#mage from tevinter

[selunesfavouriteprincess]

i love that Neve canonically throws hands. like she’s a literal mage there’s no reason for her to be doing all that but she will get right up close and physically fight enemies in this game. woman of the year

[rookanisstuff]

I am a “Lucanis wearing darkened spectacles to hide spite flair ups from the other Talon’s” truther

[guacamolleee]

One thing I liked about Veilguard, and not something I see a lot of people talk about, is the fact Emmrich does think marriage and family was possible for him.

As a mage.

In Thedas.

He brings it up in banter not in an "if only it were allowed" sort of way, but in a "I thought it definitely would have happened by now" way

We're told in past games that marriage is greatly discouraged (not outright illegal, but you know how this goes...) in the circles, along with having children. And if children were born, they're taken away quickly from their parents. And if/when magical abilities show up, they aren't even allowed to be in the same circle as each other.

So Emmrich's remark about marriage and family tells me that either:

1) Nevarra (or northern Thedas in general) is different. That there's an open-mindedness about mages we simply do not see in the south, where the foothold of the Orlesian Chantry is much stronger. That's something supported by what we know about Nevarran traditions, the sway of the Mortalitasi in the country, and so on.

Or

2) Alternatively, we could also maybe say that somewhere in the last two decades since Origins that the idea of marriage and family for mages shifted somewhere in the *whole* of Thedas. That we, at least, are now in a world where it's possible for mages to love, marry, and have the families they want without the threat of the Chantry tearing them apart. I can especially see that in world states where the Warden, Hawke, and Inquisitor were pro-mage, and if Leliana is Divine.

The most likely reason is probably the first one. But isn't it so nice to think about the second? That Thedas has progressed enough in the last few decades that this is something possible for mages? And for an Emmrich-romancing Rook, that Emmrich *can* take them home, *can* marry them, and *can* have a family if they so wished? That the question of marriage/family was not an if but a when?

There's something reassuring about that to me.

[thatwavephenomenon]

Thinking about the Dairsmuid Circle again today. Thinking about how the Seekers killed all the mages of the Dairsmuid Circle because they didn't follow the Chantry's dogma again today.

"If the mages aren't put in Circles they will inevitably cause chaos-" THE MAGES OF DAIRSMUID WERE FINE DOING THINGS DIFFERENTLY. Until the Chantry saw it as a problem and killed them all for it.

[welcomefortune]

I know I’m the only person who cares about this but it really bothers me that a Shadow Dragon Rook who is from a military family and from Ventus has nothing to say about how a few years ago the Antaam took the city and all the mages they could find were rounded up and forcibly lobotomized with qamek before being mercy killed and all the men were rounded up and press-ganged into the Qun. Not when Taash’s friend says he left the Antaam after being forced to participate in Ventus. Not during any of Taash’s quests about Qunari culture. Not in Treviso when the Antaam are occupying it and oppressing the mages there. And not even when they find out that the Antaam want to lobotomize everyone in Treviso! I feel like they should have some thoughts on that maybe! Especially if they are a mage! I feel like growing up in a nation that’s been at war with the Qunari for centuries, having your father actively fight against the Qunari your whole life and then living through a sack of a city that ends in the death of a bunch of your friends and neighbors by the Antaam should have some sort of impact on how Rook sees if not the Qun as a whole certainly at least the Antaam.

[grimwarden]

i find davrin and neve to be so compelling together. although i do think they would make a nice couple, i think their potential is untapped in general. i would have enjoyed a special dynamic, either one that starts rocky, or an instant recognition/acceptance.

[hoboblaidd]

People in the Inquisition would not have known Solas = Fen'harel, but there are so many cracks in his disguise that they can reasonably conclude "this elf is purposefully hiding his past." It's not even his magic/the Fade - Solas as a person doesn't quite add up.

He claims he's a random apostate elf from some nowhere village up North. He studies the Fade so extensively that he knows it better than anyone the Inquisition can find. So far, so good tbh - he's "self-taught", and the Fade is something any mage can readily access. Even being a Dreamer isn't a stretch to believe. That's something that comes to some people naturally, and with no Circle or clan to warn him off of it, it's a logical thing for a mage to develop. His aptitude with spirits is another thing that makes sense - he knows how to keep the more dangerous ones at bay so benefits from the knowledge and friendship of the kinder spirits.

His scars and fighting style are also not problematic. Everyone in Thedas has scars, and anyone outside of the nobility could be involved in a fight, especially living in the wilds. Solas appears to be in his 40s. That's a long time living on your own, and on the run from Templars and bigots. Even the sophistication of his magic isn't a problem. Bull's right to notice it doesn't "clunk", but it's not unrealistic for a disciplined self-taught mage to get good enough at the same menu of spells over the course of around ~40 years.

The main problem is everything else. He maintains he was always alone, but has no problem navigating any kind of social circle with an easy charisma. He lived in the wilds all his life, yet has a breadth of knowledge that suggests academia. He has Josie get him books from all cultures, both translated and not, that cross several Ages. He claims that he belonged to no organization, yet has sophisticated insights into politics and diplomacy. He paints in an intricate, difficult style of art with a talent that is perfected, but where would an apostate living in the woods be able to practice fresco painting? He is incredibly passionate about things he'd reasonably have no experience with - slavery, the Qun, the plight of mages, and while yes, it's a moral standpoint anyone could take, he talks about it like he knows it and admits he's taken up his fair share of causes. And then there's General Solas, who slips out occasionally to give sound, on-the-ground tactical advice and admits he's fought in an "elven skirmish."

The disguise is helped by his reticence and ready admission that he doesn't want to give anything away about himself. That's logical for an apostate in a Chantry institution. But even without his knowledge of ancient elves, Solas knows too much about too much.

[chronurgy]

Bioware please all I want is a list of rook's possible last names and any assumptions the game will make about rook based on their background and class combo pleaseeeeee I want to start designing my little guy but I need them to be (mostly) canon compliant

[crypticcanidae]

veilguard's kinda like. the monkey's paw of videogames i think.

[lizzybeeee]

Tevinter is the kind of place that would hold Toddlers and Tiaras pageants

[mageknife]

so how exactly did the evanuris bind themselves to high dragons to create the old gods. wiki says the source on this is solas during weisshaupt. i guess i need to play weisshaupt again .

[wolfsong-the-bloody-beast]

Ice queen. Snow babe. ❄️🤍

[sunlight-shunlight]

i think in my particular interpretation, my lavellan is an evasive, self-reliant type of person who doesn't trust others very easily, and does not believe in love as a concept really existing or being applicable to her. so she's kind of ???!?!! about solas, and despite caring for him deeply, is not really able to verbalize her feelings to solas at any point during dai, and so she never actually tells him that she loves him. and after crestwood is just like "wow. i was right to be very solitary for years. this heartfelt stuff SUCKS. love is fake, and you should never get emotionally compromised and too attached to any one person :/" and tries to speedrun her way through rebuilding the impenetrable layer of Ironic Detachment™️ that she had before.

[magebutts]

why did dragon age stop having regional accents? bring that shit back. why is everyone just english now? unnaceptable behavior. and that one random beggar with a southern US accent??? what the fuck was that ?????

[swordmaid]

i love serious businesswoman pirate marina she's so real to me, love that for her !

yeah like she doesn't fuck around when it comes to her business!! she's a professional pirate - and merc on the side - she has a reputation to uphold!!!

like to me, the ~whole saving the world from the elven gods business~ is another gig she signed up for so she's treating it like one. she's very practical and pragmatic, and she does whatever she can to succeed in this particular endeavor. like she hardly banters with people when she's in business mode lmfao the only time she jokes around is when she's out of her office hours.

one thing that i wish for though is for the dialogues to be much more mean/stricter. i've gone past the weisshaupt quest and i wish you can be more mean on lucanis for flopping LMFAO like sorry king but to me marina would be sm harder on him since she hired him for that job but he didn't do it right, so what is he good for? if he can't do the one thing she asks for then she has no need for him, and she'd just get someone else. likewise i don't see her being sad about the prospect of davrin sacrificing himself when he's going to kill the archdemon bc that's like. why he's in here in the first place LMFAO like to me, marina would be like well this is what you signed up for 🤷 like she detaches her personal feelings from business. like in a personal level ofc she would be sad if davrin did die but in the end that comes with the job u know.... like she's so serious business woman to me she'd thrive in succession