#Orzammar dwarves

[knife-eared-jan]

I can’t even remember the dwarf brother’s stupid name, but my stupid brain won’t let me make a stupid Chantry clothing mod if it doesn’t cover ALL the stupid chantry characters so here we go I guess...

WIP.

#dragon age origins #dragon age modding #DAO modding #dao #orzammar #chantry #dragon age chantry #FUCK THE CHANTRY #orzammar dwarves #dragon age dwarves #chantry boy #armor modding #dao armor mod #mod wip

[illusivesoul]

Something I hadn't considered until now is how brutal the mission to kill Jarvia and most of the Carta in Orzammar is for Brosca. I'll never forget the emotional gut punch that was having to fight and kill Leske, who is probably only true friend Brosca has ever had in all their life (I remember desperately searching if there was a dialogue option or something to let him live but there is none), but I also just thought that Brosca must have known most, if not all of those Carta members that we fight through the mission.

And knowing how the casteless are pretty much cut off from the rest of Orzammar's society and most are forced into a life of crime, Brosca must have known and possibly have been friends or at least care for for a lot of the Carta members, and also possibly have worked with them often under orders from Beraht and Jarvia.

Then after becoming a Warden, returning to Orzammar and under orders from either Harrowmont or Bhlen, they have to go to their old home in Dust Town and kill Jarvia (who was alledgely planning to use her growing power in Orzammar to force the Assembly to recognize the rights of the casteless), Leske and pretty much everyone else they knew during their many years growing up and while being a part of the Carta.

Just another bit of tragedy for Brosca's story.

#dragon age #warden brosca #brosca #dragon age origins #orzammar #dragon age dwarves #dragon age meta #dragon age lore #dwarf commoner #dwarf commoner origin #beraht #jarvia #rica brosca #dust town #dao #da:o #da: o #da o #da origins #aeducan #harrowmont #bhelen aeducan #pyral harrowmont

[plaguebeasts]

He was a second son who took the throne of Orzammar. Do you honestly believe he did nothing underhanded?

They truly are their father's sons.

#dragon age #dragon age fanart #dragon age bhelen #dragon age trian #dragon age aeducan #aeducan #orzammar #hero of ferelden #dwarves

[hawkeharel]

why are dragon age dwarf skeletons literally this

#dragon age #dragon age origins #dwarf #dwarves #dragon age memes #orzammar

[bhaalspawnshitposting]

The contrast between Broodmother, and the fertility to produce an army of soldiers forced against her will, vs the anvil, and the inability to create any manmade life, so it must be stolen. Both are being used for such a twisted purpose, war, slavery, and the exploitation of women and men. The act of creation itself corrupted and done through force, while he true act of creation being based in love and motherhood.

"No mere smith, however skilled, has the power to create life"

Not to mention, Broodmother is entirely organic, as it is, opposite the anvil. The anvil can claim creation, but it is really transmutation. Broodmother can claim creation, but even Hespith calls it the darkspawn *remaking Laryn in their image*

Its just such a good trope that I've never seen in horror, and they make such good foils of each other one immediately after the other, how both darkspawn and greed corrupt even the most holy and well-intentioned acts. It makes sense when you consider the darkspawn are the Golden City's reflection of man's sins.

#broodmother #hespith #laryn #anvil of the void #branka #deep roads #golems #dwarves #orzammar #dragon age #dragon age origins #dao #dai #da2 #bioware

[tallosdeadeye]

Line of kings

#dragon age #bioware #dragon age origins #dao #warden #grey warden #aeducan #orzammar #dwarves #my doodles #i worked SO long on this my god…anyway enjoy! #erwin

[atypicalacademic]

Thinking out loud here, one of my favorite elements of dwarven culture is the existence of sacrifice as a shared understanding without really prizing austerity as a way of life. I know Orzammar is deeply fucked up and the caste system is indefensible, but something that I strengthens the hope for change there, despite everything, is a kind of honest hunger for life that seems to be part of dwarven ethos. They live a nearly eternal blight, many of them stalwart warriors nurtured into the inescapable duty of preserving the city for just a few years more, a few years more, like their ancestors before them. The smiths, the armourers, the artisans, the sculptors, the Shapers, all of them, regardless of how much they personally think of it, are part of this social contract to keep Orzammar on its feet. There's sacrifice involved, to be sure. To die in battle is a glorious thing for them. War is a fact of life for them. The Legion of the Dead literally partake in their own funerals to give themselves to Orzammar entirely. The Silent Sisters forego speech itself. The Deep Roads are full of the proof of so many sacrifices, many remembered and many forgotten.

Still, the dwarves are far from austere. Pragmatic they may be, but they don't glorify self-abnegation. They live and announce their existence, in towering statues and high ceilings and technology that pushes the bounds of the possible. They drink and feast and joke with abandon. They make art. They plan circles around each other to their own detriment. They're ambitious without apologizing for it. (Remember Rica telling Brosca, deep in the smoke-pits of Dust Town, that she believes she's meant for great things? Remember how you could agree, say you'll become Great, despite how hopeless and empty such an endeavour may seem? Hell, Remember Rica herself, navigating the pit of vipers that is the nobility so whichever way the wind blows, she comes out standing). Everyone from my Warden from Dust Town (even her Ultimate Sacrifice was an aspiration to Paragonhood, not an honest desire to die) to the King himself is driven by the possibility of life, glorious life. The worst of them, the cowards and traitors and tyrants, are often a perversion of that very desire to live and live well. Everyone wants to live and live well, of course, but I find the dwarves have a straightforward honesty about that desire, as if the perpetual blight at their heels and the many social pressures only strengthens their resolve, even with the magnitude of sacrifice that it demands. For all the reputation of Orzammar dwarves being grim or stodgy, I find them delightful for this. A hunger for life isn't "selfish" there, but welcome. I also wonder if this honesty has something to do with the stereotyping of them all as "greedy," among topsiders, because time is running out and life is far too short to hide your hunger.

#dragon age #orzammar #dont mind me honestly #i think theyll be alright really #i conceptualize a lot meaningful social transformation in orzammar honestly #i also think of the difference and similarities between how grey wardens conceptualize the blight and how dwarves do so

[thekingofwinterblog]

Varric Tethras - The Proud Dwarf

So it's not a big secret that the best companion Bioware ever created was Varric Tethras, the lovable rogue, crossbowman, author and handsome Viscount of Kirkwall.

There are ao many reasons to love Varric, but one I don't see much discussed, is the subtle, and contradictory relationship Varric has with his own race, the Dwarves of Thedas.

Varric makes it a point of always putting his seeming disdain for his own people out in the open, always making it clear how much he dislikes the traditional Dwarven culture, wqy of life and so on.

He describes Orzammar, one of the great wonders of the world as cramp tunnels filled with shit and body odor, he never fails to mention how much he hates the deep roads, and he often mocks dwarven pride at any opportunity with his usual wit and charm.

On the surface, Varric might seem like he has a lot in common with Sera and her racist views on all elvhen kind, but that really, really is not the case.

Because under that exterior of seeming disdain, is a man who both understands Dwarven Culture in all it's flaws, but also loves it and hates it in equal measures.

Varric has always made it clear how much he loved the Hanged man, and essentially made his room there his office, his real home away from the uber dwarfish merchant guild.

And do you know what he fills it with?

The dwarfiest architecture you can imagine. Varric has a dwarf table, a noble dwarf chair, dwarven artwork on the wall, and even a dwarven stone bed.

All expensive and traditional stuff which he would have had to had personally paid for to transport into this room out of his own pocket.

Varric for all his harsh words on the Dwarven people, WANTS to live in a home that looks utterly Dwarven.

The most obvious moment that puts Varric's love for his dwaf ancestry on full display is of course the act 2 quest from da2, where he and an insane(temporary lucid) Bartrand has a heart to heart where both puts their real feelings on the tragedy of their situation on display.

Varric chastises Bartrand for in his madness having thrown away every bit of his dwarven nobility and honor on a stupid trinket, and Bartrand ends up begging his brother not to let house Tethras fall with him, in this display of utter madness and dishonor.

The entire thing is a deeply tragic display where the two brothers show that deapite all their differences, they really did love each other deeply, as well as the fact they had a shared love of their ancestry as Orzammar Nobility.

Of course Varric almost never comes out and says it nearly this clearly anywhere else, as showcased in another side quest where you give him back the Tethras family signet ring that Bartrand had to pawn to finance the expedition.

He doesn't come out and say it, instead focusing on the bad aspects of Orzammar in this quest, but unless hawke is rivaling him when he gives him the quest, varric has a huge approval boost in response to getting his family ring back, showing the thing really did mean a lot to him, despite his disparaging it and Orzammar in said quest.

Later, in Inquisition, Varric never misses a chance to badmouth Orzammar and tradition, but he reacts with incredible sadness at the prospect of Orzammar one day possibly falling.

When Solas asks him about Dwarven literature, and whether there is a lot of Dwarven tricksters, varric gives a smartass remark summing it up as Dwarves tend to write how they want the world to be, while humans write how they think the world is, eith the latter being clearly superior.

It's a good scene, but it has a deeper meaning that ties into Varric's deeper views on Dwarven culture.

Varric knows how Dwarves write, because he has read Dwarven liturature, and understands it completely as both a dwarf, a reader, and a writer, and how it in turn differs from human literature.

For all his grumbling on dwarves in Orzammar being obsessed with their ancestors, he himself is the exact same way as shown in legacy when you find the original Tethras and gives him to the stone, able to shortly remember every bit of his own family lore on the spot and being moved to tears by the tragedy of it all.

Varric defends both surface dwarves and Orzammar dwarves against Solas accusation that they have given up against the darkspawn threat, though in his usual way, he makes it out like surface dwarves are clearly superior.

Varric genuinely loves and cares about so much of Dwarven culture and history, and he understands it deeply.

Which in turn also is the reason he genuinely hates so much about it.

Like all of the DA2 companions, Varric has something he is deeply, deeply obsessed with, something that drives him as a person, and motivates his actions through the entire story. The difference between him and everyone else, is that this obsession never reached a conclusion, because Varric doesn't get to actually face it, and confront it.

That obsession is, of course, the Dwarven Merchant Guild.

Varric HATES the Dwarven Merchant guild, and though he uses his regular humor to portray it, in this case it's actually the opposite of the way he will always be critical of the Dwarven people. Because Varric hates the guild far, far more than he ever pretends to hate Orzammar.

Varric always talks of how shitty the guild is, how it embodies the absolute worst parts of dwarven culture, and essentially how it ruined Bartrand from ever being able to function as anything other than a cutthroat businessman. He time, and time, and time again, refuses to interact with the guild, breaks the law hard to not have to participate, and all in all cold shoulders them and their cutthroat culture completely.

There is a very important, significant moment in act 3, that is incredibly easy to miss, but completely recontextualizes varric's entire motivation for wanting the deep roads expedition.

Varric talks about the real reason why Bartrand wanted to go through with the expedition, of how it represented the one chance he had to get AWAY from the guild forever, just by being rich enough he no longer had to deal with them anymore.

Varric portrays it as Bartrand's big wish and motivation, hut it's incredibly obvious if one pays attention that this was a wish the two brothers actually shared, a mutual desire in the world. Which in turn is one of the reasons why Varric is so incredibly angry at his brother when he goes off the deep end due to the idol and betrays them.

Him and Bartrand got into this venture to finally, once and for all get out of having to deal with the worst parts of surface Dwarf society, and here his brother seemingly willingly turned his back on all of that, showing the only thing he ever cared about was pure greed.

In other words, everything both he and Bartrand hated about the Merchant Guild.

Varric hates the Caste system. He hates the division between surface and "regular" dwarves, and he thinks Orzammar's nobility has a collective stick up it's ass. And yet despite all of that, he loves the Dwarves. He loves the idea of nobility and the ideals it is supposed to represent, he loves Dwarven architecture, their grand ability to make shit, and the incredible grit and romanticism about the Dwarves long, unending struggle against the darkspawn.

The only part of Dwarven society Varric has no love for, is the Merchant Guild. It is Orzammar's nobility without anything resembling virtues, nobles who lost their caste, and yet still enforces a brutal hierarchy of blood, and cares for no ideals, no honor, no cause, except for the clink of money.

Varric is such a deep character, and I really wish that in the future, we get to see this aspect of him fleshed out even more.

#dragon age inquisition #varric tethras #meta #dragon age 2 #dwarves #dwarf #orzammar #surface dwarves #castes #dwarven pride

[heniareth]

One if the problems I run in with dwarven people living exclusively underground (especially in settings like Dragon Age where going to the surface is equal to exile from the underground-dwelling community) is the problem of food. How do they grow it? Where do they grow it? And what do they grow? Dwarves allowed to access the surface may find inventive ways to use what precious farmable land they have, maybe construct elaborate vertical gardens with innovative irrigation and heating systems to feed a population known for eating a lot and eating well. But what of strictly subterranean dwarves? What do they eat apart from fungi maybe, and whatever edible beasts prowl the dark? Most importantly, where do they get carbs, vitamins and feed for lifestock from if they have no land and no light to grow crops?

#dwarves #worldbuilding #orzammar #erebor #moria #listen but what if there was something like lichen (in the sense that it looks similar and clings to surfaces) #and the whole growth was regularly trimmed and the trimmings pulverized and used to make bread and stuff #and it basically functioned as a substitute for grains and cereals

[theviridianbunny]

Lieutenant Renn - veteran of the Fifth Blight

#dragon age #dragon age inqusition #dai #the descent #david hayter #dragon age the descent #the descent dlc #dragon age dlc #the deep roads #dragon age dwarves #orzammar #fun fact: i went into this dlc blind and didn;t know david hayter voiced renn- i happy yelled when i heard his voice- #like soild snake??? IN MY DRAGON AGE??? more likely than you think <3

[invinciblerodent]

Having a single moment of realization that the common denominator for literally ALL your characters (not only the MAIN ones who are just... queer and have a visceral need to be useful and therefore surely also liked) is that they all struggle to figure out who exactly they are after some non-canon event made them realize that what they previously thought to be their identity was merely a restrictive illusion imposed upon them from an outside source... really hits different a few minutes before midnight.

Like at this point I'm unsure if that's just a common narrative theme for any character, or if I should go back to therapy asap.

#personal #seriously. Arvid is no longer just a priest or soldier. #which kind of fucks him up because he never THOUGHT he could be anything else #Iona is struggling with her whole life getting upended. #Ray is fundamentally shaken in all his beliefs. #Leena is widowed; she struggles with that- Harwen is dealing with a massive culture shock and how he doesn't really feel dalish anymore #Adela is literally the best adjusted and she was actually just a straight-up criminal #and the only one of these that was written FOR me was Arie no longer being in Orzammar or a princess #and needing to figure THAT out for herself somehow #they didn't technically NEED to need therapy #yet here we are #nobody MADE me do any of this #(side note I want to either draw or commission like... a dwarf gang and an elf gang) #(Arie Arvid and Vogar for the dwarves) #(and Leena Harwen and Iona for the elves)

[illusivesoul]

Lore: "Dwarves have low fertility and a low reproduction rate"

Aeducan, having one son before becoming a warden and another one after romancing Morrigan: "I am not bothered by your earthly concerns"

#dragon age #dragon age origins #aeducan #dragon age dwarves #house aeducan #orzammar #dao #da o #da:o #dragon age memes #dragon age meme #da origins #mardy #warden x morrigan #morriwarden #morrigan #morrigan dragon age #dragon age morrigan #kieran #kieran dragon age #dragon age kieran

[danielnelsen]

Hey first I want to say that I really like your in depth posts on Dragon Age! Can I ask if you have any information and/or insights on the Jainen Circle from Legends? And do you think it's canon?

Everything That Happens Involving the Jainen Circle of Magi:

The First Enchanter is Jendrik whenever DAL is set (it's canonically sometime after the start of the 5th blight, but imo it's more specifically set somewhere from 9:34-9:37).

Sometime before you arrive in Jainen, the Circle is overrun by demons.

The leader of the local dragon cultists, Deymour, sends his lieutenant, Guillen, to kill Jendrik. If you head too far into Jainen without going to the Circle, Jendrik will die, otherwise you save him. If you save him, he's too wounded to help you so he just...leaves, I guess. He doesn't get any dialogue or a sprite or anything.

When you fight through the Circle, you fight both templars and mages (who are fighting together). I don't think you fight any demons until the very end, which has one desire demon as a boss.

The source of the demon(s) is Deymour who, as part of the overarching plot of DAL, is hosting a shard of a pride demon's soul in him. It's not explicitly stated that he summoned the demon(s), but his whole pride demon thing and also his general involvement (asking Guillen to kill Jendrik) is a pretty good indicator.

No matter the outcome, none of this is ever mentioned again.

Is the Jainen Circle Canon?

Nothing from DAL is canon.

That said, most of the game can be stretched to fit into canon (even Eiton being 'born Tranquil', fight me), and the Jainen Circle isn't any less realistic than anything else in DAL. Honestly, the main potential conflicts with canon are probably:

The times when we've been told how many circles there are (either 14 or 15; it's not even consistent). There are more than that listed on the wiki, even without including Jainen. However, quite a few of those Circles only have references from hundreds of years ago and may not exist anymore, so even 14 is enough to include Jainen as one of them.

Kinloch Hold is generally discussed in canon as THE Circle in Ferelden, replacing Denerim's Circle in 3:87. Maybe Jainen's just smaller or too remote or something, idk.

#dragon age #dragon age legends #dragon age meta #dragon age lore #da #dal #i feel like i may be the most qualified person in existence to talk about dal with the hours ive put into deconstructing the code #i have a 125 page document mapping the full plot (not in a way that would be particularly useful to anyone else tho sorry) #(but i WILL gladly talk about literally anything to do with it because oh boy do i know TOO MUCH about this game) #personal #was literally thinking a few hrs ago about writing a post about dwarves and golems and lyrium and magic resistance and souls........ #with heavy references to dal because of what happens in orzammar #(yes my copy of the game crashes before orzammar but the code still exists and i have Read It) #like there's a new paragon called beirus who figured out caridin's research and is making golems out of darkspawn #VERY interesting stuff. wish i could actually play it lmao. i wanna see the sprites for the golems when they're fighting #also ftr there are werewolf golems and they're called grinders. mhm

[plaguebeasts]

"Vharen

Don't listen to what Harrowmont is telling you. His men haven't visited Dust Town in weeks- why should they? It's not like they're going to find anything new. Everybody who's been questioned had a different answer for where Rica was supposedly headed so either she's given them false information to cover her tracks or the brands are just making shit up in the hopes that they'll get a reward.

Face the facts, cousin: she's gone. Took what's left of the Brosca family and disappeared to the surface. They probably started going by new names. You're not gonna find her unless she decides to make contact someday. I know things haven't been easy between us since Bhelen's death, but I'm not telling you this to cause grief. I don't want you wasting the rest of your life in a hopeless search for someone who doesn't want to be found.

Be safe, Piotin Aeducan"

-A letter found in the Warden-Commander's chambers at Vigil's Keep, tucked away in a desk drawer. The paper is creased and worn, like someone has been constantly re-reading it over the past several years.

#digital art #art #dragon age #dragon age fanart #fanart #dragon age origins #my art #dwarves #fantasy #rica brosca #karlah brosca #endrin jr #brosca #aeducan #orzammar #thedas #codex entry

[chessentans]

I wish dragon age hadn't decided that it didn't care about dwarves as a society after origins cause say what you will about the deep roads or whatever but that whole stretch of origins is just... genuinely so well written and is so incredibly underrated

#idk maybe they just knew how grey morality worked in origins and awakening #cause they forgot after that... #but idk Orzammar is so cool #and the bhelen and harrowmont conflict is so good! theres no right answer #same with the anvil #like yesh there are dwarves in the other games but never as much of an interest jn dwarf society #dragon age #and like oghren and sigrun are fun #dragon age: origins #da:o

[vigilskeep]

Duckling Wardens and their Minerva's Bias against Keir VS Kirkwall Crew with their Hawke Derangement affliction, FIGHT *ringside bell goes DING DING DING*

the only thing minerva and keir agree on is that anders suddenly having to be the mediator between two groups instead of the Official Instigator Of Problems is really funny and also deserved

#i think fenris velanna animosity could annihilate a small town #my kingdom for varric banter w the dwarves abt orzammar though