did i make up the codex that mentions the slavers in the free marches in da2 are also taking people to orlais

On the actual significance of the "Grand Game"

In the three Dragon Age games thus far we have seen Orlesians from three perspectives. In Origins we get the Fereldan view, Orlesians Are Evil, this from a nation occupied and oppressed by the empire and not yet over it. In DA2 we get the Marcher view, or you could call it specifically the Tethras view, Orlesians Are Stupid, a view no doubt cultivated by the fact that the only Orlesians you meet in Kirkwall are rich expats wealthy enough to have a second home in the Free Marches but not important enough to actually need to be in Orlais. And in Inquisition we get I think the closest thing to the Orlesian view of Orlais, which is: we're very powerful and you should want to have us on your side; please ignore all the chaos and civil war and how expendable we consider the lower classes.

Throughout all of this I think it is worth noting that the only people who think Orlesians are so subtle and clever are Orlesians, and mostly it's just the nobles and their hangers-on who think that about themselves. We're introduced to the concept of the Grand Game through Leliana, who romanticizes the whole thing due to her life as a bard. Varric by contrast has very little in the way of romantic notions about Orlesian nobles and mostly portrays them as comical buffoons, from Emile de Launcet to Duke Prosper de Montfort; not one of Varric's Orlesian characters is ever meant to be taken seriously by the audience. In Inquisition, a lot of hay is made about the Game and the need for favor and so forth but it pretty much all boils down to "Nobles have money and troops. We need those. Make them like you."

To me, the interesting thing about the Game is not that it's actually deeply complex or intricate, but how central it is to Orlesian identity. Of course there are intricacies to court politics, but most of it comes down to knowing whose interests and connections lie where, and how those interests may be successfully manipulated. That's not "Orlesian politics," that's just politics, and it's not meaningfully different from politics elsewhere. What sets the Orlesian aristocracy apart from Ferelden, when you look past the cultural trappings and the aesthetics, is mainly that Orlais has much stronger barriers to upward mobility in place (freeholds, or land owned by commoners, are practically unheard of in Orlais, whereas the freehold is the backbone of Fereldan culture).

But where I think the cultural significance of the Game truly matters to Orlesians is in the way it's meant to set them apart as the Good Empire. The empire that is cultured, sophisticated, civilized--you know, not like that other, bad empire up north, the one with the blood magic and the legal slavery. Please pay no attention to the blood-soaked floors of the servants' quarters (or the illegal slave trade that flourished in occupied Ferelden and behind closed doors of remote estates). We negotiate power with subtle words and gestures, and definitely don't sustain it with the blood of the powerless just like the magisters do, but without the magic. It's the magic part that makes blood magic bad, not the murder part. (This is a big part of why I love The Masked Empire, so much, as it really has so much to say about the nature of power and empire and who truly suffers for the games the nobles play, but it's also why what we see in the servants' quarters in "Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts" is so important.)

And this all ties into Orlais as the seat of the southern Chantry as well, sitting in opposition to Tevinter politically, culturally, religiously, all of which are inexorably intertwined.

Full Confession under the cut due to length

CONFESSION:

Being completely candid here, I hope the next game after DAD we actually delve more into the world of Thedas and beyond instead of ANOTHER DRAMA INDUCED Conflict.

DAO/A had darkspawn and civil war. Cool cool. DA2 had us deal with Templars and Mage and Qunari, while having a idiot of a friend screw everything over. Fun times. DAI was the conflict of religion and betrayal and frenchy drama during a civil war. Such fun. DAD will be us vs a delusioned old elfy god who is gonna do stupid things and we have to stop and fix his idiocy while dealing with Darkspawn, Political Drama, and Gods.

I know it's a main stay in DA but I REALLY want to explore the hidden mysteries of Thedas and beyond, ala Andromeda style. I don't want to deal with the politics of Thedas for the umpteenth time, or have some mage go coo coo for lyrium dust. I want to know what lies beyond the uncharted lands in the south of Fereldan and the Kocari Wilds. I want to know what was the true reason why Humanity fled from the North of Thedas into the present lands (Personally I think it stems from the true Maker/Golden City/Taint). What about the Scaled Ones and the Wellspring, along with the hairless humans chasing nugs and the flying golden ship? Could there be a East Asian culture who similar to feudal Japan and has samurai and ronins where everyone wields magic yet it's entirely different from Thedan magic? Could there be a colassi race of stone people out there?

To put it simply, Dragon Age has SOOO much potential interms of lore and mystery that sadly isn't exploited on or even fully delved into.

The other weird thing about Fereldan politics is the lack of intermarrying that seems to be going on. Except for Maric/Rowan and Cailan/Anora, there isn’t much in the way of matches arranged for political reasons. Yes there’s Rendon Howe/Eliane Bryland, but that was not an approved match at all despite them being social equals and Howe being an entire Arl. In the real world, marriage in a European context was traditionally a way of signing peace treaties or making business arrangements (consoldiating wealth and power), which is something the nobles of Ferelden should really be interested in even if they don’t follow strict primogeniture.

Sure it’s arguable that, considering multiple noble families were wiped out by the Orlesians during the Occupation, there aren’t as many potential noble spouses out there, and it’s also possible that Fereldans don’t care so much for a full pedigree as long as at least one parent has a claim to the land/title, but you can’t tell me that there weren’t at least some children married off to each other with the intention of stopping civil war.

Except the Couslands. They’re clearly too powerful to need political alliances, so they’re free to marry as many pirates and Antivan merchants as they want. Which is lucky, because otherwise Alistair and a female Cousland would have to sit down conversation about how they’re actually third cousins or something.

Was having thoughts earlier about how many people the Inquisitor meets who have direct connections with the HoF (Leliana, the Warden contact potentially, Morrigan) and had a moment realizing my boy Lorenn probably has no fucking idea who Loghain is.

Hawke's like "We need to go chat with Loghain" and Lorenn's like "sure okay" and it's not until halfway through Crestwood that one of his companions, probably Blackwall for maximum hilarity, is like, "Excuse me Inquisitor, did Hawke say Loghain? As in the Hero of River Dane? As in the traitor of Ostagar, the man who left King Cailan to die and started the Fereldan Civil War, who the Hero of Ferelden defeated in one-on-one combat and then conscripted into the Wardens? That Loghain??"

Lorenn: "..."

Blackwall: "Not the sort of story that interests the Dalish I'm guessing"

Lorenn: "No not really"

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love ❤️

Thank you for this ask! One thing it's made me realise is how many fics I have now - twenty new ones since I last counted - and I have no idea how that happened. My five favourites?

On Last Song - Oneshot, Dagon Age: Origins. The last stand of the Eleanor Cousland, the Seawolf. This one I love because it switches up the perspective usually seen in the Cousland origin and lets Eleanor have the hero moment she deserves. The fic actually started with the poem I wrote for the codex entry in the notes, and I'm still really proud of it.

Like Glitter and Gold - longfic, The Wayhaven Chronicles, Leah Kingston x Nate Sewell. The body of a murdered supernatural is found behind a bar, and Detective Leah Kingston must solve the crime (while dealing with the tempestuous budding romance between her and a certain suave member of Unit Bravo). This was the first murder mystery I've ever written, and it taught me so much about plotting and consistency. I also loved getting to explore the relationship between Leah and Nate as they both learn to open up and communicate. Also love for this one because you bound it for me so now it's sitting on my shelf where I can read it like a real book.

The Falcon and the Rose - longfic, Dragon Age: Origins, Rosslyn Cousland x Alistair Theirin. To the surprise of absolutely no one I'm still super proud of my AU where instead of a Blight, the only thing our heroes have to worry about is a civil war. The intricacies of Fereldan politics, the lore and worldbuilding, the relationships between Alistair, Rosslyn, and Cailan, and the fact that I actually finished it are all reasons why this is still my favourite of all the things I've written.

The Things We Hide - longfic, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Zutara. An AU where the Southern Water Tribe only fell to the Fire Nation with the help of Sozin's Comet, with Katara taken to the Caldera as a political prisoner where she works to undermine the rule of the Fire Lord from within. More political intrigue, Katara and Zuko both being awesome, classic enemies to lovers. Even if the title still hasn't grown on me, I'll always be fond of this one because I almost, almost didn't post it but people ended up loving it.

Unlocking The Door - oneshot, Dragon Age: Inquisition. An exploration of Cullen's (headcanoned) asexuality. This one I love because so many people responded to it so positively to say they felt represented, and as someone who also identifies as ace that feels important.

Play Along

Elissa had said ‘play along’.

Play along, and they’d figure it out as they went. Play along, because they needed Eamon, his men, and his political clout to combat the blight. Play along, and a solution would present itself.

He’d been fine ‘playing along’ while they had been running around Orzammar and the Brecilian Forest, gathering their other allies. But then they’d returned to Redcliffe, and things had become startingly real.

Eamon had said – and Elissa had agreed with him – that they couldn’t challenge Loghain without presenting an alternative. They had to have all the solutions – to have the blight and the civil war in hand – if they were to win over the Landsmeet. And since they couldn’t trust Anora, their candidate had to be him.

Elissa had tried to suggest that perhaps Eamon himself might be a good suggestion as Ferelden’s next ruler. But Eamon had summarily dismissed her, citing Alistair’s own stronger claim. Thanks to that factor that had dogged him for most of his life… his blood.

She’d looked at him, all apology in her eyes, but she hadn’t argued further.

And now? Now they were on the way to Denerim, Eamon having called the Landsmeet on the very premise of pushing him forward as king. King. Responsible for the entirety of Ferelden.

He didn’t expect Eamon to care that he didn’t want it. Didn’t want the responsibility, or the power. Elissa might, but even then, the price of knowing her so well was also knowing that she would lay aside both their wants, both their desires, in order to do what was best for Ferelden. She’d push him into it if she had to, but she was also loyal, and she’d find another way if she could.

Maker, he hoped she could, but it was looking less and less likely the closer they drew to the capital.

Another concern that didn’t seem to enter anyone’s mind but his own – and Morrigan’s, he supposed – was that if he did end up having to take the throne, he wouldn’t be any good at it.

He wasn’t completely ignorant of Fereldan politics. His education had seen to that. He also knew history. He’d studied his… ancestors. Not that he’d thought of them as such more as past kings of Ferelden, really. But the point was that he knew that being king meant making difficult choices. Meant that you sometimes had to betray a friend, sacrifice a town, employ assassins, choose the best thing out of a bad set of options, learn to live with the consequences and then do it all again. He wasn’t sure that there existed a version of him where he would be capable of doing that.

It would be shame if they somehow managed to save Ferelden from the blight only to doom it to his leadership.

Or lack thereof.

Thinking about it, if they were talking of alternatives to Loghain for the throne, why not Elissa herself?

Read the Rest on AO3

“dragon age origins is about the blight” wrong. fereldan civil war.

Codex entry: Loghain Mac Tir (2/2)

"I passed your test. Fate has a twisted sense of humor, it seems."

"Loghain was born a farmer in a time when his country was under foreign occupation. While still a boy, he joined the resistance, where his tactical genius quickly became apparent. He became close friends with Prince Maric, the true heir to the Fereldan throne; together they led the rebels, driving out the forces of the Orlesian Empire. Maric raised his friend to the nobility; Loghain became a living legend, a symbol of the Fereldan ideals of hard work and independence.

During the battle at Ostagar, he fled the field, leaving King Cailan and the Grey Wardens to die.

He returned to Denerim and declared himself regent to his daughter, Queen Anora, demanding that Ferelden follow him against the darkspawn—upsetting many of the banns. His actions sparked a civil war. Loghain's supporters found themselves fighting their neighbors, who blamed Loghain for the death of the king, as well as those who wished to take advantage of the power vacuum. He was defeated in single combat at the Landsmeet, and sentenced to undertake the Joining ritual. He survived, and rejoined the fight for Ferelden as a Grey Warden.

Together, Loghain and the Hero of Ferelden fought the Archdemon Urthemiel when it attacked the city of Denerim. They emerged victorious, having slain the creature, ending the Fifth Blight almost before it began."

Too Many Thoughts Bro

Summary: I have read too much history books on Christian and Muslim sectarian rivalries, and how the Herald of Andraste, especially Amayian, would have shaped Andrastianism because of the religious position of Thedas. This is basically a ramble post, mixed in with some "lore headcanons" of my characters.

T/W: Religion

What I constantly think about recently is how Amayian's kids transform the position of Herald of Andraste into a prophetic position, aligning him more along the lines of a "Messenger of the Maker and His Bride" than simply a herald for Andraste, and how they utilize religious authority for their own benefit, especially Rhialla.

Amayian certainty uses his position, with major influence by Andraste given his inherent role as her reincarnation, to dramatically shape the legalistic and theological position of religion through the Inquisition. He directs himself, one can argue incidentally, opposed to many of the establish positions found in the Chants; and given the human nature to tie mystical relations with the Divine and Spiritual realm with great fervor, his positions become sanctified by many Thedosians in the south.

For a religious party based around an absentee deity, the conception of a divinely-sent Messenger who arose from the grave of the appointed religious head of a sacred institution, could not have hit the majority of the populace with anything but an immense emotional response that I believe Inquisition fails to capture. Throughout the period after the fall of the Roman Empire, the collapse of Eastern Roman authority in the Near East by the invading Persians and later Arab armies led to immense apocalyptic belief among Christians that Jesus' or an appointed ruler would come and reestablish universal Christian rule upon the "world", bringing "true justice" with him. For a people who believe in an non-intervening Divine Will, the sudden idea of a new divinely appointed figure by their murdered deified savior would have intense political, social, and religious impact. Add onto the fact of social and political discord from the Orlesian Civil War and the Mage-Templar Rebellion, the latter which would have likely occurred immense apocalyptic fears among an anti-magic populace, then this sudden, stabilizing authority through the Inquisition would have greater impact to Thedas than what BioWare, I would argued, showed. For all intent and purposes, the Inquisitor served as a de-facto monarch and authority in a significant portions of Fereldan and Orlesian territory, given the collapse of secular authority in the shape of royal rule by the Fereldan and Orlesian monarchs. (Ferelden is more confusing given that theoretically the Ferelden monarch still ruled all of Ferelden, but I would argue that the monarch of Ferelden like does not have the political or economic might to reestablish authority in regions such as Redcliffe and the Hinterlands, and likely permitted "joint" authority with the Inquisition, because of the economic and social ruin brought about the Templar-Mage war.)

So, because of these factors, many of Amayian's sayings or opinions became, in the eyes of many Thedosians, especially affected by the security and prosperity brought about Inquisition-rule, as divinely-inspired or even divine themself. I am still grappling with the concept of Amayian establishing his own text, and codifying his beliefs into writing, or if its more likely that he does not, which ultimately allowed a well-spring of fraudulent sayings to be produced and circulated.

However, I imagine, questions arose after his assassination and Rhialla's War of Retribution: What is Amayian's position within the hierarchy of Andrastianism; what authority do the children of Amayian possess; and who among Amayian's children are his legal successors, in political or religious terms?

Because Amyaian's marriage to Leliana, the questions above become more complicated. Leliana justified her marriage to Amayian as the Divine as not only a representation of Andraste's life on Thedas with her marriage to Maferath but also the "the holy representative union between Andraste and the Maker", with Leliana representing the Maker and Amayian, Andraste. But because Rhialla began arguing after her mother's death that Amayian was not only the Herald of Andraste but also the "Messenger of the Maker", the questions were further murked by if the Divine should have been assumed or replaced by Amayian's successor...which again lead to the question of who was Amayian's successor.

Because of Rhialla's assumption as the head of the most powerful state in Thedas, many of her supporters argued that she at the very least was Amayian's religious successor, as the new protector of the Grand Cathedral and the traditional seat of Andrastianism. But supporters in Jacqueline's camp argued that as Amayian's eldest daughter, and the inheritor to his political authority through the Frostback Kingdom, she was Amayian's religious successor. Those in Ferelden, who became more unified due to Esmyial's Fereldanization as heir to Alistair, did want to be side-lined by the two other powers in the regions, so religious representatives surrounding Esmyial argued that he, as ruler of the former homeland of Andraste - and to some his eldest male heir, was Amayian's religious successor. During the First Canonical Council pushed by Rhialla, and later congregated in Skyhold, debates were raised and argued by the different factions, that supported the House of Amayian's religious role in Andrastianism but the different rulers amongst the Trevelyan monarchies, and the anti-Amayian faction, which supported, in a twist way, the supportive position in all of Amayian's - living, that is - inheriting religious authority, and being permissible to interpret and establish dogma. The Trevelyan children, especially at the urging of the apolitical Saliasya, agreed that Jacqueline was Amayian's legal successor over his political authority - as monarch of the Frostbacks and house head, but religious authority was established in the "triarchy of equals", where each of Trevelyan monarchs had the right to interpret religious dogma, but the codification of Amayian's thoughts - or revelations - being done by the three of them and the closest companions of Amayian, who were still living (Varric, you're living bitch).

But the religious authority remained contested by the Divine. After all, while the Chantry accepted, in very loose terms, throughout Amayian's life as a "herald" of Andraste, they never accepted his thoughts or beliefs as divine or divinely-inspired. It threatened their monopoly of religious authority in Thedas, which opposition was quelled during the divineship of Victoria because of Leliana's support. The "Proclamation of the Three" reignited tensions between the Chantry and Amayianism, as it was loosely referred to. Yet, according to some loose sources, the sudden death of Leliana's successor lead to Rhialla establishing herself, and her siblings after a brief flashpoint, as the "Servant of the Divine", abolishing the Divine's position, and investing herself and her siblings, with Jacqueline nominal leader, as heads. This sparked a few violent rebellions across the northern provinces of Orlais, and a single one in Fereldan in western Ferelden, which was crushed by a joint operation of Esmyial and Jacqueline. But while Esmyial gave them pardon, Rhialla completely devasted pro-Divine sympathy, and solidified her authority over religious matters in Orlais, as well as her protectorate states in the Free Marches. Tensions arose further with Rhialla's intervention into Neverra and the Free Marches, and it would be in the Free Marches where contesting religious thoughts between the three - Rhialliaism, Esmyialism, and Jacquelism - diverging religious thoughts would lead to conflicts. Only during the reign of Amayian I and II would authority be reestablished under a central entity, but their differing views would still remain even after among dissenting voices within the new Thedosian empire.

Yet, perhaps the greatest achievement produced by the three would be a codified book of Amayian's "revelations", which included his beliefs of equity, equality, and a restoration of elven autonomy that would be granted under the subservient state of the Dales, which to protect their interest was a protectorate of both Rhialla and Jacqueline, as to not be seen as a subservient state of Orlais, though rumors spread that Rhialla enjoyed an elven favorite but those remained uncontested.

❄️ ATEEZ Dragon Age: Inquisition aesthetic pt.3?

Not ateez but…he’s in the fic? it’s for the fic?

minghao; the fereldan dalish elf with trauma 🫶🏻

his story lies within the started but unfinished seventeen da:origins fic that is technically a prequel to this and the bts da:2 fic—that remains incomplete as well—but doesn’t really need to be read if you don’t want to? it has a bit of yunho and a bts member’s backstory in it and it would give better clarity to some parts of the inqusition fic but i think you’re good without it.

but, minghao travelled with the one and only hero of ferelden; choi seungcheol—current commander of the grey (w leader). after the fifth blight he decided to explore the great land of ferelden now that he wasn’t being held back by his clan and for about ten years has been wandering the nation to learn all there is to know about the inhabitants.

however, during his journey through the frostback mountains, he encounters a problem just as great as the one he dealt with eleven years ago.

The Elder One’s attack on Haven 🫣

yeah that’s about it for minghao ngl. he’s mainly here to act as a support for the…troubles that the inquisition run into after haven but also to vibe honestly. he needs a lil break from all the walking.

ngl i was debating adding jun because they were opposites in the origins fic (jun’s a tevinter(still thinking about that one)city elf/minghao’s a fereldan dalish elf) but jun’s probably doing his own exploring *cough* getting some revenge? *cough*

i also don’t want to make it so intertwined that if i change things it doesn’t add up. and when you have too many characters showing up it makes it harder for people who don’t like those groups or prefer reading about one group, you know? bts and svt already play a part in a few of the ateez members’ backstories and i don’t want to disrupt the peace—even though i know yall are chill. right? 😶

when i publish the svt fic and the aesthetics i made for it, the difference between this one and minghao’s for that one is kind of sad to see ngl 😭 like all the snow is meant to be about it being in the frostbacks but it’s also for how he’s had to rid himself of the childish/child-like attitude that got him in trouble with his clan. he’s kind of frozen over now that he’s been away from civilization, in a way that would’ve been toned down had he remained with the others.

but a lot of seventeen has issues to work through after what they went through 😅 the story of them serves to show how war effects the youth who shouldn’t be on the frontlines of a battle and the changes that seungcheol later makes for the greater good of the fereldan grey wardens—such as disallowing the recruitment of anyone under 18.

anyway. thats about it, i guess? check it out if think it sounds interesting (even if it didn’t really say anything about it) 👉🏻👈🏻 and thanks for taking the time to read all of this.

i’m curious how you justify (for lack of a better word) going to orzammar first? like there have been times where i wanted to do it first but i could never justify my warden making the decision to travel across the entirety of fereldan and not stopping at redcliffe, the circle or literally anywhere else on the way lol and idk anything about travel times in thedas but thats gotta be a month long journey at least, right?

i think it's quite easy to justify! the trick is not wanting to go to redcliffe or the circle on the way. imagine being in your warden's shoes, betrayed by the human noble everyone said was trustworthy, hunted by bounty hunters. do you want to go, with no other allies behind you, straight to another human noble? and depending particularly on your warden's background vis a vis the chantry, do you want to go straight to the circle? is that where you're willing to place your faith right now, as vulnerable as you are, an apostate among your precious handful of allies? to me, if you have to gather your first allies and hone your skills anywhere, the place with big locked doors separating it from loghain's influence, the civil war, and the darkspawn looks like a very attractive prospect. especially when you have no idea you're going to be stuck in politics and the roads for so long.

also, if you follow my june-january attempt at a canon timeline for the blight, to me it very much makes sense to trek up into the frostbacks sooner rather than later unless you want to get trapped up there in the winter

i wouldn't quite call it a month's journey, ferelden's not that big and it's all ancient, well-travelled trade routes rather than just wandering into nowhere. especially if you could get passage across lake calenhad to gherlen's pass; teagan claims it's only a day's journey from redcliffe to kinloch across the lake. of course there's the climb up the mountain, but overall i would be more likely to call it 2 or 3 weeks' journey and less if you can cross the lake

any idea who fergus would re-marry post-blight? or even second gen pairings (like fergus or Warden Cousland's children's pairings?)

oooh thank you for sending this!

I think if I were basing this solely on what I think would make the most sense politically and I wasn't taking into account the idea of Fergus falling in love and marrying that person, I'd say he'd probably marry someone from the Free Marches (or at least outside of Ferelden). The reason I'm picking a noble from the Free Marches is mostly because Highever's location probably means the Free Marches are one of their most prominent and important trading partners, so solidifying that relationship is enough of a reason to marry a Marcher lord. On top of this though there's also the rebuilding process to take into account where a lot of Fereldan refugees went to the Free Marches so it makes sense to try and create a strong relationship with one of the states, and there's the very real and very pressing threat of Orlais using Ferelden's weakness post-blight as a means to invade again, so creating alliances with another region that also has experience of gaining independence from Orlesian rule and has a vested interest in not being ruled by Orlais again would also be a deciding factor I think.

I could also see if the tensions in Ferelden surrounding both sides of the civil war were still at risk of tipping into conflict, I could see Fergus marrying a Fereldan noble, but I would kind of imagine that being a second choice, especially if Alistair and Anora were married.

With regards to a second gen, I would hope he'd have a couple of kids so alliances could be made both with local lords and outside Ferelden. Depending on whether whoever is on the throne has heirs or not, I could see that impacting marriages in terms of the Cousland's being the strongest political power who could very easily press a claim for the throne if there's no clear successor!

also I need to know about Meredith - She's the Inquisitor

This one is basically what it says on the tin! I’ve shared the few lil snippets that exist with people in DMs, and I keep forgetting who I’ve shown them to, so apologies if you’re seeing this again!

Loghain: I don’t know how much you know about the Fereldan Civil War

Meredith: I remember the endless waves of refugees knocking on my door. One in particular, in fact.

Loghain, lip twitching: I suppose that’s my fault, too.

[WIP meme]

I was inundated by one person (@1ichen​) in the tags wondering about my (crack?) theory that the Second Orlesian Invasion of Ferelden was basically a way for the Chantry to have an exalted march on Ferelden without getting its hands dirty. And really, that’s as much of an excuse as I need

To set the scene: It’s 8:24 Blessed, Ferelden is recovering after a lengthy civil war (details murky) because Arland Theirin, in addition to being a tyrant, left the nobility in chaos with no clear line of succession. Across the border, Emperor Reville is 3 years into his reign and looking for some way to make his mark. Is Ferelden an easy target? Considering it takes a full two decades to conquer, and rebellion springs up almost immediately... no, not really. Is it a sensible target? Well... also no. Even two years after Ferelden is won, there is still enough of the army engaged in keeping the Fereldan people subjugated that Nevarra feels safe enough to invade Orlais and claim territory. It says quite a lot that even at reduced strength, Orlais can beat back Nevarra (admittedly with mixed results), but it takes two decades of full force to defeat Ferelden.

So what does Ferelden have that makes it worth 20 years of war? Why not go straight for Nevarra? Ferelden is rich in resources, true, and has surface access to Orzammar and therefore the lyrium trade, but does it really have anything valuable enough to be worth the effort of conquering it? As far as the codexes and WoT tells us, Ferelden didn’t offer any great insult to Orlais (like Orlais did with Nevarra), and it wasn’t waging war against any of Orlais’ allies, either. What’s left is a clash in ideology, but what about Fereldan beliefs could be so objectionable? They have a lot of shared history and they’re both Andrastian nations (this will be important later).

My theory is that it wasn’t Emperor Reville’s idea to specifically target Ferelden, he wanted to pick a fight anyway and it was the Chantry who nudged him in that direction. This is all speculation and based on a vision of Fereldan culture that we have very little evidence of except by its absence in the Dragon Age - and its contrast to contemporary Orlesian society - but hear me out.

Fereldans, as a whole, are portrayed as downright uncivilised by the rest of Southern Thedas, which is interesting given that the civilising influence that unites the region is adherence to Chantry doctrine. Rivain, for example, is often considered in similar terms because of its cultural tradition of seers and other practices that don’t outright condemn magic. Interesting. That’s a tangent for another day. From what we see in Origins, the majority of Fereldans - at least in the Dragon Age - hold far more conventional views about mages, but it’s not universal. Anders’ mother doesn’t want to let him go to the Circle, Wilhelm seemed to live quite openly as a mage in Honnleath after taking part in the Rebellion, and there’s a specific conversation in The Stolen Throne where it’s stated that the reason mages are driven away from the rebel army is so that the Orlesians don’t get to OTT with their retribution. Similarly, elves in Ferelden, while not treated well, do seem to be at least marginally better off than in Orlais: there is at least mild shock when the Warden reveals Loghain has been selling the alienage elves into slavery, and again, during the Rebellion elves were an active part of the rebel army appreciated for their abilities (though their existence tails off towards the end of the Stolen Throne so we don’t know what happened to them afterwards).

Why am I bringing this up? Well, given the century of occupation, there are two main explanations for the difference in treatment for mages/elves in Ferelden and Orlais: either they were both the same and after the Occupation Ferelden got better very quickly; or the Ferelden we see in the Dragon Age is what you get after 100 years of their culture being eroded to be more like Orlais. Given what we see in The Stolen Throne and in the remote parts of the country that the Occupation likely didn’t touch (like the village in the mountains with the heretical dragon cult), and the fact that cultural genocide is pretty much colonialism 101, I’d argue the latter is more likely. Which, if you follow this line of logical fallacy to its conclusion, means that before the Invasion in 8:24, Ferelden was a more progressive place for mage (and elf) rights.

At this point, Ferelden is still a fairly young country. It’s pretty much several Alamarri tribes in a trenchcoat, and has just gone through some Wars of the Roses level shit that has presumably left the poswer structure a little wobbly while everyone sorts out what side they’re on. While there is a Circle of Magi at Kinloch Hold and the country has been nominally Andrastian since Calenhad united the tribes, it’s also fair to assume that there were isolated areas that held older views, including less draconian views on magic, and more equitable views on elves owing to the influence of Alamarri culture and perhaps the preserved history of Shartan’s role in defeating Tevinter (which is known to the chantry sisters in Denerim, so it’s knowledge that doesn’t completely die out by the Dragon Age).

So imagine it: the dust settles after the Fereldan civil war and from it emerges a culture growing strong from its Alamarri roots - tolerant of magic, allowing freedoms to elves that would never be given in Orlais - and the Chantry sees chinks in its hold over the people. They don’t venerate the Chantry like they do in Orlais or Kirkwall; their cathedrals are humble, drab, doctrine an afterthought to practicality. It’s not enough to be called outright heresy, but one day it could be. This puts the Chantry in a difficult position. Does it sit by and watch heresy continue to spread, and maybe infect other nations until it creates a schism? Does it intervene with an exalted march like it did for the Dales, and bring Ferelden back into line? Both options run the risk of shattering the Chantry’s power base. The first because a schism would divide the faith (and therefore the clout, and the spoils) and leave the whole of Southern Thedas open to a power grab from Tevinter. The second because invading an Andrastian country for nebulous reasons is likely to make all the other Andrastian countries nervous, if not downright rebellious, because what’s to stop them being next.

Getting Orlais to invade Ferelden is a perfect solution to this quandary. It nips Ferelden’s heresy in the bud without drawing attention to it, and as a bonus, it doesn’t have to expend its own resources to do it, and only has to sit back while the tithes roll in. This is why Chantry propaganda declared the Occupation as the Will of the Maker, why they didn’t intercede to stop the shedding of Andrastian blood when Ferelden offered no real provocation for invasion, and why Orlais decided 20 years was an acceptable time frame to annexe one (1) province.

Even if that’s not true it would make an awesome tv series.

thinkin bout inquisitor astoria thinkin bout how she positions herself as the second coming of andraste but very specifically in a way that appeals to the people more than institutions - because while she absolutely does play to institutions (she has to! she's avvar and a mage and she has to do some things to keep herself safe from the chantry, even if it means allowing them to imagine they have more influence than they do) she positions herself as the people's inquisitor. the whole second coming ploy is done to make herself so popular with the people that she can eventually destabilize the chantry and maintain some degree of control there as well.

so she's known to come to the people directly. she's spoken with most of the pilgrims who come to skyhold; there's a lot of embracing and shaking hands and kissing babies and offering blessings when asked. she'll sit and pray with people. she'll divert her own funds when she can to the people. she'll look to commoners for aid in presenting herself: she hires a teenage girl from among the pilgrims to help her as an attendant, mostly in doing her hair; she hires seamstresses from among the pilgrims, and often favors practicality over excess; she tells children stories in the courtyards; she commissions commoners to paint her portraits; she really heavily leans into the fact that she's fereldan through her father, that as a bastard daughter and an avvar she came from nothing (as far as the fereldan nobility was concerned), that she helped rebuild amaranthine in the aftermath of the darkspawn civil war. when she's married to ellis, she emphasizes too the sacrifices made by the people she loves most to protect the people at large above all else, even from darkspawn.

the thing is that there are certain things she can't escape. she can't escape that she's a mage, so she has to pledge that in service to the maker, to appease the faithful and the fearful. she can't escape that she's avvar, so she has to present a figure whose otherness is appealing, specifically by calling on andraste, who was herself alamarri. she can't escape that she's a bastard, so she has to make that appealing by presenting herself as one of the people, disadvantaged by birth and chosen by the maker all the same (like they, too, could be chosen someday). she's made enough friends among nobles to know that she'll never be one of them, so better to appeal to the larger populace.

and that's part of her choosing cassandra, too; leliana is too immediately radical, and vivienne would scare the shit out of anyone fearful of mages, no matter how conservative she is. cassandra's reputation is largely unimpeachable, and it helps that astoria genuinely thinks cassandra is well-suited for the position: she wants to make changes, but not so rapidly that they won't maintain support. it's also part of why she chooses to let celene die, even though gaspard has ambitions to reconquer ferelden: he's new and largely untested as emperor, and he relies upon her goodwill to keep the support of the common folk. (she also installs several of her own spies in the court, including one who becomes gaspard's lover, and maintains an ongoing friendly blackmail scheme. you know, among buddies.)

but what it comes down to is political strategy. the people have by and large been ignored as a political force but the fact of the matter is that the social order has been upturned repeatedly and the people are beginning to realize that they have some measure of power. by establishing herself as a champion of the faith and a champion of the people, she wields control over one of the largest potential forces in all of thedas, and that makes her, politically, a threat. (no wonder people will want to get rid of her.)

(additionally, the more i think about her potential in-game romances the more i think that she'd honestly probably end up romancing cullen, in part because the optics look fucking spectacular. like, she genuinely enjoys his company, i think she'd have fun with him, i think she'd really honestly like him a lot. i also think she's very aware that the sight of the inquisitor, the second coming of andraste, the woman who defeated corypheus in such obvious intimacy with her commander, to whom the inquisition's martial forces answer, a templar determined to reform and protect and to whom she (as andraste's second coming) can offer some measure of public forgiveness? it's nowhere near as risky as, say, a grey warden with so many secrets, or a qunari mercenary and member of ben-hassrath, or potentially isolating from the people as another noble would be.)

but the point is: astoria ia calculating. astoria plans everything in advance and when she can't plan she's a hell of an improviser. astoria manipulates everyone and everything around her and even if the end result is surprising selflessness, the thought process behind it is anything but.