#the griffon and her crow

[radiantlightxx]

"I think you're royally tough to kill...and utterly gorgeous."

I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that they're both beat to hell and back when Zev decides to turn on the charm and by god I love him for it.

[bunbunsama]

the difference in post-vg rook de riva pregnancies are delicious to me in that:

with emmrich, its a dream come true - the dream finally realized, late and yet, exactly when it was meant to. he's already spent years planning this moment, planning with past faces that he scants remembers as they become so easily replaced by her, & now its no longer a dream. its reality. its in his hands. & how he dotes on her! she doesn't want for nothing, no craving left unsatiated, no desire unfulfilled, all that she wants is met with "of course, dearest". his hand is always on her; in her hair as he pulls it back when nauseas takes hold & on her neck when she lulls her head back as the scent of something hits her wrong; the small of her back when they take their walks to ease the discomfort of a restless baby; holding her hand when she loops her arm around his as they talk to nevarran nobles & senior mourn watchers & the occasional crow. he knows the fade can make dreams reality, turn ideas into truth, & that is what rook has done; she's made real a dream he has long ago put to rest.

with lucanis, its a delicious nightmare - more an anticipated & a dreadfully torrent affair that even an antivan crown birth could not overshadow. lucanis is rightfully terrified outright; his mother was murdered by another house, his father most likely as well, & he watched catarina bury eight other grandchildren due to crow politics. he has barely seen himself as a man, let alone a father. whether he absconds for some time to grapple with the news or not doesn't overshadow how absolutely wild viago goes; if he does leave, viago will never forget it & its only through teia & rook that he even relents when lucanis returns, & if lucanis doesn't leave, viago becomes an unnecessary appendage of the pregnancy. "this isn't just a pregnancy, rook, it's a message; a clear message" house dellamorte lives; house dellamorte will survive. this pregnancy also is a shield for rook; a woman who once ruined a talon operation, who the fifth talon has to negotiate & plead for safe exile, is now the only one who carries the next dellamorte heir - catarina is furious because she cannot make a move. having rook in her favour was necessary after she slayed a god, & with thedas practically in her pocket (her mother is the hof & her father the inquisitor, all of thedas is at her disposal) it would be stupid to rebuke her - but she didn't have to like her. she didn't have to approve of lucanis' love & illario's strange infatuation ("you picked the wrong dellamorte" is something she doesn't forget) but it was just a waiting game; now, with her pregnant (& of course rook knows this pregnancy protects her, that it gives her more sway across the crows) catarina can't do anything unless she truly wants her house to disappear - & there are houses that are waiting, wanting, just such an end. theres also a struggle of where to have the baby, where the baby will stay mostly - which house will they take. a lot of lucanis & viago going back & forth till catarina steps up to the plate & then rook has to play the mother/god-killer card.

bonus: viago will absolutely be the most awful protective & overbearing brother. rook better not be pregnant BEFORE she's married or else she will never hear the end of it because he refuses to have her first child - his first nephew/niece - be a bastard. teia finds the whole exchange fun & her & rook probably are the most normal during the whole exchange, talking about baby names & picking out drapery & fabric for the nursery.

[kelesaria]

Some of my favorites from the end quests. With a bonus photo-mode of Lorian getting some last minute Assan cuddles.

A few thoughts-

Mage was... not as fun as rogue. When I could fight at range it was fine, but certain mobs turned into poor Lorian running around trying to dodge everything ever while wishing their companions would hurry up and kill the things. (Ogres and reavers were the bane of their existence.) Kel being ranged wasn't quite as difficult because it was so much easier to just melee things that she couldn't get away from. She was slightly less squishy, too.

Lorian did a lot of choices differently, some of which I think I prefer over what Kel did.

I think I still love Neve's romance best, but Lucanis' is a very close second. I can definitely see why he's so many people's favorite.

I'm a little sad to be done with Lorian (for now), but now I can focus on Renna. I'll be going back to previous saves to record more of my favorite bits for them and Kel, too.

[shewolfofvilnius]

something i don't think gets talked about NEARLY ENOUGH regarding Dragon Age: Veilguard: If you pick certain options and let enough banters play out, MULTIPLE companions will for all intents and purpose signal their plan to change factions post-game.

Taash can become an honorary Antivan Crow and seems to be legit into the idea by game's end (also Harding like the cape). Like, if they were a returning companion in DA5 I could EASILY see them having joined up (or at least become associated).

Bellara can flat out ask Neve to join the Shadow Dragons. (edit: OR apparently can ask to join the Mourn Watch?!?!)

Davrin can signal he's planning to spend a LOT of time with the Veil Jumpers and the griffons once this is all over (and a big part of his banter sequence with Bellara AND his tertiary content with Rook involve his realizing that the Veil Jumpers' aims are different than the Dalish he grew up with).

Like, that's FANTASTIC. No one is ever permanently any one thing, and I love the idea of some of the companions realizing "hey, actually, this works better" and they've built those connections and networks and so hey, Antivan Crow Taash? Sure, Teia will make them a cape. Shadow Dragon Bellara? Hey, they took the ex-templar Rana, they'll easily take her. Etc.

[baejax-the-great]

One of the things missing in Veilguard is any sort of meaningful power struggle. By keeping to the poorer parts of the city-settings, we don't really deal with corrupt or powerful nobles. By defanging the Crows, an organization who famously has lethal squabbles between factions, they turned them into some weird, benevolent family organization. Even the assassin trying to make "evil" power plays doesn't actually manage to kill any of his targets, and his ruthless relatives? Also don't kill him in revenge. In the end, the status quo is maintained. Nothing has changed.

In Tevinter, we have the Threads, an organized crime unit who we know runs "protection" rackets on the locals and is involved in some kind of smuggling (it's Tevinter--so presumably this would involve slavery and dangerous artifacts, but it's Veilguard, so I guess not). Instead of them beefing with the Shadow Dragons, who presumably ruin some of their deals with their pesky "freeing the slaves" thing, and instead of their main issue being with any sort of law enforcement, something which doesn't exist in Veilguard beyond one singular templar who does all of jack shit the entire game, their main power struggle is with the Venatori, who are evil just to be evil.

And instead of the Veilguard siding with law enforcement or the threads and enlisting their help to, idk, unseat the corrupt head of the templars or otherwise deal with the venatori shit, the threads are highly favored by the storyline, and in the end the only real choice is to make Neve a thread or to make her... idk, the same Neve? The game calls her an "inspiration", but it's not like she's part of any organization, so we can't call her a figurehead. It's just like, see that random citizen right there? She rules. And I don't really see how that increases the power of the rule of law, because even if one good person is working within rule of law to get things done, she's not part of the system, and everyone already know the system is corrupt in Minrathous. Random citizens in fucking Ferelden know the system is corrupt in Minrathous, or they would if they weren't all dead. Neve is now just playing on hard mode to appear righteous, which, good for her, but I'm sorry, won't inspire all that many people who are still paying "protection" money to the local mafia.

(Putting Neve in charge of the Threads is an absolutely whackadoodle decision by the devs that I don't even know how to respond to. She has a single Thread contact. Presumably the Threads have a hierarchy. She has never demonstrated interest in being a smuggler. Being a detective really has no overlap with being a crime boss. Telling a group of criminals that they are all detective's helpers now is sure to go over like a lead balloon. What the fuck was that. Why did that happen.)

Maevaris and Dorian arguing came out of nowhere and lasted a fairly long time, which was interesting, but after the most recent election in the states, Maevaris's position sounds unbearably naive and trite, and this hardly counts as a power struggle as they both say they will support the other depending on what some random outsider thinks should happen. (That is soooo not a basis for a system of government. Why would Maevaris OR Dorian cede their power to Rook, someone they don't know and who doesn't matter)

The power struggle within the Wardens is also very stupid and easily solved. The First Warden is a moron. He dies (kind of). For some reason the extremely hot and competent couple who we first encounter in the middle of nowhere are next in command, so, phew. Problem solved there. A question of what the Wardens will do now that the Blights are over would have been interesting. Do they keep recruiting lest the Blight somehow reoccur and nobody remembers the Warden secrets? Or do they disband? Do they set themselves to seeking a cure and nothing else?

The closest you get to that is deciding what the griffons will do, which, again, why the fuck is Rook deciding that, but also there are 13 of them, in two or three more generations they will be dead unless a lot of mages bone up on genetics real fast.

Who is left? We have Rivain, which is just pointless in this game. I played as a Lord of Fortune, but you could drop that faction and not a single thing changes in the game. Pirates who don't loot valuable artifacts because they are elvhen? Give me a fucking break.

Same for the Mourn Watch. There is pretty much nothing going on in that region. You could excise it from the game and nothing changes in the slightest. There is not a single excuse for them not using the Eluvians to help the Veilguard earlier in the game, given just how little they have going on.

The Veiljumpers are just missed opportunities all over the place. They could have had factions debating whether to join the god of vengeance in fucking up the human civilizations as payback for, you know, everything. They could have had people joining Cyrion in thinking that a Forgotten One might be the best way to face down the gods, given they'd done it before. There could have been a HUGE cultural impact on "what do we do now that we know our gods are evil fuckfaces--what do we keep and what do we throw away," but Veilguard ain't that deep. They could have had knowledge of a super-weapon or some elvhen bullshit that would help the Veilguard fight the gods... but nah.

In DAO, your decisions not only affected the political futures of the various regions, but they decided who would help you and how. Did the dwarves have golems? Did you have templars or mages? That whole wolf thing with the Dalish that I no longer remember that well? And the Dalish deciding to help changed how they were viewed in Ferelden. The mages helping you meant the monarch would treat them favorably. It fucking mattered.

In Veilguard, the only situation remotely close to that is the dragon decision at the beginning, which was one of the fucking dumbest plot points in a video game I have ever played. It was the first thing that made me set my controller down and go... what? What the fuck? The idea that Rook, a nobody, is the only person singularly capable of driving back a dragon in the entire north is laughable. What the fuck was Dorian up to that day? How is Rook more capable than every single Crow? How is it the two companions you sent to the other city were absolutely useless? If Lucanis/Neve + two companions were unable to drive a dragon away, what makes them think Rook would be the deciding factor? What makes them blame Rook when they themselves couldn't fucking do it? Neve in particular was a big part of fucking up that ritual and releasing the gods, so why is Rook taking all the fire for this?

AND WHY IS THEIR RESPONSE TO A BLIGHT TO FIND A SINGLE DRAGON HUNTER? HEY DIPSHITS, THE DRAGON IS HUNTING YOU. YOU DON'T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT THAT PART. YOU NEED AN ARMY.

But Treviso or Minrathous being spared doesn't change the global political situation at all. It would have been really interesting if it did. Tevinter hobbled? How many kingdoms would be salivating to take a bite out of their territory? With the trade princes of Antiva being absolutely fucked over by the Blight, who is taking over that trade? Who is getting rich?

Nobody, I guess, because why would Rook know or care about that, because, as previously mentioned, they are a nobody who doesn't matter and honestly shouldn't be listened to.

The stakes in this game are nothing because the bad guys are all so obviously bad that you know, as a video game player, that you are going to defeat them. Oh, the Antaam are just mindless, faceless brutes fucking up Treviso? Okay, let's kill them. Venatori again? I'm pretty sure they aren't the heroes of this game. There's no power struggle, and in the end all we've done is revert to the status quo, (except i guess Treviso is no longer occupied).

Except for the south. The south is dead. but we didn't have anything to do with that for some reason. Couldn't even be bothered to house some refugees in our safehouse that was built specifically to house refugees. The Inquisitor, who has access to the eluvians, couldn't figure out how to get other people through them or something so... sorry, every single Orlesian, Fereldan, and Marcher.

[ryuto12-gaming]

Funny idea that after Veilguard Emmrich returns to the Necropolis and starts teaching again and ljke, his class of ten doesn’t believe he was actually part of Rook’s team, think he was just like distantly involved and not really right up and personal

Until one day the Neve Gallus pops in, and Maker only knows how she got there. And she’s talking with Manfred like she knows him personally, calling him ‘Fred’ and patting him on the arm like an old friend. And after shrugging off that nonsense while Emmrich is in the middle of a lesson some random just sits in the back of the class and it’s only later they all figure that’s Rook who was coming to trade ideas on the Bellara Lutare’s notes on a possible renovation to the Lighthouse.

And that’s just passing bullshit, right? Wrong. A bunch of younger Watchers are gushing over this new monster hunter manual and one brings it up in class so Emmrich takes the opportunity to show off his signed by Davrin copy of it and their all just jaws to the floors. He even offers to have Davrin come in and they could have a small module on Darkspawn and other creatures they could encounter.

Emmrich has a beef with another teacher about something, and on his desk the next day is a note “ask Lucanis about the issue with (name)” one student who has an odd backstory makes the connection that’s Lucanis Dellamorte, the killer of Ghili’nain and First Talon of the Crows. Start watching the other teacher very closely, thinking there’s now a hit out on them. Emmrich had actually meant it as help with a poison in the body of a nobleman that he’d never seen before and wanted a Crow’s professional opinion on what it was, but they don’t know that.

One becomes mildly obsessed with dragons and Emmrich starts listing off anything curious about and when they ask how he knows so much he goes into a whole story about how he and Taash bonded over learning each others interests. Spirals into Rivaini and Qunari death practices eventually, and how a combination of cultures can lead to unique funeral preparations.

By this point they almost believe him, but just can’t bring themselves to fully get into the idea that old, soft-hearted and sweet Professor Volkarin fought the impossibly powerful Elgar’nan.

Then one day there’s a griffon playing with Manfred when they walk into class and Davrin is having the time of his life because Emmrich’s chair has wheels and he’s just spinning. And on the desk Taash is sitting there, spinning him faster and faster. It’s not helped by once again the Neve Gallus, who’s fighting off like seven wisps who are trying to steal her hat.

They finally believe him.

[ephemeralinstance]

taking out the complexity

I have this hypothesis that at some point quite late in the writing process of Veilguard someone came in and pushed for the moral complexity to be taken out of the game. Because there are several plot lines which seem like they were potentially intended to be more complex than they ultimately were:

Isseya and the griffons. When I first played this I assumed that the punchline would be that she stole the griffons because she didn't trust the wardens with them after what happened - then deciding what to do about her would have raised interesting questions about war, sacrifice, the greater good etc. But instead there was this reveal that she was planning on blighting them, which makes no sense at all and feels shoe-horned in just to make it clear that she is Evil and Wrong.

Ivenci feels to me like they were originally intended to articulate the very reasonable point that it's not good for Antiva to be ruled by a group of unelected assassins - thus setting up an interesting chance to reflect on the nature of the Crows and the necessity of working with groups who do harmful things. But instead the Crows have to be the good guys so Ivenci is made into this weirdly cartoonish villain to make it clear that they are Evil and Wrong.

Relatedly, Lucanis' plot line feels like it was supposed to culminate with a reflection on his relationship with the Crows and the abuse he suffered, probably with the option to turn down being the First Talon and maybe even leave the Crows. But because the Crows have become the good guys this never happens and hence his whole arc feels quite inconclusive.

As this post points out, it feels like Emmrich's lich choice was intended to be darker and for the lich route to be genuinely a selfish option, but instead it's become this somewhat toothless 'dilemma' where both options are right and you never have to feel bad about your decision.

The initial ritual feels like it was a set-up for Rook to unintentionally do terrible harm while trying to stop the world from being destroyed, thus offering the opportunity to reflect on the dilemma that Solas faced in making the Veil and to understand the moral complexity of his situation. There is apparently even cut dialogue from the regret prison on this topic. But instead no one ever blames Rook and Rook is not allowed to blame themself at all, because they have to be The Hero in an uncomplicated way.

I don't know; it just seems to me that there are all these fossils of a more interesting game in there and they've been sort of clumsily written-over because some exec etc wanted the game to be less challenging or targeted at a younger audience or something.

[flowersforthemachines]

Some facts about Bellara (and also the Veil Jumpers, and other random Elven things) gathered from the banters

I went through all companion banters on DanaDuchy's channel after playing the game to write down all facts about companions/the world that I haven't seen brought up anywhere in the game as a writing reference (and for funsies).

Note: This list may not be exhaustive. I might have missed some something or didn't write it down because I considered it common knowledge. If you have anything to add, please DM me or send an ask! (do specify what banter the information is coming from, though)

Note 2: Posts from this series (mostly) don't include information from banters specific to quests or between companions and faction members. I plan to do another playthrough to capture more of those and will add any relevant info to the character posts.

Other characters' posts: Davrin, Harding, Lucanis, Emmrich, Neve, Taash. I'm also planning a post about just the Lighthouse some time later

About Bellara

Family and past:

Bellara’s mother is a woodworker who sells furniture in Orlais, and her father is an herbalist. He taught her about deadly plants (for her own safety)

Bellara didn’t tell her parents about Cyrian’s (second) death

Bellara once broke both of her arms while racing an Aravel 

Bellara learnt magic from her Keeper and later the Veil Jumpers, but she also studied a lot on her own by reading books and just trying things out

When she was little, Bellara wondered what it’s like to settle down instead of moving all the time (just like Davrin did) 

General:

Bellara can better focus on writing when she has background noise (like Rook talking)

Bellara likes tea (but can also drink coffee after she pulls an all-nighter, which seems to happen pretty often)

Bellara liked Lucanis’s grilled fish

Bellara didn’t know any Qunari recipes before joining the Veilguard

Bellara wouldn’t want to be an assassin, but she would be interested in taking lessons from Crows about assassination techniques

Bellara thinks that most people in Tevinter are condescending, even the nice ones 

Magic and life with the Veil Jumpers: 

Bellara once found an artifact that was basically an ancient elven mechanical toothbrush 

Bellara is a Veil Jumper because Arlathan is her home, and she can’t stand by and do nothing. Also, because of the artefacts

Part of the reason why Irelin and Bellara broke up is that Bellara became too consumed by studying/fixing artefacts 

Bellara and Davrin agree that the Veil Jumpers’ odds are even worse than the Wardens’

Bellara thinks that the ancient Elven magic feels cold

Bellara didn’t find anything on the Devouring Storm in the libraries or Circles. Vorgoth and Myrna never heard of it either 

Life at the Lighthouse: 

Bellara owns a bronze candleholder shaped like a fennec

Bellara thinks that the Fade in the Lighthouse is almost too calm compared to Arlathan

Bellara likes her space in the Lighthouse and feels like “it's been waiting for her”

The Archive sometimes stares at people who come by

Bellara eventually suggests that she and Lucanis completely take over the cooking. Everybody except for Harding dreaded any meal not cooked by them anyway and gleefully agreed

Antoine let Bellara borrow his compound for flaming arrows to see how it reacts in the Fade (she doesn’t speak about the results, but she used at least one compound for testing without incidents and later wants to borrow more) 

Relationships with companions: 

Bellara offers Davrin to listen about his findings regarding the Gloom Howler as he searches for the missing griffons, saying she's a good listener

Bellara asks Neve if she can become a Shadow Dragon and is very excited when she hears “Yes”

However, when Emmrich offers her to join the Mourn Watch, she turns him down saying that the Veil Jumpers need her. 

A writing inconsistency. Probably. 

Neve once saw Bellara poking around Assan, trying to figure out if he was real or some clever mechanical contraption 

Bellara wants to make pillows out of Assan’s molted feathers (but Davrin refuses because he finds it weird)

Bellara made dog biscuits for Assan (that Davrin accidentally ate the first time). The next time she brought a batch, she left them in a box labelled “Assan biscuits inside, do not eat.” Assan liked them!

Bellara once covered Assan in olive oil thinking it could improve his wind resistance and let him fly faster. Didn’t work. 

Bellara offers Emmrich to co-author a paper about ancient elves after they find out elves came from spirits

Bellara asks Emmrich about vampires multiple times. According to him, when a Hunger Demon possesses a corpse, the resulting abomination can seek out blood, sort of resembling a vampire. They can't turn into bats though

According to Neve, some magisters in Minrathous have tried bonding with Hunger Demons which resulted in them having immense power but also a craving for blood 

Bellara and Harding swap books for reading

Bellara gets into lifting using Harding's rocks

Bellara doesn’t think she needs to threaten Lucanis when she finds out he and Neve are dating because Neve could wipe the floor with him herself if she wanted (Lucanis agrees) 

Bellara is fine with Lucanis taking on Ghilan’nain’s contract (“Whatever we were worshipping, it wasn’t her") and cheered him on at Weisshaupt

Bellara asks Neve to beta-read her story

(If Neve and Rook are in romance) Bellara thinks that solving cases together is romantic

(If Neve leaves after Rook chooses to save Treviso) Bellara kept notes of everything that happened while Neve was away to help her adjust after she’s back

About the Veil Jumpers:

Bellara mentioned that a certain elf camped in some ruins, and one day woke up stuck in the clouds. The Veil Jumpers haven’t figured out a way to get them down, so they just send them food and water

Veil Jumpers use some of the artefacts they have recovered as weapons. However, they don’t use them often, since most of them need to be charged after one use, and nobody really knows how to do that 

Veil Jumpers eat whatever Arlathan Forest provides

Though Bellara also mentions she doesn’t forage in the forest anymore. Strife does, however, he always finds something edible

It’s hard to say how many Veil Jumpers are out there because people die/go missing/leave too often to keep a proper count

The Veil Jumpers once found an artefact that caused whoever activated it to get sucked into the Fade. One guy got trapped inside because he used it even if the others told him not to. Bellara is weirdly nonchalant about that whole thing

The Veil Jumpers once found something like an entrance to the Deep Roads on the Southern Edge of Arlathan Forest. The group that found it sealed themselves inside and destroyed the entrance, leaving a note telling the others not to enter. Davrin hypothesises it could be one of the pools similar to the one we saw in the Horrors of Hormak

Ritsivas from the Veil Jupmers is non-binary (mentioned by Harding in a conversation with Taash)  

Misc:

The power crystals are called “June'suledin'bellanaris'ena'ghilan'lasa'shiral”. You may infer the reasons everybody just calls them 'power crystals'

Not all traps in Elven ruins were originally meant to be traps, but their magic is old, so it doesn’t recognise modern people and can backfire. And sometimes magic just degrades over time and accidentally rips the Veil, summoning demons

Andruil’s Gauntlet is an ancient site meant to test hunters who want to wield the mightiest weapons. It’s filled with traps, and no one has made through it in ages. It was made by Andruil’s priests to test the warriors of Elvhenan 

Clans Nuvenis and Sabrae live in Ferelden. Harding’s village traded with the Sabrae in the past

[felassan]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard - companion bios all together

[source, two]

Text in each image reads:

"Lace Harding This dwarven scout has a positive outlook and a ready bow – as well as unexpected magical powers. At her core, Harding is still a girl from Ferelden; she loves adventure, animals, and nature and is fiercely protective of her family and friends. Abilities – Seismic Shot; Heavy Draw; Shred; Adrenaline Rush; Soothing Potion Neve Gallus A cynic fighting for a better future, Neve is both a private detective and a member of Tevinter’s rebellious Shadow Dragons. Born and raised in a working-class neighborhood of Minrathous, she does not believe in the superiority of mages. Abilities – Icebreaker; Blizzard; Glacial Pace; Time Slow; Replenish Davrin Bold and charming, this Grey Warden has made a name for himself as a monster hunter. Though he was raised in a Dalish clan, he craved excitement and adventure. He’d rather make history than reflect on it. Now he cares for Assan, a young griffon. Abilities - Battle Cry; Death From Above; Heroic Strike; Assan Strike; In War, Victory Bellara Lutare Bellara is creative, romantic, and obsessed with uncovering the secrets of ancient Elvhenan. She has a strong sense of self – a clear idea of who she is and what she wants – and will push herself to her limits to find the answers she seeks. Abilities – Fade Bolts; Enfeebling Shot; Replenish; Time Slow; Galvanized Tear Taash A qunari dragon hunter with the Lords of Fortune, Taash lives for adventure and doesn’t mind taking risks. While her interests include sparkling treasures and hitting things with an axe, she is also deeply knowledgeable about many topics. Abilities – Fire Breath; Dragon’s Roar; Dragonfire Strike; Spitfire; Fortune’s Favor Emmrich Volkarin A necromancer of Nevarra’s Mourn Watch, this well-mannered scholar comes complete with a skeletal assistant, Manfred. Emmrich is as serious about his duty to protect innocents from the occult as he is about his studies of the mysteries of the Fade. Abilities – Final Rites; Replenish; Entangling Spirits; The Bell Tolls; Time Slow Lucanis Dellamorte Lucanis is an expert assassin for whom the Antivan Crows are a family business. Poised and pragmatic, he would rather not be the center of attention, focusing instead on his work. Lucanis specializes in executing powerful mages and has earned the title Demon of Vyrantium. Abilities – Eviscerate; Abominate; Soothing Potion; Debilitate; Adrenaline Rush"

[spinfins]

The party after Elgar’nan is dead is spectacular, you guys.

The factions have been hard at work for hours by the time everyone realizes Rook and their team have descended from the Archon’s floating palace.

The Wardens have been cutting back the calcifying blight. The Veiljumpers have been searching through wreckage and fallen buildings for survivors. The Shadow Dragons, Crows and Lords are helping hunt down stray Venatori, get everything organized, and send word to everyone outside of the city.

And the Mourn Watch are taking care of the numerous dead.

But then Rook comes down, and her team. And they’re alive! The Evanuris are dead! The Blight is over! Look! That hero is one of ours! They helped Rook!

And the celebration is spontaneous. The work continues of course. This clean up is going to take years. But everyone can’t help laughing, smiling and embracing. Song breaks out. Someone invaded a magister’s wine cellar and food supply. The Dalish show everyone that while the Evanuris might suck, elvish dancing is the shit! (The others are pretty good too. Someone finds the new Archon Pavus ten silk scarves).

The next morning—Rook THINKS it might be the next morning, but it honestly could be a week later— Rook peels their face off of Davrin’s breastplate and wriggles their way out Emmrich’s hold (Maker, someone find that man a teddy bear).

They are crashed out in the ruins of someone’s villa, a fountain nearby is trickling champagne, the Veilguard is sprawled around them in various states of dress and celebration. Manfred shambles by covered in lipstick. Assan chases him, someone has colored the griffon purple.

Rook has a vague memory of crowning Bel the new and only elven god on someone’s throne, with the Black Divine in attendance?

“What the fuck?”

[radiantlightxx]

Is it casual now?

[cybershock24601]

I’ve been stewing on more alternate time travel au where the Veilguard sends themselves to the past trying to rip Rook out of the fade because there’s nothing like trying to save your bestie to make you turn to dangerous and unstable magic

Lucanis spends most of his time helping Harding out with her scout work yet refuses to wear the Inquisition uniform because he is still a Crow at heart which means he wouldn’t be caught dead in such an ugly uniform

Turns out the Orlaisean noble woman Emmrich had a thing with one summer was the wife of the Duke Vivienne’s with and the two of them get together to gossip. Vivienne wishes Emmrich wouldn’t drag along his skeleton every time but he is Nevarran so she will let it go. She also assists in giving Manfred etiquette lessons alongside Emmrich because it’s not like she can let the poor thing go around with such poor diction.

Mentioned this before but Dorian’s crush on Emmrich comes back full force and whoever is romancing him whether it be the Inquisitor or Iron Bull ends up wildly jealous of Emmrich

Hardings new connection with the Stone possibly helping soothe Cullen’s lyrium induced issues

Chess pieces from all over Skyhold start going missing because Cole keeps giving all the rooks to the Veilguard

Leliana offers Bellara a nug and she accepts and now walks around Skyhold with the most adorable nug the world has ever seen

If you thought Emmrich and Davrin were insufferable before, their dad off gets a thousand times worse when Davrin's new mabari starts stealing Manfred's bones and Davrin refuses to admit his good boy did anything wrong even if he is privately scolding the mabari.

Davrin and Cullen end up bonding over the mabari as Cullen ends up offering Davrin some advice on how to train the dog. Turns out mabari are not any easier to train then griffons as both are hyper intelligent animals and require different tactics though bribery seems to be working as well on the dog as it did Assan

Manfred starts copying Cole by giving people random objects but unlike Cole who has some weird esoteric logic behind it, Manfred is really just picking up a cool rock he found on the ground and handing it off to the first person he sees and crying out "HELPING" in his little skeleton voice

Harding is now the one in the awkward age gap relationship because what are you supposed to do when your significant other is now physically 13 years old but still mentally an adult but it’s not like anyone but your close friends know that because to everyone else they’re just 13? Hell if Harding knows

The Veilguard collectively gaslighting the Inquisition about Spite because people down south aren’t nearly going to be as cool about the whole possession situation and their assurances that Spite is chill so every time someone tries to bring up the glowing eyes or wings they come up with some bullshit excuse and stick to it no matter how ridiculous and some of them get real stupid

Neve sees Cullen practically falling asleep on his feet and offers him her cup of coffee. This is a mistake because now Cullen is using his new caffeine addiction to deal with his lyrium withdrawals and the man has never been so productive or strung out. Lucanis is suffering in the background because Cullen makes and drinks the same sort of sludge Neve survives off of.

Josephine and Lucanis end up bonding over their shared disgust over the sort of vile concoctions Neve and Cullen keep producing. Leliana also joins in because Josephine already introduced her to good coffee and she also has strong opinions on the culinary crimes they’re committing. She also has a whole lot to add when Lucanis brings up some of Harding’s more adventurous kitchen adventures because after a year of traveling around Ferelden during the Blight, Leliana has some stories of her own to share about Ferelden cuisine.

Solas who hates tea and wants an in to try to figure out what is going on and how much these people know approaches Lucanis about trying some coffee too only for Lucanis who can be one spiteful motherfucker even without accounting for Spite to essentially pull a “I suddenly don’t know how to read” and brew the most black, vile, and disgusting sludge like pot of coffee for Solas to drink. It would have been kinder for Lucanis to have just spiked his coffee with poison. Spite is in the background cackling at the barely concealed disgust on Solas’ face as Solas pretends he can’t hear Spite’s delighted laughter at Solas’ predicament

[kabsey]

Birds of a Feather

A little something for Bellara Week. Because she deserves it.

-------

When the team traveled to Treviso, Bellara always marveled at the way Rook flew across the rooftops, effortlessly leaping from balcony to balcony as if she had a pair of spectral wings of her own. And it's not that she was any less graceful in the forest. Her footsteps were just as silent on dirt paths as cobblestone streets, and she fought off Guardians just as easily as Antaam or Venatori. But there were some hazards of Arlathan that Rook was just not prepared for.

Which was how they wound up sitting in a sunny clearing while Bellara painstakingly worked the chunks of sap from Rook's long hair. Rook's ill-advised tree lean provided a nice excuse for a break. The weather was warm—almost too warm for trekking Arlathan's paths while dressed in armor. Bellara and Rook had stripped down to their shirts and trousers—Davrin had ditched his shirt along with his armor—and they were all enjoying the chance to feel the slight breeze against their skin.

"Is this what it's like growing up in a clan?" Rook asked, a grin in her voice. "Prancing around the woods with your friends half-naked?"

Bellara snorted. She cast an ice spell on a stubborn bit of sap with one hand as she chipped at it with the comb in the other.

"Well, I don't know about prancing. There's usually a lot of work to do. And sometimes the weather's lousy, but you have to be out in it anyway."

She looked over to the other side of the clearing, where Davrin and Assan were playing, and smiled.

"But sometimes it is like this. Those are the nice parts of clan life."

"It is nice," Rook agreed quietly. Then, never one to lapse into seriousness for too long, she cupped one hand to her mouth and called, "And not just because Davrin is topless!"

He glanced at them over his shoulder, then lifted his arms and flexed his biceps and back muscles. Rook applauded, and Bellara whistled. Assan took advantage of the distraction and launched himself at Davrin's chest. He fell to the ground with a startled "Oof!" and then laughed and praised the griffon to a chorus of happy chirps from Assan.

"You lived in a city even before being a Crow, right?" Bellara asked, as she tugged on a new tangle. "Does that mean you lived in an alienage?"

"Yep," Rook replied, drawing out the "p" until it popped.

"What was that like?"

Rook didn't answer right away. And as the quiet filled with the buzzing of insects and Davrin and Assan's roughhousing, Bellara winced. She'd known other elves from cities, of course; there were quite a few among the Veil Jumpers. But she so often worked alone that she hadn't gotten close enough to any of them to ask the thousand questions she'd always wanted to ask.

And when she'd met Rook, Rook had assured her that she didn't mind rambling, that she was a rambler herself. And it was true. The two of them could talk for hours that felt like minutes, jumping from topic to topic, and those conversations had eased the worst of Bellara's self-consciousness.

But Rook's uncharacteristic silence brought it roaring back. An apology sprang to Bellara's lips, but before it could escape, Rook turned her head to meet Bellara's gaze from the corner of her eye.

"Lonely," she admitted. A hint of her usual smirk returned. "For me at least. I was a weird kid."

It was an answer that wasn't an answer, but Bellara grabbed hold of it with relief.

"I was a weird kid too," she said. She smiled as she took Rook's head in her hands and turned her to face forward again. "Maybe we would have been friends."

"Of course we would have. You, me, and the boy who sang to halla," Rook said with a nod toward Davrin. "Maybe I'd even be a Veil Jumper now."

"You still could be," Bellara told her. "If you wanted to, I mean. Strike and Irelin would definitely let you."

Rook shook her head and yelped when the movement tugged the hair Bellara was combing. "I'd miss Treviso too much. I'm hoping I get to go back for good once this is all over. But I do like it here. I plan to keep visiting."

"You definitely should!" Bellara said. "You'll always be welcome in Arlathan, Rook."

Rook turned again to smile at her and reached up to squeeze her hand. But as soon as their skin made contact, she yelped again.

"Mierda, you're cold!"

Bellara laughed as she poked Rook in the temple. "And you're wiggly. You need to hold still so I can finish this."

Rook obediently faced forward with a teasingly contrite "Sorry, lethallan."

This time Bellara went quiet for a moment. It was the first time any of them had used the Dalish term of endearment among themselves. She didn't even know how Rook knew it. It reminded her of all the best days of her childhood, the warmth infused with the bittersweet pang of nostalgia for what was lost. She realized she had stopped combing when Rook glanced back at her again.

"Did I use it wrong?" Rook asked, her nose scrunched.

Bellara shook her head and then gave into the impulse to throw her arms around Rook's shoulders and hug her tightly. Rook laughed as she gripped Bellara's forearms in turn.

"Now who's wiggly?"

"We're a hummingbird and a Crow," Bellara declared, pressing her cheek against Rook's. "We're allowed to be wiggly."

[roguetrevelyan]

The Veilguard;

Tumblr poll series

Results of all the polls I’ve done, regarding all of the in-game choices. Thank you all for participating!

❗️MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD❗️

Don’t read under the cut if you want to avoid spoilers.

Favorite Faction:

The most popular one is Mourn Watch (39.7% of players).

The second favorite is Antivan Crows (33.5% of players).

The least popular one is Veil Jumpers with only 1.9% of votes.

The ritual site

54.6% of players pick Neve over Harding to help them bring down the statue.

D’Meta’s Crossing

Over 55% of players decide to leave the towns mayor to his death.

Treviso or Minrathous

First major choice of the game. 63.6% of players choose to save Treviso over Minrathous.

Siege of Weisshaupt

When Rook gets into an argument with the First Warden, 60.5% of players knock him out instead of talking some sense to him.

Bonus fact, a bit over 80% of players prefer the Siege of Weisshaupt over the final battle in Minrathous.

Companion quests

Taash’s heritage

More than 83% of players encourage Taash to embrace their Rivaini culture.

When it comes to Taash…

Among players who didn’t romance either Taash or Harding, 64.4% of them suggest for Taash to give Harding a cheese wheel as a gift.

Harding’s wrath

Over 80% of players encourage Harding to contain the Titan’s wrath through her compassion.

Lucanis’ family

Of all the players who saved Treviso over Minrathous, 54.5% decide to forgive Illario for his betrayal.

Bonus fact, 40% of players made this choice, because they feel like it’s what Lucanis would’ve actually done.

Warden’s griffons

Almost 82% of players have the griffons become the protectors of Arlathan instead of remaining with the Wardens.

Emmrich’s lichdom

After Manfred’s sacrifice, over 90% of players encourage Emmrich to bring Manfred back and give up lichdom.

Minrathous’ Archon

Of the players who saved Minrathous over Treviso, 63.9% prefer Dorian to become the Archon.

Final decisions of the game

Tearstone Island

Over 66% of players decide that Harding should lead the distraction team, ultimately resulting in her sacrifice.

The wards

On the Tearstone Island, 67.1% of players choose Bellara over Neve to deal with the wards.

The ending

The last choice of the game. 91.5% of players convince Solas to bind himself to the Veil.

6.7% of players trick him with the fake dagger.

Only 1.8% of players decide to fight Solas and bind him to the Veil by force.

Once again, thank you for participating and for offering your thoughts and opinions!

[wrathbites]

Thinking about the Lighthouse wisps and them being helpful as well as up to mischief.

Emmrich: fitting themselves around the edges of whatever book he's reading when candles burn low, so he still has light to read by without using his own magic reserves. For mischief - yeeting said book across (or up) his study.

Manfred: knocking books Manfred's after from higher shelves so he doesn't have to clatter up a ladder, and tinkle-chirping from the general location of whatever other bits and bobs Manfred's looking for. For mischief - hiding said items or zipping off with Manfred's scarf or a glove, and it winds up a merry game of chase down the wisp.

Harding: nudging around pots so plants have all around light exposure, reducing the risk of leaf damage (let nature work alongside magic), or helping her gather up seeds that've accidentally been scattered into every Maker-damned nook and cranny. Diving in and out of soil when she's repotting to make holes and divots for her to work with. For mischief - doing this with Harding in range so there's clumps of soil and fertiliser in her hair and on her clothes, and knocking over watering cans (but not onto the plants!)

Bellara: relocating her quill whenever she misplaces it, chiming over the inkpot when she's running low during a writing session, and nudging over the next ingredient she needs when it's her turn to cook. For mischief - doodling on her face with the ink when she's sleeping, and swapping out seasonings when she's not paying attention (sugar for salt, pepper for paprika, etc)

Neve: bundling her notes back up into their proper order whenever they're knocked over, chiming over particular bits of paper to draw Neve's attention to the scribbles, and sure enough it's what she needed to spark a theory from where she's vocalised being stuck. For mischief - stealing absolutely anything not nailed down in her room. Especially her hats.

Davrin: playing with Assan and distracting him while Davrin's carving. Kicking up little whirlwinds of the wood shavings from his work, and by the time he's done there's no cleanup to be had because they've been swept out as the wisps have teased Assan into open air for some flying. For mischief - nug carving treasure hunt around the Lighthouse. And the DA equivalent of laser pointers for griffons, so Assan pounces on Davrin whenever he's daft enough to nap in his chair.

Lucanis: Spite is somewhat territorial of his Crow and their space so the wisps can't be directly helpful while they're around, but whenever Lucanis returns from an outing his yarn stash is always reorganised from the chaos Spite left it in (they know better than to interfere with anything involving an assassin's weapons, so they stick to the yarn). For mischief - playing tag with Spite around the pantry and leaving a trap somewhere, without fail, to keep Lucanis on his toes. Otherwise there's an entire bag of flour to be upended on his head (his coffee!)

Taash: the wisps learn Taash's exercise routines and become their own personal cheer squad to push for one more rep, and one more, last one! Their routine with the arm ropes, the armour, the LoF jewellery and regalia and lifting every second or third piece for Taash, in the correct order. Trailing cloth and straw and string in the air to create moving objects for Taash to practise their fire breathing on. For mischief - they can't carry a full watering can but they can carry little clay pots and bowls, and so the fire Taash has scattered around, they extinguish, and Taash relights, and they extinguish, back and forth and back and forth (until Taash isn't upset anymore, they're either a bit grumpy or laughing as they chase the wisps away)

For everyone: elfroot and potions being brought to them when needed.

[nunchikoi]

Rook arrived at dinner wrapped in the rich blue of Antivan silk; an evening blue like his tattoos, the toned line of his chest peeking out of his neckline.

Mierda.

For the love of Andraste, who put him in that?

Emmerich, perhaps? He always said Rook’s usual fatigues were quite plain. 

“Nice enough for your fellow wardens in the barracks, but it doesn’t quite aspire to the position you hold! Especially in front of guests,” he once insisted with a flourish of his hand.

Recently, they’ve had Mourn Watchers, Grey Wardens, and Veil Jumpers visit. But surely, these leaders, dignitaries, and strategists were more invested in their war councils, poring over maps and plans which laid on the dining table for hours on end? Emmerich was a pragmatic; he too would forgive Rook’s uninspiring gear if everything he held near and dear was on the line, which it was.

Maybe then, Rook’s outfit was Bellara’s doing. She was flighty and excitable, a self-proclaimed hummingbird whose enthusiasm was second only to Harding’s when they went to the markets in Treviso. Lucanis could imagine it now, Bellara spotting the shirt folded neatly on the wooden pallet of a stall, then comparing it against Rook’s chest to see if it would suit him.

He would not say no. He’d go along and wear it to please her. But tonight, Bellara was just as equally surprised when Rook came to the dinner table, fluttering about him with her hands clasped behind her back.

“Wow, Rook, you look so nice all matching like that!”

“Thanks Bellara.”

“Where’d ya get it from?”

“The merchant at the Diamond. Finally convinced them to let me see more of their stock…”

Aha, so it wasn’t just Antivan silk, it was Crow silk. Specifically, a set from House Cantori, from Teia’s own curated, handpicked collection. This wasn’t Emmerich or Bellara—putting Rook in a low-necked, silk doublet and high waisted leather trousers was a deliberate killing blow, and only one person had the terrific insight to execute this.

On the other side of the table, Neve shot him a knowing smile, lifting her glass like one did in a toast. Lucanis scowled back.

“Everything alright?”

The scowl dropped at once as he gazed into the worried pull of Rook’s freckled face. Then his traitorous eyes glanced back down at the griffon peeking out of the neckline, at the deep colour of that well-toned chest.

Andraste’s breath. As if the wings on his arms weren’t bad enough.

“I’m fine.”

Rook gave him a gentle smile, “Okay.”

He walked to his seat at the head of the table, and Lucanis chased the strong line of those shoulders with his eyes. He was… It was new, this feeling, tight across his stomach like rope. But he shoved it down like everything else. Out of sight, out of mind.

The harsh dink! of a wine glass against the table caught his attention. Neve glared, head turning between him and Rook.

Don’t you start, Lucanis warned with his eyes. She crossed her arms, displeased. Good. He was not playing this game with her. She had already made a fool of him up until now, goading him into admitting he found Rook easy on the eyes, that in his opinion, yes, Rook was rather dashing in a fight. Yes, it was also endearing how often their fierce leader stopped a forward march in order to simply pet a cat. No, he did not fall in love with his rescuer at first sight, Rook didn’t need that, Lucanis didn’t want that. He simply discovered that there was more to him, it was like seeing your first shooting star after years of still night skies—

SMELLS LIKE TREVISO. LIKE…

Home.

That cold voice which always doused Lucanis with dread, that forced him to stay awake for hours and hours and drink stale cold coffee like it was water, whispered brokenly in his ear.

HO… ME.

It felt confused, then…

Curious.

Outside?

No.

But he could bring us.

No!

Fucking Neve. Fucking Rook. Fucking Antivan Crow silk.

Rook shot him another look at the table, the corner of his lip turning up into a small smile before it vanished and he turned to speak to Harding.

Home, outside. Home.

Yes, that was precisely the problem.

---

ch 9 of my indulgent rookanis fic 🫡