#the dalish

[niofo]

it's always weird to me when ppl say that there's too much dalish and that games pander to solavellan content, when the dalish were always treated like shit by bioware. you can literally murder/cause death of an entire dalish clan every game, your dalish character is constantly converted to andrastianism, dalish companions are treated either as stupid (merrill) or mean and violent (velanna), not to mention you barely even can interact with your own heritage in a meaningful way (the fucking "who is mythal" dialogue).

should there be more city elf or more dwarf content? absolutely, but it should not be introduced instead of the dalish content. you know who already had way too much screentime? the fucking chantry, gtfo with it finally. i don't really care about solas or solavellan, but don't lie to me that the dalish had some sort of a special treatment bcos of that, they were a butt of a joke ever since da2, and we don't even have a dalish companion in inquisition. instead of looking at others who are getting bare scraps, let's look at who is always getting a whole ass cake no matter what.

[ohmyarda]

“Wolf-mother, where you been?

You look so worn, so thin

You're a taker, devils-maker

Let me hear you sing, hey-ya hey-ya.”

- Wolf, First Aid Kit

[dragonageconfessions]

CONFESSION:

I’ve been watching someone play DAO and they read every codex entry and they recently went to the dalish camp. And I don’t know if I never processed it when I played, but dalish elves age at a slower rate when they’re not in close contact with humans??

Is that a thing still? You mean to tell me my Mahariel could have lived an extended life if it weren’t for humans? Is that something they dropped?? I don’t know how I feel about this information. It’s just weird

Here is a Wiki Forum post on the Dalish Life Span

[bluerose5]

Saw a recent DA confession about Rivain (not gonna touch the post with a 10 foot pole though because the notes are "meh" and I'm pretty careful about my fandom exposure), but I just love seeing people bring it up because it's one of those instances where Bioware tries to make instances like the mage-templar conflict a grey issue instead of black and white, then they drop some horrific lore in passing through a codex or a war table mission and expect people to continue going "b-b-but both sides..."

Yeah, we literally have a matriarchal society outside of Chantry influence (except in their capital). The Circle they have is basically a front. Mages are free to come and go as they please. Elves and Qunari are welcome among them, have settlements there. From the codex and wiki, the Templars honestly don't give a damn about the mages training their women as seers, so long as the seers help them out here and there. In my eyes, it's about as much of a utopia as we can get in the Dragon Age setting.

Then, the Chantry comes in and pulls the Right of Annulment out of their ass because we can't have anything outside of the status quo threatening their influence, right?

Anyways, I'm just amazed how many people seem to miss that and then how many people just blatantly disregard the knowledge when presented with it, and try to make it seem like "The Exception" to the rule, even though the Avaar and the Dalish are other clear examples of mages existing peacefully enough outside of the Chantry’s influence. (Don't get me started on that "3 Dalish Mages" rule which clearly contradicts the lore up until that point.)

[herald-divine-hell]

I like to imagine the differing styles of the vallaslin between dao and dai is because of differing cultural artistic styles between the Dalish and their clans.

[feykrorovaan]

What could have been by Sting ft. Ray Chen gives off Solas vibes to me.

I could see certain lines being aimed at the Evanuris, the Dalish,and Lavellan respectfully.

Especially the lines

"I am the monster you created."

"I couldn't care what invention you made me, cause I, I was meant to be yours."

Here, have some angst and longing.

[brekkie-e]

I always wonder what it would be like for Lavellan to over hear Solas and Cass's banter pre-Trespasser. Especially from the perspective of one in a relationship with him. The sheer extent of how much he will entertain the idea that Cassandra's order is a good one, encourage her to believe in the Maker, and even ponder if the Maker exists himself is really cool. But Lavellan would only see her partner validating the Chantry, who still seek to obliterate her people, while belittling the religion of the Dalish for reasons he won't elaborate on. It must have been infuriating.

[sephirajo]

I still find it relentlessly funny bioware’s writers deny up and down the Dalish were influenced by indigenous cultures when I can look at them, basically 1 to 1 with the Mexica gods and Arlathan is basically Aztlan.

Once again... I CLAIM THE DALISH FOR US.

[immawraffle]

BioWare be like, oops made the mage/templar conflict too black and white with clear perpetrators and victims, time to grey-wash it. Same thing with the Dalish.

[noire-pandora]

Day 1: Arlathven

Elluin meets Abelas as she readies herself to speak the truth to the Dalish gathering at the Arlathven. Also on my Ao3. Kudos, comments and reblogs are appreciated and welcome. Thank you! For @dalish-appreciation-week​

The clearing, surrounded by trees as old as time, echoed with the voices of dozens of Dalish elves speaking at once. Some sang, some exchanged vocal greetings and some even shed tears. Elluin watched all this with a small, tired smile on her lips, while her right hand - her only hand now - clutched the hem of her dark green cloak until her knuckles turned white. She could not help but allow the warm happiness to envelop her soul, but her mind beckoned her to be vigilant and prepare for the announcement that would change their world: Fen'Harel has returned and plans to plunge her life into the merciless waves of chaos and uncertainty.

With a groan, she left the comfort of the tree she had been leaning against and slowly, with every muscle and bone in her tired legs complaining as she moved, made her way to the centre of the gathering. There, with Vallaslins marked by the wrinkles of time, the eldest Dalish waited for everyone to find their place. While the first day of the Arlathvhen was about all the clans arriving and settling , Elluin had no time to waste. Her spies, the few who had agreed to continue working for the now retired Inquisitor in her mad quest to stop a god, had warned her that Fen'Harel's people were making their way to the place where the Arlathvhen was being held. For what reason, she could only guess, but her stomach clenched every time the thought crossed her mind.

One of the elders, a woman with a bright smile and even brighter eyes, beckoned to Elluin and patted the ground invitingly, but before she had a chance to nod in agreement and join the elders she had played tricks on as a child many years ago, a bright flash of light stopped her in her tracks. From across the clearing, the sun's rays shone on the golden armour of three tall elves who watched the gathering with deep frowns. Elluin's breath caught as she recognised the garments and for a few awful, wonderful seconds she hoped that Fen'Harel himself graced them with his presence.

A bitter, barely audible snort left her lips as it became clear the three elves - two men and a woman - were not Solas. Why would he drag his almighty ass into the middle of a dusty, grassy clearing to wet the feet that supported his inflated ego?

Anger welled up in her chest, and Rage - now completely fused with her - made the fire flare in her fingers, but she pushed it back the next second before the old elves decided she was their enemies. She marched towards them, ignoring the cheerful greetings of the people she loved. Her ears rang as her heart beat wildly against her ribs, as if it wanted to leap out and fight the elves who dared to appear in their golden armour.

"Why are you here?" hissed Elluin to one of the men. Her nails dug into the flesh of her hands as she recognised the features of his face, burned into her memory months ago. Abelas.

"Inquisitor," he bowed to her, armour clanking. "It is an honour to see you again."

"Spare me the titles. Why are you here?"

Abelas glanced over her head and eyed those present with lips pressed into a thin line, eyebrows still furrowed. "He sent us here."

"Why? To kill us all before we have a chance to fight back?"

"Inquisitor, is that how you see us?" His gaze drifted back to her face, in which she recognised a hint of indignation, but she did not care for his pride. "We have come to ask for help."

"Help?" Elluin choked on the word and spittle caught in her throat as her muscles refused to work.

"Yes," he nodded and clasped his hands behind his back, a gesture that pierced Elluin's heart with the memories it evoked. "He had judged your people harshly, but now he understands their strength and courage. And he wishes to have them as allies, not enemies."

Rage stirred again, the centre of her chest growing red-hot and threatening to burn her clothes and set her on fire. She took two deep breaths, blocking out the reverberations of the days and nights she had spent with Solas in a vain attempt to change his mind about his people. And now, suddenly, he wanted to ally himself with the Dalish?

"Is that so?" she said after a few more seconds of staring at Abelas' face and counting her breaths. "And what made His Highness change his mind?

"You had."

The only sound Elluin could hear was her blood pulsing, racing through her veins, driven by a heart struggling to make peace with Abelas' words. Her heart beat against her ribs like a bird trapped in a gilded cage, with needles pricking her every move. How much more happiness was Solas going to rob her of? Was it not enough that he had stolen her heart and her hand? Did he now have to come and steal her family as well?

"Leave." Elluin whispered through her clenched teeth. Abelas frowned at the distortion in her voice, as if two beings were speaking at once.

"I am one of you, Inquisitor, why am I not allowed here?" Abelas pointed to his Vallaslin branching on his forehead. "Why are you allowed to stay when you have forsaken the marks of your gods and I have not?"

"It's not the same thing, you're here to corrupt my people and-"

"Corrupt? We are here to tell them our truth and ask them to join us if they wish." Elluin opened her mouth to protest, but Abelas continued. "Do you believe your truth is the only real truth? Do you want to decide instead of your people?

Had he struck her in the stomach, she would have felt less pain, but the bitter truth Abelas spoke took away her breath and the conviction to drive Solas' people away, for the three bore the marks of the gods she no longer believed in. Defeated, Elluin moved out of his way. She could not become the people she had fought: those who decided what was truth and what was lies.

Abelas was right. Just as she had the right to be there and speak their truth. Who was she to stop them?

Elluin smiled a bitter smile and looked back to the Dalish, who now began to sing of old times when the long lost language stood on the lips of the world. When magic and the love of the gods were still interwoven. The song changed, the lyrics changed and the people who sang it pleaded for the love of the gods to return and flood them once more.

Elluin choked on the tears she struggled to hold back, for the times they had sung about would return. Faster than they could have imagined. And she had no choice but to fight it.

[heniareth]

About the War Table mission Bestow Mourning Halla.

What the fuck is this?

Hawen's clan wants to give the village of Red Crossing a halla as a sign of mourning for the tragedy that was Red Crossing (elf and human fall in love, elf goes to be with human and become Andrastian, elf's sister's just lost a sibling (to the same humans I think?), doesn't know what brother is doing, wants to drag him back home, goes to village, kills his beloved bc she ran towards her screaming, villagers get up in arms, elves and humans kill each other. This kickstarts the Exalted March on the Dales. I'm not convinced by this either).

So, Keeper Hawen gets told about this, decides to gift the village of Red Crossing a halla (super important for the Dalish!) as a show of good faith but knows that the humans might not want to take it bc prejudices. Your options as Inquisitor to mediate are:

Twist the noble who controls Red Crossing into accepting this, but "it will end two marriages and lead to at least one duel". Twist!!! The noble!!! Into accepting??

Spread rumors so that the villagers of Red Crossing believe, I'm not making this up, that they're guarding a trophy that honors their victory over the Dalish

And, last option, and I quote: "If it's this important, we can march the blasted halla in with some troops to guard it."

Why. Are those. Your options??????? Hawen is offering a show of good faith. He's putting one foot forward. He's being NICE!!! His people lost the war and their kingdom and their way of life, have been harrassed by humans for centuries. He hears this story of the two star-crossed lovers, says hey, maybe my ancestors made a mistake, let's make reparations although it will be hard, and your options to help are a gigantic F You and a JOKE

I am angry!!! The writers had the opportunity to tell the story of a town that, blame here or there, lost people to hostilities between elves and shem, and they threw it into the dirt and stepped on it. Force the humans to accept or trick them. No "thank you". No "hey, maybe our ancestors did something wrong too". No growth, no peace, not even begrudging acceptance that hey, these people did something nice to us although they didn't have to and they probably had good reason not to. A halla. And it gets disrespected in such a way. What kind of storytelling is this?????

[niofo]

i took notice when bellara said that she lost someone bcos she was tinkering with a dangerous artifact, or sth like this, and it really sounds kinda similar to mahariel and tamlen story. i'm of two minds about this personally. like they could make it into some parallel with how merrill eventually manage to fix the eluvian and that it was worth preserving. but also they might as well go into the "dumb dalish messing with technology they don't understand and getting hurt" route that they also kinda tried to show with merrill? (despite merrill being 100% right, it's marethari who fucked up.) and yk, i really hope it's this first instance and bellara is a positive example of someone passionate about history and old technology, but sometimes bioware does bioware.

[dragonageconfessions]

CONFESSION:

I really liked hearing about Red Crossing.  Yes the elves are treated like garbage and its horrible but it showed they are capable of making mistakes just like all the other races.  I grew up in a poor neighborhood and one time a neighbor was accused of stealing from another an elderly neighbor.  It was eventually discovered that it was another person in the neighborhood who we trusted who did the stealing.  The neighbor who was originally  accused did forgive those who accused them but the damage was done and they moved to another area.  I know it angered a lot of fans but Red Crossing was written to show everybody  (not just humans, dwarves, Qunaricommits stupid mistakes.  And when people make mistakes, they don't like to admit it and that includes the elves.

[bluerose5]

Been reading through some of Fenris' banters for reasons, but reading the first interactions with him and Merrill about elves just saddens (or maybe a better term is disappoints) me because up to this point and even in Inquisition, there has been next to no middle ground for the City Elves/Dalish takes! With the companions, it's always so black-and-white. Frustratingly so! Zevran, Merrill, Fenris, Sera. (I'm omitting Solas because that's a discussion for another post.) All of them are guilty of it. Whether it's blaming the current elves for their oppression, dismissing the idea that they all share common goals, or making it a point to distinguish themselves from "other elves," they all do it to some degree. And I just wish the narrative and/or protagonists could challenge those ideas more, that "hey, guys, funny idea but maybe the Dalish and City Elves are more alike than you think and could be stronger together, just a thought." That they're not two separate peoples, but rather two subgroups of one.

[biowho]

Dragon Age put important plot information in your games challenge