#i didn’t know about the whole elves don’t sleep lore before this game so i thought my bard was just insane or glitching for meditating

[visenyaism]

laid in bed in my beautiful purple floor length dress (thigh-high slit btw) with matching bronze armbands necklace and belt and also seemingly industrial strength push-up bra, hair in place, face fully done, black veins like limpid tears down my eyes, sulking as prettily as possible in case SIX VAMPIRE SPAWNS happened to come to my room to DISTURB MY REST in the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT🫣 okay. whore.

#playing this game with shitty graphics fucking rules honestly #i didn’t know about the whole elves don’t sleep lore before this game so i thought my bard was just insane or glitching for meditating #bg3

[felassan]

hey hey, just giving you this question because you are big lore nerd and I'm analysing this by myself (and eventually doing a post)... did you check out the Chant of Light, Drakon's prophecy for the future? Exaltations canticle? I read it last night and I was surprised. It can be added to Sandal's prophecy in da2 as well.... maybe you talked about this before? would you mind to point me your post in that case? I love your analysis

Hello! Ahh thankyouu 😊 (Please tag me in or drop me a link to your post because I’d be interested to read it!) The rest of this post is under a cut due to length.

Sandal’s prophecy is an interesting one as we recently learned this tidbit about it and things like it in one of the David Gaider dev commentary streams:

DG said Eleni Zinovia’s prophecy doesn’t refer to Fen’Harel. He can’t remember who wrote it in there or what it refers to actually. It was most likely just intended as flavor and he was even a bit surprised by it, like “What is this?” There’s a lot of things like that in the games, not everything has a ~grand meaning~. Sometimes such small off-hand things are picked up on by fans and the writers then make it into something bigger and more meaningful after the fact. This is what happened with Sandal (all the fans being like “Ooh, what does it mean, what does it mean?” about him). It’s possible Eleni will be picked up on like that in the future, but at the time it didn’t mean anything really. A lot of the way these stories are put together is that they put a lot of questions into the world, scattering possible/potential plothooks, and they don’t necessarily know where they lead at the time, but in future games they could come back to them and come up with an interesting backstory. Sometimes they pick it up and sometimes it never gets answered or ever mentioned again (the Wardens taking some of the blood from those who didn’t survive their particular bout of Joinings and putting it in a vial to remember them is an example of one of these things). It’s pretty rare that you’d get a situation where something is mapped out from beginning to end. Sometimes we the players get a revelation as we play and we’re like “Omg!! This is all connected! They are masters!” and the writers are like “Yes, toootally… It was that way alllllll along. It certainly did NOT get decided three quarters of the way through development…” [source]

I don’t think I’ve made a post about Kordillus Drakon’s vision of the Maker’s return or on the Canticle of Exaltations. I’d be really interested to see some of his prior drafts and compare the things he changed during the rewriting process.. Anyway here’s some assorted thoughts on the Canticle, albeit disjointed and not conclusive:

Parallels - Andraste’s vision of the Maker, Kordillus’ vision of the future 

You can read Kordillus’ vision as a genuine vision of actual-Andraste, a figment of his imagination or a delusion born from religious fervor, something he’s making up (he was a fervent believer, it’s just that it’s also the case that sometimes religion is misused for power or empire), or a legit encounter that he had with a non-Andraste entity that was taking the form of Andraste or whom he had interpreted as Andraste (see the Inquisitor’s encounter with the spirit so-called ‘Divine Justinia’). Is it maybe spirit possession? “I accept the gift”, “let me be the vessel”

“the vessel” - vessels are a repeating motif in the lore: Wynne as the Vessel of her spirit of Faith, Calpernia and Samson seeking to be the Vessel of the Well’s power and Morrigan or the Inquisitor becoming such, fan theory that Sera is the vessel of Andruil (which I don’t subscribe to but it comes to mind), Flemeth as the vessel of Mythal, darkspawn as empty soulless vessels whereas Wardens are not, shells of flesh and souls, the soulless Titans’ workers (dwarves), possession, etc.

“The air itself rent asunder” can easily be read as referring to the Breach in DAI and/or the upcoming intended destruction/removal of the Veil. As you say this entire verse is similar to Sandal’s “shadows will part and the skies will open wide”. Shadows parting, spilling light. There are elements here that you could link to Eleni Zinovia’s words or the words of the Ardent Blossom Faerie (whether this was intentional on the writers’ parts or no at the time when they were written is a separate subject)

The “Waters of the Fade” line is important given the similar references elsewhere in the Chant - “Here lies the abyss, the well of all souls. From these emerald waters doth life begin anew”, “From the waters of the Fade you made the world. As the Fade had been fluid, so was the world fixed.” Reference to the fluidity of the Fade vs the mundane realm as static and way less malleable. “Realm of Opposition”, the idea of the 2 opposing realms, also sticks out to me as I’ve talked before about the contrast in the metaphysical opposing elements:

In a kind of metaphysical way, the dwarves are emblematic of the mundane sphere. Not “mundane” as in normal/boring, but in terms of reinforced reality vs reality as mutable, earth and sky, underground vs land, Children of the Stone vs Birds of Fancy, magic resistance vs inherent magical quality, tradition vs change, Titan progenitors vs origins in the Fade prior to taking physical form slash being spirit-y or spirit adjacent. It’s all very thematic, especially when you consider that dwarves do not dream compared to how elves are (or rather, are supposed to be) innately tied to the Fade. and at the moment, modern Thedas is unbalanced 

I guess you could plot the races on a line from most Fadey/sky-like (very scientific I know) to least: spirits - elves - humans - Qunari - dwarves. note this isn’t a “who is most alive”, thing, it’s just a spectrum between 2 different but equally Alive ways of being. [source]

“The Realm of Opposition” is the post-Veil waking world. Obviously the “Realm of Dreams” is the Fade.

The waters stuff also reminds me of the Well of Sorrows (Andraste is the Lady of Sorrows) and how Mythal walked out of the sea of the Earth’s tears.

(Is anyone else reminded of the Eye of Sauron at this point in the Canticle btw? 😁)

Is it even Andraste he’s seeing? No way of knowing if it is, or was Mythal with a staff in hand, given their similar headpieces, for instance. And certainly a maker has returned to the world since Kordillus wrote this stuff down, just not The Maker - the maker or creator of the Veil, Solas.

Are the “men of stone” dwarves, golems (probably not) or Titans? “Sleepers waking at the dawn” immediately makes me think of how dwarves don’t dream. That whole verse makes me think of the Titans waking up and destroying the world via earthquakes or something in order for it to be made anew. This makes me 👀 given Descent and upcoming Titan plotbeats. Seventy time seven stuff is a reference in the Bible irl iirc.

And I heard from the East a great cry As men who were beasts warred with their brothers, Tooth and claw against blade and bow, Until one could no longer be told from the other, And cursed them and cursed their generations.

East of Orlais is Ferelden. This verse makes me think of Fereldans and their troubles with werewolves throughout their history and in their recent present, werewolves who were once human (or elven, depending) like them. Zathrian’s curse lasted for generations even. Interesting given werewolves resurfacing again in TN. The other thing that comes to mind here is that the Executors supposedly dwell across the eastern ocean.

And those who slept, the ancient ones, awoke, For their dreams had been devoured By a demon that prowled the Fade As a wolf hunts a herd of deer. Taking first the weakest and frailest of hopes, And when there was nothing left, Destroying the bright and bold By subtlety and ambush and cruel arts

Dwarves getting dreams (“Mythal gives you dreams”) or regaining their connection to the Titans (see Valta), the Titans awakening again, remaining slumbering Old Gods waking, imprisoned sleeping Evanuris waking, or the few remaining ancient elves in secret enclaves waking from uthernera (Abelas and co and ones like them, that Solas makes reference to)...? The wolf-like demon that devours dreams and prowls the Fade is an allusion (not from Kordillus, but the writers) to the Dalish belief that Fen’Harel is He Who Hunts Alone, Roamer of the Beyond. The wolf metaphor in Kordillus’ vision points to someone who is smart, clever, strategic, cunning, someone who goes about things in a subterfuge-y and plotting-/scheming-type way. It almost reads like the Evanuris’ anti-Solas “Dread Wolf Bad” propaganda, of which we encounter some of during Trespasser. The Fade-prowling demon that devours dreams also reminds me of the Nightmare in DAI.

The number nine, like the number seven, in this setting always makes me like.. [alarmed vibrating]. There are nine Creator-figures, including Ghilan’nain and Fen’Harel. “The mortal dust of Our Lady” could refer to the Urn of Sacred Ashes, thus the “sacred mountain” would be the mountain in the Frostbacks at Haven which contained the remains of the ruined Temple of Andraste, the Temple of Sacred Ashes. Obviously this area in DAI was the site of the Breach and in DAI Corypheus lifts (ascends) it into the sky for a bit. There’s even a reference here to passing through the fire, calling to mind that part of the Gauntlet in DAO. The mountain stuff here also reminds me of The Ptarmigan: An Avvar Tale:

Korth the Mountain-Father kept his throne at the peak of Belenas, the mountain that lies at the center of the world, from which he could see all the corners of earth and sky.

Belenas, Belenas... a mountain at the center of the world, and the reference to earth and sky (Realm of Opposition and the Realm of Dreams). It’s especially notable when you consider the Lady of the Skies, Tyrdda’s leaf-eared lover, Korth’s mountain-y-ness (Titan?) and the stuff about his heart (the Evanuris mined the bodies of Titans for lyrium and “something else”, which we suspect are their hearts). This part “And he saw strong men become weak, brave men grow cowardly, and wise men turn foolish for love” reminds me of the Canticle verse above which referred to men warring with their brothers. And in elven language “Bel” is part of bellanaris, eternity (this Canticle ends with a reference to eternal life). Belenas, bellanaris.

And I looked up and saw The seven gates of the Black City shatter, And darkness cloaked both realms.

Oh shit, here it comes. Y’know? Seven seals, some potentially already broken (the dark and lit orbs in the concentric circles on the DWR mural). Darkness is coming alright. People have speculated about this at length. 😁 And in other places in-world there are references to this belief.

Look upon the Light so you May lead others here through the darkness, Blade of the Faith!

This reminds me of the Inquisitor’s journey and role in DAI. Parallels again.

The Maker returns In dread

Self-explanatory, emphasis mine. A maker.

And saw the darkness warp and crumble

Interesting given the fabric of reality is currently warping, as witnessed by Strife in one of the recent shorts.

shroud

Another word for veil.

The meek lambs became bold And rose up, casting aside their shepherds To dance at the Maker's feet

reminds me of the ‘Slightest Ones’ bard song and some elves leaving in the Trespasser epilogue.

Where once a terrible fire swept The Light of redemption from the face of the world

the time Andraste was burned. The gates of Minrathous is also where we’re headed in the next game.

What are the “sins of creation”, exactly? - Why does it make me think back to the waters of the Fade and the well of all souls which the Chant holds life began anew from and the Maker made the world from? Why do they need “redeemed”? Why does that make me think of the creation of the Veil and the terrible consequences that had for Thedas in general and for the ancient elves, and of Solas’ drive and desire to correct that mistake? And Justice is an aspect of Mythal. 

Harmony in all things. Let Balance be restored And the world given eternal life.

See above with the “modern Thedas is unbalanced” stuff. Balance could be restored with the removal of the Veil, and then the remaining elves would be immortal again probably. I tend to veer away from “everything is elves” and “everything relates back to or is in some way a metaphor for or reference etc to Solas and Mythal” but it’s like Kordillus had a vision of the future of Thedas at that time (things which we then saw in previous games set after he died, and some things which we still haven’t seen yet but which have been foreshadowed - as in some things which have still yet to come to pass in the world’s storyline) and, naturally, interpreted it through his fervent Andrastian/cult of the Maker lens. I wouldn’t take it all completely at face value though, having given away major future plotbeats in the Chant just like that would be a bold choice.

#dragon age #bioware #mj replies #lairofsentinel #video games #sorry for my delayed reply :') #solas #Morrigan #queen of my heart #mj meta #strife #dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #tevinter nights #tevinter nights spoilers #tevinter nights spoiler #spoilers #spoiler

[toallthemonstersiveloved]

Match Made in Tavern - Chapter 1

Ladies and gentlemen, it is finally here! The first chapter of my Goliath fiction. First of all, I just want to say that this is loosely based off a Dungeons and Dragons campaign that I played so some of the lore and setting will be referencing that campaign but you don’t need to know anything about the game to understand the story. Also, I didn’t use a beta reader for this so if anyone would like to be my beta reader, please let me know! 

Otherwise please enjoy!

Warnings: Strong Language, implied sex, nsfw in later chapters

2 743 words.

There’s nothing like having to serenade an ancient banshee to terrify one out of their own skin. Lolen was that person currently in the predicament. The act of having to impress a vain, wailing spirit - impressing the cry of death, to put it poetically - was one of the most nerve wracking experiences she has ever faced as an adventuring bard. She was more than happy to have escaped with her life and the lives of her party intact.  

The group was now entering the town and were greeted with the merry atmosphere of a travelling festival. Phandalin could use the cheer, considering the amount of problems the party were hired to address. 

 Lolen was beaming at the thought of ale and some fun of her own. She shuddered at the thought of their most recent escapade and decided that she would need to get considerably drunker to get rid of the memories of the ghostly presence that she needed to persuade. 

 Skai seemed equally as happy about the arrival of the festival and was already running towards the tavern. Lolen picked up the pace and followed hastily after the excited wizard. Upon entry Lolen absorbed the loud voices of the establishment and the music from a bard on the small stage. Skai was already at the bar, greeting the dwarven owner. 

 “What festivities are there to look forward to today?” Skai asked, smiling from ear to ear.  

The barkeep was filling some tankards for someone else at the bar, “I don’t know about outside, miss, but in here we got some wagering going on. Seeing who can out-drink who. Quite the time if you got coin.” 

 Lolen huffed as she listened, hoping her high elf companion wasn’t going to blow all her money on some of the drunken patrons in here. 

 “My friend and I would like to drink against each other.” This is much worse. 

 “Come on, Skai. You know this is a bad idea.” Lolen tried to warn. 

 “Nonsense, this will be fun!” Skai got a mischievous glint in her eyes before adding, “Why? You afraid you’ll lose?”  

That flipped something in Lolen’s mind. “How much are we wagering?”  Skai grinned and placed a gold piece on the bar, the barkeep eyeing it greedily. Lolen gave a curt nod and fished out a gold coin to place on top of Skai’s. The stout man then stuffed the coins in his pocket and began filling up two tankards for the ladies.

  “We have a serious quest tomorrow. You sure you still want to do this?” Lolen asked. She knew Skai would say yes, but at least asking her freed Lolen of any guilt with the hangover sure to make itself home in her friends head.

  “Of course! This is going to be great, and besides I’ll be right as rain in the morning.” Lolen wasn’t sure about that. She took her tankard and went to sit at a table near a small window. The sun was setting, gracing the sky with a golden glow. As Lolen peered out the window, the barkeep stoop atop another table calling for everyone’s attention. 

 “Alright! We’ve got some new players at the table. Who’s gonna bet on these lovely lasses?” he allowed the cheers to engulf the room. He then pointed to Skai. “Who’s gonna place their money on the ethereal beauty?” Skai took a bow as she heard a few of the patrons cheer for her. The dwarf  began collecting the coin that was being passed his way. 

 “Next!” He pointed to Lolen, “Who thinks the soldier looking lass is going to win?” There wasn’t any noise unlike there had been for her companion. Lolen smirked. She expected this and was glad she wouldn’t have to split her winnings. 

 “I’ll bet on her.” 

 Lolen turned to the voice that raised itself above the murmurs of the crowd. He was a goliath. They were rare this far from the mountains and he was the first one she had seen. He locked eyes with her and gave her a curt nod. She did the same in return and turned to face Skai and the barkeep with a sly smile. 

 “Right then.” The barkeep cleared his throat, “Let the drinking begin!”  He jumped off the table as Lolen and Skai took their seats, drinks in hand. They were both smiling. Skai from her overconfidence and Lolen… from the knowledge that the poor woman had never had a drink in her life. 

 And so the drinks poured. Lolen was ahead of Skai by 3 tankards, showing no mercy. There were raucous cheers filling the room as Lolen gulped down the last bit of her drink. Skai was breathlessly drinking whatever she could but her belly was full and she didn’t think she could continue pouring ale down her throat. 

Skai looked over Lolen, flabbergasted that her friend was downing yet another helping of bitter ale. At that Skai slammed her cup against the table. 

 “I give up!”  There were some grumbling from the crowd, disappointed that their wager had not paid off. The atmosphere remained lively and jovial despite the sore loss of the crowd. They all dispersed, Lolen receiving a few pats on the back from other patrons. She looked at the wizard, who was lying face-down on her arms. Lolen stood and bagan rubbing her back in circles, hoping to comfort and help her companion.

  “Are you okay, princess?”

  “I’m not a princess.” Skai mumbled.  

“Okay, come on” Lolen lifted her up and began dragging her toward the staircase of the tavern. Skai was limp in her arms, which left Lolen carrying a lot of her weight. Once they had finally made it up the stairs, Lolen found an empty room and placed her friend on the bed. She took off her boots and placed a chamber pot nearby, in case Skai felt the need to empty her stomach. For now though, she was passed out and snoring quite peacefully.

 Lolen went back to the bar and found the tavern owner. She handed him some coin, “My friend is sleeping in one of the rooms uptairs.”

 “No worries lass.” He said as he pocketed the few coins. He then reached behind the bar and placed a pouch in front of her. “Your winnings.” 

 Lolen nodded in thanks and grabbed the pouch, tying it to a belt under her coat. She then spotted the who had bet on her. He was still drinking alone, indifferent towards the rest of the crowded room. 

 She may have been able to outdrink her dear friend, but that didn’t mean she was left completely unaffected by the alcohol. So she ordered more ale, grasping her cup and walking toward the gray man. He didn’t pay her any mind until she sat down at his table. 

 He eyed the elf suspiciously. Their kinds often did not get along so seeing her sit down with him as casually as she did surprised him. 

“I just wanted to say thank you for betting on me. It would’ve been quite boring if I was the only one to win.” She stated with a friendly smile. 

 “Not a problem miss.” Maybe if he was polite she’d leave. 

“I’m Lolen. No need for any of that ‘miss’ business.” She took a sip of her ale, expecting him to return with his name. He didn’t.

  “And what may I call you, sir?” 

 “Gorg.” 

He answered simply. Still hoping that she would leave and that whole interaction would end soon.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Gorg.” She paused to take a swig of her ale, “So why’d you bet on me and not my friend.” 

 “You look strong and sturdy. You’re friend looked more delicate.” 

 Lolen let out a chuckle, catching the man by surprise. It was simply the truth. 

 “Well, you’re completely right of course. Everyone else saw her sweet face and thought they’d be able to bed her. Turns out the only bed mate she’ll be having tonight is nausea.” She giggled a bit at her own joke.  

Gorg smiled at that, taking note of how this elf was treating him. He hadn’t met many, but the ones that he had met steered clear of him. He knew why his people disliked elves but he wasn’t yet sure of the reasoning for the opposite side of things. He was taking in more of her now, noticing her twirling her white hair around her darker finger. She was wearing studded armor but also some more stylish pieces of clothing. She was a bit odd, which was probably why she was being so impartial toward him.

  “You look different from other elves I’ve seen.” He stated.

  “Yes well in this area, there are a lot of high elves about. I’m a wood elf.” She answered matter of factly.

  The man nodded and Lolen took a moment to examine him a bit more closely. He was quite handsome and he was clearly very strong. The man only had a few pieces of armor covering his torso leaving little to the imagination. He was also covered in skin markings from head to toe that was a darker shade of gray than the rest of his skin. 

 She quickly cleared her throat and her mind, trying to go back to focusing on the conversation. “So what brings you so far from home, Gorg?” 

 He shrugged, “Just looking for some adventure, I guess.”

 “And have you found any?” 

 He crossed his arms on the table.

 “A little bit here and there, but nothing worth tales told by the bards.” 

 “Is that so?” She asked with a smile playing on her lips, “Well, you’re in luck. I just so happen to be a bard myself so I think I’ll be making the decision of whether your tales are worth telling.” 

 He was smiling a bit more, a bit more enthused by their conversation. “Really? You don’t look like a bard.” 

Lolen playfully gasped, “And why not?” 

 “Well, you look more like a fighter or soldier of some kind. You don’t look as dainty as other bards I’ve seen.” 

 “That’s just because I am much more skilled in combat.” She answered, throwing a few punches in the air. “I used to be a soldier after all.”

  “So why’d you become a bard?” He searched her green eyes for the answer.

 “I got tired of it, I guess.” she ran her hand through her hair, “The world of constant fighting is not as fun as it may seem.” 

 “So you moved on from that and decided to go into music instead?” 

 “Is that so hard to believe?” She scoffed. 

“No, just a rather large jump.” He commented.  

“It is.” She stated, taking a large gulp of her drink.

  Lolen was looking at him again. His face seemed kinder and softer then, and she noticed his blue-gray eyes. They looked like rain clouds. She was very comfortable in his company and was beginning to hope she could continue to speak to him for the rest of the evening. Her slightly dazed state may have had something to do with this as she had finished off her ale.

  Lolen had suddenly sat upright with wide, excited eyes. “I just had an amazing idea! You should come with us on our next quest!” 

Gorg was surprised by her invitation, “Why?” 

 “You’re seeking adventure right? My party has been on quite the adventure so far, plus you’ll have your resident bard to sing your praises whenever the opportunity presents itself.” She shimmied her shoulders at that, displaying her pride. 

 Gorg remained silent, furrowing his brows. 

 “Plus,” he heard from the woman, who was now looking into his eyes quite intently, “it would be nice to have you around.”  

He felt something in his chest then. A thump that hit out of it’s regular rhythm. He saw the contrast of her hair against her skin and her genuine smile, taking note of how unique it was. He wasn’t quite sure if he’d define it as beautiful. It was certainly alluring but he’d need time to decide on her beauty. Her offer was equally alluring as she was. He would be able to join an adventuring party and they may even become legend due to her being a bard. He thought of all the possible challenges that lie ahead and how he could improve himself through this experience. He looked into her green eyes, also thinking of how he could impress the lady before him, who was not only a good sport in competition but also friendly and kind.

  “I think it’s a good idea.” He concluded. 

 She beamed at his decisions, possibly a bit too much for a stranger. Lolen couldn’t help but be giddy at having this large and lovely man around all the time. She was sure he’d be a great asset to the team as well as a pleasant change of company. 

 “Wonderful! I will inform my friends in the morning, for now let’s celebrate!” She hopped over to the bar and grabbed two more tankards of ale. Gorg heard her yell, “and keep them coming!” to the barkeep with a bout of laughter at the end before sitting back down.

  She placed his drink in front of him and lifted her cup in a toast. He raised his as well, noticing that she was still smiling.  

“To adventure.” she said and clinked her cup against his, beginning to drink again. He was drinking but not just the ale. He was also swallowing her energy and joy, among other things. 

 The night would certainly be one to remember.    

    Rays of sunlight was cast over Lolen’s face. She squinted at the light, feeling it split her skull. Her tongue was sticking to her palette and her body felt like she was in some kind of massive brawl the night before. She currently had no memories and was too busy trying to fight the sun with her eyelids to care. She rolled over in an attempt to escape the sun.  What kind of Inn keeps stones in the beds? She thought, as her body connected with something hard…and warm. Why were the stones warm? Lolen squinted see what the source of her discomfort was. Her eyes widened as the realization hit her and she bolted to the edge of the bed. 

 Her eyes were roaming across a gray-skinned figure. Armor on the floor. Under the blanket? No clothes. She pulled the blanket over her head and squirmed letting out a frustrated groan. She had slept with Gorg. Of fucking course! She felt the body shift next to her, and peaked her head over the blankets edge.

  “Good morning” He said with a satisfied smile on his drowsy face.  She covered her face again with another groan. At this point she wasn’t even upset that it had happened. Seeing his face again just made her so disappointed that she forgot it.  

#exophilia #exophile #dnd #goliath #goliath dnd #Goliath Barbarian #elf x goliath #Dungeons and Dragons #romance #slow burn #wood elf #wood elf bard #monster lover #monster boyfriend #monster fucker #goliath boyfriend #fantasy

[bossuary]

Having just finished Tevinter Nights, I have un fucktonne of questions and theories. But, below are a few of the subjects/problems that I can’t stop thinking about.  I’m curious how other people interpret them, or if I’ve missed some critical details, because it seems like there’s some retconning going on.

so, spoiler warnings apply, since i’m about to discuss the Big Doings below the cut.

The most immediately relevant items come from the final story, right? BUT, because of the nature of the characters, I sort of assumed that much of “The Dread Wolf Take You” is a study in unreliable narrators. Can any of the tales be believed after Charter exposes the Bard? Do we move forward assuming the puzzle pieces we’re trying to fit together are the correct ones, or tread carefully on the word of a known liar?

Nothing about the Assassin’s Tale fits the facts we know: 

Meredith’s corpse didn’t actually stay in the middle of the square in uptown Kirkwall. Her remains were taken away to The Black Emporium. (iirc, Varric mentions this in one of the recent comics)

Pieces of her sword (Certainty) were re-forged for Samson to use in service of Corypheus, a sword which eventually passes to the Inquisition.

A shard of the idol continues to exist outside of Meredith’s remains, or her re-forged blade. Depending on worldstates, the shard is either a weapon rune--forged by Sandal and given to Hawke--or it was given to Varric (who then gave it to Bianca to study, I think). 

In the comics, and in a few of the short stories, the fiasco of Fen’Harel’s agent losing the red lyrium “item” is cleverly handled from a lore-continuity perspective. It’s only ever referred to as a “weapon,” which could mean a lot of things, and allows for greater freedom in describing it in later media. Until the Assassin’s Tale, I firmly believed they were talking about Certainty. Now we’re supposed to believe it’s been the magically re-formed Primeval Idol this whole time, freshly revealed (by the equally untrustworthy Mortalitasi) as a go-go-Gadget ritual blade.

So, are the Tales a cheeky narrative lie, or is it all lore retcon? If it’s a retcon... -What ritual could the blade have originally served? -Might it actually be a key, as lots of people have theorized? -Is there really a potion that can melt lyrium? -Does Solas actually have the idol now, or was his entire story a lie to cover the truth that he still hasn’t found it?

Also, uh. . .Can Solas just. . .kill people while they sleep/dream, even dwarves? I mean, he has demonstrated the ability to create a “dreamlike” state for a dwarf Inquisitor. But, this power seems OP, even for him, and narrative reach. Possibly it’s further evidence that nothing in “The Dread Wolf Take You” can be trusted. 1. If the plans for the Fade are already underway, what does this mean for people like Evangeline, Anders, Grandin, and Sigrid, who’re possessed by spirits/demons? It’s possible they’ll be forcibly separated. Those (like Evangeline) who’re only alive because of their spirit, will likely die. Without Justice, Anders might finally succumb to the taint. 

There are probably thousands of people across Rivain and Seheron, and among the Avvar and the Dalish, who’re contentedly hosting spirits. Would these spirits allow their mortal hosts to be harmed by Solas? Or could there be resistance to his plan from the Fade side of things?

Lots of the stories in Tevinter Nights include the theme of outliers breaking ranks from within a seemingly monolithic society: the Ben Hassrath don’t support the Antaam in their campaign, the Venatori and their supporters operate in defiance of Tevinter, the Crows had one of their Talons disrupt a centuries-old pact.

Going forward in the next game, we might see a spirit faction that, for any number of reasons, acts against The Dread Wolf’s plan to sunder the Veil.

2. Why does everyone in this book describe the red lyrium idol as having only two figures, when every depiction of it that we’ve seen clearly shows three? The crowned figure is (if Solas is to be believed) comforting one person, but no mention of the other poor soul, an even more skeletal figure who seems to be missing their left forearm, and is stuck on the other side of the large ring. No love for that dingus, I guess. Very curious.

And no mention of the serpentine shape that surrounds all three of them.

3. The sea is going to be a big part of the next stage of this story. 

-Mythal’s origin has her emerging from the sea. -In “Luck in the Gardens, the 8 Venatori who were tasked with keeping the “formless” monster in its sealed prison each wore a clay amulet depicting a thin four-winged dragon rising above a sea. -“The Horror of Hormak” describes the viscous gray transformation fluid (and the monsters it creates) as stinking of brine. -The Mortalitasi’s Tale includes a reference to The Dread Wolf screaming about the Sea of Dreams. -The Executors appear to be stepping into the action, finally. They are known as ‘those across the sea.’ -Among the murals discovered during Trespasser, there are some that include imagery of flowing water: The Death of a Titan, and  Lifting the Vallaslin -Before ascending to godhood, Ghilain’nain killed all of her creations. . .except the giant monsters in the deepest waters. Lore says “Pride stopped her hand,” which could mean that she spared them because she was too proud of how perfectly-made they were. Or, that an aspect of Pride (as a demon or spirit), convinced her to let them live.

4. I’ve always thought that the painted murals of Trespasser and those completed at Skyhold are actually of a different sort, in a very specific way. Much of the ornamentation, symbology, and iconography that’s used in the various frescoes in Trespasser. . .isn’t found in Skyhold’s frescoes.   My feeling, based on these differences in style, and the uneven quality of the paintings in the Vir’Dirthara, is that the murals in Trespasser have been painted-over. 

-Thanks to Gatsi, we know that the mosaics we worked so hard to complete for the Inquisition were all re-carved by several hands over the ages, making it difficult to get an accurate interpretation from them.

-During “The Horror of Hormak,” Ramesh and Lesha encounter mosaics depicting elven kings and queens, and their subjects. But the mosaics shift and change the longer they stare at them. The scenes transform from a glittering parade of nobility offering succor to their subjects. . .to a death-march of tyrants forcing magical torments on their slaves. 

-In “Genitivi Dies in the End,” our industrious well-traveled Brother is humbled when he discovers an elven tome that depicts the continent of Thedas in superior and, crushingly, more correct detail to anything he’s ever seen. Which means that either the continent has changed dramatically, or all the maps that exist in modernity are based upon a flawed (altered) source.

There’s an established trope of people from all parts of Thedas altering relics in order to change history’s interpretation of them. So, why would the frescoes/murals be any different? I believe that either Solas, or someone loyal to Solas, altered the murals in order to obscure the truth behind them. 

If we believe Philliam, a Bard! (though, again, an unreliable narrator), the Qunari Rasaan disbelieves all of the names attributed to Solas, either by his enemies or himself. As Philliam posits, to know Solas’ true name would be know the best and worst of him, his flaws and weaknesses, and what he’d “failed to be.”

Essentially, I think we’re being misled at every turn. And this leads me to. . .

5. None of the stories in Tevinter Nights expands on the role of dwarves in past and future conflicts. We get lots of new and juicy stuff on Tevinter, Nevarra, mages, elves, the Crows, the Lords of Fortune, even the Qunari. Noticeably and glaringly absent is any mention of dwarves, titans, and how they fit into the unfolding lore.

One of the largest and most influential groups of dwarves in all of Thedas (The Ambassadoria) lives right in the heart of Minrathous. Above ground. Vulnerable to the invading Qunari and Fen’Harel’s agents.

Dwarves are as tellingly absent in this set of stories as dragons were in all the Evanuris revelations.

The one place where those two things intersect. . .is out in the Hissing Wastes, near the Sunstop mountains (which has always sounded to me like the same naming convention as Skyhold).  

Out there, we come across a dwarven thaig, the only thaig to have been built above ground, that pre-dates the first Blight. It’s called Kal Repartha, which means ‘a place where we may meet in peace.’ Paragon Fairel and his sons appear to have built the thaig as a way to escape some huge conflict in the Deep Roads. 

Statues of Mythal’s dragon form are arranged in places of honor outside Fairel’s tomb. As if in protection. 

Fairel was a rune-smith, one of the greatest who ever lived. Mythal might have worked with Fairel toward some common goal, relying on his skills to make devastating weapons, runic keys for hidden places, or repositories of knowledge best kept secret. She might have protected Fairel as a respected friend and ally.

Reaching a little deeper, Mythal may have helped separate the ancient dwarves from the hivemind control of the titans, freeing them to create their own vibrant society, far from the “witless, soulless” existence they lived as drone-like workers. 

(As an interesting aside, Fairel wrote about dragons, proving that dragons, dwarves, and the Evanuris existed at the same time)

It just seems like the root of this unfolding elven lore is the Titans themselves, the life they created in the dwarves and the tangible world, the innate power of their blood, and the knowledge that was stolen from them. Why don’t dwarves feature more heavily in the anthology?

That’s it. That’s my tinfoil haberdashery at the moment. Thoughts? Corrections?

#dragon age #tevinter nights spoilers #tevinter nights #dragon age meta #DAMN #long post

[mediaeval-muse]

Video Game Review: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt Red, 2015)

Genres: action RPG, fantasy, open world

Premise: Geralt of Rivia returns for a third installment in the Witcher series, seeking his lost adopted daughter, Ciri, who is being pursued by the spectral warrior band, the Wild Hunt. Along the way, Geralt runs into some old friends, former lovers, and a whole lot of monsters.

Platform Played On: PC (Windows)

Rating: 4/5 stars

***Full review under the cut.***

I am evaluating this game based on four key aspects: story, characters, gameplay, and visuals.

Story: I liked that this game dug more into Geralt’s past. Witcher 1 and 2 have been teasing Geralt’s history with Yennefer, Ciri, and the Wild Hunt for a while, and we finally get to engage with that head-on. About 1/3 of this game is spent pursuing Ciri and checking out all the places she went, so personally, I didn’t find that part of the plot exciting. I may be biased, though - I don’t really like plots which are based on following someone’s trail.

But while I did like that we dove into Geralt’s past, this game also simultaneously felt disjointed from the other two. Things seemed to be dropped in at random. For example, the “Last Wish” quest had no emotional buildup, and we got no hints of Geralt and Yennefer’s magical bond in the previous two games. I would have liked to see more exploration of this bond before players finally deal with it. Also, the other two games had Geralt struggling to overcome his amnesia, but when we get to Witcher 3, he seems to remember everything without any problems. I understand that Wticher 3 is meant, in some ways, to be accessible to players who haven’t played the first two games, but I would have liked to see more continuity.

Main plot aside, I very much appreciated that there seemed to be a lot more folkloric flavor in this game than in the previous two. Side quests had Geralt encounter beasts with a lot of lore behind them, so it was fun to get to learn about the worldbuilding through these monsters.

However, the conflict between humans and non-humans, which was so central in Witcher 2, is completely a non-issue in this game. There are still dwarves, elves, etc. and some pockets of Scoiatel bands, but the game says that the political conflict is more pressing than people’s racism, so everyone’s largely forgotten about how much they hate non-humans (except moments of random brutality). Instead, there’s discrimination against magic-users to deal with, due to the fallout from Witcher 2 and the Lodge of Sorceresses. Honestly, I had to side-eye this change a little, because people don’t just put aside their racism when a new political conflict arises. While I understand the plot can’t encompass everything, this is just another example of the disjointedness between the first two games and this one.

You still have the opportunity to sleep with various women in this game, which was irritating. Most of these chances come up in “meatier” side quests, so they’re woven into the plot rather than random chance encounters. I honestly hate that aspect of the Witcher games, and even though they’re toned down from the first installment, they still are prevalent enough to bother me.

I did play through both DLCs/Expansion Packs: Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine. I really liked the way Hearts of Stone was structured, with the Frog Prince allusions and heist plot. I did also like that it included some much needed POC, but I was uncomfortable with part of the plot that involves killing a bunch of them. I absolutely hated the part where you have to let a ghost (Vlodomir) possess Geralt’s body for a night. The idea wasn’t a bad one (the ethics of letting a ghost control you is interesting), but Vlodimir is so damn horny and sexist that I despised being forced to spend time with him/act as him for so long. This DLC also had Shani make a reappearance, and I love her as a character. I just hate that she, like so many other women, is head over heels for Geralt, and Geralt can sleep with her. Blood and Wine had the experience of a whole new game, with more maps to explore, diagrams to find, and so on. I enjoyed the characters of this story more than the plot itself; much of the plot involves things happening off-camera and being told of them later. But to its credit, the DLC expands the lore on some monsters that we don’t see much of in the previous games, and has some fun side quests that are much lighter in mood than anything in the base game.

Characters: Geralt is more or less the same as he was in The Witcher 2, but I found him even more easier to like and play as a noble character. Of course, his characterization is going to be largely up to the player (it’s an RPG, after all), but I liked that the game gave Geralt ample opportunity to be a kind-hearted person.

We do finally meet Yennefer in this game. She’s stubborn and assertive without being too over the top or controlling, which made me like her, even if she could be annoying. I chose to romance Triss, so I got an extra dose of that annoyingness when Yennefer wouldn’t respect my boundaries and took some of her anger out on Triss’ belongings. However, I do like that these traits made Yennefer flawed.

Speaking of Triss, she’s back in this game and has an extremely noble character arc. She spends a lot of time fighting to get mages out of a city that wants to destroy them, and willingly puts herself at risk for people who probably don’t deserve it. She’s so kind-hearted and focused on justice that I took to her as readily as I did in the previous game - perhaps more.

Ciri, unsurprisingly, was also a delight. She is headstrong and impulsive without being cold, and players are given the chance to mold her story when she becomes a playable character for brief periods.

Many of the side characters felt fully-realized, so I had no trouble immersing myself in the world of the game. I very much enjoyed the characters in the DLC (save Vlodimir), who were morally grey and complex in interesting ways. Regis is the best!

Gameplay: Like Witcher 2, there are a lot of controls to keep track of (at least on PC) but I picked them up fairly quickly. Crafting is a bit more involved than the previous games, as well as the alchemy. It took me a bit to realize that alchemy flasks were replenished with meditation rather than having to be made manually, but when I figured it out, things ran more smoothly.

I will say that with this game being open-world, there was A LOT of exploration. I do like to wander around in games sometimes, but after a while, I did grow bored. Maps were expansive with hundreds of points of interest, all with rewards that weren’t super beneficial (except to sell) after a certain level. I know I don’t HAVE to explore every POI, but I’m a completionist. Completionists, therefore, might find this game a bit tedious.

I furthermore resented the fact that players could have Geralt sleep around with multiple women and get many sex scenes. It was annoying, but I easily avoided romancing anyone accidentally.

The introduction of the Gwent card game in place of dice was extremely enjoyable. It relied a little less on luck, allowing players to exert some control via strategy, and rewards included unique cards in addition to money. It’s almost like a deck-building game, with some different rules.

Visuals: The Witcher 3 is a beautifully-rendered game. The environment is full of textures and unique layouts, even though much of it is wilderness, and everything from the monsters to the armor appear more visually interesting and colorful than their incarnations in previous games. I especially appreciated the effort put into making the world seem inhabited; inns were decorated with paintings and garlands, homes had personal effects, and peasants didn’t seem to be too repetitive in their appearance.

Although the sexism in this game was scaled way back even in comparison to the previous game, I did still find some of the character designs for women annoying. Kiera, a sorceress who assists Geralt at one point, is introduced while she is taking a bath, and while dressed, her shirt is so open that you can see her nipples - even when you’re questing! It was irritating, but since women’s outfits on the whole were drastically less male-gazey than the previous games, I was able to ignore it and focus on plot.

I will say, though, that I was bothered by the fact that everyone in this game is still white (except for a couple succubi, unless I’m missing some others). There are some POC introduced in the Hearts of Stone DLC, and some of them are interesting characters, but part of the plot involves killing a bunch of POC, so it was kind of uncomfortable. I know the game is based on a Polish novel series, and people will be quick to say that Slavic people are largely light-skinned, but this is a fantasy game, so in my mind, there’s no excuse.

In-Game Triggers: violence, gore, body horror, presence of corpses/blood in the environment, sex and nudity, racism, drug use, miscarriage, domestic violence

Recommendations: I would recommend this game f you’ve played the previous two Witcher games, or if you enjoy fantasy RPGs, games with Slavic folklore, and games with strong father-daughter relationships.

#video game review

[veshialles]

Dragon Age Questions

I wasn’t tagged for this or anything, but I saw @danaduchy do this and thought it was neat, so I figured I’d do my own. 

This feels like it has good potential as a tag meme, so I’ll go ahead and tag a few folks that I think might be interested. @rogue-lavellan @fallout-and-dragon-age @feeshies @dancing-flamingo-pirates @vulpestwinkulta @life-is-no-sugarlicking I’m not really sure how many of my mutuals are Dragon Age fans, but if anyone else wants to do this as well, have at it fellas!!! Go wild! (maybe tag me so I can see! I love hearing about others’ DA experiences!)

01) Favourite game of the series?

As much as I love DAO and DA2, I’m gonna have to say Inquisition, because it’s one of the few games where I put off the ending. I got to that Wicked Grace scene, and it just really dawned on me that I was near the end, I ended up putting the game down for about a week because I really wasn’t ready for it to be over. So yeah.

02) How did you discover Dragon Age?

A few of the blogs I followed for their Mass Effect content posted (and still post) about Dragon Age fairly often, so I’d heard of it and seen stuff about it, but for whatever reason I only really had a passing interest in wanting to play it. I guess I just thought I didn’t have time to get into something new?? My brother is also a Bioware fan, and he’d gotten some money for his birthday, so he ended up buying DAO, but he went to bed while it installed and my sleep schedule was messed up, so I ended up playing it before he did lol. whoops?

03) How many times you’ve played the games?

About 1.5 times? I’ve played through the whole trilogy once, I’ve started a second playthrough with some more mods, but I’m still on Origins for my 2nd playthrough. Any other “playthroughs” that I’ve started have basically just been replaying the intros of the games to get decent screenshots of some of my OCs and get a better idea of what they’ll look like.

04) Favourite race to play as?

I know this feels incredibly basic, but I like playing as an elf. I don’t really have a reason, I just kind of default to elves in just about any fantasy RPG. I also enjoyed playing as a Qunari (from what little I’ve played of that race so far) and I look forward to doing a proper run of Inquisition with my Adaar.

05) Favourite class?

Mage and Rogue. I haven’t really given Warrior a proper try yet, but it tends to feel a bit clunky.

06) Do you play through the games differently or do you make the same decisions each time?

I try to play differently as much as I can. I’m trying to make a point of having my 2nd run be fairly opposite to my 1st playthrough. But I really just cannot commit to some of the more purely evil options. 

Like, there’s strategic choices I’ve had my characters make, like killing Connor to save everyone in Redcliffe, or allowing the Anvil of The Void to be used because Ferelden needs as strong an army as possible, or conscripting the Templars for their expertise in combating weird fade stuff, but there’s still some choices that I absolutely refuse to make (siding with Meredith, or executing Alistair, for example). 

So for those choices, I just have a “Worst Case Scenario” world state on the Dragon Age Keep website.

07) Go-to adventuring group?

DAO: I kind of played favourites with Leliana and Alistair, switching out Morrigan and Wynne. But I’ve gotten better being fair with my 2nd run, and I actually really like taking Sten this time around.

DAA: I’m actually pretty even with them all, but my favourite combos were Anders, Nathaniel, Oghren, and Justice, Sigrun, and Velanna. Next time, for lore reasons, I guess I should take Anders and Justice together as much as possible

DA2: Aveline, Merrill, and Isabela. The girl squad(tm). Also Varric.

DAI: I’d like to think I was fair with my party selections, but Solas was there a lot. So was Varric. And Iron Bull, love him.

08) Which of your characters did you put the most thought into?

To be honest, for most of them, I went in blind and made up stuff about them later. It’s only been on my 2nd playthrough here that I’ve put some more forethought into my characters. (Like how my Amell has a good mind for strategy and risk assessment, or my Adaar is afraid of bears and was born on a boat crossing the Waking Sea). But in order from most to least developed I would say; Kieshara Tabris, Tamara Amell, Ilmanith Adaar, Valyhra Lavellan, Reuben Hawke, Juliana Hawke, Myrtle Trevelyan, Jerindeth Aeducan, Nellassan Andras, Mihya Nolahari.

09) Favourite romance?

DAO: Leliana. One of the few times I’ve legit crushed on a fictional character. Like, she compliments your hair, and she awkwardly flirts back and I just- wow, love her!

DA2: I really liked Isabela’s romance, but I accidentally locked myself out of it or the game glitched and I ended up with Merrill instead? Which is fine, she’s cute too! I’m gonna try romancing Fenris next, wish me luck!

DAI: Cullen. I just??? Love him?? Like, he’s attractive sure, but also relatable? I dunno, maybe I just bonded with his character over struggles with trauma/addiction/mental health. It feels like a story of growth and acceptance  and moving on, and I really love that about his romance tbh.

10) Have you read any of the comics/books?

I’ve read a few of the comics at least (The ones with Alistair, Varric, and Isabela) I’ve also started on Magekiller, but I haven’t picked it up in a while because I’ve been preoccupied.

11) If you read them, which was your favourite book?

Honestly, I really loved the Silent Grove series. Though it did bug me a bit that it relied so heavily on Alistair being the king of Ferelden. I guess I can always just handwave his involvement in the story as “official Grey Warden business” when placing it in the context of my 2nd world state. 

12) Favourite DLCs?

DAO: I’d probably say Awakening. Shame they haven’t really expanded on a lot of the concepts it introduced though :/

DA2: Legacy, really gave me those ancient mystery/cosmic horror vibes.

DAI: The Descent was a fun one, kinda for the same reasons I enjoyed Legacy to be honest. 

13) Things that annoy you.

Across all three games, there’s stuff like plot-holes and loose threads that have been left untied (so far), but as for other things that annoy me, I dislike most of game mechanics in Inquisition because they’re so different from the other games. 

Instead of using the Tab key to highlight every point of interest in the area, you gotta use echolocation or whatever the hell that radar ping is. And unless you have 7.5 headphones, you’re left just guessing wildly where the thing is you’re searching for.

You can’t interact with anything that’s more than 3 feet away from your character, so you have to manually walk right up to things instead of just clicking on the door at the far end of a room and letting the AI handle it. 

Gotta pull up the map every 5 seconds because they replaced the minimap with a compass, and I don’t know where the fuck I am going! Oh hey, the thing I need is right there, oh nope there’s a mountain in the way. Gee, would have been nice to know that ahead of time!!! 

I cannot tell my save games apart at all, so when I have to go back a save or two, I have to make a wild guess based on date and time, how long it’s been played for, and the general area it gives you. No more custom thumbnail to show you exactly where you were, can’t name your saves. ugh.

Hopefully they fix some of these things in DA4, but hey at least I can finally make my character jump!

14) Orlais or Ferelden?

Ferelden, it’s got that fantasy-grunge aesthetic that I love; grey stones, browns and green everywhere but not in a lush-jungle way, colder weather, fur cloaks and steel. It’s like Skyrim, with less vikings (well, except for the Avvar tribes). 

I like Orlais’ aesthetic too, with the ridiculously fancy decor everywhere, but living there would basically just be like Game Of Thrones; Thedas Edition. Trust nobody, anyone and everyone could be ready to kill you if you get in their way.

15) Templars or mages? 

Personally? Mages. I think they deserve to be free. I should clarify; free from towers and cages, not free from responsibility. After all, their abilities can potentially become dangerous if not treated with healthy caution and care. 

The only game I can really see myself siding with the Templars intentionally is in Inquisition, and even then I still plan to disband them. I accidentally sided with the Templars in my first run of Origins because I couldn’t figure out the Litany of Adralla and the mages died as a result :(

16) If you have multiple characters, are they in different/parallel universes or in the same one?

I feel like most of them definitely co-exist in the same universe. However, I view the different playthroughs as alternate timelines, with my 1st playthrough being my “canon” timeline. That being said, I’m still working out the placement and fates of my other OCs in the different timelines though.

The only characters that I’m fairly sure don’t/couldn’t exist in the same universe are my Hawke’s because they’re from different ethnic backgrounds, with Juliana being of Antivan heritage, and Reuben has some Rivaini blood in him.

17) What did you name your pets? (mabari, summoned animals, mounts, etc)

For my first playthrough, as a dumb nerd joke, I named the dog “Dogmeat”. I changed it later to Pariel, but Kieshara calls him “Parry”. She also had the Ranger spec, and she named those animals too: Tilly was the spider, Vessa was the wolf, and the bear’s name was Oursin (Leliana might have helped with that last one when asked what the French Orlesian word for bear was. Kieshara thought it was funny). They didn’t respond to the names, because they weren’t really “pets” per se, but it helped Kieshara to organize them in her head.

Tamara named the dog Marco. There’s no interesting story there, she just liked the name.

The Hawke’s family dog is either Gaius (for Juliana) or Chester (for Reuben)

Valyhra had a horse named Ilrian, who sadly perished during the Assault on Haven. She later received a Hart as a gift from her Clan and the City of Wycome as thanks for the Inquisition’s aid, she named her Melothra. And of course, there’s Pepper, the mabari hound that she and Cullen adopted together.

Ilmanith has a Mountain Dracolisk that she named Ozurak. Overall, she’s never been especially fond of animals, but she’s unusually protective towards her Dracolisk.

18) Have you installed any mods?

A lot honestly. Mostly cosmetic mods, like hair or improved textures. As well as a few gameplay ones (like one that lets you bring the dog as a 5th member of the party in DAO, or another one that makes the combat not slow as hell also for DAO). Also, I use a mod that lets you complete the war table missions instantly, thank the maker. I can’t remember them all right now, maybe I’ll make a list later.

19) Did your Warden want to become a Grey Warden?

Kieshara wasn’t too keen on the idea. To start with, she absolutely did not trust Duncan when he arrived. Having grown up uneducated in an isolated community, she’d never really heard of the Grey Wardens. All she knew was that humans who showed up in the Alienage wearing armour and carrying weapons had bad intentions more often than not. She’d seen templars, city guards, mercenaries, it rarely ended well. She eventually warmed to the idea during the week-long journey from Denerim to Ostagar, as Duncan revealed what little information he could, putting Kieshara through a brief crash course of the Grey Warden’s history.

For Tamara, it was almost too good to be true. Life in the Circle Tower was a bit dull at best, and life-threatening at worst. So Tamara often found her escape in the many books that could be found in the tower’s library, especially historical documents and non-fiction. She enjoyed the accounts of the Grey Wardens most, thinking them to be a very brave organization to face something as menacing sounding as the darkspawn. So a chance to leave Kinloch Hold and join the ranks of the heroes she’d read about? It was a dream come true. Well, almost, except for the whole childhood friend becoming a blood mage apostate part.

There was nothing about Jerindeth’s situation that was ideal, with Trian dead, and Bhelen using Jerindeth as a scapegoat, and being tossed to the Deep Roads and left at the mercy of the darkspawn or whatever horrors awaited them there. But they had a grudging respect for the Grey Wardens, and it was either follow Duncan or die in the Deep Roads (imagine what a horrible shock it was to them when they eventually learned that most Grey Wardens ended up going to the Deep Roads to die anyhow)

20) Hawke’s personality?

For Juliana; She was mostly diplomatic, but she cracked jokes every now and then. Cover the pain and fear with humour I guess?

For Reuben; I imagine he’s gonna be mostly humorous/sarcastic, maybe gradually adding a bit more fire and rage when things start going to shit.

21) Did you make matching armor for your companions in Inquisition?

I barely even made armour for myself, honestly. I don’t tend to explore the crafting element much in games. At most, I think I crafted a magic-bladed sword, modified a few weapons and armour, but apart from that I only really used the tinting option, because some of the default colour schemes and materials are ugly as hell.

22) If your character(s) could go back in time to change one thing, what would they change?

Kieshara has many regrets, but the one that haunts her most were the events at Kinloch Hold. She found the templars’ attitude towards the mages despicable, it reminded her of how herself and the other elves were treated back in Denerim. When Cullen told her to slay any remaining mages in the upper level of the tower, Kieshara refused his pleas. These were living people, she couldn’t simply kill them. But when she got up there, she froze. Facing abominations was one thing, but actually seeing them created before her eyes deeply disturbed her, and in her terror she couldn’t hear Wynne shouting at her to activate the Litany of Adralla. By the time she got her focus back, it was too late to save any of them.

Tamara doesn’t really have a whole lot that she would change. The Blight was growing fast. If she hadn’t made the tough calls, there might not have been a country left to save. Though, she does wish that maybe she had kept a closer eye on her friend Jowan. Ironically, she herself ended up turning to blood magic in the last few months of the 5th Blight, but she was never so careless as he had been, and she certainly would never have poisoned someone for money.

Juliana would have tried to save Bethany. Her and Bethany were usually in sync when it came to fighting and training together, but the one time Juliana slipped up, Bethany paid for it with her life. However, Juliana has no regrets about leaving Carver at home, even if he ended up joining the Templars.

Reuben’s biggest regret is that he didn’t keep a closer eye on those around him. Maybe if he’d kept a more keen eye, he could have foresaw some of the more horrible things before they’d happened; like all the betrayals and murders.

If Valyhra were to go back and change things, she would probably be just a bit more rude to people who turned out to not deserve her kindness. That’s really about it.

There really isn’t much that Ilmanith would change, except maybe she would have dropped the tough lady act for a bit and gotten medical attention, amputating her hand instead of letting the Anchor fester and grow for 2 years past its usefulness. It surely would have made matters easier on Dagna, only having to design a hand instead of a full arm replacement.

I can’t really think of anything for my other OCs right now.

23) Do you have any headcanons about your character(s) that go against canon?

Not really? I usually try my best to take what canon gives me and work within that, maybe bending a few things here and there when needed. I have a few headcanons that are maybe a bit unconventional, but most of the time there’s nothing in canon that explicitly says I’m wrong lol

24) Are any of your character(s) based on someone?

The only one of my Dragon Age OCs that I intentionally based on a person would be Myrtle Trevelyan. I based her appearance (and maybe some aspects of her personality??) off of this alt model that I’ve low-key been crushing on for the past month and a bit or so. Any other OCs likeness to real people is purely coincidental (which makes trying to do those Face Claim memes I was tagged in especially difficult)

25) Who did you leave in the Fade?

Stroud. It was a fairly easy decision honestly, given that Juliana Hawke met him for a whole 30 seconds in DA2 while the Qunari were attacking the city and he just skipped out. My 2nd playthrough won’t be as easy of a choice though, because I’ll likely have to choose between Alistair or Reuben Hawke and I’m just...not sure. Thankfully that decision is a whole 2 games away at this point lol.

26) Favourite mount?

Anything goes, really. There aren’t actually a lot of maps where I liked using the mounts?? The only map where I used the mount fairly often was...one of the desert ones I think? I found most of the maps were perfectly fine to travel by foot, because they had a lot of ups and downs, things to climb, things to go explore inside of. Can’t really do a lot of that easily when you’re riding on a horse/elk/dracolisk/giant nug. So I usually just went without a mount unless I was feeling particularly impatient.

#dragon age #ask games #tagged games #kieshara tabris #tamara amell #juliana hawke #reuben graham hawke #valyhra lavellan #ilmanith adaar #jerindeth aeducan #nellassan andras #myrtle trevelyan #mihya nolahari #dragon age origins #dragon age 2 #dragon age inquisition #long post #ruby rambles #ruby's ocs

[felassan]

Countering Solas

This is a subject I think about a lot, and not just post-Tevinter Nights. Whether you chose ‘try to redeem’ or ‘resolve to stop’, whether the Inquisitor returns as PC or there’s a new guy on the block, whether Solas is the Actual Big Bad in this game or the ‘Dragon’ to something else or just another key player on the ‘field’ over which some other encroaching threat is looming down on, the reality is we’re likely to be spending a lot of the main plot in DA4 trying to counter Solas and his steps. I say “counter” not “defeating” because most of this post deals with that, although at the end it does inevitably dip into the hypothetical defeat scenario (so I guess don’t read to the last point at the end if you don’t like to think about that scenario). I also say “counter” because there is no guarantee that we can straight up stop him. (To be clear, I’m not against the idea of the main plot having him always succeeding from a top-level meta/enjoying the universe and developments within it perspective, nor asserting that he will not. There are seeds in the lore that allude to him succeeding. A post-Veil world would be a fascinating thing to explore and really change things up/refresh the universe. A post-Veil world setting for DA5 has a lot of cool potential. It’s just that even if he does always succeed, we’re still likely to be spending most of the game trying to counter him, kind of like Hawke trying to put out various Kirkwall ‘fires’ until eventually it reaches the Act 3 crescendo and you can’t stop Anders no matter what. I’m specifically wondering about how the writers will have our PCs go about the attempt, trying to explore what that could entail on a practical level, and that’s okay. It’s trying to think about what the story beats and even some game mechanics could involve, given his power. The PC isn’t going to spend the game sitting on their hands and doing nothing re: the Dread Wolf, since Thedas seems aware of this new threat, unlike how Kirkwall was unaware of Anders’ goal. This post also doesn’t mean I don’t like Solas, that I haven’t played out his dialogues or romance, that I don't realize how Powerful he is, or that I think that there’s no other big threat to Thedas that is a serious danger to the world and that Solas is concerned about - the Solas romance is my favorite one and my canon. I shouldn’t really have to make so many qualifications of this kind on a post like this) Anyway I wonder a lot about the specifics of how they’re going to write the PC doing this in terms of the PC’s in-universe efforts and maneuvers on this quest, and about how they can portray this in a satisfying way. I also think a lot about what my Inquisitor would be doing in her own specific efforts to try and stop him.

Here’s some wandering thoughts on the subject of how it might be possible to counter him. It’s a mix of things to keep and mind and literal suggestions of possible measures. This list is by no means intended as prescriptive or exhaustive, and I don’t claim that it’s realistic or ground-breaking or that these ideas would be super effective. There are also bound to be a bunch of things they have in store that we don’t know about, both in terms of what he can do and what they’ll have us do. The rest is under a cut for length and Tevinter Nights spoilers.

Let’s face it, from what we know of Solas, added to how he is at the end of Trespasser, now in combination with the new additions to his repertoire in Tevinter Nights, he’s clearly very powerful, even seeming in some lights a bit OP. He’s a powerful ancient mage from a different time with ancient knowledge, a Dreamer, a Rift Mage, a Fade expert, capable, shrewd, very intelligent and already experienced in this kind of covert stuff/guerrilla warfare. He can kill people in their sleep, freeze people from a distance with a flash of his eyes, he has a powerfully explosive mind-blast move, probably can take the form of the massive draconic Dread Wolf to fight, and it seems like some spirits are helping him. He also has an extensive network of spies and agents, some of whom are fanatically loyal to the cause to the point of being willing to giving their lives up for it; he has eyes everywhere, even in the Qun, Tevinter and the Inquisition. He and these agents are also able to easily move quickly and secretly around much of Thedas thanks to his control of the eluvian network. They seem to have a lot of info, resources and money at their disposal. He is a very substantial power and is of course also a god figure.

Recruit. This is fairly self-explanatory. We already know that since he knows who the Inquisition are, we’re in need of help from people he doesn’t know. This can be people he’s aware of but not super experienced with i.e. that he doesn’t have a complete psychological profile of thanks to having not spent a year working closely with them, like Irian and Vadis. Naturally, an even better idea would be recruiting people he doesn’t know of at all, that have never attracted his attention. It’s also important to remember that there are entire factions we’ve never encountered before in Thedas, like the Fex and the Par Ladians. Very little is known about these groups. We have no idea what they’re capable of, and the dearth of information means it’s totally possible for the writers to write whatever they want about their capabilities and powers.

Some recruitment specifics: Since we know now that he can kill dwarves in their sleep the same as anyone else, even though they supposedly don’t dream, focusing on recruiting mostly dwarves because they wouldn’t be vulnerable to that doesn’t really hold as a viable strategy. A degree of caution towards both existing and new faces is required also, as he has spies/agents placed everywhere - in the Inquisition, the Qun, Tevinter, across Thedas even (which I took to mean across most of its nations and factions). New people need to be highly vetted. Where did they come from? What’s their personal history? How long do the records say they’ve been around for? If there’s anything odd, questionable or unknown/unsure, they can’t be trusted. (Frustratingly, my Inquisitor genuinely mistrusted Solas from the very outset, but you have no option of telling him to go away or not recruiting him). I also hate saying it but an extra layer of caution is unfortunately needed with elves. His agents so far are all elves, including some City, some Dalish, and some ancients, and we can’t know at the outset who is working for him and who is not.

And possibly… even someone he does know. Seemingly clashes with the points above, but there’s merit in the idea. Solas makes a big deal of how he has spies everywhere and how all organizations inevitably have problems with betrayal and corruption. Even with the fanatical-ness of some of them, what makes his follower group any different? I know he keeps them in separate cells so that it’s need-to-know and such, but it’s actually rather boring to me if as a whole they’re completely immune to being infiltrated, having double agents present or outright defections. We already have one example of an ancient elf who turned from the cause and began to think of modern elves as people - Felassan. I bring him up less as a ‘Felassan as a companion pls’ thing (although, pls pls) and more of an example that it’s possible such a character exists/could turn. Felassan didn’t know everything, but if we managed to get someone like that on our side… he knew parts of Solas’ plans and what he intends, and he knew the guy himself quite well and so knew a thing or two about how he operates. Advice from someone like that would be invaluable. You could either have someone acting as an agent of Fen’Harel but in reality they’re a double-agent for us, or a straight up defector who joins our party, turning their powers and what they know about him against him. Additional note: There is now even official indication that the writers have left the door open on Felassan’s “death” in case they decide they want to bring him back.

Not all elves will support him. Ties into the point above. Elves are not a monolith. We have examples of this already - see Charter and her love for Tessa, Irian’s refusal to join them when approached for recruitment (and her relationship with Vadis and general opinion on the whole Fen’Harel cult thing). We even have an example of an ancient not supporting him (Felassan). I would appreciate it if there is an option in-game at some point to try to have a dialogue with some of the elves who follow Solas (but mostly only if race-selection returns and the PC is an elf themselves, otherwise it could take on a not-right tone). Their decision to support Solas is understandable and not stupid, and their concerns are valid. Gaining better understanding of their perspective would be a good thing.

Adapt / change things up. Also fairly self-explanatory. We already know that he knows how the Inquisition works, about its strengths and weaknesses. They are naturally going to need to radically alter their modus operandi. This includes their structure, approaches to things and the specifics of their secrecy measures. They need to try and be unpredictable to him and do things he wouldn’t expect, and double down on being clandestine, need-to-know basis, etc. Real black ops shit. This battle is a chess-board, not open warfare.

Talk-no-Justu. Some amount of this are inevitable I think, especially in ‘try to redeem’ universes. This isn’t a criticism. If it’s well-written and executed well, I have no problem with it. Part of this involves trying to appeal to his better nature and sense of reason, and part of this involves trying to convey the value in and the pockets of good in the modern world, which TN gives us examples of. We have examples of some modern elves who occupy or occupied different positions of relative power or prestige - Charter, Irian, Teia, Cyrros, Guili, Bolivar. There are examples of good deeds; Teia’s ‘don’t kill the help’ policy, Irian and Vadis avoiding killing Tevinter elven servants and Qunari elves who were just doing their jobs, Dorian no longer keeping slaves and only now having paid servants, Lucanis endangering his job and current contract to free a group of elven slaves from their cruel Magister master, the development of an anti-slavery movement in Tevinter. Much of Thedas is still a widely problematic crapsack, and these things don’t in the slightest make up for it for its oppressed groups, but I can see BW putting us in a position where we have the choice of trying to advocate for the modern world and creating change within it as it exists now.

Solas hasn’t been as mysterious and opaque as he thinks. We too spent a long time with him and know his character traits decently well. Sometimes he even could not resist dropping a hint here or there (whether out of pride, moments of weakness or the unconscious desire to be stopped is up to your reading of him). We too know something of how he organizes his forces, how he operates, his tactics and way of thinking. We are not the only ones in this compromised position. He inadvertently revealed some of this stuff in instances like his guerrilla warfare banters with Sera and even in his vocal chess match with Iron Bull. Please note that this is not me suggesting that he is stupid or that he does not carefully consider what to say and what not to say. 

He is not all-knowing and all-seeing. He doesn’t have complete oversight of his agents. Sometimes they do things he would not approve of or even that are in accidental complete opposition to what he wants. The best example of his is when Gaius in the comics traded away the idol for information, the very idol Solas has been keenly-seeking all along and is key to his post-foci plans. To add, some of his people are fanatical, and fanaticism is not traditionally a notorious hotbed of critical thinking or making the best decisions.

He is also not infallible. I don’t doubt that he is eminently capable, or that he’s logical and considered, or that he’s keenly aware of what his flaws are. But in his own way, he’s human. He has made mistakes. By his own admission he’s prideful and hotheaded. Pride is his fatal flaw and the crux of his character. He will continue to make mistakes, as anybody would.

There is a bit of a front going on. In a way, the booming ordering wolf and the “I’ll destroy anyone who gets in my way without hesitation, you cannot stop me” persona isn’t quite true. I mean, it is, and he will, he’s dedicated to his goal and feels he has no choice. He’s also quite pragmatic and ends-over-means. But he’s also simultaneously deeply regretful, and very sad and tired. This duality can be capitalized on. Also tying to the above, when we’re sad and tired, we’re more inclined to slip up and make mistakes. In some universes he straight-up seems like the wants to be proven wrong or wants to be stopped or die in the attempt but be thwarted.

He himself acknowledges the threat modern Thedosians pose to him and his plans. He is on record saying that many people oppose him and that he knows they’re not fools. He’s worried enough to personally attend a meeting of the top spies in all of Thedas in order to try and find out what they know about him and attempt to throw people off his scent. That’s a big deal. He is worried for a reason

He underestimates modern Thedosians. Related to the point above. Not by much, but still a bit. Felassan straight-up tells him that they are stronger than he thinks. This goes for their intelligence and resourcefulness also.

How many followers can he even have? A few dozen at least, a few hundred at most imo. That’s considerable but not actually a lot in the scheme of things.

Length of time. Self-explanatory. It’s going to take a few years for the ritual to complete. HoF stopped the Fifth Blight in a year. Inky stopped Cory in a year. A lot can be done in a year or two.

Forge alliances. There are seeds of this happening already and it’s a standard part of a BW narrative, ‘oh we must unite against our common enemy guys’. He clearly has knowledge of many intelligence-related groups in Thedas, including but not limited to the dwarven Carta, Inquisition remains, Nevarran Mortalitasi, Tevinter Siccari, Qunari Ben-Hassrath, the Executors and probably Orlesian bards. But, could he really stand against all of them, were they to work together? They in turn have been keeping tabs on him and have various intelligence on his movements, goals etc. What if we pool and share all that knowledge? We’d get a much clearer picture of what he’s doing. Some are already actively working against him and reaching out to one another. What if we add in other groups he doesn’t have a signposted-eye on to the mix, like the Antivan Crows, the Grey Wardens and the Rivaini Lords of Fortune? I think all or most of these groups working together are a formidable adversary for anyone to face. A potentially very potent ‘let’s counter him’ alliance between the Inquisition and the Qunari Ben-Hassrath is already alluded to. What if the Ben-Hassrath then re-direct the Antaam’s attentions to the real magical threat (and boy do they hate magic)? They have canons, explosives, dreadnoughts, advanced technologies, many well-trained soldiers.

Information-gathering. If there’s one fallen piece of Arlathan with bits of libraries with ancient elven texts in them that can be located by the Inquisition and ransacked for clues on the Evanuris and their potential undoing, there are others. The Inquisition and Qunari are both clearly researching this subject and pursuing this line of thinking, and they clearly both had this idea independent of one another. If one expedition can be mounted, others can. Laudine can’t be the only person for a gift for ancient elven language. Among the Dalish there are probably others who are good with it. Who knows what useful information we might find in these places/ventures, or already found in the TN expedition?

Smash the eluvianarchy. His agents would still be able to get around a lot and easily, because there are bound to be many more and many that we don’t know about. It’s also a waste of priceless ancient artifacts. But every barricaded door is one they can’t get through, one more tool denied them. Briala and her people probably know where a portion of them at least still are. So do the Qunari. Doing this to every one that’s known of and every one that’s found along the way partially hampers their ability to travel through them and therefore partially impacts their movements

[and/or] Construct our own eluvians. Having our own means of instant travel and our own network of eluvians would be helpful. Two can play at that game, sort of thing. Modern inventors like Dagna are brilliant. The Glassworks in Serault are renowned across Thedas for their skill and knowledge, and Morrigan even went there to conduct research on eluvians. What they have there, and what she researched, was enough that it enabled her to be able to repair an eluvian. The Inquisition has done some research into eluvians and has contact, either direct as in the case of Morrigan, or indirect as in the case of Merrill (via Varric) with its own eluvian experts. And in Trespasser, Dorian comments that they have many eluvian samples and discusses the possibility of them building eluvians of their own (Varric even pipes up about Merrill if he’s there). Dorian indicates a desire to do this and take it on as a project, so this isn’t out of the realm of possibility.

Seize the means of lyrium production. Okay not literally, and not all of it. But there’s something to be said for the idea, both at the point of extraction and the point of sale/trade. If his ritual truly does require lyrium as the characters in the final story in TN speculate, if his ritual is anything like what the Magisters Sidereal did, it’s likely that he needs looots of the substance. The Magisters Sidereal needed an unimaginable, inordinate amount, actually over two thirds of the lyrium in the entire Tevinter empire at the time. The Magisters had to set 100 acolytes just to the task of gathering it. This amount of such a valuable substance would surely take some time to acquire, even with his many agents and all his money. If you remember, all those coffin-like boxes in Trespasser may have contained lyrium. The companions remark that this was enough lyrium for whole armies of mages. So much lyrium that the Imperium would be jealous and it outstrips the amount Orzammar keeps on hand. That sounds like a Magisters Sidereal Ritual 2.0 amount, if not more. Fortunately we flooded that room and put everything that had been mined underwater. Is there more elsewhere, or was that The store, was that a setback for Solas and he had to begin acquiring it all over again? It does sound like his ritual has already begun, to be fair, which would perhaps imply he had all he needed in order to have begun it in the first place. But I enjoy the thought. Maybe it requires more like a constant stream fed into it, like how we must routinely add wood to a fire in order to keep it burning? Track missing lyrium shipments, find out who is buying up an oddly-much amount. Follow these lines of thinking back to route agents of Fen’Harel and prolong this labor of his. However, a note: if Solas’ ritual requires red lyrium to fuel it and not blue lyrium, this is unlikely to be possible and would not be wise to attempt.

Tap the templars and the Seekers. I don’t like the templars either, but. Tevinter templars have access to enchanted anti-mage weapons that shoot beams of light. Even better, the southern templars and the Seekers are trained specifically to counter and deny magic. They can reinforce reality and the immutability of the world, close off a mage’s access to the Fade, disrupt mana and dissipate magical effects. This is in stark contrast to the magical/Fade-y themes of imagination defining reality and using magic to direct the river of the Fade and therefore influence the world, and I think this contrast is highlighted for a reason. Templars are also somewhat immune to the effects of magic, and even without their powers are among the best warriors in Thedas. They would be capable allies in this specific battle, against a powerful mage with some strong mage followers. And more specifically, a few dozen elite/veteran templars were all that was needed to seal the Breach that first time in DAI if you sided with the templars. Okay yes, via the Herald and through their tool - the Anchor - but that was to seal an already-open tear. What would happen if a few dozen elite templars directed their wills and nullifying abilities at the ritual-in-progress? What about a few hundred? Would Solas be able to cast, for example, his mega mind blast if a few hundred templars were focusing their “nope” on him?

Disrupt the ritual. Ties to the above. Find the ritual site and interrupt the casting or proceedings. It’s going to take several years to complete and sounds intricate. Until it is completed, it is vulnerable. It might be fairly possible to locate as well - the site is likely imo to be somewhere where the Veil is thin. Some such places are already known to modern Thedosians, due to what happened there in the past being a matter of historical record (blood and death) and the weird nature of these places in the present e.g. Brecilian Forest, Arlathan Forest. Others can feasibly be located via research. Solas is the premiere Fade/Veil expert, and he led the work on this at the time, but the Inquisition helped him get readings of the Veil and measure its strength. The results were then overlaid on Thedas maps to predict which areas had a higher chance of tears developing. Are they still in possession of some of this work/some of the notes? Maybe this could be used or developed further.

Nullifying the effects of the idol. This is something that’s clearly possible. The Carta had a special thick double-shielded chest that effectively rendered the idol inert enough that its song and weird effects could no longer be heard/felt. It was marked with protective dwarven runes. Later the idol is kept on a pedestral wrought with - presumably similar - protective runework. I’m super interested in these runes and how they might be adapted to help our cause. (What implications in a general sense btw, do these nullifying runes have for combatting/negating red lyrium and Blight? There’s something going on here) The dwarves are great at this kind of thing, experienced in it and have some really cutting edge technology/creations. In addition, there are some really smart cookies and inventors among modern Thedosians. Dagna for example. She’s brilliant. One step further, destroy the idol. If his MacGuffin is destroyed, what’s his Plan C? 

The effects of red lyrium. LOTR-y, but how long can he use or wield the red lyrium idol safely, without becoming corrupted/losing his mind? We know what its effects and the effects of red lyrium in general are. Maybe this is a complete non-issue for him, but it’s possible. In the teaser, red lyrium crawls up the spine of the Solas-esque figure on the idol. I don’t know that he can be immune to its effects indefinitely.

Approach existing modern Dreamers. The talent seemed to reappear in Feynriel, but he’s not the only one. There are still Dreamers in the Imperium, like Aurelian Titus before his death. I doubt he had no counterparts. There is also a belief that a few Dreamers might still exist among the Dalish. Maybe they can help us and our people find a way to defend against or ward off being killed in our sleep.

On the killing in sleep thing in general: It’s not the same as defending against being killed in sleep, but even some strong non-Dreamer mages like the Mortalitasi woman in the final TN story have the ability to create some kind of wards that keep the spirits that whisper in their dreams at bay. She could still hear/sense them whispering but they can’t get to her for vengeance. Similarly and in addition, Felassan had herbs that could keep him from dreaming most of the time, and wards that would do a good job of blocking him from the Fade when the herbs failed. It wouldn’t have been pleasant and it would still have been plenty risky, but it seemed like he could have feasibly used these measures to live a life, albeit constantly looking over his shoulder, at least for a time (this reminds me of keeping Will drugged up in Sens8 so Whispers couldn’t get to him). Modern Dalish have alluded to at least knowing of these herbs’ past existence (Mihris). I’m not sure what the exact connection is, because the dwarves were killed, and they supposedly don’t dream, so it seems like sleeping itself not specifically dreaming is the thing that makes one vulnerable to this thing, but maybe there’s something there that can be utilized or adapted. Even ‘partial cover’ would be super helpful. In emergency situations in the short-term, coffee and other mundane ways of preventing sleep are handy temporary measures, as the Carta dwarf was doing (I’m thinking about situations where an agent’s wards have dwindled and need like refreshing but they still have some distance to travel or time to wait until a mage arrives to refresh them - for example. Don’t mistake this for “we’ll stop him by drinking coffee”… writing that sentence made me laugh). Key to the defense here btw however for me is the fact that Adralla of Vyrtantium, you know, as in who made the Litany of Adralla, discovered or formulated a defense against dream-walkers. Get Adralla’s research, stat.

Along with the sleep-killing, the other major obstacle imo is his freezing ability. The Inquisition are implied to have discovered some kind of knowledge-y MacGuffin. As above with Talk-no-Justu, some amount of MacGuffin-ness is inevitable I think. Again this isn’t a criticism, if it’s well-written and executed well, I have no problem with it. In an ideal universe for me the MacGuffin includes some kind of defense against or way of negating the effect of his freezing powers. Notably, there is a precedent for something of this sort in the lore. In the MotA DLC, we gather jewels and reconstruct the Dagger of the Four Winds. With this dagger, the pirates who are petrified stone statues can be unpetrified. Interestingly, the Fog Dancers (who live in the north, where we’re going..!) have a story called the March of the Four Winds. Perhaps it’s connected, and the Fog Dancers know how to counter petrification. Even if they don’t, example MacGuffins like the Dagger clearly exist in Thedas, so it’s not much of a stretch to suggest that we could engineer a means of protection against this power. Or if not protection, perhaps a way of reversing? It’s debated if the Fog Warriors’ fog is magic or alchemy - if they also have the means to counteract petrification, it could also be either one. I like the scene in Narnia when Aslan breathes life and motion back into the frozen victims of the White Witch.

His true name. Not sure what exactly all that was about, but in that one story the Qunari allude to the fact that his names that we know aren’t true or aren’t quite true. They seem to be looking for information on his supposed-”true name”. Not sure if it’s just Qunari philosophy or Rasaan being Rasaan, but they believe that with this true name they can track a person back through the best and the worst of themselves, find flaws, exploit weaknesses, know what they had failed to be. A common fictional trope is I Know Your True Name. It’s like functional magic whereby knowing the secret true name of someone grants you control over them or some similar great advantage. I’m very intrigued by this idea, what it could mean and the potential here. “Find the Dread Wolf’s true name” quest arc?

Bring the full might of nations and their armies to bear. The idea of entire nations standing against him is already hinted at. This is a purely hypothetical situation, as the devs might not even have us fighting him, or the final battle could easily be against a possible true or bigger antagonist. Consider though a final assault launched on the located ritual site, with our main squad as the tip of the spear and being the ones who facilitate/convey the means to disrupt it to the center, or the entrance to the center (they would also inevitably be the ones who fight the final battle against him personally at the ritual-site-proper, where I imagine he’d be, trying to complete the cast or ready to do his thing when it’s done). Even with hundreds of followers and some mages, can he really defend the site against entire armies of multiple Thedosian nations, especially when he himself is mostly-occupied at the site-proper? Especially when said armies are peppered or reinforced/led by ‘special forces’ like the organizations I’ve named above?

A final battle against the literal Dread Wolf: I’m actually not worried about this. His form is mighty and dangerous, and I know that in-universe it would post a massive threat. I’m also aware of gameplay/story segregation and how our MCs in these games are invariably special or especially heroic compared to normies. But the fact is we and other people defeat giant beasts in this setting - Archdemons, high dragons, Blighted dragons, hyped up power-goons like ancient Magisters, ancient powerful demons like the Forbidden ones - on the regular. I am not worried about a squad of 4 wailing on a giant wolf. In addition, if there is a true or bigger antagonist, we might never even have to fight the DW.

On a meta level there’s going to be a combat-based game with bosses and a Player Vs Antagonist arc, and it has to be fun to play, have an engaging plot, be of a certain length. However it works out in the end in terms of him succeeding/not succeeding (btw us not succeeding, the ‘you failed despite how hard you tried to keep a cap on this thing’-style narrative, has value as a different kind of story which is cool - see DA2), the characters are still going to try. If he just freezes the PC on first meeting or at any subsequent meeting, how is there going to be a game/plot..? Is the PC never going to sleep for the in-universe duration of their campaign, or are we just supposed to buy that he had the ability to kill them in their sleep for the whole game all along and not once decided to use it to stop them? Solas isn’t stupid! I love a ‘desperate odds, how are we gonna do this, the villain is so incredibly powerful, this feels hopeless’-narrative, and don’t doubt that it’s gonna be in there, but it also has to be sensible - believable. We need to feel both threatened and also that if we try, we might be able to do something. It’s a balance to be struck. There’s going to be something, some kind of creative writing around his power gains or limit on it, some series of steps the PC will be investigating and attempting to take, or else the premise is nonsensical - even if the story has him always succeeding and even in the case of a true or larger threat.

The need to ensure permadeath/permadefeat: In the case of redeem universes, this is only a possible potential scenario that I’m posing to explore. I am not asserting nor wishing that this will happen. If even in those universes we fail in the attempt to convince him, or outright cannot convince him to stop, and in a general sense if there’s no other way (and disregarding for this one point/scenario here the possibility that for plot reasons his plans actually railroad to success - which I acknowledge is entirely possible - and he then dies or something as a result) - the first of his people do not die so easily. He’s not so far from the first of his people. He is an ancient and they were immortal. Flemythal’s various survivals over the years is an example of what might be possible. Plus if he was originally a spirit, or given the ancients’ spirity-ness, consider how when spirits ‘die’ they return to the Fade, and if the idea that gave it form is strong or other spirits have memories of it, something similar might reform one day. In this specific scenario, we need to be sure that killing him is a true permadeath, or that else that the means of disabling/depowering him is permanent. I don’t like the idea and don’t like the Rite of Tranquility and what it does to mages, it’s abhorrent, but this is a specific hypothetical scenario and I’m thinking about all options. If he can’t be swayed and can’t be truly killed, maybe making him Tranquil is an effective means of neutralizing the threat. Even it can be reversed however, so in this specific hypothetical scenario I’m curious what they’ll do here/how it would go down. Maybe he can’t even be made Tranquil, or would need to be killed in the Fade and then made Tranquil ‘twice-over’ kinda by doing it irl too? Interesting thought.

#dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #dragon age #tevinter nights #solas #bioware #tevinter nights spoilers #tevinter nights spoiler #video games #mj meta #felassan #Best Elf #Gryff Lavellan

[mediaeval-muse]

Video Game Review: The Witcher, Enhanced Edition/Director’s Cut (CD Projekt Red, 2007)

Genres: action RPG, fantasy

Premise:  Geralt of Rivia, a genetically-enhanced monster slayer (called a Witcher), awakens with no memory and is caught up in a conflict between human and non-human forces vying for control of the world. Geralt tries to navigate this conflict while also looking for clues about his past.

Platform Played On: PC (Windows)

Rating: 3/5 stars

***Full review under the cut.***

I am evaluating this game based on four key aspects: story, characters, gameplay, and visuals.

Story: Most of the main plot revolves around Geralt tracking down an order of sorcerers who break into the Witchers’ stronghold at the beginning of the game and steal Witcher secrets. While this plot was centered, I found the conflict between humans and non-humans to be the most compelling part of the game. The choices involved in this plot are not black-and-white: on the one hand, the humans are racist but seem to have a sense of morality, and on the other, the non-humans (elves, dwarves, etc) who have a just cause, but are also reckless. I often found myself making decisions I didn’t necessarily agree with, just because I didn’t want something worse to happen.

I will say that I absolutely hated the romance cards. Throughout the game, Geralt can sleep with a number of women, and is rewarded with “romance cards” containing pictures of his lovers in various states of undress. Often, these cards grant XP. I hated also that even while I was trying to avoid sleeping with every woman in the game, there were still moments when my choices were either be an asshole, or be nice and have that kindness be the thing that initiates a sex scene. I’m not opposed to sex and romance in games, but it was so hard to avoid the sex, and it didn’t feel like an extension of the game’s grey morality - just a series of annoying objectifications of women.

Characters: Geralt himself is a bit of a tired archetype - a badass dude who sleeps with whoever he wants and talks a big game (depending on how you play him). He’s gruff and drinks a lot, and will fistfight anyone in a tavern for money. Playing as Geralt, I definitely felt like he was geared towards a certain type of player. He wasn’t necessarily someone I hadn’t seen before - just a heterosexual male power fantasy.

I did like the female characters in this game such as Triss and Shani, since they felt like they had agency. Triss is a powerful sorceress and Shani works in a hospital. They both had fun personalities, and I loved that they had things to do other than fawn over Geralt. I disliked, however, the part of the game when they were brought into conflict - their goals were different, which was interesting, but some of the insults thrown at each other were a little much for me.

Many of the other characters’ personalities are determined by the way you interact with them. For example, Yaevinn (an elf) can be very amiable if you support his cause, but a little judgmental and hostile if you don’t. I think most of these characters are memorable, however, with their own unique characteristics and involvement in the conflict at hand. The only characters fading in my mind being are those who didn’t have much bearing on the plot.

Gameplay: Players can level up Geralt’s abilities the more XP they gain fighting monsters and completing quests, all using a combination of magical abilities and bladed (or sometimes bludgeoning) weapons that can also be leveled up. What makes this game stand out from other RPGs, however, is the choice between three fighting styles and the use of alchemy to alter Geralt’s abilities for a short period of time. With the three fighting styles, players have to choose which one is most appropriate for a particular foe, which keeps players engaged with the game and its lore. Alchemy also helped me feel like I had some agency in the game when my stats were insufficient on their own, and it was fun to run around and collect materials to mix together.

The separation of the day into dawn, noon, dusk, and midnight was also interesting, since different experiences happened at different times of day. It certainly made me feel like time was passing, rather than the whole game taking place over an extended day.

I disliked, however, that I couldn’t fast travel. There were times when I would be exploring a huge map, and I would spend a good chunk of time just running from one area of the map to the other.

Visuals: Because this game was made in 2007, the visuals are going to feel a little dated to contemporary gamers. But I did find each setting to be unique and the monsters to be cleverly designed. Some of the characters wore outfits that I found a bit ridiculous (like Yaevinn’s skull belt) and some designs were reproduced without alteration to make some characters feel the same (like the merchants, who all wore the same clothes and had the same body/face). But other than that, the visual appeal is still enjoyable.

The things that bothered me most, though, were Morenn’s and Kalkstein’s designs. Morenn is a dryad who wanders around completely naked, and she’s animated so that her breasts jiggle in an obvious appeal to the straight male gamer. Kalkstein’s facial features make him look like an ape. I don’t know if that was intentional or not, but I couldn’t help shake the feeling that there was something nefarious underlying his design - racially.

In-Game Triggers: violence, body horror, presence of corpses/blood in the environment, sex and nudity

Recommendations: I would recommend this game if you like RPGs and fantasy settings, especially RPGs with many morally grey choices. I wouldn’t recommend this game to those who are bothered by antifeminist depictions of women, or who are sensitive to heterosexual male power fantasies.

#video game review