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dalishious · 1 year

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Catching up with Thedas

We’re getting another time-skip between Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Trespasser DLC and Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. Here’s a summary of things that have happened in the supplementary material leading up to this. Obviously, major spoiler warning for everything discussed here.

If this summary intrigues you, I would definitely suggest checking out the full stories for yourself. They’re all great—especially the comics. The characters in the comics are so good and that’s not something you get to appreciate just in summaries.

Major takeaways:

The Venatori are still active, especially in Tevinter, where a woman named Aelia (who is now imprisoned by the templars) took over after Corypheus was defeated and attempted to raise a powerful demon buried under Minrathous. The demon is still resting there, and the remains of the Venatori are still about. Although, the Antivan Crows have been hired to assassinate Venatori agents, and are picking them off one by one

The Qunari are invading the north again, and the following cities have been taken over: Ventus (Tevinter), Carastes (Tevinter), Neromenian (Tevinter), and Treviso (Antiva). They plan to move further into Rivain. However, the Antaam are on thin ice with the rest of the Qun, having acted against orders in the city of Ventus – suggesting there may be fracturing of leadership. This is further implied through the Ben-Hassrath declaring neutrality on the war with Tevinter. At the same time, the Qunari are also searching elven ruins trying to gather information about the Dread Wolf

There is a group of elves known as the Agents of Fen’Harel infiltrated all over Thedas and stirring up shit, including fanning the flames of war between Tevinter and the Qunari

The red lyrium idol has been everywhere, man… It was taken out of Meredith’s statue by the Carta, somehow wound up Tevinter, possessed by House Qintara, where it was traded it for information to House Danarius, where it was then stolen by Cedric Marquette, who gave it to Tractus Danarius, who brought it to Nevarra hoping Mortalitasi would help unlock it, where it was then taken back to Tevinter, only to somehow end up in Solas’s hands

Speaking of red lyrium, guess who is also still active? The red templars. And they are serving none other than an awakened but still crystalized Meredith Stannard in Kirkwall, who is known as “The Crimson Knight” by her followers

All Grey Wardens have been summoned to Weisshaupt for reasons unknown

The Grey Wardens have uncovered the remains of a dwarven thaig called Hormok, where beneath it they found elven ruins with signs it was a place of worship for Ghilan’nain. In these elven ruins, they find a magic pool that turns creatures into spliced-up monsters with parts of different beings melded together. While the wardens destroy this place, there are still eleven others out there somewhere

The Arlathan Forest has come alive with magic, changing place and time within it

Solas is in possession of an elven artifact called “the crucious stone”, with unknown powers

Dragon Age: Knight Errant (9:44)

Vaea is an elven squire to wandering knight Ser Aaron Hawthorne. She is recruited by Charter to rescue Tessa Forsythia and Marius (from the Magekiller comics) from where they were caught on their mission. They were sent by the Inquisition to infiltrate Starkhaven’s palace and steal a book with research on red lyrium in Sebastian Vael’s possession. Vaea successfully rescues them and then steals the book herself, but not without a fight with Cedric Marquette, an Orlesian scholar who is also after the book on behalf of the lingering Venatori. It’s found out from the book that the Venatori may already be in possession of red lyrium, and Vaea offers to go to Tevinter to investigate. Aaron agrees to join her, aware and supportive of her work for the Inquisition.

Dragon Age: Deception (9:44)

Olivia Pryde is a con artist working in Ventus, Tevinter. The city is under high tension because of an imminent Qunari invasion. She pretends to be a Magister investigating Calix Qintara, the son of a reclusive fellow Magister, until it’s discovered that Calix is also a con artist. They try to outdo one another in a con contest against sister and brother, Francesca and Florian Invidus, but both are revealed as liars. In their fleeing, they run into Ser Aaron Hawthorne, who coaxes them into helping with his and Vaea’s mission. Vaea’s goal is to steal the red lyrium that was taken from Kirkwall supposedly held in the Qintara estate. Also ending up as part of their plan is a deal with two Antivan Crows, (later revealed in Tevinter Nights to be Teia Cantori and Viago De Riva). While the Crows create a distraction—though one that ends up with the death of Florian—Olivia and Calix con their way into getting floor plans of the Qintara estate, which Vaea uses to successfully break in. Unfortunately for everyone, Francesca pushes her way through and demands to speak to Magister Qintara to reveal Calix has been posing as his son, only to find out that Magister Qintara has been dead for years, and his former elven slave Gaius has been posing as him in order to collect valuable information to pass on to the Agents of Fen’Harel. Vaea discovers that the vault that was supposed to contain the red lyrium is empty, having already been sold to House Danarius. At the exact same time, the Qunari attack the city of Ventus, throwing their mission into a very time sensitive window to escape. Olivia sacrifices herself in order for Vaea, Aaron, Calix, and Francesca to flee the city.

Dragon Age: Blue Wraith (9:45)

Outside Carastes, which has been overrun by Qunari, Cedric Marquette flees from a chasing squad of them with a strange sarcophagus-like device in his possession that he is taking to Magister Nenealeus, who trains slaves into perrepatae; mage-killers. (He was the Magister who trained Marius.) Also chasing after Cedric is Vaea and her crew, hoping he will lead them to Castellum Tenebris, home of House Danarius, where they want to recover the red lyrium. Francesca leaves the group, and Vaea decides to chase after her to convince her to stay with them. Francesca is told by a family friend that her father was taken by the mysterious Blue Wraith (AKA Fenris). She decides to pursue Fenris and rescue her father in an attempt to prove her worth to him, with Vaea tagging along. They find Fenris, but it turns out he did not in fact take Francesca’s father, but rather her father is working with Magister Nenealeus. Inside the Nenealeus’s estate, they discover it has been overrun by Qunari, and overhear an enslaved elf tell the Qunari that the Magisters plan on using an elven sarcophagus artifact to infuse an elven perrepatae with lyrium. Fenris flips out and attacks, recognizing that they have restored the means of which he was experimented on. Meanwhile, Aaron and co. track Cedric down to his meeting with Nenealeus, and the Magister, realizing they are being watched, uses the sarcophagus on a human slave. The slave goes crazy and attacks Aaron’s party, before exploding. With Aaron’s party as well as the Qunari in pursuit of Nenealeus, Cedric, and Francesca’s father, they launch several more human explosives to escape, but Francesca “rescues” her father. He is furious at her for this, and attacks, forcing Francesca to kill him. Calix realizes he’s not cut out for such death and destruction, and departs from the group. Fenris joins them, and together Vaea, Aaron, Francesca, Tessa, Marius, and Fenris head for Castellum Tenebris.

Dragon Age: Dark Fortress (9:45)

Tractus Danarius, bastard son of Magister Danarius, welcomes Nenealeus and Cedric to Castellum Tenebris, which sits on the outskirts of Neromenian. Nenealeus reveals his plan to infuse the elven perrepatae, Shirallas, with red lyrium, believing he will be so powerful as to drive out the Qunari and then expand Tevinter’s control of Thedas back to the glory days of the empire. Vaea and Fenris capture and interrogate Tractus while the others act as lookout, and gather the information needed. Fenris wants to kill Tractus, but Vaea convinces him not to, as they need to get out of Neromenian ASAP since the Qunari picked the perfect time to invade. The Qunari find Tractus still tied up and he tells them about the ritual as well, so they prepare to go to Castellum Tenebris too. Vaea manages to sneak into the castle and then lets in the others through a secret passage. At the end of the tunnel they find a chained up high dragon. Vaea and Fenris attempt to flee the dragon while Aaron, Francesca, Tessa and Marius fight off the Venatori, while the Qunari attempt to break in through the front gate. While all this is going on, Nenealeus completes the ritual on Shirallas, infusing him with red lyrium. Fenris makes a deal with the Qunari to join forces against the Venatori. Marius and Vaea are able to take out Nenealeus, and Fenris and Aaron are able to defeat Shirallas, with the help of Cedric who switches sides at the last minute and reveals his weakness. This comes at the cost of Aaron’s life, though. Tractus gets away, and forces Cedric to hand over the red lyrium idol he stole. Solas watches this from an eluvian.

Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights (post-9:44, exact times unknown)

[RELATED POST – Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights Review]

(For more information on Tevinter Nights, I recommend checking out my review linked above.)

Three Trees to Midnight

After the Qunari took over the city of Ventus, they sent the healthy men into work camps on the outskirts of the Arlathan Forest, put to work cutting down trees. Myrion is one such worker, but is secretly a mage. He is chained up to an elf named Strife and immediately calls him a “filthy knife-ear” three times in the same paragraph, insulted to be paired with him. (He continues to do so the entire story, by the way.) They get in trouble for fighting. Strife is revealed to be an undercover Dalish, (though originally from Starkhaven). He was sent to rescue another Dalish elf named Thantiel who uncovered the Qunari invasion plans, though Thantiel was poisoned with an overdose of qamek, irreversibly turning him into a mindless labourer as well. Strife uncovers the plans and he and Myrion escape into the Arlathan Forest, after Myrion uses his magic to help them get away. In the forest they meet up with Irelin, a shapeshifting member of Strife’s clan, who takes off to spread word to other Dalish Clans of the Qunari plans to move into Rivain. The Qunari are also tracking the two escapees, and when the lead Qunari catches up to them, they take him out with the power of teamwork. When the rest of the Qunari catch up, the Huntsmaster reveals himself to actually be Saarbrak of the Ben-Hassrath, sent to investigate the Antaam working against the Qun’s orders in Ventus. Saarbrak kills the lead Qunari and lets the escaped prisoners go. They free themselves from the chains tying them together, and Strife leaves with Irelin, who came back for him.

Down Among the Dead Men

Audric Felhausen, a new member of the Funeral Guard, is recruited by the Mortalitasi’s Mourn Watch, (an elite fraternity among the Mortalitasi that act as guardians of the Grand Necropolis,) to track down and find the pre-maturely possessed corpse of nobleman Penrick Karn in the Grand Necropolis. Karn is after Duke Janus Van Markham, who also died in the mutually-fatal duel Karn perished from. Audric and Mourn Watcher Myrna head into the tombs after Karn. In their exploration, Audric comes to realize that the human Audric was killed at Karn’s funeral, and is actually a spirit possessing Audric’s body. Myrna hoped that taking Audric with her would help settle him into peace. In the end, Audric challenges Karn to a duel, but when Karn breaks the rules of the duel, Myrna rids the body of the spirit of Pride within it. Back in the Mourn Watch headquarters, Audric is offered a position in their library.

The Horror of Hormak

I actually already wrote out a long summary of this story here: [LINK]

Callback

(I’ll be honest: I only skimmed this one. It’s boring as fuck and I told myself I’d never read it again the first time I slogged through it, but here we are… So if I missed something actually important, my apologies. But I doubt it.)

Sutherland and Company, as well as a bunch of other NPCs from Skyhold, return to the Skyhold fortress to investigate why the remaining caretakers have gone silent. They end up fighting a demon of Regret, formed out of the plaster of Solas’s murals. They send the spirit back to the Fade, and leave Skyhold abandoned.

Luck in the Gardens

This story is told in the form of “Hollix” (an alias), the Lord of Fortune protagonist who is a master of disguise, recounting it at a tavern in Dairsmuid. Hollix tells a story about how they were hired by Dorian Pavus and Maevaris Tilani to hunt down a monster that was terrorizing Minrathous, called the Cekorax. The monster was first encountered by the Venatori, who were searching for an old cave under the city. It steals the heads of its victims and makes them part of it. They are able to destroy the Cekorax with the help of Dorian and a little girl named Mizzy.

Hunger

On their way to Weisshaupt, the dwarven woman Evka Ivo from Orzammar and elven man Antoine from Orlais, both Grey Wardens, stop in a small Anderfells village called Eichweill. They come to find out that people are disappearing in the village. The two come to uncover that it is werewolves responsible for the disappearances. The son of a noble named Renke starved in the woods and attracted a hunger demon, turning him into the first werewolf. Evka and Antoine hunt Renke down and fight him, and Antoine ends up getting bitten himself. However, they set a successful trap back at the village and kill Renke, believing Antoine and the others affected are now safe from the curse with its source defeated, and the demon banished.

Murder by Death Mages

Lord Henrik, a Mortalitasi, tips off the Inquisition that there is a plot to assassinate a noble in Nevarra. Sidony (from Dragon Age Inquisition’s multiplayer) is sent by the Inquisition to stop this, as she was raised by Henrik. She goes to meet Antonia, another Mortalitasi mage and friend of Henrik, who invites Sidony to attend a party hosted by a noble named Nicolas Reinhardt, where she will be able to meet with a man named Cyrros. Cyrros is an elf who has everyone in debt to him by knowing the secrets of every noble in the city, and Antonia suggests he will be able to help Sidony discover the assassin. Sidony recruits Cyrros as a partner in her investigation, after he says he believes it’s a Mortalitasi responsible. They find Reinhardt’s dead wife, and Cyrros attacks Sidony. She wakes up and overhears Nicolas Reinhardt reveal that he hired Cyrros to assassinate his political rivals and blame it on the Mortalitasi, but now thinks Cyrros killed his wife, which Cyrros denies. Sidony raises the corpse of Reinhardt’s wife and commands it to attack them both, killing Reinhardt and Cyrros. Sidony believes everything to be over, and goes to Henrik’s funeral, where she meets Antonia again. Antonia spills that she was the one who killed Henrick and Reinhardt’s wife, and traps Sidony in the tomb. Sidony somehow escapes though and goes after Antonia, planning to kill her.

The Streets of Minrathous

Neve Gallus is a private investigator hired by Otho Calla to uncover if Quentin Calla (his nephew) has fallen back in with the remains of the Venatori. Neve follows Quentin and witnesses his fatal stabbing by a figure in a bronze mask. The next day, Neve is told by Knight-Templar Rana Savas that another suspected Venatori was murdered the same night, named Lady Varantus. Neve is invited into the Templar investigation, up until the Varantus family request it closed to avoid bad press. Neve then meets a mysterious man who tells her the murderer, named Aelia, is after a set of clay discs held by Venatori agents, and gives her one of these discs. Aelia ends up attacking Neve for the disc—or rather, the “seal” as she calls it, and leaves Neve for dead. Neve saves herself though, and meets the mysterious man again, who is really a man named Flavian Bataris. Flavian reveals that there is an extremely powerful demon sealed beneath the city of Minrathous, and Corypheus planned on releasing it to destroy the city and build the centre of his new empire over it. The plan fell to the wayside when Corypheus was defeated, up until Aelia took over the remains of the cult, and now plans on summoning the demon herself. Neve informs Knight-Templar Savas of this plan, but storms out in frustration over the Order’s lack of willingness to do anything about it. Neve then heads into the Catacombs where Flavian told her the ritual would be held, and tries to stop it. At first she is unsuccessful on her own, but then three templars, including Savas, show up to back her up. They defeat the Venatori and arrest Aelia.

The Wigmaker Job

In Vyrantium, Ambrose Forfex, a successful wigmaker, is told by Crispin Kavlo and Felicia Erimond that he should cancel his wig show because The Antivan Crows have been assassinating Venatori agents. Ambrose decides to put on the show anyway. Sure enough, Lucanis Dellamorte and his cousin Illario Dellamorte prepare to infiltrate the party. There is a bit of tension between them, because Illario wants to become the next head of the House after their grandmother Caterina steps down, but people talk about how Lucanis should take that position, despite him having no desire to do so. They are interrupted by someone poorly trying to listen in on their conversation, and kill the eavesdropper. In his pocket, they find a letter sighed ‘A’, believing him to be sent by Ambrose. After sneaking into the party in the courtyard, Illario distracts a guard with his charm in order for Lucanis to get the keys to the place. They regroup after Lucanis kills the other guards inside. They find an enslaved elf girl, but Lucanis refuses to kill her, and she is all too happy that they are there to kill Ambrose, so they let her go. In Ambrose’s work room, they uncover the secret to his perfect wigs: He feeds his slaves red lyrium to create red-lyrium infused hair. Lucanis destroys the elven artifact Ambrose keeps in his workshop to prevent the veil from tearing, and while the party is erupted with demons. Illario leads the slaves of the estate that are able to escape to safety and freedom, while Lucanis confronts Ambrose. Ambrose shovels his magic wig hair into his mouth and becomes an abomination, but Lucanis still successfully kills him. The following day, Crispin and Felicia visit Magister Zara Renata and inform her that Ambrose is dead. Crispin says Zara will likely soon be a target herself, to which she responds that she has plans to take down Lucanis.

Genitivi Dies in the End

This story is impossible to make a summary of, because it’s told in the form of Philliam writing down what happened but full of fabrication, making it unclear what is real and what is fake. So nothing really matters. The only known fact is Rasaan, (a Qunari tamassran introduced in the Those Who Speak comics,) is leading a search for elven ruins trying to find information on the Dread Wolf. That’s really all that matters, I promise.

Herold Had the Plan

Dwarf Bharv and elf Elim, two Lords of Fortune, were after an amulet held at the Grand Tourney. Their friend Herold already died, and now they are on the run from Starkhaven guardsmen, along with their hired help, Panzstott. It turns out Panzstott is the real reason they guards are after them, as he stole the precious Celebrant sword, supposed to be given to the winner of the Tourney. He is working for a woman named Lady Lucie, who promises that she will help Panzstott find his sister, who left to become a Grey Warden and has never been heard of since. Lucie believes the Celebrant belongs to her, because her dead husband was the last Champion. A fight between everyone and the guards ensues, where Elim and Bharv are mortally wounded—however, it turns out the amulet has magic healing powers, and saves Bharv’s life. He heads to the pre-arranged meeting spot and gives the amulet to Vaea (from the Knight Errant-onward comics.)

An Old Crow's Old Tricks

After a group of Tevinter soldiers led by Magister Bicklius attack the Dalish clan Oranavra, the remaining clan members reach out to make a contract with the Antivan Crows to kill the soldiers. Lessef, an elderly Crow but still deadly, fulfills the contract, killing the soldiers one by one. In the end, she stands off with Bicklius, and in addition to killing him, steals back a precious halla statue he stole from the clan. Lessef then runs to her getaway boat yelling in Qunlat so that the soldiers she let chase her believe the attack was from the Qunari. Her partner Tainsley sails them away, happy that his uncle’s clan will get their halla statue back.

Eight Little Talons 🖤

All Eight Talons (the leaders of the most powerful Crow branches) are called to a meeting at the Verdant Isle of Lago di Novo by First Talon Caterina Dellamorte, to discuss the impending Qunari invasion of Antiva. Fifth Talon Viago De Riva is the last to arrive, where he meets Seventh Talon Andarateia “Teia” Cantori, (both of whom were first introduced in the Deception comics.) At their first meal together, the group argue while Third Talon Lera Valisti is notably absent. Viago and Teia are sent to investigate where Lera is, and find her dead, with her body displayed mimicking an infamous Crow murder of the past. The finger-pointing starts immediately and Caterina puts Verdant Isle on lockdown, forbidding anyone from leaving. This especially pisses off Sixth Talon Bolivar Nero. The next morning, they find all the servants have been murdered. Eighth Talon Giuli Arainai was also murdered the same night. Both again, in the style of famous Crow events. Caterina orders Viago and Second Talon Dante Balazar confined to their quarters, as they are the number one suspects. Teia ignores the rule about no visitors and breaks into Viago’s room anyway, where the two come up with a plan to coax the truth out of Dante, with a mixture of Teia’s natural silver tongue and a truth poison of Viago’s making. They are able to confirm Dante is not the killer. That evening, Teia and Fourth Talon Emil Kortez find Dante dead, while at the same time, Viago is attacked by a poisonous snake hidden in his clothing. Before he perishes, Teia returns to his room and finds anti-venom among Viago’s many alchemical vials. They figure out the killer is Emil, and upon confronting him, Catrina takes him out with her cane. Before Emil dies, he reveals he was contacted by the Qunari, and made an agreement with them that if he could destroy the Crows, they would invade peacefully and Antivans could keep their way of life, without submitting to the Qun. The remaining Crows then all stab Emil to death. With the killer dealt with, Catrina, Viago and Teia all make a plan, and send written orders to the head of each House, (the heirs, in the case of those now dead.)

Half up Front

Vadis, runaway daughter of a Magister, and Irian Cestes, former elven servant, are thieves for hire working in Minrathous. They are hired by a mysterious elven woman to steal back an artifact known as Dumat's Folly, which is said to be a piece of the Black City, from the Archon’s palace. They discover that the artefact has been stolen by the Qunari, and are able to track the thieves to Kont-aar in Rivain using blood magic. The two travel to Kont-aar and sneak onto a dreadnaught holding a ton of magic objects the Qunari are studying. But the whole thing turns out to be a set-up by the mysterious elf. She reveals several things in her villainous gloating: That she works for the Dread Wolf, that she has possession of the real Dumat’s Folly, and that the “Dumat’s Folly” that Vadis found on the dreadnaught is actually a magic bomb soon to explode. Her goal is to implicate a Tevinter mage in the destruction of Kont-aar. Vadis and Irian overpower the elf, but the elf bites down on a poison pill hidden in her mouth and dies. Vadis blows the dreadnaught out to sea using wind magic, and she and Irian escape on a lifeboat just in time to avoid the giant explosion. Back on shore, they are interrogated by Ben-Hassrath agent Gatt (from Dragon Age Inquisition), who shares that they were tricked into stealing the artifact in the first place by an Agent of Fen’Harel among their ranks. Gatt says that the Ben-Hassrath will remain officially neutral on the invasion. Gatt suggests they go to Kirkwall, but Vadis and Irian decide to go to Val Royeaux for a vacation instead.

The Dread Wolf Take You

Charter (from Dragon Age Inquisition) attends a meeting with some of the best spies across Thedas at a place called the Teahouse in Hunter Fell, Nevarra. At the table is a dwarf from the Carta, an Orlesian bard, a Mortalitasi mage, and a mysterious Executor from across the sea. She says she invited someone from Tevinter and the Ben-Hassrath, but they both declined. First, the dwarf tells a tale about how he and his crew used a special solvent that softens lyrium, allowing them to extract the red lyrium idol from Meredith’s statue in Kirkwall. At the meeting location a man from House Qintara (from the Deception comics) shows up and takes the idol. Also at the meeting were former templars looking for the solvent that softens red lyrium, but they were all killed in their sleep by the Dread Wolf. The Mortalitasi speaks next, about how a man from House Danarius, (that being Tractus from the Dark Fortress comics), brought the idol to her group of mages, asking for help unlocking it. They do so in a ritual, but it draws the attention of the Dread Wolf, who is angered by them using his idol to “vandalize the sea of dreams”. One of the Mortalitasi mages fled with the idol leaving the rest to die, but the speaker managed to escape with her life. Finally the Orlesian bard speaks of how the idol wound up in auction house in Llomerryn, where the Dread Wolf himself took possession of it. By this time though, Charter has come to realize that the Orlesian Bard is actually Solas in disguise, and asks for her life. Solas kills the other attendees, but spares Charter. She tells him he doesn’t have to do this, but Solas insists he does, before leaving.

Dragon Age: Absolution (post-9:44, exact time unknown)

Elven rogue Miriam and Orlesian human warrior Roland, a couple of mercenaries, are recruited by Fairbanks (DA:I) to join his group, who are tasked by the remains of the Inquisition to steal a magic artifact known as the Circulum Infinitus from the Summer Palace of Nessum in Tevinter. The group also consists of the dwarf warrior Lacklon, the tal-vashoth mage Qwydion, and lastly human mage Hira, who Miriam has a romantic history with. Miriam and her deceased twin brother Neb were formerly enslaved by the man now studying the Circulum, Rezaren Ammosine. She is reluctant to return to Nessum, but Hira convinces her to help. Their heist does not go as planned however, and Hira is captured while Miriam is gravely wounded, but the others scoop her up and flee. Rezaren uses blood magic to contact Miriam in her dreams and tries to convince her to return to him so they can be like his idea of a family, but she refuses. It’s also revealed through flashbacks that Miriam was forced to kill Neb when Rezaren’s mother put a demon inside him to prevent Rezaren from failing his Harrowing, except Rezaren used blood magic to bind a spirit to his body that he now controls. Rezaren’s hope is to use the Circulum to bring Neb back to life for real. Miriam and the rest of the gang stage a rescue mission for Hira, but when they regroup back at their base, it’s revealed that Hira was planning on betraying them to “The Crimson Knight”. Rezaren chases after them, and manages to begin the blood ritual to try and bring Neb back. Neb’s spirit destroys his body rather than return though, and Miriam is able to kill Rezaren. She then asks Hira to choose their relationship over her quest to destroy the Tevinter Imperium, which Hira refuses, and flees with the Circulum, intending to bring it to none other than an alive once more Meredith Stannard from DA:2. Meredith is leading what remains of the red templars. Miriam and her friends vow to chase after Hira and stop her.

Dragon Age: The Missing (post-9:44, exact time unknown)

Varric Tethras and Lace Harding are tasked by Charter to try and track down Solas, all the while stalked by a mysterious figure in Venatori Assassin clothes. Their adventure first takes them to the Deep Roads under Marnas Pell in Tevinter, where they encounter two Grey Wardens, Evka Ivo and Antoine (from the Tevinter Nights story, Hunger). They find an abandoned hideout with an invitation to the home of Lady Crysanthus in Vyrantium, where they investigate next. When they arrive in Vyrantium though, they find it under siege by the Qunari. This doesn’t stop them from breaking into Lady Crysanthus’s estate though, where they meet the Antivan Crows Viago De Riva and Teia Cantori (from the Tevinter Nights story, Eight Little Talons). Viago and Teia were there to kill Lady Crysanthus, but Solas beat them to it by turning her to stone. They discover evidence that Crysanthus was working for the Venatori, who are after an elven artifact called “the crucious stone” located in the Arlathan Forest. Viago and Teia share that the Crows are working against the Venatori, before they all part ways. In the Arlathan Forest, Varric and Harding encounter a group of “Veil Jumpers”, led by Strife (from the Tevinter Nights story, Three Trees to Midnight). The Arlathan Forest has turned into a place of chaotic magic, where space and time mix and mingle in strange ways. The Veil Jumpers help Varric and Harding get to the temple where the crucious stone is said to be located. Within the temple though, they only find a note left by Solas asking them to stop interfering with his plans – Solas now has the stone. Varric and Harding next travel with Minrathous to meet private investigator, Neve Gallus (from the Tevinter Nights story, The Streets of Minrathous). Neve says that Solas has been busy in Minrathous, attacking Venatori, stealing their artifacts, and freeing their elven slaves, who in turn are rising up in his name. Neve shares that there is a group called the Shadow Dragons that helps those who have escaped slavery as a lead about the elven rebels. They find an elf that Solas freed, who shares that there’s a meeting of escaped slaves planned that night at the docks, but Varric and Harding piece together that the Venatori know about the meeting and will attack. They decide to give up chasing Solas in order to help the elves. Varric realizes that there’s no way they will catch Solas at this point, because he knows them too well – so he says they need new help.

Short Stories

Minrathous Shadows (post-9:44, exact time unknown)

A templar named Tarquin plays a card game with a magister, and confronts her on being a Venatori cultist. It’s revealed that Tarquin and the deal are part of a group called “the Viper”?

Ruins of Reality (post-9:44, exact time unknown)

Strife and Irelin (from Tevinter Nights) are lost in the Arlathan Forest, as the forest has come alive with magic, changing and shifting to the point where Strife’s map is no longer reliable, nor is the passage of time. Strife carries an ancestral journal from the Morlyn that began rewriting itself. They find copies of themselves—Irelin says either a mirage or an echo—running around. Irelin turns into a bird to snatch a crystal halla figurine off a statue they find, and the spell ends for a time.

The Wake (post-9:44, exact time unknown)

Viago de Riva, Illario Dellamorte, and Teia Cantori (from Tevinter Nights) all attend an Antivan Crow funeral, implied to be Lucanis’s from Illario’s drunken story-telling about the two as children and him saying “I was always right behind him, you know? Now there’s nobody for me to follow.”

Won't Know When (post-9:44, exact time unknown)

Evka Ivo and Antoine (from Tevinter Nights) fight off a darkspawn horde so a group of miners can escape. They ponder the dangerous nature of being Grey Wardens, before Antoine asks Evka to marry him, and Evka says yes.

As We Fly (post-9:44, exact time unknown)

Neri de Acutis and his sister Noa are old Antivan Crows fighting the Qunari occupation of Treviso.

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Like these kinds of meta pieces? Please consider supporting me on Patreon, where you could have viewed it a few weeks earlier!

#dragon age #da lore #meta

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felassan · 5 months

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supposedly isolated from Orzammar for almost 1000 years, having to do some questionable things to survive and possibly in some way Tainted.. I wonder if Kal-Sharok has a sorta 'city in the BG-world Underdark' vibe? what do you think it looks like?

thinking again about the recent teaser, Speaker 1 is an Antivan Crow speaking as we view Antiva, and Speaker 3 is a Grey Warden speaking as we view the Anderfels. Speaker 2 speaks with reverence about the "Risen Gods" as we view Rivain, where dragons have become increasingly aggressive of late and been attacking ships. maybe Speaker 2 is a dragon cultist (something that isn't exactly the same as being an Old God cultist) speaking of reverence of their dragon 'gods', and the actions of a dragon cult are why dragons in this area have been becoming bolder? there have been dragon cults throughout Thedosian history. after the First Blight, many desperate Imperial citizens turned to the worship of actual dragons to replace the Old Gods (who had failed them). “A dragon, after all, was a god-figure that they could see: It was there, as real as the Archdemon itself.” there are also reports of dragon cults in places which never worshipped the Old Gods:

Members of a dragon cult live in the same lair as a High dragon, defending its young. In exchange the dragon lets them kill some of them and drink their blood, which confers benefits on them like increased strength (sounds like Reaver abilities, basically). Scholars aren’t sure how these mutually beneficial relationships begin. Nevarran dragon hunters reported mad rants and tales of godhood from such cultists.

it also reminds me a bit of Kolgrim's Disciples of Andraste Andrastian-offshoot dragon cult from DA:O. so perhaps Speaker 2 is a dragon cultist, and the problem Rivain has been having is dragon cultist activity and subsequent increase in/increase in the boldness of dragons?

if 9:52 is when DA:D is set, then it's been 10 years in universe since Corypheus' defeat in 9:42. if DA:D then releases in late 2024 then it's been 10 years irl since the release of DA:I. one might say that both we and the characters have been.. dragon ageing at the same time

something else the "the peace and comfort of my reeeiignnn" voice lowering into a draconic rumbly growl before a wolf howls in the distance reminds me of is Fen'Harel's draconic wolf/lupine dragon form, as shown in the Skyhold rotunda mural and described in Tevinter Nights. the speaker of that line isn't Solas ofc (wrong accent etc). neat imagery though. and the sfx or soundmixing of the dragon growl then the echoing howl is just rly cool to me 👌

#dragon age: dreadwolf #dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #da4 #dragon age #bioware #video games #random collection of thoughts #solas

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bluerose5 · 2 months

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Zevran & Astarion Banter Pt. 21/?

A longer post, but these two could have some deep conversations once they open up to each other. Can't convince me otherwise.

[First] [Prev] [Next]

...

Astarion: You mentioned before that you are "Dalish", something similar to the wood elves here, correct?

Zevran: Hmm... I technically am in some people's eyes, I suppose, but I personally see myself as Antivan first and foremost. My mother was one of the Dalish, but I grew up in the city. I know very little of their ways, even after the time I spent with one of their clans.

Astarion: And how did that go?

Zevran: About as well as one would expect. I figured out quickly that such a life was not for me, hence why I do not relate to them all that much. In their eyes, of course, that is a failure on my part.

Astarion: I'm... sorry to hear that.

Zevran: I'm not. Perhaps I feel some sort of distant connection to them, enough to come to their aid should they need it, but I hardly feel as if I belong with them. You know?

Astarion: Given how different our worlds are, I won't claim to know the feeling, but I can certainly try to imagine it. You said that much of the elves' history and culture is lost to them?

Zevran: Ah, yes, it is not like here, my friend. In Thedas, the majority of elves are little more than second class citizens, most of them living in slums.

Astarion: Oh, uh, how charming.

Zevran: No need to walk on eggshells about it. Every place has its downsides, some more than others. If anything, I believe the elves of Thedas are more than capable of taking back what is owed to them if they put their minds to it. "Will they?" is another matter entirely.

Zevran: ...

Zevran: May I ask, what brought on this line of questioning?

Astarion: *shrugs* I don't know. I was just thinking about how our "common tongue" is not that different from yours, frighteningly so. You have adapted well to our variation, though.

Zevran: Why, thank you, but I assume this is leading somewhere.

Astarion: Well, I was just curious about how your Elven —or Elvish, I suppose— compares to ours. Or is that, too, lost to the elves of Thedas?

Zevran: Most of it is from what I understand, yes, although the Dalish try to preserve the old ways more than others. I happen to recall enough phrases from my time with them to know that, compared to what I hear from you and Shadowheart, ours is definitely different.

Astarion: Interesting. Would it be too much trouble to ask to hear a little of it?

Zevran: No trouble at all, my dear! Although, I must warn you. I am a bit rusty. It does not come as easy to me as my native tongue.

Astarion: Please, with a tongue as talented as yours, I think you can manage.

Zevran: Ha! When you put like that...

[Zevran looks up and meets Astarion's eyes. His expression softens at the joy he finds there.]

Zevran: I— Ar lath ma, vhenan.

Astarion: ... And that means?

Zevran: That you look stunning tonight.

Astarion: Now, why don't I believe you?

Zevran: Easy, because I'm lying, but it's a mystery for you to uncover in time.

Astarion: Heh, you tease.

#baldurs gate 3 #bg3 #dragon age #dao #astarion ancunin #astarion #zevran arainai #zevran #zevstarion #crossover #bluerose writes

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illusivesoul · 10 months

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Dragon Age 2 Scenery - Chateau Haine

Chateau Haine was constructed as a fortress in 4:90 by Lord de la Haine. He tried to seize power in the Free Marches and was sentenced to be executed. He fled to Fortress Haine, pursued by his enemies. The siege lasted for 100 days before the besiegers hired the services of the Antivan Crows. The Crows entered the fortress and slit the lord's throat while he slept.

The castle sat empty for 30 years before being used as a stronghold by the Grey Wardens during the Fourth Blight. Caves and an artificial lake were constructed under the mountain to house thousands of refugees from nearby Marcher cities.

After the Blight, Fortress Haine was granted to Ser Gaston de Montfort, a chevalier who distinguished himself by leading the cavalry at the Battle of Ayesleigh. It's the current vacation villa of Duke Prosper de Montfort.

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rin-hanarin · 2 months

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Ok so I might be reaching because I like both characters so very much, but isn't Gale kind of similar to Zevran in some aspects?

They both have one main skill that defines who they are from young age, and they can't imagine themselves without it or doing anything else (magic and killing respectively);

As a result, both just have an entire resume of related skills and boast about these while also having their worth attached entirely to their skills and how they can be useful and not themselves as individuals;

They use humor and seemingly exaggerated stories about their adventures to deflect and cope with terrible situations in their lives and don't open up to the player immediately. While not taught that "Vulnerabilty is weakness" like Zevran, Gale isn't exactly open about himself or his condition until it becomes dire, and he's the only character that doesn't let you use your tadpole connection to peek into his mind;

They're not taking things too seriously unless it's something completely horrible like killing groups of innocent people (the Grove/the Dalish and the remaining mages in the Cirlce Tower), and they still remain in your party even if you go through with it;

They love and miss their home cities and talk very fondly about them, eager to describe what Waterdeep and Antiva have to offer;

Their mothers are/were the more prevalent figures in their lives: Gale had a good relationship with Morena before the orb, while Zevran used to have certain attachment to his mother's memory and her Dalish heritage;

Their lives when the player meets them are very much defined by their past lovers (Mystra and Rinna);

Suicidal tendencies for different reasons: Gale is offering to detonate the orb at least three separate times; Zevran took the contract on Grey Wardens out of guilt over Rinna's death, not expecting to get out of it alive;

Gale is a hopeless romantic pretty much immediately, he's devoted to the player and after all said and done proposes to them; Zevran seems to be very against any commitment to relationships at first, but he is the most devoted romance option if you actually pursue that path with him, and he doesn't exactly propose, but very much intends to stay by the Warden's side;

The earring being a detail you wouldn't exactly notice at first. Mystra's symbol in Gale's case: she wears the same ones when you meet her from his POV; a symbol of attachment to the Warden in Zevran's case: he offers it as a "token of his affection" while struggling to convey its importance to him;

Their names: Gale introduces himself as "Gale of Waterdeep" and in his "good ending" when romanced intends to drop the title to be just Gale Dekarios again; "Arainai" is the name of the house of Antivan Crows that took Zevran in, but it's not his actual name, even though he introduces himself with it;

On the more surface level: wine&poetry.

Does this make sense?

#zevran arainai #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #baldur's gate 3 #dragon age origins #bg3 #baldur's gale #dao #dragon age #anyway i love my video game husbands #'oh gale is similar to anders' this #'oh astarion is similar to zevran' that #what about this though #what's all this then

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brekkie-e · 1 year

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Mithra’ama’nira Lavellan.

Part time Inquisitor. Full time dork. Love of my life.

I plan to make a full introduction post for her at some point, but for now more relevant info under the cut.

Mithra'ama'nira is her formal elvhen name. It translates roughly to pearl of the heavens. She uses Ama'nira with non-dalish as many find it difficult to pronounce. Close friends and family call her Nira. This means she goes through most of Inquisition being referred to as Ama'nira and Nira almost exclusively.

She is one of twelve siblings. Her mother is an Antivan city elf. Their entire family is trilingual, but predominantly use antivan and dalish elvish. They have subtle Antivan accents.

Her mothers family line are descendents of a high priestess of Ghilan'nain. In my lore, Ghilan'nain "blessed" her 4 high priestesses with her visage and enhanced their magic. This became a bloodline trait passed down from mother to daughter, so all the afab people in Nira's family line have golden eyes, are extremely pale, and have the hair. It is rare for them not to be born a mage as well. The family has lost all record of this connection, and just think it is a bit of a quirk of their genes.

Ama'nira is autistic, and also struggles with anxiety. Some of her core hyperfixations are the Grand Necropolis of Nevarra, the craftsmanship behind the tools used to make Vallaslin, 3 select Green Knights that led Clan Lavellan from the Dales, and any elvhen history she can get her hands on.

She is not a talented mage. She had a traumatic incident with it when she was young that makes her over think it, and has never figured out how to move past it. Therefore she is not the First of Clan Lavellan, but in fact the Third.

She has a very complicated and unhealthy relationship with her mother.

I have had this character in the works for the better part of four years. She is a part of a whole gaggle of oc's that work together during Inquisition in my canon. I've had such a blast developing a Lavellan clan and family for her. Since most of what we see in the games and books are clans dwindling in numbers, I wanted to explore making a clan that is very large and finding new ways of adapting to the changing world they live in. This was even more fun to play with and create a multi-cultural family.

Give me an oc. I can and will run away with the world building for it.

#dragon age #dragon age inquisition #solas #lavellan #inquisitor lavellan #dai #dalish #dalish inquisitor #clan lavellan #dragon age dreadwolf #my oc #my inquisitor #inquisitor ama'nira #brekkie art #brekkie oc's #solavellan #autistic oc's #autistic inquisitor

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dungeons-and-dragon-age · 4 months

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OC Questionnaire (Warden Edition)

got tagged by lovely @shivunin and @greypetrel! <33 Going with my Wardens for now cus this is gonna get long otherwise x'D (also stealing Mo's idea to do tarot cards instead of star signs cus i can never settle on birthdays lol) edit: here's the others!

tagging in turn @cao-the-dreamer,@herearedragons, @nebulouswinds, @nanowatzophina, @creativegoblin, @exantivancrow, @goofsoup, @wonderofthemoon, @a-drama-addict, @bearsizedant, @beelzebard, @feyfiendish, @curiouslavellan, @exotic-inquiry, and anyone else who'd like to join in! c:

NAME: Neira Surana

NICKNAME: .. none really xd

GENDER: Female (there are some cisn't feels there but it's never sth she explores or bothers with)

TAROT CARD: Queen of Cups

HEIGHT: Average elf height (i like to think she's a bit taller than June lol)

ORIENTATION: Aroace

NATIONALITY/ETHNICITY: Fereldan Elf

FAVORITE FRUIT: Wild strawberries

FAVORITE SEASON: Late winter/ early spring

FAVORITE FLOWER: Daisies

FAVORITE SCENT: Wood smoke, old parchment, lyrium

COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: Tea! Specially herbal or mild floral ones

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: Lol. lmao. (sleep is very inconsistent)

DOGS OR CATS: Dogs (she's allergic to cats

DREAM TRIP: Would love to travel the length of the Imperial Highway

NUMBER OF BLANKETS: 1-2

RANDOM FACT: Would love to say that there's an epic story for her scar, but it was just some random ass encounter with darkspawn where she wasnt careful and healed too slowly and sloppily

NAME: Kalagna Brosca

NICKNAME: Kala, Dwarf

GENDER: Female (?) (i doubt Dwarven gender works the same way as Human gender but rn female works well enough)

TAROT CARD: Five of Pentacles

HEIGHT: Tall-ish (still shorter than Neira though)

ORIENTATION: Alistair Demi (fr though Ali is the only person she's ever felt any sort of attraction for)

NATIONALITY/ETHNICITY: Orzammarian Dwarf

FAVORITE FRUIT: Passionfruit or Apples

FAVORITE SEASON: Late autum/early winter

FAVORITE FLOWER: Sunflowers or magnolias

FAVORITE SCENT: Fresh nighttime air, magnolias (they're her fave in part cus of the smell lol), sulfur (smells like home)

COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: Hot choco

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: 7-ish? on slow days she likes to sleep in though

DOGS OR CATS: Dogs? No opinion really.

DREAM TRIP: Kal-Sharok

NUMBER OF BLANKETS: as many as are available

RANDOM FACT: She has tried to use Barksparn as a mount before. It did not work.

NAME: Var'Renan Mahariel

NICKNAME: Renan, Da'Renan

GENDER: unlabelled (only label he'd actively reject would be agender; they Do have gender(s), just not contained)

TAROT CARD: Five of Cups

HEIGHT: Tall! Def more than a head taller than Noya

ORIENTATION: Pan and demi

NATIONALITY/ETHNICITY: (Fereldan/Southern) Dalish

FAVORITE FRUIT: Cornelian cherries

FAVORITE SEASON: Spring

FAVORITE FLOWER: Wild garlic or foxglove

FAVORITE SCENT: Mint, petrichor, rotting wood

COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: Well spiced teas

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: 6-7 (they get antsy when they sleep longer)

DOGS OR CATS: Cats

DREAM TRIP: Antivan coast; would like to visit the Dales and the Emerald Graves sometimes as well

NUMBER OF BLANKETS: 1

RANDOM FACT: They can't whistle and is grumpy about it

NAME: Noya Tabris

NICKNAME: Tadpole, sprout (both mostly by Cyrion but sprout sometimes teasingly by others too)

GENDER: Female (uses she/they though)

TAROT CARD: Seven of Wands/ Queen of Wands

HEIGHT: Short mfer (around same height as Kala)

ORIENTATION: Panromantic Ace

NATIONALITY/ETHNICITY: Fereldan (city) Elf

FAVORITE FRUIT: Green olives

FAVORITE SEASON: Summer

FAVORITE FLOWER: Snapdragon

FAVORITE SCENT: Fresh stew, petrol, hot dusty summer air

COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: Coffee

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: 8 pre-coscription; after more around 6

DOGS OR CATS: Dogs. She's always wanted a puppy...

DREAM TRIP: Seheron

NUMBER OF BLANKETS: preferably 2 but 1 will do

RANDOM FACT: Has no shame staring at people; does it a lot bc she likes drawing and also bodies are fascinating

----------

Blank meme:

NAME:

NICKNAME:

GENDER:

STAR SIGN:

HEIGHT:

ORIENTATION:

NATIONALITY/ETHNICITY:

FAVORITE FRUIT:

FAVORITE SEASON:

FAVORITE FLOWER:

FAVORITE SCENT:

COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE:

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP:

DOGS OR CATS:

DREAM TRIP:

NUMBER OF BLANKETS:

RANDOM FACT:

#i dont have good recent drawings of most of them rip so i put a picrew and some (mostly) silly sketches <3 #no numbers for heights im afraid cus i suck at thinking up numbers and sizes are relative anyways #so i put the relative sizes instead xd #also i went for in-game nationalities cos it makes sense for them #and also cos when it comes to irl approximations i dont have set ethnicities for most of them #however most of them are mixed south asian and/or swana in some way #because these are my blorbos and i can be as self indulgent as i want <3 #oc tag game #my ocs #oc: neira surana #oc: kalagna brosca #oc: noya tabris #oc: var'renan mahariel #might do the others later who knows! xd

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ghostwise · 6 months

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ZevWarden Week 2023 - Day 2, Secrets Kept and Told

🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿

Death From Head to Foot :: 721 words tags: guilt, ptsd, canon-typical violence, zevran arainai/male mahariel

It was bound to happen eventually.

Zevran does not know the man, but the man knows him, and that is his own error. An Antivan Crow never blows his cover. A Crow should strike from the shadows, vanishing after a swift and lethal blow with none the wiser. No witnesses. But here he is, and here the grieving stranger, bent on his destruction.

Had he not come to this city, Zevran would have never known that this particular iteration of Vengeance stalked the world, with his name upon its lips.

Worse still, Hamal meets his would be assailant first.

Damn it all.

"Do you regret his death?" Hamal asks him, days after the fact.

An easy question. Zevran is alive and his attacker is dead. The Warden is safe and unharmed. All should be well. And yet…

Zevran gives a terse shake of his head. "It was him or me. And you were quicker in dispatching him than I would have been."

Hamal observes him for a moment. "What's wrong?"

He doesn't immediately reply.

It's true that the incident bothers him still. It does him no good to brood over it, however; he should have put it from his mind straight away. Such childish moping helps no one. Now Hamal is concerned, and Zevran knows better than to try to insist everything's fine.

Experience has taught both of them how to navigate these fraught moments of conversation. So he gives.

"It was his right," he says sharply. "I killed someone dear to him. He reacted accordingly."

"As did I," Hamal returns, carefully.

"I know that," Zevran says. "Thank you, by the way."

Hamal's brow furrows. "Creators, now I am worried. Zevran, what's the matter?"

"It is going to happen again."

In the resulting silence, Zevran lets out a sigh, and explains.

"In all of our travels together," Zevran gestures in a wide arc at their surroundings, "How many times do you think we have passed through a city or town where I have killed someone? In truth, it happens more often than I care to comment on."

Hamal hesitates before answering. "This troubles you."

"No, in fact," Zevran replies. "What troubles me is that you cannot understand how much I am guilty of. Not because I would ever keep it from you—but because if I listed off my every sin we would never have time to discuss anything else! And then things like this happen without warning, and it—damn it all. How can I expect you to answer for so much?"

Perhaps it is a testament to how long they have been together, that Zevran no longer glosses over his emotions, his anger, his sadness. He doesn't need to. Not with him.

Hamal looks away for a moment. Through the muddle, it clicks.

"You wanted to kill him yourself," he says gently.

"I was the target. I should have handled it."

"How is this different from any other time you have killed to protect me? Or I you, for that matter?"

The question knocks a bitter laugh out of Zevran. He looks away. Worse still, he realizes that Hamal is right; this was different. And now Zevran can only remember every stupid, cruel decision he made when he was an angry and lost young man.

It had not been a contracted killing.

It had been a simple murder. A common fight gone wrong, bravado and his cunning Taliesen egging him on. A version of himself Zevran cannot think about without his stomach turning. No wonder the man had been so bent on killing him. No wonder.

"Shit," Hamal murmurs, and sets a warm hand on his shoulder. "Zev, you do not need to talk about it if you do not want to. I don't mean to pry. Just tell me what I can do to help you right now."

In an instant, the feeling swells and fades. Zevran shuts his eyes. His shoulders slump minutely; he is grateful for the escape.

"Just… forget I said anything," he says. "Please, amor, forgive my bad mood. I will be fine. Really."

And I will tell you later, he thinks, as Hamal gives him a reassuring squeeze, what a horror it is you have married; and you will love me all the same, I know; and I you, more and more all the time…

#rinnywrites #dragon age #zevwarden week 2023 #zevran arainai #zevran x warden #mahariel #oc: hamal mahariel #here's the second drabble and it's an iteration on a theme i've explored with them before but there is always so much to say #i do think it's interesting how their attitudes towards killing vary from each other and also change over time #zevran is very pragmatic and does not see killing as inherently immoral; it's the context that carries more weight #killing the crows and killing in self defense are therefore inherently different from killing for one's pride or on a whim (unthinkable)#meanwhile hamal does the option where you kill the humans in the forest in dao #zevran perhaps does not realize he's a bit more inclined to act rashly in that regard.. not yet anyway

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exhausted-archivist · 4 months

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Updated: 2023/12

I originally posted this on my old blog. Since posting that, I've found other foods, drinks and ingredients. As of now this list is updated with everything found in media released as of Oct 2023.

Like the original, this is still a very long post that contains all canonical desserts, dishes, drinks, ingredients, and sauces. Unlike the original, I could not list canonically suggested food and ingredients, nor every codex, item, letter, ect in the sources. Because it was too long. I did add them to the individual post.

Like in the individual posts, the list has the country of origins next to each item and any relevant information. Such as ingredients, use, notes, or trivia. For the canonically suggested foods and drinks I list what their real world uses are for your reference as to what they might be used for in Thedas.

For Shorter Food Posts

Dishes, Sauces, and Sides

Drinks

Raw Ingredients

Prepared Ingredients

Canonically Possible Foods and Drinks

Disclaimer

Though real life plants may be listed here as edible it is for fictional use only. This is not intended to be used as a reference nor guide for what plants are edible or safe to eat. Please do not use it as such.

Dishes

Breads

Bark Bread

Biscuit

Whole Grain Biscuit - Commonly made in Chantry cloisters. A staple in their simple diets.

Black Bread

Braided Honey and Date Bread (Anderfels)

Brown Bread

Buns

Butter Puff - Bread made by folding butter into the dough allowing it to become puffy and softer than usual bread. (Orlais)

Crumpet

Dark Bread

Dried Bread

Flat Bread - A no-rise bread. Served with dip, brushed in oil, and/or as a side. (Nevarra)

Honey Loaf

Lichen Bread - Bread that is made using lichen. (Orzammar)

Black Lichen Bread

Peasant Bread - Comprised of wheat, grease, and salt in equal measure, made by Dalish and city elves in Orlais. They top it with butter, jam, and sometimes sugar. (Elves - Orlais)

Pumpkin bread - A favorite of Dorian Pavus (Tevinter)

Raider Queen’s Bread of Many Tongues - Created by the Raider Queen, this bread calls for flour, baking powder, salt, butter, brown sugar, molasses, eggs, bananas. The creator calls for Par Vollen bananas but another version of the recipe says Rivaini bananas are an acceptable replacement. (Rivain)

Rolls

Bread Roll

Sweet Rolls

Ryott Bread - Made of a protein rich grain called ryott. (Ferelden, Chasind)

Sweet Bread

Thin Bread - A thin bread used to make wraps in Seheron.

Whole Grain Bread - Another staple made in Chantry cloisters.

Wraps - Described as "soft" bread.

Appetizers, Starters, and Refreshments

Blood Orange Salad - a salad of bitter greens with blood orange slices served on top. (Nevarra)

Canapé - a type of hors d'œuvre.

Couscous Salad - A salad comprised of couscous with many varieties, one such variety includes red bell peppers and mint. (Rivain)

Crab Cakes - a classic dish in Kirkwall. (Kirkwall)

Dried Bread and Fruit

Eggs à la Val Foret - An egg dish served with a cream sauce. (Orlais)

Fluffy Mackerel Pudding - Celery, pepper, mackerel, diced onion, mustard, salt, Antivan pepper, ground mace, cardamom seed, eggs. Also known as Feast Day Fish (Ferelden)

Fried Crab Legs - A subsitute for the Orzammar dish of fried young giant spiders.

Fried young giant spiders - A common food in Orzammar, usually served with an alcohol-based sauce that varies with every establishment. (Orzammar)

Roasted Cave Beetles - Roasted whole and eaten out of the shell. (Orzammar)

Roasted Prawns - A substitute to cave beetles, said to have the same taste and texture.

Shredded Dried Meat and Cheese - A dish that is commonly used as a spread by the dwarves and used for lunches. (Orzammar)

Snails Dressed in Butter and Oil (Avvar)

Snails and Watercress Salad - A non-traditional dish inspired by Avvar cuisine featuring snails and watercress to appeal to lowlander pallets.

Stuffed Deep Mushrooms - A dish derived from various Orzammar deep mushroom delicacy. This Fereldan creation is stuffed with cheese and spinach. (Ferelden)

Rations, Tavern Fare, and Travel Food

Beer Nuts (Kirkwall)

Bread and Cheese

Chicken Wings - Sold in The Rusted Horn as ‘Wyvern Wings.’ (Ferelden)

Crow Feed (Antiva)

Dried Foods

Dried Fruit

Dried Meats

Fereldan Hearty Scones - a scone filled with bacon and cheese, careful, a mabari might snag it. (Ferelden)

Fish Pockets - A meal of fish, crisp vegetables, spices, and a soft wrap.(Seheron)

Fish Wrap - Fish wrapped in thin bread (Seheron)

Grey Warden Pastry Pockets - A hand pie filled with meat and other foods. Olesian Grey Wardens put their own twist using Olesian puff pastry.

The Hanged Man's Stew - The tavern’s featured dish, made with a different mystery meat every morning. (Kirkwall)

Jerky

Jerky Ball

Spiced Jerky

Meat Skewers - A portable snack. A known Orlesian version of this snack is primarily eaten by nobles while out on hunts and are not interested in the hunt, made of meat, cheese, and wine-soaked fruit.

Pickled Eggs - Eggs, sugar, salt, vinegar, and various spices and seasoning of the cooks preference. Favored in Ferelden and seen as a cure all. Served in nearly every Fereldan tavern. (Ferelden)

Pig Oat Mash - A constant dish on The Hanged Man menu, a popular hangover cure if washed down with brandy spiked cider. This warming porridge contains apples, dried salt pork or smoked bacon, dried rolled oats, berries, ale or water (Kirkwall)

Poison Stings - "Poison stings" is the colloquial name. Orange peels coated in chocolate, a crunchy yet chew texture that is both sweet and sour. A favored snack of Dorian Pavus when traveling from Tevinter to Ferelden. (Tevinter)

Provisions and Rations - Typically consist of dried meat, nuts, and a variety of other simple foodstuffs.

Dry Ration

Hardtack

Qunari Ration

Stuffed Vine Leaves - Common tavern food in Tevinter, stuffed with rice, herbs, and sometimes minced meat. Can be topped with lemon juice or tzatziki sauce.

Treviso Energy Balls - Made of peanut butter, oats, and dried fruit, it is a famine food invented during the occupation of Treviso in the Qunari Wars/The New Exalted Marches.

Unidentified Meat - Despite it's ominous name, it's simply chicken legs. Sometimes served with Nevarran flat bread. (Tevinter)

Dips, Glazes, Gravy, and Sauces

Apples Stewed in Brandy Sauce

Applesauce

Cherry Sauce

Cheese Sauce

Cream Sauce

Deep Mushroom Flavored Cream Sauce - Commonly served with seared nug. (Orzammar)

Dragon’s Blood Sauce (Nevarran)

Gravy

Honey-glaze - A sauce used to glaze various foods, particularly meats.

Hot Sauce

Llomerryn Red Sauce - A sauce that goes on almost everything, contains pulped tomatoes, onions, red pepper, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, mustard powder, hot pepper powder, salt, cinnamon stick, allspice, cloves, fennel seeds, dill seeds, mustard seeds, black peppercorns, bay, garlic. (Rivain)

Mushrooms cooked in ale - One recommendation for this sauce is to be served over roasted nug.

Mushroom Sauce

Nesting Roast Gravy - Gravy made from the pan juices of a nesting roast. Meant to be served with the roast. (Orlais)

Plum Sauce

Red Wine Marinade

River-herring Gravy - a gravy as white as apple blossoms. (Orlais)

Special Sauce - A sauce infused with the essence of fifty-two herbs, prized for the ability to help with “inadequacy”. (Kirkwall)

Spider Leg Sauce - a variety of alcohol-based sauces unique to each Orzammar establishment, meant to be paired with fried young giant spider legs.

Tzatziki Sauce - Served with stuffed vine leaves. (Tevinter)

Wild Flower Glaze - A honeyed glaze made of wild flowers, it is recommended to use flowers plucked at dawn and the lowest blossoms. (Anderfels)

Yogurt Dip - Often served with flat bread (Nevarra)

Soups and Stews

Barley Soup

Blood Soup - Merrill is credited with the creation of this creamy beetroot soup, it is topped with roasted chickpeas. (Dalish)

Butter Soup - A simple, inexpensive, and easy soup. Made as midmorning meals or midday refresher for field workers. It is commonly fed to children and convalescents due to its nutritious nature. Ingredients include water, potatoes, cinnamon, star anise, clove, bay, peppercorns, salt, noodles, cream, butter (Orlais)

Cabbage Stew (Ferelden)

Deepstalker Stew - A stew of deepstalker is made when rations run low. (Legion of the Dead)

Denerim-rabbit Stew - Made with rat (City Elf)

Enchantment Soup - Made by Sandal, edibility unknown.

Fereldan Potato and Leek Soup

Fereldan Turnip and Barley Stew - White beans, oil, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, stock, turnips, turnip greens, sausage, barley, cumin, dried basil, oregano, salt, pepper, herbed wine vinegar

First Day Festival Stew (Orzammar)

Fish Chowder (Antiva)

Fish Stew

Lamb and Pea Stew - Alistair has his own version of this soup. (Ferelden)

Lentil Soup - A universal soup, with lentils being common in every Thedosian pantry.

Nettle Soup

Norbotten Fruit Stew - This dish is used to rehydrate dried fruits: dried apricots, pitted prunes, raisins, mixed dried fruits (cherries, apples, cranberries, etc), lemon or orange, cinnamon, cloves, water, sugar or honey, brandy. (Anderfels)

Pea Soup

Ram Stew (Ferelden)

Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup (Ferelden)

Turnip Stew (Ferelden)

Turnip-Goat Stew (Ferelden)

Wild Rabbit Stew

Main Course

Alamarri Pickled Krone - Krone, Brine, (optional) pine pitch and druffalo dung.

Baked Fish - An Avvar cooking method where they wrap fish in pungent leaves and clay before cooking it in banked coals. (Avvar)

Baked Krone with Honey - The honey is typically used as a side sauce for dipping. (Fereldan)

Beans and Bread

Boiled Roots

Braised Nug with Elfroot (Dwarven)

Braised Ram with all the Trimmings (Ferelden)

Broiled Boar Head (Fereldan)

Cacio e pepe - A dish of three ingredients; spaghetti, pepper, and pecorino romano. (Antiva)

Dalish Deep Forest Comfort - String squashes, halla butter, garlic, mushrooms, elfroot or spinach, diced tomatoes or beetles, hot red pepper, rock salt, halla cheese or goat cheese, edible wildflowers (borage, chicory, etc), pine nuts. (Dalish, Southern Orlais)

First Day Chicken - a dish served during First Day in some parts of Orlais. (Orlais)

Fish in Salt Crust - Cooked much liked the baked fish, instead of using clay, the fish is covered in salt and wrapped in pungent leaves before being cooked in banked coals. (Avvar)

Fresh Oyster - Noted to go well with Llomerryn red sauce.

Fried Fish

Fried Mush (Orzammar)

Glazed Krone (Ferelden)

Gilded Swan with River-herring Gravy - An eastern spice, flour, gold leaf, river herring, swan, yolk. (Orlais)

Gnocchi (Antiva)

Goat Custard - A broiled goat head, not to be confused with the dessert. (Ferelden)

Grilled Poussin - Grilled chicken, typically a younger chicken. (Chasind)

Ham

Anderfels Smoked Ham - It tastes of despair

Avvar Ham

Ham Stuck with Cloves

The Jade Ham - Honeyed with wild flowers (especially those picked at dawn), masterfully seasoned, and spiral-cut. Not considered edible but better used as a weapon. (Anderfels)

Orlesian Ham

Smoked Ham

Herbed Chicken and Biscuits (Ferelden)

Jellied Meats

Jellied Pigs Feet - A delicacy in the Free Marches and originally a popular commoner food that has risen to the tables of nobility. Pigs feet and/or pork hocks, salt, onions, garlic, allspice, peppercorns, bay. (Free Marches)

Veal Galentine (Orlais)

Liver

Lutefisk

Nesting Roast - This dish is classically made with a quail stuffed in a pheasant stuffed in a swan. Served with gravy made from the pan juices. (Orlais)

Mad Burnard’s Gift of Flesh - A nesting roast unlike any other, involving a whole wyvern, stuffed with a whole gurn, stuffed with a horse, stuffed with a large halla (horns and all), stuffed with a swan, stuffed with a duck, stuffed with a quail, stuffed with a bunting that choked on a gold piece. (Orlais)

Nug Steak (Orzammar)

Nug-gets (Orzammar)

Nug-loaf (Orzammar)

Nug-Nug - A dish meant to resemble a nug peeking from its burrow; made of ground meat (beef preferred), parsley, egg, salt, crushed cumin or mustard seeds, black pepper, cooked rice, tomatoes, onions, chives (Orlais)

Paella - Made with rice, saffron, and a variety of seafood; such as shrimp, cuttlefish, and mussels. (Antiva)

Pancake - The breakfast food and savory dishes.

Crepes - A very thin pancake that can be filled with sweet or savory ingredients. (Orlais)

Hearth Cakes - Described as a common fare where they are baked on an iron griddle. They are made with halla butter (can be subbed for goat or cow butter), flour, hardwood ash (can be replaced with baking powder), cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, sugar, mixed dried fruit (like cranberries, raisins, and currants), an egg, and milk. Described as baeing crispy and flaky on the outside, but remains moist on the inside. They are grilled on one side and then are flipped over, ensuring they are all crisp and bown. (Dalish)

Nug Pancakes - A savory pancake made with nug. A favorite among dwarven children. (Orzammar)

Porridge

Bland Porridge

Deer Porridge - A savory porridge served with deer.

Porridge with Raisins

Savory Porridge - Served with meat, vegatables, or spices.

Pudding - A sweet or savory, steamed dish that can be topped with gravy or chocolate.

Rack of Ribs (Ferelden)

Ram Chops (Ferelden)

Ram Cutlet (Ferelden)

Rice and Boiled Vegetables (Tevinter)

Roast

Gurgut Roast with Lowlander Spices and Mushroom Sauce (Avvar)

Roast Boar - One cooking method involves the boar being stuffed with apples (Ferelden and Orlais). Another has it served with a side of candied yams.

Roast Chicken

Roast Duck

Roast Hog

Roast Lamb

Roast Turkey - Common in the Free Marches, especially among Starkhaven nobility, as well as the Chasind.

Roast Wyvern - Common with the Avvar and Orlais.

Roasted Cave Beetle (Dwarven)

Roasted Giant Spider (Dwarven)

Roasted Nug (Orzammar)

Roasted Phoenix - One of the most infamous meals in Thedas, it is served with sweet red wine.

Roasted Rabbit

Roasted Venison with Wild Greens - The venison is seasoned with mint and pepper, served with wild greens and sweet pastries. Paired with wine to drink. (Ferelden)

Slow-roasted Nug-let (Orzammar)

Spit-roasted Deepstalker (Dwarven)

Spit-roasted Nug with Hot Sauce (Orzammar)

Sandwich

Ham Sandwich

Sausage - There are about twelve different kinds of sausage unnamed mentioned in Last Court.

Black Pudding - A type of blood sausage made from pork or beef blood, pork fat or beef sue, and a type of cereal. (Orlais)

Smoked Sausage

Spiced Sausage

Savory Pies

Dove Pie - A pie made with live doves, for the theater of the meal. (Orlais)

Nug Bacon and Egg Pie (Ferelden)

Pigeon Pie

Pork Pie

Starkhaven Fish and Egg Pie - Fish from the Minanter River (carp, trout, or others), wine, onion, carrot, thyme, bay, sea salt, dried currants, sliced almonds, boiled sliced eggs, butter, flour, fish broth, milk, salt, pepper, nutmeg, cream, fried whitebait or other small fish. (Starkhaven)

Turnip and Mutton Pie (Ferelden)

Unmentionable Pie - It is a meat pie that uses the typically undesirable parts of an animal. (Ferelden)

Venison Pasty - A hand pie filled with venison. In Serault, it is served with curls of goat cheese. (Orlais)

Seared Nug - Usually served with a deep mushroom cream sauce. (Orzammar)

Simmering Partridge - Cooked with sweet onions and pale beans (Orlais)

Smoked Meat

Smoked Boar

Smoked Fish

Smoked Rabbit

Smoked Venison

Spiced Nug

Stuffed Cabbage - A seasoned cabbage head stuffed with meat.

Venison with Apples Stewed in Brandy Sauce

Wandering Hills - A delicacy made from large creatures of the same name. (Anderfels)

Wyvern Steak

Sides

Antivan Olives - Soaked in vinegar and stuffed with capers.

Boiled Turnip (Ferelden)

Brandy Soaked Cherries (Orzammar)

Candied Yams

Croutons

Fried Potatoes - Recommended to be served with Llomerryn red sauce.

Hard-boiled Egg

Honey Carrots - Most common in Orlais where it is traditionally sweeter compared to other places due to the use of honey.

Jarred Olives (Tevinter)

Jellied Eels (Ferelden)

Mashed Turnip (Ferelden)

Peeled Grapes (Tevinter)

Picked Foods

Pickled Apples

The Pickled Apples of Arlathan - Apples said to be from the time of Arlathan. The taste is described to be one of fresh apples, with the same crispness.

Pickled Fish

Pickled Lamprey

Pickled Nug

Pickled Ox Tongue

Pickled Vegetables

Pickles

Roasted Chestnuts (Nevarra)

Roasted Figs (Rivain)

Roasted Potatoes - Recommended to be served with Llomerryn red sauce.

Roasted Turnip (Ferelden)

Sera’s Yummy Corn

Smoked Bacon

Steamed Beans

Steamed Turnips (Ferelden)

Stir-fried Turnips (Ferelden)

Toast

Toasted Bread - Used for dipping in stews.

Toasted Chickpeas - Used as a topping for soups and salads, sometimes as a replacement for croutons.

Wine Soaked Fruit

Baked Goods, Desserts, and Sweets

Bread Pudding - Made with stale bread, eggs, milk or cream, and other ingredients varied by if it is savory or sweet (Ferelden)

Cake

Cake with Apples

Cake with Nutmeg

Chocolate Cake

Cupcakes

Cherry Cupcakes - Historically a common method used to poison people, often served in the theater. (Tevinter)

The Exquisite Misery - A little cake topped with a dusting of anise, deep mushrooms, and gold dust. (Orlais)

Found Cake - A chocolate cream cake topped with white frosting and strawberries (Ferelden)

Hearth Cake - A pan-made cake; made of flour, hardwood ash or baking powder, halla butter, sugar, mixed dried fruit (currants, cranberries, etc), egg, milk. (Dalish)

Honey Cake (Orlais)

Lamprey Cake - contains no actual lampreys, it is modeled after the appearance of lamprey.

Lemon Cake

Petit Fours (Orlais)

Pound Cake

Round Cake - Often topped with poppyseed and honey. In Serault, they will sometimes have the antlers baked into the crust. (Orlais)

Sponge Cake (Orlais)

Sugar Cake - One version is made with strawberries and sugar-cream icing dressed on a pound cake. (Ferelden) Another version is made with a "humble cake" and is dressed with butter, sugar, and almonds. Both are seen as great gifts and good pick-me-ups after long days of traveling, and are often served by merchants.

Sugar-drizzled Lemon Cake - A type of lemon cake that was used in Antivan Crow history to assassinate templars.

Sugarcake - A dense cake usually topped with powdered sugar.

Sweet Cake

Wedding Cake

Candy

Black Licorice Candy - Can be salted. (Tevinter)

Bon-bons

Candied Almonds

Candied Fruit

Candy Apple (Ferelden)

Candied Dates (Tevinter)

Candy Cane

Carastian Candy - A candied chocolate. (Tevinter)

Peppermints

Spun Sugar (Ferelden)

Sweetmeat - A confectionery treat, sometimes candy coated fruit.

Toffee

Unnamed Candied Nuts with Spice - A candy that is sweet until swallowed, then they leave a spicy aftertaste. (Orlais)

Cobbler

Dalish Forest Fruit Cobbler

Strawberry and Rhubarb Cobbler (Ferelden)

Biscuit - A hard, flat, and unleavened baked treat that can be sweet or savory.

Butter and Sugar Cookie - This cookie isn’t specified as it is only described by these ingredients.

Raisin Cookies

Shortbread

Tea Biscuits

Wafers

Custard

Goat Custard - Differing from the Fereldan savory counterpart. This custard is made throughout Thedas with goat milk and has numerous varieties. On pairs it with roast fig. A Rivain variation uses milk of the Ayesleigh gulabi goats specifically for its sweeter milk.

Donuts

Ice Cream

Orlesian Guimauves - Another name for marshmallows.

Pastries

Antivan Apple Grenade

Cinnamon Rolls - one of Varric's favorite pastries.

Croissant - Vivienne starts every morning with one. (Orlais)

Honey and Nut Pastry (Tevinter)

Macaroon

Marie du Lac Erre’s Sweet Ruin - One version of this pastry with a dramatic history, the recipe contains; butter, powdered sugar, chocolate, vanilla extract, flour, orange or mint extract, baking powder, and milk. (Orlais)

Tarts

Unnamed Blueberry Pastry - A light, sticky pastry with blueberries. (Possibly Nevarra)

Varric's Favorite Pastry - A pastry spread created by Devon, a Fereldan cook, after consulting with Varric Tethras on his favorite pastry.

Pie

Apple Pie

The Blessed Apple - A pie made by a small cloister of Chantry sisters tending to the orchard, they use the windfall apples and share the pies freely; as well as the apples. The ingredients are flour, salt, butter, water, apples (golden apples from Lady’s Orchard preferred but others are acceptable substitutions), brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. (Orlesian)

Minced Pie - filled with finely chopped fruit and sweet things.

Pudding

Blancmange - A white pudding made of milk or heavy cream, its name is Orlesian for "white eating". Because of the mild, sweet taste it can have a variety of toppings such as toasted almonds, ribbons of fresh mangos, red grape compote, cherry saus, or Vivienne's preferred plating of white chocolate curls with whole jasmine flowers. (Orlais)

Caramel Pudding

Dessert Pudding

Rice Pudding

Scones

Sour Cherries in Cream (Orlais)

Sticky Figs Rolled in Nuts (Tevinter)

Sticky Jellies (Orlais)

Drinks

Absinthe

Absence - One of the bottles of Thedas you find in Inquisition.

Absinthe - also referred to la fée verte - “little green fairy”

Petite Absinthe - Made from a certain type of wormwood.

Ale, Beer, Drafts, Lagers, Malts, and Stouts

The Tapster’s Tavern in Orzammar serves 52 types of ale, some are listed.

Ale

Ander Stout - This stout is stored in oak casts. (Anderfels)

Barley Wine - Despite its name, this is an ale.

Beer

Brakien Brew (Orzammar)

Brown Ale

Coconut Draft (Orzammar)

Fereldan Beer

Fereldan Lager - A pale ale.

Lichen Ale (Orzammar)

Lichen-malt (Orzammar)

Oghren’s Homebrew - An amber coloured ale with a slightly sweet, nutty flavor and described to have a hint of toastiness, and is spiced with cloves. (Dwarven)

Qunari Ale

Ryott Ale (Ferelden)

Ryott Beer (Ferelden)

Valenta’s Red (Orzammar)

Watered Beer - While watered beer is served to reduce the price of beer and stretch it along, it is also served as a provision. In Serault, the peasantry drink watered beer to stave off the summer heat.

Watered-down Ale

Wildwine - An ale made from ryott. (Chasind)

Wilhelm’s Special Brew - This dark-colored ale gives off a thick, oaky smell. When swirled in its tankard, it takes on an unexpected glow. (Ferelden)

Brandy

Ammazzacaffe - A drink taken after coffee to dull the taste or effects. Though it can be a small glass of any liqueur, it is usually brandy. (Antiva)

Aged Antivan Brandy

Antivan Brandy

Antivan Plum Brandy

Apple Brandy (Orlais)

Orlesian Brandy

Plum Brandy

West Hill Brandy (Ferelden)

Cider

Brandy-spiked-cider

Cider

Serault Cider (Orlais)

Winter Cider (Wycome)

Cocktails

Benediction - Made of Prophet's Larel gin, served with a wedge of lime, and a thimble of Golden Scythe.

Elfroot mixed with Dandelion Wine - A restorative draft. (City Elves of Orlais)

The Emerald Valley - A spirit distilled of over seventy different herbs and flowers by the Chantry sister in Lydes, it is topped with egg-white foam and dusted with nutmeg. Described as having a varied and complex flavour, fresh like a lush green valley. (Orlais)

Dragon’s Piss - The name is probably figurative, but no one knows for sure. BioWare gives the “recipe” for Dragon Piss as “1 oz light rum, 1 oz dark rum, filled with iced tea”. "Dragon's Breath" is offered as an alternative name for this drink as it is served while lit on fire in the glass and burns on the way down.

The Golden Nug - Made with a base of effervescent white Seleney wine, sweetened with a dash of West Hill brandy and a splash of pomegranate juice. Muddled with raspberries and garnished with a sprig of Royal Elfroot. The goal is to imitate the soft pink colour of a nug.

The Heart of Spring - A “restorative” drink from Verchiel made with violets. (Orlais)

The Hissing Drake - Mix of cinnamon-infused whiskey, darl Llomerryn rum, and Hirol's Lava Burst.

Ice Cream and Beer

A Night of Shame - Antivan port with a dash of chocolate bitters and a twist of orange, served in a flute of chilled Serault glass. (Orlais)

Orichalcum mixed with wine - Considered to have aphrodisiac properties.

Posset - A drink made of hot milk curdled with ale, wine, or other liquor and typically flavored with spices. Can be drunk as a delicacy or as a cold remedy.

The Randy Dowager - Rumored to be created by the editor of the periodical, it is a tall glass of Abyssal Peach liquor and fresh cream, garnished with sugared rose petals and served on a silk handkerchief with a scandalous rhyming couplet inked by the bartender. (Orlais)

To Cure a Cold - a folk remedy that requires boiling whiskey and adding lemon juice and crushed garlic.

Gin

Prophet’s Laurel Gin (Orlais)

Grey Warden Liquor

These are bottles unique to members of the order, as each warden will combine half-full bottles in order to save space. No bottle is ever fully emptied or cleaned. In order to preserve the base flavor. They are called Grey Whiskey, Ritewine, or Conscription Ale, each vintage is named after a warden with a small note.

Vintage: Warden Anras - Bottled whimsy.

Vintage: Warden Bethany Hawke - Princess piss.

Vintage: Warden Carver Hawke - Toast them all.

Vintage: Warden Daedalam - Extra red.

Vintage: Warden Eval’lal - Griffon Wing Ale

Vintage: Warden Gibbins - Don’t frigging touch! I spit in this! I mean it!

Vintage: Warden Jairn - Smash when dead.

Vintage: Warden Korenic - Notes of fruit and anger.

Vintage: Warden Riordan - Serve yourself.

Vintage: Warden Steed - Joining juice.

Vintage: Warden Tontiv - Home.

Mead

The Tapster’s Tavern in Orzammar serves 17 types of mead, some are listed. Honeywine is another name for mead.

Avvar Mead

Chasind Sack Mead

Lady Odette Guillory’s Family Honey Wine (Orlais)

Mead

Orlesian Honeywine

Port A sweet, fortified red wine, typically served with dessert.

Antivan Port

Tevinter Port

Rum Boot Screech is another name for rum.

Alvarado’s Bathtub Boot Screech

Blackwater Rum (Wycome)

Dark Llomerryn Rum

Tea and Other Drinks

Coffee (Antiva)

Cocoa/Hot Chocolate

Juice

Fermented Fruit Juice

Pickle Juice

Pomegranate Juice

Prune Juice

Punch

Spicy Punch

Tea

Almond Tea (Orlais)

Bitter Tea - An unspecified tea so bitter it is astringent. Served during the Fourth Blight.

Black Tea

Black Tea with Juniper

Fires of Change Tea (Orlais)

Herbal Tea

Iced Tea

Lattenfluss Tea (Anderfels)

Mint Tea

Anderfels Mint Tea

Nameless Tevinter Tea

Rivaini Spice Tea Blend - Blend of cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. One of the teas from Rivain known for its healing properties. Empress Celene commonly uses this tea to stave off headaches.

Rivaini Tea

Rivaini Tea Blend - A blend of licorice root, oregano, lemon verbena, and peppermint. One of the teas from Rivain known for its healing properties. Rumored to be favored by Empress Celene to stave off headaches.

Rosehips Tea (Orlais)

Spiced Tea (Nevarra)

Stripweed Tea (Tevinter)

Unsweetened Tea

Verimensis Tea (Tevinter)

Whiskey

Cinnamon-infused Whiskey

Ferelden Whisky

Legacy White Shear

Mackay’s Epic Single Malt

Wine

The Tapster’s Tavern in Orzammar serves 12 types of imported wines, some are listed.

Agreggio Pavali (Tevinter)

Alyons Black (Orlais)

Amaranthine Red (Ferelden)

Anderfels Red

Antivan Red

Bitter Black Wine (Orlais)

Bottled Scar 5:34 Exalted - A rare collaboration between human and elf vintners.

Celestine Black Wine (Orlais)

Dalish Wine

Dandelion Wine (City Elves of Orlais)

Elderberry Wine (Ferelden)

Finale by Massaad (Orlais)

Flames of Our Lady (Orlais)

Flat Wine

Ghislain Red (Orlais)

Iced Wine - Mentioned in both Tevinter and Orlais.

Montsimmard White (Orlais)

Mosswine (Orzammar)

Mulsum (Tevinter)

Orlesian Red

Plum Wine

Red Wine

Serault Yellow Wine (Orlais)

Serault White (Orlais)

Silent Plains Piquette (Tevinter)

Southern Black Wine

Spiced Wine

Sweetened and Spiced Yellow Wine

Val Chevin Red Wine (Orlais)

Vint-9 Rowan’s Rose (Tevinter)

Watered Wine

White Seleny Wine (Antiva)

White Wine

Yellow Wine

Additional Spirits

Abyssal Peach

Antivan Sip-Sip

Aqua Magus

Aquae Lucidius - A potent liquor made of wyvern venom; a rare drink known for its hallucinogenic properties.

Bottle of Rotgut - Rotgut is slang for cheap whiskey.

Butterbile :84

Carnal 8:69 Blessed (Orlais)

Dwarven Ale - Not actually an ale, but a black liquid reputedly made from fungus with a reputation as being almost undrinkable for anyone not a dwarf.

Garblog’s Backcountry Reserve

Golden Scythe 9:40 Black

Hirol’s Lava Burst (Kal'Hirol)

Maraas-Lok (Qunari)

Moonshine

Potent Moonshine

Sun Blonde Vint-1 (Tevinter)

Raw Ingredients of Thedas

Fruits, Mushrooms, Nuts, and Vegetables

Edible Plants

Bark

Fern Fiddlehead (Avvar)

Hops

Lichen (Dwarves)

Black Lichen - Toxic unless properly cooked.

Moss (Dwarves)

Nettle

Pungent Leaves - Unspecified leaves. (Avvar)

Rose (Orlais)

Rose Petals

Rosehips

Stripweed (Tevinter)

Sugar Cane (Orlais, Tevinter, Rivain)

Vine Leaves (Tevinter)

Watercress (Avvar)

Wildflowers

Borage

Chicory

Dandelion

Honeysuckle

Jasmine

Violet

Fruits and Nuts

Apple

Applewood Apples (Orlais)

Golden Apples (Orlais)

Green Apples

Le Pomme Vie et Morte - Apples that grow by the gallows in Val Royeaux. (Orlais)

Red Apples

Windfall Apples

Apricot

Banana

Par Vollen Banana

Rivain Banana

Berry

Blackberry (Ferelden)

Blueberry

Cranberry

Currant

Black Currant

Elderberry (Ferelden)

Raspberry

Strawberry (Ferelden)

Caper (Antiva)

Cherry

Black Cherry

Sour Cherry - unspecified variety(ies)

Sweet Cherry - unspecified variety(ies)

Cocoa/Chocolate (Donarks)

Coconut

Coffee (Antiva)

Date - A purple and red fruit with a pit, it has a sweetness and tangy taste. (Tevinter)

Fig (Tevinter)

Grape

Red Grape (Orlais)

Lemon

Lime

Mango

Nuts

Almond

Chestnut

Pine Nut

Olive

Antivan Olive

Orange (Antiva, Orlais, Tevinter)

Blood Orange (Nevarra)

Passion Fruit (Antiva)

Peach

Pear

Plum

Pomegranate (Tevinter)

Pomegranate Seeds

Grain

Barley

Fereldan Barley

Pot Barley

Oats

Rolled Oats

Rice (Antiva, Rivain)

Ryott (Ferelden)

Wheat

Durum Wheat (Rivain)

Whole Grains

Mushrooms

Deep Mushroom

Field Mushroom

Unspecified Fungus - Used to brew Dwarven ale.

Truffle

Unnamed Glowing Fungus

Wild Mushroom

Vegetables and Legumes

Beans

Bush Beans (Free Marches)

Green Beans (Orlais)

Pale Beans (Orlais)

White Beans (Orlais)

Beet

Cabbage

Carrot

Purple Carrot (Orlais)

White Carrot (Orlais)

Celery

Chickpea (Rivain)

Chive

Corn

Checkered Corn

Golden Corn (Orlais)

Yellow Corn

Cucumber

Eggplant (Antiva, Ferelden)

Fennel (Orlais)

Leek

Lentils

Lettuce

Mustard

Onion

Red Onion (Orlais)

Sweet Onion (Orlais)

White Onion

Pea

Peanut (Antiva, Seheron)

Pepper

Antivan Pepper

Green Pepper

Hot Pepper

Hot Red Pepper

Red Bell Pepper (Rivain)

Sweet Pepper (Orlais)

Potato

Radish

Daikon Radish (Ferelden)

Rhubarb (Ferelden)

Spinach

Squash

Marrow Squash

Pumpkin

String Squash

Tomato

Turnip - aka navet

Turnip Greens

Wild Greens

Yams (Ferelden)

Animal Products

Dairy

Cream

Heavy Cream

Milk

Cow Milk

Goat Milk

Halla Milk

Ram Milk

Soured Milk

Eggs

Caviar

Chicken Egg

Fish and Seafood

Carp

Cod

Crab

Cuttlefish

Eel

Krone

Lamprey

Mackerel

Mussel

Oyster

Prawn

River Herring

Shrimp

Sunfish

Trout

Whitebait

Insects

Cave Beetle (Dwarven)

Giant Spider (Dwarven)

Scorpion

Snail (Avvar)

Wood-burrowing beetle larvae (Dalish)

Meats

Beef

Ox-tongue

Veal

Boar

Bronto (Orzammar)

Cat - mentioned to be eaten in Orlesian alienages by those most desperate (City Elves of Orlais).

Dog - mentioned to be eaten in Orlesian alienages by those most desperate (City Elves of Orlais).

Druffalo

Giant (Tevinter)

Goat

Gurn

Halla

Hare

Hart

Horse

Liver - General name given, animal isn’t specified.

Nug

Pork

Pig’s Feet

Pork Hocks

Pork Saddle

Rabbit

Ram

Rat - mentioned to be eaten in alienages by those most desperate (City Elves of Anderfels, Ferelden)

Sheep

Lamb

Mutton

Venison

Wandering Hills (Anderfels)

Poultry and Reptiles

Bunting

Chicken

Poussin (Chasind)

Deepstalker (Dwarven)

Dove

Dracolisk (Tevinter)

Dragon (Nevarra, Orlais)

Duck

Gurgut (Avvar)

Lurker (Avvar)

Partridge

Pheasant

Phoenix

Pigeon

Quail

Quillback

Swan

Turkey

Varghest

Wyvern (Avvar and Orlais)

Misc.

Dragon Blood (Nevarra)

Druffalo Dung

Honey

Honeycomb

Miscellaneous Ingredients

Baking Ingredients

Ash

Elfroot Ash

Hardwood Ash (Dalish)

Baking Powder

Yeast Cake

Salts

Fine-ground Salt

Rock Salt

Salt

Sea Salt

Others

Brine

Clay (Avvar)

Pine Pitch (Alamarri)

Herbs and Spices

Herbs

Basil - Mentioned to be grown in Serault, Orlais.

Dried Basil

Bay Leaf

Catsbane

Elfroot

Elfroot Leaves

Royal Elfroot

Lavender (Orlais)

Mint

Anderfels’s Mint

Foxmint

Peppermint

Oregano

Dried Oregano

Parsley

Prophet’s Laurel

Rosemary

Spindleweed

Verdant Spindleweed

Thyme

Spices

Allspice

Anise

Antivan Cord-seed

Cardamom

Cinnamon (Rivain, Seheron)

Clove

Cumin

Cumin Seed

Deep Mushroom Powder (Orlais and Orzammar)

Dill

Dill Seeds

Eastern Spice - Unnamed

Fennel

Fennel Seeds

Garlic

Ginger

Dried Ginger

Hot Pepper Powder

Hot Red Pepper, Crushed

Juniper

Licorice

Mace

Mustard

Mustard Powder

Mustard Seeds

Nutmeg (Seheron)

Grated Nutmeg

Ground Nutmeg

Pepper

Black Pepper

Peppercorn

Black Peppercorn

Poppyseed

Saffron

Spice Ball - A variety of mixed spices wrapped in a cheesecloth

Star Anise

Vanilla (Rivain)

Prepared Ingredients

Basic Ingredients

Alcohol

Brandy

Cinnamon-infused whiskey

Dark Llomerryn Rum

Hirol’s Lava Burst

Prophet’s Laurel Gin

Red Wine

Watered Down Ale

Whiskey

White Seleney Wine

Broth

Deepstalker Broth

Fish Broth

Butters - Non-dairy butters

Peanut Butter

Caramel

Cocoa Products

Chocolate (Orlais, Tevint)

Chocolate Bitters

Cocoa Butter - used to make white chocolate (Orlais)

Cocoa Powder - difficult to procure

White Chocolate (Orlais)

Compote - Fresh or dried fruit that is cut into chunks and stewed in a syrup of sugar and other flavours.

Red Grape Compote (Orlais)

Croutons

Custard

Dough

Pie Dough

Puff Pastry Dough (Orlais)

Extract

Mint Extract

Orange Extract

Vanilla Extract

Flour

Ryott Flour (Chasind, Ferelden)

Semolina Flour (Rivain)

Wheat Flour

Whole Grain Flour

Frosting

Buttercream

Chocolate Cream

White Frosting

Gold

Edible Gold Leaf

Gold Dust

Jam

Plum Jam

Raspberry Jam

Mulled Fruit

Mulled Raspberry

Oil

Cod Liver Oil

Orange Essence

Pasta

Antivan Pasta

Couscous (Rivain)

Gnocchi (Antiva)

Grain-based Noodle

Noodle

Pound Cake

Stock

Brown Stock

Sugar

Brown Sugar

Molasses

Powdered Sugar

Sugar-cream Icing

Sugar Flowers

Sugared Rose Petals

Syrup

Sugar Syrup

Tea Biscuit

Toffee

Wafer

Vinegar

Apple Cider Vinegar

Herbed Wine Vinegar

Dairy and Eggs

Butter

Cow Butter

Goat Butter

Halla Butter

Herbed Butter

Nug Butter

Cheese

Antivan Smoked Cheese

Blue-veined Cheese (Orlais)

Brie Cheese

Brined Goat Cheese

“Dalish” Cheese - An ill described item as it is unclear if it is actually cheese. One thing is for sure it isn’t Dalish.

Dry Cheese - Unspecified cheese used in cacio e pepe(Antiva)

Feisty Cheese (Orlais)

Goat Cheese

Halla Cheese (Dalish)

Ram Cheese (Ferelden)

Cream

Spiced Cream

Thickened Cream

Whipped Cream

Egg

Hard Boiled Egg

Yogurt

Dried and Cured Foods

Dried Fruits, Vegetables, and Fungi

Dried Apple

Dried Apricot

Dried Beans

Dried Cherry

Dried Cranberry

Dried Currant

Dried Mushroom

Dried Peas

Prunes

Pitted Prunes

Raisin

Cured Meats

Bacon

Nug Bacon

Smoked Bacon

Cold Cuts

Dried Meats

Dried Mackerel

Lutefisk

Jerky

Spiced jerky

Salted Meat

Dried Salt Pork

Salt Pork

Salted Beef

Salted Dragon Meat

Salted Fish

Salted Goat Meat

Sausage

Blood Sausage

Smoked Sausage

Spiced and Salted Sausage

Smoked

Smoked Beef

Smoked Fish

Smoked Goat Meat

Pickled Foods

Pickled Apples

The Pickled Apples of Arlathan - Apples said to be from the time of Arlathan. The taste is described to be one of fresh apples, with the same crispness.

Pickled Fish

Pickled Lamprey

Pickled Nug

Pickled Ox Tongue

Pickled Vegetables

Pickles

Prepared Animal Products

Gelatine

Grease

Ground Meat

Ground Beef

Ground Nug

Lard

Spiced Meat

Miscellaneous

Lyrium

Soup Bone

Wyvern Venom - There are 47 ways to distill wyvern venom to be safe for consumption.

Sources:

(If you want to find the direct links or page numbers, check out the Wiki's Food and Ingredients page.)

Primary Sources: Dragon Age: Origins (Base and DLCs) Dragon Age: Awakening Dragon Age 2 (Base and DLCs) Dragon Age: The Last Court Dragon Age: Inquisition (DLCs + Multiplayer)

Books: Dragon Age Tabletop RPG Core Rulebook Dragon Age Tabletop RPG: Blood in Ferelden Dragon Age Tabletop RPG: Game Master’s Kit: Buried Past World of Thedas Vol. 1 World of Thedas Vol. 2 Dragon Age Official Cookbook: Tastes of Thedas Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne Dragon Age: The Calling Dragon Age: The Masked Empire Dragon Age: Asunder Dragon Age: Last Flight Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights Short Story: Paper and Steel Short Story: Paying the Ferryman Short Story: Riddle in Truth Short Story: As We Fly

Comics: Silent Grove Mage Killer Knight Errant Deception

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vigilskeep · 1 year

Note

What do you think DA companions eat in a day + what is their actual preference?

this turned out to just be some scribbled notes on what i think everyone likes. i also stuck to dao companions bc otherwise we’d be here all day

alistair: makes jokes about fereldan food rather than being particularly a loyalist. not fond of his own cooking. mentions liking cheeses once or twice, doesn’t like the smell of fish in redcliffe. i suspect he’s mostly had anything bland and easy to make lots of, for training templars/grey wardens, and would optimally prefer something made with a little more care and intention. get this boy a home cooked family meal but still in large portions pls

morrigan: by her own admission can cook and likely did a lot of the cooking for flemeth, with simple supplies from the wilds. probably derisive of “fine foods” but in a defensive way where she just doesn’t want to admit she hasn’t actually tried any. has tried to eat raw meat while not shapeshifted once to see if it would still taste good. it didn’t

leliana: as a lay sister she talks about eating simple foods cooked lightly but ultimately i know she was eating like that while having grand narratives in her brain about self-sacrifice while everyone else was normal about it. in reality she’s an incorrigible fancy orlesian and must be treated as such

zevran: a loyal antivan i suspect. he definitely says talking about antiva makes him “wistful and hungry for a proper meal”. i’m guessing mediterranean influences, i’m guessing a good deal spicier than what you get in ferelden. antiva city is also coastal and he talks about “antivan fishwives” so probably a whole seafood thing going on. all that being said i think he will try anything once

sten: canonical sweet tooth for things they do not have in par vollen. i know he is suffering rn if he’s back up there

wynne: likes it fancy, knows what she’s talking about, spends time at fereldan royal court. uses senior enchanter privileges for wine and fine ale (we take a pause to be distracted by the fact that the tranquil canonically brew fine ale for senior enchanters to drink i fucking guess)

oghren: “nugs are good with extra sauce” enough said

loghain: traditional fereldan fare or death. yes he’ll try ONE orlesian pastry while he’s sent there as a warden if there’s NOTHING else to eat. where did the rest of the pastries go loghain

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teine-mallaichte · 13 days

Text

You know what irritates me in dragon age? Ok a few things but going to focus on one thing here, the languages... so we have all these diverse places, each with heir own fashions, customes, accents, etc but everyone speaks common (or trade which although in some codexes is said to be different seems to be basically treated interchangeably in the games).

Only a few places are said to be bi-lingual, implying that their own language is still used.

Also the inherent cultural differences between places are shown or mentioned and then totally forgotten about... In every game we get a diverse group of people with differing back grounds and yet there is almost never any language barrier of cultural misunderstandings, and even when they are they seem to be glossed over. Sten is about the only one I can think of where the cultural differences are even vaguely explored.

I want to see situations where characters are totally confused by what’s happening, where they don’t understand (or misunderstand) local phrases or dialects, where they fear making social forpars due to the inherent differences in their native societies or simply in their upbringings.

Alamarri died out in Ferelden and now everyone speaks trade and/or common, fine, ok. But in the real world when this sort of thing happens people often try to reclaim the language later, so there should be places where the language is still used, even if only for certain phrases like the elves use elvish. Or maybe there are scholars who still speak it? I used to live in Scotland, believe me although Gealic is a “dead” language people still use it in certain places and situations, same in Ireland, and in Wales there are signposts, TV channels, and radio shows in Welsh… It feels like Alamarri should definitely still exist and have some sort of presence. Ok as you may be able to tell from my user name I may be biased when it coems to this example...

But the same goes for Ander. I think Anders should have been able to speak it at the very least, and the fact that many of the Darkspawns name come from Ander should be seen as more of a thing. In a way it would make some sense for the Grey Wardens to be taught at least some Ander during training due to their history.

And Alsahiria, given the politics and history of Seheron it makes some sense for this language to be slowly dying out, but I feel it would still be spoken in remote areas and likely by members of the Fog Warriors. Some may even see the continuation of the language as a form of rebellion and carefully hold onto it. I wouldn’t be all that surprised in a fair number of slaves in Tevinter could speak it, using it as a way to communicate in secret.

Antivan… well to be honest Antiva is just fascinating in general, but their language is under used. It considered one of the most poetic and beautiful of Thedas, and yet it mainly only spoken in the rural and poorer areas. That seems like a shame… I mean yes the Codeses do imply that the higher members of society can and do speak it, but they also imply that in the cities common is almost exclusively spoken.

Did we even hear Zevren speak Antivan? I don’t remember him doing so, but I could be wrong.

I’m going to skip Avvar for now because there is a LOT to unpack there… same for Chasind and Ciriane.

The Drawves are said to have several languages, including Trade, and the language spoken specifically in Orzammar (often incorrectly referred to as Drawven), but to be honest I don’t think we know much about any of the Drawven languages… which is a shame.

Elvish is another complex one as it makes sense why that one is essentially lost beyond a few key terms and a few phrases known by the Dalish. However, I feel like it’s one that has potentially to be, at least partly, reconstructed… there are ancient elvish ruins and artifacts, though of course as with all reconstructed languages it would never be what it once was.

Qunlat, finally an actual language that although not used much is definitely a distinct language with significance and logical usage. We even get to hear it used a few times, though only for the odd word or line it at least makes sense.

Orlesian, again a language that is referenced and appears to be in regular use. It’s said that most Orlesians are bilingual. So it makes sense that they tend to use common around the player, but it feels like the language could be utilised more.

Rivaini… You know what we know far less about Riniani than I realised when I started this mild rant… They essentially have thie rown religion, and the only peaceful Qunari settlement that I can think of, but there’s language… very little seems to be mentioned. It would make sense that it is still spoken those given their general culture and identity, it is likely that they are bi-lingual in a similar way to Olaris.

Tevene… ok this one is my main bug bear… So it’s said in the codexes that Tevene is essentially a dead language, certain phrases still exist (many swear words) and it’s used by the elite as a show of status but everyone mainly speaks Trade – which once again is meant to be slightly different to common. But just look at Tevinter society, the idea that they don’t retain their language, or a modern variant, at least for things like ceremonies, ritual, and events seems unlikely. The most we really hear of Tevene in Fenris swearing. Which is another thing... The guy literally only has memories of being a slave and then been on the run (with a short period with the fog warriors in between) there really should be some serious cultural/social/linguistic barriers there.

This… this got away from me a little and escalated lol, but ye… this irritates me probably more than it should… and I haven;'t even ccovered ALL the lagunages. Anyway, i this I think is why I keep trying to crowbar language and cultural differences into AUs.

#dragon age #Thedas #DA:O #DA2 #DA:I #languages in thedas #culture in thedas #world building #just a random rant #bit of an info dump #yes i read all the codex #and the books #and the comics #this likely only bothers me #i may be a little TOO into the lore #I want to see the characters in dragon age experience language barriers and culture shock

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anneapocalypse · 2 years

Text

You Miss, Then You Don't: On Sera's Archery Skills and the History of Red Jenny

The Sera Series: Exploring Sera's Character and Background

Sera is a skilled archer, and this comes up as a point of confusion both in the game and in supplementary materials. Multiple characters seem confused as to where she learned her archery skills. In early conversations in Haven, Sera tells the Inquisitor she had no teacher, that she just "picked it up here and there." She admits that it takes some work, but adds, "I mean, you miss, then you don't. Is it that hard to see when it's wrong?" When the Inquisitor asks if it's an "elf thing," Sera only laughs and replies, "Most I know couldn't find an arrow sitting on it."

In The World of Thedas, Volume 2, a note from the Antivan Crows poses a similar question:

I get it. They all wear the same mask. The rest is bullshit.

The elf, the voice says Denerim, a mutt. But she's got a trainer who must be somebody. You don't split flies like she does without someone teaching you how to nock an arrow. Who gets that at birth? No one the living are supposed to know. (p. 236)

Sera has annotated her usual answer in the margins. "Is it so hard for everyone? You miss, then you don't."

I think it's very easy to misread aspects of Sera's character if you take things she says early on in the game and in party banter literally and at face value. Initially, I accepted her answers as such myself. Later, as I got to know Sera, I realized that her early answers are really non-answers, which she gives specifically to deflect what she sees as nosy and invasive questions.

One thing I was sort of taken aback by, when I was just getting to know Sera, is how much she dislikes Maryden's song about her. Sera likes girls, Maryden seems to like Sera, Sera even comments that she thinks Maryden is "chatting her up." You'd think she'd be flattered Maryden wrote a song about her, right? Wrong. Big wrong. In her journal, she calls the song "creepy." Later, in Trespasser, after Sera offers the Inquisitor the chance to become a Red Jenny, Maryden can be heard starting up the song, abruptly interrupted by the sound of breaking wood, followed by Sera's final declaration, "Creepy song is creepy. Ugh!"

Sera has… let's say, a particular dislike for people being too nosy about her life.

Look at it this way: in Haven, Sera has just met the so-called Herald of Andraste. And she is taking a big chance on them. They're not the "Big Hat" yet, but they're already surrounded by nobs and Important People and Sera's whole thing is she wants to see if they're worth knowing before they get too big to bother with. That's what she says when she meets them: "Get in good before you're too big to like." So when she talks to them in Haven, she's not sure if she likes them yet. She's feeling them out.

So, when Sera's just met the Herald and is asked, "Who taught you to use a bow?" and she says, "No one" … that's not really an answer. It's like when Dorian asks the same, if she just picked it up one day and was a natural, and Sera's response is, "Not your business if I do or didn't. Like I don't ask if you 'naturally' shoot fireballs out your arse, or just opinions."

It's not an answer, at least not literally. It is an insight into Sera's character, but not in the sense that it's telling us she's a natural born archer who never had to work at it a day in her life. (I mean, she even walks it back two lines later after the Inquisitor prods her further, saying that it does take work.) But what's she's really saying is the same thing she's saying to Dorian: "None of your business."

It's not like it would even be so weird if Sera was a self-taught fighter. As I brought up in a previous Sera post, I think there's some in-universe prejudice in the incredulity characters have about a city elf being good at fighting. No one repeatedly interrogates Duncan about how he learned to stab people good with a dagger.

But that's all beside the point. Because once Sera likes the Inquisitor, she tells them something different.

After raising Sera's approval high enough to get the cookie cutscene—a scene in which she opens up about her painful childhood—the Inquisitor can ask her more about herself. Sera still expresses reticence but is now willing to answer more questions. Let's have a look at that conversation.

Inquisitor: I'd like to know more about you, now that you're comfortable. Sera: Suppose. It's embarrassing enough now, might as well. Inquisitor: Anything more to say about where you came from? Besides hating cookies there. Sera: Denerim, mostly. Before running into another Jenny. He was fun. Had weird friends, though. I think some of them were a lot more serious about being serious. Got some of them killed. I suppose they were like family. Better than Lady Emmald ever was. You know why? They didn't give two squirts about who or what you were. It was all what you did. Inquisitor: So where are the rest of them? Sera: All over. Or they stopped to let new people go all over. Some get rich and stop playing. They can do good things with it. One or two don't. Eventually, someone asks for a favor against them. So don't get like that, you hear? Inquisitor: Denerim is a long way from Orlais. How'd you get there. Sera: By stinky horse? Inquisitor: Sera... Sera: Denerim wasn't much fun after the Blight. Everyone trying to recover, you'd even feel bad for the nobles. But Val Royeaux... that's a fat city full of fat heads. They just don't know when to stop. You saw it. Orlais is rich and stupid. Ripe for the picking. Inquisitor: So is that who showed you how to fight? Gave you your skills? Sera: Nobody gave me anything except a chance. And maybe some lessons to start. But mostly just the chance. I took that and ran.

And maybe some lessons to start.

There it is.

She's not a natural born archer. Maybe she had a normal level of affinity for it, but she didn't magically know how to archery without ever being taught or practicing because of elfy reasons or magic reasons or whatever other tinfoil hat reasons. She had some lessons. And then she practiced. And then she got good. Simple, ordinary people reasons.

And if you read between the lines here I think it's implied who gave her those lessons to start.

You see, the Friends of Red Jenny seem to have originally been a minor assassins' guild. And by "originally" I might right up until the time of the Fifth Blight. Also from World of Thedas Volume 2:

The knives I found think the Friends of Red Jenny started in Ferelden, maybe a hundred years back. Could be longer—they're hard to track. Don't know if the name is a rank or what, but pretty sure it's older than they are. They were assassins back then, but I doubt they competed with true guilds. They were cheap, small, and made a habit of paying urchins to get information or plant weapons. They recruited that way, but that doesn't seem like a way to get skilled people. The Friends had some teeth, and they weren't shy about getting bloody if their people were threatened, but they were strictly local.

It's recent that the Friends have been more active. Since the Blight, mostly. A new Red Jenny at the head—or seems like—in Val Royeaux. And in Kirkwall. Maybe more. Thing is, they might be doing more, but they stepped back from being assassins. And there are a lot fewer of them. Could be Blight—it killed a bunch of everybody. But my gut says different. They didn't just move; they changed how they work.

I found Red Jenny herself, or one of them, I guess. Tall for an elf. I approached her plain, figured we'd talk guild to guild. Her answer was two fingers. She could move, she's proper skilled, but I don't think she's competition. What she and her friends do has nothing to do with us. (p. 236)

The first we hear of the Friends of Red Jenny is in Dragon Age: Origins, when the Warden finds a small painted box in the quarters of First Enchanter Irving, then a note on the body of one of the Crows who ambush the party. The note indicates where the box is to be taken, and is signed "Friends of Red Jenny.” To complete the quest, the box must be delivered to a house in Denerim, where the player can hear the sound of a young girl laughing. No further information is given in that game.

In Inquisition, in conversation with Sera, the Inquisitor may ask her about the Blight, to which Sera replies, "That was ages ago. I was playing with small painted boxes and burying stuff I stole." It's possible this is just meant to be an easter egg, but for the sake of the argument let's assume that Sera does in fact mean that small painted box—that she was working with the old Jennies in Denerim. That one of them gave her that box to play with. Maybe they only needed what was inside it.

I initially read that "more serious about being serious" line as Sera referring to some Jennies who were more actively revolutionary. But I now think I was missing the bigger picture there. Sera was referring to the earlier Red Jennies, the ones she met in childhood before the Blight—the Jennies who were not merely tricksters but assassins.

This dialogue also really frames meeting that other Jenny as a turning point in Sera's life, and from it a picture of her life after Lady Emmald's death emerges for me. Having refused the estate, and still a child, she returned to the streets of Denerim where she met an assassin—a man who was "fun" but had "weird friends." They were "like family," she supposes. "Better than Lady Emmald ever was."

Someone fun with weird friends who took a liking to this little street urchin, perhaps. Gave her tasks to perform for a coin or some food. Gave her some trinkets to play with. Gave her a few lessons with a bow. Never cared that she was an elf, didn't bring it up constantly or tell her it was why people hated her.

Why didn't she just say that from the start? By the time you make it to the end of the cookies friendship cutscene in Skyhold, you've probably figured out that Sera's whole childhood is a painful, difficult subject that she doesn't like to talk about. She's not avoiding the subject of Denerim and her past because she's trying to be difficult; she's avoiding the subject because it's traumatic and a period of her life that she's trying to leave behind. She didn't ride all the way to Val Royeaux by stinky horse because she just loves clopping through miles of wilderness and woods full of the elfiest elves. Denerim is full of painful history for Sera, and I think the old Red Jennies are a part of that painful history. Her voice softens, gets quieter, when she talks about how being "more serious about being series" got some of them killed. World of Thedas Volume 2, in speculating about how the Friends of Red Jenny shifted from assassins to pranksters, notes that the Blight may have played a role in their shift, as it "killed a lot of everyone," so perhaps that contributed. Either way, I think Sera lost friends in Denerim. People who were "like family." There are things there that hurt to remember, and to talk about.

Sera's initial insistence that she didn't have a teacher might not be strictly a lie, especially if she only had a few starter lessons and did the rest herself. If she was observant enough, she might have picked up certain skills simply from watching the assassins she was around all the time. But it's also worth remembering that Sera is very resistant to talking about things that make her uncomfortable or bring up bad memories. Before she knows the Inquisitor well, when they push her to talk about her past, she'll say, "It's complicated. I don't like complicated. Let's leave it at that." Her commentary in the margins of the notes on her life in World of Thedas are mostly flippant, sarcastic, but one of the few that sounds really angry is the note after the old Marcher tavern song "She of the Red," which certainly sounds like it's about assassins and not merely pranksters:

She of the Red, Oh, She of the Red, She's under a lake with no water, it's said. As friendly as any, and then you are dead. "Forgive me; I've killed you," lies She of the Red.

Which Sera has annotated: "Frigging. Piss. Off!"

We might take from this that Sera simply doesn't like having songs written about her (given how deeply unimpressed she is with Maryden's efforts), but I get the sense she also really dislikes people bringing up what the Red Jennies used to be. I wonder if she was even fully aware as a child what the guild was really doing. But she must have made a conscious decision to take the Friends in a certain direction when she took over.

And I do think she took them over after the Blight. World of Thedas notes that Sera "appears to hold seniority, earned at a very young age." She was very young, still a child, when Emmald died. She fell in with the Red Jennies, began to learn archery. Then the Blight tore through Denerim, and a lot of people died. I suspect that the assault on Denerim (whether the attack itself or the ensuing disease) wiped out most if not all of the old Red Jennies, leaving Sera and whatever other urchins the guild had taken under their wing. She'd lost yet another family.

So Sera decided she'd be Red frigging Jenny.

But she didn't want to get people killed. Whatever she knew of the old Red Jennies' line of work, she was aware that it was dangerous. She'd lost friends. And besides, assassins are beholden to people with the coin to hire them—most likely nobles. And there's no one Sera hates more than nobles.

So Sera remade the Friends of Red Jenny into something new. She remade them in her own image and took them to Val Royeaux. They spread north to the Free Marches. I wouldn't be surprised if they're all over Thedas by now. Probably for the best that they're no longer anything the Crows would see as a threat.

But if you're a noble stepping on little people, best look out for arrows. And mind your breeches.

#sera dragon age #dragon age sera #red jenny #friends of red jenny #dragon age inquisition #world of thedas #world of thedas volume 2 #dragon age meta #dragon age #blunders of thedas #sera series #sera

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felassan · 6 months

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Dragon Age: The Official Cookbook: Tastes of Thedas lore compilation / notes / thoughts [Part 1 of 2]

(Link to Part 2, in text form (pls copy-paste) as Tumblr won't let me add it as a normal link: https://felassan.tumblr.com/post/732826339350102016/dragon-age-the-official-cookbook-tastes-of)

Reference, info & general observations/ramble post ◕‿◕ (Post contents under a cut, in case anyone would rather not read cookbook spoilers. also due to post length)

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If I have forgotten, misread or misunderstood something, please let me know.

This post is part 1 of 2, as it was getting rly long.

Dishes by type

Starters & Refreshments: Eggs à la Val Foret, Nevarran Blood Orange Salad, Fried Young Giant Spiders, Stuffed Deep Mushrooms, Rivaini Couscous Salad, Crab Cakes from Kirkwall, Fluffy Mackerel Pudding, Snail & Watercress Salad, Cave Beetles

For the Road: Spiced Jerky, Grey Warden Pastry Pockets, Pickled Eggs, Unidentified Meat, Seheron Fish Pockets, Fereldan Hearty Scones, Crow Feed, Black Lichen Bread, Hearth Cakes, Peasant Bread

Soups & Stews: Merrill's Blood Soup, Fereldan Potato and Leek Soup, The Hanged Man's Mystery Meat Stew, Fish Chowder, Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup, Lentil Soup, Nettle Soup, King Alistair's Lamb and Pea Stew

Main Courses: Stuffed Cabbage, Antivan Gnocchi, Antivan Paella, Grilled Poussin, Gurgut Roast with Lowlander Spices and Mushroom Sauce, Nug Pancakes, Fish in Salt Crust, Roasted Wyvern, Nug Bacon and Egg Pie, Starkhaven Fish and Egg Pie, Cacio e Pepe, Turnip and Mutton Pie, Smoked Ham from the Anderfels, Roasted Turkey with Sides

Sides: Sera's Yummy Corn, Stuffed Vine Leaves, Honey Carrots, Nevarran Flat Bread and Yogurt Dip

Sweet Delights: Blancmange, Poison Stings, Dalish Forest Fruit Cobbler, Dwarven Plum Jam, Sour Cherries in Cream, Treviso Energy Balls, Rice Pudding, Goat Custard

Baked Goods: Antivan Apple Grenade, Found Cake, Varric's Favorite Cinnamon Rolls, Croissants, Cherry Cupcakes, Chocolate Cake, Varric's Favorite Pastries, Sugar Cake, Lamprey Cake, Tevinter Pumpkin Bread

Drinks & Potions: Lichen Ale, The Hissing Drake, Hot Chocolate, Antivan Sip-Sip, Dragon Piss, Rivaini Tea Blend, The Golden Nug, The Emerald Valley, Chasind Sack Mead

Notes: These dish 'categories' are from the book contents pages, which can be viewed here.

Dishes by place / culture of origin (DA Cookbook-specific list)

Ferelden: Pickled Eggs, Fereldan Hearty Scones, Fereldan Potato and Leek Soup, Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup, King Alistair's Lamb and Pea Stew, Nug Bacon and Egg Pie, Turnip and Mutton Pie, Chocolate Cake

Kirkwall: Crab Cakes from Kirkwall, The Hanged Man's Mystery Meat Stew, Roasted Turkey with Sides

Orlais: Eggs à la Val Foret, Grey Warden Pastry Pockets, Honey Carrots, Blancmange, Sour Cherries in Cream, Croissants

Tevinter: Unidentified Meat, Stuffed Vine Leaves, Cherry Cupcakes, Tevinter Pumpkin Bread

Antiva: Crow Feed, Fish Chowder, Antivan Gnocchi, Antivan Paella, Cacio e Pepe, Treviso Energy Balls, Antivan Apple Grenade, Antivan Sip-Sip

Nevarra: Nevarran Blood Orange Salad, Nevarran Flat Bread and Yogurt Dip

Rivain: Rivaini Couscous Salad, Goat Custard, Rivaini Tea Blend

Seheron: Seheron Fish Pockets

Starkhaven: Starkhaven Fish and Egg Pie, Roasted Turkey with Sides

Free Marches: Roasted Turkey with Sides

Anderfels: Smoked Ham from the Anderfels

Avvar: Snail & Watercress Salad, Stuffed Cabbage, Gurgut Roast with Lowlander Spices and Mushroom Sauce, Fish in Salt Crust, Roasted Wyvern

Chasind: Grilled Poussin, Chasind Sack Mead

Dalish: Spiced Jerky, Hearth Cakes, Peasant Bread, Dalish Forest Fruit Cobbler

City Elf: Peasant Bread, Lentil Soup

Orzammar / dwarven: Fried Young Giant Spiders, Stuffed Deep Mushrooms, Cave Beetles, Nug Pancakes, Dwarven Plum Jam, Lichen Ale, Black Lichen Bread

Unspecified (DA Cookbook-specific list): Fluffy Mackerel Pudding, Merrill's Blood Soup, Nettle Soup, Sera's Yummy Corn, Poison Stings, Rice Pudding, Found Cake, Varric's Favorite Cinnamon Rolls, Varric's Favorite Pastries, Sugar Cake, Lamprey Cake, The Hissing Drake, Hot Chocolate, Dragon Piss, The Golden Nug, The Emerald Valley

Notes: Fluffy Mackerel Pudding seems to be Fereldan as it's found in DA:O in this Codex entry at the Arl of Redcliffe's Estate in Denerim. Snail & Watercress Salad isn't traditional Avvar cuisine; though snails are standard Avvar fare, this salad which has them in conjunction with other ingredients is Devon's take on snails that they made for their Avvar hosts. The given Spiced Jerky recipe is Dalish, but the book notes that preserved foods like it play an important role in many different Thedosian cultures. Grey Warden Pastry Pockets are a variation on a tough Grey Warden pastry which incorporates the far more delicate Orlesian puff pastry, that was championed by newer Warden recruits from Orlais. Unidentified Meat is usually served with Nevarran Flat Bread. Black Lichen Bread doesn't explicitly say but is clearly dwarven, as it references "underground" versus the "surface" and the dwarf Garin in Orzammar mentions it in DA:O. Peasant Bread is both Dalish and City Elf. Merrill's Blood Soup could be Dalish in origin as it's a recipe of Merrill's. Devon's Lentil Soup recipe has classic Tevinter flavors in it. Roasted Turkey with Sides is found throughout the Free Marches. Sera's Yummy Corn could be Fereldan in origin as it's a recipe of Sera's. Poison Stings is likely Tevinter as Dorian is fond of it. Rice Pudding could be Antivan or Rivaini as in Thedas you don't see much rice outside of Antiva or Rivain, or perhaps Tevinter or Qunari as it was a dish made by Krem, Iron Bull and the Chargers. Found Cake could be Fereldan as it's based on Dog's Found Cake in DA:O. Sugar Cake was purchased from a surface dwarf merchant and is based on Sugar Cake from DA:O (Feraldan dish? Dwarven?). Lamprey Cake was Devon's pickled lamprey-inspired cake, with pickled lamprey itself being a "singular" (implied: odd) favorite of an Orlesian noble. The Hissing Drake, The Golden Nug and The Emerald Valley are drinks served at the Gilded Horn in Orlais. The Emerald Valley's place of origin isn't given in the book, but we know from this Codex that it includes a spirit that is Orlesian, having been made in Lydes. Going by Iron Bull's dialogue with Varric, hot chocolate/cocoa is not from the south and is rare there. Dragon Piss could be Fereldan as it's based on Dragon Piss which is found in Ferelden.

Alphabetical ingredients / 'foodstuffs and drinks which exist in Thedas' list (DA Cookbook-specific list)

Notes: These ingredients are derived from the dish names and the lore blurbs (which appear to be in-world), not the recipes and associated ingredients lists themselves (which appear to be our world/irl-based). Also, this is a sort of scrappy list with mixed singular/plurals, some repeating stuff (e.g. I know pork, bacon, pig and ham is all "pig"), some non-specific stuff e.g. "herbs", and some stuff that is more 'a combo food' than 'a single ingredient' e.g. "dough", but just go with it ok hh, it's just meant to be a quick 'n' dirty reference list as a resource not a perfect culinary thing:

“Bitter greens”, Ale, Almonds, Antivan pasta, Antivan wine, Apples, Apple blossoms, Apricots, Assorted “forest fruits”, Ayesleigh gulabi goat (a breed of goat from which some goat’s milk is derived), Bacon, Bark, Bark bread, Barley, Beetroot, Biscuits, Black cherries, Black lichen, Blended teas, Blood oranges, Brandy, Bread, Buns, Butter (halla and other types), Cabbage, Carrot, Cave beetles, Celery, Chasind Wildwine, Cheese, Cheese sauce, Cherries, Chicken, Chickpeas, Chocolate, Chocolate cream cake, Cinnamon, Cocoa, Cocoa powder, Corn (yellow and non-yellow varieties), Couscous, Cows, Crab, Cranberry, Cream, Croutons, Currants, Custard (many variations), Cuttlefish, Dark bread, Deep mushrooms (several varieties), Dough, Dracolisk? (in one ‘sus meat’ recipe Devon wondered if it could be this), Dried fruit, Dry cheese, Eggs, Egg-white foam (for drinks, due to the The Gilded Horn’s Drink List codex), Fereldan ale, Fereldan barley, Figs, Fish, Flat bread, Flour, Flowers (over 70 different types of herbs and flowers used for food & drink exist), Giant spiders, Giant? (in one ‘sus meat’ recipe Devon wondered if it could be this), Gnocchi, Goat’s milk, Goats, Grains, Grapes, Grease, Gurguts, Halla butter, Ham, Harts, Herbs (over 70 different herbs and flowers used for food & drink exist), Hirol’s Lava Burst (due to the The Gilded Horn’s Drink List codex), Honey, Hot peppers, Jams & preserves, Jasmine flowers, Jerky, Lamb, Lamprey, Leeks, Lemon, Lemon juice, Lemon verbena, Lentils, Lichen (underground and surface varieties), Lichen ale, Licorice root, Llomerryn red, Llomerryn rum (due to the The Gilded Horn’s Drink List codex), Lurkers, Mackerel, Mango, Marshmallow (presumably meaning both the marshmallow plant and marshmallows, the confectionary that was originally made from the marshmallow plant. The form given in the cookbook is Orlesian guimauves, which accompany Iron Bull’s hot chocolate. “Guimauve” is French for marshmallow), Mead, Milk, Mincemeat, Mint, Mushroom, Mussels, Mutton, Nettle, Noodles, Nug, Nug bacon, Nuggets (nug-gets), Nutmeg (due to the The Gilded Horn’s Drink List codex), Nuts, Oats, Oil, Olives, Onion, Orange, Orange peel, Oregano, Pasta, Pastry, Peas, Peanut butter, Peanuts, Pepper (as in black pepper etc), Peppermint, Pickled things, Pickled vegetables, Pie, Pig, Plums, Pomegranate, Pork, Potatoes, Poussin, Prawns, Puff pastry, Pumpkin, Quillback (in one ‘sus meat’ recipe Devon wondered if it could be this, and in DA:I some NPCs mention it), Rabbit, Raisins, Rams, Raspberries, Red bell peppers, Red grapes, Rhubarb, Rice, Rolls, Royal elfroot (due to the The Gilded Horn’s Drink List codex), Rum (due to the The Gilded Horn’s Drink List codex), Saffron, Salt, Semolina flour, Sheep, Shrimp, Smoked meats, Snails, Sour ale, Sour cherries, Spices, Spinach, Spirits (as in alcohol), Strawberries, Sugar, Tea, Toasted bread, Tomatoes, Truffles, Turkey, Turnip, Tzatziki sauce, Vine leaves, Waffles, Water, Watercress, West Hill brandy, Wheat, Whipped cream, Whiskey (due to the The Gilded Horn’s Drink List codex), White chocolate, White frosting, White Seleny wine, White wine, Wildflowers, Wine, Wraps (soft), Wyverns, Yogurt

'See also' / 'did you know':

Eggs à la Val Foret

Fried Young Giant Spiders: previously made an appearance in the DA tabletop. The player party arrives at Chanra Thaig and sees "Bonfires built inside steel drums provide warm and heat for the dwarves huddled around them, cooking deepstalkers, what looks like the legs of giant spiders, and small rodent-like animals on spits". The dwarves have "fuel, water, and domesticated spiders and nugs in deeper chambers for food".

Fluffy Mackerel Pudding

Snail and Watercress Salad

Cave beetle previously made an appearance in the DA tabletop. They're described as "scavengers and carrion eaters", "black" and "hard-shelled". They're also known as "rock beetles" and are "little more than a nuisance on its own. Dwarves are even known to roast and eat them out of the shells".

Pickled Eggs (from "The Whole Nug" in World of Thedas)

Seheron Fish Pockets: Iron Bull has dialogue where he says "I remember one guy, he made these things - fish wrapped in thin bread". He was talking of a street food vendor in Seheron who had been forced by Tevinter spies to poison his food. Fittingly, in the cookbook Devon narrates that they learned this recipe from a Charger.

Black Lichen Bread: Garin from DA:O had an incident a few years back where he cut himself and some raw lyrium dust got into his blood. Since then it's been hard for him to concentrate and he's forgetful. He mentions bread that's made by using lichen (I think he mentioned that his lunch was a slice of lichen bread). interestingly, like lyrium, the cookbook lore blurb for Black Lichen Bread contains reference to how black lichen is toxic.

Hearth Cakes (from "The Whole Nug" in World of Thedas)

Peasant Bread: appears in The Masked Empire. in the Dalish camp, Dalish cooks prepared a midday meal, which was served along with peasant bread. "It was almost equal parts wheat, salt, and grease, and in lean winters, it was sometimes the only thing that could put meat on a peasant's bones." Michel watches an old elven woman drizzle honey across a piece and remembers his City Elven mother putting a bit of sugar she had stolen from the tavern she worked in on his piece of bread. The cookbook lore blurb for Peasant Bread says it is eaten by Dalish elves and City elves alike in Orlais, with the recipe being "very straightforward, calling for wheat, salt, and grease in nearly equal parts". Also, in The Last Court, Seraultine (Orlesian) peasants are described as eating bread at mealtimes

The Hanged Man's Mystery Meat Stew: in a DAII loading screen, it says that the tavern's feature dish is a stew made from a different mystery meat every morning

Fish Chowder: in DA:O Zevran says "Can you smell that? Like rotting flesh. Just like back in Antiva City. Now if only you could find me a prostitute or two, a bowl of fish chowder and a corrupt politician, I'd really feel like I was home!"

Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup (the cookbook lore blurb mentions the Orlesian troupe of actors from the show Wilkshire Downs. in this codex they are mentioned along with "cabbage stew")

King Alistair's Lamb and Pea Stew: Alistair and Leliana have this dialogue in DA:O about this dish (Ctrl-F "pea stew").

Antivan Gnocchi: In Tevinter Nights (Eight Little Talons), the Crow leaders eat gnocchi with dinner

Gurgut Roast with Lowlander Spices and Mushroom Sauce

Nug Pancakes, two

Fish in Salt Crust

Roasted Wyvern. Also Isabela has dialogue in Mark of the Assassin where she says "I hope I'm not expected to eat roast wyvern after this." The lore blurb in the cookbook for this dish also references this Codex

Starkhaven Fish and Egg Pie (from "The Whole Nug" in World of Thedas)

Cacio e Pepe: First mentioned in Tevinter Nights (The Wigmaker Job). Illario complains "This isn't Cacio e Pepe" while making a show of tapping his dagger against a plate of leftovers. Lucanis replies "You ordered an Antivan dish in Tevinter. What did you expect?", to which Illario quips "Something edible".

Turnip and Mutton Pie

Smoked Ham from the Anderfels: a servant in Mark of the Assassin offers Hawke and Tallis "smoked ham from the Anderfels. They say it tastes of despair". Tallis replies "Wait, does it really? How can ham taste of despair? Why would anyone eat it if it did?". The servant explains "That's what the importer said. They all talk like that" apparently. This dish is also mentioned in DA:I. After WEWH Dorian says "I hope you tried the ham they were serving, by the way. Tastes of despair. Fascinating". The cookbook lore blurb asserts that contrary to rumors and what the importers say, this ham does not, in fact, taste of despair. Also, see The Jade Ham (tumblr won't let me add it as a proper link: https://dragonage.fandom.com/wiki/The_Jade_Ham), as the cookbook lore blurb references this item and its description

Roasted Turkey with Sides: Roast turkey previously made an appearance in the DA tabletop. Lady Sennova hosts a gala/party in Orlais, which players infiltrate/attend and at which food and drink is served. "The Game is about appearances as much as it is about outright treachery, so a dead rat discovered in the roast turkey could serve as a crueler twist of the knife than an actual twisting of the knife". The cookbook lore blurb references the comic Knight Errant, which involves Sebastian's birthday dinner party

Sera's Yummy Corn (from "The Whole Nug" in World of Thedas)

Dwarven Plum Jam: in DA:O a Diamond Quarter noble dwarf says something like "I will die without my favorite plum jam from the surface!" The cookbook lore blurb references the fact that in Orzammar, jam from the surface, especially jams made from plums, are in especially high demand and cost exorbitant prices

Rice Pudding: in DA:I Krem mentions a time when he, Iron Bull and the Chargers defended a village from fifty bandits. Afterwards the villagers paid them for their services in bags of rice. He says that they made rice pudding after that. The cookbook lore blurb references this story of Krem's

(new text block because the previous text block hit a character limit hh)

Antivan Apple Grenade: the cookbook lore blurb references Antivan Fire Grenades (two), which spread sticky fire. maybe it's my brain conjuring up sticky toffee/toffee apples, but I wanna say that this dish would not only be hot but also sticky :)

Found Cake

Varric's Favorite Cinnamon Rolls: in DAII Sandal says that Orana smells of cinnamon rolls, which was interesting to me as DAII is the game where Varric is introduced and his first (and greatest) batch of cinnamon roll friends, the Kirkwall Crew, are featured in

Croissants: Calix and Vaea eat something which arguably look like croissants in the comic Dragon Age: Deception, in an inn in Tevinter.

Cherry Cupcakes: the cookbook lore blurb says these are served by servants on stilts at the Tevinter theature. in the comic Dragon Age: Magekiller, Marius is depicted serving an array of treats and snacks to a Tevinter elite at the Tevinter theatre while on stilts. some of the cupcakes on his tray bear somewhat of a resemblance to the cupcakes in this recipe.

Sugar Cake

Pickled Lamprey: the cookbook lore blurb is referencing the book Last Flight, where Norbert de la Haine and his unfortunate fondness for pickled lampreys is mentioned.

Lichen Ale

The Hissing Drake. the cookbook lore blurb mentions the Gilded Horn

Hot Chocolate: Iron Bull discusses his penchant for this drink with Varric. "How do you guys live without this stuff?" he says. Varric replies "I don't see what the deal is, honestly, but different tastes..." / "Now I just need some hot milk and some of those Orlesian guimauves to put in it" / "Hey, what you do with this 'cocoa' is up to you. I don't need to hear about it"

Antivan Sip-Sip

Dragon Piss, two

Rivaini Tea Blend: In Masked Empire Celene drinks a Rivaini blend of tea containing cinnamon, ginger and cloves, sweetened with honey. the cookbook lore blurb references Celene drinking Rivaini Tea Blend throughout the day to combat headaches, but this tea blend consists of peppermint, lemon verbena, oregano and licorice root. Rivaini tea also crops up here.

The Golden Nug, two

The Emerald Valley

Chasind Sack Mead

Characters mentioned or alluded to in the cookbook

Devon (new character, writer and narrator of the book), Merrill, Alistair, Sera, Varric, Solas, Cassandra, Fenris, Cullen, Sten, Iron Bull, Bull's Chargers, Krem, Nan (possibly, if she is Devon's mother), Norah (possibly, as the waitress at The Hanged Man), Zevran, Morrigan, the Hero of Ferelden, the Inquisitor, Josephine, Paragon Varen, Leliana, Schmooples, the Hero of Ferelden's mabari, Sebastian, Cole, Vivienne, Dorian, Anders, Loghain, Bethany, Hawke, the Couslands, Bodahn Feddic (possibly, as the Sugar Cake item in DA:O is sold by him and Devon narrates that they purchased one from a surface dwarf merchant who said that the Hero of Ferelden purchased some for their companions), Norbert de la Haine, Isabela, Celene, Briala, Gaspard

"Cookbook canon" (notes about the particular worldstate/universe that Devon wrote the cookbook in)

The cookbook was written at some point after the appointment of Divine Victoria, placing it at at least one month after the DA:I base game concludes (at least one month after the defeat of Corypheus). The narrator, Devon, has met and spoken to at least some of the companions & related prominent NPCs, including Varric and Krem. Devon visited Haven.

The HoF was a Cousland. The HoF caught Schmooples for Leliana. Loghain survived DA:O and DA:I, as he's referred to in the present-tense at the time the cookbook is written. Alistair is King of Ferelden. The HoF may have been a lady who romanced Alistair (if you argue that the inclusion of Alistair's love letter to the Warden & the necklace from this merch item as a prop in the photo for Rivaini Couscous Salad as indicator. interesting that the photo where this item is prominently displayed is for the Couscous of all things. back in the day I remember folks calling Cousland "Couscous" hhh).

Hawke was a warrior or rogue and Carver died in the prologue. Hawke was probably Diplomatic. Hawke did not romance Sebastian (in the cookbook he is Prince, and Sebastian reclaims his title as Prince by DA:I unless romanced, in which case he's the Chantry advisor in Starkhaven).

The "worst of [Cullen's] lyrium withdrawals" are mentioned so it could be that the Inquisitor advised Cullen to stop taking lyrium. Cassandra Pentaghast is the Divine. Celene is the Empress of Orlais - possibly ruling "alone" or possibly in the Celene-Gaspard-Briala "work together option", going by "Given how messy Orlesian politics are wont to be, with chevalier cousins vying for the throne and elven handmaids turned both spymaster and lover".

Also, this might be just me and my assumptions or reading of it, but of the companion characters referenced in the book (see section above, Characters mentioned or alluded to in the cookbook), such as Cole, Sera, Merrill, Fenris etc, I feel like it's safe to assume that in this worldstate they were all recruited by the relevant PCs are alive and well (including the Chargers).

Merch items & similar that appear as props or edits in photos

Alistair romance bundle (necklace and letter in Rivaini Couscous Salad. the necklace appears again in Goat Custard. the box can be seen in The Golden Nug)

Grey Warden pendant that shows the griffon heraldry (not sure if this is from the Gear Store or somewhere like Etsy. Grey Warden Pastry Pockets). this reappears in Sugar Cake

Solas Jawbone Necklace (Pickled Eggs. hhhh. unlike in Eggs à la Val Foret the blurb here doesn't mention Solas, but he's repped here anyway by the necklace hanging in the background hh)

Cullen's Lucky Coin (The Hanged Man's Mystery Meat Stew, Stuffed Vine Leaves, Antivan Sip-Sip)

In Nug Pancakes this red Inquisition banner with the handprint is in the background (seems to be from game files/in-game props). the red Inquisition banner appears again in Chasind Sack Mead

In Nug Bacon and Egg Pie, there is a nug in the background, presumably looking on in horror as their spouse has been transformed into a pie

In Turnip and Mutton Pie is a necklace that looks like the one Varric wears

Templar Banner (Roasted Turkey with Sides)

Inquisitor's iconic helmet replica (Roasted Turkey with Sides. hhh, this reminds me of the ones that are props in the queue area for the Dragon Age-not Dragon Age-ride)

In the background of Dalish Forest Fruit Cobbler a nug is peeking out

Antivan Apple Grenade contains a map of Westeros hhh. You can see the Three Sisters, the Neck and the Bite

A physical version of this Thedas map appears at various points e.g. Chasind Sack Mead

DA:I advisors coin set (Tevinter Pumpkin Bread) - for some reason Tumblr won't allow me to add the link to this one as an actual link, but you can find it here: gear.bioware.com/en-eu/products/dragon-age-three-advisors-coin-set

A green orb that I would guess is meant to be reminiscent of the ones Solas has you use during Measuring the Veil (Tevinter Pumpkin Bread)

Inquisition symbol pendant (not sure if this is from the Gear Store or somewhere like Etsy)

(You can get 20% off in the BioWare Gear Store until November 6th using my latest discount code BWCUISINE. After that date check back here for a new code. alternatively, you can use my >tracking link<.)

Some random thoughts

Shoutout to the photo for Starkhaven Fish and Egg Pie. It looks a lot like the illustration in World of Thedas of this dish! you can see that they really took it into consideration when creating this dish/image.

I feel like you can also sense the inspiration in general vibe/feel in Dalish Forest Fruit Cobbler from Dalish Deep Forest Comfort in WoT.

The black and gold theme colors of the cover remind me of when DA:D branding was black and gold.

Recipe pages I have posted that you can view in full: Spiced Jerky, Dalish Forest Fruit Cobbler, Hearth Cakes, Merrill's Blood Soup, Lentil Soup, Peasant Bread, Dragon Piss

Recipe and other pages that were already available to view in full from the official preview pages: intro page, intro page 2, intro page 3, Contents page 1, Contents page 2, intro page 4, Devon's letter, intro page 5, Starters & Refreshments section intro page, Eggs à la Val Foret, Fried Young Giant Spiders, Fereldan Hearty Scones, Nug Pancakes, Roasted Turkey with Sides, Varric's Favorite Cinnamon Rolls, Nevarran Blood Orange Salad recipe (pic), Stuffed Deep Mushrooms recipe (pic), Rivaini Couscous Salad recipe (pic), Crab Cakes from Kirkwall recipe (pic), Fluffy Mackerel Pudding recipe (pic), Snail & Watercress Salad recipe (pic), Cave Beetles

Source of the above information: Dragon Age The Official Cookbook - Tastes of Thedas

If you’re not able to get the book, and there’s a recipe or two in the Contents that you’d like to see/read, let me know and I’ll show you (❁´◡`❁)

Link to Part 2, in text form (pls copy-paste) as Tumblr won't let me add it as a normal link: https://felassan.tumblr.com/post/732826339350102016/dragon-age-the-official-cookbook-tastes-of

A post you may also be interested in: Food and drink lore compilation from Dragon Age: The Last Court

[☕ found this post or blog interesting or useful? my ko-fi is here if you feel inclined. thank you 🙏]

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