#solas in the arlathan days

[mrs-gauche]

The Rotunda and the Fresco

On the mural, all messere would say is, "Skyhold is her fortress. These are her actions."

[an-established-butt-dent]

Solas, Arlathan

Long ago, there was a time when Solas admired every new creature of Ghilan'nain, and the Halla were his favorite.

She was the only Evanuris capable of creation instead of destruction.

Acrylic ink and fineliner on bamboo paper.

[larkoneironaut]

Even the Dread Wolf of Arlathan needs a lazy hour in the summer heat, despite the rebellion

Inspired by Conrad Kiesel's Manuela (1884)

[broodwolf221]

silly little mental image but like

a partner playing with solas' ears for some reason and feeling little bits of scar tissue and being like wait.... were these pierced? and him just being like well... ah... we were all young once

[echoes-sounds]

Fen’Harel and Elgar’nan (in that respective order) - Ruthlessness: Epic

This only took me like 30 minutes, but this song gave me a brain worm so I rushed to make it fr

Elgar’nan concept art

I’ve been neglecting my tumblr, my bad ya’ll

[greypetrel]

"It's all there! The rock… The stream…!" "You kept the map and you couldn't grab a little more food??" "Even those mountains! You said it yourself! It COULD be possible, and it really is the map to El Arlathan!" "You drank sea water, didn't you." "Oh, COME ON!"

They landed in a very tropical Ferelden coast (Decided it was, indeed, Lake Calenhad) full of skeletons very awfully killed. And mabari prints. The debate is whether a forest full of danger and possible packs of wild mabaris and hostile locals following a map they won at Wicked Grace is actually worse than going back to Haven to a very angry Seeker Pentaghast.

Of course they'll go on.

(this is the Solas-est that ever Solas-ed, enjoy this because I peaked in drawing him, that's it. All downhill from now.)

Catch up with the rest of this whacky adventure here!

[misculenica]

Solas; the petulant child

"You have waylaid all his other plans. Now, as a petulant child, he will destroy the game board rather than admit defeat. Be ready for anything. He still believes himself a god, and gods do not fall gracefully."

We all presume (likely correctly) that Solas is referring to the Evanuris when he talks about Corytheus after you prompt him; how they acted, and how their actions would have destroyed the world.

What if he was actually referring to himself as the petulant child who destroyed the board instead of admitting defeat, not the Evanuris?

Solas himself described his 'younger self' as a hotblooded and cocky know-it-all. (And given he -presumably- got drunk and pissed magic in his past, that only adds to the not-so-great/immature former self). He wasn't really that great a person.

And then, take into account;

Elgar'nan, Falon'Din, Dirthamen, Andruil, Ghilan'nain, Sylaise, June.

7 Evanuris (the most powerful beings -at the time- in existence), all working against Fen'Harel. What chance did he really have against all 7 of them, especially after they killed Mythal?

Solas was losing the war/rebellion. And we assume he created the veil as a 'last resort' to seal the gods away to protect the world. What if he wasn't motivated by a sense of 'must protect people/the world' and it was more 'if I can't win, neither can you'? I don't think he really intended to survive severing the world's ties to the Fade.

We know from the story about Falon'Din that he spread war to garner more followers, to the point where all the other Evanuris had to step in, and 'bloodied him in his own temple' to get him to stop. It's not so far of a stretch to say they would do the same to Fen'Harel, given he's taking their slaves/giving them freedom and has been a general pain in their asses for ages.

They beat him in all of his plans, backed him into a corner. But he still had one last thing he could do; create the veil, and destroy their world (everything in the time of Arlathan ran on magic, and without that... It crumbled, it died - the board was destroyed).

And Fen'Harel was forever remembered as the god of betrayal, the reason the elves became enslaved and impoverished and mortal. The Dread Wolf fell disgracefully, remembered not for his wisdom, but for his petulance and his trickery.

And Solas had to deal with the consequences for thousands of years "in dark and dreaming sleep", unable to do anything to impact the 'real' world outside the Fade, except speak to dreamers/spirits and experience only memories of what's going on 'outside', knowing that everything he accomplished was torn down, and his people are now going extinct, all while he sleeps with nothing but whispers and his own thoughts - for thousands of years.

Imagine how much that would kill you inside, knowing that all of it was your fault, and those thousands of years of suffering and contemplation were your own doing? You can't even be mad about it, not at anybody but yourself.

But you can undo it.

[lethalhoopla]

always want more chance to have Casual Intimacy Moments with romances in bioware games,,,

[elfydrell]

I had to try @lunelfy items. I am conquered, what a remarkable work! My imagination is gone! You are so talented my Pixel Baby 💖 Your creations give me wings towards my dreamlike worlds... Thank you 🙏

P.S.: Thank you @satterlly for the Solas outfit 😉

[rosykims]

high approval lavellan instantly gets so much more viscerally upsetting when u give them an ancient elven ancester oc who was friends w solas. btw.

[darethshirl]

so many elf fics!

Another exchange, another fic-gathering post! I had an ENORMOUS amount of fun writing for the @arlathanxchange these last couple months, and got to read so many amazing stories. :‘) If you haven’t checked the collection yet I urge to do so!!

now on to the FICS 👀

Gifts I Received:

Healers and Dreamers by @dirthenera (Solas/Lavellan, T rated, 3600 words)

Inquisitor Lavellan insists on visiting the Frostback Basin to find the last Inquisitor after visiting Crestwood with Solas, to find a distraction from the hurt and coldness every time she tries to talk to him about what happened.

She doesn't expect to find so much of herself and Solas mirrored in Telana and Ameridan's story, and he doesn't expect the ever capable Inquisitor to be badly injured by the Hakkonites.

An absolutely lovely exploration of post-breakup solavellan, filled with yearning and bittersweet love and PAIN 😭 Solas tries to heal Lavellan after an injury and in the process breaks both their hearts all over again (OH AND MINE TOO). This was all I could have wanted from a prompt like this, and the angst is Exquisite.

.

Fill My Cup by @rosella-writes (Solas/Lavellan, Explicit, 1800 words)

Virelan wants to come. Solas wants to teach her something new.

SMOKING HOT SMUT 👀👀🥵👌👌 Solas is a bratty dom (yes they exist) and he and Virelan have a delightful dynamic in this. Solas teases her skillfully and without mercy and frankly it’s exactly what she needed 😌💯

.

Gifts I Wrote:

oh the river, it's running free (oh the joy it brings to me)  for @rosella-writes (Andraste&/Shartan, G rated, 1700 words)

I will immolate my own soul for this cause, she thinks, and it feels true.

I went full-hog with the introspection and Poetic Imagery in this one lol. Andraste’s pov, in all her strangeness and mystery. this puny little fic took me THREE GODDAMN WEEKS to write but in the end it was worth it. :’) I admit I’m pretty proud of this!

.

bright days of halcyon for @dreadfutures (Solas&Hawen with some solavellan, G rated, 2900 words)

“When did your people first choose you as their leader?” he asks politely, a guest’s good manners to his host.

Hawen smiles at him, his eyes crinkling. “It was the gods that chose me,” he says, his tone serene. “They gave me the gift of magic, and so set me on my path.”

Solas is struck speechless, the words a punch. Magic is your birthright, he wants to say, not for anyone to give or take, and Can a man be truly free if he can’t even choose his own path? and The injustice of this world is vast enough to drown in.

And then, hidden beneath it all, pulsing like a heartbeat: My fault. My fault.

right so this was basically just an excuse to cram as many of my “solas interacting with dalish clans and having it be GOOD” headcanons as I could 😂 and my god was it fun! this was the MOST enjoyable fic I’ve had the pleasure to write in a long time, and I feel so fond of it!!! :’) :’) I’m so glad I got the chance to write it :’)

.

Some Extra Stuff

okay I had absolutely nothing to do with any of these fics 😂😂 but I was very impressed by them (which is really saying something, considering how many good fics there are in the collection!!) so I wanted to give them a shoutout anyway:

Faerie-Stories Not for the Faint of Heart by @hezjena (Mythal&Flemeth, T rated, 1800 words)

Flemeth of Highever knew that she could count on no one else for her escape. The bard, Osen, long legged and sweet of tongue was many things, but she knew in her broken heart that he wasn’t coming for her. Her inheritance of their love had left her head full of the pretty faerie stories that he had spun. Beautifully crafted songs of virtuous princesses in towers, guarded by vicious dragons waiting to be rescued by shining valiant knights on pure white steeds.

She threw her head back and laughed deeply at the very thought of it all.

***

Flemeth meets Mythal, an origin story.

a fascinating and fairy-tale like depiction of Flemeth and Mythal’s very first meeting. I’m absolutely obsessed with the ideas here, and the image of them talking through a mirror lives rent free in my mind 👌

.

Homecoming by @queenaeducan (Charter&Lace Harding, T rated, 5000 words)

 Charter has never been one for parties. The air, always thick with the smell of incense and perfume, draws like a rope around her neck. Her high-collared uniform is doing her no favours, either, fabric drawing tight against her skin as she cranes her head to look around the room. Orlesians gossip from behind porcelain masks, their painted smiles jeering like actors in a play. They mingle in a crowd of Rivaini merchants with a wealth of gold rings hoarded on their fingers, and, of course, Tevinter magisters who seem indifferent, at best, to be in attendance at such an affair. Even if it was hosted by one of their own.

 She’s loath to admit that, at least in this, they are in agreement.

Charter attends a Tevinter party, hoping to deny the Dread Wolf another ancient Elvhen artefact.

okay real talk, this could have just as easily been an actually published story in Tevinter Nights and I wouldn’t have blinked an eye. VERY cleverly written, I loved all the twist and tursn of the plot and I continue to be exceedingly impressed by it 👀💯

[mozzawind]

You who I called brother How could you have come to hate me so? Is this what you wanted? Then let my heart be hardened And never mind how high the cost may grow

When you find out the man you've called your brother since the day you could talk is the same man you swore on an oath you would kill.

My oc Maerwyn has many complicated feelings towards Solas but im not getting into that rn <3

[ekalita-blr]

In the first picture Thia and Solas are having a conversation about false gods. Thia has a crisis of faith. In the second picture Oracius came to the captured temple of Elgar’nan straight to Fen’harel to beg mercy for Thia and asked Solas to let her go. These are sketches for a larger comic about Thia and Solas meeting for the first time back at Arlathan times. Which occurred during the capture of the temple of Elgar’nan by an army of rebellious slaves led by Fen’harel. Made for Dragon Age ask groop.

[thekingofwinterblog]

You know what the most annoying thing about the Twists regarding the Elves in Inquisition was?

That all the twists, if taken on their own, would make for a really good story.

The reveals about Solas backstory and how him and his fellow God Kings rose, became decadent, warred with each other and fell, setting the stage for their transformation into the Old Gods is frankly speaking, some of the best lore that Dragon Age ever had, and lines up really well with how the world is structured while explaining how the Old Gods came to be, how the elves fell, and so on.

That the tevinter imperium when it conquered the nation of Arlathan was not the great imperial state lead by mighty mages their descendants liked to think they were, but instead a bunch of weaklings that needed years and years to take on one, measly city-state that had utterly obliterated itself in civil war.

There is so much great stuff here.

So where did it all go wrong?

The answer, is of course execution.

Inquisition overall is a great game... But man did it drop the ball so hard with the Elves that it's pretty much hard to believe that they will be able to tell a nuanced story about them in Dread Wolf.

Everything from the companions, to the world itself as the game presents , to retcons regarding mages that's there, not to tell a story about the elves, but to try and make the Templar vs mage conflict grey.

Starting with the companions, we have a great example of coming so, so close to greatness... and then falling right on it's face.

The game has two Elf companions, solas and Sera... and the contrast between them really illustrates the big picture with how incapable Inquisition is with trying to tell a nuanced picture with the elves.

Solas as a character is perfect. Love him or hate him, he is a fully fleshed out character with very clear, defined, understandable motives that makes sense to him.

And most importantly of all, his way of viewing the world is WRONG. The game acknowledges that he is wrong.

The entire story of where dragon age 4 is heading, is all about how the Dread wolf, for all his knowledge and intelligence and genuine virtues, is at the end of the day, a monster, who is willing to see the world burn to restore the Elves magic and immortality.

He is a racist, he is bigoted, and ultimately misguided. Despite all his development with the inquisitor, he does not manage to grow enough as a person that he manages to abandon his genocidal goals. And the game does not pretend othervise.

That is what makes the story of Solas rise to become the big villain of the sequel great.

There is no disconnect between the story, the characters, or the way the game wants us to view solas.

Solas is far, far more bigoted and close-minded than any of the dalish he so despises, and the game ultimately does not pretend othervise.

Which brings us to the opposite end of the elf spectrum with Sera.

Sera is a very disliked character by a lot of people, but by dalish and elf players/fans more than most.

Just like Solas, she is bigoted, racist, and ultimately misguided in her hatred of her fellow elves, whether they be city elves, or Dalish, or ancient elves.

And that frankly, would not be a problem if the game acknowledged that fact. If her character arc was about it, and either how she could not overcome her own issues, or actually managed to grow beyond them, she could have been a great character.

The problem is the fact that the game is not willing to handle this fact head on. Its not willing to come out and portray Sera as just as bigoted against her own kind as Solas is, and to treat this as a flaw.

Instead the game treats her as if her biggest flaw is that she's annoying, and not the fact that in a game that is in many ways about setting up the rise of the dread wolf, she is just as bad as Solas, just from a different origin point.

Sera should have been a mirror to Solas, both from a story point, as well as a thematic one, but unfortunately she is not.

Hell, she doesn't really overcome her racism either. The closest she comes to doing so, is basically burning out on hating the dalish and other elves in trespasser, not admitting she was actually wrong to hate them so much in the first place.

The game does not treat Sera's disdain for other elves and their culture as a problem, and it does not give a dalish inquisitor the option to tell her to go fuck herself on the topic that you are given with Solas if you really desire to do so.

You are given the option of kicking her out of the inquisition, but not actually stand up for the dalish or even city elves the way the player could against Morrigan's flemeth raised cruelty in origins, anders and Fenris obsessions with, and hatred for templars/mages in da2, or solas ideals in inquisition.

And thats a problem that really illustrates the bigger issue with the way Inquisition took what could have been a great story about the Elves and the reveals about their anceators, and frankly ruined it.

The dalish and city elvea were very thouroughly fleshed in both Origins, Awakening and DA2.

However, city elves largely managed to avoid being utterly destroyed by the narrative the way the Dalish were, for the simple reason that outside briala, we don't get much if any interaction with them at all, making them essentially a non show foe the game for the most part. They don't get a city elf inquisitor, and so we have no point of view to look at them from a pc perspective.

They got off much better than the dalish though.

Starting off with the arguably single worst thing in all of DAI is the retcon that Dalish clans, if there is more than two mages in a clan, sends off the third one alone in the wilderness to fend for themselves. This goes against absolutely everything that has ever been established about the Dalish, and worst of all, wasn't even an addition meant to demonize the dalish, instead being an addition to handwave away the obvious fact that the Dalish had a much better system than the human circles when it came to magic... Which in turn was made irrelevant by the fact the Avvar was later shown to have a much better and more effective solution to the possession question anyway.

It was, in essence, a pointless retcon, that overall only made the dalish look bad, and has now opened the door for the idea that most dalish clans acts like this, and will be portrayed so in future games.

Its bad, but unfortunately it was only the start.

The game goes out of its way to portray absolutely every single person who critices the dalish as having a point, that they brought on their own downfalls, even as they are being the most imperialistic, racist assholes imaginable, while the dalish inquisitor can only offer a token of defence for his people, a far cry from way origins allowed you to handle the same situation wheter your main ethnicity was ferelden, mage, city elf, dalish, casteless or dwarven noble.

But nowhere is it worse than the way the game handles the fall of the dales.

Now the actual lore you learn about it, is not bad. At all. I know some complain that the reveals that ameridan(and presumably other elves) worshipped both the creators and the maker, as well as the fact that the dalish unfortunately did have a bad relationahip with the rest of the world, in particular orlais, is bad storytelling, but i firmly disagree.

No the problem is the execution.

Ameridan is not wrong when he says that The Dales should not have distanced itself from the rest of the world, especially not in the face of a blight... But the Dales of his era were in turn not wrong when they argued that the Orlesians were little better than the imperium, and they would be completely right.

This is not a grey issue, its a grey and black issue.

Orlais was, and still is an evil, expansionist empire with 99% of its population living as serfs, that can be raped and beaten at will, little better than slaves.

The dales were the morally right side of the exalted march on the dales. No amount of new lore we learned in inquisition has changed that fact. We simply get the details fleshed out a bit more to add context.

Orlais was going to invade and enslave the elves anyway, as they proved through their actions against all their other, very much fellow Adrastian neighbors.

The problem is that you are not allowed to express this kind of point of view and stick to it like steel.

The characters you meet having the bigoted opinion that the dales ultimately brought on their own fate is NOT a bad thing in and out of itself... the problem is that you are not allowed to challenge that opinion the way you could challenge Lelliana's view of the dalish in origins, or the way you could tell both Anders and fenris to go fuck themselves on their extremist opinions all through da2, and ending that fuck you by killing them in the endgame.

And thats a real shame, because just looking at characters like cassandra's character development through Inquisition, you could easily have made a really compelling narrative put of a dalish inquisitor who stuck by his or her principles, and actually challenged the people they met's racist views on the dalish the way you could in origins, just with a more fleshed out and(unfortunately something way too many people just cannot emote to a character withouth) an actual voice to raise those arguments with.

I do genuinely like Inquisition, and i think it's overall a much better game than DA2... but man did they drop the ball with the elves so hard.

I feel so sorry for anyone who really got invested in the elves as their favorites factions, and i honestly don't think the elves will be handled particularly well in Dread wolf, especially as the only Dalish we are likely to see fleshed out will be the villains fighting for Solas.

[mrs-gauche]

So, on the new teaser published on DA Day this year, while I won't even try to go as in-depth as the amazing @felassan already did, compiling everything of note in this excellent post, like the sleep deprived German with limited vocabulary that I am, I'm just gonna add my little two cents to it, hopefully not repeating too much of what has already been mentioned. 😁

So why not start with the caption here!

This honestly made me snort out loud. 😂 I mean, it's like BioWare is not even trying anymore to be subtle about the fact that Thedas has we know it is 100% doomed. lol And yes, I know we all joke about Thedas constantly being in Apocalypse mode, but this time it really feels like some massive change is approaching.

But to be specific, I am pretty confident in that this is referring to both the destruction of the Veil, as well as the freed Evanuris dooming the world through some kind of mega Blight.

When I first read the word "revelation", it immediately made me think of Solas' Tower tarot card. The Tower literally represents sudden, disruptive revelation and potentially destructive change. While "damnation" is the concept of a divine punishment, to be "doomed to suffer in hell forever".

And as felassan theorized, if the last person in the teaser speaking is Elgar'nan, and if he is in fact connected to the Old God Lusacan, who is the God of Night, bringing about the "eternal night" and darkness…

“Lusacan, the Dragon of Night, calls to you. He lives where it is darkest and waits for the day he will rise. Drink of his blood and know the power in darkness: either fear the Night or wield it." "The darkspawn yearn to awaken and corrupt Lusacan to start a new age of darkness." “A night that will never end”

...Whereas the "revelation"/Solas tearing down the Veil, to me at least, always seemed to be associated with light or "purification" (for lack of a better word), with how it was described in Sandal’s prophecy and the way the destruction of the Veil was portrayed in the 2022 cinematic, almost blindlingly bright. (Also, "Solas" literally means "light" in Irish. lol)

„One day the magic will come back. All of it. Everyone will be just as they were. The shadows will part. And the skies will open wide. When he rises, everyone will see.“

So I think, like this "revelation" contrasts the "damnation", like Light and Darkness, at least in terms of visual language, there could be a hint of a figurative, as well as a literal "clashing" of two opposing forces? Like, both are destructive, but like The Tower represents destruction in order to rebuild/to enforce new growth/for the soul to evolve, while the damnation is nothing but irreparable corruption?

Anyway! So generally speaking, the teaser highlights yet again three of the factions/places we've seen in all the 2020 teaser/concept art/books/comics. It looked absolutely gorgeous and the voice over gave me goosebumps, as well as the amazing score again (that may or may not be composed by Hans Zimmer and/or Lorne Balfe lol I wonder) and the sound design! <3333 Though what’s curious to me, is that neither the Shadow Dragons of Tevinter or the Veil Jumpers from the Arlathan Forest were mentioned this time around…

So, I think this time the teaser might be more about the main plot beats/quests in the game than about the protagonist's potential origins, like how in DAO and DAI, you travelled to various places gathering allies and completed their respective narratives first before facing the main threat. Each of the places shown is coupled with a voice over from what is most likely gonna be an important character in each of these plot beats.

The fact that they changed the word "hero" in the plot blurb on the official DA website to "leader" is also.. interesting. It kinda reminds me of when Mark Darrah mentioned that the "vision statement" for Joplin was gonna be "We would be heroes, but the records are sealed". 👀 Or maybe the new protagonist might not be so heroic after all and more on the morally grey spectrum, which is always nice to explore. lol Makes me also yet again wonder about the "They call me the Dread Wolf. What will they call you when this is over?" line, meaning that, no matter how heroic our actions might be, in the end history might still remember us as the villain.

Antiva

This looks phenomenal and if they actually manage to realize a city as big as what this suggests AND fill it with meaningful content and people (side-eyeing you, Val Royeaux lol), it will blow my mind! lol Like felassan said, I'm very curious if we're gonna do some Assassin's Creed style "parkour" here, like what was kinda described in the short story "As We Fly" from last year! The Crows as the only real military defense of Antiva, particularly in Treviso, seem to be in deep trouble now, having been invaded by the Antaam and if you look closely, you can actually see the banner of the Qunari being displayed in the city!

"We fight for everyone. And we always will. The Crows rule Antiva."

My first thought hearing the voice here was actually Caterina Dellamorte. The lines express authority or leadership and it's also a more elderly sounding voice (to me at least), so Caterina as the First Talon would make a lot of sense to me! There have also been lots of speculation about her grandson, Lucanis, being a potential companion as well.

Rivain

(Oh no, all of Rivain got eaten by a squid. lol)

I've been hoping to go there ever since I first saw concept art of Rivain, and this is still giving me huge Pirates of the Caribbean (but with magic) vibes. 😂 As someone who thoroughly enjoyed playing AC Black Flag like ten years ago, this looks VERY promising! Though please, if we're getting any kind of underwater combat (like with the Vinsomer mentioned in the codex entry from last year), just don't make me fight dragons underwater, I'm still traumatized by the Lagiacrus in Monster Hunter Tri. 💀

"Glory to the risen gods. They come to deliver this world."

As to who is saying this, honestly, no idea. 😂 The blurb on the website mentions dragons in this place acting up for some reason, and the line sounds very cultist. lol But I'm definitely with felassan here, too, that this has to be connected to the Evanuris as well, given this GIANT squid thing on the map and all of the horrifying ocean related stuff linked to Ghilan'nain and her monstrosities, my money is also on her being one of these "risen gods".

And honestly… If I was a simple sailor or pirate and then one day I would see this emerge from the ocean…

….I'd probably start believing in these "gods", too. lmao

Anderfels

Next up, we're going to the Anderfels and Weisshaupt and I don't really have anything to add to what has already been said, other than "Shit is definitely Going Down Here". lol Lorewise, it would be crazy to go there and learn more about the very beginnings of the Wardens at their headquarters, so.. given the lines, the ominous sound of battle in the background here and some *things* from those reddit leaks earlier this year (felassan made a great post about this too, but spoiler warning of course!).. I just hope there will be enough left of Weisshaupt to explore after all this. lol

"Grey Wardens don't hide in our castle. I won't ask good soldiers to turn tail and run."

My first guess was the First Warden as well, but felassan actually made a few very good points here that make me question it… 🤔

I was also wondering what these "pillar ring" things are and while I first thought some kind of magical defense mechanism, I saw a reddit user suggesting that these rings could be part of a griffon training flight path?? Hell YEAH. #BringBackGriffonsInDA4

"Tremors have been creating disturbances of late. Their cause is unknown. Upon the distant horizon, a storm of ominous intent brews and darkens the skies."

That is a very interesting description, given that the sky in *this* concept art (which is definitely also showing Weisshaupt), is quite clearly the opposite of "dark". lol

(*looking suspiciously at the things I mentioned at the beginning here about "Light and Darkness" clashing* 👀👀👀 Maybe Solas came to visit here, too, because he just loves the Wardens, right? lol)

You know, if I read the words "tremors" and "Grey Wardens", my natural conclusion is "Something something Old Gods Underground + Grey Wardens Trying to Kill Them Before They Awake = Nothing Good" (and let's not forget about the eleven(!!) mountains/Ghilan'nain's ancient pools underground mentioned in Tevinter Nights as well), keeping in mind that Solas gets furious about the Wardens deliberately searching them out and slaying them (because he obviously knows what's gonna happen if all of them are slayed(!)), and in DAI there was already something ominous going on at Weisshaupt...

And all of this coupled with the new vinyl artwork and all the promotional stuff for DA4 so far, makes me feel like the Wardens will be busier than ever before...

Seven semi-circles with two of them still "lit" and the "tambourine"/Veil looking more broken with each new update....

Seven Old Gods/Evanuris that were banished when Solas created the Veil.....

Seven mirrors shattering....

Seven gates of the Black City, which Kordillus Drakon prophesied will someday shatter and cover both the mortal and spirit realms in darkness....

And speaking of "DARKNESS COVERING BOTH REALMS".....

Tevinter

One word: TENDRILS. lmao

So the last shot shows a big part of Tevinter on the map, most of it covered in purple clouds and tendrils...

Followed by a voice that had me like

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

First off, that voice actor sounds SO familiar, omg, who IS that?? Someone suggested Joseph Capp, the voice of the Shadow Prince from Divinity 2 and that fits perfectly (DOS2 has quite a few VAs from DA actually and funnily enough, the Shadow Prince is part of Sebille's main quest, who's voiced by Alix Wilton Regan lol) Whoever it is, they're doing a great job at sending a shiver down my spine. lol Like, you can just TELL, he's the Real Deal. "Peace and Comfort" never sounded more menacing. 👀

Alright, so I'll make this short, and say that I'm also very very confident that this is Elgar'nan speaking.

People have suggested the Archon, the Black Divine, some Venatori or Qunari leader, but honestly guys, none of these make much sense to me when looking at the bigger picture here (aside from the visual hints I've talked about earlier). Like, this teaser is obviously trying to set this person up as a serious threat to *the whole world*, and the only way I can see this work would be if this person held just as much or more power than Solas, because if they don't, they would just end up being a secondary concern, like another Corypheus…

You just don't market a game by suddenly introducing a new smaller threat to *"AAALL THE WORLD"* less powerful than the one we already have, you know. 😂 And imo, the only one "outmatching" Solas in terms of power, at this point, would be Elgar'nan or any of the elven gods. Or literally the Blight itself/the Titans.

And then there's this

"Hundreds of years in the making."

We know who has been directing the course of history for ages behind the curtains… I mean, the entire series has been building towards Mythal getting her vengeance.. and what better way to finally get to that point than to bring her husband into the narrative, the one who was potentially the main instigator of the Evanuris's betrayal and Mythal's murder. 👀

(There's one thing I need to say though, and I know this is the silliest of nitpicks, but.. if that guy really does turn out to be Elgar'nan, am I the only one who thinks it's really funny how he's just… talking British English/the common tongue like that? 😂 I mean, I 100% get why they cannot make the actors talk in ancient elven with subtitles for the whole game (something I personally really appreciated when they did it for some of the ancient elves and spirits in DAI), like Corypheus wasn't talking in the old tongue either, and I feel like there are multiple reasons for why this just wouldn't work. And if we're looking for a lore reason, I guess even the imprisoned Evanuris had somehow enough access to people's dreams over the course of thousand years to learn the languages of present Thedas as much as Solas or any other ancient elf like Abelas or Felassan did, but it's still funny to me nonetheless. lol)

Anyway, the teaser ends with a dragon's growling sound and then another wolf howling in the back, which I interpreted as Solas giving Elgar'nan a fair warning here that he's indeed still the title-giving DAD character. lol If we get to see these guys battling it out for real, like Giant Demon Wolf vs Black City Sized Blighted Dragon, it's already the best game in my book. lol

You just know someone at BioWare is having a blast at coming up with as many references to Solas' Trespasser dialogue to put in these blog posts as possible. 😂 I just hope they can keep this promise, cuz I have a LOT of questions (and I need Solas to answer ALL of them lol).

Hmmm... You "hope so", yes? Well, after *this* teaser I sure *hope* that the sentiment of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" still holds true in this particular situation, because I'd rather still be on Team Solas if I have to choose between "revelation" and "damnation". 👀

I guess we'll see next summer... 😁

[broodwolf221]

firmed up a theory i've had floating around my head for a while. again, caveat that this isn't original or anything - the game's been out almost 10 years, i doubt i'm gonna stumble upon a purely original train of thought at all lmao. i'm just sharing my ongoing interpretations.

Solas: I would have entered the Fade, using the mark you now bear. Then I would have torn down the Veil. As this world burned in the raw chaos, I would have restored the world of my time... the world of the elves.

when i first heard this, "as this world burned in the raw chaos," i thought that the tearing down of the veil and the reconnecting of the fade to the waking world would be inherently destructive.

after a while, i began to think that he feared it would be inherently destructive, but did not know for certain.

the new theory: solas seeks restoration, not just of the world, but of elven power. there are a number of things the elves in modern thedas lack, but perhaps foremost among those is magic. as i understand it, all elves in arlathan possessed magic regardless of their class or place in the world.

solas bringing down the veil will allow elves to access their ancestral magic once again.

as this world burned in the raw chaos.

elves in present-day thedas are a deeply oppressed people. solas has lived through wars - specifically, wars fought between mages. my current theory is that the raw chaos which will consume the world is the magic that elves will find themselves in possession of, and the massive sociopolitical and cultural shift that will follow. specifically, the strong possibility of war.

because elves have been treated atrociously throughout thedas' history, as have mages, and to have suddenly-empowered elves and a massive influx of mages, far more than the weakened chantry would ever be able to control, far more than the weakened templar order could ever hope to manage, will provide elves - and mages of other races - an opportunity they've never had before.

i don't think removing the veil will inherently damage the world, and while he might be wary about potential repercussions, i increasingly don't think any inherent damage is his primary concern. but doing this will destabilize thedas as it exists now.