#i need go read world of thedas one and two as well

[jemandthesingalongs]

so a second article has hit the da fandom and i'm in the part of the "this is genuinely so disappointing i'm considering not actually preordering/playing on release". i'm sure i'll come to terms with it and still get it but this really has been such a blow to my sheer enthusiasm that is like...incredible really for me as a fan invested in this franchise for over a decade to put me (and others) so low lmao

(under a cut bc it got stupidly long, a cookie if you read all of it)

one of the big "reasons" i've seen parroted by the fandom and the justification from the devs is (paraphrasing) you're in the north and all of these major decisions are in the south, which is frankly, stupid? sure, the choices of the divine wouldn't matter too much (if the circles are disbanded or not, for example) but the divine choice itself, should matter? the throne of ferelden? orlais??? these are major characters!

whoever is the sitting ruler of ferelden, regardless of the choice, has obv, lived through a blight not 20 some odd years prior. so one could imagine they would be invested in this, you know, double blight is going on and would like to help or help for their country? given the fact one of the last of the two archdemon prisons is canonly within ferelden!! marketing has also started the blight has spread across thedas, so one would think the current world leaders would be supporting or at least looking to the group seemingly working on stopping the blight. but i guess not since it's not a choice.

even setting aside the lore and plot significance of the majority of choices, even if it truly did not matter, you can say the exact same for choices within dai itself, however the devs knew the desire to have that impact + fan service, even minor, still superseded lore and plot significance. the hof letter and mentions by their romance partner is clearly fan service (since tbh i doubt leliana or morrigan would willingly talk about their partner themselves) but it was also telling you, the player, where your mc was. another example is there is no impact who the sitting king of orzammar is, but the game still mentions in a codex the consequences of that choice, even if the anvil was kept or not in ambient dialogue.

these and many more mattered, not in a world shaping way, but to tell you, the player, yes you played in this world and here's the acknowledgement of it, thank you. i didn't need to decide the fate of the world to enjoy leliana talking about my warden or varric supporting templars because my hawke did, because it still felt like i mattered, that yes this is a world i changed, even in a small way, that i lived in it.

and they removed all of that.

like, hell it was even a good way to "check-in" in choices and characters without dedicating entire plot beats to them! the epilogue for a non-divine!romanced leliana heavily implies she and the warden are still doing their own things but meeting up when hey can. that aside the cure? the fucking cure??? did they find it? did they share it with the other wardens? was it suppressed? the other members of the inquisition were invested in stopping solas, what about them? since you are literally going to their turf, is dorian, josephine, isabela, and even bull okay? is zevran or fenris going to be ignored? fenris had a whole comic about him!

the only way i can take this is being told to no longer be invested in previous material, even material leading up to this game. even if i know that's not really the truth, it really feels that way.

i don't even like the excuse for getting newbies into the series, because, well, dai did that fine WITH returning characters and overall plots lol? there's a loss of some context and dai itself had writing flaws with this method, but it did show you could have both returning and new players work fine, and not alienate said new players despite it being the 3rd game.

speaking of dai, why bother making the choices so endgame linear if they wouldn't of even mattered? why no matter your choice of divine, another group rises up to oppose her? why have the grey wardens going quiet and possibly on the brink of civil war, exiled or no? i had assumed at the time the bottlenecking was future proofing to create less variables, and i guess i was wrong since there are no more variables lol!

i'm genuinely not sure what they truly thought would be the reaction, given they are still trying to pull returning players via the marketing? like. varric, harding, morrigan returning, the focus on the grey wardens as a group (and likely why davrin gets such a spotlight) are all indications for returning players. fuck even solas, no matter what you feel about him, is a returning npc! to resolve his plot!!!

i never truly believed we would see big huge cameos, i did expect the divine, those who live in the north, but otherwise simple codex entries or letters if anything.

but to have.......nothing? be left with nothing? burns.

i do mean this completely honestly: what is the point of investing myself, my time, my money, hell even just interest in this series anymore? without the impact of previous games (or a better lore reason, such as a longer timeskip than 5 fucking years since the last dlc) then this is your run of the mill rpg with better writing than most, but that's all it'd really have. i didn't fully play or get into the series because of the decisions carrying over, but it sure as fuck kept me and others coming back. if this is the norm going forward past da4 then well, might as well pick any other rpg series.

[symphorine]

ok my goal for the year. is read the dragon age books For The Lore even tho i found gaiders writing in the stolen throne really fucking boring. and then replay all the games (after modding them bc modding games is one of my greatest joys it turns out)

[eeldritchblast]

They’re Not “Playersexual”, You’re Just Biphobic

(I was going to save this until September 23 because I thought that would be an appropriate date, but the Ask I got included in this essay just put me over the edge. So, here it is now. Buckle up.)

Bisexuality/Pansexuality is the attraction to people regardless of gender. About 4% of the USA alone (over 13.6 million people) openly identify as bisexual, according to Gallup’s latest polling. But unfortunately, bi/pan identities are so scary to some folks that they need to make up terms to avoid calling their favourite characters such. Thus, the term “playersexual” was born: a term to describe a game character who is attracted to the player character... regardless of gender.

If that sounds like it’s just a circuitous way of describing a bi/pan character, it’s because it is.

I first heard of the term “playersexual” almost a decade ago, from a Dragon Age fan complaining that Dorian was gay and thus it was “unfair” that she couldn’t romance him as female character. This fan said they wished BioWare would go back to Dragon Age II’s model of everyone being “playersexual” for “equality”.

Now, if you’ve actually played DA:2 and you’re not a bigot, you’re probably rolling your eyes just as hard as I did when I first read such a ridiculous statement. Well, prepare for this next one:

“When you make a male Hawke, Anders and Fenris are gay and Merrill is straight. Opposite is true if you make a female Hawke.”

These people are so afraid of bisexuality that they cannot even fathom its existence. They can believe in dragons and magic, but they cannot believe that a character is simply bi/pan. I find this especially hilarious for Anders, considering he had a canonical boyfriend, as confirmed both in-game and in The World of Thedas: Vol. 2 book.

I truly thought we were past this nonsense in 2023. I really, truly thought that. But then Baldur’s Gate 3 was released in full, and suddenly these same fuckers came out of the woodwork to bend over backwards avoiding calling these characters anything except bi/pan.

Note how in the above Ask, the anonymous questioner actually doubles down on avoiding addressing these two characters in particular as bi/pan!

“Playersexual” doesn’t even truly work for the characters of Baldur’s Gate 3 regardless, because the definition is oriented around attraction to the player character… which these characters are not exclusively attracted to. Here are some examples that prove otherwise:

If neither Lae’zel nor Astarion/Gale/Wyll are in a romance with the PC, Lae’zel will say she plans on propositioning one of the men for sex at the night of the tiefling party. She also flirts with Karlach in party banter.

Shadowheart expresses interest in Karlach, (“I like her. She looks like she could throw me over her shoulder and carry me to safety, should the need arise”) as well as Halsin if he leaves the party, (“he may have been misguided, but I liked looking at him.”)

Astarion flirts with nearly everyone in the party, but to just pick two examples: he mentions Wyll is the type of princely figure he used to dream about marrying, and says to Shadowheart “such a grim name for such a beautiful flower”.

Gale used to date Mystra. He also debatably flirts with Astarion by offering him some blood, after Cazador’s battle.

Wyll flirts with Lae’zel in party banter, and also refers to Halsin as a “delight” and “hunk”.

Karlach seems to have a little crush on Jaheira by the way she reacts to meeting her. She also says of Halsin, “everyone in this camp wants to climb that oak”.

Please keep in mind these are just a few examples I’ve picked out from screening through the dialogue, and there’s even more that prove the attraction to different genders these characters have is not related solely to the player. It’s just part of their identities.

In the Ask sent to me above, the anonymous questioner said they “cannot see Karlach as anything except lesbian and Astarion as gay.” This is just as bad as saying they are “playersexual” in my opinion, because yet again it’s erasing their bisexuality/pansexuality. Worse yet, it’s doing it because of the way the characters act. You cannot measure queerness based on actions and appearances being in line or not with queer stereotypes—it’s not a scale! And bi/pan folks are just as queer as lesbian and gay men, by virtue of simply being bi/pan!

All in all, I think this entire “playersexual” debate boils down to the fact that some people still refuse to see bi/pan identities as anything but “discount straight”. And that’s why people are rightfully angry when folks try to further this myth by pretending bi/pan characters don’t actually exist.

[himluv]

DA: The Veilguard Predictions/Theories, pt. 3

Okay, last one, I promise. And this one is, uhhhhhh, real strong on the tinfoil. Bear with me.

Read part 1 here :)

Read part 2 here :)

3. DA:D’s Real Big Bad™

Okay, this is probably my most outrageous and unsubstantiated theory - but it’s also the one I’m most excited for. Buckle up, kids, because I think The Architect is back! 

So, when Bioware released the Dragon Age Day 2023 Thedas Calls trailer, Mark Darrah mentioned in the corresponding blog post that there was more to the trailer than just location reveals, “for those who listen closely.” Well, lemme tell you, I listened real close over and over again until something struck me.

“All the world will soon share the peace and comfort of my reign.” 

That voice… I know that voice, don't I? 

“I do not seek to rule my brethren. I only seek to release them from their chains.” 

The Architect told the Warden in Dragon Age: Awakening that it intended to use Grey Warden blood to return self-awareness and “freedom” to the Darkspawn, freeing them from their tethers to the Archdemons. 

But this was not The Architect’s first plan. No, its first plan was much, much worse. In The Calling, Maric, Duncan, Fiona and the other Grey Warden’s meet The Architect in the Deep Roads and learn that its plan is to spread the Blight over all of Thedas, thus ensuring a “lasting peace”. Nevermind that two-thirds of the population wouldn’t survive the process. **stares in solavellan**

A “lasting peace.”

“The peace and comfort of my reign.”

Now, sure, The Architect has stated that it doesn’t want to rule over its brethren, but that was in 9:31 Dragon. It’s been working on this plan since at least 9:10 Dragon (when The Calling takes place) and Dreadwolf is likely to take place somewhere around 9:52 Dragon. The Architect has had 40 years to scheme and experiment and come to the bitter realization that – if there is to be peace – it may have to rule after all. 

And I’m sure Corypheus’s rise and fall did not go unnoticed by The Architect. With Solas’s machinations putting a ticking clock on Thedas’s existence, perhaps The Architect feels the pressure to end the Blights once and for all, and bring its corrupted brand of “peace” to Thedas.

When you need to spread the Darkspawn taint in record time, what do you do? Oh, I don’t know. Maybe awaken two Archdemons simultaneously and unleash them upon the world? (as a treat?) After all, there can be no more Blights once all the Old Gods have been corrupted…

Which would directly pit The Architect against Solas AND the protagonists of DA:D. And, basically everyone, because no one wants a double Blight and/or to suffer a continent-wide Darkspawn plague.

So, yeah. That’s my super-duper tin-foil hat theory for Dreadwolf (now The Veilguard). Obviously, I could be completely wrong about everything. There’s so much lore in Dragon Age, and yet so little of that lore is unequivocally proven true. It’s all in-world texts that can be – and frequently are – wrong. So, even with exhaustive research and codex mining, there’s ALWAYS a chance that some fundamental piece of “evidence” turns out to just be… incorrect. 

In my opinion, that’s part of what makes this series so. effing. compelling. The whole world feels like an excavation, one where every interaction holds the potential for yet another clue. So, even if I am wrong, I can’t wait to learn the truth.

[orchidego]

dramione rec list pt. ii

@dappledlight7 asked me to compile another dramione rec list; trying not to let it go to my head about how good my taste is (it's good).

Link to the first list, which contains mostly novel-length works and a thesis on why the draco/hermione dynamic appeals to me.

Her parameters: "quietly devastating," under 20k words. I reworked it to include short, somewhat angsty fics that made me think about Life™ in all its vibrant, tender, wretched complexities. Fics that linger. I will say I prefer happy/hopeful endings with my angst, because I don't have that dog in me.

My best suggestion with fic is find something that blows your mind and read everything the author has ever written.

aprophecygirl's A Series of Fate are fics based on fairy tales, but the source material is so well-transformed that I consider them complete separate works. Dawn + Decay has Hermione trapped in Malfoy Manor after looking for answers from a socially reclusive Malfoy about a mysterious illness. In Mindbound, Healer Draco needs to pull Hermione out of a coma by entering her mind, which is a vast beautiful terrifying landscape and where he gets to know her—an aching exploration of being seen, known, understood, forgiven. There are a couple more works in the series, of similar length. Each work is independent from the other.

Les Pèlerins. Hermione runs into exiled Draco in Paris. Gorgeous. Really one of my favorites. Author PacificRimbaud also has: Keep It Like a Secret and On the Virtues of Inexhaustible Burning, both works that I feel have a good balance of the pining kind of angst and fluff (would not classify either as devastating).

Inside by onebedtorulethemall. Dark, tragic, a slow unraveling mystery.

Kismet by TheDae. More of a pining type of light angst. This author has some other more fun one-shots, but I think this one is most evocative.

Chiaroscuro, or the Defining Contrast Between Darkness and Light. by ifyouwereamelody. Sixth year angst!

The Witching Hour by neilistic. Beautiful, intimate. Draco and Hermione navigating respective single parenthood together.

Tromp as Writ by a_rum_of_ones_own. This is on my first list, but it deserves a place here too. I just love the exploration of Hermione's being not quite in two separate worlds and how she reconciles it. Confiteor by the same author—confession and absolution, definitely has that edge of devastation.

Tact-Checking by Hystaracal. Sorry, I cheated. Humor-based rec. Use this as a chaser for something that hurts.

Queen of Heaven by riptey. Kinda haunting really.

Chrysopoeia. Hesitating to recommend this because I could never read it again, it hurt so bad. But that's a testament to good writing too. Very truthful description of what it feels like to unrequitedly love.

i have gone at dusk through narrow streets. "we grew up together. is this what you wanted?"

[kaija-rayne-author]

Is Solas neurodivergent?

Of course, unless Weekes confirms one way or another, we'll never actually know. But I'd like to point out a few things.

Firstly. I'm autistic/ADHD, so are my kids and I've been an advocate for invisible disabilities, especially those two, for almost a decade now.

I offer an option on my Patreon for parents (or even just people) who need or want advice.

I have a little bit of a clue here. (More like a massive clue by nuke, but I digress 🤣.)

Why I code Solas from Dragon Age: Inquisition as neurodivergent.

1. Mentally ill fits under the neurodivergent (ND) umbrella. There's no way on Thedas that Solas isn't mentally ill.

(Yes, it really does fit. I'm not going to entertain arguments on the topic. It originally meant 'autistic' it no longer means that and hasn't for a long while. Neurodivergent brains = brains that work in any way other than 'the average'.) The antonym is Neurotypical. I tend to abbreviate them. Neurodivergent = ND, Neurotypical = NT.

At the very least, he likely has survivor syndrome. I'd wager on Depression and CPTSD too. (I have these conditions and am comfortable with saying he has a lot of the traits.) The guy was the leader of an enslaved elves rebellion and a war against the Evanuris. In his own words, he got his hands bloody.

No matter who you are, violence, whether you're the perpetrator or the victim, causes trauma to the psyche. And it went on for actual ages. An Age, in The Dragon Age franchise, is considered to be 100 years, so for hundreds of years, if not thousands, this dude has been fighting. Humans can get CPTSD just from a bad childhood. There's no way he hasn't developed it too.

Survivor syndrome is the response of a person when they believe they have done something wrong by surviving a traumatic event when others did not, often feeling self-guilt. (Can we classify Solas clearly with this? Yes, yes we can.)

He wakes up in a world so horrific to him that he can't even conceive of the people as people.

That's a type of disassociation, which is a symptom of many mental illnesses. Depression is the most obvious. He fucked up, he knows it, he's now trapped in a hellscape. (Heeee, we're all trapped in a dystopian hellscape right now and Depression is on the rise, the correlation is there.)

Disassociation is feeling disconnected from yourself and/or the world around you. For example, you may feel detached from your body or feel as though the world around you is unreal.

There could be a few other things there. He'd be a classic case for Disassociative Identity Disorder, for instance, but given the shit rep on the topic, I'm not going there.

2. ADHD

ADHD is still not very well understood by the average person. Sometimes people think it means we can't hold still. But a lot of the time, the H-Hyperactivity portion is only evident in our brains. For me, for instance, I have to constantly be feeding my brain written stuff or I get very antsy and uncomfortable. (ADD no longer exists, we're all ADHD now.) It's why i developed the habit of reading encyclopedias for fun. (Yes, I really do this.)

Solas is constantly reading, or studying, or thinking.

He shows a pretty typical type of temper for an ADHDer several times. Our tempers can be hot, flaring up suddenly for seemingly unexpected reasons. He absolutely does that. Now, there's always a reason for it, but few people on the outside of us will be aware of whatever the issue is.

ADHDers can also experience incredibly fast (compared to neurotypicals) shifts in emotion. Solas does this. Especially in the after the well of sorrows/pre-breakup scene and the break up scene itself. He see-saws emotionally a lot.

He's incredibly creative. He paints (and probably draws at least a little to paint the way he does). So many neurodivergent people are incredibly creative.

Snark. Many ADHDers tend to be snarky or sarcastic because of, well, everything that usually happens to us in life. The snark and salt simply spill out of Solas. Especially on the 'make him hate you' route through the game. Or any time he's around Vivienne.

Finally, ADHDers very frequently have a deep seated drive to change the world and make it better. Stares at Solas. Yup!

3. Autistic

So, firstly, let me say that most people don't understand what autism is or what autistics look and act like.

As an autistic/ADHD person, my experience of life is completely different from a neurotypicals simply because my brain is wired differently.

Reminder that you can't see autism or ADHD. You can sometimes see common comorbids, but without a brain scan, you cannot see autism or ADHD.

I connected and empathize so heavily with Solas because he's a well written, complex character, and because I love anti-heros.

But also because he's exhibits the exact same type of autistic/ADHD traits that I have. (Both autism and ADHD come in different flavours.) Seeing that rep in a triple AAA game was an incredibly powerful experience.

Even though, given Bioware's absolutely shit rep re: disability, it had to be accidental. I credit Weekes with that rep. I read on Twitter they were recently dxd with one or the other (ADHD or Autism, I honestly can't remember which. And up to 80% of ADHDers are also autistic.)

Solas practices esoteric arts. It's a common thing for many autists & ADHDers to learn and practice arts that just aren't as common anymore. Mine? I spin with a spinning wheel, drop spindle, or Andean hand spinner. I make maps. There's several other strange hobbies and skills I've picked up along the way too.

He shows hyperfocus several times in the game. (Hyperfocus is a trait of both ADHD and Autism.)

He stims with his hands a lot. Especially in the kiss scene. I don't recall seeing any of the other characters do this. I'm not talking about the 'dry hand wash' movements most of the characters do. Solas does a thing I do, taps the tips of his fingers against each other. Whoever did his modelling (is that the right term for making a game character?) understood neurodivergency or are ND themselves. Whether they know it or not.

You could even call his painting a type of stimming.

Stimming is where someone will use repetitive motions or sounds to self-soothe. It's really bad to prevent an autistic/ADHDer from using their stims.

I used to have to have a book on my person at all times. I'm late diagnosed, so I didn't know I was using the books as both a stim and a comfort item.

Solas has something autists call 'flat face effect'. Basically, his face is a bit masklike. He doesn't show emotions strongly on his face or in his body language (unless you make him angry 😅 which is also pretty typical for many of us). I've seen rather a lot of discourse about how emotionless Solas appears. I can read him easily, the emotive cues are there, just subtle, like they would be in an autistic & or ADHD person.

He's a decent actor. Now, most autists will agree that we're not innately good at lying or acting. But we're also really good at acting, at least, many of us are by the time we're adults. It comes from having to mask (autistic masking) almost every second of every day just to survive. Masking kills us. So it's not good that we are forced to do it. But it does make many of us incredible actors.

Anthony Hopkins is argueably one of the best actors of the past several decades. He's openly autistic. And he's spoken of how he got to be a good actor. Dan Ackroyd and Darryl Hannah are a couple of others who are out about it. I code a lot of other creatives as being one or the other, but it’s considered rude to assign a diagnosis like that to a living person. That's for them to do.

Solas managed to stay hidden as a 'unwashed apostate hobo' for however long the Inquisition took to fix things. I've seen estimates of 18 months to 2 years. That's a looooong time to be acting like something you're definitely not.

We see in Trespasser that he's not like that at all. But he still sold it so well his reveal at the end of the game shocked many people.

He's a nerd. An absolute nerd about the fade. Nerdery isn't solely the domain of autistics and ADHDers, but it’s a really common trait.

He's stand-offish.

Many autists and ADHDers are rather stand-offish with people for a variety of reasons.

1) We've been hurt so many times because of people refusing to do half the work of communicating with us. (Trust me, autistics and ADHDers are trying ALL THE TIME to communicate with neurotypicals. Y'all could pick up your part of things, y'know?)

2) We've been rejected so often for a genetic condition(s) we can't change. But accommodations for us, which are usually pretty simple and often help neurotypical people too, are considered 'too much'. There's something called RSD that most, if not all, autistic and ADHD folks experience. Rejection Sensitivity Disorder is a bitch kitty and there's no dealing with it well. It hurts.

3) We're often stand-offish while we try to figure out whatever social rules exist in that space/time. We often warm up when we know (or think we know) the rules. Or once we get to know people.

4) Solas is often alone, he's rarely pictured as being with anyone else other than Cole and the Inquisitor. NDs often end up either pushed to the edge of the crowd, or we choose to stay distant as a preventative measure so we aren't rejected.

Food sensitivities: Solas utterly loathes tea. There's a whole cutscene about it. (Fun fact, Solas doesn't like tea because Weekes doesn't.) But that extreme reaction to a relatively innocuous drink is a classic example of a food sensitivity. Most autistics and ADHDers have food or texture sensitivities or both. I can't abide raw tomatoes, and I'll get the urge to cry if I touch corduroy fabric.

Sensitivities can really be anything, but if you know someone who has them, please understand we're not trying to be difficult or to ask for extra attention or to make trouble. The modern world is frankly hell for most autistics and many ADHDers. Brain scans of us when we’re exposed to our sensitivities show that they actually are causing us physical pain. Pain centres in the brain light up like a Yule tree.

Solas is quiet, until he's not. Then he'll talk your ear off. This is pretty common for many of us too.

Solas and the fade. Special interest, anyone?

Special interests: Most autistics and ADHDers have Special interests. It's something that can utterly enthrall us. We tend to want to learn everything we possibly can about the subject we're fascinated with. And we love to share that information. In something called 'infodumping' we're trying to connect with other people. It's one of the ways many of us say we care about someone. By sharing our favourite things. We're also deeply penalized for something we can't change, there, too.

We deeply enjoy the thing and want to share our enjoyment with people we like/love. This can utterly backfire on us, but it doesn't change the urge to share. Often until our audience is giving us the 'dead fish face'. It's where the person's eyes are a little glazed over and they look a bit concussed. Anyone who has ever taught a class of students or is a parent or child caretaker, or is autistic/ADHD knows the look I'm talking about.

I'll stop blabbing for now, but those are most of the reasons I heavily code Solas as autistic/ADHD/mentally ill. Or, in another word. Neurodivergent.

Thanks for reading! If you have the wherewithal I'm a disabled mom of two disabled kids and a tip would help more than you can probably understand. Another way to help is to become a patron. My work of words is my only income and we live well under the poverty line. Like a lot of other neurodivergent people do.

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[broodwolf221]

People keep insisting that Solas ‘killed Flemeth/Mythal’ in that last scene but I don’t know if that’s actually true? I feel like what happened in that scene was more ambiguous than that.

We don’t actually know how involved Flemeth/Mythal is with his plans, only that she’s deffinetely in on it. We know the because Flemeth herself insists that she intends to avenge Mythal in ‘a reckoning that will shake the very heavens.’ Idk about you but to me that implies very violent intentions.

It contrasts directly with what Solas intends. He wants to restore the world to its natural state for the sake of his people. Whereas Flemeth simply wants to punish. She wants to punish The Evanuris. And there’s some dialogue between her and Morrigan which implies that she wants to punish Solas as well, she just needs him to complete his task first.

Flemeth is basically unkillable. She knows that, and there’s every possibility that Solas knows that, too. The way I read that scene, I think this may have always been the plan. At the very least it was a contingency, one the two of them were both aware of, and which Solas clearly wanted to avoid. I think the reason he was so upset when The Orb was destroyed may have been because he knew he’d have resort to that contingency.

Flemeth isn’t stupid. And she’s not particularly selfless either. In fact she is explicitly very selfish, as well as being a manipulator. Whatever went on in that scene—I have my theories—Flemeth was well aware it was coming. She was counting on it. It somehow benefits her that this took place, otherwise she’d have never allowed it.

Before it happens, she says, “I’m sorry, too.”

What is she sorry for? We don’t really know, but my interpretation is that she’s apologizing for what’s about to happen. This was her plan. Solas didn’t want to do things this way, but the events of DAI have forced his hand.

One of Solas’ greatest flaws is his assumption that he has more control over any given situation than he actually does, and I think that applies to his relationship with Flemeth/Mythal as well. Again, Flemeth is a manipulator. She’s been manipulating the people and events of Thedas for centuries, maybe longer. I think Solas is no different. When I look at that end credit scene I don’t see two equals. I see one person who clearly has the upper hand, and another with a deeply mistaken idea of what their relationship actually is.

I agree, although for a long time I definitely thought he 100% killed her, but she has a way of surviving and is just... too big to have just been quickly killed in a brief epilogue?

oooh I didn't know about/catch that dialogue! that's so interesting... changes the dynamic a lot if she actually wants him to fail on some level. running with that, one might even go so far as to assume she aided corypheus' surviving opening the orb. letting him wreak brutal havoc across thedas and tear open the veil (vs. solas' pulling it down) is a good way to 'shake the very heavens'.

yeah, her apologizing doesn't really fit as a response to letting solas kill her, but apologizing for what she's about to put him through? the chain of events she may well have incited somehow? that seems more apt. and I do believe she cares for solas to some degree, but not enough to not use him for her own ends. as you said, she's a master manipulator, that's a core part of her character. she's not going to drop all that just because a sad wolf comes to her door.

and I love your point about solas' assumptions of knowledge and control, because that's so accurate. he always assumes he has the power in a relationship because of his knowledge, his age, his experience... he thinks he knows more, understands more, and sees more, and he trusts his interpretations of events, but even within dai we see him have to face that those interpretations are flawed a number of times. he didn't expect the inquisitor to care about spirits - understandable, considering the general opinion of them, but still an assumption. the whole balcony scene, whether or not you romance him, is about confronting his assumptions not only about the inquisitor, but their entire species - and by extension, all people. the banter between him and the companions, particularly the man on the island banter with varric... there's so many times he's forced to confront his assumptions, but he continues to subconsciously hold that he still knows more, that his initial interpretations are right unless/until they're plainly proven wrong

he's so interesting i love him so much... and ty for this! such a thought-provoking ask, i love talking about him <3

[pinquisitorshepard]

I've been replaying DA trilogy for the last several months and finally reading all DA books and comics. And in the light of DA4 leaks and news about one of the locations there being Grey Warden's Weisshaupt itself, I thought about how little of Grey Wardens we've actually seen despite them being such a well known faction in Thedas.

I mean, yes, HoF is a Grey Warden, but they are one of the two Grey Wardens we get to know throughout the whole game and they're just new recruits and know next to nothing about Grey Wardens as do we. Reading codex entries here and there doesn't help much. Awakening gives us a better glimpse of how they work and what they do. Then in DA2 we barely meet them until Legacy DLC. In DAI they're shown as just one of the Big Bad Stupid of the game, honsetly.

If you truly wanna see what Grey Wardens are, what they sacrifice, what they go through and what the Blight is, you might want to read The Last Flight. The book is the most tragic depressing piece of Dragon Age lore I've seen so far though. Hard to read through calmly, hard to not care. The 5th blight from DAO was a light pleasant stroll through the woods compared to more than a decade of the 4th Blight in the book. Grey Wardens did a lot of questionable things throughout the history, but without them that world wouldn't have even survived that long - a fact many people forget about.

I kinda understand people whose first game in DA universe was Inquisition and they decided that the Wardens were corrupted and that they were not needed anymore. But when you remember that there are two archdemons, Razikale and Lusacan, who are still sleeping somewhere under the Deep Roads (and possibly even the 8th Unknown one), you sorta understand that banishing Grey Wardens completely, for whatever reason, is a potential death sentence for the whole continent.

[elisaphoenix13-cullrian]

Barely Breathing (But Still Alive) (Ch.4)

It took another week for Dorian to recover enough to stand on his own two feet. And in that entire week, his supposed savior hadn't come to visit him. He wasn't sure whether to be offended or relieved, and even told himself that the commander was a busy man. He was likely getting defenses added to their newfound fortress so what happened at Haven wouldn't happen again. But that was assuming that Trevelyan told him that Dorian had recovered.

Dorian couldn't look unappreciative though. Cullen saved his life and he had to find the man and thank him for not leaving him behind to be possessed despite the mixed messages he was receiving from the commander. Cullen would look at him like he was a plague on Thedas, and then the next he would do something as mind boggling as saving Dorian. 

He thought he was an expert at reading people but this proves him wrong. At least he thought so? Cullen was a conundrum nland had the mage questioning a lot of things and Dorian wasn't sure he liked it. Well, he didn't, but he did like challenges.

So when he was finally well enough to stay on his feet without collapsing, he asked where he could find the commander and started for the tower overlooking the front gate with a purposeful stride. Not only to thank the barbaric–and admittedly very handsome– man, but to also question him. What happened that night? How did he stop Dorian from being possessed when he could practically feel the nails of the demons digging their nails into his flesh? He thought he was too far gone to be saved from that point.

When he arrived at the tower, Dorian almost walked in with his usual flair, but he hesitated at the last moment. If he barged in, his gratitude may not come across as genuine and maybe even half-hearted. The thought didn't sit well with him. So he knocked instead.

“Enter.”

Dorian took a breath and gingerly walked into the tower, taking some time to look around the makeshift office before settling on the commander himself. The man was obviously exhausted. Hunched over his desk looking at missives like he had the world’s problems sitting on his shoulders, and Dorian supposed that he did in a way. Trevelyan may be the one with the Anchor in his hand, but Cullen was behind most of the plans of attack. He was the one commanding the troops, making sure they were in locations that would help the Herald if he needed them. Cullen had to think three steps ahead and while Leliana and Josephine were helping in their way…

“You look how I feel,” Dorian finally says.

Cullen looked up so fast that the mage was pretty sure that he heard a crack. “You're awake. How are you feeling?”

The question threw Dorian off for a moment. “I…alive, I suppose. I actually came here to thank you,” he says quietly. “You risked your life to help me and I'll admit that I don't even know how. So…thank you.”

Cullen’s face fell a little bit. “I wouldn't thank me just yet,” he sighs and rubs his eyes.

Dorian blinks and then looks at him suspiciously. “Commander…”

“There was only one way to save you and I wasn't even sure that it would work. When I was still with the Templars, there were theories but nothing ever worked. Then there was one that never got tested…at least while I was still with them.” Cullen starts to explain carefully.

Dorian took a breath, expecting the worst but trying to keep calm. At the very least, Cullen did whatever he did just to save Dorian and he hoped that it stopped there. “...and what was this theory you tested?”

The commander straightens from his slouched position and rubs the back of his neck briefly before sighing heavily again and dropping his hand to the pommel of his sword. A nervous habit that Dorian noticed in Haven. “I'm sure you've done your research on Southern Templars as I've heard that the Templars in Tevinter are mostly for show. In Ferelden and Orlais they have phylacteries. They're used to help track down mages that go rogue,” he says. “Ironically it's a form of blood magic and I hated it. But what I did is similar in a way."

“You're not a mage–” Dorian starts.

“No. But I was a Templar. I didn't need to use blood magic. There was a theory that Templars could form a bond with a mage that does the same things a phylactery can. So I attempted it. I had enough of my Templar abilities to Silence you and…establish the bond.” Cullen surprises Dorian when he starts taking off his gauntlets and the leather beneath. When his sleeve is pulled up to his elbow, the mage stares. On the man's forearm was a snake coiled around it, with its head resting on his wrist. “A sign that the bond took. Unnecessary when the amount of magic you were using drained my body of any remaining lyrium.”

Dorian’s mind immediately halted. “What do you mean remaining?” He asks.

Cullen hesitates, rubbing the back of his neck again. “I stopped taking lyrium shortly after I left Kirkwall. That was about three or four months ago.”

“Commander, are you insane?” Dorian balks. “Continuing to take it is preposterous of course but nobody knows what could happen if you suddenly stopped! And now with this…this bond–”

“Actually…” Cullen interrupts, causing Dorian to look at him incredulously. “I haven't felt this good in a long time. I think the bond I formed with you safely used up the lyrium in my body. I haven't had many symptoms since.”

Dorian remained silent as he mulled over all of the new information. Cullen stopped taking lyrium, possibly saved both of their lives by forming a theorized bond with him, but he still had questions.

“What does this mean?” Dorian asks calmly. “Am I on a leash now and you can decide when I can or can't use magic?” He practically hissed out the last bit and regretted it when the Commander’s face fell again.

“Maker, Dorian, no. That's…not who I am anymore.” He moves around the desk to walk over to Dorian and stop a couple of feet in front of him. “Yes, I would be able to find you if you disappeared, but I'm just here to help you balance out your magic until it stabilizes again. Ever since I created the bond, I could tell that your magic wasn't calm anymore. Even now I can tell it doesn't heed you like it should.”

Cullen was right. Dorian still struggled to make a simple mage light. It was like trying to aim a fireball but it went left instead of straight or fizzled out…he felt useless right now. How could he help the Inquisition if he couldn't use his magic like he used to? Dorian almost wished Cullen didn't save him.

“What if it never does?” He finds himself whispering.

Cullen looks at him with…empathy? Dorian wasn't sure how he felt about that but at least it wasn't pity. “Magic is just a part of you…but it doesn't make you who you are. It took me far too long to learn that,” he says softly, surprising Dorian for the second time that day. “You can still research, and I've seen you fight with your staff. You are far from useless or powerless.”

Dorian opens his mouth and then closes it in his bewilderment. He wasn't even sure what he could say about that. For the last couple of months he knew Cullen, he always thought the man hated mages or at least him, but it obviously wasn't the case. He put his own life at risk to try to save him and even stood vigil at his side when they safely got to Skyhold. The prayers he heard floating between sleep and awareness were the Commander and Dorian still didn't know what to do.

This amount of attention and care wouldn't even fill his father's pinky and Cullen did it in just a few days.

“You should get some rest,” Cullen says gently when Dorian remains quiet, pulling the mage out of his inner musings. “I think it helps your magic.”

“Is that why you haven't come to visit?” Dorian blurts out, making the other man blink.

“Excuse me?”

Dorian clears his throat. “You said you could feel my magic, yes? What exactly do you mean by that?”

Cullen tilts his head thoughtfully and Dorian has to keep himself from rolling his eyes when it reminds him of that mabari puppy he had seen in Redcliffe while out with the Herald. “It's like a bee. It buzzes under the skin because it's restless and confused. The buzzing became worse when you woke up because I could tell you tried to use it. So, yes, I knew you were awake. I'm sorry I couldn't come see you. There was a lot to be done to make sure Skyhold was safe.”

“You don't need to apologize Commander,” Dorian puts his hand up to wave him away. “I…truly appreciate what you did for me. You gave me a second chance and you're not pulling my leash.”

“It's not a leash, Dorian,” Cullen says. “it’s a…connection.”

Dorian simply nods and turns away. Only time would tell if Cullen would be true to his word, and so far that seemed to be the case. If it were a leash, he was sure the Commander would have kept him silent all this time.

Not to mention that he could have simply made him Tranquil.

Dorian holds out his hand in another attempt to summon a mage light, but sighs heavily when it barely forms a spark. Before he could drop his hand though, he felt Cullen carefully glide his hand along his arm until it stopped under his. Without saying a word, Dorian attempted the mage light again. He could feel his magic churning happily within him and part of it finding its home again and the spark flared into a soft blue light above his hand.

Cullen chuckling by his ear made Dorian shiver.

[vallasllin]

here to forever by vallasllin

Amavel Lavellan wakes, imprisoned by Chantry forces. He has no idea this will lead to him being one of the most powerful people in the world, as the Inquisitor. He certainly doesn't expect to fall in love with a Tevinter mage, or to find that the Dread Wolf still walks among them. But Amavel will rise to the challenges that face him.

He has no choice.

Nehnan Surana had done his duty to the world. He left the Circle, joined the Grey Wardens, united Ferelden, and defeated the Archdemon. He ruled Amaranthine and defended it well. And he refuses to die of the Taint. On his journey to discover a cure for the Calling, he discovers a strange elvhen mage by the name of Solas.

Together, they will change Thedas.

prologue.

The explosion was... unexpected.

Two figures stood in the distance as the falling snow turned to ash, the peace of the Conclave turning quickly to chaos below them, the green flames spreading.

"I told you it was a bad idea," the person on the left murmured, not looking at her companion as she spoke. "Giving it to that thing."

"I know," he said. "I know. But it was too late, by the time we met."

They stood in silence for a moment.

"Do you think the Orb is still viable?" the woman asked.

"There's no way to tell, not yet," he said slowly. "You know what I need to do now."

She sighed.

"Yes. You're going to involve yourself."

read the rest on archive of our own.

[anneapocalypse]

Dragon Age: Last Flight

Last Flight is the fifth novel in the Dragon Age series, written by Liane Merciel and published in 2014, just two months before the release of Dragon Age: Inquisition. Through the framing device of a mage refugee at Weisshaupt finding a hidden journal, the story explores the Fourth Blight 450 years ago, and the true story behind the extinction of the Grey Wardens' legendary griffons.

At 300 pages, this is the shortest of the Dragon Age novels (not counting Hard in Hightown which in our world at least is technically not long enough to be a novel). I do not think this is the strongest of the novels—I think it has some lore issues in particular, and its characters are on the whole less memorable. At the same time, I think it does add a lot to the canon in terms of establishing history and contextualizing in-game events. So this entry will be an exploration of both the book's weaknesses and its strengths.

This entry will contain spoilers for the whole story as well as for some bits of Dragon Age: Inquisition.

The Blights

This is going to involve a lot of preface before we actually get to discussing the book, but bear with me!

I think Origins does a good job establishing the stakes and scope of the Blight and the need to unite the land and all its people to face it. The darkspawn feel like a real threat, the Archdemon is scary, the Deep Roads hold secret horrors which add additional scale and dimension to the darkspawn threat. As the game progresses, you watch the Blight creep across the map, and some locations become inaccessible as they are overrun. It's solid worldbuilding for a stock fantasy epic. That the Blight doesn't really extend outside of Ferelden is fine for this story, because the scope of the game is Ferelden, and it is well established that if the Blight is not halted here, it will spread to the rest of the world. It feels as big as it needs to for the story Origins is telling.

So it's interesting to learn later that the Fifth Blight is actually the shortest Blight in Thedas's history, canonically ended within a year and never spreading outside Ferelden beyond a few isolated darkspawn outbreaks.

If you read all the Codex entries when you played Origins for the first time (which I definitely did not), you learned that the First Blight lasted nearly 200 years and nearly collapsed two civilizations. Both the Tevinter Imperium and the dwarven empire were devastated by the Blight and would continue to decline even after its defeat. This of course can be accounted for by the fact that at the time, no one yet knew how to kill an Archdemon. Every time Dumat was slain, it would be reborn and the Blight would rage on, until at last came the creation of the Grey Wardens, and eventually Dumat was permanently killed.

With the Second Blight, they cut that down to 90 years, and by the Third Blight it was down to 15, and then 12 for the Fourth. A decade of war is still devastating, but it's not civilization-destroying on the scale of the First Blight.

There are reasons for the Fifth Blight being ended so quickly, beyond our heroes getting really, really lucky at the Battle of Denerim. (If Riordan hadn't managed to damage the Archdemon's wing, grounding it atop Fort Drakon, or if all of the 3-4 wardens present had been killed before its defeat, Urthemiel very well might not have been killed that day.)

For one, the Fourth Blight is said to have wiped out so many darkspawn that some believed they would never return, and it does seem to have taken them quite some time to replenish their numbers again. More than 400 years passed before the next Blight arose, and over time it must have felt more and more unlikely that another would come. It becomes easier in that context to see how the horrors of the Fourth Blight fell out of common memory, and how the Wardens fell out of favor, especially in Ferelden—which was not even a nation yet at the time of the Fourth Blight.

For another, it is revealed in Awakening that the Fifth Blight was actually begun by the Architect's failed attempt to perform his modified Joining ritual on Urthemiel in order to prevent further blights, resulting instead in Urthemiel being corrupted and rising as the next Archdemon. It's never explicitly stated in canon, but my guess is that had things taken their "natural" course (if such a thing can be called natural), the darkspawn might have amassed much greater numbers by the time they found and corrupted Urthemiel, thereby delaying the Fifth Blight but making it ultimately more devastating when it occurred. So I think it's possible that the Architect's interference, even though it failed in its goal, might still have saved lives.

The Fifth Blight was so short that we didn't witness the full extent of what darkspawn invasion does to the world over time, and this we get to see in more detail in Last Flight: barren ground, dead crops, sickly animals and children, even deadly storms. Sickness and starvation kill more people than darkspawn swords. A Blight is war, famine, and plague all rolled into one.

Weisshaupt and the Anderfels

One thing I was very excited about in reading this book was getting to see Weisshaupt Fortress firsthand, as previously we'd only heard about the famed Grey Warden headquarters secondhand. By extension we also learn a bit about the Anderfels.

Our point-of-view character for the present-day frame story is Valya, a mage from the Anderfels' Hossberg Circle, arriving at Weisshaupt with a small group of fellow mages seeking refuge from the mage-templar conflict quickly spreading across Thedas. With the Fifth Blight ended, the Weisshaupt Wardens are in no great hurry to put new recruits through the Joining, and instead put them to work helping with research in the fortress's library, sorting through old documents from the previous Blight.

In said library stands a memorial to Garahel, the Hero of the Fourth Blight, which I thought was pretty neat. It was also cool to learn that it was an elf who killed the last archdemon, and we'll learn more about Garahel and even more about his sister Isseya, our point-of-view character for the Fourth Blight storyline.

We also learn that the Weisshaupt Wardens are investigating intelligent darkspawn like the Architect, which is not very relevant to this story but was a piece of continuity I appreciated.

We are told, from Valya's point of view, that "no one, absolutely no one, save the truly heroic or the truly desperate, wanted to become a member." I think we already know just from what we've seen in the games that this isn't strictly true. But I also wonder if it's more true in the Anderfels—if the cost of becoming a Grey Warden is more common knowledge here.

Similarly we are told in the flashback part of the story, from Isseya's point of view, that "Everyone who had ever heard of the Grey Wardens knew that someday the darkspawn taint that the Wardens absorbed during the Joining would overwhelm them." So… perhaps that was common knowledge at the time of the Fourth Blight? It certainly isn't in the south in the present day, though again it might be in the Anderfels.

We're told early on that "By tradition, the Wardens took only one recruit from each Circle of Magi in Thedas." One at a time only, to be replaced when they die? Does this apply all the time or only in peacetime? I have no idea, and it isn't explained further.

At one point in the frame story some letters arrive at Weisshaupt, and it seems the Wardens of other nations write to Weisshaupt for supplies, which seems a little inefficient, frankly, given the sheer distance and difficulty of travel. On another note, the unnamed arl requesting a personal guard after his wife insisted she saw a genlock in the cellar amused me greatly, because I could just imagine the arl going to the poor beleaguered Warden-Commander of Ferelden and being told that if he really wanted his own personal contingent of House Wardens, he was more than welcome to write to Weisshaupt and ask for them.

In this story that Ferelden has a new Warden-Commander, which I believe lines up with the default world state BioWare uses for the novels and comics, in which the Hero of Ferelden is dead.

I think this story is especially compelling in how it establishes some of the terrible choices the Wardens have had to make in order to save the world. An early sequence in the flashback portion involves the Grey Wardens facing the cruel reality of choosing who to evacuate from Antiva City. Nobles have land, armies, and coin to aid in the war effort. Peasants have nothing to offer and will be left to die, and though the Wardens find this distasteful, they don't have enough time to save everyone, and this influences Isseya's decisions later on. The hard choices the Wardens must make are a major theme and I think one of the strongest aspects of the story.

Additional Worldbuilding

It was also really cool to see more of Antiva, which is where the Fourth Blight began. Antiva City on Rialto Bay sounds just beautiful, and that's sad when you realize you're seeing it just as it's about to be destroyed. Antiva was caught off guard by the Blight and quickly overwhelmed, and then the darkspawn spread south into the Free Marches which were not nearly unified enough to mount a proper defense.

They rebuilt after the Blight, of course, and I really hope we get to see Antiva City in-game one day and that we get to see more of it than we saw of Val Royeaux.

I do wish that we got some effort put into showing us that the fashion of the Exalted Age was different than what we see 450 years later, but nope, from what is described it appears to be exactly the same Origins-era fantasy-medieval aesthetic. On the other hand I am pleased to see the story acknowledge that language would have changed over the centuries.

Lore & Continuity Issues

Caronel is a Grey Warden side character in the present-day storyline. He is memorable mainly for the fact that I was immediately suspicious of him as soon as he said he became a Grey Warden during the Blight in Ferelden. This makes no sense unless he either left the country and underwent the Joining elsewhere, which is strange since Ferelden is where the Blight was, or he didn't actually join until the Blight was ended, which is also strange because the Ferelden Wardens desperately needed rebuilding after the Blight given that they only had 2-3 people left and their first group of reinforcements from Orlais were slaughtered to a one at Vigil's Keep within six months. I honestly thought Caronel was lying, like he was some kind of proto-Blackwall, and that either he hadn't yet joined or was concealing his true origins for some juicy reason. But nope, it just never comes up again and never pays off.

There is some very weird stuff in this book about aravels, the wheeled wooden "landships" Dalish clans use to move from place to place, drawn by halla and able to move swiftly through the forest through magic. Her limited knowledge of the Dalish and their aravels leads Isseya to devise a similar scheme for evacuating civilians from cities threatened by darkspawn, using modified boats and griffons. This is clever, and an interesting plot point.

The first weird thing is that Amadis doesn't think aravels are real. I can accept that perhaps she's never seen one, having perhaps never encountered a Dalish clan. But aravels are universal among the Dalish, and according to their Codex entry, so well-known to humans that their approaching flags are considered a warning to stay away. I guess it's possible that in Exalted Age, the Dalish maybe have been scarce enough in the Free Marches that their aravels might have become mere myth, but it's weird, and I'm not sure why it would be true.

The second weird thing is that these characters (and by extension the author) seem to believe that aravels fly. As in, fly high in the air, like a sleigh drawn by reindeer. This cannot be true. Halla are not winged creatures; they don't fly. (Unless we're counting that one glitchy halla in the Brecilian Forest.) Aravels have wheels on them. Humans call them landships, not airships. I don't even consider this to be debatable; it has to be a mistake, and I parse it as a misreading of the Codex entry, where "flying through the forest" is a figure of speech and "the sails of our aravels flying above the tops of trees" pretty clearly has to mean that the sails are visible above the trees as the aravels pass, not that the entire aravel is literally flying.

That Isseya decides to fly the refugees to safety using magic and griffons is all well and good, but to suggest that Dalish aravels fly… it's just a mess, and there's no way that was supposed to be canon from the start.

And then there's the blood magic lore, which is getting its own section.

Blood Magic

The blood magic lore was probably my biggest issue with this book. I can write off Caronel as a liar, I can write off the flying aravel nonsense as these non-Dalish characters having misconceptions about aravels. The blood magic stuff has much greater ramifications to me, because it touches the very fabric of the universe.

The first line that caught me off guard was "Blood magic required considerable sophistication." I thought, really? Because it sure seemed in Dragon Age II that a mage in a fit of desperation could just cut their hand with a knife, spill their blood, and immediately summon demons. This was never indicated to be a school of magic that required "sophistication," whatever that means, especially when it is so often a last resort of the desperate.

It also appears in this story that to control someone's mind with blood magic requires drawing their blood, not just any blood. While this would make sense in and of itself, I am not sure whether it lines up with what we've seen elsewhere, as the general attitude seems to be that if a blood mage is about, anyone they've had contact with could be in danger of having their mind influenced. Ordinary people could be mistaken about this, but not templars, whom we've heard speak of the dangers of blood mages being able to control the minds of those around them.

But I was really pulled up short by the part where Isseya picks up on Calien using blood magic, and confronts him:

"You're a blood mage. I can see when you're casting spells without touching the Fade."

This is where I stopped and said: Wait, WHAT?

This is… there is just so much to unpack about this, and more you think about it the less sense it makes. If blood magic doesn't touch the Fade, wouldn't that make it less dangerous, and not more, if there is no contact with the realm of demons? Why does blood magic attract demons if it has no connection to the Fade? If blood magic doesn't touch the Fade, why does it thin the Veil, which we know to be true because it's a very important piece of worldbuilding for the entire series?

Furthermore, the Fade is supposed to be what gives mages their abilities in the first place. It's why dwarves and Tranquil can't do magic. If blood magic has no connection the Fade, then dwarves and Tranquil and anyone else should be capable of performing blood magic.

The book even kind of contradicts itself on this stuff later, because we see Isseya reaching for the Fade as she prepares the blood magic ritual to Join the griffons. In the most explicit example, when she uses blood magic to enter a griffon's mind to find out what's killing them, we are told, "She grasped the Fade." So does blood magic touch the Fade, or doesn't it?

Thing is, this piece of lore is... sort of? maybe? affirmed by Solas in Inquisition, when he says that blood mages have more difficulty entering the Fade. (Never mind that Merrill never seems to have any trouble entering the Fade during "Night Terrors.") Which is not exactly the same thing as "Blood magic doesn't touch the Fade," but it could be related. So, I think there is something to this, regardless of how confusingly it's presented in this book.

I think what we ultimately have to take from this is that using blood magic makes it more difficult to enter the Fade in spirit, but… also potentially makes it possible to enter physically, if enough blood can be spilled to tear the Veil open. Why that is the case, I don't think we yet have enough information about the Veil and the magical qualities of blood to say. Maybe we'll find out. As for blood magic touching the Fade, I think the point is supposed to be that blood is a separate source of magic from the Fade, not merely a fuel for it like lyrium (which is also a kind of blood, but we're not getting into that here). It's just not handled very well. And as for what is required for mind control... your guess is as good as mine.

(Tangentially, there's also mentions of the Archdemon creating some kind of magical vortex in the sky during battle, and Isseya notes that its power does not come from the Fade. This I think ties into the face that darkspawn draw magic from the Taint, not from the Fade.)

Initially I just hoped all the blood magic stuff would be quietly forgotten along with flying aravels, but having realized some of it was confirmed in later canon, I think that much at least is here to stay. So I don't think the blood magic lore here is entirely erroneous, but the way it's presented is kind of a mess.

General Writing Weaknesses

Very embarrassingly, when I returned to this book about a month after finishing it to do this write-up, I could not remember the name of the present-day point-of-view character. (It's Valya.) This is not a problem I had with any of the other novels, and I think it's representative of the fact that a lot of the characters just weren't as memorable or compelling. The one I remember best is Isseya, and it's not because she had a particularly distinct or engaging personality but because her actions were central to the story. If pressed, I don't think I could really tell you anything deeply personal about most of the side characters, and despite them being from different time periods, I kept getting Calien and Caronel mixed up to the point that at one point I forgot Calien wasn't a Grey Warden.

And in such a character-driven fandom, I think the unmemorability of these characters is born out by the fact that I'd never heard of any of them or the book itself before I started actively seeking out every piece of Dragon Age media in existence. I've only ever been on the edges of the wider Dragon Age fandom and I'd heard of, for example, Rowan and Fiona and Rhys and Michel, at least in passing before reading their books; I've never heard anyone talk about Isseya or Valya.

While the frame story of the mage and templar refugees sets the story clearly in the time period right before Inquisition, I don't feel like it particularly serves this story, which is not about the mage-templar war, and the references to it, including the tension between the refugees at Weisshaupt, don't really go anywhere or have any payoff. Valya didn't need to be a Circle refugee and her companions didn't need to exist, basically; all they do is add more superfluous characters who don't matter to the story. Isseya's journal could have been discovered by any Grey Warden initiate who was both a mage and an elf, and I actually think it could have been more interesting to see the story of how the Wardens wiped out their own griffons through blood magic unfold through the eyes of someone who's already undergone the Joining and has that sunk cost in believing the Wardens heroic and good.

Valya suspects that the story the Chamberlain tells her about how the griffons died out is a lie, at a time in the story when she still has no reason to suspect that. It throws some intrigue to the reader, sure, but from a character point of view it's not believable, and Valya is too underdeveloped a character for it to make her seem smart. Instead it just feels like the writer wants you to know there's more to the story.

And then there are just some language issues I have with the writing, things that I think it behooves anyone writing in a fantasy genre to be aware of. There is always a certain level of suspension of disbelief required for fantasy, and all language derives in some way from the cultures it arose from and reflects the world in which it's used, but if the origins of a word are too obviously not of the fictional universe, they become immersion-breaking. I call this "the Brussels sprouts" problem. In a fantasy world where the country of Belgium and the city of Brussels do not exist, you cannot have a vegetable called Brussels sprouts. You can have that vegetable but you can't call it that without risking the audience's immersion. In this cases, the author uses the adjective "spartan," as in "a spartan respite." Most people know what Sparta was and who the Spartans were, and this word absolutely does not belong in Dragon Age.

There's also this one simile, "studded with arrows like a ham stuck with cloves," that stuck out to me, not because it was out of place in the universe necessarily—Thedas has pigs and it has spices, fine—but because it just seemed kind of uncreative to me. Like, oh, I guess people in this fantasy world with dragons prepare and eat ham exactly the way we do. Cool, I guess?

Merciel also has kind of a problem with unnecessary epithets.

In this book Dragon Age continues to be sort of iffy with its portrayal of transgender characters. They arguably did finally do better with Krem in Inquisition, but this is something that in general the franchise has a history of fumbling (see my post on the first three graphic novels for more on that). This book has a character named Lisme, who seems to be what we would describe as genderfluid. A huge deal is made of Lisme's presentation being dramatic and costumey, which seems both highly impractical in wartime and not necessary to establish the character's genderfluidity. I mean don't get me wrong here, if Lisme wants to dress up like a drag queen to fight darkspawn, I for one support her, but I also question the choice to write the character that way, as well as to have the narration tell us that no one knew "which was the truth" like his gender presentation is a lie. For a franchise that prides itself on the inclusion of LGB characters, Dragon Age has been sort of behind the 8-ball on trans representation, but the trend at least does seem to be an upward one--and I hope that continues.

There are couple of issues I'm going to mention which also apply to other Dragon Age books and so it's going to seem like I'm singling this one out unfairly. If I ignored them in previous books it's because they weren't enough of a distraction to take me out of the story, but they were still present and I will mention them briefly here.

We do set up the obligatory het romances real early; this is a thing in nearly every Dragon Age novel (hats off to The Masked Empire for breaking that mold) and while I wasn't invested in most of the characters, I did enjoy the thing between Amadis and Garahel, which of course ends in Garahel's heroic sacrifice. (Amadis despite not getting a ton of character development was still probably my favorite character in the book.)

There are moments in these books when it feels like the writer grabbed at the first name that popped into their head without thinking about why it popped in there. Like Asunder having a major character named Adrian mention an Enchanter Adria who never appears or comes up again. Or in this case, a character name Fenadahl, not to be confused with the elven Tree of the People, the vhenadahl. I understand that in real life sometimes people have similar names, and sometimes names sound like things, but in a book it's distracting and if you don't have a reason to do it and you aren't going to lampshade it in some way, you should probably avoid this sort of thing.

This is a small thing but it also represents a hole a lot of franchises seem to fall down as they age and expand, and one I fear Dragon Age is also succumbing to: the pressure to utilize characters that fans have heard of before. (I think this is way more of an issue in Inquisition and some of the comics, but that's another entry for another day.) In short: I know fans like to hear familiar names, but Brother Genitivi does not need to be the only human historian in all of Thedas. There can be other scholars who have written books. Mix it up a little.

Strengths!

I want to go out on a positive note, so let's finish with some more general things I liked!

While it initially feels a little dramatic the way Valya finds the super secret Grey Warden journal by following a hidden message on an old map to a secret hidey-hole in a stone wall, instead of just finding the journal in a trunk full of Fourth Blight stuff no one's had time to sort through, it does turn out to have been hidden that way for a reason, and specifically so that a mage and an elf would be most likely to find it, so that worked for me.

I mentioned that Amadis is my favorite character and it's mostly for this:

"Who are you?" Isseya asked. "You're not just an Antivan lady. Not by the way you handled those blades." Amadis laughed. "You must not know many Antivan ladies."

She goes on to explain that she's not actually Antivan, she's from Starkhaven, but it was a great line all the same.

The battle descriptions are great! I tend to find the battle scenes the most boring parts of these books, but this was an exception. The griffon-mounted battles were really fun and exciting. It becomes clear in this story how much differently a battle feels when you're not even trying to kill an Archdemon at the moment, only escape.

Blood magic stuff aside, I also like the way Merciel describes mages doing magic as reaching for the Fade, opening themselves to it, weaving threads of magic and so forth. It's more visceral than Gaider's descriptions ever were, and makes more vivid what it might feel like to do magic in this universe.

I liked the mention of the Wilds flower from Origins that can cure blight sickness (at least in Mabari), and it makes sense that it would sound like a fairy tale in the north because the flower doesn't grow there. That was a nice piece of continuity.

I think it works well that Valya knows the outcome of Isseya's story before we do, allowing for some foreshadowing in the frame story, with Valya saying "She did terrible things" before we know the extent of those things.

And I like the griffons! I like the descriptions of them, the bonds they have with the Wardens and their individual personalities, and I cared about them enough that I was genuinely sad about the sickness taking them even when I knew from the start that they were all going to die. The surprise came from the discovery of the hidden, magically-warded and unblighted eggs, and the revelation that griffons are going to return to Thedas! That's very exciting to me!

Final Thoughts

I think Last Flight is one of the weaker of the Dragon Age novels, but I still think it's valuable for some of its worldbuilding, and particularly for its portrayal of how much the Blights have cost Thedas and what has been sacrificed to stop them. It's almost unfair to compare it to, for example, The Stolen Throne, which had no continuity to break when it was written, and while it also didn't have the strongest characters in the series, their proximity to the first game automatically added interest to their story. Last Flight comes later in the series and thus has a lot more continuity to build on, and I can appreciate the added challenge of that, even as I wish the lore had been vetted a little more carefully. It doesn't have the strongest characters, but I can appreciate it as a world-driven story more than a character-driven one, even if I think that's a little out of step with the rest of the series.

It's not my favorite, but I enjoyed it and I think it's worth reading.

Addendum

More recently, I watched Ghil Dirthalen's video series about this book on YouTube. She noted some of the same issues I did, and she added one piece of context in particular: Merciel wrote Last Flight on a pretty tight deadline. She also shares a few quotes from Merciel from the old BSN forums, offering some lore-questionable justifications for certain writing decisions, and also mentioning that she hadn't read World of Thedas when she wrote the book. (Ghil also catches some lore issues that I didn't, so really, you should go watch her videos, part of her Book Emporium series; it's good.)

And given that this book doesn't actually set up anything that happens in Inquisition, I'm not sure why it was so important for BioWare to publish it when they did; it could just as easily have come out after the game. But that time limitation probably explains a lot. And knowing that just confirms for me that we probably shouldn't favor this book over other sources of lore where they conflict.

[solavillain]

Solavellan Playlist + Song Explanation

So this is mostly a lil compilation thing for me that I’ve wanted to do but I figured some folks might find it interesting! This will probably be quite a long post so after the first couple songs I will put it under a read-more. I’m also making two parts since this is A Lot and I don’t want to post walls of text lol.

To start, here is the playlist I’ve put together :) Tis Spotify. I’ll preface with the fact that this entire playlist is an attempt to chronologically catalog the Solavellan relationship, and I especially think of the songs from the Inquisitor’s perspective as being from my own Inky’s POV. 

1. Lost Elf Theme – Trevor Morris

Though this song plays at the end of Trespasser - and even plays after the Dark Solas Theme - I feel like this song encompasses both the beginning and end of Solas’ journey in Inquisition/Trespasser. He awakes in an entirely new world, centuries apart from everything and everyone he knew. He is, quite literally, a lost elf. Beyond that, the song seems to have some small motifs from the Thedas Love Theme, which is especially heartbreaking as a Lavellan romancing Solas.

2. Six – Sleeping At Last

What would it feel like

To put this baggage down?

If I'm being honest

I'm not sure I'd know how 

…

Fear won't go away

But I can keep it at bay

These invisible walls

Just might keep us safe

These were the lines that drew me to this song first as a Solas POV song. He is very clearly a man on a mission from the get-go, still so torn up inside over what has been done to his people by the Evanuris as well as himself – but knowing that he needs to push forward and bottle all of that up if he is to succeed in righting the wrong he caused with the Orb.

3. Viva la Vida – Coldplay

I used to rule the world

Seas would rise when I gave the word

Now in the morning, I sleep alone

Sweep the streets I used to own

…

One minute, I held the key

Next, the walls were closed on me

And I discovered that my castles stand

Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand

So I know Solas/Fen’Harel was never technically a king, nor even really a god (as far as he has told us, that is). But these lines as well as the general vibe of this song just fit him so well - he never wanted to be “king”, never wanted to have to close off the Fade, or lie to those in the Inquisition. But he felt he must.

4. I’m With You – Avril Lavigne

Isn't anyone tryin' to find me?

Won't somebody come take me home?

It's a damn cold night

Trying to figure out this life

Won't you take me by the hand?

Take me somewhere new

I don't know who you are

But I, I'm with you

I'm with you

Ilaera is thrust into the Inquisition suddenly after the events at the Conclave. She had expected to discover information for her clan, and return home to hopefully be made First. But the anchor and Corypheus derailed her life entirely. Her one comfort in the whirlwind of the early days of the Inquisition was Solas. A fellow mage and elf, she would stand outside his small hut at Haven for hours listening to his stories and musings, when he would let her. I think this song is a good representation of her growing attachment to him, when she was first falling for him. 

5. Heart’s A Mess – Gotye

Let me in

Where only your thoughts have been

Let me occupy your mind

As you do mine

…

Your heart's a mess

You won't admit to it

It makes no sense

But I'm desperate to connect

And you, you can't live like this

I envision this song as Ilaera pleading with Solas quietly to just let her in. Especially after the move to Skyhold and their subsequent meeting/kiss in the Fade, he still continues to hold her at arms length, acting friendlier with her than the others perhaps, but not allowing himself to get any closer. At the time, of course, Ilaera doesn’t know why he’s acting that way, so it’s hard not to feel just a little hurt by his ignoring of the moment they had shared.

6. Drumming Song – Florence + The Machine

There's a drumming noise inside my head

That starts when you're around

I swear that you could hear it

It makes such an almighty sound

…

As I move my feet towards your body

I can hear this beat, it fills my head up

And gets louder and louder

It fills my head up and gets louder and louder

At this point, just before Solas and the Inquisitor embark on his mission to rescue his spirit friend, she is consumed by her feelings for him, especially now that they seem to be either unrequited or that Solas is unwilling to act upon them. Every mission in the field, every late night at Skyhold, even her dreams are filled with thoughts of him. She puts on a calm exterior now that she has been appointed Inquisitor, but on the inside she’s burning for him, and I think this song reflects that perfectly.

7. Who Knows – Avril Lavigne

How do you always have an opinion?

And how do you always find

The best way to compromise?

We don't need to have a reason

We don't need anything

We're just wasting time

I think there's something more

Life's worth living for

…

Find yourself

'Cause I can't find you

Be yourself

Who are you?

Solas has returned from his time spent mourning, and has told Ilaera that he could hardly abandon her now - that she had been a true friend in doing what she could to help the spirit. He seems changed, however - softer, more open. This song reflects the hope that occurs just before their trist on the balcony - I feel like the Inquisitor can sense his resolve about their relationship here. But she also wants him to stop wasting time deliberating, and to figure himself out before continuing anything.

8. Two – Sleeping At Last

Sweetheart, you look a little tired

When did you last eat?

Come in and make yourself right at home

Stay as long as you need

Tell me, is something wrong?

If something's wrong, you can count on me

You know I'll take my heart clean apart if it helps yours beat

… 

I don't even know where to start

Already tired of trying to recall when it all fell apart

I just want to love you, to love you, to love you well

I just want to learn how, somehow, to be loved myself

This song can be from either perspective, though I enjoy thinking of it as a Solas song for the most part. For a brief time he is fully committed to Ilaera, thinking that perhaps he can find a way to live in this world and accept it the way it is, Veil intact. He would likely be especially doting during this time, trying to take care of his vhenan, but not quite knowing how to let her do the same in return. 

9. arms – Christina Perri

I never thought that You would be the one to hold my heart

But you came around

And you knocked me off the ground from the start

You put your arms around me

And I believe that it's easier for you to let me go

You put your arms around me and I'm home

This song is an interesting one. Half of it can be from Lavellan’s perspective, as in the stanza above (also… the first three lines are also from MY perspective, lol. I did NOT expect Solas to be who I liked most from the Inquisition romance options). But later in the song you can view it from Solas’ perspective, since it goes on to lament not being able to open up so easily - especially with the line I’ll never let a love get so close.

10. Cosmic Love – Florence + The Machine

I took the stars from my eyes, and then I made a map

And knew that somehow I could find my way back

Then I heard your heart beating, you were in the darkness too

So I stayed in the darkness with you

At this point in the playlist I just started adding a couple love songs without complete direction, though I think this stanza is fitting for Solavellan. I like to think that they had at least a few months of happiness before the scene at Crestwood…

11. Good Enough – Evanescence 

Under your spell again

I can't say no to you

Crave my heart and it's bleeding in your hand

I can't say no to you

Shouldn't let you torture me so sweetly

Now I can't let go of this dream

I can't breathe but I feel

Good enough

Above everything else, Solas has always been someone Ilaera admired, even looked up to in terms of magical knowledge and practice. And with his hesitancy after their kiss in the Fade, it’s not hard to see why she would feel a bit “less than” in their relationship once it began in earnest. I think at this point in their journey, though, she would finally feel good enough - to consider herself his equal, if not in strength or power or knowledge than emotionally. And she can only dream that he feels the same.

12. Thedas Love Theme – Trevor Morris

This marks the halfway point on the playlist as well as their relationship - though I’m putting it as the signifier for the Crestwood scene. It may be the last scene we get of them in the main game (until after Corypheus is defeated, though that’s not exclusively a romance scene), but due to Trespasser, it’s only half of their story. That scene is also the first time the Inquisitor is able to tell Solas she loves him - albeit in a desperate attempt to get him to change his mind and stay with her. I think it’s a fitting transition for the next half of their story and the playlist, however!

If you read all of this, thank you for reading my ramblings and probably way too detailed thoughts on this ship lmao, I am clearly deep in my feelings about it. I will do another one of these posts soon for the second half of the playlist, which will be all angst and yearning and anger! Hehe.

[himluv]

DA Review Series: Last Flight

<<< Previous Review: DAI Short Stories

I've hit the stretch of the DA tie-in media list that's mostly graphic novels, so rate of review posts will hopefully pick up over the next few weeks.

Title: Last Flight Author: Liane Merciel Publication Year: 2014 In-World Year: ~9:42 Dragon and 5:12-24 Exalted Verdict: Look. I knew where this book was going before I ever opened it and before I saw any Veilguard footage. I've been around this fandom too long not to have been spoiled. That said, Isseya's story and Valya's discovery made me tear up. I really loved this book and think it's definitely worth picking up before Veilguard comes out. I hope we get to see some familiar faces.

Last Flight takes place in two timelines, the present (9:42 Dragon) and the past (5:12-24 Exalted). It tells the story of Grey Warden Isseya, an elf mage and sister of Warden Garahel, Hero of the Fourth Blight. Notably, this was the age griffons went extinct in Thedas.

In the present, another elf mage named Valya has journeyed to the safety of Weisshaupt in the wake of the Mage-Templar war. While there she finds Isseya's journal, which details the gruesome years of the Fourth Blight, how close they Wardens came to failing to destroy the Archdemon, and the true cost of their victory.

Isseya, who has been forgotten to time, was a Blood Mage. It was her desperate spell that allowed the griffons to undertake the Joining and become even more ferocious and formidable warriors against the Darkspawn.

It also consumed them all with a contagious version of the taint that drove the griffons mad. In her waning days, late in her Calling, Isseya was able to save the last clutch of griffon eggs and hide them away for a later generation of Wardens to find. After all she'd been through, all she'd been ordered to do, she didn't trust the Wardens of her time to act in the griffons' best interest.

Valya, after months of residing with the Wardens, but still not permitted to undertake the Joining, isn't sure the order is deserving of the griffons. But, against all hope, she leads a small group to Isseya's hiding spot. And thanks to the mage's powerful magic, the eggs are still there 400 years later. Safe and whole and ready to hatch.

Last Flight is the only Dragon Age novel written by a non-Bioware author. I think that actually made the story a bit more accessible. During Isseya's chapters I felt like the reader didn't need to know much about DA games to be invested in Isseya's story or the plight of the griffons. Valya's chapters were more subtle and my knowledge of Inquisition really helped understand the tensions happening across Thedas and within Weisshaupt Fortress.

Ultimately, I found Last Flight to be a really solid Dragon Age book, and even a decent fantasy novel. I was always going to like this one, because, well... Griffons! But now that we've seen a little bit of Veilguard and Davrin and Assan, I am SO EXCITED and glad I read this book!

[dreadfutures]

Inquisitor as a Companion: Ixchel Lavellan

Is your OC a Companion in the Dragon Age series? What would it be like for a player to select them to join their party for quests (or romance them, perhaps? 👀)

Here is Ixchel’s (fake) DA Wiki page, if she were a companion. Meme started by @little-lightning-lavellan​​ , so tag her if you do this!

(Find this on AO3, where I will add Location Comments and dialogue options as I think of them.)

Ixchel is an elven warrior and activist. She is a potential companion in Dragon Age: Inquisition. (WIP Tarot art by me. :) )

Background

Ixchel likely originated in southern Ferelden, but the events of the Fifth Blight drove her northward. She encountered several Dalish clans who did not take her in, possibly due to the limited resources available due to the encroaching Darkspawn hordes, or perhaps because she does not appear to be fully-elven. Ixchel has smaller, rounder ears than normal for an elf, though they are longer and sharper than that of a human. The orphan stowed away on a boat to the Free Marches, where she found no refuge in Kirkwall or the major cities and took to wandering the countryside in search of food and shelter. During this time, Ixchel encountered Clan Lavellan outside of Markham, but she did not remain.

After the Archdemon’s defeat, Ixchel returned to Ferelden, as she felt drawn to the traces of elven history she had found there as a child. There, she encountered a Warden who helped her read a word that she found in a ruin: Ixchel.

Sometime between 9:34-9:37 dragon, Ixchel reappeared outside of Markham, calling herself by this new name. In 9:37 Dragon, a particularly harsh winter drove the Lavellan Clan to seek out the orphan and took her in to teach her to hunt and fend for herself better. She proved to have a keen mind for learning, and a drive to prove her value. She remained with the Clan for two years. In 9:41 Dragon, she volunteered to go to the Conclave in Haven as a spy, due to her ability to pass as human and travel largely unnoticed. She is roughly sixteen years old.

Involvement

Dragon Age: Origins

A Dalish Warden can potentially encounter Ixchel as part of the Lead Her Through the Darkness side-quest in Dragon Age Origins: Witch Hunt DLC. She appears as a precocious, nameless orphan less than ten years of age. She has written a word on her arm in ash and asks the Warden to translate it. It is unclear if the name is Elven or Tevene in origin, but the Warden translates it as Ixchel (ihsh-chEL).

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Ixchel can only be recruited after relocation to Skyhold and beginning the A Fallen Sister side quest in the Emerald Graves. After freeing the prisoners from the Veridium Mine, the Inquisitor will come across Ixchel under attack by a group of Freemen. The Inquisitor will help Ixchel defeat the Chevaliers, for which she expresses gratitude.

A Dalish Inquisitor has the option to call her “da’len” and express relief that she escaped the Conclave. Ixchel explains that she fled Haven after the explosion at the Temple of Sacred Ashes and went in search of a Dalish Clan (see: The Knights’ Tomb) to take her in. On her way, she saw the harm caused by the Civil War in Orlais. She sees how much good the Inquisition can do and offers her services to help uproot the Freemen of the Dales and fight Corypheus. Her travels and experiences have made her well-suited to consider the needs of elves, both among alienages and the Dalish, as well as humans. Ixchel cannot be recruited if Wicked Eyes, Wicked Hearts has been completed.

In Skyhold, Ixchel can be found in the center of the courtyard by the main stairway, either near the Training Ring (if Skyhold is upgraded) or near the City and Dalish elven NPCs who often argue there.

If Ixchel and Solas are in a party together, they will develop a fast mentoring relationship as Ixchel asks Solas about his dreams in various locations they have traveled. He will comfort her after she expresses anger at the treatment of elves in Halamshiral and gently encourage her to take action. She will argue with him about his scorn for the Dalish and insist on the merits of their resilience and efforts to reclaim their heritage after centuries of oppression.

After accessing the Exalted Plains from the War Table, Ixchel will approach the Inquisitor in Skyhold and ask to meet with Hawen’s Clan. The dialogue options vary depending on whether the Inquisitor has yet discovered that the Dalish have been killed at Din’an Hanin. Ixchel is worried about the Clan’s proximity to the front of the Orlesian Civil War.

When Hawen’s clan is first encountered, a Dalish scout will address Ixchel as “flat-ear.” Ixchel is deeply upset by this and explains to the Inquisitor that it is because Ixchel does not have vallaslin and that she doesn’t appear as fully elven. A Dalish Inquisitor has the option to reassure Ixchel of her place in Clan Lavellan with or without the vallaslin. If the Inquisitor wins high approval among Hawen’s Clan, Hawen offers to formally adopt Ixchel by giving her vallaslin and initiates the Inner Circle Quest, Inward Glory.

Ixchel hesitates to accept the honor. Ixchel wants to learn the history of the vallaslin and asks the Inquisitor to help her learn how the practice has evolved from enslaved elves in Tevinter, to the elves of the Dales, to the modern Dalish Clans. The Inquisitor must contact researchers in Tevinter, Orlais, and Varric’s contact with the Dalish--Merrill.

Completion of Inward Glory is followed by another Inner Circle quest, Proudly Crowned Withal. Ixchel meets with the Inquisitor and Solas to review what she learned and make her final decision. The Inquisitor can encourage Ixchel to honor her heritage and take the vallaslin, tell her that she can serve her People better as a human-passing spy without vallaslin, or tell her that she has proven that she cares for the elves and belongs to them whether she shows it on her face or not.

If she is told not to take the vallaslin, she will not, but she Greatly Disapproves. Solas will Disapprove of all options. A Dalish Inquisitor has the added option to tell her that the Inquisitor, as well as the Lavellan Keeper, considered her to be part of Clan Lavellan even without the vallaslin. If Ixchel is told to accept, or if the Inquisitor lets Ixchel choose herself, she will accept Hawen’s offer.

A Dalish Inquisitor who has completed their romance with Solas will have the option to ask Solas to tell Ixchel the truth about the vallaslin. A Dalish Inquisitor who removed her own vallaslin has the opportunity to tell Ixchel one-on-one. Ixchel will reveal that Solas in fact told her the truth before the completion of her personal quest, and Ixchel made her decision knowingly.

After completing Ixchel's Inner Circle quests, new missions will appear on the War Table. Ixchel wants the Inquisition to work with factions like the Red Jennies, Briala's spy network, and even members of Celene's court to make reparations for Empress Celene's burning of the Halamshiral alienage, to put an end to the Val Royeaux Chevaliers' tradition of hunting City elves in the alienage streets after dark, and to restore self-governance to the alienage in Denerim, whose freedoms were restricted after the events of the Fifth Blight.

Trespasser:

If the Inquisitor has high approval with Ixchel, the warrior has devoted her time to activism in Orlais’ alienages, potentially allying with Briala. Ambient dialogue in the Winter Palace indicates that she and her movement are reviled by members of the Orlesian court, and the ruler of the Empire is considering a preventative strike for fear of a violent uprising.

If the Inquisitor did not win high approval with Ixchel, she still appears at the Exalted Council to reunite with friends in the Inner Circle. She reveals that she spent the intervening time between Inquisition and Trespasser traveling the world with Morrigan (or Morrigan and Kieran) to continue research in Ancient Elvhen history, as well as sowing rebellion--which she calls mien’harel-- in alienages across Thedas. She is saddened that the Inquisitor has still heard no word from Solas.

In the Epilogue, if the Inquisitor has resolved to kill Solas, Ixchel vanishes. She leaves a note to a high-approval Inquisitor saying that she is sorry but she has gone to find a third option to thwart Solas. If the Inquisitor instead chooses to convince Solas to change his plans, Ixchel remains allied with the Inquisition as she redoubles her efforts to unite elves across Thedas against oppression, and to actively counter Fen’Harel’s recruitment.

Approval

Ixchel appreciates honesty and empathy in Inquisitors. Given her upbringing outside of both human and elven customs, she is skeptical of actions motivated by religion. She is generally supportive of increasing freedom and understanding between groups like Mages and Templars and humans and elves.

She is curious and precocious, and she approves of exploring magic and history without bias. She is unlike other companions in that, if she is met with anger or scorn, her approval does not change. Dialogue options that mock or disrespect other members of the Inquisition and their beliefs, even those she does not get along with outright like Sera, will net disapproval.

Ability Tree/Specialization

Ixchel is a two-handed warrior with access to the Champion specialization tree. She begins with a two-handed greataxe.

Combat comments

Kills an enemy

“Push them back!”

“Move and parry, strike and kill!”

“Did you see that?”

Low Health

“Come and get it!”

“I’m taking you with me!”

“Not sure how much longer I can hold…”

Low Health (Companions)

(Inquisitor) Inquisitor! You must keep fighting!

(Inquisitor) Lethallen, no!

(Solas) I’m coming, Solas!

Fallen Companions

(Inquisitor) Guard the Inquisitor!

(Cole) I can't lose Cole!

Companion comments about OC

Vivienne: She is certainly a quick study, but painfully earnest, that girl. It is too bad the Game is played out in court, not on the battlefield. 

Solas: A childhood free of human or Dalish dogma allows her to see the biases ingrained in many who are older or more experienced. (“She’s young and naive.”) Because she expresses empathy for those who might not appear to deserve it? *sigh* I too have expressed that such openness might only lead to heartbreak. What she told me belies a wisdom far beyond her years: ‘When we ascribe compassion to be virtues of the gods, it becomes impossible for mortals to embody them. But the Fade reflects the waking world, and Compassion, Empathy, and Justice can be found in both.’

Dorian: There are quite the depths in her, despite her stature.

Bull: You don’t see a lot of atheists outside of Par Vollen. Everyone needs to believe the world’s fucked up for a reason, that there’s something waiting for them that’s better than the crap they have to suffer. Then again, people who pick up a sword that big are usually trying to prove something. Maybe that’s it.

Sera: There are two kinds of elfy-elves--people like him [see: Solas], and people like her. She’s been like me before, hungry an’ angry. And she doesn’t want anyone to be hungry anymore, so she gets all angry. ‘Stead of lookin’ back, she looks forward. And both of ‘em forget to look right in front of their noses.

Cole: The lonely traveler [see: Dirthamen] seeks, and finds, and loses again. She is bright, but she cannot see. Where she walks, the flame catches.

Trivia

The names of Ixchel’s personal quests are from various Percy Bysshe Shelley poems

Ixchel can receive the vallaslin of Dirthamen

Ixchel’s face bears heavy scarring that she claims is due to an encounter with dragonlings

Ixchel’s in-game body model is the same height as a Dwarven Inquisitor and Scout Harding.

If Blackwall and Ixchel are in a party together, they will stand near each other. Instead of entering their idle animations, they will draw their weapons as though they are about to spar.

Ambient dialogue in Skyhold implies that she trails after Cassandra “like a loyal hound” and they frequently practice together.

[shift-shaping]

Solas/Surana Party Banter round whatever

hello. here it is again, but different this time! SIGNIFICANTLY. there's way more and it's a little bit ~angst-y~. anyway, here's the previous version, and here's a preface to this post.

-

In case you aren't aware of what my girl's Whole Deal is, she was in love with Alistair during the Blight and he sacrificed himself, which Sucked Balls for her. She wandered around in the mountains for most of the past ten years, and now she's in the Inquisition because she doesn't know what else to do with her life.

content warnings: brief mention of colorism

Lots of banter under the cut

Solas: Surana. Now that you have joined the Inquisition, what title do you prefer to use?

Surana: What title do you use?

Solas: None. But you have earned many.

Surana: 'Warden,' I guess. I don't really care.

Solas: Not 'Hero of Ferelden?'

Surana: No. Surana is fine.

.

Solas: You dislike your title?

Surana: It is inaccurate. Alistair was the real hero, and he died fighting the archdemon --I only ever did what I had to do.

Solas: Hm.

.

Solas: You do not think yourself a hero?

Eirwen: *sighs* If a man is ordered to save a child from a burning building or else be killed himself, is he really a hero? No, he is not.

Eirwen: Had I not been made a Warden, I would have been killed or made Tranquil. I did not choose to do the right thing. I was forced to.

.

Surana: Why do you keep asking me so many questions, Solas?

Solas: You are an historical anomaly. An elven mage elevated to the status of legendary hero.

(If the Inquisitor is an elf, a mage, or both:

Eirwen: Well apparently it’s not that anomalous.

Solas: Even still.)

Solas: I have seen echoes of your victories in the Fade alongside reflections of your losses. You have overcome a great deal. Do not be so quick to dismiss your own story.

Surana: Your dreams are lying to you. That legacy is not mine to claim.

Solas: I will not try to convince you otherwise, but know this: whatever bitterness you feel towards your legacy, you will gain far more accepting it than you ever would fighting its tide.

Surana: This isn't really about me, is it?

Solas: It never is.

.

[After All New, Faded for Her]

Eirwen: I’m sorry about Wisdom, Solas.

Solas: I appreciate that. Thank you.

Eirwen: It must have had a wealth of knowledge. It is a shame to lose so much for so little.

Solas: There is a difference between wisdom and knowledge.

Eirwen: Right, yes. I remember a joke about that. Would you like to hear it?

Solas: Not particularly.

Eirwen: *clears her throat* Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing it does not belong in a fruit salad.

Solas: ...

Eirwen: Too soon, I suppose. Sorry.

.

Solas: Thank you, Surana.

Eirwen: I told you, Dorian and I aren’t fond of that particular vintage. And we thought you’d appreciate the earthy tones.

Solas: Thank you for that as well, I think, but that is not what I as referring to.

Eirwen: Oh?

Solas: Your joke. You… it was unexpected. But not bad at all.

Eirwen: Oh. Well, that’s about the least dirty joke I know. Want to hear one a drunken dwarf told me in the Deep Roads?

Solas: Another time, perhaps.

Eirwen: Ah, you wouldn’t like it anyway.

.

Solas: Surana. You said before that a man ordered to save a child from a burning building under threat of death would not be a hero.

Solas: I disagree.

Surana: Oh?

Solas: The man threatened with death may not see himself as particularly noble, but the child will always see him as their savior. Regardless of his motivations, he will always be a hero to the child he saved.

Surana: So no matter who or what made him do it, he is still a good person because another thinks him such?

Solas: I did not say that. 'Heroic' and 'good' are not necessarily the same.

.

Surana: So what is your point, then? That I should make people call me 'Hero' at Skyhold?

Solas: My point is that you should not feel guilty if they believe you to be someone you are not. You cannot control them, and attempts to the contrary will only serve to make you miserable.

Surana: Why do you care so much? Why does it matter to you how I feel about being called 'the Hero of Ferelden'?

Solas: It --doesn't. You are right, of course. And I meant no offense.

Surana: That's not-- I'm not offended, I'm curious. I want to know why it matters to you, a random wandering apostate, whether I call myself a hero or a bastard or a drunkard or nothing at all.

Solas: It is as I said: elven mages are rarely given the level of respect and admiration that you are. It is a shame you see no benefit in that.

Surana: Benefit? Like what, seeing my ears cut off in statues? My staff turned into a sword? My skin lightened in paintings and my relationships reduced to spectacle or seduction?

Surana: Maybe I am offended. I would love to be an anonymous apostate. I was, for a while, but I couldn't stop trying to live up to a version of me that doesn't exist, never has, and never will. The real hero is dead, and you have me instead.

Solas: You must let that be enough, Surana.

Surana: It isn't.

.

Surana: Solas, you have dreamt in all sorts of places, right?

Solas: Yes.

Surana: Have you ever --well, did you ever see the Battle of Denerim, in your dreams?

Solas: Not as you would remember it.

Surana: Of course not. But... I mean-- did you--

Solas: It is done, Surana. You cannot linger there.

Surana: How do I do that? How do I stop seeing it?

Solas: You do not. But instead of letting it weigh you down, let that pain be what pushes you forward. Focus on where you must be, and what you must do. You are needed here, now, exactly as you are, not as the person you were in Denerim. Whoever others think you are, you must go forward as who you know you are. If you lose sight of that, you are lost.

.

Surana: Solas, thank you.

Solas: For what?

Surana: You know full well what.

Solas: I try to help, when I can. The pain you carry is... familiar.

Surana: Familiar?

Solas: You feel guilt simply for being alive, as though self-flagellation will make you worthy of existence.

Surana: Self-flagellation? *dryly* You have a way with words, you know.

Solas: *just as dryly* You flatter me.

[If neither Solas nor Surana are romanced]

Surana: You deserve the flattery.

Solas: Is that a compliment, from the Hero of Ferelden herself?

Surana: I take it back. You're an ass and I hate you.

Solas: *chuckles*

.

[After Here Lies the Abyss]

Surana: I didn’t know you disliked the Wardens so much, Solas.

Solas: It was not worth mentioning.

Surana: Not until it became acceptable to criticize us, you mean.

Solas: What have the Wardens actually accomplished in terms of understanding the Blight? Do you honestly feel you understand it any better than you did before you became one?

Surana: Is that a serious question? Do I understand it better after witnessing its ravages than I did when I’d merely read about them in a book?

Solas: What did the Wardens teach you? What did you learn from them, about the Blight?

Surana: More than I will ever tell you.

Solas: *bitterly* Ah. Of course.

.

Surana: You have always been an apostate, have you not?

Solas: By your Chantry’s definition, I suppose.

Surana: My chantry? Am I the Divine now, too? *scoffs* Anyway, you have never spent time in a Circle.

Solas: No.

Surana: Then one thing I will tell you about the Wardens is this: there is no other path to freedom for many mages than to join them. You were not dragged from your home in chains because of what you are. You were not barred from dreaming, nor threatened with Tranquility when you failed to perform a difficult spell.

Solas: You should not have had to make that choice, Surana.

Surana: Yet I did, because it was the only one I had. And the Wardens are all the world has to counter the Blight. You can disagree from your tower in Skyhold or your hut in the woods or whatever, but we are working with what is available to us. Come up with a real solution and I will listen. But I’m uninterested in ignorant complaints from someone who was not there.

.

Surana: It’s not my Chantry.

Solas: Poor wording, on my part.

Surana: I don’t even like the Chantry.

Solas: Abelas. I meant no offense.

Surana: Yes, you did. Or you just don't care.

Solas: What would you have me say, Warden?

Surana: Nothing. Just be quiet.

.

Solas: Where was home to you, Surana? Before the Circle?

Surana: *sighs* An orphanage in Denerim’s alienage.

Solas: Really? Huh. In that case, I would have expected you to sound more like Sera.

(Sera, if present: What? You think all city elves sound the same?

Solas: You are from the same section of the same city. Why would you not have the same accent?)

Surana: I don’t sound like Sera because I was beaten in the Circle until I spoke 'properly.’ No offense to Sera, of course.

(Sera, if present: More reasons to be glad I’m not like you two.)

.

Solas: I am sorry, Surana. Living in the Circle must have been difficult, and I imagine being a Warden during the Blight was no easier.

Surana: *sighs* It’s alright. You couldn’t have known.

Solas: I should have tried. I have done you a disservice, and I hope you can forgive me.

Surana: Maybe. Possibly. Did you bring any of that wine with you?

Solas: Unfortunately not.

Surana: *playfully* Then, no.

Surana: …But please, call me Eirwen.

Solas: Eirwen. Ma nuvenin.

.

[After Surana hears Cole and Solas banter for the first time]

Surana: Oh! I think I got that one, it's --oh, wait. No, that can't be it.

Cole: You were close, though.

Solas: Nearly had it.

.

[If Eirwen is romanced by an elven Inquisitor]

Solas: *playfully* For all your talk of wanting anonymity, Eirwen, you seem incapable of avoiding spectacle.

Surana: Is this about the drunken bear? I already apologized for that.

Solas: No. You and the Inquisitor. Two of the most powerful elves in Thedas, together?

Surana: Jealous?

Solas: Not for the reason you think.

Inquisitor: How could we resist?

Surana: We are both very pretty.

OR

Inquisitor: One day we will be free of all of this. Together.

Solas: For your sakes, I hope you are right.

.

[If Solas is romanced and Eirwen's personal quest is completed]

Solas: You no longer consider yourself a Grey Warden, Eirwen?

Surana: Did the Inquisitor tell you that?

Solas: Yes. You threw your badge into the Abyss.

Surana: Bit dramatic, I suppose. I was having a moment.

Solas: Evidently.

.

Surana: It almost felt traitorous, honestly.

Solas: Why? You were forced to join the Grey Wardens, were you not?

Surana: They still saved my life.

Solas: And condemned you to an early death. They bought you time, nothing more.

Surana: But time is all any of us have, isn't it?

Solas: No. You have a name, and experience, and the influence to pull the strings behind the world.

Surana: Careful. You'll make the Inquisitor jealous.

Solas: I am not attempting to flatter you. I am only telling you what you must already know: that you are more than a Warden, and always have been.

.

Surana: Where will the two of you go, once this is over?

Inquisitor: (Somewhere quiet) A place where we can be left alone.

OR (Somewhere fun) Someplace with good wine.

OR (Home) North. Where my people are.

Solas: An appealing prospect, vhenan.

Inquisitor: What about you, Eirwen?

Surana, based on the Inquisitor's answer to the previous question: (Somewhere quiet) Somewhere without so many damn demons.

OR (Somewhere fun) I was thinking Rivain. I've heard the food is excellent.

OR (Home) The Deep Roads. Where my people are.

.

[If neither Solas nor Eirwen are romanced]

Solas: Have you ever learned any elven, Eirwen?

Surana: Unfortunately not. A few words here and there, a long time ago. It wasn’t exactly taught in the Circle.

Solas: Would you like to?

Surana: I –oh. I hadn’t –um.

Solas: *chuckles* You do not have to learn.

Surana: No! I would love to. From you, I assume?

Solas: I cannot imagine you were going to learn it from Sera.

Sera, if present: I prefer real words, thanks.

.

Solas: What elven words do you recall, from your alienage?

Surana: Ah… okay. Hahren, that’s like… elder, or leader. The tree in the middle was called the vhenadahl. Lethallan is like friend, or ally, or maybe even sister?

Solas: Do you know what vhenadahl means?

Surana: It must be something about a tree.

Solas: And where is it, in the alienage?

Surana: A central place, somewhere everyone could see it.

Solas: And what is another word for the middle of something that lovers might call each other?

Surana: …Heart?

Solas: So what do you think 'vhena’ means, if 'dahl' is tree?

Surana: Uh... heart?

Solas: Yes. But also 'home.' The vhenadahl was both the home of your people, and the heart of the alienage.

Sera, if present: Just call it what it is --a big stupid tree.

.

Surana, in elven: *haltingly, mumbling* [Her early leaf’s a flower… but] –shoot.

Solas, in elven: [But only so…?]

Surana: M- it starts with an ’m’…

Solas: Take your time.

Surana: Meh- malath?

Solas: *laughs*

Surana: Is that wrong? Shit, that must be wrong.

Solas: Not wrong, per say, but perhaps premature.

Surana: What? What did I say?

Solas: Do not concern yourself with it, lethallan.

Surana: …was it dirty?

Solas: No.

Surana: …then what was it?

Solas: Patience, Eirwen.

.

Surana: I found out what ‘ma lath’ means.

Solas: I would expect nothing less from such a gifted student.

Surana: Mhm. It’s –well. I’m glad I said it, but you were right. It was premature.

Solas: I agree. Though...

Surana: Though?

Solas: *chuckles* I think this is neither the time nor place.

Surana: What is, then?

Solas: When I have you alone, Eirwen.

Surana: *laughs awkwardly* Maker's breath...

.

Sera + Surana

(If Solas has begun "teaching Eirwen elven")

Sera: So… you and Droopy ears.

Surana: Why do you call him that?

Sera: Cause he’s all –I don’t know, sad or wha'ever.

Sera: Anyway. Teaching you 'the ways of the elves,’ is he?

Surana: It’s just not a very good nickname, frankly.

Sera: Well I don’t want to know what you call him.

Surana: Certainly not droopy.

Solas, if present: *snorts*

Sera: *laughs* Ew! Keep it to yourselves, then!

.

Solas: Eirwen, I–

Solas: I am sorry we had to cut our lessons short.

Surana: It’s… I understand. We… no, you were right.

Solas: Please, Eirwen.

Surana: Perhaps, in another life, another time, we could have–

Solas: You are a bright light in a dark world. You will always be important to me, for whatever that is worth.

.

Surana: Can I ask you a question, Solas?

Solas: Of course.

Surana: It's not about me, is it?

Solas: I--

Surana: It's about trying to fight the tide.

Solas: Eirwen...

Solas: I am so, so sorry.

Surana: Telanadas, hahren.

Solas: Ma nuvenin, vhenan.

[wyrdsistersofthedas]

DA4 Behind the Scenes and Reading Between the Lines, Part 1

We’ve calmed down enough here at Wyrd Sisters Central to put together a few thoughts about the art and game scenes from today’s BIoWare update.

Here is what we’re thinking so far...

Rivain Revealed?

After doing some checking, we are thinking that these egg shaped domes are likely representative of Rivaini architecture (World of Thedas Vol. 2, p. 134).

This particular picture is interesting, as it seems to be a blending of another architectural style as well, (likely Antivan, as it is Rivain’s only neighbor by land).  

Meaning this particular city would likely sit between the two countries. Looking at the map, a significant city that fits this description is the city of Ayesleigh. Ring any bells? Ayesleigh is actually the site where the elven hero, Garahel, slew the Archdemon of the 4th Blight, Andoral. 

Could this be another view of Ayesleigh? It looks to be the same building (and mountain) but from the other side.

And here we have what is likely (in our opinion) one of the major cities in Rivain. Could it be Dairsmuid? Or possibly the island of Llomeryn?

This image from World of Thedas Vol. 2 (p 129) is not captioned, but certainly has design elements that resemble the city we see in the concept art.

And speaking of Rivain and the Rivaini...

Bela in the Sea

We have a very Isabela looking swimmer present here!  And some other interesting folks as well!

Possible Dorian sighting here?  Whoever he is looks to be wearing armor like Zevran’s Black Shadow costume, who by this point might have formed his own gang to take down the Crows. If it isn’t Dorian, this character owes both Dorian and Zev royalties for his sweet style!! You also have to wonder why developers would make two characters so similar in design, but this is still early in the development process. 

And ummmmm....did y’all see the skeleton in the corner doing a swan dive into the ocean?  We would be so happy if this turned out to be Audric from “Down Among the Dead Men” in Tevinter Nights!

Assassins in the Street

Speaking of our beloved Zevran, it sure looks like the man himself “Black Shadow-ing” up behind the man in the blue, green, and gold robes. It seems Zev’s people (or our people ^_^) have business with the lady in the litter. The architecture here looks (possibly) Antivan from what we’ve seen illustrated in the comics.  Tiled roofs seemed to be a hallmark of Antivan architecture and that can be glimpsed here in the top left corner.

Who is the fellow smirking at the front of the litter with Zev and his Qunari lady friend?  He has some traits in common with the fellow pictured here on the left...

Are these pretty people new companions?  Associates of Zev’s?  We seem to see possible variations of them in several pictures.  

Decima would really like the Qunari man on the far left to be our beloved Arishock, the warrior formerly known as Sten, but who knows? Also, the guy in the front-center could be the underwater Dorian-knock-off again. If so, his style is becoming more distinct, and very HANDSOME! 

This heavy stone architecture looks much more Teviter. The triangles on the building in the background as well as the robed figure and their guards also suggest this is the Imperium.

Other Exotic Locales

We were also excited by how many locations were featured in the concept art and game preview.  Lots caught our eye, but here were some that really stood out to the Sisters today.

The Wardens at Weisshaupt

Weisshaupt in the Anderfels, am I right? I mean, the arid, desolate landscape? The huge gryffon carving? The tall-ass building you could fly a griffon off of? It’s gotta be Weisshaupt! YAY!

Could this be an inner chamber of Weisshaupt Fortress?  Notice all the Grey Warden banners and the Wardon-y looking fellow. The table, however, has echoes of the war table at Skyhold. 

And holy shit! Is that a freakin’ rift opening up outside the window? We knew there was trouble brewing in the Anderfels, but that would be a devastating development.  Especially without an Inquisitor on hand.  ;)

Not so “Stark” haven?

Okay, going out a limb here, but we really want this to be Starkhaven. Yeah, yeah. We know we saw Starkhaven in the Knight Errant comics, but let’s face it...not everything in the comics is canon (or Alistair’s eyes would be blue). 

We were disappointed with how small, and rather ugly, Sebastian’s hometown was in the comic. What gives us hope that this could be Starkhaven is the waterfalls (which are vaguely represented in Knight Errant #3) and Genitivi’s description of the place. 

Also, if Sebastian's armor was a city, wouldn’t it look like this? ;-) 

There was so much to examine in the DA4 Behind the Scenes update, that we need to break this post up.  

Stay tuned for more meta in Part 2.  We’re putting the “Air” back in aravels,  finding fine Dwarven Crafts definitely not direct from Orzammar, and your friendly neighborhood Titan Boi!

-Decima and Morta