#elven ruin

[vangold]

Day 11 - Wander

Nother Even one. And I must say, to this prompt with Dragon Age as a theme nothing really felt more fitting than fracking Solas.

Let me be honest, not the biggest fan of the guy. As a person he kinda effed up in my eyes during my first playthrough with Carl as an Inquisitor - where they ended up to be very close friends before Solas did his thing there. I'm no big fan of betrayal and manipulation. And he was an absolute bitch towards Dorian souuu, yeah, I am so gonna pull his fracking ears from Mr Spock- to Roger Rabbit size next time they meet >:|

Anyway, apart from that, on a storytelling perspective I deeply appreciate Bioware throwing this dude after us. Check it, Disney! This is the whole "Good guy was the villain all along"-trobe done right. An adversary with depth and a refreshing plotline with all that dramatic development towards Inky and all that. I can't wait to see how this is gonna continue in Dragon Age 4 :3

I'm really satisfied how this one turned out....although I'm glad the gras swallowed that sad excuse of a foot XD

Ivy is always such a pain in the ass to add as a detail into a picture, but boy is it worht it everytime <333

[buttertrait]

all of elvene's outfits

links below the cut

outfit 1 - hair | outfit | bow and arrow (tsr)

outfit 2 - hair | outfit

outfit 3 - hair | outfit | shoes | bow

outfit 4 - hair | outfit | shoes

outfit 5 - hair | top | accessory top | skirt | bag (tsr)

outfit 6 - hair | necklace | dress

outfit 7 - hair | circlet | dress (tsr) | arm cuffs (tsr)

outfit 8 - hair | circlet | dress (tsr) | cape

[mickeysalamander]

Building kits based on Elven ruins. Soon to be a full illustration for class!

[elven-child]

there's a lot of pieces of information cancelling each other out regarding the "sudowrite mining ao3" but even if you disregard all uncertain parts of this story the fact remains that this whole fucking software is advertised as being for "writers who don't like to write - which is most of us" which is. so fucking bad on so many levels

[minne-cerbinna]

The baths of Cáelmewedd are an excellent place to spend time among friends.

[perkeleen-lavellan]

I often think about how Zevran's stories about Antiva seemed so enchanting to Valo, even when he's just talking about how he managed to get all the fish wives to ban him from the fishing stalls for life once, in the sense that prior to the Blight Valo really had no idea what city life was like, and his world was very insularly limited to his clan. The sheer size and variety of what Zevran tells him seems wondrous.

But I don't often think about how Valo will casually start to talk about how every Arlathvhen that one clan of shapeshifters always seems to wreck something, because some of them just refuse to stay in manageable person sized forms and will instead join the evening dances as a bear or something, and one time actually one of the other clan Keepers mistook an actual bear for a fellow elf for a full hour or so, until it got sick of being hand fed and was spooked off by all the kids running around, and Zevran will just be nodding along like he isn't internally questioning whether some Dalish stereotypes are actually completely deserved and how amazing that is.

[roguetrevelyan]

The Head Hand quest, Exalted Plains.

tap on gifs if they’re showing up blurry

[camelspit]

the boys™

@skylilac @callas-pancake-tree @arson-anarchy-death @neverseen-nevermore @steal-nightmares-leave-dreams @abubble125 @purplesoup-lad-le @gay-otlc @thefoxysnake @the-one-and-only-aroace @ravs6709 @theseasonismerrybutimnot @you-have-been-frizzled @kamikothe1and0lny @presidentroarie @cowboypossume @even-if-in-another-time @that-glasses-dog @katniss-elizabeth-chase @stop-stealing-tomatoes

[yanavaseva]

I wanted to make a picture where more of his body is visible (and also thought the skin could make for a good contrast on a darker background). But he is the kind of person that wears clothes up to his chin when he's not outright fully armored, so for that to happen something must've really gone wrong. You can tell things didn't go completely as planned by the fact that the shaved part of his hair has grown out (that's the elf equivalent of an overgrown beard, I suppose). Oh and of course by the absurd state of his pants. I imagine these aren't the same clothes that go with the armor and he had to leave the suit for this part of the road. He had reasons to believe that the local "mysterious overgrown ruins that sometimes glow with strange lights" aren't actually a temple to some old gods but a decommissioned or abandoned portal. The passage of time had left the structure partially flooded and he had to cut a lot of vegetation to get past some areas. The portal itself seemed functional, but some of the safety measures had failed, as the infamous beast (with biologically improbable properties as is common with made up folklore creatures), that the village elders warn travellers about, turned out to be in fact more than a legend, and might have wandered in through the portal during some sort of power surge on the other end.

[lavellanhell]

I am heartbroken.

I came across the Dalish camp, the elves were searching for anything that could revive our history, infuse the truth into our memories and memoirs. Something that won't be distorted by the Chantry, something true.

I walked around the ruins of elven glory and wondered how magnificent their realm must have been. And all that is left to us is exile or enslavement.

Note: Next time, don't take Varric into the forest, the fresh air gives him a headache.

[fidjiefidjie]

🎶"Moi je t'offrirai

Des perles de pluie

Venues de pays

Où il ne pleut pas."🎶

Jacques Brel

Gif de Pro Devices/ Elven ruins

[lairofdragonagelore]

Brecilian Ruins - DAO

[Remade post, originally from here] 

I don't know what to make of Brecilian Ruins. Can we truly trust DAO design with its statues? Spoiler answer: no.

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

The following post contains

Tevinter architecture filled with Elven traps

Iconography

The Well of Sorrows: DAO version

The Tevinter Artefacts

Extra minor details

[Index page of Dragon Age Lore]

Tevinter architecture filled with Elven traps

The first thing we have when entering these Ruins is Morrigan telling us that, despite seeing the whole place with the same architecture we saw in the Ruins of Dalish origin, this is Tevinter. Sure, we can assume that the Dalish hunters know nothing of Elvhenan Architecture or Tevinter Architecture, so their opinion about those ruins being elven could be wrong from the first moment. They are, after all, extremely unreliable beholders of the reality. 

Anyways, let's assume Morrigan is right and we see Tevinter arquitecture with Elven traps. This is quite different of what we usually find in Thedas: which is elven structures appropriated by Tevinter humans. This makes sense when you think that the elves were the first creatures in this world, and humans came later, in addition to Tevinter always co-opting any knowledge or techniques from the Elvhenan. 

However in Brecilian forest the order of the events seems to be on the other way around. Historically speaking, it can be explained in the following way:  we know that Tevinter invaded Ferelden and built many structures with defensive purposes, like Ostagar [which was built to contain the “danger” of the Chasind in the far South]. 

We also know in the DLC: Witch Hunt, that slaved elves ran away from the North to the South years later after the fall of Arlathan. We know they hid for a while in a Thaig, but maybe some could have reached these forest and inhabit the ancient human structures, protecting themselves with elven traps to keep Tevinter slavers away from them.

Another possibility is that Tevinter simply co-opted the Elven traps and used them in their own buildings. It would not be the first time doing this.

Iconography

The Ruin corridors and chambers are filled with statues. They are the same statues we saw in Zathrian's camp: Sylaise (woman with a vessel), Andruil (woman with a sword. Why? Should not be a bow?), and Ghilan'nain (woman without head and hands). 

These are the same exact statues we find in any Chantry, Circle of Magi, or human town, so this is exactly why I never trusted DAO design in general. I don't know if the engine and its lack of resources made them reuse a lot of background details, or there is a real intention in them [I incline to the former]. Considering that DAO had almost 10 years of development, I want to believe that this is not by chance... but maybe the limitations of the engine forced them to remove most of the potential that environmental telling has to offer... I don't know.

In any case, inside the Brecilian Ruins we see a symbol or figure we also saw in the Dalish origin: a kind of dragon-head like figure, accompanied many times by one of those figures that we believe, it represents Andruil (the goddess of Hunt). This could also represent Andraste [who always has a sword or a shield in her representations] beside two figures that look like dragon heads. This would link Andraste with Dragons too, which has been a repeated association that we are not stranger to. 

In DAO we see that the dalish are deeply related to Dragons too if we pay attention to the enviromental details that are not repeated anytwhere else:  in Zathrian's clan we see many aravels with masks that are dragon-like skulls, and when you click on them, you find out it's a representation of one of their elven pantheon. 

We see the concept art of these in the credits of the game.

By now it's quite difficult to say if this is an obvious link of the Elven Pantheon with dragons or maybe Old Gods, or it's just a vestige of former slave elves whose masters may have forced them to worship the Old Gods. It is not strange that a slaved group takes the religious symbols of their slavers and worship them in the name of their own (forbidden) gods. We know that we can't trust in Dalish tales as reliable sources of History, because it's extremely fragmented and lost (thanks to DAI we are truly aware of how false they are containing barely a pinch of truth in them, twisted and romanticed).

On the other hand, I am inclined to think that this is just a representation of how the Elvhenan had, originally, a religion based on Dragons. We know that they venerated a “divine” shape that was meant for their gods and their chosen ones that implied Wings, and due to Mythal’s shape, we associate this Divine Shape with the form of a Dragon. Additional material that can support this speculation can be found in the first three comics of DA comics [The Silent Grove , Those Who Speak, Until We Sleep] where we are informed that the Dragons were the ones who controlled the skies originally, possibly had a broad power over the Fade [Dreamer-like, so from the Fade they could alter reality], and they may have been related to an original non-fragmented “song” that everythign and everyone in the world sang.  Also, Dragon Blood is “the blood of the World”, placing the Titans in a confusing position within the lore.

In these Ruins we find a codex of Falon'Din. Which is the same god that Talem told us about when we asked him if he could identify that strange winged statue. So... the confusions gets worse here: it's a Tevinter Ruin, with elven traps, and Elven God statues. 

It’s impossible to overlook the fact that this statue of Falon’Din has strong resemblance to the Old God statue of Urthemiel. As if Falon’Din wanted to have the shape of Urthemiel.

The chamber with the fire traps displays “Sylaise” and “Andruil” statues. Which in terms of Dalish Elven lore makes little sense. Andruil? Sure, she is the hunter goddess, though in these statues she is not in a aggressive stance. So is she chasing after you?. And what about Sylaise? The goddess of the domestic arts? Trying to kill you? Protecting the home of the elves? In a Tevinter structure? This makes a bit of more sense if we keep in mind what we know about Andruil from DAI and the little bit of Sylaise [read their sections in Evanuris]; Sylaise is a very agressive, envious goddes of Fire, who is described top have fire breath [like a dragon?], as powerful as Andruil’s spear [a very dangerous and brutal weapon so far we know]. Andruil is presented to us in DAI as the goddess of Sacrifice, brutal and merciless so far we can gather from the codices. So both goddesses seem to fit a bit better in a deadly trap room if we keep in mind the interpretation we had from DAI.

The Well of Sorrows: DAO version

Then we reach to our first "Well of Sorrows". Or more like "Puddle of Sorrows", lol. Once again, we find a wall covered with that Dragon-like skull statues of “Andruil” and “Sylaise” [I keep the quotation mark because we know we can’t trust little these representations]. We also find the codex of an ancient elven tablet explaining the ritual which, after DAI, makes more sense. You drink from the water of the pool, taking the knowledge left by other elves, and then you put the rest of the water in it, leaving your knowledge there [it works similar to what Abelas explained about the Well of Sorrows]. It seems to be corrupted or empty since you don’t have any whispers or sudden knowledge inside your head, and many Shades are summoned if you fail in the procedure. This chamber unlocks the following one where we find the Uthenera chamber.

Since the only Elven god codex we found in these ruins is Falon'Din’s, it could be fair to believe that this may be interpreted like a "Well of Falon'din" which gathers all the knowledge of those elves that want to stop living and go to Uthenera. 

This is consistent with the info provided in The Masked Empire, when Felassan explains that powerful mages went into Uthenera in underground tombs beneath Orlais and their servants had to take care of their bodies until they rebelled to them and slit their throats. This part of the Ruins are deep down underground. It is also reasonable in its location: Mythal’s Temple is located in the Arbor Wilds, South of Orlais, while this potential ruin in the depth of the Brecilian Forest. What’s a bit inconsistent is that some chars [Morrigan] said that this place was a Tevinter building [not an elvhenan one], but we can’t take Morrigan’s words as reliable either. She has been wrong many times along the series. 

The one thing that deeply disturbed me was that there were two spirits, a little boy and a woman, clearly humans, talking in elven. We could assume they were elf-blooded, but there is no assurance in this. I want to believe this is not a mistake, there is purpose in them being humans since this game has elven models. There is no “engine” limitations there. Now, about the meaning of it, it’s another thing entirely.

The ghost human woman is beside the altar where you find the codex of Uthenera, some elven remains, and a piece of the Juggernaut (a lot of these Ruins History can be scratched via the rare items you find, so sometimes finding a particular item in a particular place is not minor).

Another detail that annoyed me is that the platform where the elven burial lays is surrounded by Alamarri/Tevinter statues. It’s not clear the story of this building: was it originally elvhen? retaken by Tevinter and later taken by elves again? Or this was an Elvhenan ruin, taken by the Avvar or Alamarri of any tribe, and then taken by Tevinter when they invaded the South? It’s not clear neither the original construction of this building nor the succesive invations and appropiations of it, 

So the elven chamber dedicated to Uthenera is surrounded by dragon skull-like figures, there are Sylaise and Andruil statues on the outside ring and Alamarri/Tevinter statues with spears in the inner ring. Clearly this shows that we can’t truly trust much the enviromental telling of DAO due to the restriction of resources. 

The Tevinter Artefacts

Finally, when you head to the deepest bottom of the ruins, you find a big statue I can't establish to what culture belongs yet; I speculate it's Tevinter due to the places where I found it most of the time. It has a similar flavor to the ones found in Kirkwall. 

Behind it, an instrument with two tables filled with research stuff. The instrument is something that I can't decide if it is the same artefact we use in DAI to strengthen the Veil, those elven artefacts, or it's a prototype version of the Tevinter artefact to see the stars: the astrarium [which would make NO sense in the deep bottom of the Ruins, lol. What stars are you looking at?]. 

In any case, after this part you find a big chamber with a quincunx. Probably the first time we see this organisation. Which makes us remember Solas Tarot Card: the thing we find in a quincunx’s centre tends to be of great importance.

So, this disposition makes a quincunx inside another one, since each of them is also a  quincunx, but its centre must be.... a person? a sacrifice? 

 And if this symbol were not crazy enough already, the squares have a Chantry symbol in each corner. Not the Imperial Chantry (which won’t be a big fuss) but the Standard Chantry! I can’t believe this is a lack of resources... the sunburst symbol is extremelly important in DA series.

In the centre of this big chamber, once again, we found another artefact that may be an Astrarium or an Elven Artefact. We are sure it's Tevinter, since the same object can be found in the basement of the Circle of Magi. We have no idea what it does, or if it's related to any other artefact we found in DAI. (But it’s related to the one found close to the tables full of research stuff. They look the same, one only has a spherical glass around it while the other is more like the skeleton of the first one, with some missing part)

Anyway, returning to the quincunx Chamber: Here we fight an Arcane Horror. I always found these creatures with a design preeeetty close to the Sidereal Magisters. I don’t know if this means something, but in this context, it hints that a Tevinter experiment went wrong in this chamber and corrupted the mage performing it. It’s not by chance that Arcane Horrors are a product of a Pride demon taking control of a mage corpse. It has a big symbolism.

So, we can speculate that some Tevinter experiment happened here, there is no doubt. Not by chance Zathrian and the Oak tree tell us that the Brecilian Forest has a particular thin Veil, and rage demons possess the trees around. We also find a lot of revenants here (pride or desire demons bound by blood magic, explained in the codex The Black Vials). In short,  Brecilian forest has similar symptoms to Kirkwall. Tevinter made experiments here, but it’s not sure if they were performed before or after the slave elves lived here.

Extra minor details

In these ruins is where we found a soul trapped (or bound?) to a gem that will teach us the ancient arts of the Arcane Warrior. It says that it is the last of their kind, implying that if you don’t acquire this knowledge, it will be lost forever and would make no sense for Viviene to have this knowledge in DAI. 

All over the Ruins there are some rugs with a symbol that can be interpreted as an oversimplification of the Tevinter Imperium heraldry.

[Index page of Dragon Age Lore ]

[witcheringways]

"The stairs? I'll fix them right away."

[bergwerkderbilder]

endless Witcher 3 gifs

[dndsettingsinfo]

Underdark Arena Ruins by Kronos Maps

[langernameohnebedeutung]

The best part of any character is the pathetic. Stop fanon-ing it away.