#andrastian design

[lairofdragonagelore]

Dragon Age Iconic Patterns: The single spike

The single spike or horn has been a constant pattern throughout all games of Dragon Age in general and in DAI in particular. There are several things that may be linked to it, from Mythal and Andraste to Dragons. In this post we explore how many of these objects present such pattern and how this may be related in an integral way.

This post contains the following statues:

Andraste

Wyvern

Mythal

The red lyrium idol

Tevinter or Venatori outfits

Tevinter Dragon

Tevinter golems

Tevinter Colossus

Andrastian Free Marches warriors

[This post belongs to the series “Analysis and speculation of Statues”]

Andraste

The main figure we see with a single-spiked helm in DAI is Andraste, who is depicted in numerous pieces of art along the game and books. Although she doesn’t wear this single-spiked helm in all of them, it’s an iconic representation of her [to the point that some followers are depicted with similar tiaras/helms such as Meredith]

In DAO we only have one unequivocally representation of Andraste, which is the statue we see at the end of the Temple of Andraste where her ashes are supposed to rest. In this case, the helm has the shape of a “moon” or similar. This form will be changed since DA2, and it will turn out to be the iconic single spike. We can attribute this inconsistency to the many difficulties in resources and environmental telling that DAO had.

Most of the time, Andrastian art represents Andraste with this single spiked helm/tiara [more details in Andrastian Statues].

In the illustrations found in the Chant of Light we can suspect that such a single spike is related to the shape of one single sun ray.

Wyvern

These animal statues appear all over Ferelden and in some parts of Orlais and in the Frost Back Mountains. In the tag Ferelden Wyvern we can track their presence along DAI. That they appear in Ferelden is not surprising, but the fact that they are inside ancient Pre-Blight Tevinter ruins [check Western Approach: The Still Ruins, Main Chamber and Hall of Silence and Western Approach: The Still Ruins, Viridis Walk and Inner Sanctum] is very disconcerting, specially taking into account how central it is in The Still Ruins, which appears even in the loadscreen of the zone. One could suspect this may have been product of the Dragon fascination that Tevinter culture had/has. Still, it seems odd to honour a lesser creature such as a Wyvern when they usually worshipped the true Dragons.

This statue appears in the Fade as well, but it has a clear design choice: the game shows us a wyvern in front of a head of Andraste, pushing us to ask why such an irrelevant statue would be in front of something so important as it is Andraste. The answer is solved later in the book World of Thedas, where we find that there is a Ferelden Tale which related wyverns with Andraste:

Now, this Tale is quite curious. If we always keep in consideration that this piece of lore is highly unreliable since it’s a tale spread in a population via oral narration, and subjected to changes over ages without records, we can highlight several details:

Andraste goes to the Mountain to “reach the Maker”. In the Chant of Light, we know that she speaks with the Maker, who is described Mountain-like. This reinforces the idea that Maker=related to Mountains. I assume this is a cultural remnant of the alamarri/avvar origin of Andraste, who had a deeper relationship with Korth, the Father-Mountain.

Andraste sang, and with this song, a “wyvern” appeared. This may potentially bring some relationship with the Dragons and the original song I talked about in posts like The Silent Grove, Those Who Speak, and Until We Sleep. We can even suspect that maybe instead of a Wyvern, the original event that inspired this Tale may have related a true Dragon. After all, we know that this single spike in the wyverns may, potentially, have some relationship with the dragon shape of Mythal. We also know that Tyrdda had an elf lover who sent a dragon to help her people, so I wonder to what extent the Alamarri and Avvar had also some level of relationship with mountain dragons.

It’s still a big question to understand how this wyvern statue, so related to Ferelden culture, appeared in pre-blight Tevinter buildings, when Ferelden did not exist as it is now. This is what reinforces my question: are these wyverns potentially creatures related to the Great Dragons? So far, we have no answers.

Mythal

Mythal, in all her representations and shapes, also wears an iconic single spiked helm. Even in the Concept Art, where we can see wavy sided horns that did not make it into the game, we cannot mistake the single centred spike. In dragon shape or in her humanoid form, this spike is constantly present.

It is unclear how this design choice may potentially speak to the player to relate Mythal to Andraste. One can speculate that, maybe, a fragment of Mythal appeared to Andraste. Maybe the Maker that Andraste claims to hear was, in fact, Mythal’s fragment. It would have been very convenient for Myhtal to instruct Andraste to make her Exalted March on Tevinter if we keep in mind that Flemeth [another fragment of Mythal] has been altering History to push it into a direction she has been planning for ages. 

Flemeth’s Tiara

Flemeth’s tiara also has a structure that shows a single central spike in a very prominent way. The relationship is obvious: Flemeth is Mythal. Or at least, a surviving fragment of her.

Her dragon shape is different in DAO than in DA2. In DAO it’s the model of a general high dragon [as usual, DAO didn’t have the most variety of visual resources so we can’t read too much in it], while in DA2, Flemeth has a clear dragon shape with a single spike in its horns that can be related to that tiara.

The red lyrium idol

The Red Lyrium Idol also shows a prominent central spike in the head. It’s a constant symbol that allows us to do some speculations: in the post Attempt to rebuild Ancient Elvhenan History  I speculated that Mythal's assassination may have inspired this idol, and therefore, this single spike seen in the idol is what relates it to Mythal herself.

It’s curious that even when Meredith turned into a piece of Red Lyrium, she also displayed a single spike in her head. This may have been just a consequence of the helm she was wearing in that last battle, which was clearly a helm trying to emulate Andraste’s.

From a design point of view, I think it’s clear that the game is telling us that this idol is related to Mythal/Flemeth, even though we are still blind about the “how”.

Tevinter or Venatori outfits

I already spoke about this in the section “outfits” in Patterns and Styles: Tevinter. We know that Tevinter has a long history of dragon cults, and until the moment the nation turned into the Andrastian Faith, the Old Gods Cult was its strongest religion. The fact that a dragon [Mythal] has a single spike horn, and Andraste also has this icon in her art, makes us hard to understand the origin of the symbol in Tevinter Design. It could have been due to the Dragons, but also, as a design choice once they were converted into the Andrastian Faith. Let's remember that Dorian tells us that Tevinter thinks that Andraste was a mage, so more reasons to have her icons among the Tevinter Warriors since they have mage-inspired armours.

I also explained that it's hard to differentiate the Venatori from non-Venatori Tevinter design simply because the Venatori are nationalist, so they will always use the most iconic symbols of their nation.

There is a strange link between this design and the one I called “The Free Marches Andrastian Warriors”, which display a strong Tevinter-like style, but remaining Andrastian. These statues may keep that single-spiked helm as a representation of Andraste, but also as a remmant of Tevinter design [more details in Andrastian Statues].

Tevinter Dragon

For completion’s sake, I add this detail: these typical Tevinter dragons display a single horn. At some point one wonders if these statues are related somehow to the design of the Wyverns or are a development of worshipping Mythal-dragon.

Tevinter golems

These Tevinter golems trigger the codex the Gate Guardians . They are metallic statues that, we are told, were powered at some point by bars of lyrium.

They also display a single spiked helm, that, due to the general looking of the golem, looks like a Tevinter representation of Andraste herself.

The golem in general has resemblance to some pieces of the armour of the Humanoid Mythal.

Let’s remember that Golems were developed by Dwarves during the First Blight, and due to their trade relationship with Tevinter, they sold some [Golem and Legend of the Juggernaut] that were displayed on the entrance of Miranthous, inactive. So it seems that, historically speaking, makes sense that these golems may have been developed into resembling Andraste since Tevinter embraced the Andrastian Faith after the beginnig of the First Blight [check all this in the integral post The Chantry and the Mythology of the Chant of Light]

Tevinter Colossus

Among the Tevinter sculptures, we find one of the most mysterious one: the colossus. They are found closer to the structures that belonged to Tevinter in pre-blight times.

In game there are three different Colossus, found in Western Approach: Coracavus;  Front Corridor and South Entrance, in the open of Hissing Wastes: scattered objects and ruins, which was being co-opted by Orlesians to make it into a sculture of an Orlais Emperor, and inside the Frozen Gates in Frostback Basin [DLC]: Frozen Gate.  

The book World of Thedas gives us more concept art about these structures, which seem to be related to “guiders” and, maybe, to astronomy too.

The fact that we can see one of these in a concept art, showing up a certain star over its hand, makes me suspect these statues belonged to the ancient Dreamer times, that the codex Astrariums claims that Tevinter was under before the Magisterium was the mandatory political system.

The heads of these colossus are not exactly single spiked heads, but one of them [The Coracavus' one] has one single spike that fuses with the bridge of its nose, while the other two, have "horns" backwards. Maybe we can suspect some dragon inspiration in them? I find their profile very similar to the Qunari ones’.

Andrastian Free Marches warriors

These were seen for the first time in DA2, and they decorated The Chantry of Kirkwall. They look similar to the Tevinter Warriors thanks to this spiked helm and pointy shapes, but this may be attributed to the fact that Free Marches have a strong Tevinter influence.

However, these statues have an unmistakable robe identified with the ones worn by the Chantry priests in DA2.

This single spike in their helms may be related to Andraste herself and her own helm/tiara, but also having some inspiration from Tevinter.

Conclusions

I think it’s fair to say that the “Single Spike” is an unequivocally symbol of Andraste that may have an inspiration or a relationship with dragons in general, or with Mythal in particular. By extension, and due to Mythal’s dragon nature, this Single Spike also appears in Tevinter culture, even in elements that are suspected to be pre-Blight, and therefore, impossible to be inspired in Andraste herself. So, as it happens with DA lore, and assuming what we did in the post Attempt to rebuild Ancient Elvhenan History, everything comes to primordial dragons that may have inspired this icon in Tevinter Culture and later, in the human tribes, from where the Andrastian Myth and her religion raised. 

[a-drama-addict]

wip of emira and leliana.. the pics they dont show you of divine victoria 🙄

[exhausted-archivist]

Art Used in the Dragon Age: Official Cookbook: Tastes of Thedas

While there was some new art, previously seen concept art, there was also the use of ending credit slides. Some possibly denoting certain world states that I briefly referred to in the master post here.

I've split it into sections of:

New Art

Previously Shown Art

Character Art and Slides

General World State Ending Slides

Everything is going below the cut because this will be long. I will also note which page and recipe each image accompanies in the book for easy reference. (Here's to hoping tumblr doesn't mess with the image layout.)

Edit 10/30/2023: Added the page numbers that were missed because it glitched out and deleted things when I tried to go over 30 images and didn't notice till now.

New Art

Page numbers from top left to right going down:

Orlesian Woman: Sour Cherries in Cream, p. 121, Tevinter Pumpkin Bread, p. 151

Building Etching: Crow Feed, p. 43, Antivan Sip-Sip, p. 161

Spider Design: Posion Stings, p. 115

Sea Creature: Lamprey Cake, p. 147

Smoking Meat Racks: Smoked Ham from the Anderfels, p. 95

Antaam Spearman: Unidentified Meat, p. 37

Admiral Isabela: The Hissing Drake, p. 157

Etching of Bowl: Rivaini Couscous Salad, p. 19

Etching of Platter: Nevarran Blood Orange Salad, p. 13

Table Setting: Goat Custard, p. 127

Red Bear: Conversion Charts, p. 172

Giant: Lamprey Cake, p. 149

Blue Building: About the Authors and Photoghraphers, p. 175

Mabari and Army: Roasted Turkey with Sides, p. 99

These are all new images with three of these looking to be concept art: the presumably Orlesian woman looking at Andrastian themed items, the antaam spearman preparing to throw a spear, and the table setting of what looks like it might be for Rivain or Tevinter based on the aesthetic. Though I lean more Tevinter due to the snake on the basket.

The bowl and platter look to maybe be prop designs, and they are distinctly bird themed with what looks like feathers around the base of the bowl and then mirrored crows on either side of the platter with a dagger etched in the center.

The red bear shown here is new, though it is similar to a mural in Dragon Age: Inquisition in the barn where there is a green-ish bear with stars on its muzzle breathing what might be fire, while holding the white silhouette of a figure with antlers. (Couldn't attach it due to there being a photo limit.)

Then to further note that the dark blue building image looks similar to some concept art/Development images from Dragon Age: Dreadwolf (DA4)

Previously Shown Art

The piece below have been shown elsewhere before, but there are some new additions so I am showing it here separately from the new art.

Ferelden Spread: Roasted Wyvern, p. 85

This is was first shown in The Art of Dragon Age: Inquisition and is labeled as "Fereldan Fineries". It was coloured and lacked the two figures in the back left of this image. (Below)

Character Art

Cole and Maryden: The Emerald Valley, p. 169

Sera: Sera's Yummy Corn, p. 103

The Iron Bull and Krem: Hot Chocolate, p. 159

Varric and Aveline: Varric's Favorite Pastries, p. 143

Josephine and Inquisitor: Fish Chowder, p. 59

Leliana: Grilled Poussin, p. 77

Cullen: Croissants, p. 137

Morrigan and Keiran: Nettle Soup, p. 65

King Alistair: King Alistair's Lamb and Pea Stew, p. 67

These were mostly character specific ending slides you could get in DAI, going from the top left to right they are slides for: Trespasser: Human Cole ending up with Maryden. Trespasser: Partial image of a slide for an Inquisitor who agrees to become a red jenny with Sera and the Inquisition is disbanded. Trespasser: Iron Bull and the Chargers are alive and taking jobs throughout Orlais and Ferelden. Trespasser: Varric is Viscount Trespasser: Josephine, her personal quest completed. This is the romanced Josephine version. Trespasser: Leliana, not Divine Trespasser: Cullen, having not taken lyrium during Inquisition Inquisition: Morrigan and Keiran leaving Skyhold World of Thedas vol 2: King Alistair

Ending Slides

Antaam Slide: Lentil Soup, p. 63

Halamshiral Slide: The Hanged Man's Mystery Meat Stew, p. 57

Grey Warden Slide: Sweet and Sour Cabbage, p. 61

Disbanded Inquisition Slide: Sugar Cake, p. 145

These were all ending slides you could get at some point in Inquisition, from the top left to right: Trespasser: The Qunari threat Inquisition: Kicked out of Halamshiral with low approval Inquisition: Grey Wardens were kept in southern Thedas to rebuild, they are estranged from the Wardens in Weishaupt Trespasser: The Inquisition was disbanded

Final Thoughts and Implied World State

Overall the world state makes a lot of sense I think, they went with the one that would be less quantum - so no one is dead or could be dead and is in an important role; hence Cassandra being Divine,

Summary

Inquisition is disbanded

Grey Wardens are divided; though as of the comics and Tevinter Nights we know regardless all Wardens have been called back to Weisshaupt. Unclear if the civil war mentioned in DAI is actually happening.

Morrigan has Kieran and he doesn't have the old god soul anymore

Cole is human

Josephine had her personal quest done.

Leliana wasn't killed in Origins, she is fully human and now retired.

Alistair is king

Cassandra is Divine, no clear answer on the state of the Seekers.

Cullen is retired and established the sanctuary for former templars.

[catebeesart]

More of these!

You know what's underrated? Prop design

Each one has a little story to it:

A 'Dwarven - Trade - Tevinter - Orlesian' pocketbook, indispensable for the Merchand's Guild, found in Bodahn Freddic's satchel

Golden ring with the inscription "Tethras" on the outside; it seems to have belonged to Bartrand Tethras, though a newer engraving on the inside hints at a change of hands

Aeducan Signet ring

Archery thumb ring bearing the Starkhaven heraldry

A collection of painted glass and porcelain earrings from Serault

Ground Deathroot pods, Asariel frankincense and Dragonthorn leaves extract, from Skyhold's Mage Tower, plus a Death Adder preserved in its own venom (a gift from some visiting dignitary)

Two keys; one opens the barracks in Vigil's Keep, the other belongs to an armoire in Orzammar Palace; both located several leagues away from their original keyholes

Heartwood Staff, enhanced by a runed ribbon gifted by the Warden Commander, property of Morrigan

Andrastian candles from different regions of Antiva (still from that @cumbiazevran post cause I'm obsessed)

Nevarran bat-shaped belt buckle, common amongst the nobility in the Steel Age

Blue and golden Orlesian teapot inspired by the architecture of Val Royeaux

Scissors found in a magically locked room in the Amell Estate in Kirkwall

[vigilskeep]

Hello, vampire blood person again! Big fan of your presentations and have been getting very inspired lately thanks to you and your blog so I thought you'd be a good person to come to and ask, how do you know so much? The lore stuff is pretty easy to research on a wiki but in terms of the real world comparisons, I remember you comparing the angel and spirits and talking about how interesting the differences between andrastaism and real life is and you just seem a very knowledgeable person. I was wondering if you just grew up religious or have studied the bible or anything like that? I'll study that whole damn brick if I have to but are there any resources you can suggest to study such things and better study DA as a whole? Good luck on the next presentation and thank you for being an inspiration!

hi!!

ah so as for my general knowledge i’m religious and grew up christian, and i’m also a, uh, student on pause; i have two and a half years of a history & english literature degree that i wasn’t able to quite finish at the time. so i have no qualifications i’m afraid but my general knowledge about christianity and about history, especially pre-modern history which i vastly prefer, is, i like to think, quite good?

so i have a lot of basic knowledge yes. i’m trying to think of how someone could replicate that from scratch as it were

for andrastianism, for example, a refresher on the basics of christianity is a must, for comparison’s sake alone. here’s the first fairrrrrrly neutral (sorry for relying on the bbc. by fairly neutral i mean not actively trying to convert you) site i could find with a lot of quick information for the fundamentals as it were. where’s a good friendly starting point for the medieval church. maybe something like the you’re dead to me podcast? it’s a very light fun introduction designed for no starting knowledge, they put a comedian and a historian on, it’s a good time. try the early medieval papacy episode for a relevant starting place. as for andrastianism’s origins, you’re going to need a grasp on the roman empire and the rise of christianity to know what they’re getting at. probably a good idea to know who joan of arc is, as well. you’re dead to me has an episode on her too!

trying to think of what other historical areas are useful... judaism in medieval western europe is a must if you care about city elves as they clearly drew on that, whatever they like to pretend. i should learn more myself. the norman conquest of england would be the comparison for the orlesian occupation of ferelden that jumps to mind. i don’t know how much comparison value there is, nothing springs to mind, but if you want to know the mechanics of that kind of invasion it should be useful enough. anything about western european medieval kings and dynasties is great for building on just how those dynamics work. on i guess a heavier note i think it’s crucial to be aware of what the crusades were and the kind of myths that medieval europeans had about outsiders to recognise a lot of what’s going on with, and discomfiting about, qunari lore

in many ways the real knack is just having enough general knowledge to know what game lore is referencing from. so really just the more you broaden your knowledge the more of a uhhhh palette you’ll have to compare it all too. be a sponge for information. also all of this is super useful for understanding everything else in general not just our favourite viddy game series!! not to soapbox but i think the assumption that everyone in the west simply knows what christianity is and doesn’t need to be taught really sets us back in terms of understanding our own cultures, for instance

sorry if this wasn’t that helpful but thank you for the message!!

[v-arbellanaris]

the same way that i wish we could’ve gotten some evolving complexity with the party banters in da2 for a lot of the companions, TODAY!!!! i’m having THOUGHTS about what an anders and merrill progression could look like. i know ppl are always doing this for fen & anders and don’t get me wrong... i love them but i’d absolutely run them over to defend merrill bc she deserved BETTER, from the writers and the writing, and from the other companions (except isabela, love them, merrilbela should’ve been canon if neither of them were romanced idc).

like!!!!! some considerations:

anders still obviously struggling with the idea of needing to be a ‘good’ mage in order to be ‘worthy’ of freedom, and merrill representing everything he thinks SHOULD make her a ‘bad’ mage (talking to demons, blood magic, etc) but like... she’s not. she shows him all the kittens hiding around in lowtown and lets them bite her toes. she fixes the feathers on his coat when they’re turned the wrong way without ripping any of them out. she’s the only one who talks TO justice like justice is a living being separate to anders.

and how does anders reconcile that? does merrill deserve to be in the circle “just because” she’s a “bad” mage (according to andrastian standards)? knowing what the gallows are, what’s done there, does anders REALLY THINK “bad” mages “deserve” to be in the circle? ANSWER THE QUESTION, WHITE BOY

bonus points for anders going on about blood magic and merrill literally being like. THAT’S where your line is?? JUST the circle?? that’s where your line is with the chantry?? everything the chantry says about magic is designed to oppress us EXCEPT the stuff about blood magic?? what about the stuff about elves?? what about all of that nonsense?? like are u serious and he’s like ....... oh. i have to think about this

+bonus: surana/amell who chose a blood magic spec or if you gave anders one in awakening. merrill asks about the Rumours and anders either defensively saying wardens use blood magic to fight the darkspawn OR that they’re just rumours (if its him) but it wouldnt matter anyway bc it’s to fight darkspawn. merrill asking why it’s okay to use blood magic to fight darkspawn but not ok for her to use it for the blighted mirror/pointing out that if there’s THAT many rumours about it surely there must be some truth to it. and anders just not being willing to talk abt it or confront it.

ALSO!!! more banters about mahariel!!! positive ones where they can share their memories of them instead of just anders going well the hero of ferelden is rather private (i get they did it to preserve whatever your hc was of your hero but STILL). PRE-BLIGHT STORIES ABT MAHARIEL!!!!

more banters for the dissent quest but instead of it painting anders’ views in the correct light abt how he’s an abomination and merrill could become one (fuck you for that one, writers), it could be more an attempt to understand justice between the two of them. 

or just more exploration/acknowledgement of how becoming an abomination IS merrill’s fear. how anders is maybe being antagonistic to her initially out of WORRY for her too (not just his fucked up andrastian thoughts abt blood magic and “bad mages”)!!!!

follow-up banters where they Discourse about the idea of an abomination maybe? that would be SUCH interesting lore...

MORE DISCUSSIONS AROUND THE INTERSECTION BETWEEN ELF AND MAGE. violence against elves in the alienage under the pretext of “looking for apostates” or “hiding apostates”. violence against mages, tracing it back to arlathan and pointing out that the “fear” of magic (in a non-magical ancient tevinter population) could be inextricably linked to the “fear” of elves. elves being more likely, maybe, to be mages???

!!!!!! merrill talking about how more templars are patrolling the alienage or going into it, looking for “”apostates”” in act 2 or act 3...... anders grimly saying he’ll look into it... updates on this situation in some more banters... leading to the implications that merrill and anders may have killed some templars on patrol... love that for them

NO MORE OF THAT NONSENSE about how elves and humans don’t have any differences in the circle. NONE! OF! THAT! that’s some BS. the chant is telling ppl that elves are furthest from the maker and yet they’re trying to convince me there’s no fantasy racism in the circles from the templars or the mages. absolute BULLSHIT imho

anders asking merrill about how mages are trained by the dalish! the role keepers play! merrill mentioning MULTIPLE mages in the clan and anders being surprised because its “common knowledge” that dalish like... give up their mages when there’s too many per clan and merrill coldly debunking it bc FUCK YOU dai, you’ll pry this from my cold, dead fingers. 

anders growing to respect the way dalish mages are trained, instead of seeing it as inferior, & wishing that the circle could be that supportive. thinking of how many mages he knew would’ve benefited from that kind of upbringing. thinking about how the way dalish mages are trained could be something for people to learn from, after the circles are dissolved.

BANTERS LIKE THE ONES IN DAI BETWEEN DORIAN AND SOLAS. because merrill is a fucking scholar (LOVE her approach to the ruins in dao) and anders thinking he knows so much about how to cast magic and merrill knowing better. LMAO follow-up banters where merrill is like :) i noticed you casting that spell differently today :) and anders aggravatedly being like YES ok you were right it DOES conserve more mana to cast it that way and merrill being like :^)

MERRILL KNOWS HER SHIT. anders has got rigid circle training and whatever training (if any) the wardens gave him. INTELLECTUAL EXCHANGE. something something anders respecting merrill as a formidable mage who KNOWS WHAT SHE’S DOING even if he doesn’t always necessarily AGREE with what she’s doing, he can at least respect that she knows her shit

romanced merrill stealing anders’ book for sex magic. i know that one is canon but i wish anders had been more amused and obliging about it. isabela going “OOOOOH you could show her the electricity thing” and anders being like “HMMMM i could. and maybe the fire thing too.” and isabela going “you never showed ME the fire thing :(” also anders going like “ooooh do you do that magic vine stuff?? i knew a dalish elf who did it and i really did have some.... ideas...” and merrill going “oh yes, love doing that” (listen. merrill is not like. innocent. she just doesn’t understand human culture. she’s absolutely kinky in bed, no one who isn’t would go through anders’ grimoire, specifically to look for sex magic spells. sorry not sorry about it). 

OK HEAR ME OUT. ANDERS AND MERRILL ARE ABSOLUTELY COPARENTING SOME OF THOSE STRAY KITTENS IN LOWTOWN. NO. I WILL NOT BE TAKING QUESTIONS.

if taken on mirror image, anders asking whether she really thinks its worth it to talk to this demon for the mirror and merrill saying yes and anders sighing, obviously thinking it’s a bad idea, but going well alright i’ll back you up, i know you know more about this stuff than i do

anders calling marethari an idiot for not having faith in merrill :^)

OK ALSO MERRILL SHOULD NOT HAVE FALLEN FOR THE DEMON IN FEYNRIEL’S QUEST. THIS ISN’T EVEN ABOUT THEIR RELATIONSHIP, IT’S JUST BULLSHIT THAT THEY HAD HER GIVING INTO PRIDE. GET FUCKED, MERRILL KNOWS WHAT’S SHE’S DOING

i think a lot of these are anders-centric bc bias and i feel like merrill IS v sweet to him anyway (UNDESERVINGLY! he’s so fucking mean to her, most of the party members are) but my adhd brain is so fucking scattered rn and i can’t think beyond this so PLSSSS add more if you want to !!!!

[eff-plays]

can we get more of your feelings about the durge/astarion stuff pretty please?? because i feel SO vindicated after reading your thoughts and am almost resentful of durge/astarion stuff having everyone so "they're made for each other!" and "they're canon!", it feels so invalidating towards tav/astarion. i really don't like durge either; i have one canon character when i play rpgs and dark urge does not fit them in the slightest 😓

if i wanted to put an understanding spin on it, i guess that's the trade off for having your own custom character with a back story you've created, and at least astarion is so incredibly loving towards tav and talks repeatedly about how incredible they are and how much he cares for them. but i do absolutely have SO many created scenarios in my head where my tav breaks down with their own traumas and ptsd, and astarion is there to comfort and help them through it, because god knows we don't get any of that in the actual game 😭 (i hope this made sense omg, i just love your opinions and want to hear them all)

Honestly I am not generally in the business of having too many opinions on things I haven't personally tried or experienced, so what you've seen so far of my opinions on Durge/Astarion is basically the extent of it, and my reasoning for deciding not to try it in the first place.

However, I can offer some further vindication in that I think saying "they're made for each other" or "they're canon" is such a dipshit and factually incorrect take that it's pretty much not worth getting upset over. People can say and think whatever they want, that doesn't always make it true, particularly not when it comes to RPGs that are meant to be played as you want them. People who say this are fundamentally misunderstanding the concept of an RPG, and they're probably stupid, and their opinions aren't worth considering or taking seriously. Or, they're just trying to upset you and they feel smug about their own choices, in which case you should still ignore them.

Like, I hate Ascended Astarion, but I'm not gonna say Spawn Astarion is canon. If I do say it, I will clarify that it's canon for me, because it is, but canon in general? It would be literally, factually untrue. So why would I say that unless I'm wilfully obnoxious and smug about my choices? Or just dumb? Which I am, but not like that.

Iirc Larian encouraged people to play custom origin for their first playthrough, and people did, and most people tried going for Astarion. That means that, statistically, a shitton of people have Tav/Astarion as their main pairing. Why would they encourage this if it's apparently not canon? Why shoot themselves in the foot by offering an apparently inferior experience first?

Also, just because one writer wrote stuff for one character because they had the time to do so, does not make it somehow the definitive answer. It was clearly not intended to be the only romance where Durge gets a specific variation, I doubt Larian would do that, so it's basically an accident, or at least unintentional.

That being said, even if it was intentional, who's to say it's a good thing? Harkening back to my Dragon Age days, I remember people saying that Andrastian human was clearly the intended experience, and the game struggled to accommodate any other race/class. Does that make it canon? Or just bad game design/writing?

Obviously not saying Larian did a bad job, clearly they did a good job if people are going to bat for it this obnoxiously, but the logic is equally flawed.

I do have issues with Durge in general as a concept (mostly cuz I just don't understand the logic behind including it aside from ... previous game fanservice?) but I haven't even graduated from gamer school yet so I won't get into that.

Also, one thing abt Tav I love that Durge misses out on is just the sheer ballsiness and comedy of rocking up to Bhaal's secret temple and killing all his guys and just not even being involved in any of that shit at all. Durge gets all that angst and drama, sure, and Orin is soo important apparently, but she died in two rounds for me. TWO. Imagine being just some fucking guy who fucks up your shit so bad that you have to restart everything. That amuses me to no end.

So ... there's that, lmao.

[crossdressingdeath]

I feel like one of the main problems with Inquisitions cast is that they feel like they’re friends with each other, not with you. like obviously part of that is game design/time management: they can only write/voice so many lines and account for so many player choices for each of the companions but like. Come on BioWare. I think Quiz should’ve been able to interact more in banter. As it is they’re mostly a silent participant, unless it’s about them (any of the romance banter basically).

It certainly helps to drive home the feeling of loneliness/separation a Quiz would be feeling but at what cost.

Additionally pre-Skyhold, before you can do any of the personal quests, feels super lonely, especially before you get most of the companions. You have what. Cassandra, Solas and Varric? (not to dis any of them but like. they aren’t 3 of the most open people to talk to and become friends with) Haven is a little town with a lot of people in it but it feels very empty, especially since so many of those people wanted to dead days/weeks prior… + the fact that Quiz may feel like they’re being forced into joining the Inquisition. just a recipe for bad mental health

I do really like Quiz having some opportunities to interject in banter, especially since DAO and DA2 really don't give you that chance? I've been keeping Varric and Dorian in my party in order to eventually trigger the banter where they start betting on Quiz's chances... with odds of three to one in Corypheus's favour. And you can either get upset at Dorian for betting against you or take the bet. (Also side note Varric refers to Quiz as "our beloved Inquisitor" and that pleases me immensely.) But yeah, a lot of the time it does feel a bit like soldiers chatting in the back ranks while their commander leads them to the next destination.

But I think the biggest problem with DAI's writing is the way the vast majority of your companions think of you as the Herald of Andraste and treat you more like a religious figurehead and boss than a friend. I know I bring this up a lot, but Varric ending his friendship cutscene by openly saying he finds it easy to forget that Quiz is a person like that's fine and normal even though his entire deal is "Hey, remember that Hawke's a person and my friend and not just some walking, talking statue that does Heroics" really is a whole thing.

And yeah, Haven would be incredibly isolating for Quiz. Varric at least asks how they're holding up with the whole prisoner to religious figure speedrun situation, but other than that you're basically just... expected to deal with it. Especially bad for any Quiz who isn't Andrastian and is getting a fun first taste of how they're going to be expected to play a good little Andrastian for at least the next three years whether they like it or not. But even when the characters actually ask if you're okay there's never really a nice strong no. Like... maybe when your LI asks how you're holding up at the end of WEaWH there should be a "I just had to risk my life for a bunch of Orlesians who've spent the whole evening talking shit about me to my face for being a mage/elf/dwarf/Vashoth as part of my duties in a role my advisors threatened me into to begin with and I'm genuinely starting to wonder if saving the world is worth all this" option, for example. But the absolute most you ever get is "I don't know if I did enough for these ungrateful bastards who treat me like shit". I guess at least you can swear about it in Trespasser...

[chantlight]

NEVARRA / DRAGON-HUNTING GUILDS.

I've spoken on the topic of dragon-hunting and of Reavers in Nevarra a few times over the years. Relevant posts can be found here, here, here, and here on the archive. In this post, I want to focus more on the guilds and the regulations surrounding dragon-hunting and reaving. I'm not crafting specific guilds yet, but this should give a sufficient overview. As a small note, the games make taking down a dragon, including a high dragon, a relatively simple thing. Sure, these are tough fights, but they're still accomplished by a party of four. In reality, it would not be that easy; perhaps you could away with that for a drake or dragonling, but even they tend to fight in groups. As I write this, it is with the thought that taking down a dragon would require a party of at least ten to fifteen.

ORIGINS.

The region of Thedas Nevarra occupies, even in the days when it was a city-state, has always had a large dragon population. That is likely what drew Tevinter's eye in the ancient days of the Imperium, and when Nevarra itself began to expand, places with a sizable dragon presence were targeted. The act of dragon-hunting itself has long been a matter of piety in the nation, with the Andrastian faith connecting these creatures to the Old Gods and the original sin. No small amount of glory (and wealth) accompanies slaying one — not to mention the necessity of controlling the population of bests who can take a shit as large as a house.

Although the Pentaghasts are the most famous dragon-hunters in Nevarra and all of Thedas, they have never been the only ones. Other noble houses joined in the sport, and several now well-established can trace their origins to famed dragon-hunters of old. As taking down a dragon is no mean feat, requiring numbers in addition to equipment, the wealthiest and most well-supplied groups were the ones to survive.

These harrowing hunts forged bonds of tightest brotherhood between the hunters, which formed the basis of the guilds. Laws surrounding dragon-hunting and also reaving have altered over the centuries, but they have been officially regulated since the Glory Age. However, it was the apparent "extinction" of dragons in the Steel Age that led to the strictest regulations and shaped guilds into the form they take today.

TERRITORY.

Although it is true Nevarra has the greatest number of dragon-hunters in Thedas, that number is tracked and kept relative to the number of dragons. Every guild must be registered with and licensed by the government, and each member must likewise be licensed. They must keep an accurate account of their members, equipment, hunts (successful and not), as well as income and expenditures. A close watch is kept on them, especially in times of unrest, as even a single non-Reaver dragon-hunter is a formidable opponent. A group working in concert , perfectly attuned and loyal to one another, supplemented by dread Reavers, is a foe no one wants to face.

To that end, there are always multiple guilds in each of the fourteen provinces. Each one receives from their nomarch land on which to maintain a guildhouse (typically housing 20-40 people between the hunters and those they employ) and the right to hunt in that province. In exchange, the nomarch receives a percentage of what they bring in. This gives the nomarch a concrete means of controlling them. The conceit of ensuring there are multiple guilds in each province is it puts them in competition with one another, creasing the likelihood of them allying against the nomarch — or under the nomarch to threaten the crown.

Naturally, guilds do not have free reign to hunt when and where they please. They must remain within their province and keep to designated hunting grounds for their prey unless given special dispensation. I'll go into the various prey these guilds hunt below (it's not exclusively dragons), but there are clearly defined seasons for each and their nesting grounds are documented. Winter is the season for true dragons; by that time, the eggs will have hatched and the young will be able to fend for themselves.

JOINING.

Far more dream of becoming dragon-hunters than actually do, and many who begin the process fail before reaching the end. Anyone who wishes to pursue this path must first apply to a guild and be accepted as an apprentice. This is typically between the ages of twelve and fourteen. The average size of a guild is between fifteen and thirty (not including apprentices and people in their employ), meaning they are very scrupulous about which prospective apprentices they accept. The majority are rejected, although they may reapply next recruiting season. It is a lethal profession, after all.

Apprentices who are accepted are not eligible for full admission to the guild as hunters until their early 20s. They must first complete a demonstration of skill as well as bring in a kill. The specifics of that, as well as any additional requirements, are determined by each guild. However, although the requirements to rise in rank varies between guilds, the ranks themselves remain the same. They are divided into hunters, high hunters, and great hunters, mirroring the classifications of dragons. Great hunters form the leadership of a guild and make decisions by vote. Special recognition is also given to those who have slain a high dragon and those who have become reavers. The former are termed, throughout the nation, a Spear of the Prophet and have a phoenix tattooed on their right arm with one tail feather for each high dragon they've felled.

Technically, anyone may become a dragon-hunter. In practice, it is prohibitively expensive. Apprentices owe a fee to the guild for room, board, and training. Other benefits, such as access to potions or medical care or funeral services, are determined by each guild. Apprentices must also provide their own gear, which one should not skimp on in this profession. Apprentices are not permitted to join in hunts for true dragons, but they may assist in hunting other creatures, such as giant spiders. Any worthwhile guild will give them a portion of the profits from any successful hunt in which they participated. In the end, this a profession only the wealthy or those with wealthy patrons may pursue.

REAVERS.

Becoming a Reaver is dangerous and unpredictable. The potential rewards are high . . . but the potential risks are much higher. Thus few choose to pursue this specialization, and fewer still actually complete the training. Every guild has Reavers but rarely more than can be counted on one hand. By law, prospective Reavers must be at least thirty years of age, a guildmember for at least seven years, and participants in at least five successful hunts. They must also find a Reaver willing to teach them. The rest of the process varies between guilds as each guild has developed a unique, closely guarded method which has its own benefits — and drawbacks. It is an incredibly variable specialization.

There are a few overarching truths, however. Although the Pentaghasts closely guard Hector's store of Reaver knowledge, the specialization as it exists in Nevarra is derived from that source. However, the use of magic beyond what is naturally present in the ingredients is strictly forbidden. The use of Devour and similar techniques on other people is strictly forbidden; cannibalism is not allowed. The use of such techniques on other types of opponents is . . . gross perhaps but allowed. The use of techniques such as Aura of Pain which damage the spirits of those nearby are permitted because the Reaver is also damaged. The Reaver is forbidden from doing spirit damage to others that they do not also suffer, and they are permitted from cannibalizing the spirits of their opponents.

Any animal in the dragon family may technically be used, but each will produce a different effect. The blood of wyverns, varghests, and gurguts (aka lesser dragons) is not addictive but will produce weaker effects and must be regularly retaken as the effects are not permanent. Nevarrans do not consider these people true Reavers. The only way to become a true Reaver is to drink a tincture prepared with the blood of a true dragon. Each classification of dragon (i.e. Northern Hunter, Gamordan Stormrider) as well as the age of the dragon will produce a different effect with a different intensity. This is further affected by the other ingredients in the tincture.

It is standard practice for prospective Reavers to be microdosed on tinctures of lesser dragon blood in order to assess how they'll handle the blood of a true dragon. Once their trainer — called a Breaker — deems them fit, they must slay and gather the blood of a dragon to use in their initiating tincture. The true test is to draw blood from the prey while it yet lives as that will have the best effect. As they advance in their career as a Reaver, they may consume subsequent tinctures made of dragon, mature dragon, or high dragon blood. However, as this increases a Reaver's power, it also increases the likelihood of them losing themselves to it. If that happens, they must be put down; it is not a pretty fight. They will also be ineligible for proper burial, meaning their soul will be eternally lost in the Void. Thus not only are the Reavers responsible for maintaining self-control but their guild is also responsible for monitoring them and limiting their access to dragon blood if necessary.

PREY.

As mentioned previously, guilds hunt more than dragons. That is their primary prey, but they needed a source of income in the nearly four centuries dragons were believed extinct. Furthermore, they are providing population control but are attempting not to hunt them to true extinction. Thus they must supplement with other worthy prey.

This means lesser dragons, of course. But, it also means infestations of giant bats, rats, and spiders. Also horned hares and giants — really any large, formidable prey that your typical hunter or soldier could not match. They also frequently work with Grey Wardens and the Templar Order to take down blighted and arcane prey respectively. (Frankly, the Templar Order is not quite so powerful in Nevarra as in other nations, at least presently. They wouldn't be able to get much done without teaming up with the guilds.)

INCOME.

Dragon-hunting guilds derive their income from multiple sources. One, of course, is the fee paid by apprentices. Another is donations from wealthy patrons. They may also take contracts to hunt a specific creature in a specific place, which naturally generates income. (They do not rely on contract work, however.) Then, of course, there is the income generated by their prey. Lesser prey / prey that are not true dragons may still be broken down and sold to craftsmen, mages, etc. as well as used by the guild itself if they are able to employ their own craftsmen.

But, a true dragon? Now that is the real prize. Firstly, high dragons are not common prey, and the slaying of drakes and dragonlings is limited in order to prevent population depletion. (As it is drakes who raise dragonlings, it is more dangerous to the population to kill the fathers than the mother.) The majority of true dragons slain are dragons or mature dragons. Dragons are either searching for a nest or have only recently built one, meaning they have little to no hoard of treasure; a mature dragon will have built up quite a tidy one, if not as large as a high dragons, which is additional profit for the guild. Every part of a dragon is put to use, either eaten or put toward crafting. Some will be kept by the guild but the rest will be sold. Every three years, however, all the guilds convene in Hunter Fell to talk shop, show off their skills, etc. and to establish how much of each product will be allowed into the market at what price.

All guilds keep trophies but only from the most impressive kills. Where true dragons are concerned, this typically means a high dragon. However, it is forbidden to keep dragon eggs. Doing so is punishable by death for those involved and will result in a tattoo of shame for every other guildmember as well as probable dissolution of the guild. Attempting to keep a dragonling or drake is similarly punishable. These are not pets, and any attempt to treat them as such is extremely dangerous to everyone in the vicinity. In the rare instance of the dragon and all drakes being eliminated, the eggs must be smashed. They won’t survive on their own so it is no cruelty; the only cruelty would be to leave them for unscrupulous looters.

METHODS.

I place this at the end because it’s a short section. Really I just want to highlight that every guild has a trade secret where dragon-hunting is concerned. Some aim to ground a dragon by piercing the webbing of its wings. Some ground it using ropes and nets. Some seek to drive them into a cave or wooded area — somewhere they can’t easily fly. They might have particular formations for hunting parties or a technique for an individual to master (i.e. use of khopesh). Some specialize in certain terrains or certain types of dragons. They all need a claim to fame.

[ghostwise]

37 and 41 from the character solidifying asks, for a character of your choosing?

I'll do these for Tatienne! I can't seem to pin down her design, but at the very least I'll work out more of her personality. :)

How is your character’s imagination? Daydreaming a lot? Worried most of the time? Living in memories?

She's always grounded in the moment, her vibe is calm and steady. It takes a lot to shake her--not to say it doesn't happen, but it's rare. That state of contentment makes it so she's not often daydreaming. She doesn't need to escape, you know? She's not running from anything. She does lend herself to whimsy at times. She has a pet falcon and she talks to him all the time.

Is your character aware of who they are? Strengths? Weaknesses? Idiosyncrasies? Capable of self-irony?

She's pretty self-aware, especially as a person who embodies a lot of seemingly conflicting identities. She is Dalish, but has always been close with relatives who live in the city, and as an adult converted to the Andrastianism they practiced. She's a lesbian and made the decision to live alone, neither alienage nor clan. She's fallen in with a group working against the Crows.

She has a sense of humor and a big heart, but tends to self-sabotage her relationships and opportunities, at least subconsciously.

[lairofdragonagelore]

Andrastian Statues

The purpose of this collection of statues is to show the Andrastian style depending on the region, the details in it, and how this may or may not influence other statues we saw in game. I also attempt to recollect some interpretations of them, although most of them are mostly based on speculations.

The current post contains the following set of statues:

Ferelden Style: Pre-Divine Andraste, Chasind Andraste, Ferelden warrior protector Andraste, The Maker, The Dwarf [?], Rider Maferath  [?], Masferath Repentant, Hanged Masferath, Other Statues.

Orlesian Style: Rustic Maferath, Hessarian, Andraste; The Orlesian Warrior Andraste, The Stylised Orlesian Andraste, The Orlesian Andraste, The Orlesian Maferath, The Orlesian Havard, and the Orlesian Hessarian; The Weight of War

Free Marches Style: The Free Marches Hessarian, The Free Marches Andrastian Warriors [?]

Unknown Style: The Skull with sword, The Guide, Guardians of the Path / The Watcher.

[This post belongs to the series “Analysis and speculation of Statues”]

Ferelden Style

Pre-Divine Andraste

One of the most iconic statues in DAI.  

It’s present all over Ferelden, specially in big, colossal statues along the paths of Hinterlands. They are so big that sometimes one can overlook them unless you look upwards [check Hinterlands: Statues, paintings, and structures found in the open]. 

In Skyhold, we can find this statue in a small version in the local chapel, which triggers the note Bride of the Maker.

Thanks to the DLC Jaws of Hakkon [Main Chamber of Razikale’s Reach], we know that this statue belongs to a pre-divine time. It is probably one of the oldest representations of Andraste we have in-game.

As usual, she has a one-spike helm that has strong resemblances to Flemeth’s tiara, and to Humanoid Mythal statue, Dragon Mythal statue, and the Ferelden Wyvern.

She has a sword in her hip. 

Her sleeves and skirt have long lines that emulate folding. It’s a style we saw in statues that were considered “elvhen” in-game [for example, the Elven Archers or The guide]. But we can see this became an Andrastian style since we also see it in the Blocky bearded humanoid.

Her gigantic hands have been used in several elvhen places, and I wonder how meaningful these are: these hands appear in Exalted Plains: the Dead Hand as well as in the  Shattered Library, holding eluvians. Is this a mere reuse of resources or hides some lore in it? We know DAI is less lazy about this than previous games.

This statue is curiously aligned with Humanoid Mythal statue in the Fade, as well as with the Imperial Highway Columns [check The Raw Fade:  Part 1]. A Design choice that keeps me wondering if it hides some meaning in it.

Chasind Andraste

It has the design of a totem.

Its relief is very intricate. 

She is represented as a protector warrior due to the strong presence of the shield on it. 

We can suspect this statue is also ancient, and you can see that it has similar style to the Alamarri Monolith with swirls we find all over Hinterlands.

If you pick the Chantry-related garden in Skyhold, this statue appears in it and the archivist Banon will mention details about it in The Women of All War. He claims it’s Chasind, not original from Skyhold, brought by Ferelden into the castle. He also suggest it’s a re-usage of an ancient totemic statue. 

This last comment streghtens the idea that ancient Andrastian art tends to be done over or using/co-opting statues from previous civilisations.

Ferelden warrior protector Andraste

Another classic representation of Andraste in game.

It’s Ferelden style.

She is represented as a warrior [holding shield and sword] but also as a divine entity [I suspect the ring behind her works as a rustic design of a halo].

There is a chance that the thick “halo” could be an adaptation from another icon we saw among the Elvhenan design: the Golden Ring. How is this possible? I think it’s not too strange considering how deeply related to the elves the Avvar are. If we think that part of this culture comes from the Alamarri, one could guess that through the elvhen lover that Thrydda had, some elvhen presence has been around this culture to incorporate elvhen iconography in their own art, translated later into something of this shape.

The Maker

This mysterious figure has no face, in fact, it looks like bandaged. In his right hand holds a crown, while in his left hand, a dagger. The outfit is a very simple robe. 

The dagger is quite curious for a representation of the Maker.

This statue took me a long whlie to identify. In early posts I kept calling it  Faceless figure holding a crown. I came to the conclusion it is the Maker.

This statue appears always within the context of the Andrastian statues, so it could not be asumed in any other way than related to the Andraste Myth. In the posts Andrastian Design: Stained Glasses and Andrastian Design: Tapestry and Tryptich, we can see that a figure with no face and wearing a crown of similar characteristics is represented as the Maker.  These are my main arguments to be confident about this identification.

In Hinterlands, he appears in the main hall of Haven very high upon the hall, hidden in the shadows, in a room filled with andrastian iconography, which reinforces the idea that it represents an entity that is above all of them, Andraste included. Another confirmation of being the Maker.

It also appears in the Tyrdda Bright-Axe Path, which has a mixture of statues, and in Forbidden Oasis, when the place was took by the Andrastian forces. It also appears in the mysterious Hinterlands: The Unknown Ruin. Other more natural and Andraste-related places where we find it: Redcliffe - Future,  Therinfal Redoubt, Western Approach: Adamant Fortress.

The Dwarf [?]

This figure was tag along the blog as Blocky bearded humanoid. It is found in the main hall of the Templar building of Therinfal Redoubt and in the corridors of Redcliffe - Future

The design of this statue feels closer to the pre-divine Andraste. Maybe it has some influence of the Alamarri style.

The long lines on sleeves and chest seem to suggest similarity in style with the pre-divine Andraste but also with the elvhenan statues such as the Elven Archers, or The guide.

Its face seems to show a big smile, but if you see it with more detail, it may also represent a long, long beard.  The broad constitution, the big ears, the lack of hair, and the prominent beard seem to suggest a golem-like or dwarven representation.

I can’t say I can identify this figure in the Andrastian Myth, but it’s related to the Andrastian Faith since it appears where there are other andrastian figures.

If this figure comes from the Alamarri and it was co-opted by the Andrastian faith, I could suspect that may be related to the dwarven culture that Alamarri had. If we remember Tyrdda Bright-Axe Path, she had a child with a dwarven prince. The Chasind also had mixed descendants of humans and dwarves. So, if it’s an alamarri statue co-opted by the Chantry, it could not be strange for it to be a dwarf. These details may indicate that the Alamarri had a deeper relationship with not only elvhen, but also dwarves, and this aspect appeared in the art until co-opted by the andrastian faith resulting in this figure.

Rider Maferath  [?]

This statue appears only in Fallow Mire. Although, the same statue appears riding a horse in Crestwood: surface. Maybe it’s a mere reuse of resources.

It has a similar design to the  Blocky bearded humanoid.

It represents a man with a beard, and its angular design may suggest similar time and style than the previous one.

More details in the section Other Statues from this post.

Masferath Repentant

Mostly seen in the region of Ferelden [although, you can find it too in Western Approach: Adamant Fortress] 

This is the typical Ferelden statue of Masferath, regretting his betrayal.

He is sitting on a stone which has a design of a snake surrounding it, representing the Tevinter influence or deal he made with the Archon before handing over his wife. 

The helm in this statue has a C-shape, which I find very similar in design to the Tevinter helms [check section “Outfits” in Patterns and Styles: Tevinter]. I’m not sure if this is mere coincidence, or it speaks of a common [dragon-inspired] origin source.

Hanged Masferath

This totemic sculpture can be found in Hinterlands: Statues, paintings, and structures found in the open.

This is a Ferelden representation of Masferath being hanged. Clearly Ferelden has a strong sentiment with his betrayal.

The totemic structure seems to show mabaris at its base, followed by two different kinds of birds or maybe it’s a dragon [hard to say].

The top of these totems keeps bringing my attention: I can’t stop thinking there may be some link with the Tevinter metallic statue that I called  “Tevinter bird”, found in Ferelden in the underground region of Crestwood: Flooded Caves.

Other Statues

The couple can be found in Hinterlands: Redcliffe - Present, as a symbol to remember those who died in DAO-Redcliffe. It can also be found in Crestwood: surface as a memory statue of the drown, and in Frostback Basin [DLC]: Nigel’s point, as a memory statue of Ameridan’s friends: The templar Haron and the dwarf Orinna. It feels more like a reuse in most cases since it’s a strange statue to represent "fallen/lost people”.  Certainly we can assume it’s Ferelden made.

The horse with the rider seems to have, as we see in its drawing from the book Art of Inquisition, a lot in common with the previous statue I called “Rider Masferath”. The horse has been removed in some other places to only let the human figure stay.  It can be seen in Fallow Mire without his horse, and in Crestwood: surface. Sometimes the rider is not well chiselled in the stone. 

The vessel with many faces is only seen once in the game, in the The Darvaarad - Part2. We know the Qunari took this castle and put a lot of statues that they gathered around the world. However, this statue of many faces looks like it belonged to the inner corridors of the castle, implying the castle per ser may have been Ferelden, or elvhen in origin, but repurposed by Ferelden later. In the game we only see the “back” part of it, while in the book Art of Inquisition, we can see the full statue, which implies a beheaded figure. Maybe it’s the representation of a jury. It could also be interpreted as an entity that puts “the right head” into the people, suiting the Qunari and their Qun philosophy, but this interpretation would make me question why it is so related to Ferelden art in the Art Book.

Orlesian Style

Rustic Maferath, Hessarian, Andraste

A bit distant to the style of the Blocky bearded humanoid, we have these series of statues representing typical characters from the Andrastian Myth.

They are mostly located in different areas all over Orlais [or inside the Skyhold if you pick an Andrastian garden].

We find Andraste, in blue and red [I’m assuming one is the bride of the Maker, while the other is the warrior protector of her people]

Masferath is carrying a crown (?) in his hands, and Hessarian is holding the Sword of Mercy.

These seem to belong to an Orlesian style but rustic or more “popular”. They give me the impression that were made by the working class people who could not afford realistic artists to sculpt them in stone. 

They seem to be made out of wood.

The Orlesian Warrior Andraste

Unlike the previous one, this Orlesian statue is made out of stone and is bigger, more detailed, and realistic. It seems to appear in rich/high class places.

It also appears in Emerald Graves: Din'an Hanin, which may represent the influence of the Andrastian faith among the Ancient Dalish when the Dales was their Kingdom land granted by Andraste herself.

This statue presents Andraste as a warrior: she is wearing a detailed armour, a big sword, and, curiously, a helm that has no iconic single-spike. However, I can see some similarities in the armour design to Flemeth’s armour or the armour used by Humanoid Mythal statue.

Due to the strong similarities in style, this statue belongs to the same group than the Orlesian Andraste, Orlesian Maferath, Orlesian Havard, and Orlesian Hessarian.

The Stylised Orlesian Andraste

Another over-detailed statue of Andraste made out of Stone which appears in wealthy places.

The whole design of Andraste has a strong similarity to Tyrdda Bright-Axe, which may suggest that this statue may have a strong alamarri influence, mixing Andraste tale with the representation of Tyrdda.

The icon that represents the sun, ironically, has a strong similarity with the statue I called Sun-head creature, deeply related to the Elvhenan and, potentially, to Tevinter and its old dragon gods. This may imply that this statue may have collected several icons and details from different cultures and faiths to gather them in the cult to Andraste. This process is well known in human History, where the forced religion tries to blend with the local ancient one to produce an assimilation of the new faith.

The Orlesian Andraste

This Orlesian statue is made out of stone and is bigger and a lot more detailed and realistic that the “wooden” sculptures. 

It tends to appear in wealthy places as well as inside the Chantries of the game.

It represents mostly the divine Andraste and the bride of the Maker, without any element of her warrior side.

She has a one-spike helm that has strong resemblances to Flemeth’s tiara, Humanoid Mythal statue, Dragon Mythal statue, and the Ferelden Wyvern.

Due to the strong similarities in style, this statue belongs to the same group than the Orlesian Warrior Andraste, Orlesian Maferath, Orlesian Havard, and Orlesian Hessarian.

The Orlesian Masferath

It is called “The Betrayer”. 

We see the man worried, grabbing his own head, showing the weight of his own betrayal. He keeps the crowd of his leadership of the Alamarri in his hand since the Chantry tale says that he betrayed Andraste out of jealousy because she was more important than him among their people. I always questioned this since he was the one commanding the armies and their people into Tevinter, and he may have chosen the “lesser bad” option [read the The Chantry and the Mythology of the Chant of Light for more details].

Due to the strong similarities in style, this statue belongs to the same group than the Orlesian Warrior Andraste, Orlesian Andraste, Orlesian Havard, and Orlesian Hessarian.

The Orlesian Havard

Havard is shown here with avvar clothings [fur-based]. 

He is  carrying the urn of Andraste’s ashes that will be placed in Haven and will become later the Temple of Andraste [DAO].

We know thanks to the notes triggered in it that this statue seems to represent Havard but its appearance was based on a noble’s lover [check it in Emprise du Lion: Pools of the Sun].

Due to the strong similarities in style, this statue belongs to the same group than the Orlesian Warrior Andraste, Orlesian Andraste, Orlesian Maferath, and Orlesian Hessarian.

The Orlesian Hessarian

He is holding the sword that will be called the Sword of Mercy, used to kill Andraste in the pyre so she could not suffer anymore.

His hat has a bent T-shape that we can see in many other helms of Tevinter warriors in the section of “outfits” in Patterns and Styles: Tevinter.

Due to the strong similarities in style, this statue belongs to the same group than the Orlesian Warrior Andraste, Orlesian Andraste, Orlesian Maferath, and Orlesian Havard.

The Weight of War

This statue was tagged in this blog as Man holding bigger head  for a long while.

It has appeared in Forbidden Oasis, Redcliffe - Future, and in Orlais: Winter Palace.

Thanks to the constant presence of Andrastian-themed art around it, I could finally assume that this statue belongs to Andrastian art in Orlesian style.

The main man has angular features, his ears are not visible since it looks like he is wearing a chain-mail. He uses scale-based pauldrons, and a robe. He is holding a sword with one hand while the other holds a bigger head. By comparison with the state of the overall figure, we can assume that the bigger head has a lot of wounds and scars [meaning that this is part of the sculpture design and not a consequence of erosion]. 

Despite looking similar, the head in his hand and this man’s profile are different. The bigger head has a smaller, shrank nose. 

The only significant shape in this statue that can give us a resemblance of a hint to whom it belongs is his belt, which has pointy ends. We had seen this pattern in two places: in Tevinter artefacts, such as the sacrificial burial, or in andrastian outfits.

It triggers a codex called The Weight of War which is a bit unreliable, since the person explaining this is an amateur historian, but it’s the only hint we have about this statue. The amateur historian implies that this statue may belong to a warrior with a philosophy similar to the Grey Wardens.

More details about this statue in the post Forbidden Oasis.

Free Marches Style

The Free Marches Hessarian

It appears mostly in the Templar fortress of Therinfal Redoubt

This statue has a strong resemblance to Tevinter art. It’s not only the dark metallic material used for the sculpture, which was strong similarities with Tevinter artefacts such as Thrummer,  Water dispenser, Tevinter urn,  Tevinter artefact with spikes, Tevinter golem or Claw of Dumat, but also the prominence of angles and pointy ends. 

There is no codex associated with this sculpture, but I can guess it may represent Hessarian [the main Tevinter figure in the Andrastian Myth] since this statue has a version carrying a sword. 

It has a long beard and hair.

This statue has also been present in DA2, specially in the Chantry district of Kirkwall [check it in Architecture of Kirkwall : The Chantry].

The Free Marches Andrastian Warriors [?]

It appears mostly in the Templar fortress of Therinfal Redoubt and in the Fade.

This statue has a strong resemblance to Tevinter art. It’s not only the dark metallic material used for the sculpture, which was strong similarities with Tevinter artefacts such as Thrummer,  Water dispenser, Tevinter urn,  Tevinter artefact with spikes, Tevinter golem or Claw of Dumat, but also the prominence of angles and pointy ends. 

It’s wearing a typical DA2 Andrastian robe, but the helm has always brought my attention:  it has a lot of more similarity to the Tevinter warriors than to the one-single spike helm of Andraste.

Its weapon also has a strong similarity to the weapon used by Tevinter golems, while its helm has strong similarities with the ones that belong to the Tevinter warriors. One may say that both of them, in fact, are representing the one-spike helm of Andraste.

The unmistakable identification with Andrastian faith is given by the robe: if we see the chest, we will see the pointy half sun on it, which was the main design of the outfit of Elthina and other chantry priests we saw in DA2.

Unknown Style

The Skull with sword

This is the statue that I called Skull bud with sword all over this blog.

The skull is quite long for a regular human. It holds a sword. The body seem to be inside a bud or a shell that may look like a flower bud but also as the shell of an insect/scarab. 

This statue has always appeared within Andrastian contexts such as in Frostback Mountains - Haven [the basement], Hinterlands:Dead Ram Grove, or Ferelden: Therinfal Redoubt,  but also in places where the Andrastian context is not that strong, but still yet reasonable to appear, for example in Hinterlands: The Unknown Ruin [overtaken by Andrastian faith lately, so far we see in the statues present in this room], or Emerald Graves: Din'an Hanin [which clearly shows how the Ancient Dalish allowed a certain level of assimilation of the Andrastian faith thanks to Andraste’s gift of the Dales]. However, we also find this statue in Western Approach: The Still Ruins, Viridis Walk and Inner Sanctum, which is a pre-blight Tevinter building, so one is inclined to think that this statue may have been Tevinter in origin, and somehow, adopted later by the Andrastian faith.  Or maybe it’s just Elvhenan, taken first by Tevinter, and later by the Chantry [as we see this pattern repeats over and over with everything related to Tevinter].

One of the potential interpretations is that this sculpture represents a coffin, or a dead who is put to sleep in this position. The fact that this skull is inside a bud or an insect shell [in addition to the speculation that, like all what comes from Tevinter, was originally elvhenan] brings the possibility of being related to Uthenera and the mysterious codex of Vir Dirthara: A Flowering Imago that I tried to multi-interpret in several ways in Ancient Elven codices; Vir Dirthara.

So far I know, there is no codex associated with it, and we have only speculations about it.

Its style is not strongly similar to all these Andrastian statues, but the fact that it appears mostly within andrastian themed rooms, it’s hard not to bring it into this post.

However, I’m not confident about how to understand this statue and to what culture associated it with.

The Guide

It can be seen in three places only: Emerald Graves: The open pointing more or less towards Elgar’nan’s Bastion, on top of Stone-Bear Hold Avvars - Part 2 pointing out to the sea, and in the Fade, exactly in Flemeth’s Fade:  Part 2, pointing the path towards Mythal/Flemeth.

It’s associated with the unreliable landmark called The guide [written by this orlesian scholar who lacks of deep knowledge of elven culture], which identifies it as an elvhen statue, but it has a lot of style similarities to the Blocky bearded humanoid and the pre-divine Andraste as well as to the Skull bud with sword. If we see the back of an Elven Archer statue, we can find line-based similarities too, so it’s hard to decide whether this is truly Elvhen in origin and co-opted by the Andrastian and repurposed later, or it truly belongs to the set of pre-divine statues we spoke above and this amateur scholar misunderstood it as Elvhenan.

The unreliable landmark links it to Falon’Din for the mere fact that it is pointing out a place, so it “guides”. If we overlook this pathetic logic, and we give it a remote chance for it to be elvhen, we should be careful to identify it with Falon’Din. First, Via Solas, we know that Falon’Din was far from guiding people [Check Evanuris], and second, even if we consider this statue to be Falon’Din, we should never forget how Falon’Din and Dirthamen are entangled one another [check Humanoid Dirthamen], so this could also be a statue representing Dirthamen. The shape of the sleeves has some resemblance to the Elven Owl statue [they have long lines along it], but once more, both gods are so indistinguishable one another that it’s hard to say who is who.

Guardians of the Path / The Watcher 

This hooded statue was called Humanoid Dirthamen/Falon'Din in this blog.

The hooded statue can be seen in four places: in Emerald Graves: The open, as a watcher of entrances, in the Hinterlands, along the Tyrdda Bright-Axe Path inside the Calenhad’s Foothold; in Exalted Plains: Northern Ramparts and Citadelle du Corbeau, as the main big statue when you step into the Citadelle [again, watching over an entrance] and in Flemeth’s Fade – Part 2, as a statue bleeding profusely with a sword in its back, as an unmistakable symbol of betrayal.

In all these cases, the hooded version of the statue seems to be related to “watch or protect entrances”. Due to its presence in the Fade of Flemeth, we also can associate it with deep betrayal.

Once we see how the pattern unfolds with the statue I called Humanoid Dirthamen/Falon'Din [hodded version] we can understand the Andrastian version “guardian of the path” in similar fashion [he always appears in entrances as well], suspecting it was a re-usage and co-opt of the elvhen hooded statue when the Andrastian forces conquered the Ancient Dalish's lands.

The Guardian of the Path appears twice in game: in Crestwood: surface, at the entrance of the region, similar position as the hooded versions in Emerald Graves, and in the entrance to the region of the Exalted Plains.

[evilvarric666-archive]

Text:

Andrastian Amulet

+5 willpower

+1 magic

+10% focus gain

Restrictions: Brosca only

A silver-toned, oval pendant on a cord, inset with an image of Andraste surrounded by holy fire. The design is worn almost smooth in some places, as if passed over by a fidgeting thumb many hundreds of times over the course of years and there are several hairline fractures across its surface. It appears to have at one point been broken into four or five pieces, before being painstakingly repaired with glue.  A cheap, older thing, it has little inherent value, but is clearly loved, and precious in its own way. During quiet moments, Brosca will reach up to lay her palm over it through her shirt, her expression distant and still.

This item is available only if Brosca is Hardened. It is not possible to remove it from her inventory while she is alive, but it can be looted from her body if she is killed by Gennick or the Inquisitor during The Ancestors Beckon.

[vigilskeep]

full honesty before i look things up, when i said "the maker made the stone and then she made dwarves" i was at least partially thinking about how aulë made dwarves in lord of the rings

but there is a codex about dwarven faith in origins ("Codex entry: Dwarven Faith") and it does offer some interesting insight, since it changes depending on whether the warden is a dwarf or not. i'd quote the parts about the stone in both versions but they would make the ask extremely long; a top highlight though is brother genitivi, in the non-dwarven codex, saying dwarves don't have gods at all in the most, uh, disdainfully andrastian way, even if the dwarven side of the codex does say they don't "vie for the favor of absent gods"

also according to the wiki's page on The Stone, dwarves do indeed believe themselves to be literally born of the stone aka the earth itself, and that they venerate her but they don't worship her as a god, and that she's believed to be a "living and shifting entity with a will that surrounds and guides the dwarves" as well as "supports them, shelters them, and offers them the most priceless gifts of the earth" (including lyrium). it also brings up underground dwarves' stone sense and how, according to origins' codex entry on lyrium, dwarves "[find] veins in the Stone quite literally by ear" (<- note capitalization). apparently once they go to the surface they lose their abilities too so. yeah

re: theology finally i think, in-universe, "what is the stone" and "who made the dwarves" and all of this is probably a matter of pure unadultered "pogostick satan"-tier academic theological debate within the chantry's scholars, flipped table and all, and again what i'll say is based on my baseless silly speculation/guess, but: if andrastians do actually believe that "the maker made the stone and then she made dwarves [and so they aren't children of the maker]", my takeaway on how it works is that if a human gives birth to another human, their entire people was still created by the maker, so the baby is still a child of the maker because it was like, conceptualized i guess by the maker. he decided what babies would look like and such.

meanwhile dwarves as a people would be believed to be created by the stone, and so theoretically they weren't conceptualized by the maker, or at the very least he didnt have a direct hand in realizing the concept (idk if andrastianism subscribes to the idea that "the maker planned for everything that has ever happened and ever will"? but if it does i figure the explanation is that when the maker made the stone, he knew that it would design and create dwarves as a concept, but he didnt design and create dwarves /himself/ and instead let the stone do that, and so they're a step removed rather than being a direct creation. i figure)

all that theology does hinge on my interpretation that "they could say the maker made the stone and then she made dwarves" though, which could easily be complete and total heresy. in fact that might be why josie is nervous about inquisitorial stone veneration, because the inquisitor venerating the stone yet being favored by andraste can be interpreted as divine confirmation of a heresy from 200 years ago and that might make the chantry triple hate you

apologies for the long ask, dwarves are just interesting lol

if i write a full response to this the post will be essay length but this is all super interesting and i am eating it thank u

[world-of-thedas]

Our Heart is in the Right Place

Heraldry that I designed for my Inquisitor’s Trevelyan. 

The House Trevelyan are devout Andrastian’s who believe that they can trace their lineage directly back to the time of Andraste herself. It was Kyros Elian I, a noble who claimed to have married one of the daughters of Vival,* that the Trevelyan’s claim their linage to.

All of Vival’s daughters took their scion’s name, so the truth of this claim is hotly contested. But one could easily argue that no family in the Free Marches is more devoted to the Chantry then the Trevelyan’s. There have even been rumors that they had aspirations of producing an heir who would one day become Divine.

*Vival was the only surviving biological daughter of Andraste at the time of her death

[thorgans-guide-to-thedas]

Cumberland

Trade empire, home to the College of Magi, and one of the largest cities in Thedas. Feel free to use this resource, or to take parts of it your inspiration in your DA RPG campaign!

You can find detailed map and district descriptions under the cut.

1. Tournament Grounds: This area is located at the bottom of the valley, and is a testing grounds for all matter of abilities, whether it be agility, combat, magic, or crafting. This is also the location of the Grand Tourney, and the setting in the Autumn Falls DA RPG campaign. 

2. Citadel: This is the home of many of the Cumberland politicians, dignitaries, and members of Council. This area is heavily guarded and may require special permission or invitations in order to enter the area.

3. The Dragon’s Den: The dwarven trade empire. This area of the city exists both above and below ground, with several points of entry to the underground district that lies buried beneath the mountains. The buildings in this area are all made out of dense stone, and in the distinct style and intricate design of dwarven architecture. This district is also home to the renowned Diamond Lass Inn. 

4. Dura Bazaar: A lavish above-ground market with items and goods from all across Thedas. The shops are well-kept and line every street for blocks along the harbor. You can find almost everything here from durable equipment, to exquisite clothing and adornments. 

5. Veneration Crossing: A massive bridge that crosses the River Cumber, with immense statues on either side. The statues show of a warrior with a raised weapon on one side of the bridge facing an angry dragon on the other. This bridge commemorates all the great Nevarran dragon hunters. 

6: Markham Wharf: Named after the Van Markham Kings that settled much of Nevarra into the country it is today. This is a bustling port that greets ships from as far away as Rivain. 

7. Manuma Hill: The religious district of Cumberland, housing the Andrastian Chantry temple, and their schools and libraries. This district is located in a highly elevated place alongside the mountains surrounding Cumberland.

8. Forsythia Ancestral Estate: A still active estate run by members of the Forsythia family, and a location available if pursued in campaign options.

9. College of Magi: A large collective of intricate buildings home to the pursuit, study, and practice of magic. Some key buildings of interest include the Red Auditorium, and the Sun Dome, which its large, golden-tiled dome can be seen from the other side of the harbor. 

10. The Northern Wall: This gate leads out of Cumberland and into the twisting passage of the Bronze Highlands.

11. The Iron Mile (hidden behind the legend): This is the worker-hub of Cumberland, where many of the working-class and poverty-stricken live. This district extends up and into the mountains, and is also home to a couple different mining operations. Many of the labor surrounds the manufacturing of precious metals, hence the name Iron Mile.

12. South Vale (hidden behind the legend): A small community that houses many of the workers who do not live inside of Cumberland - somewhat of a shanty-town.

[ramblinganthropologist]

The pirate and the pumpkin

Summary: Halloween hits Skyhold, and Bull's got his eye on the cakes. Well, the cakes and a pumpkin.

---

Bull might not have been as familiar with bas holidays, but that didn't mean he didn't enjoy participating in them... especially when there were little cakes to be had.

"No one's going to guess what you are, Chief." Kremsicle was full of snark that evening as the two made it to the grand hall. Bit odd, considering he had been the one to design the costume for him and the rest of the Chargers. The pirate outfit took into consideration his knee brace and eye patch, so he wasn't going to complain.

He was going to ask why the Vint hadn't dressed up as a pirate, mind you. All the other Chargers had gone with the theme, becoming the Bullseye Pirates for the night. He... looked the furthest thing from a pirate, actually. Sure, he was wearing black, but the long coat and symbol of Andraste kind of made the theme switch up.

"Well, they'll be too busy guessing what you are, Creme de la Creme." He chuckled, feeling it rumble in his chest. "You're not a Chantry brother or something, are you?"

Krem made a face at that - whether it was from the suggestion or the difference in the Andrastian factions, he wasn't sure. At least he was certain that his second in command wasn't supposed to be with the church. That didn't leave him with a lot of options, however. It was kind of annoying.

"Krem, there you are!"

Bull felt his eyebrow cock as he watched a familiar figure cross the hall to meet his favorite Vint. Bones - Ian Trevelyan - wasn't dressed as a bag of bones surprisingly. While his dark wig was a bit askew, the mage had taken the time to wipe the skull from his face and instead deepened the circles under his eyes. He had also drawn red dripping from his lip, and when he smiled sharpened teeth glinted in the light.

"Trevelyan, good to see you. Amazing that you could cover all the freckles up." Krem's eyes were as soft as his tone as he looked the mage over. His crush on the man was obvious and kind of endearing in an awkward way. But that crush was the key to his costume, Bull realized, as a grin split his features.

"Better make sure he doesn't put a stake through your heart, Bones."

Of course his second in command was a vampire hunter - he was already aiming for the mage's heart, might as well make a costume out of it.

"Oh, I think I'll be fine, Bull." Bones beamed at him, clearly pleased with how things were going. "Nice pirate costume. I'm guessing you're the captain?"

That's what the hat perched between his horns stood for anyway.

"Something like that." He nudged Kremsicle towards his crush, beaming. "You two have fun, I'm going to get some of those little cakes before they're all snatched up."

Bull left the two, no doubt red in the face, as he headed towards the snack table. It gave him a chance to work the room, see who was what. He spotted more than a few couples trying to be discrete - the Boss and Dorian were off in the corner, chatting and definitely flirting awkwardly. He spied Bones' cousin dressed as a fairy princess getting snacks with her favorite dwarf scout, the two awfully close if he was anything to judge by.

Ah, young love. If it didn't put an ache in his knees.

"Nice hat, Bull." Varric was grabbing a snack too as he made his way to the table to get something to drink. The dwarf was dressed in a long coat that had far too many feathers attached with a toy cat hanging off one of his shoulders. While it was odd to see him with his shirt closed, it was even weirder to see him holding a fake mage's staff in his free hand.

Of all the things he would've expected Varric to dress as... fucking Anders was not one of them.

"Kremsicle made it for me. Thought he was going to be my first mate, but-" he gestured to the vampire and his hunter. "I guess he had other plans."

Varric chuckled deeply as he picked up a cupcake for his plate. "Do I detect a hint of jealousy your second in command has eyes for someone, Bull?"

He made a show of being offended, chuckling. "Me, never. It's good to see him find someone, though I have to admit going for a necromancer wasn't something I expected. Must be a Vint thing."

Bones better be good to Kremsicle, or he was going to need his necromancy to put his bones back in order...

"I suppose the heart wants what it wants." Varric gestured with his fake staff. "Speaking of, I don't see the objects of your affection anywhere. I'm surprised you didn't come with them."

Bull snorted as he grabbed for some mead - he had a taste for it now thanks to said objects of affection. "Akri's in the library trying to pull ahead of Dorian in research. Tried to get him to come down, but their battle is far more important."

He was fond of the man, but he was a giant ass nerd sometimes. And by sometimes, he meant all the time. Honestly, he was surprised the Vint was even down there instead of the library. No doubt his fondness for the Inquisitor had drawn him away from his pile of books.

He should try that some time... Akri needed a little air.

"Such is the fate of one who has something with a mage." Varric chuckled knowingly as he continued to scan the area. "I don't see Jackel though, but she no doubt sees me. Is she hanging from the rafters sniping candy?"

Bull glanced up - it was a little hard, thanks to his lack of depth perception. But he didn't spot a bit of red hair or the glint of her knives. As far as he could tell, the elf wasn't hiding in the ceiling, waiting to get the drop on somebody. Maybe she had already gotten her fill of candy.

Though, knowing Jackel, she could never get her fill. It was part of her charm - she had the sweet tooth to rival any qunari.

"Nope, she's no there." He shrugged. "Guess she'll pop up sooner or later."

Bull grabbed a few tiny cakes for good measure as he nodded to the dwarf. "Enjoy the party. I'd advise staying out of Cassandra's sight."

"I'm a master of that." Varric chuckled. "Have fun, Bull. Say hi to Jackel for me if you find her."

Could do.

He left the snack table after that, staking out a corner of the room to eat his snacks and people watch. Old habits died hard - he was still Qunari deep down, even if he was technically a gray one. As he sipped at his mead, his one good eye scanned the gathered partygoers, trying to pick anything out.

Thanks to that, he saw motion at one of the doors. There was a flash of orange and red, with the familiar speed of someone he knew very well. Something about it made him chuckle as he finished off his mead rather quickly - it was for humans, so it did nothing for him at just one - and headed to the hallway.

Unlike the party, it was dark in the hallway leading from the great hall. Bull cursed as he put his good hand to the wall. Once again, a lack of depth perception was kicking his ass and then some. He felt along the wall, aiming for the stairs. As he walked, he heard the familiar scampering along the beams.

Then she jumped down.

"Evening, captain." Jackel was a small woman, so it didn't hurt when she landed on him with her full meager weight. She too was wearing a costume, bright orange and round. Unsurprisingly, she had decided to come as a pumpkin - or, as he realized with a chuckle, a jack'o'lantern.

Or should he say a Jackel lantern? She was one for puns.

"Evening, Jacks." He chuckle as he handed a small cake up to her. "Having fun?"

She started to munch on it as he walked. "Was keeping an eye on Trevy and Harding. She better not hurt her."

"I think Trevelyan can handle herself, she can summon the dead after all." Bull resisted the urge to make a face at that. He was never going to be ok with necromancy, but the woman was ok. She just... ok, he was still a little Qunari deep down, it was going to take him some time. He was working on it.

He would've expounded on that, but as he walked he got the sense that something was off with his girlfriend. Normally, she was steady on his shoulders as he moved. However, he could feel her fidgeting against the back of his neck, and the outer part of her pumpkin costume kept bumping into her ear.

There was only a few things that could make her fidget like that.

"Too loud for you out there?"

She managed a nod, which was all he needed. Bull left the hallway behind, making his way out of the main building of Skyhold and towards where his room was. All the while, Jacket fidgeted in her pumpkin costume. At least when they went outside, the quiet was better on her ears.

Lucky for her, his room was far from the party. He could feel her relax as he closed the door behind them, submitting them to the quiet of the empty ramparts. Jackel's tense body began to relax as she climbed down from his shoulders and sat on his bed, sighing in relief as her bare feet dangled inches off the ground.

"Thanks."

He nodded as he sat next to her on the bed. "Anytime. What set it off this time?"

Jackel shrugged as she reached into her pumpkin costume and pulled out some candy. Perhaps he should have been surprised she had a candy pocket in there, but it made sense considering she was both small and a master thief when it came to sweets. Even better, she tossed him some as she began to eat.

"Fucking ex Templars are loud when they get drunk. I could hear them across the way when I was keeping an eye on Trevy and Scout Harding." She popped a piece of chocolate in her mouth. "Fuckers."

Bull could understand that one - even his ears had hurt a little when those assholes had come in. He could only imagine what it had been like for her and her elven ears.

Never was he more glad to be around explosions in his younger years.

"Well, you can stay here until you calm down and want to go back, or we could just stay here." His knee was beginning to bother him to say the least, so he was fine with staying. "Your choice."

Jackel answered by nudging into his side, still chewing on her candy. That was her way of saying she wanted to stay - she was big on nonverbal cues. Bull nodded as he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her even closer and practically in his lap. He could smell the chocolate on her - it didn't quite go with the pumpkin costume, but it was nice.

"I'm just mad I didn't get to see Ian and Krem flirting." She popped another piece of chocolate in her mouth as she nuzzled close, somehow not hampered by her pumpkin costume. "Ian took forever to get his costume right. He really wanted to look good for your second in command."

Bull snorted as he started to munch on a tiny cake he had brought with him. "I have no doubt they're being sickeningly cute right now. Kremsicle's crazy for the guy. I have to question his taste in a necromancer, but I'm biased."

"Your bias is noted." Jackel tossed her wrapper in the trash before she continued. "They'll be dating before you know it, they're already in the couples' costume phase."

Great - just what he needed. At least Krem would be happy. His second in command deserved that much.

But after that, they lapsed into silence as they ate their snacks and enjoyed the quiet. Bull swore he could feel Jackel's hummingbird heart through her costume, though he knew he was probably just imagining things. It didn't matter - he loved the sensation whenever he got it.

Not a bad way to spend his Halloween, honestly. He had Jackel, he had tiny cakes... couldn't get much better than that. Well, maybe if there was a dragon involved... but he was asking for too much there, even he knew it.

But... hey, 2 out of 3 wasn't bad.