#origins wraps up the warden's story pretty decently

[malefilus]

I’m really sad about it but I really am not looking forward to the next Dragon Age game. All of the press and statements that have been released just feel like it’s gonna be a let down in one way or another. I understand that the company and devs want to draw in a wider audience and get more people interested in the series, but the statement of ‘you won’t need to play the first games to play this one’ really concerns me. As well as them saying the Inquisitor won’t be a huge factor nor will your (possible) romance with Solas? A huge part of why I personally was looking forward to this game was that tie in. That ending of will it be a bitter end truly or will there be a chance for some sort of happiness? I felt before the announcements a bigger sense of need to not mess up my choices. Now I just feel like it’s going to be a horrid let down and something that ties in poorly with not so great character development. I’m hoping I’m wrong but man, it really is looking like this isn’t going to be a game for the older fans.

[kerra-and-company]

3, 4, 20, 21 from the headcanons ask game! ✨

Sure, sounds like a plan @i-mybrunettelady :D

3. How big is the Pact in respect to other military forces? Who supports them monetarily (they’ve had enough resources to build Fort Trinity long before it was certain they could even take Zhaitan)

Originally (pre-HoT), I'd say pretty large! They smashed together the three orders of Tyria into one organization, and each of them was a decent-sized group on its own. It's really hard to get a sense of the scale, especially since I feel like most of the military/defense forces we see have to be smaller. (The Wardens came to mind first, but I think the Seraph and the Peacemakers are also probably both smaller groups than the Pact.) The charr legions as a whole have got to be at least the same size as the Pact, but individually they're probably smaller. Post-HoT, I have less of a concrete idea, but I imagine that they eventually build up their ranks to something close to or matching their original size.

As for monetary support, I have to assume that each of the orders have some way of making money, and the original building of Fort Trinity drew on those coffers specifically. Once the Pact forms, they might continue drawing on whatever those ways were; they might also (once they prove they're actually a viable dragon destruction force) be subsidized on some level by the different Tyrian governments--though I'm not certain exactly how that would work (or if it would work) in terms of politics and who they're beholden to, so that's a less likely option.

4. How much smarter than everyone else are asura actually? Is it all just hubris and in the end they just have a better education system?

It's really hard to tell. I want to guess half and half, but as far as I know (and I could be very wrong here), we don't have any canonical examples of asura who were raised outside of their education system. And even then, you'd have to do some sort of study in order to get any actual usable data, and...wow, my answer about asura is turning into a minor dissertation on the scientific method xD. (Not to mention that doing a study like that would have to be observational rather than experimental in order to be an ethical study and I think getting a large enough sample size would be difficult...)

But, anyways, I tend to assume half and half in my personal headcanons: they get a jump start, but it's not as much as they'd like everyone else (and themselves) to think. Though their education system does seem to be generally (minus the semi-frequent pompousness and assholery of the people in charge) pretty damn good, so they get props for that for sure.

20. How far has Orr been restored at this point?

God, I wish we could see this in game, so much. I know why the game doesn't work like that, but I would so love to see what it looks like.

But in my headcanons--it's getting there! It's been about 9-ish years in-game now since Trahearne did the cleansing ritual, so I don't think there's any way it can be completely recovered. We've seen that, even though Zhaitan is dead, the Risen are most definitely still around, so clearing them out alone probably is taking a while. I looked up ecosystem recovery to see if I could find any references, and apparently, in our world, forest ecosystems can take around 42 years to recover from devastation while ocean ecosystems take only 10 because there's more organism turnover. Based on that (and taking into account the fact that this is very much both the same and different because of magic and dragon corruption), my mental image of Orr right now is something along these lines, but with whatever plant life grows there:

There's more undergrowth now, and the ground's a lot more green, but there's still many, many remnants of the destruction. Vines wrap over most of the ruins, covering up the grey, bit by bit. As far as animals go, there's most definitely small birds and bugs even in the more damaged areas by now that are living quite happily, and the wildlife from the border with Mount Maelstrom and from the less-corrupted areas are still working on fully spreading through the rest of Orr.

So, yeah. Getting there. But it's much less "zombie zone" and much more "recovering" now, though you should still probably bring a squad if you're venturing around there.

21. Malyck. Other Trees. Mordremoth’s blighting trees… Are the Sylvari not unique?

Hmm. Depends what this question is asking, exactly. They're definitely not the only plant creatures grown from a Tree like the Pale Tree, but as of right now in canon, are they alone in being sylvari? I don't know. It's definitely my headcanon that there have been other Trees (see: my OCs Rel and Nisha, as well as the aforementioned and very canon Malyck), but whether or not they're still alive and uncorrupted by Mordremoth is another story. Additionally, it's very possible that there could be more Trees in the future or that there are some that are still growing. The Pale Tree didn't awaken the Firstborn until she'd been alive for some 225-odd years, so if there are other Trees, they might not be old enough to produce other sylvari or might simply not be inclined to do so for whatever reason.

Also, while new Trees would most likely grow in or around Maguuma due to proximity and climate, it could be possible for them to grow somewhere else if someone like Ronan found other seeds and transported them far away. There could be Trees growing in places other than Maguuma.

As far as sylvari currently being unique, as in being the only plant beings currently existing and not having any "cousins", my metaphorical money's on them indeed being unique if you follow that definition. If there were other sylvari, I think they most likely would have been found by now. (Though it also is possible that they exist and haven't been located--Tyria is pretty big. Or that they were mistaken for Pale Tree sylvari; depending on what they look like, it might not be possible to tell on sight that they were from a different tree.). The only exceptions to this (canonically speaking at least) would be Malyck and any of his siblings, if they're still alive. As for whether that will stay the case in the future? I'd say probably not. I could easily see there being multiple Trees someday. There have to be unsprouted seeds left over after Mordremoth's death, right?

[haledamage]

WIP tag meme

tagged by @queen-scribbles <3 

Take three (or less if you are a responsible writer who is not all over the place ;) ) pieces you’ve been working on in the past few weeks and post a paragraph of each and give a short description and tell people why they should look forward to it! (praise yourself like you deserve it!)

tag your fellow author friends for a peak into their heads!

–

I happen to have 2 wips right now and a second one outlined enough to promo, so this is good timing!

WIP 1: Cait ended up at the forge with Wade and Harren, cutting leather strips to wrap sword hilts and make straps and lining for armor. It wasn’t especially difficult work, but involved enough to keep her attention and keep her mind in the present. She watched the people in the courtyard as she worked. Once the carts were loaded and on their way, the atmosphere changed to something heavier. Everyone moved purposefully, training or inventorying or carrying things. As the sun was setting and she stepped away from the forge to head inside, she finally figured out what was so familiar about it. 

It felt like Redcliffe after the Landsmeet. The Vigil was preparing for war.

Description: Something Might Be Found follows Warden-Commander Cait Cousland through Awakening as she reunites with her childhood sweetheart Nathaniel Howe and solves Amaranthine's darkspawn problem.

Why you should look forward to it: Big things coming! The war against the Architect and the Mother is coming to a head! Cait finally said 'I love you' in the last chapter! A dramatic reunion with an old friend! I actually have most of the rest of the story written at this point except for a bit of touch up and I'm really excited about the next few chapters, both with the story and with Cait/Nate's relationship developments.

WIP 2: (I don't have a decently-sized paragraph, so have a dialogue snippet instead)

"Since you're here, I would like a word with you." Anora stared at her, inscrutable as always.

Cait grinned to hide her sudden unease. "Am I in trouble? Because it kind of sounds like I'm in trouble."

Anora laced her fingers together on her desk and said calmly, "When I requested you find a healthier way to spend your evenings than getting in bar fights, I did not mean to imply you should start having sex with my father."

Cait studied the queen, trying to read anything in her expression. She didn't seem angry, but beyond that she couldn't tell what she was thinking. Hoping she was reading this right, Cait kept her grin firmly in place and said cheekily, "You didn't explicitly tell me not to have sex with your father."

"I'll endeavor to be more specific in the future," Anora said dryly.

Description: So-far-unnamed sequel to Yield, with actual plot! An alternate universe in which Cait is a Warden but not the Warden-Commander (that would be my mage Carah Amell, I may have some meta in progress for the differences in the universes). Anora gets word of a plot against her and sends Cait and Loghain to investigate. They have to navigate Orlesian politics and their growing feelings for each other to stop the plot before it's too late.

Why you should look forward to it: Fake married! Mutual pining! Court intrigue! What's not to love? I've legit always wanted to write something like this. It's still in the very early stages (which for me means I’ve written about 6k words but it’s super disjointed and none of it fits together yet), but I'm excited about it and having a lot of fun writing it!

WIP 3: Does not yet have a name and is so far just an outline, but it will be a sequel to Something Might Be Found! I was originally going to just make SMBF really, really long, but decided it would be better to split it into 2 parts.

Description: Things never stay quiet for long. Follows Cait, Nate, and co through the events of Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition. Friends go missing, new friends are made, and Cait continues her search for a cure for the taint.

Why you should look forward to it: The mage/templar war and the Breech from an outsider's perspective. You’ll get to meet Evie Hawke and Bran Trevelyan, whom I love (almost) as much as Cait. Perfectly normal drama like trying to start a family set on a backdrop of war and near-armageddon. Plus, more Cait/Nate and that's never a bad thing!

I’m gonna tag... @lunarowena @kagetsukai and @emjs-good-out-here because I’m pretty sure you all have wips :) also tagging anyone that has wips they’re excited about and want to share! @ me if you post about them, I want to know about what you’re writing!