevinter buildings. We know it’s Tevinter because the pattern in the lower part of the columns has been seen in ancient Tevinter structures like  Coracavus or  The Still Ruins. 

Tevinter walls that predate the First Blight can be found as well. They use the same style [angular, pointy structures plus the hexagonal designs] than the ones we found in Western Approach.

There are several Tevinter outposts [or ruins of them] in the open of this region. Close to them we find these diapason-like devices decorated with the typical Tevinter dragon gargoyles. This diapason-like device was seen clearly in the base game during the Fade, in the quest Broken Window .  Although we could not guess its function back then, in this DLC they seem to work like transporters of “arcane” energy trough long distances.

Close to the encampment where the Inquisition is placed in the beginning of the DLC, there is cave which has some remnants of Ameridan’s presence and his companions. Its inside displays building walls with Tevinter patterns on it.

Among other codices and notes referring to Ameridan and his companions, there is a codex in this cave which triggers Mouth of Echoes. It seems a reliable codex since it was written by a Tevinter who lived here at that time. It speaks about a Tevinter appreciation of the avvar: they consider them savages, they laughed at the avvar who screamed their questions into this cave, waiting for an answer in the last whisper [this suggests that Tevinter, for once, did not slaughter the avvar on spot in this region, but observed them and interacted with them to the point they knew how the avvar named  this cave and how it worked for them]. Now, when Tevinters felt the absence of Razikale and lost their minds, the narrator begins to implicitly wonder if the avvar were not right about this cave and tries to analyse it in terms of Tevinter arcane knowledge: they assume that, if this cave works, it’s because there is thin Veil around. It's here where this person suggests to insert foci in the walls of the shrine they will erect in the name of Razikale and cut the stone in sacred shapes [dragon like?]. This scroll seems to be around the time of the First Blight simply because the gods went silent.

We need to remember that foci are the Tevinter equivalent of elven orbs, which usually have the property of magnifying the powers of the user.

We also find in the Basin the mysterious Ferelden Wyvern close to the astrarium.

The icetroll

In the same fashion than the saga of Tyrdda Bright-Axe Path, we find here a similar song about the Tale of Hryngnar, Ice-Troll.

Things that Tale of Hryngnar, Ice-Troll implies:

Trolls are disconnected from the Fade like the dwarves

Avvar warriors tried to kill Hryngnar to have a legend-mark, but they ended up killed by his icy-powers.

Hryngnar, the Ice-troll had protected the Avvar’s homes against giants.

When the warriors of Tevinter came to build their fortress here, the ice-troll also attacked them, freezing their walls to easily break them. This way, the tale explains how and why the Tevinter left which is presented as a mystery all along the DLC.

There is not much to say here. I think we didn’t see trolls in DAI so far, so this creature may be a giant [which we have seen slaved by Venatori already]

Treating this tale as I do with Dalish’s, we can only say that it claims that the Tevinter presence disappeared because this creature attacked them in their fortress. I’m not sure that’s something we can confirm in the DLC with evidence. It’s more or less clear that Tevinter came here to contact Razikale when she went silent, but it’s not clear at all why they left, specially when there is evidence that they wanted to establish a new Minrathous here.

The last stanza of Hryngnar, the Ice-troll, is triggered at a statue we saw before in the Hissing Wastes. This statue is supposed to be a variation of the Keepers of Fear.

What’s funny is that the devs have been placing a joke to call out players in their syndrome of the conspiracy board guy. There is a codex that updates along several locations in the region, explaining about a bunch of lunatic topics. The codex is Mysteries of the Frostback Basin. It is very funny to read and see how the lack of evidence and sources makes all conclusions end up in hunches and ideas pulled from the author's ass. I laugh with his explanations "As proof, Professor Whalen Vankin maps Lines of Power Across the Basin in his book "Ode to the Ordo Templis Royalis." He does not SAY so in the book to a Casual Reader, but certain secret signs left by the Professor to befuddle his Enemies point to it very Clearly, if one reads the text eight times." lol, they speak to each theory-crafter of DA.

The author speaks of gigantic snake-kings, that we can, more or less, consider like titans, reptilian ones, that could be the ones we found in the Descent DLC called the Scaled Ones, and the moon men, which I don't know to what relate. Blighted creatures who had resistance? In any case, this codex is _too much_.

Later in game we will learn that these notes belong to the Avvar trader Helsdim, who lives in the Stone-Bear Hold and, if recruited by Inquisition, he will continue working on conspiracy theories that make no sense. 

In any case, this small detail about the conspiracy notes is useful because we can see once more that the presence of this drawing of many eyes means that whoever was there, was in a conspiracy board guy mode. He even used a glyph of magic.

The Veil and the preservation of the Waking World

An important lore concept we learn in this DLC is that the Veil being thin in some parts of the world is not always detrimental: we see patches of unknown flowers growing inside areas affected by the Fade. In the isle, we will be informed that the Veil delays the passage of time, which makes a lot of sense and is coherent with what we saw in the Western Approach: The Still Ruins, or Ameridan’s own magic, who kept the dragon and himself frost in time while casting something very Fade-like green.

When we visit the isle to see the fate of Ameridan's lover, we find her remains in a shack that still holds despite having passed 800 years. Around the body, there are many flowers.

Solas informs us that this rift is like the one we found in Still Ruins: and ancient rift that was not made by the current events in Inquisition.

When we open this rift, the spirit that has been keeping Telana’s memories speaks:

Telana was a dreamer Dalish

Drakkon asked Ameridan to slay the avvar dragon that was putting Orlais in danger.

Here,  we find a document that triggers the codex Ancient Document Protected in a Scroll Case which shows the deep relationship between Ameridan and the emperor of Orlais Drakkon. This confirms parts of our suspicions when exploring the Exalted Plains: Elves and Humans had a deeper relationship during the times before the Second Blight. 

Close to her remains, we find a book that triggers Unfallen Shack where we are informed that apparently time around the rifts passes slowly [or spirits of Preservation try to keep things in its original state], so ancient objects may look barely old if they were exposed to these rifts for centuries. This has an odd coincidence with Ameridan's powers: he stuck Hakkon and himself in time to keep it trapped. 

As a nice detail of how lore affects even at a small scale: there is some felandaris plants [they only grow where the Veil is thin] around this isle, since the rift has been open for several centuries.

From Telana’s skelleton we loot a bow with a description that seems reiterative again:

This bow seems to have its own pulse and is oddly warm to the touch.

Warm things with pulse. We have been seeing those in many places by now. According to Solas in The Lost Temple of Dirthamen, it is because the object has a part of the living thing inside. Another place where we feel this is in the Western Approach,  in the cave where we find the “thing in the dark” which has a statue of the  The Strange Idol which triggers the note: “This statue is oddly warm to the touch and shivers slightly, as though it might have a pulse.”  We can assume that this is caused by some spirit being bound to the statue, as it has been shown in DA2.

Does this mean that the Dalish knew a magic similar to the Dirhtamen disciples’ even in times when their history has been half erased? Certainly this is such an odd detail.

[feykrorovaan]

You know, when I heard "Frostback Basin", I wasn't expecting fantasy Australia.

[isk4649]

2022/5/18 WIP Wednesday

Wednesday is almost over, and I’m just squeaking by! Thanks for tagging, @kittynomsdeplume, @a11sha11fade, @raflesia65, and @noire-pandora!

I’ve been working on a one-shot to follow Honor and Will after its ending. I know the Trespasser DLC is most people’s favorite, and it is mine also. But there’s something to be said about going on an adventure to an unknown wilderness that is the Frostback Basin. And I do so love descriptive passages... Probably far too much.

So here it is, the beginning paragraphs of the fic entitled Aurora Australis:

On the horizon where the dark sky met the calm waters, a radiant veil shimmered. Slowly, almost methodically, its colors alternated among verdigris, crimson, and magenta. And a veil it was, for it fluttered and quivered as though it were made from the finest, most delicate silk. Its proliferation was complete when it touched and dyed the waters the same hues, pastel and subtle, a decalcomania most luminous.

Before the Inquisition’s foray into the Frostback Basin, Tharin read that the old Tevinters, the ones who were versed well enough in southern matters, used to call it aurora australis. The effulgence bright enough to light up the southernmost night sky like an approaching dawn.

On the edge of the main Inquisition camp some distance away from everyone, Tharin and Cullen quietly watched the aurora. They sat huddled next to their tent, a thick blanket covering their cold bodies. The smell of the packed snow and dirt and the chill of the ground were tempered by Cullen’s embrace. The campfire had been put out, and it was only the sound of the occasional wind that interrupted the nocturnal silence. It was late.

It’s late, but I’ll still tag @jonogueira, @kemvee, @tessa1972, and anyone who would like to participate!

[grimweaver]

Frostback Basin is Dragon Age's Skyrim, change my mind. :P

[kalihoffs]

Ok y’all here are some more posters because I’m still addicted to making them.

You can find the first set of posters here.

[famewolf]

finished Emprise du Lion and two of the three dragon fights tonight. I think I'm going to hold off on that last dragon until I get closer to the end.

What Pride Had Wrought is rearing its head, but I think I'm going to go the the Frostback Basin first?? who knows

[crossdressingdeath]

Jaws of Hakkon update: my entire main party (me, Dorian, Blackwall and Cole if you're wondering, I typically prefer Varric to Cole but I am determined to get Cole and Dorian's romance banter before I finish the game) now has guard on hit. We are armoured up and ready for anything, I fucking love the guard on hit masterwork materials. Especially combined with Energy Barrage, which is basically a magic machine gun that now makes my mages tanks. Also both Alaris and Dorian have ludicrous amounts of heal on kill now so they're basically unkillable. Also getting into those tier four crafting materials, very high damage output for everyone. I love endgame weaponry.

[danielnelsen]

my dad’s doing an amateur radio competition which is great for him and all, but the interference from his radio keeps crashing my computer and im in a Bad Mood

[lairofdragonagelore]

DLC: Jaws of Hakkon - Frostback Basin, Elvhen Tomb

Due to the quest The Mystery of Winter, we are informed that the cold emanating from this tomb is “familiar”. The only reason why we could perceive it like that must be because it is similar to the frozen gate, since it makes little sense to connect this cold with the unnatural one in Emprise du Lion [which, by the way, we never learnt its origin but seemed to be more related to Imshael anyway].

[This is part of the series “Playing DA like an archaeologist”]  

[Index page of Dragon Age Lore ]

This familiarity may suggest that the entity related to this tomb and the massive ice conjured at the frozen gate of the citadel because the presence of Hakkon, may be connected.

Analogous to the one in Forbidden Oasis, this is an elvhenan tomb sealed with shards that can only be found when the Veil gets weakened. However, in Leather-Bound Hakkonite Journal, we learn that Hakkon allowed the ancient hakkonites to see the shards, making them able to open this tomb in the past [referred in the codex as “cave”] and learn the secrets of the winter, so they could open the Frozen Gates. This suggests that the Frozen Gates were made by Tevinter magic and not Hakkon’s presence itself [Hakkon was communicating with the hakkonites, so he was not bound to the mortal form yet]. When Hakkon was bound to a mortal form, he lost contact with the hakkonites, so they had to relay on Tevinter oculara to see these shards. This codex finishes saying that the hakkonites need to recover the “mystery of winter”

The tomb, as I said in the post of Razikale’s Reach, is almost the same [in symbols and details] than the one in the Forbidden Oasis: Solasan Temple: it requires shards to open, has a symbol of 5 rhomboids overlapped at the top, and a swirly arabesque pattern around the door.

Inside we see the typical ancient chamber of this elvhen design: fading circular flowers, and columns which lower and upper parts are decorated with a pile of squares. There is a sarcophagus with little more of interest in this place.

The only detail that highlights in this tomb is the inscription on the wall. At a simple glance it depicts a rhomboid or a square at 45º, which could be related to the main symbol we see in the door. This square is also part of the set of glyphs we already saw in the game. In the inside there is a circle, that, with the subtle shadow projected outside, allows us to think of the reiterative symbol of this game: the golden circle.

I tried to see if the letters could belong to some place easy to identify, but I had no luck. They look similar to the letters of the other magical glyphs, but not completely.  See with more details General glyphs and magical symbols

This glyph triggers a unique codex called Geldauran's Claim.  According to the name of the codex, these are the direct words of Geldauran, a forgotten one: they claim that there are not gods, only power relationships of slavery. This entity sounds like a rebel, denying the power of the Evanuris upon him, but waiting for the right time to seize it and use it on his benefit.

As a forgotten one, it is not clear if he follows ideas of freedom or dominance. 

As a curious detail, he mentions June associated with fire, which is something I would have expected from Sylaise.  And when he claims "I refuse those who would exert will upon me", he only names Andruil and June. I’m not saying they are the only tyrannic ones, but if they are the main ones in this enumeration, it could be because they are the most radical ones in doing so.  So, we can potentially consider that Andruil and June have been the ones more interested into applying dominance.

Looking into the sarcophagus is not too relevant. There is only an Accuser's Staff, which is a cold-damage weapon, reinforcing the idea that Geldauran and Hakkon are related like different sides of the same coin. Or maybe it’s just a confirmation of the codex implying that this tomb may have been open by the ancient Hakkonites centuries ago.

It’s description is very hard to interpret:

Andrastian mages once used staves like this one to exact justice against maleficarum. None have been made since the Towers Age.

So, we are having a staff that looks like a naked Andraste in an elvhen tomb that clearly predates the Blights and Andraste herself which has been opened around the Second Blight by Hakkonites. The tower age is during the age in which the Third Blight happened and the Chantry Schism happens [The imperial Chantry and the Orlesian Chartry became different institutions]

[andrastehope]

have 1 dragon left to defeat all 10 and that’s the one in the hissing wastes and I am just discovering I beat the main storyline and completely skipped going there

[yappacadaver]

literally fucking insane of me to go through that dragon age inquisition companions gifset and know exactly EXACLTY where each of them are

[dinindourden]

Dragon Age: Inquisition ➤ Frostback Basin