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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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#dragon age #da lore #meta

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thekingofwinterblog · 7 months

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So i haven't seen anyone on this site do a full on dive on what little material we do have of dreadwolf. For a title that's gonna come out next year if its not delayed, there's shockingly little that's actually out, and what there is can be divided into two.

In game images, and artwork.

For this post i wanna focus on the art.

The most famous of the art is of course this piece. Solas in both his Elf guise and True form, both reaching for the red lyrium idol Hawke and Varric found in DA2.

First things first, before we got confirmation through Urthemiel's concept art, this was the first rock solid proof that the Evanuris were the Old Gods. 7 were sealed away, 2 yet remain, just like the orbs we see here so clearly connected to the taint through the red lyrium idol.

Now a couple of things about this idol.

1. It keeps regenerating. Inquisition did not in any way tell us about this, but this idol keeps regenerating regardless of what happens to the original.

Meredith's lyrium body was hollowed out from the inside out, and the lyrium had used her internal parts to remake itself, where it was taken by certain expanded DA universe characters.

Thats how its back despite being made into a sword, then infecting meredith.

2. The way this picture frames it, this seems to be the key to Solas goal of ripping down the veil, entering the Fade in the flesh and remaking the world.

That's not really the interesting part. No the interesting part is that this isn't the first, or second or third, but fourth completely separate object Solas seems to theoretically be able to use to undo his great work.

In the most recent trailer, we see him use a seemingly completely different artifact to try to do the job, but given the fact this is likely going to be the opening introduction of the game, whatever he's trying to do with this artifact is most certainly going tk go wrong somehow, and might tie into the main character of the game's strange ability to summon magical weaponry out if nowhere.

Maybe a sorta repeat of what happened in the inquisition? His great ritual is interrupted and derailed by some random schmuck that absorbs it's power and becomes his arch enemy?

That would explain how this random thief leader guy that this game is supposed to be headed by, becomes able to defeat Solas.

Assuming this is correct, this means that after this ritual fails, his eyes will instead turn to the red lyrium idol.

Also as i said, that would bring Solas artifacts that could be used to accomplish his plans to backtrack on the veil to a total of 4.

The first was The Mask of Fen'harel, from Redemption, an artifact that was clearly meant as a possible failsafe, given it had the capacity to rip down the veil even in the hands of a mediocre mage, nevermind Solas as he is now.

The mask was destroyed in that series, before Solas even woke up, forcing him to try to rely on his second option, his orb, his Foci, which was also destroyed in Inquisition.

Thirdly there is this strange, green, wand thingy, that seems likely to fail in some way.

And fourthly there is the red lyrium idol, which was the source of all red lyrium that has since plagued the world.

And speaking of the blight...

There are two remaining old gods, and we know how Urthemiel would have looked like in his uncorrupted state through his statues.

This is another of the old gods, uncorrupted by the taint, though which of the Evanuris this is i have no idea. A true eldrich abomination.

Regardless, while Solas is the main villain, we'll be fighting at least one more Elvhen God in this game, which assuming the other one is not fought and/or killed, means there will be one more at the game's end.

One more potential blight.

Or not as we'll see below.

From what very little we have seen of the main character, they seem to have the ability to summon a magical energy weapon. If i had to guess, this seems to be a concept art piece for that.

It also seems to be set at the final area of tresspasser(wherever that is), and the fade seems to be really powerful here at this moment, given those gloating rocks.

Not too enlightening, except for the fact there are Two archdemons in the background who may, or may not be blighted.

Guess all the evanuris as waking up in this game after all.

Shockingly enough given the last two old gods will awaken in this game, we'll get one, final dig into the deep roads before they become irrelevant as a setting.

There's some concept art for what is clearly companions, but i wanted to highlight this one along with the big one im ending this speculation post on.

The three figures from the wall aren't too interesting looking(I think the foremost guy is the pc), but the guy on the far left seems to be a avaar, given his Hakkon helmet.

Apparently we're gonna get water diving in this game, either as a cutscene, or in game play.

The guy with the mustache seems to be Dorian, though it could be a new companion rather than a returning one. The lady on the left looks like isabela, but given the glowing, magical knife, i think this is concept art for the female version of the pc, before they settled on the whole summoning the weapon.

Also the fact we're finally getting sea levels, hopefully means we get to see and possibly fight the last of the important lore monsters, the Cetus.

Seriously, if this series ends without us even getting to see the gigantic, electrical sea dragons of the Northern ocean depths, i will be so mad.

The anderfels, likely Weishaupht, the only place we know for a fact that we'll visit in game, given our only glimpse of gameplay so far takes place there.

Again, this game will likely be the final time the grey wardens are relevant, so of course we're visiting the great Warden fortress, and taking a look at what the hell's going on there.

Alright, so one of the first pieces of art we ever got, and it seems to be the companions of what is likely going to be the last dragon age game.

Left to right, i think the lady on the far left is the lady with the mask from the big battle scene artwork. If so, probably an antivan crow with a mask and a rapier.

Next is a Qunari, though what class is hard to say.

Next one is definitly a rogue, though seemingly male.

Looks like the Inquisition's horse master to be honest.

Next is who I'm assuming to be dorian.

And after him, there is the most interesting part of the piece, a figure with either a thick hood, or thick white hair, holding what is very, very clearly a gun.

Which is not too surprising. Gunpowder has been on the verge of being cracked since awakening, and the Inquisitor discovered the recipe in tresspasser, so guns being invented in the meantime makes perfect sense.

No clue about the next two, but the final one is very, very clearly related to the Navarran death mages, though wheter it's a mortalatasi, or a spirit bound to a body by them is hard to say.

Regardless they all seem to be a ragtag bunch compared to Inquisitions group. Which would fit with the idea that they are supposed to be a bunch of thieves and such that'ss forced into a battle for the world.

#dragon age #dragon age dreadwolf #meta #speculation #dorian pavus #tevinter #anderfels #grey wardens #evanuris #old gods #arch demons #concept art

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wylldebee · 2 months

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Meredith as the Inquisition Antagonist AU

Yeah, you read that right. After watching Dragon Age: Absolution and finding out that somehow Palpatine Meredith is alive, my mind has been filled with what if's about Meredith being the antagonist of Inquisition. And honestly? I feel like Inquisition could've been better. Hear me out: —With Meredith we'd have a more direct connection to Dragon Age II instead of some villain from a DLC not everybody has played. Inquisition would've been a direct squeal from DA2, picking up more or less where it left off with the beginning of the Mage-Templar War. —More depth to Hawke's guilt and even more reason for them to help you because Meredith was their problem to fight against. Now the whole world is suffering from their mistake of not handling her better. —More depth to Varric joining the Inquisition. Now it's more personal. Maybe Varric will blame himself for not finding out what happened to Meredith's lyrium statue. First the red lyrium idol back in Kirkwall, now this. Shit. —The Chantry is divided more than ever. On the one hand, you have those who genuinely believe you are the Herald of Andraste, sent to save this world. On the other, you have those who believe Meredith is the true Herald, sent not only save the world but to also wipe it clean of magic. —Meredith wants her war and Inquisition would've been the perfect start that. The Mage-Templar War would've been perfect for that... if the bulk of it wasn't shoved into books/comics. So, I guess AU where the war actually happens in the game? —Meredith is fucking insane and her insanity being heightened by the red lyrium coursing through her veins paired with the powers she gets from both her templar abilities and the lyrium could be interesting to see. —Puts the Chantry on the spot because that one of their people. Meredith is theirs, and she's plunging Thedas into world-ending chaos. Paired this with the more religious Templars/Chantry people who see this as a way to get the mages uncontrolled, and the Chantry is scrambling as public opinion takes a sharp downward spiral. I have more ideas but I need time to put them all together in a tidier post. So many new ideas are forming, guys! But yeah. Meredith in Inquisition could've been something.

#dragon age #dragon age 2 #dragon age inquisition #meredith stannard #Hawke #garrett hawke #marian hawke #the champion of kirkwall #varric #dragon age absolution

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anneapocalypse · 1 year

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Meredith's Mistakes: A Study in Power

The full-scale rebellion of mages across Thedas against the Circle system of the Andrastian Chantry officially begins in 9:40 Dragon, with the uprising at the White Spire and a vote by the College of Enchanters to separate from the Chantry. But the seeds of the rebellion are planted years earlier in Kirkwall, where the extreme Circle policies of Knight-Commander Meredith Stannard lead to the destruction of the city’s Chantry by apostate mage activist Anders.

Knight-Commander Meredith’s reign of terror over her Circle and over Kirkwall itself is abruptly ended during her battle with Hawke when the sword forged from a red lyrium idol found in the Deep Roads corrupts her totally, turning her to a frozen lyrium statue herself (though as we have more recently learned, it did not destroy her completely). This was catalyzed by the destruction of the Chantry, Meredith’s invocation of the Right of Annulment, and the mages’ subsequent resistance. But had all that not happened the way it did, I believe that an end to Meredith’s rule had already become inevitable. The Knight-Commander makes several grave mistakes in maintaining her power, some of which begin years before she acquires the idol, but are dramatically escalated by her exposure to red lyrium.

And it’s because of those mistakes that the mage rebellion truly has its roots in Kirkwall.

Circle Dispensation

Throughout the Dragon Age universe we meet mages like Wilhelm Sulzbacher, Ines Arancia, Severan, Vivienne, Finn, and Wynne: Circle mages given special dispensation to travel, work, and even live outside the Circle proper.

This privilege proves to be a highly effective tool of Circle control, and a critical part of the Chantry's strategy for keep mages contained.

Prior to the the destruction of the Kirkwall Chantry, it seems that this sort of thing is quite commonplace in most Circles. Not for most mages, of course. But for well-established Enchanters who have proven their magical competency, and most importantly their loyalty, certain privileges may be afforded. Thus, compliance is incentivized for any mages who might aspire to some limited but additional freedoms and are willing to toe the line to get them.

In most cases, these mages are still denied the rights of non-mages: to own property, to hold a title, to marry and raise a family. (Wilhelm is a notable exception to the latter, but this seems rare.) But a mage like Ines Arancia might be afforded the opportunity for field research and publication. A mage like Wynne or Finn might gain the prestige of traveling at the side of a hero. And a mage of ambition such as Severan, Wilhelm, or Vivienne might even attain the title of Court Enchanter, serving at the side of a King or an Empress (even if the title is in many cases purely ceremonial) and mingling with the court.

Here's a basic principle that is critical to understanding politics, real or fictional: most people are primarily concerned with the material wellbeing of themselves and their immediate loved ones. Many people will engage in various forms of activism in the hopes of improving conditions for themselves and others, but truly revolutionary activity is an extremely unappealing prospect for the average person most of the time. And it's not because they're callous or apathetic. It's because they have too much to lose. Revolution is bloody and horrific and sometimes necessary, but there are always heavy costs to be weighed against the potential (and by no means guaranteed) gains.

It is no accident that of the mages we meet and get to know personally, the ones with the most to say in support of the Circle are also the ones who have gained significant privileges within that system—and who therefore have the most to lose from an attempted rebellion which may not succeed. I have written before about the conversation between Wynne and the Warden in Awakening, in which Wynne expresses concerns about the College of Enchanters potentially voting to break away from the Circle. "The mages will never be free," she says. "The Chantry would never allow it. Our only hope for survival is to show them we can be trusted."

Notably, at this point in time, even Anders will agree that this is "madness" and "a recipe for disaster." Why would Anders, of all people, say this, given how adamant he is about his own freedom? Awakening Anders sums up what he wants out of life pretty well when he says, "All I want is a pretty girl, a decent meal, and the right to shoot lightning at fools." He's being glib here, of course, and there's probably a lot more going on under the surface (we're given to understand later that Anders has always had a lot of anger at the Circle), but I do think it's accurate to say that at the moment he's mainly concerned with maintaining his own freedom. And while he and Wynne have very different opinions of the Circle generally, I think Anders doesn't at this time relish the thought of a full-scale war, with Templars roaming the land hunting renegade mages. You can see how that might actually make it harder for him to fly under the radar as an apostate.

Nearly a decade later, Vivienne will express her own opinions on the mage rebellion that is already well underway, calling it "A failure of perspective that infected Circle leadership." Unlike Wynne, Vivienne's objections are less about the unstoppable power of the Chantry and more about the attitudes the general population holds toward magic. "Kirkwall gave the world a reason to remember its fear of magic," she says. "A mage killed hundreds with a snap of their fingers. …By voting when they did, my colleagues all but declared war upon the ordinary people of Thedas, a war in which we are outnumbered a hundred to one." Vivienne's argument (if you take it at face value) is that the rebellion was poorly timed and generally unwise. "By all means, protest abuses by templars," she says. "Just don't do it in a way that suggests mages support wholesale murder."

Notice that Wynne does not say that mages shouldn't be free but that they won't be free. She does not say that bowing to Chantry oversight is the right thing to do but that it is mages' only hope for survival. Vivienne's objection (as stated, anyway; Vivienne’s motives are complicated and another post for another day) is not that the vote for independence supported murder but that it appeared to support murder. In these conversations, the argument is never really that mage rebellion is immoral, but that it is unwise, impolitic, bad optics, bad public relations, not smart.

A point on which even Anders once agreed.

And why would a full-scale mage rebellion look like the best option to Wynne and to Vivienne—to mages who have spent years and decades working to gain the respect and trust required to be granted the maximum amount of lenience the Circle allows? Why would they throw away what they have gained for a war they don't believe they can win?

If enough mages believe that compliance is a more reliable strategy than resistance, you won’t get the critical mass for a rebellion.

But even Wynne fights back when the Right of Annulment is invoked upon her Circle.

One of the most foolish things a ruler can do in terms of maintaining their own power is to allow conditions to deteriorate to the point where their subjects feel they have little or nothing left to lose. And that's exactly what happens in Kirkwall.

This is Knight-Commander Meredith's first mistake: she fails to positively reinforce compliance.

We get the sense that the Gallows was always a strict Circle. There's talk of the Knight-Commander's severity when Hawke first arrives, long before Meredith gets her hands on red lyrium. The kind of special dispensation that Wynne and Finn enjoy from the Fereldan Circle is likely far less common here.

There is some evidence that such things occur under Meredith, even post-lyrium-sword, however rare it may have been. Notably, if Bethany Hawke goes to the Circle, she is given permission to go with Hawke to the Vimmark Mountains, and to Chateau Haine. In terms of game mechanics, this is obviously done so that the player can have a bit more time with their sibling as a companion, and for the Legacy DLC specifically, the Carta has actually been breaking into the Circle trying to capture Bethany, so it does make some sense that Meredith would want that dealt with, enough to let Bethany go with Hawke to deal with it.

But Chateau Haine is purely a pleasure trip, and Bethany is still allowed not only to leave the Gallows, but to travel outside Kirkwall with her sibling. It would be very easy for her to run away if she chose, and she would have a solid head start on the templars pursuing her. Bethany has demonstrated herself a loyal Circle mage at this point, with no intention of escaping, but I think that's not all that's going on here.

Let's talk about Emile de Launcet.

In Act III, Hawke is given the task—or has their arm twisted, depending on how you're playing—of tracking down three runaway mages. The first two, Huon and Evelina, are a blood mage and an abomination respectively and attack, leaving Hawke no choice but to kill them. The third, however, is a man named Emile de Launcet, who reveals that having been in the Circle since he was six years old, he simply wanted to live a little. He also reveals that he himself spread the rumor that he is a blood mage, hoping that it would make him seem "dangerous" and therefore more attractive to women.

It's easy to write off Emile as simply a fool, but I think there's more going on here.

How does a man who has spent almost his entire life in the Gallows, who is well-acquainted with the Knight-Commander's policies, think that telling people he's a blood mage is a good idea? In Act III? By this point in the game, it is well known that Meredith is accusing anyone who sneezes of being a maleficar; most of the Circle mages live in terror of just such an accusation. What in the Maker's name could possibly make this man believe that labeling himself a blood mage wouldn't get him killed, or made Tranquil, never mind caught?

Unless Emile de Launcet, the son of rich Orlesian expats (the Comte and Comtess Guillaume and Dulci de Launcet) has always received more leniency in the Circle than the average mage.

Bethany Hawke, daughter of Lady Leandra Amell who has come home to reclaim her family estate, sister of the Champion who saved Kirkwall from Qunari invasion, seems to quickly decide that life in the Circle isn't so bad. Undoubtedly, a large amount of Bethany's relief is she doesn't have to hide anymore and be constantly protected by everyone around her, and she appreciates the opportunity to be around other mages. But she also says in party banter that "The idea of the Circle is much more terrifying than the reality of it." She frustrates Anders with her acceptance of her new life, and judging by Ella's words, Bethany seems to encourage the apprentices she mentors to accept theirs as well.

Bethany and Emile's experiences with the Circle do not fully reflect what we know of the Gallows, and I think that's because they're both from noble families. This is important for other reasons too, and we'll come back to it.

But for now, what's worth noting is that the only examples we have of Meredith's leniency are for political expediency and accidents of birth rather than actively rewarding compliance.

I think it’s safe to say that even before things escalate to all mages confined to their quarters, not a lot of mages in the Kirkwall Circle are going out on leave for botanical studies. But as her paranoia deepens due to her exposure to red lyrium, as she begins to see blood magic and demons around every corner and in every person, Meredith stops rewarding compliance at all. There are no “good mages” and “bad mages”; there are only mages, not a one of whom can be trusted. Fewer and fewer privileges are afford to any mages in the Gallows, until eventually it is clear that all mages will be punished simply for being mages. There is no incentive for "good" behavior.

That's how you brew a rebellion, kids!

And when she invokes the Right of Annulment, not one of those mages has anything left to lose.

I am far from the first person to point out that Anders spends his first seven years in Kirkwall attempting to change things for the mages by relatively nonviolent means. He wins massive goodwill from Kirkwall’s lower classes with his medical clinic in Darktown. He appeals to the upper classes the only way he can reach them, through his impassioned writings on mage freedom. (And the upper class is a critical piece of the puzzle here, but we’ll come back to that.) He works with an organized Mage Underground to rescue as many individual mages from the Circle as possible.

But by Act III, the Mage Underground has been completely dismantled, and ambient dialogue in the Gallows tells us that Meredith has confined all mages to their quarters and has already sent for the Right of Annulment, well before Anders takes his final action. She has yet to actually receive permission, and we cannot know whether she actually would have, but given that Divine Justinia has already threatened an Exalted March on Kirkwall through her Left Hand, it doesn't seem out of the question that Meredith's request would be granted so long as she provided the Divine with a plausible excuse. It is also very possible that in the absence of a reply, Meredith simply would have invented an excuse to invoke the Right without waiting for permission (given that she does exactly that after the Chantry explosion), and it's likely that is exactly what Anders—and every mage in the Circle—fears will happen.

And had that happened, every mage in the Gallows would have been locked in their quarters, alone, when templars came to their door to kill them.

By destroying the Chantry when he does, Anders provokes Meredith to invoke the Right of Annulment without waiting for Chantry permission, but critically he also does so in such a way that the mages have advance warning of their sentence. They have time to gather and organize, to fight back, to allow at least some of them to survive. Anders has broader goals for a mage rebellion, absolutely—goals which may or may not be met. But his immediate goal is to give the mages in the Gallows a chance to survive. And he does succeed in giving them that chance, regardless of what happens after. He also kills hundreds of people, many of them not templars or clerics but simply citizens of Kirkwall caught in the fallout—many of them undoubtedly lower-class citizens of Lowtown, including elves in the alienage. (The collateral damage is canon, and not just per dialogue in Inquisition; you can see flaming debris raining down over the place where Hawke is standing in Lowtown after Anders sets off the explosion, and Lowtown is on fire as you make your way to the docks, so this really isn't a point I'm interested in arguing.)

Whether Anders’ actions are morally justified, what kind of collateral damage is justifiable in the process of liberating an oppressed people, ultimately comes down to a trolley problem; I’m not going to get into that here and I’d appreciate it if people would refrain from having that argument on this post. What I do hope to demonstrate here is that something like what Anders does is the predictable and inevitable outcome of conditions deteriorating and abuses escalating for a subjugated people until there is quite literally nothing left for them to lose.

That is, in my opinion, Meredith's biggest and most obvious mistake. But there are two other failures that contribute to her downfall, and which I believe would eventually have led to her being removed from power.

The Absent Puppet

Following the failed Qunari invasion, Meredith increasingly alienates the nobility of Kirkwall.

There is an excellent post by @mllemaenad analyzing Elthina’s strategy for “mediating” the mage-templar crisis in Kirkwall and maintaining her own power. This post touches on Meredith’s second and third mistakes in several facets and it's also a fantastic analysis of Elthina's character that really helped me to understand her; I'd highly recommend reading it.

I have on occasion sees the nobles' opposition to Meredith read as support for mage freedom. I strongly disagree; that is not what’s going on here. This is apparent if you’ve played both the templar and the mage endings of DA2 and paid attention to the epilogue slides. Hawke can actually become the next viscount of Kirkwall—but only if Hawke sides with the templars.

The nobility on the whole do not want the Circle abolished. They are not interested in opposing the Chantry outright; when Elthina "gently" sends them home after Orsino's speech, they all comply. They were even willing to tolerate blatant Chantry puppet Marlowe Dumar as Viscount. Let's be clear here, the Chantry has ruled Kirkwall in all but name since the deposition of Perrin Threnhold. The nobles know this. (Even the random nobody city guard Hawke speaks to at the beginning of the game knows this; it's the worst-kept secret in Kirkwall.) So long as there is a noble ass on the throne, the Chantry maintains at least the appearance of a "proper" social order, and the nobles are willing to live with that because it does not overly inconvenience their lives, and as established previously, their own mage children will receive some leniency in the otherwise strict Circle.

Meredith openly seizing control of the city is a bridge too far. The Knight-Commander cannot rule the city outright; this is not how things are done. The nobles want to unseat Meredith, but they do not want a rearranging of the social order as they know it. That means a functioning Circle of Magi that keeps the mages contained over there, where they don't have to think about them, and a proper noble ruling the city at least in name. They do not want a coup by an anti-Circle radical. If Hawke fights with the mages, the nobles will not support Hawke as Viscount. But a pro-templar Hawke by the end of the game has accomplished what the nobles want. They have removed Meredith from power, while demonstrating to a city that still fears magic that they will continue to keep mages subjugated.

The Chantry and the nobility are always deeply intertwined, but the Chantry in Kirkwall has a particular stranglehold on the city’s civil government, more so than in other nations. That the nobility have been pushed to the point of opposing Meredith at all speaks to how gravely she has fucked up.

Chantry Authority

And finally, as MlleMaenad aptly explains in the post linked above, Meredith has alienated her superior in the Chantry, Grand Cleric Elthina—in part because she has stopped playing the game they both once implicitly agreed to. Her abuses of power have become too public. She has agitated the mages to the point that her First Enchanter is out protesting in the streets. In Hightown. She has alienated the nobility and turned public opinion against her. And that makes the Chantry look bad in turn. It makes Elthina look bad. If nothing else, it makes Elthina look like she (and by extension the Chantry) no longer has control over the Circle, and that’s a big problem. Elthina deftly distracts everyone from this problem by pretending to be a third-party mediator between the mages and templars instead of the person holding jurisdiction over all of them. But the conflict spilling into the streets of Hightown is a big problem for her.

As detailed by MlleMaenad, Elthina has no problem with what Meredith has been doing to the mages. She does have a problem with Meredith ranting and raving about how mages should be made an example in public, in front of the nobility—some of whom have family members in the Circle. (Again, this is why Hawke meeting Emile de Launcet is so important. This is why you have to talk to his parents, so that there can be no mistake about who he is.)

My one quibble with the excellent post linked above (and it’s largely a semantic quibble and not a practical one) is the statement that Elthina has no morals. I would argue that from Elthina’s perspective she has a very strong moral code—one that demands she defend the authority of the Chantry against all threats and at any cost, including the cost of her own life. Which is exactly what she does.

Multiple times, Elthina can be warned of the danger to her life if she stays in Kirkwall (once in Sebastian’s DLC sidequest “Faith,” and once if Hawke chooses to warn her about whatever Anders is planning). In both cases, she refuses to leave. “I am Grand Cleric,” she says. “Who would dare attack me?”

It’s easy to look at Elthina as simply overconfident, and I certainly agree that there’s an arrogance to her personality and the way she handles things in Kirkwall. But I’m not actually sure that her death is a political failure. I don’t mean that she wants to die, or that somehow she plans to. But to leave Kirkwall to protect herself would show weakness—not only in herself as an individual, but in the institution she represents. In refusing to flee from danger, and in dying for that decision, Elthina makes herself a martyr for the faithful. And in doing so, she probably sways a few people who might have at least sympathized with the mages to oppose the rebellion more harshly than they might otherwise have done.

That death, that martyrdom, serves as a pretty effective distraction from the fact that Meredith, whose actions made something like Anders’ actions inevitable, is Elthina’s problem to begin with. Indirectly, Meredith has become a threat to the Chantry’s power over Kirkwall, and she cannot be easily replaced without a tacit admission that Elthina has already failed to maintain control of her own Knight-Commander. If Elthina’s end goal is to maintain the power of the Chantry over Kirkwall at any cost, standing her ground to the point of martyrdom isn’t a bad gambit. It’s bad for Elthina herself, of course, but for the Chantry? Grief over her loss brings sympathy for her side and aid from Starkhaven by Sebastian’s hand, thus maintaining a Chantry presence in Kirkwall after the disaster and reinforcing the very useful image of the Chantry as a charitable organization, cruelly destroyed by a madman.

That’s a powerful narrative, and Elthina’s choices help create it.

But it only becomes necessary in the first place because Meredith, after years of success, is failing to maintain her power—in part, thanks to the arrival of an outside variable that no one could have foreseen, the red lyrium that pushed her existing paranoia to the breaking point.

Had Anders not destroyed the Chantry, the Meredith Problem would only have continued to escalate. At some point Elthina would have had no choice but to remove her from power, because the damage to Chantry authority of allowing her to continue would outweigh the damage of removing her. There are conceivably ways Elthina could go about this indirectly, giving the appearance that the Knight-Commander had been killed by a rebellious noble or even a blood mage, thereby avoiding any official admission of failure by the Chantry. Her priority would not be to replace Meredith with someone more lenient, but rather with someone able and willing to play the game, the same one she and Meredith played so well together before Meredith went off the rails. Keep the nobility complacent and the underclasses powerless. Maintain the balance. Protect the Chantry’s authority at all costs.

It would likely be quite troublesome to arrange, and Elthina thus far has been loathe to do it, but I don’t doubt that she would do it if she had no choice. And given what we have seen of Divine Justina and how she operates (see also: @v-arbellanaris’s excellent meta series on Justinia and particularly part 3) I feel confident saying that Justinia’s message to Elthina in “Faith” is both a warning and a threat: Get your city and your Circle under control or I will do it for you.

I also think that Sebastian, whose entire character exists at the intersection of Chantry and noble politics, realizes this, hence his urging Hawke to downplay the situation in Kirkwall to convince the Divine that her intervention is not necessary. For all Sebastian’s faults, at this point in his arc he really is concerned with preventing needless bloodshed, but he also cares very much about Elthina, whom he sees as kind of a mother figure. Sebastian is no fool; he can read between the lines and understand that if Justinia feels compelled to intervene against Elthina’s wishes, there will be no protection for Elthina.

Justinia’s suggestion that Elthina leave Kirkwall isn’t simply concern for her life should open war break out in the city; it’s also giving her a kind of third option, an "out”: if Elthina leaves Kirkwall of her own free will, she is signaling to the Divine that she does not have things under control and is willingly accepting Justinia’s intervention. This will irreparably damage Elthina’s reputation politically but it might save her life. In refusing to leave, Elthina is also declaring to her superior, “Your intervention is not necessary. I have this under control.”

She does not have it under control, and at some point she’s going to have to deal with that. As she answers to the Divine, Meredith answers to her. Elthina will not maintain her own power if she cannot maintain control of those under her and keep the support of those above her. Meredith is in the same position, just one step down. Neither of them are actually succeeding. This wing of the house of cards is set to collapse, one way or another. (And it’s arguable that Justinia isn’t actually succeeding either, but that is, again, another post.) All that remains to be seen is who will survive the collapse.

Conclusions

This is why Knight-Commander Meredith's actions lead to Kirkwall being the first Circle to fall. She fails to reward compliance and allows conditions to deteriorate too far; she oversteps her bounds and alienates the nobility; and she is even beginning to run afoul of Chantry authority itself. By Act III, Meredith’s regime is doomed.

Which is not to say that I think a mage rebellion actually getting off the ground is inevitable. On the contrary—even given Meredith’s downfall, things could have gone very differently had certain characters acted differently at various points. Had Elthina actually chosen to leave Kirkwall, tacitly inviting an Exalted March on the city, I think things would have gone very differently. Had the conspiring nobles managed to remove Meredith from power before things came to head as they did, things might have gone very differently. And had Anders not chosen that desperate yet still strategic moment to attack the Chantry, thus setting off not only the Kirkwall annulment and rebellion, and subsequently the locking down of Circles all over Thedas, thus pushing more and more mages toward open defiance, things might have gone very differently. Had Justinia herself taken different actions, not taken others, responded differently to the escalating tensions, things might have gone very differently.

Meredith’s actions, however, make some kind of dramatic shake-up of Chantry power inevitable. I think it’s even possible to see this collapse as the long-term result of previous Divine Beatrix III overstepping her bounds, upsetting the careful political balance between Chantry and nobility when she effectively engineered a Chantry takeover of a major city-state; that situation was likely unsustainable in the long term, and we are now seeing the fallout of it. What form this inevitable shake-up takes, and its ultimate outcome, depends on the actions of many other characters.

So why write all of this? Because I think Meredith’s rule and her downfall is a fascinating study in power. Beneath the fantasy elements, there’s an understanding in her narrative of how tyrants and autocrats rule, how they maintain power and also how they lose it. And these stories about power and power dynamics are some of my favorite elements of the Dragon Age series.

The same principles also apply to various other rulers in Dragon Age… but that’s another post for another day.

#meredith stannard #elthina #dragon age meta #dragon age 2 #justinia v #dorothea #dragon age #blunders of thedas #knight commander meredith #grand cleric elthina #divine justinia #chantry explosion #chantry politics #thedas politics

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bunabi · 4 months

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I hope its dwarven that'd be sick 💕

If they were at war with Arlathan at some point in the centuries-old past, they would have definitely created an anti-evanuris weapon

If the red lyrium idol aint it I hope its that thing

#arlathan artifact versus dwarven doohickey...coughing baby versus atomic bomb #Solas versus my weird wand that fires the shit that makes dragons age: fight

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theluckywizard · 11 days

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An Embellishment of Lore (tag game)

I think as Fanfic writers, we often add lore to our stories. It is natural for us to build upon the pillars set for us. But what about the foundations, gravel and grit? What was a piece of Lore you added to Dragon Age that wasn't pre-existing?

Thank you for the tag @moonlightheretic 🥰

I think I added the most original lore for my ~6,500 word companion/standalone fic Thirst which is a Cullen POV fic that digs into the experiences Cullen has between DA:2 Act 3 and the intervening time between Meredith's fall and joining the Inquisition. In particular, I had a Samson who was reinstated on Cullen's own recommendation and then wrote in a schism of the Kirkwall Order when lyrium supply was heavily impacted by templar-mage warring where Samson takes a huge number away to Corypheus. It also explains Cullen's scar! I also dug into Meredith's madness and how she'd been taking an insane dose of lyrium at that point (red lyrium idol/sword notwithstanding). I know Templar HCs are a hot potato in fandom, but I found it fascinating to dig into. The bureaucracy of it all, the feeling of being unable to make changes to institutions even as corruption becomes more obvious. I will caveat "original" with "I'm sure others have had these ideas before in the scheme of the last decade of fic writing" so I won't claim to be breaking ground with them, but I really had an incredible time thinking about how things might have been for Cullen as he rises in the ranks and is responsible for more and more of that particular nightmare. In canon, I believe Samson took the templars after Cullen had left for the Inquisition, but I felt this way it created a lot more tension and drama between.

Excerpt under the cut 👇

Cullen and Samson shortly before Samson leaves:

Later that evening Cullen winds down shaving at his dressing table, squinting at himself in the small, tarnished mirror that had come with his Order-issued kit a decade before. He pauses in the weak candlelight to trace a finger over the circles under his eyes, the lines that have been there for years. But Cullen has been subjecting himself to the same rationing as those in his ranks and this week’s thirst and sleeplessness wears heavily across his face. Twenty seven years old looks more like forty today. He scrapes the blade over the stretched skin under his nose as he mulls over the tense atmosphere in the mess earlier. Something is shifting. It’s just a feeling at the moment but it’s time to gather hard evidence.

A shadowy figure appears behind him in the mirror so quietly, so suddenly that the blade slips, slicing across his lip.

He whips around with a curse, backing into his table so violently that everything on top of it rattles. Samson takes up too much space in this modest room.

“Maker’s breath— What are you doing here?” he demands, clutching his mouth while blood drips through his fingers, his eyes fixing upon his sword across the room.

“Aw, no need for the curses, golden boy. Just here for a little chat.”

His eyes are rimmed with a greasy red like someone had thrown a fistful of lye at his face and he stands tall in a way that prickles at Cullen’s skin. He quickly parses that Samson wouldn’t be rationing this week, not that it would have stopped the man from finding the substance elsewhere. Man to man it wouldn’t be a contest with Samson’s blood singing and Cullen suffering in near abstention.

Samson reaches into his pocket and shakes out a rumpled handkerchief and hands it to Cullen. Cullen can feel the depth of the cut and is in no position to refuse it. He takes it and presses it to his lip.

“How did you get past the guards?”

Samson crosses his arms and then steps over to lean against his door frame. “You can get anything for the right price. Thought I taught you that.”

Lyrium. Of course.

“The men are thirsty,” he continues. “You could’ve gone to the Carta months ago.”

“I’m not smuggling it,” says Cullen. “The Order must be above reproach.”

Samson snorts. “Above reproach? Try leashed like a pack of starving dogs. The Chantry’s old game playing out to the logical end.”

Cullen has no answer for him.

Samson chuckles, searching the ceiling, his lips curling into an unsettling smile. “Remember the days sneaking hits behind the armory? Or remember— remember that one time in Lowtown with that one bird Cinnamon—”

Cullen would prefer to forget. “What are you doing here, Samson?”

“Easy does it. Easy. I’m here to make an offer.”

“You?”

“Cut the leash. Get out from the Chantry’s thumb once and for all.”

Cullen gapes at him from under the handkerchief. “Quit lyrium?”

Samson laughs, a rich, knowing thing deep in his throat. “Nah. There’s no going back. I’ve been there. Only forward.”

“Forward? To where?” demands Cullen. He feels the room clenching down upon him, the air growing thin. “We’re needed here.”

Kirkwall flagged without a viscount, without its Champion, Garrett Hawke who had vanished with his sister Bethany when the violence had grown too thick. It fell to him and Guard Captain Vallen to hold it all together.

“Something greater, kid. We deserve better. Me and you and all the rest. We could be great.”

“I don’t— speak plainly, Samson.”

“Aren’t you tired of being a lapdog?” Samson gestures at Cullen’s face. “I can see how tired you are. If you ask me you’re fighting the wrong battle.”

“I have a responsibility to the Order. How I feel doesn’t matter,” says Cullen with shallow breaths, paralyzed against his dressing table. He swallows a dry mouthful of nothing, feeling it all caving in on him. “Whatever you’re up to— I could use you here. I know some part of you cares. There are some things greater than our own need.”

“You’re something else, kid, you know that?”

“You’ve mentioned it before.”

“Whatever happens now is on you,” says Samson. “Always been a bit too fanciful. Going to bite you in the arse some day.”

And then he is gone.

Read Thirst here!

Tagging @crackinglamb, @samseabxrn, @the-rebel-archivist, @leggywillow, @melisusthewee, @hekaerges, @oxygenforthewicked, @warpedlegacy, @monocytogenes, @nirikeehan, @delicatefade AND YOU IF YOU ARE READING THIS 🥰

#cullen rutherford #raleigh samson #meredith stannard #dragon age 2 #The Gallows #Kirkwall Order #Dragon Age Templars #Cullen & Samson #A friendship gone awry #A mentor gone mad #dragon age fan fiction

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lairofdragonagelore · 7 months

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Dragon Age Iconic Patterns: The single spike

The single spike or horn has been a constant pattern throughout all games of Dragon Age in general and in DAI in particular. There are several things that may be linked to it, from Mythal and Andraste to Dragons. In this post we explore how many of these objects present such pattern and how this may be related in an integral way.

This post contains the following statues:

Andraste

Wyvern

Mythal

The red lyrium idol

Tevinter or Venatori outfits

Tevinter Dragon

Tevinter golems

Tevinter Colossus

Andrastian Free Marches warriors

[This post belongs to the series “Analysis and speculation of Statues”]

Andraste

The main figure we see with a single-spiked helm in DAI is Andraste, who is depicted in numerous pieces of art along the game and books. Although she doesn’t wear this single-spiked helm in all of them, it’s an iconic representation of her [to the point that some followers are depicted with similar tiaras/helms such as Meredith]

In DAO we only have one unequivocally representation of Andraste, which is the statue we see at the end of the Temple of Andraste where her ashes are supposed to rest. In this case, the helm has the shape of a “moon” or similar. This form will be changed since DA2, and it will turn out to be the iconic single spike. We can attribute this inconsistency to the many difficulties in resources and environmental telling that DAO had.

Most of the time, Andrastian art represents Andraste with this single spiked helm/tiara [more details in Andrastian Statues].

In the illustrations found in the Chant of Light we can suspect that such a single spike is related to the shape of one single sun ray.

Wyvern

These animal statues appear all over Ferelden and in some parts of Orlais and in the Frost Back Mountains. In the tag Ferelden Wyvern we can track their presence along DAI. That they appear in Ferelden is not surprising, but the fact that they are inside ancient Pre-Blight Tevinter ruins [check Western Approach: The Still Ruins, Main Chamber and Hall of Silence and Western Approach: The Still Ruins, Viridis Walk and Inner Sanctum] is very disconcerting, specially taking into account how central it is in The Still Ruins, which appears even in the loadscreen of the zone. One could suspect this may have been product of the Dragon fascination that Tevinter culture had/has. Still, it seems odd to honour a lesser creature such as a Wyvern when they usually worshipped the true Dragons.

This statue appears in the Fade as well, but it has a clear design choice: the game shows us a wyvern in front of a head of Andraste, pushing us to ask why such an irrelevant statue would be in front of something so important as it is Andraste. The answer is solved later in the book World of Thedas, where we find that there is a Ferelden Tale which related wyverns with Andraste:

Now, this Tale is quite curious. If we always keep in consideration that this piece of lore is highly unreliable since it’s a tale spread in a population via oral narration, and subjected to changes over ages without records, we can highlight several details:

Andraste goes to the Mountain to “reach the Maker”. In the Chant of Light, we know that she speaks with the Maker, who is described Mountain-like. This reinforces the idea that Maker=related to Mountains. I assume this is a cultural remnant of the alamarri/avvar origin of Andraste, who had a deeper relationship with Korth, the Father-Mountain.

Andraste sang, and with this song, a “wyvern” appeared. This may potentially bring some relationship with the Dragons and the original song I talked about in posts like The Silent Grove, Those Who Speak, and Until We Sleep. We can even suspect that maybe instead of a Wyvern, the original event that inspired this Tale may have related a true Dragon. After all, we know that this single spike in the wyverns may, potentially, have some relationship with the dragon shape of Mythal. We also know that Tyrdda had an elf lover who sent a dragon to help her people, so I wonder to what extent the Alamarri and Avvar had also some level of relationship with mountain dragons.

It’s still a big question to understand how this wyvern statue, so related to Ferelden culture, appeared in pre-blight Tevinter buildings, when Ferelden did not exist as it is now. This is what reinforces my question: are these wyverns potentially creatures related to the Great Dragons? So far, we have no answers.

Mythal

Mythal, in all her representations and shapes, also wears an iconic single spiked helm. Even in the Concept Art, where we can see wavy sided horns that did not make it into the game, we cannot mistake the single centred spike. In dragon shape or in her humanoid form, this spike is constantly present.

It is unclear how this design choice may potentially speak to the player to relate Mythal to Andraste. One can speculate that, maybe, a fragment of Mythal appeared to Andraste. Maybe the Maker that Andraste claims to hear was, in fact, Mythal’s fragment. It would have been very convenient for Myhtal to instruct Andraste to make her Exalted March on Tevinter if we keep in mind that Flemeth [another fragment of Mythal] has been altering History to push it into a direction she has been planning for ages.

Flemeth’s Tiara

Flemeth’s tiara also has a structure that shows a single central spike in a very prominent way. The relationship is obvious: Flemeth is Mythal. Or at least, a surviving fragment of her.

Her dragon shape is different in DAO than in DA2. In DAO it’s the model of a general high dragon [as usual, DAO didn’t have the most variety of visual resources so we can’t read too much in it], while in DA2, Flemeth has a clear dragon shape with a single spike in its horns that can be related to that tiara.

The red lyrium idol

The Red Lyrium Idol also shows a prominent central spike in the head. It’s a constant symbol that allows us to do some speculations: in the post Attempt to rebuild Ancient Elvhenan History I speculated that Mythal's assassination may have inspired this idol, and therefore, this single spike seen in the idol is what relates it to Mythal herself.

It’s curious that even when Meredith turned into a piece of Red Lyrium, she also displayed a single spike in her head. This may have been just a consequence of the helm she was wearing in that last battle, which was clearly a helm trying to emulate Andraste’s.

From a design point of view, I think it’s clear that the game is telling us that this idol is related to Mythal/Flemeth, even though we are still blind about the “how”.

Tevinter or Venatori outfits

I already spoke about this in the section “outfits” in Patterns and Styles: Tevinter. We know that Tevinter has a long history of dragon cults, and until the moment the nation turned into the Andrastian Faith, the Old Gods Cult was its strongest religion. The fact that a dragon [Mythal] has a single spike horn, and Andraste also has this icon in her art, makes us hard to understand the origin of the symbol in Tevinter Design. It could have been due to the Dragons, but also, as a design choice once they were converted into the Andrastian Faith. Let's remember that Dorian tells us that Tevinter thinks that Andraste was a mage, so more reasons to have her icons among the Tevinter Warriors since they have mage-inspired armours.

I also explained that it's hard to differentiate the Venatori from non-Venatori Tevinter design simply because the Venatori are nationalist, so they will always use the most iconic symbols of their nation.

There is a strange link between this design and the one I called “The Free Marches Andrastian Warriors”, which display a strong Tevinter-like style, but remaining Andrastian. These statues may keep that single-spiked helm as a representation of Andraste, but also as a remmant of Tevinter design [more details in Andrastian Statues].

Tevinter Dragon

For completion’s sake, I add this detail: these typical Tevinter dragons display a single horn. At some point one wonders if these statues are related somehow to the design of the Wyverns or are a development of worshipping Mythal-dragon.

Tevinter golems

These Tevinter golems trigger the codex the Gate Guardians . They are metallic statues that, we are told, were powered at some point by bars of lyrium.

They also display a single spiked helm, that, due to the general looking of the golem, looks like a Tevinter representation of Andraste herself.

The golem in general has resemblance to some pieces of the armour of the Humanoid Mythal.

Let’s remember that Golems were developed by Dwarves during the First Blight, and due to their trade relationship with Tevinter, they sold some [Golem and Legend of the Juggernaut] that were displayed on the entrance of Miranthous, inactive. So it seems that, historically speaking, makes sense that these golems may have been developed into resembling Andraste since Tevinter embraced the Andrastian Faith after the beginnig of the First Blight [check all this in the integral post The Chantry and the Mythology of the Chant of Light]

Tevinter Colossus

Among the Tevinter sculptures, we find one of the most mysterious one: the colossus. They are found closer to the structures that belonged to Tevinter in pre-blight times.

In game there are three different Colossus, found in Western Approach: Coracavus; ��Front Corridor and South Entrance, in the open of Hissing Wastes: scattered objects and ruins, which was being co-opted by Orlesians to make it into a sculture of an Orlais Emperor, and inside the Frozen Gates in Frostback Basin [DLC]: Frozen Gate.

The book World of Thedas gives us more concept art about these structures, which seem to be related to “guiders” and, maybe, to astronomy too.

The fact that we can see one of these in a concept art, showing up a certain star over its hand, makes me suspect these statues belonged to the ancient Dreamer times, that the codex Astrariums claims that Tevinter was under before the Magisterium was the mandatory political system.

The heads of these colossus are not exactly single spiked heads, but one of them [The Coracavus' one] has one single spike that fuses with the bridge of its nose, while the other two, have "horns" backwards. Maybe we can suspect some dragon inspiration in them? I find their profile very similar to the Qunari ones’.

Andrastian Free Marches warriors

These were seen for the first time in DA2, and they decorated The Chantry of Kirkwall. They look similar to the Tevinter Warriors thanks to this spiked helm and pointy shapes, but this may be attributed to the fact that Free Marches have a strong Tevinter influence.

However, these statues have an unmistakable robe identified with the ones worn by the Chantry priests in DA2.

This single spike in their helms may be related to Andraste herself and her own helm/tiara, but also having some inspiration from Tevinter.

Conclusions

I think it’s fair to say that the “Single Spike” is an unequivocally symbol of Andraste that may have an inspiration or a relationship with dragons in general, or with Mythal in particular. By extension, and due to Mythal’s dragon nature, this Single Spike also appears in Tevinter culture, even in elements that are suspected to be pre-Blight, and therefore, impossible to be inspired in Andraste herself. So, as it happens with DA lore, and assuming what we did in the post Attempt to rebuild Ancient Elvhenan History, everything comes to primordial dragons that may have inspired this icon in Tevinter Culture and later, in the human tribes, from where the Andrastian Myth and her religion raised.

#single spike #single horn #mythal #Humanoid Mythal statue #Dragon Mythal statue #tevinter dragon #tevinter #free marches #free marches design #the colossus #tevinter golem #venatori #red lyrium idol #flemeth #andraste #andrastian design #andraste statue #Ferelden Wyvern #Analysis and speculation of Statues

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couslande · 10 months

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it is funny how the only bit of the primeval thaig that gets mentioned really is the red lyrium idol. as if that were the only messed up thing that thaig had going on.

#text

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ladyofc · 7 months

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Thinking about a Solavellan beauty and the beast au and how the red Lyrium idol would be perfect for the rose, all the Elvhen who are just spirits possessing plates and spoons instead of having a physical form from the curse, Solas in a more dragon wolf man hybrid state.

I thought Sebastian could be Gaston but I'm stuck on my Gaston 😩

This would be set Dreadwolf time.

#dragon age dreadwolf #dragon age au #solavellan #da4

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felassan · 5 months

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Thoughts on the new Dragon Age: Dreadwolf teaser THEDAS CALLS, and other new things about the game from DA Day 2023

[post under cut due to length]

(ﾉ `･∀･)ﾉﾞ New stuff! Let's goo!

Other than chatting about the new stuff with some friends, I have avoided reading other posts (and other peoples' speculations/theories from other websites/platforms) about it. I like to try and get it all out my head onto 'paper' before doing so (it's fun seeing the few things I get right and the more things I get wildly wrong in theorycrafting hhh). after this post I'm super excited to dive into other speculations, compare and contrast and also read the thoughts of others on things I will have totally missed!

this post will mention some things I already mentioned in previous posts.

First, I think it's interesting that the "Welcome to Dragon Age" text blurb on the website has been slightly updated. the old version reads:

“Enter Thedas, a vibrant world of rugged wilderness, treacherous labyrinths, and glittering cities. The Dragon Age is a time of warring nations, savage combat, and secret magics. Now, the fate of this world teeters on a knife’s edge. Thedas needs a new hero; one they’ll never see coming. Forge a courageous fellowship to challenge the gathering storm. Friendship, drama, and romance abound as you bring striking individuals together into an extraordinary team. Become the hero and light the beacon of hope in their darkest moments.” [can be seen here]

The new version reads:

"Enter the world of Thedas, a vibrant land of rugged wilderness, treacherous labyrinths, and glittering cities – steeped in savage combat and secret magics. Now, the fate of this world teeters on a knife's edge. Thedas needs a new leader; one they'll never see coming. You’ll forge a courageous fellowship to challenge the gathering storm. Friendship, drama, and romance will abound as you bring striking individuals together into an extraordinary team. Become the leader and light the beacon of hope in their darkest moments." [source]

I like "the world of Thedas" better as it makes for a nice call back to the World of Thedas lore books. The reference to "warring nations" has been removed which I find curious, and what remains is savage combat and secret magics only. I wonder if it was decided that some 'warring nations' storyline elements would take more of a back seat? e.g. the Tevinter/Qunari Antaam war or Qunari Antaam invasion of Tevinter and other northern nations. - in favor of focusing on the array of other stuff, factions, threats and plot-threads that's going on, like Solas' plans/the Veil, the threat of the Evil Gods, whatever's going down among the Wardens, all the new factions (Lords of Fortune, Shadow Dragons, Veil Jumpers), red lyrium etc? there's certainly lots the plot could involve and explore without a nations at war plotline/backdrop. The Qunari Antaam invasion has been covered a lot now anyways in short stories, Tevinter Nights, and the recent comics, and I'm reminded of how the mage-templar war in the run-up to DA:I seemed like it would be a bigger part of the game's plot than what it turned out to be.

Also interestingly, a new "hero" has been changed to new "leader". Become the "leader", not become the "hero". I feel like these words have kinda different connotations. what are the connotations of "leader" as opposed to "hero"?

I also like the Thedas Calls tagline. this teaser reminded me of parts of the DA:I "A Wonderful World" trailer, in that both are showcasing the varied regions we'll visit and locales that will feature in the game. and yk, I am super enjoying BG3, it's an amazing game that is really fun and beautiful and I've put loads of hours into it, but I miss the world&worldbuilding of DA. Thedas is calling to me indeed ( ´•̥̥̥ω•̥̥̥` )

Now, the fate of this world teeters on a knife's edge. // "a spike of lyrium sprang from the base of the idol, so that all at once, it was not merely an idol, but a ritual blade."

I also wanna take a moment to compile in one place the various lines posted by the BW and DA Twitter accounts:

"Thedas is on the cusp of revelation and on the brink of damnation."

"This is Thedas. 💜 Enjoy it while it lasts." ("What does that mean?!")

"The Dread Wolf readies to make his move."

It's well-established by now that Solas has been Planning things and that there are imminent threats (not just Solas) to Thedas. it's also pretty commonly thought that the Veil will indeed be brought down in or prior to the next game - that would change the nature of Thedas as we know it, and the nature of reality. one version of Thedas would end as a new world begins (or the old world returns?). these snippets also sound like general fantasy/marketing/high-stakes SAVE THE WORLD! / THE WORLD IS UNDER THREAT OMG taglines. lines from the DA:I marketing era ("Will you stand against [the darkness/fires above]? Or lead this world to its bitter end?", "Lead Them Or Fall") weren't super accurate to the contents of that game. so I'm not sure how much we can read into them. but they sound cool and serve a purpose. (even the Gear Store account is in part in on it btw, "unveiling" the new merch in the store hh).

I also like the suggestion that a sort of bronzey color accompanies the purple color themeing now. it's neat.

To the trailer. The teaser is "a mix of gameplay and cinematics". It "represents [a] game in development". it's in-engine. we're told that there will be a full reveal of DA:D in the summer of 2024. what might a full reveal entail? sounds like a kind of detailed showcase right? showing new companions, showing gameplay, story trailers and story information, in-depth looks at specific systems in or aspects of the game like skill trees or CC or something etc. when might that be exactly - perhaps Summer Game Fest, or during an EA Play type event? they could also just do their own showcase.

also overall I liked the teaser, I thought it was neat, it looked and sounded cool.

the new blurbs from the latest blog are relevant to the trailer, so let's put them here too.

Ever the pinnacle of mystery and intrigue, the Crows watch from the deep shadows of beautiful Antiva. Something, however, is amiss, and they are set on uncovering the source.

Upon eastern shores and sunkissed sands, the Lords of Fortune no longer hold dominion over the coasts of Rivain—not when dragons are growing bolder and laying waste to their ships.

To the far west, three Grey Wardens patrol the Anderfels. Tremors have been creating disturbances of late. Their cause is unknown. Upon the distant horizon, a storm of ominous intent brews and darkens the skies.

We see a shot of Antiva and the port-city of Treviso. this city is in northern Antiva, on the coast of the Rialto Bay. The Antivan Crows originate from the lands surrounding Treviso, and it’s an important city for the guild still, as well as the seat of House Valisti. Fittingly in this shot in the trailer we see a corvid in the foreground, and more flying from Treviso in other parts of the map.

Treviso has been captured, occupied, burned and liberated several times during the Qunari Wars and the New Exalted Marches, and in recent times irl and in the post-DA:I Thedas timeline, in the short story As We Fly it has been occupied and invaded by Qunari Antaam. ("The Antaam will rule Antiva. And Treviso will learn to kneel." / "Out of time, like your city. And soon, the world" / "Treviso will be free.")

He smiled and signaled for his men to halt, making a show of raising his war hammer to his shoulder, emphasizing its weight. "Out of breath?" he called.

I'd also like to note that while the blurbs reference tremors in the Anderfels, the trailer map shows fault lines/cracks in other parts of Thedas, as here in Antiva.

Next we see a shot of the Treviso skyline at night. corvids fill the night sky and it sounds like we can hear them cawing. on a tower or rooftop is a statue of a crow (in fact there's more than one of these), and the rooftops with the roof tiles and those distinctive domes look like they would be super fun to do some Assassin's Creeding on. it's cool to see this locale from previous teasers and previous concept art pieces come to life again. Does anyone see any hint of the Qunari Antaam occupation of Treviso being ongoing in this shot? I could be missing something.

"We fight for everyone, and we always will. The Crows rule Antiva." Who could the speaker be? Andarateia Cantori, Caterina Dellamorte, Noa de Acutis, a member of House Valisti, Crow Lady who is from concept art, the "another Crow" or "friend" who picked up the contract in As We Fly, someone new? What she's saying is also of note. the Crows are a guild of assassins who basically run Antiva, not freedom fighters per se. but as we can see in As We Fly, as the Crows have been combatting the Qunari Antaam occupation of the city, the Treviso populace have begun in part to see them as something akin to freedom fighters who are "fighting for us!" Noa and Neri, a pair of old Antivan Crows, discussed how the Crows are trying to free Antiva, and the Crow message being intentionally shaped in response to the message of the Qunari Antaam occupation:

"Pity,” said Noa, smiling across her drink. “I'd enjoy killing a few pretenders.” Neri smiled back. "Noted. But until then, we craft our message to answer theirs." He raised his cup. "The Crows rule Antiva." Noa answered with her own. "And Treviso will be free."

The Antivan Crow speaking in the trailer is echoing this message. it could also be a sincerely-held belief or principle for her of course. Teia for example seems to lean this way, and in Tevinter Nights it's detailed that before Houses and masks, the Crows were monks near Treviso. using some herbs they poisoned a local duke who was terrorizing a village; they did what needed to be done to protect the Antivan people. over the years, they've apparently lost sight of that. (with a Crow in TN saying that now it's all about family and blood instead of a claw working as one, and disparaging them for being all about money when, in the beginning, they were protectors who fought for Antiva and for the people. he felt that they had chosen profit over patriotism somewhere along the way). so for some Crows it's an actual sentiment and not just a crafted message. Tevinter Nights also mentions how the Crows are mostly heroes in Antiva (protecting it as it lacks an army), with Antivans tending to romanticize them as freedom fighters.

As for the blurb, I wonder what is amiss in Antiva? the Crows are apparently set on on uncovering the source of things being amiss in Antiva. Does this pertain to the Qunari Antaam invasion? Or is it to do with what Teia and Viago were investigating in one issue of Dragon Age: The Missing (which was of course a prequel comic)? they were in Vyrantium on a contract to kill Lady Crysanthus, because there were rumors of her unsavory connections and questions that needed to be answered. They believed that she was working with the Venatori, helping them to operate freely in Vyrantium while they laid their plans to plan a move against the Imperium. At the end of the comic, they say that they will report to the Crows what they learned with Varric and Harding, as "the Crows must be made aware that the Venatori are seeking to make a concerted move against the Imperium". that's Vyrantium and Tevinter ofc, but it could be part of some greater tangled thing. I'm also reminded of how in the Lucanis story, we learned that someone mysterious had contracted the Crows to kill a bunch of prominent Venatori. the Venatori were like "bro we will not cower to foreign mercs like the Crows". So perhaps they are cooking up something bad in Antiva because of this stuff between them?

in any event, per Tevinter Nights, with half her Talons dead, Antiva is more vulnerable than ever, and so something being amiss there does not sound good!!

The accompanying art piece from the blogpost (all three of these are beautiful ^^) shows three Crows on the Trevisan rooftops, looking out over the canals at night, one a bearded human man, one an elf, and one person who is facing away from the viewer's perspective.

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Next we move to Rivain. See here for prior posts on: the Evil Gods and cephalopods

I wonder if the placement of the squid monster ON/AS Rivain is just fun art/general foreboding 'oh no, the bad gods are coming',-themeing, or does it mean that an evil god is specifically rising in or under Rivain and that Rivain is in more danger? it's super clever art having the monster god be Rivain on the map anyways hh and it looks cool. I also think that it doesn't just look like a cephalopod - minus the tentacles, it looks like the head and snout of a dragon. I know the monster is following the shape of Rivaini landmass and so that's why, but it struck me nonetheless. (also I like the parallel imagery of a draconic squidthing vs draconic wolf in Fen'Harel's dragon-wolf form..)

it's a nice and ominous/threatening touch that the creature's eye turns to the viewer and the pupil dilates on catching sight of us. the creature's tentacles writhe and pour out of Rivain into the rest of northern Thedas. and when the trailer later shows a map of Tevinter coast, much of the center is entangled in tentacle-like or snake-like tendrils.

btw are these lines implied shipping lanes, cool lines because cool art looks cool, or something else? I ask because they reminded me of the repeating circles motif and the geometric type patterns in the vinyl art.

"Glory to the risen gods. They've come to deliver this world." - Risen Gods plural, there isn't just one of these bad ominous risen gods. and the Dread Wolf (though, despite the Fen'Harel cultist/followers in TN I don't think that he's one of those being referred to in that line) clearly isn't the only thing that has been "rising" in Thedas, there are multiple other ancient godlike entities other than Solas afoot. The tentacles and squid remind me of the Cekorax (see Evil Gods and cephalopod posts linked above), which is neither demon nor spirit and came from somewhere past the Veil. this creature could be of a similar ilk, like maybe the Cekorax was a mere mook type mob (that's the vibe it gave. a herald of what is to come but not anywhere near like being a big bad itself) compared to this trailer squid which is more like a king of its kind or something. the Cekorax also said that "things are rising" in the story it appeared in. I also note that like the Cekorax, the true nature of the Old Gods is yet unknown - are they demons, spirits, Great dragons, something else?

Cephalopods also commonly in fantasy-type media have dangerous, demonic, cthonic, Lovecraftian, interdimensional type vibes and symbolism going on, e.g. the Illithids in BGworld. In a Dragon Age context, this makes me think of the Void/the abyss, eluvian travel, implied 'spaces between' and how the Crossroads is like a sort of pocket dimension. cephalopods are ofc also sea creatures, and so this also reminds me of the imagery where the Fade (another realm) is described as being watery or being like a sea in nature (the well of all souls, emerald waters of the Fade, the sea of dreams etc). You can see why these creatures are portrayed as or were designed to be tentacley and cephalopody. this is becoming a ramble I know but it's all connected somehow aaa.

On the speaker during this segment: perhaps they are a Tevinter or Venatori Old God cultist, that's the sort of vibe I get from them. worship of the Old Gods still persists in secret parts of Tevinter society to this day, with cults to them existing. in recent times in Thedas, we've seen numerous examples of these:

"the Blood Band is an Old God cult led by Fallstick. They hate templars and don’t view blood magic as being inherently evil. the Last Moon are/were a cult dedicated to Lusacan. Early in the Dragon Age, they abducted and ritualistically murdered several people. Their goal at that time was to cause the start of a terrible battle, in order to cover Thedas in “a night that will never end” (Lusacan being the Dragon of Night). Magister Aurelian Titus also led a cult. Titus wanted to return all of the Imperium to the worship of the Old Gods. He tried to use the Dreamer abilities of himself and his cult, bolstered by the Magrallen artifact, in order to brainwash Thedosians. He had a vision of a restored Tevinter where slaves knew their place and the Chant of Light and the Qun were both purged from peoples’ minds. He said “The old gods. The dragon gods. We shall become them”. there’s also a tale of a group of Old God cultists who departed mainland Thedas on a trio of ships in the late Storm Age to try and reach the mysterious uninhabited land of Amaranth, across the eastern ocean. Their expedition was supposedly never heard from again" [source]

I note with scared hamster fear btw that the Amaranthine Ocean is in the east, the land beyond it is called Amaranth, Thedosian people go there or try to go there and never come back, and the land there is said to be devoid of any sentient species and yet when former settlements are found they were empty and the only survivor had been driven mad and killed themself. meanwhile, the Executors purport that they act on behalf of powers across the sea, they are cloaked from head to toe and smell of salt/brine like the sea, and they have a history of being active in the east of Thedas and Thedosian countries with eastern coasts. It was said that "those across the seas will come soon enough". I have also speculated before since literally the time of Tevinter Nights's release a link between Ghilan'nain and the Executors, given that they smell of salt/brine/the sea, given the salty/briny smell of her monster lab creecher pools, and given the sea monsters she created, giants of the sea, of which some she left alive "in deep waters, for they were too well-wrought [though these could be cetuses], and Pride stopped her hand":

"Ghilan'nain kept herself apart from the People. She used her power to create animals none had ever seen. The skies teemed with her monsters, the land with her beasts. Andruil hunted them all, and after a year of killing, approached Ghilan'nain with an offer: the gods would share their power with Ghilan'nain, but only if she destroyed her creations, for they were too untamed to remain among the People. Ghilan'nain agreed and asked for three days to undo what she had made. On the first day she struck down the monsters of the air, except those she presented to Andruil as a gift. On the second day she drowned the giants of the sea, except those in deep waters, for they were too well-wrought, and Pride stopped her hand. On the third day she killed the beasts of the land, except the halla, whose grace she loved above all else. This is how Ghilan'nain was made youngest of the gods. —Story of the elven god Ghilan'nain, author unknown"

Back to this line: "Glory to the risen gods. They've come to deliver this world." here, I presume, are two of these risen gods, or these two are the risen gods. the one on the left has a watery motif with those wavy lines (water pouring off them as they rise from the sea), or it looks like seaweed hanging from their crown. in the concept art piece it's also depicted bursting out of the sea.

People connect the lefthand figure to Ghilan'nain, among others. The figure on the right has pointed ears. I think they are Ghil and Elgar'nan.

This speaker also reminded me of the Jaws of Hakkon trailer. the Jaws of Hakkon past and present tried to bring their dragon-formed god to life or free him to destroy the Lowlands. the old Inquisitor and then the new Inquisitor then fought to save Thedosian lands from Hakkon. An Avvar (Gurd) with a not dissimilar English accent to this second trailer speaker (a non-RP one) says "blood will spill before the new moon". the trailers then both end with a godlike entity speaking a threat: "Lowlanders, I am the breath of winter, the cold wind of war. Join me in battle and die" and "All the world will soon share the peace and comfort of my reign". I am not saying that I think the second speaker in the Thedas Calls trailer is an Avvar, a Hakkonite or an Avvar devotee of a different god, or that I think the final speaker in the Thedas Calls trailer is Hakkon or another Avvar god btw. just that I was struck by the similarity of theme and patterns that repeat in Thedas, echoing across time and dimensions.

If not an Old God cultist, I could also see the second speaker being a Venatori or Venatori-type person. the speaker is obviously a follower or cultist of some kind of these "risen gods". the Venatori are arguably a cult, although not precisely of the Old Gods exactly but of one of the High Priests of the Old Gods, the Conductor, who we knew as Corypheus. They see/saw Corypheus as the Elder One and a deity, essentially, and want to restore the glory of Tevinter. They revered him and believed he’d turn them into god-kings when he became a proper god. Although routed by the Inquisitor in DAI, as we know they’re not gone. and Corypheus wasn't the only High Priest of the Old Gods, or the only ancient magister that breached the Fade (and there was more of them besides just the Architect). it's also possible that rather than one of Corypheus' contemporaries the modern Venatori have simply switched to straight up Old God worship, sans Cory-style middleman, and this is a modern Ventatori speaking - and in Tevinter Nights, one prominent Venatori loyalist tried to release a demon that was sealed under Minrathous in a ritual attempt to bring about “Minrathous’ return”. It was thought that the demon is so powerful that only a god (like Corypheus) could summon it. you sure could restore Tevinter to supremacy if you brought back its ancient powerful gods. but more on the god stuff later.

Back to Rivain.

The cave rocks and stalactites give the sense of a toothed maw. the sea water is so bright and blue! in the distance in the sea looks to be a statue (of Andraste?). there's ships wrecked in the waters. the vegetation looks vibrant, and on the shore looks to be the skeleton of a great creature, maybe a dragon or a giant squid type creature that beached and died or died and was washed ashore. I also wonder why there are stalagmites among the ruins? as in why would people build buildings around stalagmites or rock protrusions like that. curious. also, it's cool to see this locale from previous teasers and previous concept art pieces come to life again. Also I feel like the blue dome structure is somehow notable. it feels familiar??

We should also talk about the Rivain blurb. The Antivan Crows in Antiva are not alone in facing something amiss in their nation. The Lords of Fortunes' dominion over Rivaini coasts is slipping because dragons are growing bolder and laying waste to their ships. indeed, the trailer shows a wrecked ship, as does the accompanying art piece, which also features a red dragon curled around a chest of piratey treasure. What could be causing the dragons to grow bolder and attack ships? Is something upsetting or stressing them in the way that wild animals irl may lash out to humans when stressed or predate human livestock/attack humans the more humans encroach on their territory and deplete their natural food sources? Is something or someone controlling them in order to cause havoc (we have examples of people controlling dragons in DA)? Or as dragons, can they just innately sense that something, such as a potential return of dragon-formed dragon-gods, is coming, and are getting stirred up by that feeling? Have they been Blighted or maddened by something? there's that "eastern sea" motif cropping up again btw, and the Rivain blurb also made me wonder if this DA:D codex was written in Rivain about one of the dragons there, especially since it's about a dragon that can swim and catch prey underwater:

this particular dragon has been hunting more than she needs, which could tie to destroying ships (or just be because she has babies). she's also not been attacking [REDACTED] unless they get close to her den, where her babies are. I think it's a fair assumption that the [REDACTED] thing in this codex could be what's behind the weirdly-behaving dragons on the Rivaini coast, and that it's redacted because it's spoilery. I also think it's interesting that this codex specifically mentions the dragon preying on.. squid, a cephalopod. what if she or other dragons in the area ate Cekorax-level mook squidguys that had been like schlorpin' around or near Rivain of late and were driven mad or corrupted by it or something? :<

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Next the trailer travels to the Anderfels, with a roar of battle during the transition. someone yelling a battlecry, and the clang of sword. the third speaker sounds like a hardened fighter, a seasoned commander. he is speaking when he's about to be attacked, or in a pause in battle - like he's in a fortress that is or soon will be under seige. there are cracks, faultlines in the ground in the Anderfels, just like there were in the Antiva map. and indeed, the Anderfels blurb specifically tells us that the land there has recently been shaking with tremors that have been causing disturbances, tremors of unknown cause. around the Anderfels in this map shot are smoky billowing clouds, representing the "storm of ominous intent" that is brewing and darkening the skies, encircling the Anderfels in a way that reminds me of the way the Blight encroached on Fereldan lands on the map of Ferelden in DA:O. the cracks go towards Weisshaupt. we can probably say that we are going to Weisshaupt in DA:D just like we're going to Treviso in DA:D, and we can probably say from this trailer that Weisshaupt is in imminent danger, or maybe even already under attack or laid to waste. it's cool to see this locale from previous teasers and previous concept art pieces come to life again. "far west" also makes me think about the Volca sea and the place beyond it hinted at in World of Thedas, where ships came captained by dwarves talking of a cataclysm.

The griffon obviously represents Weisshaupt fortress. I'm so excited to finally go there for real (but worried about what is happening there). "Grey Wardens don't hide in our castle. I won't ask good soldiers to turn tail and run." - The situation sounds dire. This line also reminded me of Davrin's line in a previous trailer where he heroically said "Nobody dies on my watch! For the Wardens." (I don't think the speaker is Davrin though, the Davrin line just further adds to the stakes of the bad situation the Wardens are probably in rn). Remember, things weren't sounding good for the Wardens in the various DA:I and Trespasser epilogues:

The Grey Wardens of the south slowly rebuild in the months following the events at Adamant. They declare it time for the Order to emerge from the shadows, to join the rest of humanity in fighting their ancient foes. Rumors abound that they severed ties with their leaders at Weisshaupt, and that a bitter war now rages between them. What becomes of Hawke/Loghain/Stroud/Alistair is unknown – save that all news out of Weisshaupt soon ends. Does the sudden silence indicate a battle within... or something far worse? - Those Grey Wardens who survived the battle at Adamant ventured north into exile. They returned to the mighty fortress of Weisshaupt, and word slowly spreads that a battle for control of the Order has erupted. - It is said that Loghain/Stroud/Alistair leads these Wardens in their rebellion, a fight to change the Order from within. - If Hawke reaches Weisshaupt with them is unknown. Indeed, before long, all news out of Weisshaupt ends. - Slowly, the Wardens withdraw from across the north as well. Some believe the ancient order is on the verge of vanishing forever.

There's basically a Warden civil war and Weisshaupt has gone dark, and the Wardens are on the brink. Romanced Warden Blackwall kept getting increasingly urgent messages summoning him to return to Weisshaupt, and eventually when they became too urgent to ignore, he left for the sake of duty, and then years passed and he never returned and is implied to have fallen in the line of duty. (btw, maybe a Warden splinter faction/Warden civil war is the explanation of why we are now seeing a variant version of the traditional Grey Warden heraldry?)

I wonder if this speaker is the First Warden or a high up Warden who is opposed to the First Warden (or a male Hawke who survived DA:I and went to Weisshaupt in the epilogue?? probably not, because by the Trespasser epilogue Hawke has returned and been helping Varric in Kirkwall). I am leaning towards a different leader Warden who is opposed to the First Warden, as opposed to the First Warden themselves. Reason being, the FW commands from Weisshaupt HQ (holed up in a castle) and does not sound to be very frontline battle-like or heroic, unlike the speaker. the FW is said to be mostly caught up in Anderfels politicking, as there the Wardens are regarded as basically nobility, and the FW offers little guidance to the Order or its commanders. they are said to be mostly a figurehead, and even the Hero of Ferelden themself, right after stopping the Fifth Blight could "expect little assistance or guidance so far from the Anderfels" cleaning up the darkspawn dregs in Ferelden in Awakening, because:

Even those close to Weisshaupt learn to suffer alone. The murmurs are true—the First Warden is often embroiled in the politics of the Anderfels and has little opportunity to consider worldly matters. I would like to believe it is a matter of survival, not of political self-interest. [source]

This line, "Grey Wardens don't hide in our castle. I won't ask good soldiers to turn tail and run", it doesn't sound like something such a figurehead would say. assuming it's still the same First Warden in command, it sounds like the FW's focus in the years before and since the Fifth Blight IS political self-interest rather than survival or for the Order's survival (distracted from the Grey Warden original purpose/duty at best, potentially something much darker and far worse, in that way that Wardens are wont to do - see what they got up to in DA:I etc). it sounds like the FW's actions have caused a segment of the Wardens to resent them and maybe rebel, try to take control back of the order. this is probably part of what's caused the schism/civil war/disarray. and I think the trailer speaker sounds like someone who is opposed to the FW and their 'type of Wardening'. I would not be surprised if this is a sort of rebel faction leader that we meet, and if in the years since DA:I, it's no longer Loghain/Stroud/Alistair that is leading the Warden rebellion to change the Order from within and is instead this speaker. (you could easily write that 'in the years since, X had to go and do something elsewhere and Speaker Warden took up the reins'. Heck if it's 9:52 some of them could have been due their Calling.. this would also remove the need to spend the resources to have 3 models and 3 sets of specific lines for the 3 characters in the same role. instead of a "Wrex or Wreave or Wreave2 oR EVEN HAWKE" situation, in the time since DA:I the quantum for that whole role could have been collapsed and it's just like "hello, I am previously-unknown Krogan Leader, Warden Wron Wreasely".)

Anyways, I think the next shot is also the Anderfels (the trailer shows 2x Antiva shots, 2x Rivain shots, 1 Tevinter/general northern Thedas shot and so it would make sense for these two to be 2x Anderfels shots), specifically I think it's Weisshaupt, and I think it shows Weisshaupt after some kind of attack or cataclysm, explaining what the epilogues were alluding to and why it has gone dark. See here.

"[this image is Weisshaupt] after some kind of attack? like the ruins of Weisshaupt after something terrible went wrong. There’s a blue flag in this image like there are in this one. in this image of Weisshaupt something terrible, bright and green and magic (Fadey?) is going on outside. this last image to me has the feel of the ‘aftermath’ of that one, especially if it was a kind of magic explosion/attack. in the new trailer, the Grey Warden character is still talking when it pans to this scene, and it pans to this scene right after the view of the Anderfels on the map, where we saw cracks in the ground spreading ominously towards Weisshaupt. the trailer also shows 2 shots of Antiva and 2 of Rivain. I think there’s 2 of the Anderfels too (map + this one) before the final view of 1 pic of the northern coast. last time we heard from the Wardens as well, it sounded like some weird and strange and dangerous stuff was going down there too." [source]

So it sounds like this is what's befallen the Wardens, beyond their general disarray from their civil war. this image is so interesting to me. there's a green tinge in the sky, reminding me of the Fade/Breach and as mentioned, of that concept art. the atmosphere is so dark and ominous, lightning cracking in the sky just as the ground on the maps cracked with fault lines. it heavily reminds me of the Bad Red Lyrium Future in DA:I in atmosphere and tone, and if you look here there could be the suggestion of red lyrium on this door (alarm klaxon!!).

also, is it just me, or can we see the pattern of carved griffon wings on this door/gateway or the stone around the door/gateway in this shot? also when the lightning flashes and illuminated things for a moment, I wondered if there were a few tiny figures on the clifftop in the distance, but maybe I am just seeing things.

The red lyrium is obviously alarming. it and the whole atmosphere of this shot immediately reminds me of the old EA Play 'spooky tree' teaser, with its dark skies, ominous setting, and red lyrium coiling around the tree and on parts of a building.

I am wondering if ^ this is the same place as this. (no it doesn't look like dry badlands Anderfels climate conditions, but if a magic cataclysm of some kind has taken place or things got somehow warped, local climate conditions could also be impacted unnaturally). Another reason beyond the red lyrium that I say this is: these shots also look to be from the same location, and what have we here?

A statue of Andraste in the 'red lyrium darkspawn' location, and a statue of Andraste on the Anderfels map in the new teaser. I know the Anders are devout and there's the Our Lady of the Anderfels statue of her there. and I know that there's also a possible statue of Andraste in the Rivain coast shot, and indeed of her all over Thedas. but I'm 👁️ because the presentation of these ones juxtaposed like this struck me, as did the similar conditions from the 'spooky tree teaser'/'red lyrium darkspawn' location compared to the 'Anderfels 2' shot. if red lyrium darkspawn would surface anywhere, I could see it most likely to be in the Blight-wracked Anderfels, and I could also see some of the Wardens fucking around with red lyrium in order to try and gain power to combat the Blight, or information about the Blight in order to stop it (red lyrium being Blighted), and so inadvertently causing red lyrium to spread all over Weisshaupt. we also have this concept:

of a barren wasteland, red-eyed (red lyrium..) creatures/undead, a red lyrium afflicted ruined part of a big building like from a fortress, a red lyrium-affected tree twisting towards the sky, and the ever present 'trapped Evanuris Dragon Age 4 concentric circles' 'concentric circles with hemispheres' motif in the sky. and again the ominous atmosphere, darkness, and green tinge in the sky reminds me of the 'Anderfels 2' shot in the new trailer.

Aside from that, what are these rings? is it part of a puzzle, or part of a platforming type mechanic? the thing they remind me of rly is the rings from the Jaws of Hakkon DLC. these were part of the ruined structures of a temple Razikale (an Old God, which.. of course the Wardens fight them in Blights when they become corrupted into Archdemons) in the Frostback Basin. in the quest On Ameridan's Trail, the Inquisitor pulls leavers to activate these things, which are trail markers, and they point to the next trail marker through a ring. the first of these markers is outside of Razikale's Reach, and activating them all gains the Inky access to the next quest.

maybe the rings in the teaser are part of a similar mechanism? I feel like it would be a sort of delicious and tragic irony if one of the two last remaining Old Gods (who btw are Lusacan and.. Razikale) were slumbering in the Deep Roads right deep beneath Weisshaupt. or perhaps Weisshaupt itself was built on the site or on the bones of a temple to the Old Gods? as to why that wondering is relevant, in this scenario maybe the ring things were part of a temple to the Old God that once stood on that site?

all of this is interesting considering we know that Wardens fight corrupted Old Gods as Archdemons, the Old Gods sleep trapped underground until burrowing darkspawn find and Taint them, two remain, "glory to the risen gods" and there are tremors in the ground in the Anderfels. and especially considering the DA:D concept art that people often call the 'Double Blight' concept art, which features a Warden and companions fighting darkspawn with 2 horrid weird Blighted-looking Archdemon-looking Old-god-looking dragons in the background. especially considering the 'gold dragon' and 'dark dragon' in the vinyl art. etc

so it seems that a sleeping Old God rising/escaping from underground could be a potential reason for the tremors in the Anderfels. BUT there are other very possible reasons too. these include: the Titans, who are "the pillars of the earth" and possessed of massive, tectonic-platelike power; the cataclysm from across the Volca Sea somehow spreading to the Anderfels; and the underground Ghilan'nain (ol' Ghil crops up again) monster labs from Tevinter Nights. in Horror of Hormak, some Wardens venture into the Deep Roads, find mutated darkspawn, yellow-green lyrium, a sea salt/briny smell, and deep elven ruins with the monster lab carvings on the wall. an enormous centipede monster comes out of the pool. the story ends by telling us that Ramesh has to warn the other Wardens, as the lab he found was only one of twelve. so it's also possible that the tremors are another one of these monster labs and another monster rising from a pool.

There are also some interesting inscriptions from Razikale's reach, written by those who worshipped her.

To She Who Winds the Skein of Wisdom, we dedicate this citadel. Dragon of Mystery, bestow upon your faithful servants your ineffable truth. Grant us eyes to pierce the darkness and souls to bear the wounds of your labyrinth.

For me this harks back to "Enter the world of Thedas, a vibrant land of rugged wilderness, treacherous labyrinths, and glittering cities."

Razikale, O Shadow Which Obscures the Path Ahead, deliver your faithful, save us from the silence which devours

This reminds me of "Glory to the risen gods who come to deliver this world."

Dragon of Mystery, return to us, we beg you.

"The risen gods": risen, returned

If the Imperium has fallen, we shall build it anew. This citadel shall be a new Minrathous, and we who serve the Twisted Path shall be its Magisterium. Praise be to Razikale—may our raised voices reach her and bring her back to us at last.

Bring her back, risen. Building Tevinter anew, "all the world shall soon share the peace and comfort of my reign". I'm not saying I think Speaker 4 is Razikale, just that these things remind me of one another. Lusacan perhaps however..

The other thing about the Andefels is that in the accompanying image from the blog post, there's a brewing storm on the horizon. I imagine that if an Old God or other monster roses from out of the ground in a dusty land it would cause a big old dust cloud or storm that darkens the skies. I wonder if this is what this art piece depicts? the eye is also drawn to the small red items in the bottom left hand corner - some kind of plant, or small red lyrium crystals? also as an aside I liked that one of the Wardens is an elf. Maybe that's Antoine, and the Warden sitting down is Evka? they could just look shorter because of sitting down and the angle though, and I guess the weapons of choice don't match for these two Wardens to be Antoine and Evka. also I thought the knightly Warden's spear/polearm was cool and think it would be super cool if those were options for warriors as weapons in DA:D.

Lastly the trailer pans to this shot, which shows part of northern Thedas - including Tevinter - coastline, and other parts of the Thedas map which have featured in the new trailer thus far (panned out).

It doesn't say "Tevinter" on the map in that shot, but we're looking at the Nocen Sea and the land around it, including Seheron. On the right are the white spires of Treviso city in Antiva again, Crows flying out from it. Beyond that is the hint of Rivain, with its 'squid'. We can see Minrathous clearly on the left, and a mass of tentacles or snake-like pattern twining through Tevinter (mentioned here) but which have not yet reached Minrathous. Cracks in the ground in Tevinter are also apparent, and so it's likely in Tevinter too. we can also see Arlathan Forest (breathes into paper bag) and the outline of the mountain called the White Spire.

In the Forest is the suggestion of aravels, which remind you of these 'flying aravels' (halla circled, elven scene pictured) / 'flying ships' from this concept art, which in turn resemble Dalish aravels. I feel like this in turn confirms that this concept art is of a place nearby or in Arlathan Forest:

which, given that the Veil Jumpers are an alliance of Dalish mages and hunters along (with some non-elves), it makes sense that there would be elfy/Dalish-looking aravels/ships there. Aravels were said to float by a magic method in a specific scenario in the Last Flight, but perhaps, given the space-time reality warping happening recently in Arlathan Forest (DA: The Missing, Ruins of Reality), and the Veil Jumpers' eponymous ability to navigate this, perhaps this explains why the aravels can float in this area, in a place where up is down and down is up etc. also the floating rocks stuff is classically Fadey, classically magic. In turn, the biome/vegetation etc in this art crops up a lot in the Veil Jumper images, see here (the yellowy/amber vegetation, the trees, floating stuff etc).

Now about Speaker 4, "all the world shall soon know the peace and comfort of my reign". As he speaks, the purpley foreboding clouds float over and encircle northern Thedas. Speaker 4 could be one of the 'risen gods' that Speaker 2 refers to earlier in the trailer (Speaker 4 obviously isn't Solas). This section reminds me a lot of the DA:I Enemy of Thedas trailer. I don't think it's Cory, but the vibe, voices and sentiments are similar. The Elder One comes etc. Cory was all like "Bow before your new god and be spared", "I am worthy of godhood" etcetc. I wonder if Speaker 4 is another ancient Magister like Cory, one of the others of that group? Some other fanatical Tevinter cult leader (as opposed to cultist like Speaker 2 may be), like a Venatori leader, or the Archon or the Black Divine? the voice of the squid monster? one of the Forgotten Ones? one of the Forbidden Ones - the Formless One? an entity we've not yet heard of? the voice of an Old God, two of whom have now risen/returned? ("Risen" would make sense if you had to literally.. rise out of the ground LOL). I sorta lean towards the Old God or Old God priest/ancient magister idea, because when Speaker 4 finishes speaking, his voice deepens and "reign" rolls into the SFX of like a big beast's growl or rumble, like a dragon growling. & and the Old Gods are dragons, and a divine pretender like Cory already had a dragon himself. If it is an Old God, we could probably guess at it being Lusacan, as the voice sounds like a dude and Lusacan is referred to with he pronouns. and Lusacan is one of the two remaining sleeping OGs along with Razikale (who in contrast is referred to with she pronouns). Call of the Dark also said this:

“Lusacan, the Dragon of Night, calls to you. He lives where it is darkest and waits for the day he will rise. Drink of his blood and know the power in darkness: either fear the Night or wield it."

I guess Lusacan's day could have come? "The darkspawn yearn to awaken and corrupt Lusacan to start a new age of darkness." we talked about the Last Moon cult already,

the Last Moon are/were a cult dedicated to Lusacan. Early in the Dragon Age, they abducted and ritualistically murdered several people. Their goal at that time was to cause the start of a terrible battle, in order to cover Thedas in “a night that will never end” (Lusacan being the Dragon of Night).

it wouldn't be the first time Lusacan has cult followers of late. the eternal night idea is interesting to me too. the speaker doesn't say "MY REIGN WILL BE BLOODY, FIERY, AND AWFUL I WILL TORTURE YOU ALL FOR ETERNITY". it will still be bad and he is still gonna rule, but he frames it in terms of a creepy sense of peace, security and comfort. night-times can obviously be creepy (fear of the dark etc) but they're also a time of peace, quiet, when we sleep in our beds, comfortable, underneath blankets in the blackness, ensconced in darkness. a 'in the womb' type darkness I guess, shared eternal sleep, Sloth in DA:O type vibes. (thinking also again of Titus' cult where he was going to use Dreamer abilities to brainwash all of Thedas and become a dragon god/old god. Dreaming links to that imagery of peaceful comfortable sleep, and if you were brainwashed to think you were living a peaceful live in a comfortable place, well, you would.).

Another possibility is that Speaker 4 is an Evanuris, who are said to be 'Evil Gods' that would return if Solas brings down the Veil. - and I think this is what's most likely precisely because of the "Evil Gods" stuff in Trespasser and the BioWare 25 year book. Flemythal needs/needed Solas' plan to succeed and them to be released for her to take her vengeance and kill them, you can't kill someone locked away from your realm in magical prison. I also wonder if it's Elgar'nan because of:

and

(staff shape), as well as:

there is also the eclipse-style imagery in the in-game Dragon Age: Dreadwolf cinematic and a bunch of previous sun/moon motifs/references floating around e.g. Dalish lore holds Mythal created the moon and was born of the sea (so a moon connection there via the tides), and that Elgar'nan opposite her is the Eldest of the Sun, the guy who buried the Sun, the Pools of the Sun etc. also those art assets of overlapping spheres, repeating/concentric circles etc. [...] left [in the vinyl art], silvery dragon - Mythal? right dragon (which is gold-toned despite the blackening) - Elgar'nan, after he’s approached her [maybe as the figure on the rock promontory] and then murdered her and taken her place as the god, ruler, dragon who presides over all? moon and sun, moon dragon and sun dragon, beauty and destruction.. the shape of the 'right-hand’ dragon’s horns match the evanuris headpiece on the ring which is in the biggest hemisphere, and of the 7 gods those headpieces apply to (9 Evanuris, minus Mythal and Fen'Harel), the 'biggest’ naturally is the patriarch leader opposite Mythal, Elgar'nan. [quoting myself from here]

If it was Elgar'nan I would ascend, primarily bc I simply think he is the most metal of all the potential options ('wanna fight Elgar'nan' since 2014 squad!!). and also I am for some reason an Elgar'nan truther, like if you said, MJ, you're just suggesting literally all possibilities here in this post, who do you think it actually is and you can only choose one in your answer? (Elgar'nan, and I think this is him too). But I would like to say that the actual things the speaker says remind me somewhat of Falon'din, god of death and fortune and guide in the Beyond. There is A Certain type of vanity inherent in the idea that if you ruled all the world, everyone would be knowing the peace and comfort of your reign. sounds more vain and insidious than random basal cruelty or tyranny. and Solas says of Falon'Din in the Temple of Mythal:

"I do not believe they sing songs about Falon'Din's vanity. It is said Falon'Din's appetite for adulation was so great, he began wars to amass more worshippers. The blood of those who wouldn't bow low filled lakes as wide as oceans. Mythal rallied the gods, once the shadow of Falon'Din's hunger stretched across her own people. It was almost too late. Falon'Din only surrendered when his brethren bloodied him in his own temple."

And like Tamlen identifies this statue as Falon'Din in DA:O (and also noting that this statue follows a design which was an old discarded design for the Old Gods' appearance before the title of the series made it so they had to change them into dragons). I could imagine the peace and comfort of my reign line coming from such an entity. So I feel like in a way Falon'Din matches the vibe of the line more than Elgar'nan, who seems to be more of the fiery anger, aggressively lashing out type.

But MJ, I hear you say, how can Speaker 4 be an Evanuris rather than an Old God when it peels off into a dragon growl? Well my friend, there is dragon stuff up in the Evanuris' grill as well, may I introduce you to the idea that: "The Evanuris Were [all] Dragons[haped sometimes]"

of course, if you subscribe to the 'Old Gods and Evanuris are the same, or linked somehow' theories, it could be both an OG and an Evanuris, or both, in a manner of speaking. and there is a link for example between Falon'Din and Lusacan suggested by Tenebrium. in which case the Razikale pairing could be Razikale-Ghilan'nain for instance, given the Ghil presence in the lore and the monster labs etc.

"Called "Shadow" in the common parlance, likely due to the ancient association of the constellation Tenebrium with Lusacan, the Old God of darkness and the night. It is odd, however, that the depiction for this constellation has always been an owl and not a dragon, even in the Tevinter texts. This lends credence to the widely-held belief that Tenebrium was a name meant to supplant an older, elven association—perhaps with the elven god Falon'Din, sometimes represented in tales as a giant owl. There is, of course, another explanation: owls are nocturnal hunters, and among earlier people, were considered terrifying omens of loss."

Speaker 4 also sounds like a or one of the big bads. ofc 'Solas is not the real big bad, something else is afoot' is a long-running theory, the idea that he's a red herring or perhaps 'The Dragon' to something else (perhaps Mythal or another non-supergood entity that he's trying to stop, say, Speaker 4), like how Loghain is an antagonist but he can even be recruited, and the real overarching enemy in that story is the Blight/Archdemon.

The trailer ends with an echoing, wolf-Fen'Harel howl. I thought it was neat how that followed right after the rumbling draconic growl, like a warning of the danger of that entity, or Solas following in its trail on its heels to oppose or try to stop it, yelling a war cry as they go to do battle or something. the dragon growl into wolf howl also reminded me of Fen'Harel's draconic wolf/lupine dragon appearance as described in TN.

Overall, I feel like the speakers in the trailer aren't companions but important NPCs we will meet (for example I think Davrin sounds like a more likely Warden companion than Warden Speaker 3 from this trailer).

In general, the trailer showcases, or rather teases, some of the locations we will go to in DA:D and confirms Antiva, Rivain, and the Anderfels along with the already-confirmed Tevinter. I wonder if we will go to Nevarra at all? the scope (at least four countries) seems like a lot but I would guess that these would be smaller zones within each of the countries, like the different zones for the main questlines in DA:O or something, rather than straight up an open-world or four massive open-world maps. With the water in Rivain coastline, I wonder if swimming makes its series debut? and with so many different countries involved, I wonder again about us travelling around via eluvians on a commandeered portion of the eluvian network, and it + the Rivain stuff also makes me think of the common fan theory that we will have a ship base. Minrathous and Treviso are also on the coast incidentally, we could like sail between them.

It also seems that the trailer lends credence to the idea that these three factions, Antivan Crows, Lords of Fortune, and the Grey Wardens are important factions in the game. Perhaps we will have a companion from each of these groups, or perhaps these are different backstories (I'm saying backstories because we don't know if it's selectable backgrounds like in DA:I or playable origins like in DA:O, and because I feel like playable origins isn't as likely) the PC can be from. this would make sense, as we need to "find people he doesn't know", while in Tevinter Nights groups which Solas seems to have more detailed knowledge of, and groups which are interested in moving against Solas, were mentioned (Carta, Mortalitasi, Tevinter Siccari, Qunari Ben-Hassrath, Inquisition remnants, Executors - note that the Lords of Fortune, Antivan Crows and Grey Wardens were not among these). Wardens can be any class and the order has humans, dwarves and elves in it. The LoFs contain humans, dwarves, and elves and there's no lore saying mages can't be LoFs (mages would make good treasure-hunters too). the Crows contain humans and elves, Calien d'Evaliste was a mage Crow. given where Crow recruits sometimes come from you could probably write a Surface Dwarf Crow. there are assasins in the Carta, so it's not like a dwarven assassin is a crazy idea or something.

Some of the text from the blog entry is also worth mentioning. at the top, character focus and a "few returning characters" (I wonder if this means characters beyond Solas and Varric..?) was exciting. other quotes of note compiled below:

we’re sharing a look at a few of the in-game locations you’ll explore on this new adventure (and perhaps a little more for those who listen closely). The stage is set. The Dread Wolf is ready to make his move.

More locations if we listen closely? is there hints hidden in the trailer audio? can anyone confirm?

This time, you’ll be venturing to places unseen and returning to places from long ago.

Does this mean we will visit ruins of / what remains of ancient places in Thedas in DA:D, that we will visit places back in time temporally in DA:D, see echoes in the Fade, or that in DA:D we will return to locations we visited in earlier games in the series?

We stand on the precipice of change.

hello Flemeth advice/prophecy reference (“We stand upon the precipice of change. The world fears the inevitable plummet into the abyss. Watch for that moment... and when it comes, do not hesitate to leap. It is only when you fall that you learn whether you can fly.”)

This time, however, much more of Thedas is yours to see. The desolate, beautiful badlands of the Anderfels with curtains of distant mountainous spires. The twisting canals and gleaming towers of Antiva, where Crows may lurk in any shadow. The turquoise seas of Rivain with its rushes of greenery and hardy sea-faring people. And of course, there’s more.

Anderfels badlands: the DA:D team's location scouting visit to Drumheller badlands in Alberta now makes sense. ^^ this description of the locales is also 👌

We felt this was best for the tale we wanted to tell this time and we hope you enjoy it as much as we have! It’s allowed us to create many more locations than past games, including both some you’ve longed to go to…and some you’ve never heard of before!

ヽ(°〇°)ﾉ places we've never even heard of before! The places Beyond Thedas like Amaranth and Par Ladi, type of places, or places we've never even heard the names of before ever?

An insult that he took as a badge of pride. An insult to inspire hope in his friends and fear in his enemies. That is what Fen’Harel, the Dread Wolf, truly is. Not a man who sees himself as evil, but someone who believes he’s fighting for a good cause and is willing to get his hands dirty.

dragon age dragon age dragon age

we’ll have much more to share with you as we approach Summer 2024.

this comment makes it sound like there will be a few bits of info in the lead up to Summer 2024.

Know this, though: The Dread Wolf has not been idle these past years. His reach is far, and soon his plans will come to fruition—a cataclysmic rejoining of magic and realms hundreds of years in the making. Will you be able to stop him? We hope so.

I wonder if these past years in-world are the timeskip that takes us to 9:52? the cataclysmic rejoining of magic and realms again make it sound like the Veil is definitely coming down.

anyways those are some thoughts for now. ^^

if you have any thoughts pls let me know. ^^ also I'm sorry that this post is so rambly and it like talks about multiple theories all mashed up at once, has some repetitive elements etc. but if you read this far I hope you enjoyed dragon ageing with me. (❁´◡`❁)

#dragon age: dreadwolf #dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #da4 #dragon age #bioware #video games #longpost #long post #mj meta #solas #dragon age: the missing #dragon age: the missing spoilers #alistair theirin #fav warden #sry this is late tho u can see by the length why it took so long #but also i dont know how it got that long. i ramble >0< but this was fun #there is a lot in this trailer imo

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