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#also so much inquisitor lore which I eat up
vaamiel · 11 hours
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My commissions are open!
I drew my dragon age protagonists!
I love them all so much 🥹 I figure I might as well write a lil about them so more info below the cut!
(this is quite long so be warned!)
Athon Surana is my warden!
He's a crunchy little bookworm who would much rather be researching or reading than fighting (or sleeping. Or eating. Or brushing his hair. Pretty much anything else).
He's an arcane warrior. Not because he wanted to be a frontline fighter or wield a sword, but literally because it requires less effort and thought than casting spells in combat. That's not to say he's a bad mage - quite the opposite in fact - but he doesn't want to spend the mental energy on fighting when he could much rather use his brain for Other Things.
Zevran is the love of his life, though I think them getting together is more incidental than anything else. Athon would likely have never sought companionship from anyone at all if he was left to his own devices, but he enjoys the time he spends with zev very much!
I imagine he's currently buried under a pile of books somewhere in Weisshaupt. The events of DAD will absolutely happen around him and he won't even bother to stick his head out of the library.
Garrett Hawke is.. well, you know
I love the default name and appearance for Garrett. The more I play DA2 the more it sticks as the only option for his appearance in my mind 🥲
I think my headcanons for him stick pretty close to canon - maybe with the exception I imagine him being even more pro-mage (perhaps even slightly racial) compared to the options you're provided in-game?
Anders is his romance and Garrett is very much All In on his ideals. Tbh I DO headcanon that he put together the plan about the chantry explosion and never stepped in because he supported the action.
I imagine he and Anders are off galavanting around Weisshaupt, waiting for Athon to finish developing a cure for the taint (and annoying Carver until the end of his days, certainly).
Lennox Trevelyan is my latest inquisitor!
He's the oldest of my three inquisitors, and incidentally the oldest of his siblings as well. Getting sent to the tower at a young age was frustrating and I think he held a lot of resentment toward his family and the circle for being caged as he was.
He also lost his faith during his years in the circle, which was quite jarring for someone raised in such a devout family.
That Lennox never saw any of his siblings or his parents again really Messed Him Up for a long time, and left him with a little bit of an inferiority complex and a smidge of abandonment issues 🥲
The inquisition (and his role in it) made things both better and worse - the power never went to his head, but he was certainly a bit of a radicalist when it came to freedom for mages and equality amongst all those under his command.
His romance is Dorian, and tbh with his disbanding of the inquisition, I imagine he went chasing after him to Tevinter (darn abandonment issues strike again), acting as a liaison for Leliana as divine.
Ashiriel Lavellan is my middle child with a weird AU backstory
SO Ashiriel is my one character that breaks a lot of the established lore. She was inspired by an au I built for myself and then never posted anywhere around... 2018? Where Dorian fled Tevinter with the help of the chargers a year or so early.
Ashiriel never imagined herself a mage. She made it 25 years without any magic manifesting, then during a traumatic incident when caught by some nasty noblemen in the forest, she lit them on fire (and half of herself too).
Basically, to cut an incredibly long-winded backstory short, she was rescued by bull and Dorian after they stumbled upon her. The chargers stayed with clan Lavellan for a time, helping Ashiriel heal and defending them as they moved away from Wycome etc.
They don't meet again until the tear etc, but all this sort of informed how I built Ashiriel in the game!
Cullen is Ashiriel's husband and I imagine they live happily ever after in the woods of ferelden, mutually healing from their extensive trauma 😌
Veren was my first inquisitor!
Veren is a precious little baby, new to the world just like me lmao. We both knew nothing going in to inquisition, so I was a stupid dumb dumb idiot and romanced Solas on my first playthrough with her.
We're both not over it.
Veren is a rogue (the only non-mage out of all my protags haha), but because she loved and trusted Solas, she kind of worked heeding his advice the whole game.
The one exception would be the well of sorrows - still reeling from the breakup she decided to ignore him that one time and... Well, we'll see what happens there, I suppose.
You bet your ass she's chasing that stupid egg across Thedas and beyond. Veren is hella determined and will stop at nothing to try to redeem Solas. Or maybe she's in denial, hard to say.
Anyway, I think that's it! If you managed to sit through all this rambling, thanks! Let me know what you think!
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pikapeppa · 3 years
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Year-end Writer’s Round-Up: the 2020 edition
Tagged a million years ago by @mythicaitt​ and @lostinfantasies38​ - thanks friends! I have finally put aside a chunk of time for this, since I am a nerd who likes to get accurate calculations. 
I will preface this by saying it’s been an insane year, and I know many people’s creativity was sucked dry by, well, everything. I find my emotional escape/comfort in writing fic, so I just... I dunno, went nuts with writing this year. To that end, I’ll keep most of this post below a cut for those who don’t want to see my “stats”, but with an open invitation to participate for ANYONE who does want to share their writing achievements for the year, and a tag for those writers that I know for sure were active this year: @crackinglamb​ @barbex​ @solas-disapproves​ @elveny​ @alyssalenko​ @nug-juggler​ @musetta3​ @cartadwarfwithaheartofgold​ @iarollane​ @in-arlathan​ @charlatron​ @queen-kass-the-writer​ - NO PRESSURE TO PARTICIPATE OR TO READ THIS AT ALL, THOUGH.
Word count and smut count table (i.e. NERD ALERT):
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(Here’s a masterlist of all my fic, if any of the fics in that list strike anyone’s fancy and they want to find and check ‘em out.)
There are a couple of things missing from this word count that I only posted on Tumblr, a couple of Solas/Nare drabbles and a piece of Orsino/Hawke smut, but I’m too lazy to track those down right now. And I have another unposted chapter of Inadvisable that’s about 10k words… ANYWAY, MOVING ON.
New things I tried this year:
I jumped headfirst into a few Dragon Age rarepairs this year! I’ve always loved rarepairs and have particularly enjoyed writing them for Horizon Zero Dawn in the past, so it was a pleasure to take on a few this year:
Felassan x Lavellan in The Love That Grows From Violence
Sten x Yara Mahariel in Fall Into The Tide
Samson x Roman Hawke for my soulmate @schoute​ - a ship that I never even saw coming and that hit me like a ton of bricks in the feels.
I also took the plunge into theorizing and sorting through Big Lore this year for Dragon Age — something I’ve avoided doing for years. I usually don’t like doing very deep dives because I’m a canon-compliant sort of girl, and the idea of getting attached to a theory that might end up being wrong makes me feel itchy. But when I started writing a Felassan-centered fic, I had no choice but to try and figure out the big lore since YA BARK-EATING BOYFRIEND KNOWS THINGS. I spent 10+ hours sorting through DA meta, both canon and fanon, to try and come up with something cohesive for that fic that feels as canon-compliant as possible, so that was definitely a cliff I didn’t mean to jump off of, LOL.
I also took a jump into writing a fic with three simultaneous and interconnected relationships in Inadvisable, my modern university AU with @elbenherzart​, which includes relationships for Solas, Abelas and Felassan. I was super excited but SCARED to do this: how to keep all three relationships interesting and exciting when the narrative keeps moving and flowing between the three relationships and the six characters who all know each other in different ways? Luckily, I had the wonderful Elbenherzart cheering me on and encouraging me with all the BEAUTIFUL ART she’s done for the fic, and I’ve been really enjoying it!
Fic I spent the most time on: 
Um, it’s probably a tie between two fics: The Love That Grows From Violence (Felassan x Lavellan) just because of that Big Lore deep dive, or Lovers In A Dangerous Time (Fenris the Inquisitor), which I finished earlier this year and took a long time just by virtue of the fic length and THE AMOUNT OF FEELINGS I HAVE FOR FENRIS AND RYNNE HAWKE.
Fic I spent the least time on: 
Wake Up, a quick oneshot featuring Varric and Solas, which I keysmashed in a couple of hours after the most recent DA4 trailer was released. 
Favourite thing I wrote:
Oh my god. Everything?? Writing is my escape and my pride and joy, so I love everything I write. All my rarepairs were absolute delights this year. Finishing Lovers In A Dangerous Time was bittersweet since I now kind of feel like I can’t write any further Fenris/Rynne until DA4 comes out. But Felassan has become my darling toward the end of this year and I’m thrilled to have brought a handful of wonderful readers down the Felassan rabbit hole with me. 
Favourite thing I read:
… I… have once again failed and read basically nothing this year. I started to read Pressure Point by 17734 on AO3 and really enjoyed it for a few chapters before I just… ran out of steam. Not because of the fic, because it genuinely was great —  the smut in the first chapter just about killed me, STG — but because I realized this year that, with very few exceptions, I don’t have enough emotional space to invest in fics with long intricate plots. I’m a fucking goblin who just likes to read smut, so I lose interest quickly if the fic isn’t strongly smut/romance-centered. 
TO THAT END, I do have a couple of smutfic recs:
Force of Nature, a Stenwarden oneshot by @minionripley: Maker save me, this was soOoOoO good and in-character for StennySten.
Provided It Tied You Down First by JadeLavellan on AO3: Solas and Trevelyan go to a Tevinter sex party for recon reasons. Oh my god, guys, IT’S SO GOOD.
Writing goals for next year:
Honestly? I’m not gonna make any. I’ll just go where the winds of inspiration take me, and where the winds of others’ whispered suggestions take me as well. 
To that end, I have to make a few shoutouts to people who have inspired me this year, either with their art or suggestions or encouragement (read: ENTHUSIASTIC SCREAMING): @schoute​ @elbenherzart​ @whatomen​, without whom a huge chunk of my fic this year would not exist; and @lethendralis-paints​​ @ashalle-art​ @slushrottweiler-blog​ who gifted me with beautiful fan art this year and made me want to weep. LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH. 
Wishing everyone a safe and happy new year filled with love, warmth, and most of all, with hope. If anyone else wants to join in and share their achivements, please do and tag me so I can see what you’ve been up to!
- Love from your friendly neighbourhood Pikapeppa xoxo
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some continuation i guess
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this time with the emperor
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we get the basic rundown, born to human parents, massively gifted, immortal, hidden among humanity and all that. It’s here where his motivation to shepherd humanities psychic awakening is really first brought up [something thats given overall more prominence in the book as well]. a much more interesting note however
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now, this probably seems inconspicuous enough at first glance. Indeed even in modern canon 40k’s imperium is first actually created over ten millennia ago. However, take into consideration this little bit earlier in the lore section that i didn’t think to much off at the time
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now, taking this into consideration, the implication here is that the age of strife, something that is typically thought to end right before the unification wars in modern 40k lore, is only considered to have ended after the emperor’s internment upon the golden throne, and that further the imperium seems to only officially be a thing upon the that internment. Now this suggests some things to me, two large ones possibly being
a) the unification wars and the great crusade were more so part of the same wider war, ie that the wars ‘only the emperor remembers’ were a large conflict between various warlords to determine who got the rightful rulership of the crumbling pre age of strife human civilization. or
b) the emperor started the age of strife in order to dominate humanity to control and shepherd the psychic awakening he saw humanity stumbling into.
take your pick i guess. food for thought and all that. also
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in my earlier post i jumped the gun, the 1st edition emperor is still a punk who needs human souls to survive. Though in this case its not some vague need to bind his soul to the chair or anything, no, its just that he apparently cant eat or drink anything else and hes really god damn hungry and thirsty all the time. Which is hilarious and i almost feel is just a better explanation in general.
to be fair he does look like this 10 millenia later
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makes sense he would need to eat unconventionally.
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as well, as opposed to specifying 1000 psyker souls a day it just mentions a vague ‘hundreds dying every day’ which is still a lot but also likely less then modern emps eats everyday.
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some explanation/emperor wank on why the emperor needs to be fed everyday. not much to say, just that i feel like the implications here atleast lean a bit more towards the emperor being pitiable in his own right as someone so dedicated to this vague future ideal of humanity that hes forsaken most of his own physically and mentally. 
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apparently humanity underwent no genetic changes over 38,000 years that werent the direct result of mutation from environmental hazards.
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@ lordsofmedrengard  early dark angels lore, here we can see where they got stuck with the moniker of “first legion” from in 30k modern lore, and its cause here in the first 40k book they’re noted as being ‘honored as the first marine chapter’. Guess it was something they felt needed to carry over... I like the copious more amounts of wine in the old dark angels chapter, and they seem a lot more aristocratic here then in modern 40k. Which makes an interesting contrast compared to the barbarian stocks of soldiers mentioned earlier in the book as being preferred for “legiones astartes”
we get some rundowns on the branches of the adeptus terra next, not much particularly new to note outside of them all being part of this larger governmental priesthood. some highlights though
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the old school custodes uniforms are in fact the traditional uniform of the custodes in 1st edition. 
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custodes wielded ‘lasers built to resemble the traditional and symbolic guardian spear’ whatever the fuck that means
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tech priests and the adeptus mechanicus were monastic monks who primarily lived on earth and didn’t stick metal parts into and all over their bodies. they were consequently much more boring as the echlissiarchies IT department.
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arbites basically doubled in the sisters of battle’s role as the militant branch of the state religion.
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arbites fashion choices and the arbites acting in a similar manner of chaplains as well really.
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the more voluntary nature of the astronomican in the first edition, the trainees learn how to safely let the battery drain them but it still seems to be a demanding job with a high fatality rate
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they also share monastic tendencies and a uniform with the mechanicus, though theres is a fashionable blue.
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included the entire bit on the administratum cause honestly, i find it incredibly fascinating. The parallels are certainly there between modern and 1st edition administratum, but i feel how its presented here just has more teeth and intrest to it. That is to say, its not just the ‘oh what fate, administration has become even more horrid, tedious and soul draining in this grim dark future, woe be us!’ that tends to get tossed around when mocking administration. Instead its a literal organization of religious monks dedicated to tax filings, school administration, rezoning and what have you. Blessed be the regulations and all that. Is there small cults dedicated to paper clip gods? what holy rites are involved when faxing documents compared to when faxing fourms? This is shit i want to know more about.
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all adeptus terra adepts carry a knife and are likely legally allowed to shiv you here as well incidentally. 
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the inquisitors are mostly the same, though with no mention of chaos whatsoever. less sub divisions from the looks of it too. this bit did catch my attention though.
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psychic powers seemed to be a hell of a lot more common among inquisitors back then as well.
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quirky inquisitors, who’d have thunk it. [its not that surprising, i just like that they took the time to mention it is all]
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don’t know wtf is going on here though, especially as to whats going on with dudes armour on the left. looks like a knight crossed with an oven.
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we get the usual spiel of psyker background, but then we get some interesting differences in opinions here on psykers compared to modern 40k imperium. How justified or not it is, is up to you but its definitely a shift in tone i would say.
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possibly the proto servitor narrative wise? As said, 1st edition 40k readily uses robots, so servitors would be unnecessary. technomats on the other hand fall between that as menials who likely operate these things but dont full on replace them like servitors eventually will.
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astropaths are basically the same, though the 90% statistic im not sure if it holds over to modern 40k. im thinkin likely but i could be wrong.
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navigators outside of not ubiquitously having the third eye mutation also seem to have much more personal freedom and respect in imperial society in 1st edition. probably pretty comfy to be a navigator back then really. Aside from that, navigator families are still a thing.
space marine time!
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well we get the same ‘feral world recruits as warrior god soldiers’ sortta stuff, it is mentioned and stressed that hive world criminals apparently make better stock in terms of raw aggression. Entire gangs will even be rounded up for the purpose of making new space marines.
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the early process to create a space marine. no special organs, but bio-chem and the black [plastic?] carapace were there from the start, and hypno indoctrination is alluded to. Apparently this is still barely controlled chaos though. [and on a personal note, nothing that indicates it was male exclusive either, outside of general attitudes of the 1980′s]
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early organization graph of a space marine chapter.
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chapter markings and armour
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AND THE POSSIBLITY OF SPACE MARINE BAGPIPES, WHERE ARE THEY GW WHERES MY SPACE MARINE BAGPIPERS!
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iron hands apparently only had the one iron hand?
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list of chapter symbols with names and colours, these keep appearing in the book. seems i was wrong on only the imperial fist symbol, its actually the crimson fists chapter symbol so thats 3 of the modern big 9 that didn’t exist back then.
we get a break down on the typical structure of a fortress monastery for space marines next, using the space wolves funnily enough who were far more normal as it were in 1st edition [and also their home world was lucan isntead]. and its got a lot, and well its all fairly interesting ill just shotgun blast some highlights
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that the space wolves had an entire fuckin ship hanging in their great hall i find endlessly amusing, so thats why its there. the rest are interesting in terms of the domestic situation of space marines.
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For this week’s gaming corner, I kinda wanted to put on my tinfoil hat and talk about a potential conspiracy that a writing friend and I stumbled over the other day when talking about Sten and his reasons for being in Ferelden during the Fifth Blight. (Warning: spoilers for Dragon Age: Origins and Inquisition ahead).
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The reason that Sten gives The Warden is that the Qun wanted information on the Blight, but … how much sense does this really make? For one, Sten is very much Qun-loyal, so how much information would he really be willing to share with The Warden? And he tells them this before his loyalty mission and before The Warden gains any kind of rapport with him, so the fact that he would just be upfront and honest about what concerns the Qunari have seems a little … off. I think perhaps he just used the Blight as an easy excuse and since everything was a bit chaotic, the excuse was accepted and his reasons for being there written off because hey, he was helping, and The Warden needed every ally they could get.
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But the even bigger question is the timing. For one, how would the Qunari even know that the Blight was happening? Keep in mind, the only person in Origins who even thought it was an actual Blight and not just an incursion of Darkspawn was Duncan, the Grey Warden. King Cailan *hoped* it was a Blight, but wasn’t convinced, Loghain and Arl Howe didn’t believe it, and Arl Cousland seemed indifferent and unknowing either way. Even after the Battle, Loghain and Howe still didn’t believe it a true Blight. So while there’s no doubt the Qunari likely had spies in Ferelden, what exactly could they have even sent back? Darkspawn incursions aren’t exactly rare or out of the question, and it seems highly illogical to send a whole unit to investigate the mere possibility of a Blight, so that begs the question … what would have made the Qunari send Sten and his Beresaad? If they weren’t sent because of a Blight, then why?
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Before I go on to speculate, I want to also address a logistics issue, and that is the fact that it is impossible for Sten and his Beresaad to have arrived in the area surrounding Lothering just before The Warden arrives there post-Ostagar. Backing up just a tad, during the prologue of Dragon Age 2, it’s mentioned that Hawke and family took a ship from Gwaren to Kirkwall and that the journey took two weeks. As you can see from the included maps, while there is a fairly significant distance between Gwaren and Kirkwall, it seems dwarfed when compared between Gwaren and Par Vollen, the Qunari homeland. So even *if* the Qunari became concerned about a large Darkspawn incursion – the likes of which were only witnessed at Ostagar – it’s simply impossible for a message to be sent from Ferelden to Par Vollen, a team to be put together and equipped, and then sent to Ferelden in order to make it to the area around Lothering before The Warden makes it from Flemeth’s hut to the same village.
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Of course, Sten’s explanation for what happened to him doesn’t even hold up very well. He told The Warden that he and his company were attacked by a group of Darkspawn and that he was knocked unconscious and later woke up to find his sword missing and subsequently attacked a nearby farmer and his family in a rage, which is what led to him being locked in a cage outside Lothering. Except … that makes no sense. The Darkspawn just so happen to slay the entirety of his company and just … knock him out? And leave him? Its well established in canon that if Darkspawn don’t kill someone, they take them for eating and/or breeding. And if they don’t take the bodies, they typically defile them, similarly to how they strung up King Cailan’s body at Ostagar. So the fact that they would have left one unconscious Qunari behind just seems insurmountably illogical. Darkspawn are not overly intelligent, which is why they require the guidance of an Archdemon in order to properly rally to even attempt to take over Thedas. They operate more or less on certain instincts, and instinct should have dictated that if they couldn’t take Sten’s body for some reason, they would have defiled his body and left it behind as a sign and a warning. That’s not even taking into account that somebody apparently just happened to go through this area right after this huge Darkspawn attack (Beresaad are not easy opponents) and somehow found Sten’s sword … AND the fact that the last place Sten remembers even having his sword is the docks around Lake Calenhad, an area that Darkspawn were not plenteous in (IF such a sufficient force was even able to make it that far to engage a Beresaad with, which *doubt*).
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Which brings me to the original point of this post: Sten wasn’t in Ferelden for the Blight. He was there as a preamble to a Qunari invasion.
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Qunari invasions aren’t unheard of, they had attempted an incursion several hundred years before (and in some spots, still had a lingering influence as of the events of the current games). And, of course, players get to see another attempt to overthrow leaders in an attempt to create chaos that would preempt their action to take over in the Inquisition DLC Trespasser. But what if that wasn’t their first attempt? What if they had attempted before?
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Sten is particularly interesting, having been noted by an Antivan Crow to be curious, a trait that is extremely rare for a Qunari. He questioned people coming and going at the docks on Seheron for three years in order to learn the common tongue. Later on, during a large Qunari assault in Tevinter, he was present and noted to not only know the common tongue but also Tevene, again another rare trait for a Qunari (and would be even rarer outside the Ben-Hassrath, the organisation of Qunari spies). It should be noted that after the failure of this particular assault, Sten was later overheard *arguing* - ARGUING - with the Arishok, something that shook the Tevinter spy to the core because Qunari just simply did not argue. Sten’s reason for arguing against someone as important and high-ranking as the Arishok himself, the leader of the Qunari military? Because after the failure of the recent Qunari incursion he’d been a part of, he was convinced that it would be impossible to take over southern Thedas by force, that they needed a more subtle touch … one similar to what we get to see in Trespasser.  It’s said, of course, that his reasoning and ideas are why the Arishok sends him and his team to Ferelden to investigate the Blight, but … what if he sends them for another reason? What if he understood and came to agree with Sten and later appointed him to take charge of a small force to infiltrate southern Thedas and take advantage of the recent Darkspawn incursions to ensure the death of King Cailan and anyone else of importance to throw the relatively young nation into chaos. Their company couldn’t have been attacked by Darkspawn … perhaps instead they were somehow intercepted by a company of the king’s men, and while they were successful in wiping out the rest of the Beresaad, they themselves fell to Sten who was left standing. And after he took care of the rest of the bodies, he was discovered by an innocent farmer and his family, who Sten *had* to kill in order to cover up what he’d done … and afterwards, realising that he was stuck in a strange land all alone with no back up and no way to complete his mission, turned himself in for the murder of the farmer and his family and waited for the end … (which, depending on the actions of The Warden, may not have come at all).
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Again, we can clearly see how the Qunari have started to plan their invasion by the time the Trespasser DLC occurs (2 years after the events of Inquisition, 12 years after Origins, 8 years after Sten becomes the new Arishok). Instead of brute force, they’re resorting to utilising their spy networks and operating far more quietly and in the shadows than they have in the past. Of course, they’re still caught by the Inquisitor and brought to task, but it’s a far different approach than what they’ve done previously. And while the Qunari disavow any knowledge of the Viddasala and her actions, that seems particularly out of character for the Qunari who typically move as one, as a single unit in thought and purpose, for whom rebellion is out of the question. It seems almost strange that a high-ranking Ben-Hassrath would just turn on the wishes of the rest of the Qunari, and particularly strange that it happens while our former companion, Sten, is the Arishok … the one in charge of their military … the same person who insisted that southern Thedas could not be conquered by force and instead needed far more subtly to accomplish …
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It just seems too convenient, doesn’t it? I can’t be the only one to see all the holes, all the neat little coincidences. Granted, this very well could just be explained away by the fact that Origins was Bioware’s first game in the Dragon Age series and they hadn’t really worked out all the kinks of their lore (they’ve backtracked and retconned before, so the behaviour of Darkspawn and the distance between Ferelden and Par Vollen could have very well just not been properly established yet). But I prefer to look at these plot holes and instead see an over-arching Qunari conspiracy to take over southern Thedas, whose attempts were simply thwarted by a Blight and by an Inquisitor respectively. Partly because it feels better than “oh, it’s just plot holes” and partly because this would really help set up and implement the Qunari as the next opponent in DA5 (Yes, 5. Not 4. Lemme at the Egg first in 4, then we can deal with the Qunari later). And since Bioware does tend to hint at big bads in previous games (Corypheus appeared in a DLC in DA2 and became your main opponent in Inquisition, Solas appeared at the end of Inquisition and is highly hinted to be who we’ll be fighting against in 4 …) this would fit their MO quite well at weaving in future storylines in previous games.
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dent-de-leon · 5 years
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Hi Leo! I'm curious, can you tell me about Dragon Age?
AJSKSDJSKFSG THIS IS PROBABLY LIKE A 3 HOUR CONVERSATION IF YOU GET ME STARTED, BUT REAL QUICK:
Dialogue heavy, story driven RPG where you are a Chosen Hero (or Unfortunate Bastard of Circumstance) and gather allies 
You can build up friendship with party members and even romance some of them. Shoutout to all my love interests that left me…I cry about a new elf or mage ex every time a new game comes out…
The combat’s fun!!! I’m especially partial to playing a mage in DA2 and Inquisition–this will also heavily impact the story cause mages and mage rights and lots of other plot based stuff,,, 
You can be a snarky smartass and in DA2 that’s my whole personality 
Real quick basic plot summaries for each of the main three games:
Dragon Age Origins: Nightmarish creatures called Darkspawn exist. And rarely, they manifest in one huge plague known as the Blight that consumes everything in its path. Like in Inquisition, you can choose your race and background. But here, you actually get to play out your origin story, hence the title. You eventually end up whisked away from your home to become a Grey Warden, honored–and cursed–heroes that are specially trained to end Blights. As it happens, you and another junior Grey Warden end up being the only Wardens left in the country, so you’ve gotta figure out everything you never got to learn in your (x1) day on the job, gather allies, lead a war-torn country, and maybe pet your dog. 
Dragon Age 2: You can only be a human. However, class does still play a huge role. And in this case, whether or not you’re a mage will determine so much of how your journey plays out, as this game is entirely about mage vs templar politics (mages aren’t trusted to control their power, so they’re guarded in towers by templars, it’s a whole thing). As a way to balance team mechanics, whether or not you’re a mage will also determine which younger sibling your Hawke gets to keep (iM REALLY SORRY BETHANY,,). You are Hawke, and your day just keeps getting worse. You’re one of the refugees fleeing the country that got devoured by the Blight in DAO. You’re just trying to get by in this hellhole of a city. Reluctant hero gets plunged into the heart of all their city’s problems until the whole place is torn to pieces. Try and protect your family–or whatever’s left of it–and hope you trust your friends enough to forgive them. I always saw DA2 as being as much about your companions as your PC, so really pay attention to them. I also think a lot of this game is about redemption and whether or not someone deserves it, ect. Also, Fenris did nothing wrong and I’d die for him. 
Dragon Age Inquisition: Rifts into this thing called the “Veil” that lead to a magic world known as the “Fade” are torn open. And by unfortunate happenstance, you end up receiving a mark on your hand that is slowly eating away at you–but is also the only thing that can seal the rifts. People from across the lands look to you for help as their supposedly chosen savior because of this, and you are heralded by the dominant religion as such–though opinions of this will vary if you’re not their ideal candidate, as in,, not human, a mage, ect. You can choose to bask in your newfound glory or publicly denounce that some god has fuck all anything to do with it. Either way, you become the leader of an Inquisition and have entire armies at your disposal. Also Cole is so good and I’m still crying over him. 
DAO AND DA2 ARE!!! HARSH!! WITH CONSEQUENCES!! You can absolutely get party members accidentally killed. You can also commit absolute atrocities against them. DA2 is especially unforgiving with this because you can end up automatically losing people if you don’t have their approval high enough based on their personal allegiances. But like, Inquisition is really forgiving. None of the party members can die, but they can ditch you. Which is Fair 
Inquisition is probably the easiest game to get right into. Aspects of DAO just haven’t aged well and the combat’s so much more tedious for me. DA2 and DAI have much better combat systems, but I think DAI feels a lot more like a traditional “DA” type high fantasy game. There’s also lots of different places to explore as opposed to being confined to one city and such and you get into lots of really different lore with throwbacks to the older games. DA2 is also, uhhhh….depressing,, like, I love it and replayed the hell out of it, but the ending isn’t that big triumphant hurrah or happy comfort you get in DAI (and in endings for DAO). So yeah, I think if you just want a glance at DA, you can try out Inquisition. 
DA2 is treated as the ugly black sheep of the franchise but it’s the Best story so that’s that on that. Also, Hawke is by far my character I’m most attached to. Warden is badass and legendary and Inquisitor was fun but,, I dunno,, Hawke was just very different and personal. They weren’t leading an army or anything, they were just trying to get by and I kinda liked that 
If you’re playing Inquisition I hope you like elves (i love them lmao) but yeah it’s huge on ancient elf lore!! If you’re playing an elf you might be more into that 
COLE IS MY BOY IF YOU PLAY INQUISITION PLS TAKE GOOD CARE OF HIM HE’S A GOOD GHOST BOY AND I WOULD DIE FOR HIM
There’s also a fair bit of lgbt rep, though there is some discussion as to whether or not it’s as progressive or representative as people would like, but, real quick on potential relationships for your PC: There are 2 bi romance options in the first game. Every romance option but an added DLC character is bi in the second game. The third game’s romance options include a gay man, a lesbian, two bi characters, and a pan character. And of course there are characters that are queer beyond just the romanceable NPC’s. Krem, for instance, is one of the only trans characters in a video game I’ve ever seen that isn’t treated like a joke and is a fully dimensional character where that part of their identity isn’t shoved under the rug.
There’s lots of Fantasy Politics so like,, hope you’re into that. Also, fuck the templars and the Chantry. 
NOT NEARLY AS MANY DRAGONS AS ADVERTISED,, CERTAINLY NOT ENOUGH TO BE CALLED “DRAGON AGE,” SHOW ME THE DRAGONS BIOWARE,, PLS,,–Inquisition has absolutely the most dragons, so there’s that 
Morgan and Leliana are fucking amazing and seeing so much of them again in Inquisition was the best  
Fenris is Best Romance and that’s that on that
I’m so sorry this was so long, but its not as long as all the hours I’ve logged in every one of these fuckin games 
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barbex · 5 years
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A Review of the Year – Writing Meme 2018
I was tagged in another year in review meme by @dafan7711 (thank you!) but I like the questions in this one better, so I'm using this one from @hollyand-writes
Total number of completed stories: I finish so very few things. But! I wrote nine short fics that actually got finished. Isn’t that something.
Total word count: I did a rough calculation and I published about 100k words and have another 20k in unpublished things.
Fandoms written in: Mass Effect, Dragon Age 2 and Dragon Age Inquisition
Looking back, did you expect to write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expected?: I’m always hoping to write more but I’m honestly impressed at having written so many words.
What’s your own favourite story of the year?: If we’re counting WIPs in this, then it’s Lost Templar in Skyhold. Even though DA:I kills me with all its lore, I love writing Carver. If we’re talking about finished stories, I wrote a murder mystery in A Hawke Investigates and I love it.
Did you take any writing risks this year?: The murder mystery was definitly a risk, I’ve never written such a thing. But Lost Templar also feels like a risk because I know so little about the gigantic amount of lore.
Do you have any fanfic or profit goals for the new year?: I want to finish all the old WIPs. Even the really really old ones.
Best story of the year?: I have no idea, I think they’re all good.
Most popular story of the year?: By Kudos, surprisingly, it’s Fake With Me. I kind of forgotten about writing it, it was so long ago but yes, it’s actually pretty good. That’s for the finished works, for unfinished, the subby!Cullen In Service to the Inquisitor beats them all of course.
Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: That has to be the murder mystery, A Hawke Investigates, just because it was so much work! I even wrote an outline, after learning how a murder mystery is structured. An outline! Me!
Most fun story to write: They’re all fun, I wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t  fun.
Story with the single sexiest moment: In Service to the Inquisitor is probably the most obvious contender but I really don’t know.
Most sweet story: The tiny tiny A Kiss Where It Doesn't Hurt is probably the sweetest I’ve written.
“Holy crap, that’s wrong, even for you!” story: Oh please, as if I know any shame. 
Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters: They all get shifted. I know that I’m always bending the characters to my will, just barely keeping them in character enough so that they’re still recognizable. I couldn’t point to a single story for that.
Most unintentionally telling story: Well, the subby!Cullen one sure tells me a lot of new things about myself...
Hardest story to write: The stats show me that I haven’t written anything for Lyrium Skin last year, which is a shame but also very telling. Writing gets difficult when emotions and circumstances lead to pain and suffering. I’m such a wimp, I have so much trouble writing these things. I know this will also happen with Lost Templar in Skyhold; as with Lyrium Skin, I know what will happen and it breaks my heart.
Biggest disappointment: Exchanges. That’s not a new experience, I guess I’m expecting too much from them. I wrote Parting at the Veil for a great image and there’s really not much feedback coming from those kind of exchanges. Or maybe I’m just not good at writing for prompts like that.
Biggest surprise: How much we all love Inquisitor baby bird Carver Hawke in Lost Templar in Skyhold. It’s just wonderful, even if the black hole of lore is about to eat me up. 
Tagging: No obligation of course: @seigephoenix, @thealexmachina, @blueteaparty, @thelilybird, @foofyschmoofer, @thievinghippo, @stitchcasual, @natsora, @aban-asaara and @ungenue
And of course, anybody else who wants to do this one, go ahead and tag me in it.
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jyndor · 7 years
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I'd love to hear your Mara head canons. Bonus points for ones set in the universe where Cassian basically adopts her.
LOL wow this is late. And long enough to warrant two parts.
I like to think that, in my own little canon world, the best bits of Legends and Disney!canon come together like good wine or sex, and the worst… well, they can grow dusty on the cutting room floor. 
Some back story, before the main course:
In this ‘verse, we have a Mara Jade who is ironically rescued from the Last Command by her former master when he decides he’s had enough of her. The Emperor is a fuckboy, and when he tires of his little experiment in favor of his slightly less messy Inquisitors, he has Mara killed by a bounty hunter, and to ensure success, he locks her connection to the Force away in the deepest parts of her psyche. She is thirteen, lean muscle and tiny, a weaponized ballerina, but the bounty hunter takes pity on her and instead, like Snow White lore, lets her go with a vibroblade and a warning to never return to her former master. How he tricks the Emperor, I don’t know. 
Mara spends a year on the run, taking on the alias of Arica Alie, a runaway with no real skills or purpose. She lies and cheats her way to the Outer Rim. But without the Force, she must rely on her own innate resourcefulness and cunning. This alone is a story I’d love to write. 
A couple of notes: in this ‘verse, Mara is the only Hand because she was the experiment/sacrificial lamb. One of many kinds of agents, yes, but the only Emperor’s Hand. Kept in the shadows so long that no one misses her when she’s gone.
When Cass met Mara:
I assume Mara is a year or so younger than Luke/Leia, so when she is fourteen, they would be fifteen and Cassian Andor, who is 26 in R1, would be 22 (assuming the twins are 19 in ANH). I also assume that Cassian is a favorite of the Council (especially Draven) and therefore he rises in the ranks fairly early. I’d place him at Lieutenant when they meet, although not for long. I also like to think that Kay has been with Cassian for a long time, maybe since he was a teenager.
Their meeting goes like this: Cassian is on a mission, executes a wavering informant and is seen by a homeless girl in rags. The unwritten protocols are clear–the girl has to die, and it’s certainly not something he hasn’t done before. But something holds him back. Maybe it’s the Force nudging the fuck out of him, maybe it’s the clever glint in her green eyes. Maybe it’s just his conscience. 
He offers her a bite to eat in a nearby hole-in-the-wall pub. The girl looks at him like she knows what he’s thinking, like she’s been in his shoes–which is absurd, except for how it’s not. He knows a child soldier when he sees one.
(Later, she will tell him that she never let the witnesses go. Even the sniveling alley girls.)
But she’s really hungry. 
Over some sort of stew Cassian doesn’t look too closely at, he offers her a ticket off the streets. Cassian is a recruiter for the Rebellion, so I don’t think it’s too out of the ordinary for him to think of bringing her with him. Except it’s different, because he doesn’t know anything about her.
Just that she’s a fighter.
And after a year on the run, heartbroken and lonely, Mara is desperate. And there’s this feeling of rightness, something she has never experienced. 
So yes, she goes with him. 
Kay is not happy about it. 
Spy Lessons:
As far as interrogations go, it’s quite pleasant. There’s no beatings or truth serums, no torture of any kind. So Mara really has no trouble opening up to the Rebels. With a few exceptions.
1. She does not tell them her former title. After a few well-placed misdirections, General Draven assumes she was an Inquisitor before leaving the Empire. There are rumors of Inquisitors, not of the Hand, and she enjoys the way Lieutenant Andor stands just a bit taller when his superior praises him.
2. She does not tell them how well she (thought she) knew the Emperor. Not out of misplaced loyalty, although she will never want him dead. He raised her, and he gave her everything she wanted, and she still doesn’t know the extent of his cruelty. In time, this will change. But not for a long time.
3. She does not tell them she has not felt the Force in a year.
Andor is there some days. Mainly she speaks with Draven, who is calculating and sharp. She respects him, but she was trained in interrogation at ten years old. She knows this game.
When he tells her she can stay, she sees Andor smile (clearly despite himself).
And then comes the fun part: boot camp. She is out of shape but not out of practice. Hand-to-hand combat comes naturally to her. She doesn’t see her recruiter too often in the early days.
The tricky part is making nice with the other recruits. They’re older, physically stronger and mostly male. She doesn’t have much experience being herself around people. She pulls from her bag of personas–Arica Alie, the dancer, who is flirty and artsy and a bit fun; Celina Marniss, the clever schoolgirl with political aspirations–the traits that she knows work well on teenage boys. Mara Jade herself is cold and sharp around the edges, and vulnerable. Lonely. 
But when Cassian Andor is around, she is a little less so.
She does see in him things she herself has felt, but differently. Of course, he doesn’t know just how similar they are–how, even so much younger than him, she carries the burden of death on her shoulders, the chains of sin in the name of a greater cause.
They eat together when he’s on base. He tells her cleaned up stories from his missions. The blood is on his hands, and she sees it because she understands. And she absolutely doesn’t tell him that his boss has her doing extra work on the side. Exercises in intrigue.
For his end, Cassian isn’t an idiot. He knows what Draven thinks she used to be. He sees her scores and how fast she is going through her courses. It will be less than a year until she is given orders. And he’s certain he knows what she’ll be doing.
Draven says it sometimes. “The girl’s skills will be wasted on the front lines.”
She’ll be in the shadows for her whole short life, and it’ll be his fault. A girl like that should be in the light.
Someday he’ll tell her his misgivings, years in the future, when he has a bad back and a high rank, when he can no longer do the dirty work himself.
But for now, he watches her beat the shavit out of boys twice her size and praises her like he’s supposed to.
When she graduates in three months time, he’s there for the ceremony like no one was there for his. 
The Spy and the Saber (or the interim years, or the blossoming of a friendship):
Cassian is promoted shortly after Mara is swept up by Intelligence. It’s unrelated to her recruitment, a mission that could have gone terribly wrong but didn’t because of some quick thinking on his part.
Captain Andor sees Private Jade on base rarely during the first year of her service. He hears stories–rumors, really–of an agent so ruthless, so thorough and exacting they are called the Saber, and he knows it’s her, this little girl whose always been more than that. 
And so one day, when she’s sixteen, he tells her what he’s heard. And she doesn’t deny it, although she is a little flustered by the nickname. 
He tells her about becoming a Fulcrum. 
After that, she trusts him. She treasures his friendship. She even likes Kay (who tolerates her enough). 
They go on one mission together once before he goes rogue.
While he begins to hear whispers of the name Erso, she starts to hear talk of a superweapon. 
When he sees Jyn Erso for the first time, Mara Jade is on a mission of her own. Scarif happens, Rogue One is MIA and presumed dead. Alderaan crumbles to nothing. And a grieving Mara watches the tiny band of pilots fly out to defend Yavin, finally opens her eyes to just how cruel the Empire is.
And that is it for part one of my headcanons.
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theladydreadwolf · 7 years
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Caretaker (Solavellan Fic)
[This is for my precious lovely, @eternal-abelas I hope you enjoy it. I really hope I captured your beautiful Lin accurately. ^_^]
Emprise Du Lion was truly a nightmare. Lin and her companions were relieved when Skyhold was just beyond the horizon. They resolved the Red Templar conflict with the quarry, saved the townspeople, and established a keep so there would be constant Inquisition scouts in the area to help stabilize the region. The brutal winter of the region wore down their party. They were all exhausted, aching, and simply craved the warmth of their beds.
They soon arrived at the gates of Skyhold, The Iron Bull and Dorian parted from Solas and Lin, heading to Herald's Rest. Lin's work was never finished. She still needed to inform her advisors of her progress, deal with Mistress Poulin's deceit, and probably get to work on the paperwork that accumulated while she was away. Lin sighed heavily and turned to Solas, "I still have much to do, Vhenan...I will mostly likely see you at dinner."
Solas placed a hand upon her shoulder, leaning in to place a chaste kiss upon her forehead, "I understand, emma lath. I have some studying to do myself. I will see you at dinner." The apostate and Lin entered the keep and went their seperate ways. Lin attended the War council informing her advisors of all that happened in Emprise Du Lion.
After the meeting, Lin felt worse than she did when she arrived. Her throat was scratchy, she felt even more exhausted, and she had a slight sniffle. She sighed once again. She was coming down with a cold. What a way to end the day, but she couldn't just retire to her quarters. She had to handle Mistress Poulin's judgement and she still had paperwork to do. The Inquisitor's work is never done.
Lin made her way to her chair for judgement. Josephine was beside the chair and ready to proceed. Mistress Poulin stood there cuffed and ashamed. The Iron Bull, Dorian, and Solas also attended this judgement for they were there and witnessed her lies. Lin seemed paler than usual and a bit flushed, but she needed to see to this matter.
The Inquisitor listened to the Mistress's pleas and justifications which made Lin decide to make the Mistress use her own money to rebuild Sahrnia with the Inquisition's support. When the judgement concluded, she stood quickly. Lin suddenly became dizzy and stumbled, nearly falling from the dais. Luckily, Solas caught her, steadying her.
"You are ill, Vhenan.", he kept a firm hold on the slender elf. Lin looked at her lover and gave him a weak smile. "I'm fine, Vhenan. I just got up too quickly is all. I'm alright now.", she tried her best to reassure him, but Solas wasn't having any of it. He furrowed his brows and placed a hand upon her forehead.
His eyes widened. "You're burning up. You need rest." The elf looked to the ambassador who was on the verge of panicking. "Please retrieve a healer. I'm taking Lin to her quarters.", he informed the Antivan. Josephine nodded quickly before literally dashing off in search of the healer. "Solas-", Lin's protest was quickly interrupted when Solas swept her up into his arms, carrying her bridal style to her quarters.
Lin simply gave up protesting because there was no changing Solas's mind. He carried her to her room, laying her onto her bed. It didn't take long for the healer to arrive with several ailments to help fight the fever and other symptoms. Lin was soon overcome by sleep. She was far more exhausted than she thought.
Solas looked upon her pale face. Her cheeks were flushed as were the tips of her ears. The elf filled a wash basin with cool water and soaked a cloth, before placing it across her forehead. The severity of her fever worried him. He thanked the healer and he took it upon himself to look after Lin.
He tucked the blankets around her as she slept. He trailed a hand through her hair tenderly. "Get well soon, Vhenan.", he leaned down to place a light kiss to her forehead. He glanced out of her quarter's windows and saw that it was getting dark. He knew dinner would be soon. The elf decided to go fetch his lover some soup and a nice hot cup of honeyed tea. With one last glance, Solas left the room to retrieve her dinner.
After some time passed, Lin's eyes fluttered open. She groaned softly. The light-haired elf felt simply miserable. She sat up, leaning against her pillows. "Vhenan...You have woken up just in time.", her head turned to the direction of the voice. She smiled softly. "Solas..."
He gave her a small smile. He was holding a tray with some soup and steaming tea upon it. "I brought you some soup and your favorite kind of tea.", he sauntered over to her bedside, placing it gently across her lap. Lin glanced down at the tray and back at her lover. "Ma serannas, ma sa'lath.", she tentatively picked up her tea mug, taking a light sip. She felt the warmth spread through her. It felt wonderful.
"I had a discussion with your advisors. They said you relieved of your duties until you're feeling well. You need your rest. They will take care of everything for now.", he tenderly caressed her cheek. "I wish you wouldn't push yourself so hard, Vhenan."
Lin placed her hand over his own, "I'm alright. I will try not to push myself in the future." Her eyes met his own. She knew Solas was merely caring for her well-being and it touched her deeply. "Ma serannas for taking care of me.", her voice was soft.
He smiled at her once more. "You should eat. It will help you regain some of your strength.", he moved his hand from her cheek to gesture to the bowl before her. She laughed softly. She was already starting to feel better, but she did as he said and began eating her soup.
As she ate, Solas moved to the other side of the bed, settling in beside her. He had retrieved a book from the nightstand, opening to a page where he had previously bookmarked. Lin soon finished, moving the tray to the table at her bedside. The young elf cuddled up to his side. "Reading anything interesting?", she questioned.
He chuckled softly before wrapping an arm around her, pulling her closer to where her head now rested on his shoulder. "It was a passage on Elvhen lore. Would you like me to read it to you?", he turned his head to placed a kiss to her hair.
Lin began to feel drowsy, but she simply smiled. "I would love that.", she replied sleepily. Solas couldn't help, but chuckle. He found her sleepy curiosity endearing. "Ma nuvenin.", he turned back to his book and began to read. It wasn't long before Solas's soothing voice caused her to drift off to sleep on his shoulder.
He paused his reading to look at her. He smiled before closing his book, sitting it aside. He helped her underneath the covers before he settled in next to her. Solas placed a soft kiss upon her lips, wrapping his arms around her, "Ar lath ma, Vhenan. I will find you in the Fade." It wasn't long before Solas felt himself slipping into the Fade to find his beloved.
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kierarutherford · 7 years
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10 Questions Ask Meme
Rules:Answer 10 questions and then come up with another 10 questions for the people you tag!
Was tagged by @princessvicky01​ so let’s keep this rolling
Favorite small town? Real or fictional. - I live in a small town, and have lived in many but none have ever been a favorite. SO I suppose I would love to check out the small town of Honnleath (pre-darkaspawn)
Video game or DLC you’re most looking forward to right now? (sans DA4) - I have yet to purchase it and it haunts my dreams. I am aiming to get my hands on the Witcher DLCs. 
Favorite fictional world? (i.e.: Middle Earth, Thedas, etc.) Why? - to be fair I have two. One would have to be Thedas as I it holds my OCs and a special Commander. The second would have to be Witcher’s world (don’t remember what the whole place is called. TOO many city/towns to name.) Great, indepth lore and creatures.
Where/what was the best cup of coffee you’ve ever had? If you don’t drink coffee, what’s the best meal you’ve ever head? - Best cup, uh... I have never had a “best” cup of coffee anywhere out but the morning back home after my daughter was born. The first sip of freshly brewed coffee brought to me, while holding my little girl. That may be the best sip ever.
Where/when do you do your best daydreaming?   When I lay in bed. I daydream myself to sleep. Putting myself in the shoes of my OCs and trying to figure out how they would react. There is a tiny piece of me in each of them. 
Favorite TV show right now? I don’t really watch a lot of tv. Right now I’m addicted to Live PD (probably only in countries with A&E)
Is your canon Inquisitor reluctant about their power, or do they embrace it full-force, or something in-between? Kiera takes the reigns as she was a First to her clan and much was always expected of her. It is simply a tool to aid those in need. Diana- she hated it. Her personal “night light” she called it many times. Trying to deflect the horror and personal irritation. Hyacinth - she was unsure of it but as long as she can heal and help, she makes due.
What’s the best purchase you’ve ever made? I shop on bargains all the time. So I really can’t pin point that one awesome score. I would say my proudest was netting a $45 sweater for my daughter (in-store) for $4.99. I do love hunting through clearance racks.
Favorite or go-to clothing brand/designer/store? I am not loyal to any brand per say. I sale hunt. I prefer to hunt at Old Navy currently but the winds may change.
Are there any popular TV or video game character arcs that really bother you? How would you change them, if you could? - The one that stuck with me over the years was the ending arc of Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time. There was SOO much room to do something there and they did a hack ending (in my opinion.) Played it multiple times and it always stuck with me. (Also my first -he should have totally gotten the girl- grumble fest) 
@fereldenpeach questions
If you could trade places with a fictional character for a day, who would you pick and why? - Diana Trevelyan. She’s tough, quick witted and scandalous. She knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to do whatever she has to to get it. Her relationship with Cullen is deep and runs on lewd at times. I envy her free spirit and openness.
What’s your favorite vacation memory? - Too many. We always made a trek to visit my grandparents as a child and those moments (while colourful) always stuck with me. 
What’s your go-to alcoholic beverage? Don’t drink? What’s your favorite smoothie or milkshake? If I drink (I do enjoy a good drink- perhaps too often) I like coolers or my mix. Ginger ale, grapefruit juice and Canada Club whiskey. Extra ice. I’m an ice chewer
When did you have your first kiss? I was fourteen, he was my first boyfriend and it just happened. I do remember it being a wondrous moment. All teeth, tongues and lips. He was more experienced than I, and it was grand. 
Who was your first fictional crush and why? lol so totally nerdy! I was in love with Link from Legend of Zelda and Carth Onasi from Knights of the Old Republic. I wrote a HUGE fanfic (printed in a book in my closet today). It has never seen the light of day lol 
What’s your favorite Dragon Age mod that you use? Don’t use mods? What’s your favorite outfit from the game’s options? - I have to admit I love the Spoils of the Qunari, wrap thing. lol I made my own in several colours down in the Undercroft.
What (or who) was the gateway to joining the DA fandom on Tumblr? I don’t really know? I was creeping around the internet, dying for more Cullen things when I stumbled upon @khirsahle​ amazing fic and I believe there was a mention somewhere of a tumblr. So I boldly decided I wanted to write, and get on this tumblr and find my like minded Cullenites and bask in the delicious man. 
Name three things you absolutely can’t live without and tell us why. ah hard one. I am a travel light person. 1 - my phone, it is my day planner, alarm, watch, contacts to my parents, camera, etc. 2- Comfy runners. I have terribly sensitive feet and wear shoes all the time. Without them I’d have horridly sore feet. 3 -caffeine. I drink anywhere from half a pot of coffee to a full pot of tea a day. My tea pot is a 12 cup size lol. I’m a mom of 3. I NEED caffeine.  
When did you first start playing Dragon Age? Which game did you start with and have you played all of them?  I have been here since the beginning in Dragon Age addictive hell. I played the first, it’s dlc, then Awakening, then 2, it’s DLC and now Inquisition and it’s DLC. I actually had to create room on my xbox to play Origins because I had over 38 saved characters. Wiped them all out and repeated that 3 more times. lol Of those play throughs I only romanced Zevran once. All others were Alistair.
What’s a project you’re really proud of? Where Flowers Dare to Bloom. It has hurt me and healed me in so many places. It has been a personal healing tool and the next couple chapters are currently cleansing my soul.
Here are @princessvicky01​ 10 :
1) What was your first pet? If you’ve never had one is their one you would like? My first pet. He was a terrier/poodle/rescue thing. Benji. Loved him till he passed of old age when I was 9. Amazingly well tempered and awesome dog.
2) If you could only replay one game forever, what game would it be? lol that is my life. I literally play games to their disk death. If I was cursed to a single game. I’m picking Dragon Age Inquisition. To forever romance and marry Cullen, please. 
3) What was/is your favourite subject at school?Why? History. I loved it. Especially ancient history. Eqyptian history, medieval history. All of it. Myths and legends. I adored it all.  
4) Do you prefer to be too hot or too cold? I can’t handle heat, so I’d have to say I’d rather be too cold. 
5) Do you have any hobbies? If not is there any you want to try? This is kinda a hobby I suppose. I am a terrible starter to things that I never finish. It is a horrid habit that I do way too often. I crotchet, I knit, I sing (lol fairly well too), I used to play in photoshop, games, play baseball.. I’m everywhere and no where.
6) Whats your favourite restaurant/eat out food - Italian, Chinese, Mexican ect I love Italian. Pasta. I am addicted to pasta. Fetticine Alfredo, spaghetti and marinara sauce. Yes please.
7) Mages or Templars? Why? Mages. To be sent away from family at such young ages, forced into a stone prison. It’s heart breaking. All because they are different. Never nullified the Circle in any play throughs. I can’t kill children just because they can hold fire in their palms. Teach them, let them live and let them help!  
8) Favourite film/movie genre? I’m not a film person really. I do watch the occasional movie but again I’m all over the place. Favourite of all time; Robin Hood- Men in Tights. A Mel Brooke’s picture. 
9)  Whats your spirit animal/daemon aka the one that represents your personality? A bear. Quite literally lol. Loyal to family, extremely protective and I’ll rip your arms off and feed you to my kids if you mess with them. 
10)  Cullen Rutherford shows up at your house. What do you say/do? Seriously... depending on the situation, I have no idea. I mean, I think we all know what we dream about but reality wise... I honestly don’t know. 
After a mile of questions. Here are mine now lol:
1- Drink lyrium become a Templar or grip a staff and become a Mage. Once you pick you cannot go back. Choice and why?
2- If you could meet anyone of your followers/readers/people you follow, who and why?
3- Dream Cullen date, go!
4- Do you believe readers should comment on your writings? Or are likes/kudos enough?
5- If you had an hour to sit with your favourite character creator from any game, how would you use that time?
6- If you could cosplay one character, who and why?
7- When you sit to write, what is your must haves to work? Coffee/tea, a song, tv in background, what’s your must have thing?
8-Do you follow any of the prominent writters out there? Steven King? R.R Martin? J.K. Rowling? If so, who and why? If not, who would you love to sit and chat with?
9- What time do you feel is the best for your writing? How long do you write for?
10- If you could make one wish come true, but for only one full day, what would you wish for?
Tagging @daisytje @angyvalentine @dorianofminrathous @omnipotentoverlord @queenmelisende @ma-sulevin
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Alright to be fair this post should be titled: Let’s talk Lyrium, and world order, and how magic types relate to each other, and a lot of other shit because Tansy just finished Trespasser and is kind of freaking out. but that did not make as good a title.
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See?
(As you can also tell I started this lore post a LONG time ago)
Basically the DLC was just one validation after another of some of the ideas I had lore wise that were so out there that I just sort of went NAH and didn’t really share them. It also validated lots I have spoken of but that’s beside the point.
There was literally so much to cover that I kept debating about how to mix it up for a while before finally deciding to just sort of dump it all in one place.
I ended up going with the Lyrium title because this has validated TWO crazy theories I had!
So basically I promise you there will be lyrium
There will just be a lot of other stuff too. Please keep reading. Unless of course you are a templar experiencing withdrawal in which case I advise you to… I don’t even know. Sorry buddy you’re screwed.
CRASH COURSE ON THEDAS WORLD ORDER!
Fade - Fade magic - spirits - sky/outerspace
Thedas - blood magic - us - Thedas
Void - Void Magic - dead people - Water
LYRIUM! LYRIUM EVERYWHERE!
I um... Might need to explain a bit more. Lemme just copy and paste from another of my posts
First let's look at magic. Blood/fade/void
We know how magic works for blood and fade “ A mage uses magic by tapping into the power of the Fade to essentially question reality, rendering it mutable and able to be reshaped. To this end, templars are the ideal foils for mages, having been trained specifically to counter and “deny” magic
http://higheverrains.tumblr.com/post/132465307323/circle-charts this post got me thinking
ok so basically Blood magic uses the power of real life of reality to shape spells Fade magic uses the fades power with it being a place of unfixed existence.
You got that? Thedas is reality, Fade is unfixed reality
The void as we see in the void magic performed in the Calling draws its power from lack of reality. It works by literally dissolving reality out of existence instead of changing it as fade magic does or creating it as blood magic seems to.
Side note: this is why blood magic can be so unexpected as in Last Flight. You are creating reality not changing it as Fade magic does.
Still with me here? Good,
According to the prima game guide  “ Spirits whose realms are flocked with visitors rise to rule great portions of the Fade, while memories and concepts forgotten in the real world slowly drift away back into the ether, the spirits who ruled them losing all potency”
This ether is also known as the abyss or void. It's the raw waters of the fade. It is nothing but nothing is powerful because nothing is just energy that has not been shaped yet.
This is the fade in its natural state. Before people touch it with their perceptions
Its also a storage place for the souls of the dead before they return
The void is the land of the dead. (as stated by so many cultures in thedas) Thedas is the land of the living. And the fade is the land of those who can neither live nor die.
Now then.
Titans figured out how to have dwarves not enter the fade. But instead be drawn to them and their wellspring to from their own private pool of knowledge.  These were the original memories. The accumulated knowledge of generations at the finger tips of new dwarves.
Sound like anything? The well of Sorrows. The elves took lyrium and “something else” That something else was souls.
This is how imortality works. Circumventing the void. Or rather making sure your full being is brought out into a new body.
Of course this does not explain my last little bit about space and stuff... So I Should started talking about that. 
It started with a crazy thought There are three realms of existence, three types of magic. 
But two big powerful animals? Titans and Great Dragons? Both of whom have blood with crazy special properties?
I don’t believe there is only two. I think one has not yet been revealed to us (Unless of course it’s the Cetus in which case we just don’t know shit)
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Dear Bioware, please let it be this thing. Please let our heroes have to go out on boats to meet with it with only harpoons and fishhooks for defence, all like “Haha, we’re so screwed.”
 But basically It got me thinking, If Dragons ruled the skies, and Titans do their shaping thing in the stone what is left? 
BINGO! The Seas!
But that is crazy right and where did outerspace come from?
Well let me show you somthing
Heh-heh nice little rifty, please don’t swallow m-
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No! What are we doing!?
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OH MY G-D!!!
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Gonna look back.... What the?
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HOOOOBOY!
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Welcome to the other side of the rift.
But wait there is more!
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Nice Crossroads Green Forcefield thing.
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Hmmm So this is the lowest point.... I wonder if I just
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Is that what I think it is?
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Thats right under the crossroads is an entire freaking forest.
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Oh broken paths?
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You mean like this?
A lot of people get frustrated about the geography of thedas and how it makes the sence. The thing is... It does. If you link the physical and the magical
But back to the concept of the seas.
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Remember this in the fade?
Yeah I don’t think it was crestwood. Mostly because there is black water in the raw fade in DAO 
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Wanna know what else was in the fade?
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Which is interesting because in the past lyrium in the fade was blue
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Why the change?
Well... It could be because we entered the fade physically 
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Or it might have somthing to do with the part of the void we entered being connected to the void. I don’t think those fossils where an accident. Connecting water and death in a thing. As is connecting death and the void as I mentioned above.
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We know the titan’s blood is lyrium 
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We know it has a heart
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New age crystal lovers eat your heart out!!!! Yes I am a crystal lover...
So let's ask the question. What do hearts and blood DO?
If our blood and hearts carry things like oxygen and the other nutrients we need... We have to ask what TITAN hearts and blood carry.
My theory since before trespasser has been that the awnser to this is souls. Lyrium transports souls through the void the fade and thedas.
Moving on.
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Here lies the abyss, the well of all souls. From these emerald waters doth life begin anew. Come to me, child, and I shall embrace you. In my arms lies Eternity.
In the book “The Calling” Merric speaks this verse while very likely in a titan.
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What if this wellspring is a holder for souls. So that when Sha-Brytol die they can be brought back. A “secret to immortality”
What does this idea remind you of? Well it reminded me of The Well Of Sorrows.  
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But that’s crazy right... WELLLLLL....
This is the “pure” Lyrium we see in Decent 
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The Lyrium we see in trespasser however is different looking The following are two pictures of it taken at the same angle just moments apart.
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Notice the shiny. It’s almost like the Lyrium has been charged somehow.  But charged how... FLYCAM TIME
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Oh look at this... You know what it reminds me off?
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Welcome to Uthenera
Close up more
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Oh look Lyrium columns leading to...
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The dark waters of the fade.  Shall we call this the void?
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Diving boards are important for void sacrifices guys.
I’m about to propose somthing crazy guys.
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What if Red Lyrium is not always evil?
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Besides the fact that a Qunari inquisitor seems not to find Red Lyrium a bother in trespasser we have this.
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Does this mean that Red Lyrium was once not blighted? or that the blight was once not bad? That there is some red Lyrium that is not bad?
The Elves in origins seem to suggest so.
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This Camp should be doomed
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But we have seen more than just blue and red lyrium
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We’ve seen green Lyrium. FYI The Hissing Wastes is home to many Oddities
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I know some suspect this might be a trick of the light But this does not look like a trick of the light to me.
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Furthermore the Qunari in Trespasser seem to agree with me considering this is found in their little clubhouse.
SO if red lyrium is blighted lyrium.... Or rather void like Lyrium.... what is green lyrium..? 
The awnser came to me seeing the Fade Touched Lurker
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found in Jaws of Hakkon.
Green Lyrium is fade touched lyrium... 
Which means that it is either like Veil Quartz... OR....
We have a possessed Titan somewhere!
Personally I bank on the Possessed Titan for two simple reasons.
First of all we find no green Lyrium in the Frostback Basin where both our fade touched friend above and veil quartz are...
ALSO
While we know that dwarves like using Lyrium in interior decorating...
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We also see what could be other colors of lyrium in their decor...
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From green...
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To red and even yellow....
That this might be lyrium is given further credence by the fact that a Lyrium sales dwarf in Orzammar seems to be selling these decorations...
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And that wraps up this lore post!
Thank you to @aqunaristateofbind for the Morrigan well graphic!
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