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#the heroes of thedas

shannaraisles · 2 years

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A SNIP IN TIME 'VERSE

The three known heroes of Thedas as of 9:41 Dragon.

Gisela Cousland-Therin - one of two survivors of the Howe attack on the Cousland family, the woman who ended the Fifth Blight almost before it began, beloved Queen of King Alistair Theirin.

Left her home in Denerim mid-summer of 9:40 Dragon to seek out a cure for the Wardens who willingly inflict the Blight upon themselves to protect Thedas from what will come. A cure that may also save the life of her only child ...

***

Robert Hawke - a survivor of Lothering, and the reluctant Champion of Kirkwall. Brother to both a Warden and a mage, who has lost as much as he has gained. Was once closely associated with the Prince of Starkhaven, but events in Kirkwall appear to have ended that association.

Left Kirkwall in the wake of the destruction of the Chantry to prevent the threatened Exalted March. Last known location was somewhere in mid-Ferelden, before the explosion at the Conclave; appears to be investigating the proliferation of red lyrium ...

***

Athera Lavellan - the only known survivor of the explosion at the Divine Conclave, declared Herald of Andraste, and accepted leader of the Inquisition.

Seeking answers to her own mysteries as much as to the mysteries plaguing the Inquisition. Has proven her loyalty to the Inquisition many times over thus far. May be the only one who can stop Corypheus ...

#a snip in time #oc - gisela cousland-theirin #oc - robert hawke #oc - athera lavellan #the heroes of thedas

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exhausted-archivist · 8 months

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All Lore from the Dragon Age: Official Cookbook: Taste of Thedas

This is going to be a long post with all the lore from the cookbook collected in one post. This is only going to be counting the lore in the "blurbs" so to speak as the actual recipes themselves, which are not meant to be set in-world.

Additionally, it should be noted that I am unable to say one way or the other if the props used in the photos or the etching art shown on some recipes are to be taken as reflecting the canon the cookbook narrator is in. For the sake of completeness, I have included the less conclusive elements.

Shoving everything below the cut for length as well as to help people avoid spoilers. Think I got everything... There is a lot in this book honestly.

Cookbook Lore

World State

Cassandra is Divine.

The Hero of Ferelden is a Cousland Warden.

The Warden gave Leliana Schmooples.

Hawke is a non-mage, as Varric knows Bethany.

Hawke is diplomatic in personality.

Bull's Chargers, Krem, and Bull are all alive.

Cullen stayed off lyrium.

Celene is empress; Briala and Gaspard are still alive.

Alistair is king.

Varric is viscount.

Uncertain aspects of the world state:

The suggested lore based on the art, props used in photos, and vague wording in blurbs. These are not for certain this is the canon.

Briala is described as a spymaster and lover, implying she was possibly reunited with Celene.

Celene, Briala, and Gaspard are possibly working together in the truce. But the wording is vague it could simply be Celene ruling alone while Briala and Gaspard live.

Cole was encouraged to be more human and is traveling with Maryden Halewell.

Cullen got his mabari.

Josephine was romanced by the Inquisitor.

Morrigan has Keiran.

The Hero of Ferelden romanced King Alistair.

Food Lore

Lentils and onions are common ingredients to find in pantries across Thedas.

Ferelden has reliable access to tomatoes that allows them to use them regularly in their food.

Fereldans are known for their love of soups, stews, pickled eggs, and turnips that it is regularly joked about and seen as a stereotype. Devon regularly comments on the known expectations.

Turnip and Mutton Pie is a classic Fereldan dish served in taverns across the nation.

Nevarra food culture holds that food is suppose to be a feast for the eyes and mouth. Leading to their plating to be dazzling and seen as works of art.

The Jade Ham, is a smoked Anderfels ham with a particular glaze made from wildflowers and turns the ham as hard as jade.

The Anderfels are hostile and often considered inhospitible in certain areas. But despite the harsh environment, pigs farm well there and as a result are much larger than elsewhere in Thedas.

There are custard connoisseurs across Thedas.

Lichen ale is toxic, though most dwarves are able to handle it. However, non-dwarves can only tolerate a few sips of the drink.

Isabela has a drinking game based on how many enemies you have, it has killed at least one person.

The Rivaini tea blend is said to have healing properties such as helping alleviate headaches.

Dwarves underground raise giant spiders like people on the surface raise cattle and goats.

Orzammar has a contest where one is crowned as Orzammar's Best Sauce, the competition is so fierce people get underhanded in their attempts to acquire recipes. This has led to eateries, and in general people of Orzammar, to guard their recipes from others.

Orzammar also farms various mushrooms for eating.

Rice is commonly found in Antiva and Rivain, however it is not a large export for Antiva so it is a rare grain for folks in Ferelden. Due to it not being exported, rice is a cheap food item in Antiva and is very common in the more mundane foods of commoners.

Wyvern, like phoenix, can become deadly poisonous if eaten when they aren't prepared properly.

A jam maker lives in Orzammar, importing individual ingredients so they can make the jam themselves and hopefully sell it cheaper than imported jam.

Fauna

Mentioned through out the cookbook, not necessarily as ingredients themselves but sources for other food items.

Ayesleigh gulabi goat - Rivain

Cattle

Cave Beetles - Underground

Chicken

Crab

Cuttlefish

Dracolisk

Giant

Giant Spider

Goat

Gurgut

Halla

Lamprey

Lurker

Mackerel

Mussel

Nug

Pig

Prawn

Quillback

Sheep

Shrimp

Snail

Turkey

Wyvern

Additional Lore

The golden nug statues do exist in Thedas, Devon mentions seeing one in Haven and hearing rumors of there being more.

Fereldans who worked for the Inquisition would leave Commander Cullen pickled eggs on his desk while he was going through the worst of his lyrium withdrawal symptoms.

Spring time is gurgut mating season, and travelers are advised to keep their distance.

Starkhaven is oval in shape, shaped by rings of tall, grey stone walls, is filled with lavish estates, fountains, and sits on the Minanter River.

Makes reference to the ambient events of where Cole dumped a bushel of turnips onto a fire.

Food: Dishes, Ingredients, and More

Foods/Dishes

These are mentioned, referenced, and/or introduced in the cookbook description of the food, these aren't including the ingredients or foods mentioned in the recipes.

If the item is marked with **, it means there are multiple cultures with the same dish but the cookbook is offering specifically that as the reference point.

Apple Grenade - Antiva

Bark Bread - suggested alternative to black lichen

Biscuit

Biscuit, sweets

Black Lichen Bread - Orzammar

Blancmange - a white pudding dish from Orlais

Blood Orange Salad - Nevarra

Boiled Turnip

Bun

Bun, sweet - a pastry served as dessert

Cabbage Soup - Ferelden

Cacio e Pepe

Cherry Sauce

Cherry Cupcakes - Tevinter

Chocolate Cake

Chocolate Cream

Cinnamon Rolls

Couscous Salad - Rivain

Crab Cakes - Kirkwall

Croissant - Orlais

Crow Feed - Antiva

Custard

Dark Bread

Eggs à la Val Foret - Orlais

Fish Chowder - Antiva

Fish Wraps/Fish Pockets - Seheron

Flat Bread - Nevarra

Fluffy Mackerel Pudding - Ferelden

Forest Fruit Cobbler - Dalish

Found Cake - Ferelden

Fried Crab Legs - a substitute version of fried young giant spiders

Fried Young Giant Spiders - Orzammar

Gnocchi - Antiva

Goat Custard - Rivain **

Grilled Poussin - Chasind

Gurgut Roast with Lowlander Spices and Mushroom Sauce - Avvar

Hearth Cakes - Dalish

Hearty Scones - Ferelden

Honey Carrots - Orlais **

Jade Ham - More suited for a weapon, stated to not be suited for eating.

Lamprey Cake - not made of real lamprey, just a cake modeled after it.

Lentil Soup - City Elf **

Llomerryn Red - Rivain

Mashed Turnip

Merrill's Blood Soup - Dalish

Mushroom Sauce

Nettle Soup - origins unclear

Nug Bacon and Egg Pie - Ferelden

Paella - Antiva

Pastry Pockets - recipe originates with the Grey Wardens, cookbook provides the Orlesian Grey Warden variation **

Peasant Bread - Orlais

Pickled Eggs - Ferelden

Pickled Lamprey - Free Marches

Poached Egg

Poison Stings - Chocolate-coated orange peels from Tevinter

Potato and Leek Soup - Ferelden

Pumpkin Bread - Tevinter

Red Grape Compote

Rice Pudding - Tevinter

Roasted Fig

Roasted Cave Beetles - Orzammar

Roasted Prawns - a substitute prawns for cave beetles

Roasted Turnip

Roll, pastry

Snail and Watercress Salad - Avvar

Sour Cherries in Cream - Orlais

Spiced Jerky - Dalish

Steamed Turnip

Stir-fried Turnip

Strawberry and Rhubarb Cobbler - Ferelden

Stuffed Cabbage - Ferelden

Stuffed Deep Mushrooms - Orzammar

Stuffed Vine Leaves - Tevinter

Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup - Ferelden

Toasted Almonds

Traviso Energy Balls - Antiva

Tzatziki - Tevinter

Turnip and Mutton Pie - Ferelden

Unidentified Meat - a common tavern food in Tevinter

Yogurt Dip - Nevarra

Drinks

Chasind Sack Mead

Chasind Wildwine

The Emerald Valley

The Golden Nug

The Hissing Drake

Hot Chocolate

Lichen Ale

Pomegranate Juice

Rivaini Tea Blend

West Hill Brandy

White Seleney wine

Ingredients

These are only listed in the lore entries and not the actual recipes themselves as whether or not they are canon is questionable as the recipes recommend store bought items as well as ingredients that have unique Thedosian counterpart names.

Almond

Antivan Pasta

Apple

Apricot

Bacon

Bacon, Nug

Bark

Barley

Beef

Beetroot

Bell Pepper, red

Bitter Greens - this is a class of salad greens known for their bitter flavor.

Black Lichen - Underground

Blood Orange - Nevarra

Butter

Butter, Halla

Cabbage

Cave Beetles

Celery

Cinammon

Cheese

Cherry

Cherry, black

Cherry, sweet

Chicken

Chickpea - Rivain

Chocolate

Cocoa Powder

Corn, yellow

Corn, checkered

Couscous - Rivain

Crab

Cranberry

Currant

Deep Mushroom, various varieties

Dracolisk - The narrator suggests it being a potential meat in a recipe in Tevinter.

Dried Fruit

Eggs

Fig

Flour, semolina - Rivain

Giant - Suggested that Tevinter might serve giant

Giant Spiders - Underground

Goat

Grape, red

Grape Leaves/Vine Leaves

Grease

Guimauves - Orlesian

Gurgut - Avvar

Heavy Cream

Honey

Jasmine

Mackerel

Mango

Mint

Mussel

Mutton

Lamb

Lamprey

Leek

Lemon

Lemon Juice

Lemon Verbena

Lentil

Lichen

Licorice Root

Lurker - Avvar

Oat

Oil

Onion

Oregano

Pastry Dough

Peanut

Peanut Butter

Peppers, Hot

Peppermint

Plum

Pork

Potato

Prawn - said to have the same texture and flavor as cave beetles.

Puff Pastry - Orlais

Pumpkin

Quillback

Raisin

Raspberry

Rhubarb

Rice - Antiva and Rivain

Salt

Semolina Flour - Rivain

Shrimp

Snail - Avvar

Spinach

Strawberry

Sugar

Tomato

Turkey

Turnip

Watercress - Avvar

Wheat

Whipped Cream

White Chocolate

Wildflowers

Wyvern - Avvar, Orlais

Charts and Stats

Because I love a good visual rep of data, I collected some stats of the types of food, how many recipes are from where, and the amount of time a character was mentioned.

Types of Food

I did percentages for the course of food as well as the portion of options that are vegetarian, vegan, dairy-free, meat based, and alcoholic.

Food Types Stats

These charts show the ingredient percentage in the actual recipes and not the lore blurbs themselves. This is out of 72 recipes with the amount they were used in (-) after their percentage.

Left Hand Chart

Alcohol: 14.6% (27)

Dairy-free: 15.7% (29)

Egg-free: 25.4% (47)

Meat based: 16.2% (30)

Nuts: 3.1% (6)

Shellfish: 2.6% (5)

Vegan: 4.2% (8)

Vegetarian: 20.4% (39)

Top Right Chart

Alcohol: 37.5% (27)

Alcohol-free: 62.5% (45)

Bottom Right Chart

Beef: 11.4% (4)

Chicken: 17.1% (6)

Fish: 17.1% (6)

Lamb: 5.7% (2)

Pork: 28.6% (10)

Shellfish: 14.3% (5)

Turkey: 5.7% (2)

Percentage of Recipe Origins

Anderfels: 1.4%

Antiva: 11%

Avvar: 6.8%

Chasind: 2.7%

City Elves: 2.7%

Dalish: 6.8%

Ferelden: 15.1%

Free Marches: 5.5% Kirkwall: 2.7% Starkhaven: 2.7%

Grey Wardens: 1.4%

Nevarra: 2.7%

Orlais: 13.7%

Orzammar: 9.6%

Rivain: 4.1%

Seheron: 1.4%

Tevinter: 9.6%

Character Mentions

I organized the chart by game and the characters in alphabetical order.

DAO Alistair: 2 Dog: 2 Hero of Ferelden (Cousland): 6 Leliana: 1 Loghain: 1 Morrigan: 1 Sten: 1 Zevran Arainai: 2

DA2 Anders: 2 Bethany: 1 Fenris: 3 Hawke: 1 Isabela: 1 Merrill: 2 Sebastian Vael: 1 Varric: 3

DAI Briala: 1 Bull's Chargers: 2 Cassandra: 2 Celene Valmont: 1 Cole: 2 Cullen: 3 Dorian: 2 Friends of Red Jenny: 1 Gaspard: 1 Josephine: 3 Krem: 2 Sera: 1 Solas: 4 The Iron Bull: 4 Vivienne: 2

Food Courses

I thought it would be interesting to see how the recipe groups totaled out in how much of the book they made.

Drinks: 12.5%

Baked Goods: 13.9%

Sweets: 11.1%

Sides: 5.6%

Starters and Refreshments: 12.5%

Travel Food: 13.9%

Soup and Stew: 11.1%

Main Course: 19.4%

Wanna support this blog? You can check out my ko-fi.

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championsandheroes · 6 months

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Nothing gives a scene quite the gravitas it deserves like the camera focusing on your breasts. Except, maybe, if it's fixated on your scalp.

T-shirts and hair decorations saying 'my eyes are up here' and 'my eyes are down here' respectively are available on Patreon and society6*

#champions and heroes #dragon age inquisition #varric tethras #inquisitor adaar #*Thedas only #no delivery to other worlds #wearer's dignity not guaranteed

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the-heros-of-thedas · 3 months

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“Not all men”

You’re right. Cremisius Aclassi, lieutenant of The Bull’s Chargers mercenary company, would NEVER-

#heros of thedas #dragon age #dragon age inquisition #sysblr #dragon age meme #cremisius aclassi #Krem dragon age

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crossdressingdeath · 2 years

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Thinking about the Chantry and the Amaranthine Wardens being in a really tense ongoing standoff from either as soon as the Warden takes their post (if they're from a group the Chantry Does Not Approve Of) or from as soon as the Anders stuff really kicks off, right the way through to DAI and beyond.

I mean, the Warden might well hate the Chantry, especially if you're playing Surana/Amell (because Circles) or Mahariel (because Exalted March), but also just if they got on well with Anders and/or Justice. But the thing is that the Warden can't really openly act against the Chantry as a whole, because it's the dominant religion and has a habit of calling holy wars on anyone who tells it to piss off. Weisshaupt wouldn't help because Weisshaupt is run by jackasses, and while Alistair doesn't much care for the Chantry neither possible monarch would want to bring an Exalted March down on Ferelden by picking a fight. And Hero of Ferelden or no, the Warden's only got a handful of people who would absolutely join them in trying to kick the shit out of the Chantry, so actively going after them would end poorly. But on the flip side the Chantry can't openly target the Hero of Ferelden, because that would absolutely spark uprisings. The people of Ferelden adore their hero. Plus, the king of Orzammar owes the Warden his crown and the Chantry can't risk pissing off the dwarves and losing access to the lyrium supply. And one of their best friends is the Left Hand of the Divine and is terrifying. And another one of their best friends is the fucking Arishok, who probably wouldn't speed up the invasion plans to avenge his fallen kadan, but does the Chantry really want to risk that? Absolutely not, they aren't stupid. And if the Chantry openly fucked with their most visible and well-loved member without some serious provocation, the other Grey Wardens might actually step in. So the Chantry can't touch the Warden so long as the Warden doesn't give them incontrovertible evidence that they're actively plotting against the Chantry. So basically Amaranthine and the Chantry have spent the last decade totally deadlocked, because the Chantry can't do anything to the Warden without risking some serious, possibly devastating backlash and the Warden can't do anything to the Chantry without giving them an excuse to crush the Ferelden Wardens as they've undoubtedly wanted to do for years. They're basically just being nuisances to each other whenever possible because anything more could risk Consequences.

#dragon age origins #hero of ferelden #...it occurs to me that the warden has strong ties to every major power in thedas except tevinter #orlais through leliana and her ties to the divine. ferelden through alistair and anora (whoever's on the throne owes them for it)#orzammar through the king and the qunari through the arishok formerly known as sten #they just need someone high up in tevinter politics and they'll have a full set!

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kinghomebody · 2 years

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Dragon Age Dreadwolf is an awfully title name for the upcoming game and I know I'm in the minority for saying that but please hear me out. Deliverance would have been more fitting in my opinion. For one, we know the Qunari believe they're "delivering"people from a world they view is undisciplined without the Qun, the elves believe that Solas the Dread Wolf is going to "deliver" them from the oppression of the humans. Discovery of the Titans might "deliver" the dwarves from there sudden economic fall as the discovery of raw lyrium untapped under the surface will undoubtedly shake things up in Thedas. Wardens ( particularly the Hero of Ferelden) finding the cure for The Calling will "deliver" them from their otherwise inevitable fates. The Mages finding out how to undo tranquility will undoubtedly make some a force to be reckoned with and Templars finding a way around the addiction of lyrium could also, you guessed it, "deliver" them from the binds of the chantry. I know that there's more I could add here but I wanted to get a single point across that it seems to me with the lore and all the events from the previous game and what we gathered from Tevinter Nights that a lot of breaking from what we know is going to happen in a fashion we've never seen before in fiction. Just my opinion.

#Dragon Age #Dragon Age Dreadwolf #Solas #Thedas #Hero of Ferelden #Grey Warden #Bioware #Video Games #DA4 #Dragon Age 4 #Tevinter #Qunari #Qun

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thechantrydeservedit · 2 years

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What the Warden actually said to the Inquisitor:

Dear Inquisitor Lavellan

What in the actual f*ck? I leave Ferelden for 2 min and everything goes wrong? Screw you guys, unless Alistair is in danger I'm not coming back (leave him alone, he has gone through enough pain). I'm sick of these, I have already save this stupid world.

Wardens have their own problems, I gotta save my people, so tell you people to put their big girl pants on a deal with these Corifeus by themselves. I didn't receive any help when the Blight started.

Even if I wanted to help I don't know shit about grey wardens, Duncan gave me some expired demon juice and threw me into the battlefield. To these day I can't remember if our motto starts with in peace or in death.

So yeah, good luck with the shemlen and the Chantry. Say hi to Leliana, tell Morrigan I hope she died and congratulate Cullen about finally doing the right thing.

Stay dalish,

From Warden-Commander Mahariel

#dragon age #mahariel #dragon age origins #hero of ferelden #dalish #dragon age inquisition #inquisitor lavellan #I didn't think Thedas was worth saving once so I'm not doing it a second

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awesomechipz · 1 year

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Master post for my main save state Heroes of Thedas!

One of my first ocs for anything, I love her. From less than nothing to fish out of water to legendary hero? The flavor, the taste! Immaculate! She was originally just meant to be kind of a joke character for me to test out origins with, but her and her chaotic energy grew on me fast lol

Ya’ll have seen her around, I’ve been drawing a lot of her and Leliana recently lol

My most recent of these three actually, @sapphireangelbunny gifted me DA2 semi recently lol. I made him specifically to have a sarcastic Hawke that would do the “Boneless Woman” line... Which I (And Phoenix of course) felt terrible about later XD

Ah, my only truly serious character of these three. I had notes for him dating back to 2019 but I wasn’t satisfied with him until I gave him some semblance of horns lol. He starts off as this stoic, distant merc doing what needed to be done and grows more into opening up as he finally found a group of people that cared about him more than just what he was capable of.

Yall can send asks for questions if you want, I don’t know how much of that I will do, but I’ve always wanted to try those lol

Link and credit to the dragon age character templates here!: https://marianchurchland.com/2016/08/28/dragon-age-templates/

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exhausted-archivist · 7 months

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Thedas: Not a Middle Ages Fantasy But an Ahistorical, Pre-Industrial, Mega Fauna Fantasy

Part 1: Mega Fauna

The long and the short of it? Thedas is an ahistorical world with magic, two moons, giant fauna - giants, dragons, giant bears, giant arachnids, and has some "ancient" and recent technology that would reach as late as the 1800-1900s in our timeline - such as bunsen burners, smokeless coal, table saw, thresher, heliography, and theodolite. Nothing about Thedas is a 1:1 equivalent for Earth and never has been, we know from the devs that it wasn't the intention either. From a fantasy perspective it is a blend of your typical fantasy stories with adventure, dragons, magic, elves and dwarves, varying mythology, and culture ending events; mixed with a venture into a "what if" ahistorical history.

In the case of Dragon Age, Gaider mentions it was a "what if our own history had magic and elves and dwarves?" and "how might Christianity be different if, instead of Jesus, it had been founded by Joan of Ark?" and subverting tropes of fantasy while still being recognizable: elves being brought low vs aloof and immortal; dwarves bring political schemers vs stouthearted Scotsmen; mages who were feared for good reason.

These were the basic foundations going into Dragon Age, and the spirit of those things is evident through out the series. While there are clear moments of parallels, allegories, and themes of the modern world, our world; I think that, for better or worse, the series has kept to the spirit of those foundations. Keeping things recognizable while exploring the world they've crafted, that grows as the team grows.

Its the spirit of that foundation that really lends to the idea of Thedas being a mega flora and fauna world.

Disclaimer and Considerations:

Take all of this with a grain of salt, whether you take it or leave it. Aside from the actual lore mentioned (with sources next to it) all of this is estimations and based off of known art standards or "canon" as the term is called.

Size is a hard thing to nail down in Dragon Age, the scaling and modeling between the games - main and all additional third party installment - are inconsistent at best largely due to limitations and scope of the game. Such limitations we see reflected in Bull not being 8' and instead is 6'9, the fact that the nightmare demon was scaled down because of scope. Then there are the cinematic scenes, they aren't reliable as they often have models float, sunk into the ground, or given camera angles that force perspectives.

ALT Concept art is a touch more reliable in the idea of the intention but isn't any more hard fact due to the question of if the intention was carried through or not due to tech limitations or design choices.

In consideration of concept art I want to clarify a principal used in art that I will be referencing. Traditionally when drawing characters, artists will use proportional canons. Which is when one uses the height of the character’s head as a unit, to have the proportions of the body match natural ratios. A good write up of this concept is linked here and here.

Content warning for everyone, there will be mentions and/or depictions of the following:

Multi-eyed creatures

Scorpions

Spiders

This post also includes images from the following:

The Missing comic

Dragon Age Absolution

Part 1a: Does Thedas Actually Have Mega Fauna?

Yes, they do. Now the first thought might be the obvious dragons, giants, wyverns, titans, and some magical creatures. But there are some creatures of which we have actual measurable sizes for.

I have the more "concrete" fauna separated into two categories: known sizes and comparable sizes. Known is as stated in lore, if we're given fixed numbers at any point, while comparable sizes are for creatures who we either have vague descriptions or equated to something we know the sizes for.

Comparable sizes are also separated from known sizes as they either have variations, or I am unsure of the lore for them still holds; as with anything dao, game guides, and ttrpg on this blog, these are treated and considered as canon unless clear contradictions are available.

Known Sizes

Giant spiders:

Their scale isn't measured by how high they stand on the ground or by body length but from leg to leg. Or rather that is what you would expect for them to be measured by, but it is hard to say for sure. I run with the leg to leg measurement for the provided size in canon; where they are/can be 12' / 3.65m. [Codex]

Looking at extracted game models (which aren't reliable for in-game models) the giant spider stands at 3' 11.28" / 1.2m and measures 5' 4.2" / 1.63m leg to leg.

Griffons:

Their length is 12' / 3.65m or larger with even larger wingspans. Males can weigh over 1,000 lbs / 453.59kg while females are a little less. [Last Flight ch. 2 p. 31]

For context of how big both of these are length wise, on average: Javan rhinos are 12'5 / 3.8m in length, Indian rhinos are between 10.8’-12.5’ / 3.3-3.8m in length, African forest elephants are between 7.22’-12.13’ / 2.2-3.7m in length, African Bush elephants are 10’-16.5’ / 3-5m in length, thresher sharks can be 10.5’-20’ / 3.2-6.1m long, female great white sharks have an overall length of 15’-21’ / 4.57-6.4 m; males 11’-13’ / 3.35-3.96 m. Most crocodiles exceed that with an average of 13-14' / 3.96-4.26m.

If you're like me and that just is a jumble of words, below are the size comparison to a 6' / 1.83m male figure, the scuba diver is roughly the same length as well. I had to edit the horizontal figures to compare lengths but scale wise they are still 6' / 1.83m. I also spliced together multiple images so they would be easier to see (and tumblr has a 30 image limit).

ALT [Image Sources from left to right, top to bottom: Rhinos: Javan Rhino, Indian Rhino Elephants: African Bush Elephant, African Forest Elephant Crocodiles: American Crocodile, Mugger Crocodile Sharks: Thresher Shark, Great White Shark]

Comparable Sizes

Mabari:

Stated as being as tall and as wide as dwarves*; going off the dwarf heights from Inquisition game models would put them at a range of 4'9-5'3 / 144.78-160.02cm.** This is unclear if they mean from the head or shoulder, which typically you would measure quadrupeds from the shoulder. Something to note however, the mabari extracted models from Inquisition measure at 3' 4.6" / 1.03m at the shoulder but 4' 2" / 1.27m at the head.

ALT

This is also roughly echoed in the concept art, where the shoulder height lines up with the shoulder height of the extracted model from Inquisition, however is closer to the dwarf height range when measuring from the top of the head.

Either way mabari are considered giant breeds when looking at dogs. Regardless of if they are the height of a dwarf 4'9-5'3 / 144.78-160.02cm or the height shown in the extracted model or concept art of 3' 4.6" / 1.03m at the shoulder but 4' 2" / 1.27m at the head. The largest dog in the real world was a great dane at 3' 5.18" / 1.046m.***

*[Dragon Age Tabletop (da ttrpg), Blood in Ferelden] **[Source] ***[Source]

Deepstalkers:

There is a bit of a variant with their sizing scale across all entries. From being able to curl up to be the size of boulders or large rocks.* To The Calling describes them as follows

The “stalagmite” unfolded, revealing a serpentine creature with a long and wormlike neck that ended in a maw full of sharp teeth. Its mottled skin was almost perfectly camouflaged to match the stone around it.

He noticed where the creature’s limbs folded up under its carapace, where it tucked its long neck under its body. Hidden in plain sight, the disguise was almost perfect.

Meanwhile the Missing comic shows them as being much larger than Harding, a dwarf. The ttrpg also describes them as "small reptilian creatures". There also seems to be sizes difference noted between each type of deepstalker: deepstalker, leader, and matriarch.

ALT [Image Sources: BioWare Promo Material, Dragon Age Wiki, and The Missing Comic #1]

Additional measurements include the odd 2' 6.3" / .77m from the extracted model from Inquisition which doesn't line up with the in-game sizing as they're proportionally much larger when next to a dwarf. Then when looking at the concept art scaling from the red dev book shared by Mark Darrah, they stand nearly 6' / 1.83m.

ALT

So there is a stark range of size difference as well as really any consistency when it comes to the bipedal, raptor-like, predators.

*Note the range for what is a large rock and what is a boulder is pretty vague. **This is based on various screenshots as pictured above. Comparing them to Shale, a human character, dwarves, and an elf. *** [World of Thedas (WoT) vol. 1 p. 163, Origins game guide, da ttrpg, The Calling novel, and The Missing Comic]

Dragonlings:

Specifically when they are newly hatched are the size of a deer. At the shoulder they'd be 2'8 - 3' / 81 - 91cm. Their length could be from 3'1 - 7'2 / 95 - 220cm. [Dragonling Codex] *Note the ttrpg does denote that they are the size of a young deer, which would be about 1 1/2 years old. This is distinctly different from a fawn and they are the same size height wise as a mature deer. It is simply a difference in muscle mass.

Here is a helpful comparison of a white tail deer, one of the more common deer:

ALT [Image Source]

Below is concept art from Tom Rhodes that I have cropped for a much clearer view. The shoulder height of the dragonling reaches roughly the same height as deer above.

ALT [Image Source]

Part 1b Sizing from Concept art and Development

Here, I want to look at the concept art of creatures, while acknowledging that they don't always end up on the same scale in game - due to a variety of technical reasons. As we see with the fact that spiders are not 12' / 3.65m in game nor are they close to that.

But with that in mind, we can at least glean the intention if not what might be more reflective of the lore. As we know, not all of da lore is game engine/mechanic friendly and thus there is merit in seeing if we can measure through comparison of in dev work. Especially thanks to the human comparison in some of them.

One piece of such concept art that suggests mega fauna is the design guide for da4 that was teased to us by Mark Darrah in 2016 and in the BioWare: Secrets and Stories From 25 Years of Game Development (B25) p. 274.

ALT

Using this, we can tell what might have been the intended -- again if it is not reflected in game -- size for the animals in Thedas. However, I will note for the sake of clarity that this isn't perfect reference; as some of the scaling seems to be questionable/warping. This is after all, an image of a picture in a book. I would be thrilled to see if we ever get to see a flat image of this.

But what we can see when we clean it up, and line up everything while cross referencing other concept art; the scaling seems to work out something like this with the human figure in the center being the "hero" proportions/ideals that would make his height 6'2 / 1.88m.

ALT

Great Bear

Some of the concept art that we can use for comparisons are pieces such as the concept art for the Great Bear and Quillback (development name dragon bear and vulture hyena):

ALT

Going off the stock hero height for female it is 5'6 - 5'7.5 / 1.67 - 1.71m and for males it is 6' - 6'2 / 1.83 - 1.88m. That would make a great bear roughly 10'11 - 11'2 / 3.34 - 3.42m in this concept art. However in the red book, the scaling suggest it is around 14' / 4.26m. Which is an example of how the book as reference might either be unreliable or the new updated intention for the scaling/design.

Regardless of which numbers you favor, when you look at those scales in contrast to our two largest modern bears:

Kodiak Bear: 3'4 - 5' / 1.02 - 1.52m at the shoulder, 6'5 - 9' / 1.96 - 2.74m in length, and 9' - 10' / 2.75 - 3.05m standing upright

Polar Bear: 3'7 - 5'3 / 1.09 - 1.6 m (male) or 2’8 - 3’11 / .81-1.19 m (female) at the shoulder, 7’10 - 9’10 / 2.4-3 m length, and 8’ - 10’ / 2.5 - 3.05 m standing upright Note: I have edited together the sourced images for clearer scaling.

ALT [Image Sources: Bears: Kodiak Bear, Polar Bear]

Additionally when looking at the tarot cards, which also tend to echo concept art more than the final game we see this massive and dramatic height difference for great bears.

ALT

Another varying size reference we have from concept art is this piece by Tom Rhodes comparing the great bear to the normal bear/brown bear. This is in direct conflict with the scale illustrated in the dev book, though this could simply be due to the stage of development this was created in as it looks to be a draw over of a game model when looking at the great bear.

ALT [Image Source]

Nightmare Demon

The Nightmare demon, or "Blinky" as fans call it, or "Smilely" as Varric calls it. This is however a demon so it's appearance and size can change due to influences outside of its control, I want to acknowledge that. This one was something I wasn't expecting to make a comparison with, as we know that not only was the final version of this demon scaled well as it seems that part of it was cut off in the dev book. But I found this concept art from Heroes of Dragon Age (HoDA) and I believe it roughly matches up with the dev book in terms of scale. It might be scaling larger however, I cannot say with any certainty. And when comparing it to the game model in DAI, this is actually a little smaller in comparison. The extracted game model of the Nightmare demon is 93.47' / 28.49m, while in comparison this concept art implies that it is 54.5' / 16.61m when you measure the silhouette which we can estimate to be 6'2.

ALT [Image Source]

ALT You can see how much they sized down the nightmare demon for HoDA (which is understandable given the constraints of a mobile game), especially when you scale them down to show the actual difference. Which is funny considering the nightmare demon is greatly scaled down from the original concept.

Phoenix

Another piece we have, is concept art for the phoenix. Unlike with the hero figure from before, we are estimating Orisino's height based on the height of elven game models. This would put Orisinao at 5'9 - 6' / 1.75 - 1.83m for an elven male.

ALT [Image Source]

This height reference is echoed and reinforced when we look at the dev book from B25 and Mark Darrah. When you bring the phoenix over to line it up with the hero character in the center, it puts the shoulder a phoenix is roughly 6'2. Implying that, at least for this art, Oresino is within that 5'9-6' / 1.75-1.83m range as his height is lower than the shoulder.

ALT

As you can see the extracted game model is not comparable due to the fact it, like the bears are not at all the same size as their in-game models. They are being scaled up a great deal to what we see in game. The extracted model height for the phoenix is 2' 7.4" / 0.8m, which is much shorter than their in-game counter part that shows it to be around the height of the human/elf character if not a little taller.

Quillback

Shown in the concept art with the great bear, we do have scalable concept art with the quillback and we are able to see that it does line up with the scaling for the dev book. It is also roughly the same size as the extracted game model. It's shoulder height being 4' 10.6" / 1.49m. The quillback also seems to be one of the few creatures where their in game counter part matches up with their model and concept art.

ALT

Part 1 Conclusion

As we can see with all the comparable or confirmed sizing of these creatures in Thedas, most are predators and scavengers, fairly large ones at that. So much so, it would dictate a high oxygen content in the atmosphere, plenty of prey to fuel animals of this size, and plenty of land area to allow for the biodiversity that we see. Even down to the subterranean level as well.

We know that gravity also works differently in Thedas, to a degree it is requires as to allow creatures the size of dragons and griffons fly, and giants roam the surface. But also to allow dwarves ranging from 4'9-5'3 / 144.78-160.02 cm to live 2-4 miles / 3.21-6.43 km below sea level + the distance from the actual surface. To give context, the deepest cave we've explored on earth is the Veryovkia cave at 1.37 miles / 2.12 km deep and the entrance to the cave is 1.41 miles / 2.28 km above sea level. Meaning the deepest cave doesn't even go down to sea level.

But with all that said, I'm only wrapping up here as I'm running out of image allowance for this post. I'll continue this in the next part, and if you've read this far, thank you.

Wanna support this blog? You can check out my ko-fi.

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championsandheroes · 2 years

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Netflix is doing a Dragon Age animated series and I want to have a serious word with whoever is in charge of trailers these days. Same thing happened with Anthem - I watched the trailer and still had no clue what the game was actually about. If you won't even tell me a single thing about the plot, no amount of graphics is going to get me interested, it's as simple as that.

A trailer for some external links goes as follows: (beautiful scenery) Over at Patreon you can support yours truly and get comics and art early, (flashy fight scene) and over at society6 and redbubble (a series of rapid dramatic scenes with a voice over) you can get cups and stuff with my art. (screen fades to black, revealing text saying ‘already here, check it out <3’)

#champions and heroes #Dragon Age #Dragon Age Absolution #I want to believe that it is possible to make an informative but non-spoilery trailer #I also want to believe that Absolution is about the Kirkwall enigma #because that is an animated story I'd like to watch #but I sincerely doubt it #my best guess is that it's something about a snake bracelet #a heist?#a cursed object?#somewhere in Thedas?#there's an elf and a qunari who is a mage #and they go places #based on this I wouldn't watch it if it wasn't for the fact that I already have Netflix

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the-heros-of-thedas · 2 months

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Happy almost Easter we made Solas the Egg