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felassan · 4 years

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Dragon Age development insights and highlights from Bioware: Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development

Some really tasty factoids here.

Cut for length.

Dragon Age: Origins

The continent of Thedas was at one point going to be named Pelledia, a name initially floated by James Ohlen

“Qunari” was a temporary name that ended up unintentionally sticking, much like “Thedas”

Mary Kirby wrote the Landsmeet. To this day, nobody understands how it works, except possibly her. If she’s “really really drunk” she can explain how it works. There’s as many words in it as Sten’s entire conversations put together

Concept art for Thedosian art - as in in-world art - draws heavily on Renaissance-era portraiture, the Art Nouveau movement, religious styles and media like stained glass, and favorite pieces from the golden age of illustrations in the early 20th century

Andrastianism in-world (art-wise) is depicted in wildly different methods depending on who in-world made the art in question. “One religion, 3 different lenses”. There’s the Chantry take, the Orlesian take and the Fereldan take; each with its own different interpretations, different mediums and different stories

The stained glass images were drawn by Nick Thornborrow for DAI, to decorate religious spaces in that game “and beyond”

irl Viking art influenced Ferelden

Greek and Italian art influenced Orlais

The book also had other insights into and anecdotes from the development of DAO, but I’ve transcribed them recently as they’re essentially the stories DG has recently been relating on the awesome Summerfall Studios DAO playthrough Twitch streams. (On those streams he provides dev commentary while Liam Esler plays through DA. The ones with DG are currently once every two weeks. Check them out! Here’s a calendar where you can check when the next one is) Instead of repeating myself I’ll just provide the link to the first transcript. From there you can navigate to the subsequent parts. Note these streams are ongoing. At this point I will also point you to a related post which is cliff notes of the Dragon Age chapter in Jason Schreier’s book Blood Sweat and Pixels.

Dragon Age II

DAO had the longest development period in BioWare history. In contrast DA2 had the shortest

Initially DA2 was going to be an expansion to DAO. A few months in EA said “Yeah, expansions like these don’t sell very well, so let’s make it a sequel.” So it suddenly became DA2 and they had to make it even bigger, although they still only had 1.5 years of time in which to do this

Production of DA2 officially lasted only 9 months, and at the time the team was still supporting live content for DAO! They finished development that January after the design team crunched all the way through the holiday period that year. Then it went to cert 9 times

The limited time they had is why the story takes place mostly in and around 1 city, and over 7 years (so it was temporal, rather than over physical distance, because a more expansive world would have taken more irl time to make)

They had no time to review even the main plot. Mike Laidlaw pitched the idea of 3 stories taking place at different points in the PC’s life, tied together by Varric’s recollections of events. DG rolled with this and made 1 presentation on the idea. This presentation was then approved and off they went

As they were writing DG realized that there was going to be no oversight and that everything was going to be a ‘first draft’. “Because nobody had time.” He sat down with the writers and said “Look, here’s the conditions we’re working under. A lot of what we’re putting out is gonna be raw. We’re not going to get the editing we need. We’re not going to get the kind of iteration we need. So I’m going to trust you all to do your best work.”

Looking back, DG has mixed feelings on DA2. “A lot of corners were cut. The public perception was that it was smaller than DAO. That’s a sin on its own.”

Despite this he thinks DA2 has some of the best writing in the series, especially character-wise. The DA2 chars are his favorite

The pace with which production progressed may in some ways have helped. “When we do a lot of revision, we often file away [as in buff off] some of the good writing as well. Somehow DA2′s whirlwind process resulted in some really good writing”

The pace meant chars landed on the writers in various stages of completion. For example Isabela was fairly defined due to appearing in DAO. In contrast Varric at the start was just that single piece of widely-shown concept art

Varric was conceived as a storyteller not a fighter. His skills are talking and bullshitting. Hence the question became, so what does this guy do in combat? The direction was to make him as different as possible to Oghren, so not a warrior. He couldn’t be a dual-wielding rogue in order to differentiate him from Bela. But you can’t really picture this guy with a bow. “For a dwarf, it would probably be a crossbow. We didn’t have crossbows, or we only had crossbows for the darkspawn. And they were part of the models. We didn’t have a separate crossbow that was equip-able by the chars. They had to like, crop one off a darkspawn and remodel it. And that became Bianca” (quote: Mary Kirby)

“Dwarven mages are exceedingly rare.” [???]

If DAO was a classic fantasy painting, DA2 was a screenshot from a Kurosawa film or a northern Renaissance painting. (Here Matt Rhodes was commenting on art style)

John Epler: “In any one of our games, there’s a 95% chance that if you turn the camera away from what it’s looking at, you’ll see all kinds of janky stuff. The moment we know the camera is no longer facing someone, we no longer care what happens to them. We will teleport people around. We will jump people around. We will literally have someone walk off screen and then we will shift them 1000 meters down, because we’re fixing some bug.” John also talked about this camera stuff in a recent charity Twitch stream for Gamers For Groceries. There’s a writeup of that stream here

Designing Kirkwall pushed concept artists to the limits of visual storytelling, because it has a long history that they wanted to be present. It was once the hub of Tevinter’s slave empire, so it needed to look brutal and harsh, but it also then needed to feel reclaimed, evolved, and with elements of contemporary Free Marches culture

The initial plan was for DA titles to be distinguished by subtitles not numbers, so that each experience could stand on its own rather than feel like a sequel or continuation. (My note: New PCs in each entry make sense then when you consider this and other factoids we know like how DA is the story of the world not of any one PC). Later, DA2′s name was made DA2 in a bid to more clearly connect the game to its predecessor. For DAI they returned to the original naming convention. (My note: so I’d reckon they’d be continuing the subtitle naming convention for DA4)

DA2 was initially code-named “Nug Storm”, strictly internally

The Cancelled DA2 Expansion - Exalted March

This was a precursor to DAI

It was meant to bridge the gap between DA2 and DAI

It focused on the fallout from Kirkwall’s explosion, with Cory serving as the villain

Meredith’s red lyrium statue was basically going to infest Kirkwall and it would end up [with what would end up] the red templars taking over Kirkwall and essentially being Cory’s army

To stop him Hawke would have recruited various factions, including Bela’s Felicisima Armada and the Qunari at Estwatch, forcing Hawke to split loyalties and risk relationships in the process

It was meant to bring DA2′s story to an end and end in Varric’s death. DG was very happy with this because all of DA2 is Varric’s tale. The expansion was supposed to start at the moment Cassandra’s interrogation of him ended in the present. “And we finished off the story with Varric having this heroic death.” It tied things up and would have broken many fan hearts, something BioWare writers notoriously enjoy. But between a transition to the new Frostbite engine and the scope of DAI, the decision was made to cancel EM, work any hard-to-lose concepts into DAI, and in the process save Varric’s life. DG has talked about the Varric dying thing before

Concept art for EM explored new areas previously not depicted in the DA universe, with costumes that reflected next steps for familiar chars. Varric was going to war, what would he have worn? With Anders, if he survived DA2, the plan was to present a redeemed Warden

A char that vaguely resembled Sera in DAI was first concepted for EM. This fact was mentioned near this concept art (see the female elf) and this concept art of Bethany with the blond bob

The writers sketched out plans to end it with Hawke having the option to marry their LI. This included alternate ceremonies for party members like Bethany and Sebastian if the player opted not to wed. There was even a wedding dress made for Hawke. This asset made it into DAI (Sera and Cullen’s weddings in Trespasser). The dress can also be seen in DAI during an ambient NPC wedding after completing a chain of war table missions

The destruction of a Chantry was explored in concept art as it might have happened in EM. This idea ended up carrying over to the beginning of DAI. (My note: Lol, the idea that DA2 could have had 2 Chantries being destroyed in it 😆)

World of Thedas

Sheryl Chee and Mary Kirby started with “a disgusting little dish called fluffy mackerel pudding”. In the middle of DAO’s busy dev period one of them (they can’t remember who) found a recipe online for this, scanned in from a 70s cookbook. “I don’t understand why it was fluffy. Why would you want fluffy mackerel pudding?” MK says. “We loved it so much we included it in a DAO codex.”

This led them to create more food for Thedas, full recipes included, like a Fereldan turnip and barley stew from MK and SC’s Starkhaven fish and egg pie. The fish pie became Sebastian’s favorite. “To me it made sense for it to be fish pie because a lot of the Free Marches are on the coast”, SC says, “It was something that was popular in medieval times, so I thought, let’s make a fish pie! I looked at medieval recipes and I concocted a fish pie which I fed to my partner, and he was like ‘This is not terrible’”

For WoT the whole studio was asked to contribute family recipes which might have a place in Thedas. SC adapted these to fit in one Thedosian culture or another, including a beloved banana bread that localization producer Melanie Fleming would regularly bake to keep the DA team motivated. “Melanie’s banana bread got us through Inquisition”

DAI

It says part of DAI takes place in or near the border with Nevarra [???]

This game was aimed to be bigger than DA2 and even DAO in every conceivable way

The first hour had to do a lot of heavy lifting, tying together the events of DAO and DA2 while introducing a new PC, new followers etc in the aftermath of the big attack. DG rewrote it 7 times then Lukas Kristjanson did 2 more passes

DG: “Our problem is always that our endings are so important, but we leave them to last, when we have no time. I kept pushing on DAI: ‘Can we work on the ending now? Can we work on the ending now? Can we do it early on?’ Because I knew exactly what it was going to be. But despite the fact that it kept getting scheduled, whenever the schedule started falling behind, it kept getting pushed back... so, of course, it got left til last again.”

“The reveal of the story’s real antagonist, Solas, a follower until the end, when he betrayed the player”. “Solas’ story remains a main thread in Inquisition’s long-awaited follow-up” [these aren’t DG quotes, just bits of general text]

Over the course of development they had 8 full-time writers and 4 editors working on it. Other writers joined later to help wrangle what ended up being close to 1 million words of dialogue and unspoken text. While many teams moved to a more open concept style of work for DAI, the writers remained tucked away in their own room, a choice DG says was necessary, given how much they talked. All the talking had a purpose ofc as if someone hit a bump or wall in their writing they would open the problem up to the room

As writing on a project like DAI progresses, the writers grow punchier and weirder things make it into the game. This is especially the case towards the end of a project (they get tired, burned out)

Banter and codexes require less ‘buy-in’ (DG has talked about this concept a few times on the Twitch streams) from other designers. DG liked to leave banter for last as a reward because it was fun. Banter begins as lists of topics for 2 followers to discuss. These may progress over time or be one off exchanges. One banter script can balloon to well over 10k words. “The banter was always huge because we were always like, laughing, and really at that point, our fields of fucks were rather barren, so we would just do whatever”

The bog unicorn happened pretty much by accident. It was designed by Matt Rhodes and was one of his fav things to design. They needed horse variations and he had already designed an undead variant which was a bog mummy [bog body]. irl these are preserved in a much different way to traditional mummies. When someone dies in a bog their skin turns black and raisin-like. The examples we know of tend to have bright red hair for whatever reason. It’s a very striking look and MR wanted to do a horse version of this as he thought it’d be neat. 5 mins before the review meeting for it he had a big ‘Aha!’ moment, quickly looked up a rusty old Viking sword, and photoshopped it through its skull like that was how it died. “And I was like, ‘I just made a unicorn. Alright, in it goes!’” It got approved. “So we built the thing. It fit. It told a little story”

With the irl Inquisition longsword, one of the objects they tested its cleaving ability on was a plush version of Leliana’s nug Schmooples

The concept art team explored a wide variety of visuals for the Inquisitor’s signature mark. It needed to look powerful and raw but couldn’t look like a horrific wound. In some cases, as cool as the idea looked on paper, they just weren’t technically feasible, especially as they had to be able to fit on any number of different bodies

Bug report: “Endlessly spawning mounts! At one point during development, Inquisitors could summon a new horse every time they whistled, allowing them to amass a near infinite number of eager steeds that faithfully followed them across Thedas. “You could go charging across levels and they’d all gallop behind you,” Jen Cheverie says, “It was beautiful.” Trotting into town became an epic horse siege as a tidal wave of mounts enveloped the streets. Jen called it her Army of Ponies”

The giants came from DA Week, an internal period when devs can pursue different individual creative projects that in some way benefit DA. They also had a board game from one of these that they were going to put in but they didn’t have time. It’s referenced though. It was dwarven chess

Josie’s outfit is made of gold silk and patterned velvet, with leather at her waist. She carries “an ornate ledger” and she has “an ornamented collar sitting around her neck, finished by a brilliant red ruby, like a drop of Antivan wine in a sunbeam”

Iron Bull’s armor is leather. His loose pantaloons and leather boots give him agility to charge

On DAI in particular, concept artists took special care to make sure costumes would be realistic, at least in a practical ‘this obeys the laws of physics and textiles’ sense. “While on Inquisition, we thought about cosplay from a concept art perspective. Given how incredible a lot of [cosplays] are, I now am not worried about them. In fact in some cases in the future I want to throw them curveballs like, ‘All right, you clever bastards. Let’s see if you can do this!’”

2 geese that nested on the office building and had chicks were named Ganders and Arishonk (it wasn’t known who was the mom or the dad). Other possible names were Carver Honke, Bethany Honke, Urdnot Pecks, Quackwall, Cassandra Pentagoose, the Iron Bill, Shepbird, Garroose, Admiral Quackett, Scout Honking, HChick-47 and Darth Malgoose

Bug report: “The surprising adventures of Ser Noodles!” DAI was the first time the series had a mount feature, meaning this had a lot of bugs. A lot of the teams’ favorite bugs were to do with the mounts. There was a period of time where the Inquisitor’s horse seemed to lose all bone and muscle in its legs. They had a week or so where all quadruped legs were broken. It was a bit noticeable in things like nugs and other small beasties but the horse was insanely obvious. “The first time we summoned the horse [for this] and started running around, the entire QA exploration room just exploded with laughter.” Its legs flapped around like cooked fettucine, leading testers to lovingly nickname it Ser Noodles. At galloping speeds the legs almost looked like helicopter blades, especially when footage was set to classic pieces such as Wagner’s Flight of the Valkyries

For DAI the artists were asked questions like “What would Morrigan wear to a formal ball? Can Cassandra pull off a jaunty hat?”

On DAI storyboarding became the norm. John Epler: “Cinematic design for the longest time was the Wild West. It was ‘here’s a bunch of content, now do it however you want’, which resulted in some successes and some failures.” Storyboarding gave designers a consistent visual blueprint based on ideas from designers, writers and concept artists

Quote from a storyboard by Nick Thornborrow (the Inquisitor going into the party at the end of basegame sequence): “Until Corypheus revealed himself they could not see the single hand behind the chaos. A magister and a darkspawn combined. The ultimate evil. So evil. Eviler than puppy-killers and egg farts combined.”

A general note on concept art:

In the early stages of any project, before the concept artists are aware of any writing, they like to just draw what they think cool story moments could be. It’s not unusual for the team to then be inspired by these and fold them into the game as the project progresses

– From Bioware: Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development

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kryptsune · 3 years

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Souly Damned Saturdays!~

🌼Welcome to Souly Damned Saturdays! I am your host Kit! Today I am going to be taking a break to talk about one of my main characters! I mentioned her a few posts ago but her name is Evelyn Rogers. I am also going to explain how covens work. Let’s get started!

Character Profile:

Name: Evelyn Rogers Species: Human (witch)/ Celestial? Soul Flower Type: Lily Color Type: Vibrant violet

Human Appearance Description: Hair Color: Black Hair Style: (image provided) with a braid on the left side Skin Tone: Pale Height: 5′6″ Other Details: -Thin ribbon tying back braid - Black ribbon chocker with pendant - Ruby studded silver earrings

Infernal Appearance Description: Name: Lilith Soul Flower Type: Lily Color Type: vibrant violet (middle) that pales with ice along it’s petals Infernal Title: Infernal Princess Eye Color: Icy blue when looses herself Hair Color: White Hair Style: (image provided) with a braid on the left side Skin Tone: Pale Contract symbol mark placement: Shoulder blades Extras: 2 sets of white wings that have a gradient of icy blue. Other Details: - Slender fingers with black painted nails (sharp tips) - Black horns that swoop backward - Pointed ears (more below the cut)

Special Abilities or Powers: - Can read minds - Dream walking - Can pull out deepest desires - Forces those under her power to tell the truth - Truth touch (will gain the trust of those touched) - Mental suggestion - Lust touch - Levitation - Blip (Teleportation) - Dark ice/fire element - Calming touch (Weapon: Those she has a specific bond with ie: Beast and Costello give her their abilities when it comes to weapons but she does not have a specific weapon herself.)

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Eve’s Contract:

Eve’s soul is unique as it appears to be linked to the past ancestry of humans linked by the Vinculum Infernalis. Due to this her soul is far more powerful and can utilize more of their own abilities. The first contract she ends up bound to is Cubans. In exchange for her life as well as their own protection she works at the club as their little songbird. She becomes an undercover agent to infiltrate the boys enemies or rivals since the human soul has the ability to mask demonic presence. She ends up with a second contract to Costello for other reasons (spoilers). In addition to being able to use the abilities of the boys, the contractee is also able to wield their specific weapons. Each one corresponds to a specific Prince and the higher level the more powerful.

Unbeknownst to Eve her father is none other than one of the three most powerful beings in existence. As such she does not know her true lineage. Her father, Kalthiel, watches her from afar and aids when he is able but she does not know of his involvement. Her conception was a byproduct of her mother’s deal with the Broker. Unfortunately her ancestral blood caused her to be baden and in desperation she made a deal to have a child. A child that would one day be a tri-brid. One of mortal, Celestial, and Infernal blood.

Fusion:

Fusion is an interesting scenario since Eve is contracted to not one but two princes of Hell. She gains many abilities and one of those is being able to fuse her bound soul with that of her demonic counterpart(s) creating a fusion of herself and their own hellish forms. The soul however can only stand so much and if that goes beyond its limit the human soul could be damaged permanently. This form is dangerous for anyone and a last resort at best.

Eve’s Ancestry /The Vinculum Infernalis:

Humans in this universe do not believe in the existence of monsters very much like our own world. They are nothing but stories and myths. Demons are the exact same. There is a story that may allude to the fact that demons were created with monsters as punishment for humanity's evil. That is neither confirmed or denied. What is known is that demons used to walk the surface regularly a long time ago.

Humans in their lust for power (a very debatable comment) made contracts with these creatures in exchange for their souls, something that demons covet to gain more power themselves. Those that made these contracts became witches/ warlocks, having Infernal blood and magic infused within their very being. As every demon is unique so were the souls. The first covens were formed after 12 survivors managed to break their contracts leaving the magic within their souls present. As they began to have children that magic too was passed down. Humans with any type of magic are extraordinarily rare and one mage soul can rival over 1000 regular human souls. Eve appears to have a connection or blood relation to one of these surviving lines.

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Other Classifications:

The Legend of Lilith (Lillum): It is unclear if this history happened or not because the Princes refuse to discuss it. (That can’t be good) The truth of this prophecy, or for most harbinger, is that a generation will be born with power equal to that of their fathers. Since the Princes can not have offspring it takes a very specific mix for this to be possible. Such things are up to fate. All that is known is that it will rival the Celestials if it comes to pass as one of Celestial, Infernal, and mortal blood has to be the one...or there could be more. Legends and prophecy tend to be incredibly vague.

The Covens and their Patrons: After the formation of the Vinculum Infernalis the Princes decide that instead of regarding the mortals with disdain as they did during their Celestial reign they become patrons instead. In total there are 7 covens with a hierarchy of who is the most powerful. They are as follows:

Coven Names in Prestige Order (greatest to least): 1. Lust - Circle of the Siren (Costello/ Valentine)

2. Pride - Requiem of the Hallowed (Carthus/ Dusk)

3. Envy - Elysium (Sanneth)

4. Wrath - The Acolytes of Flame and Forge (Boss/ Azrin)

5. Greed - Coven of the Blood Moon (Crimson/ Grimm)

6. Sloth - The Desolate Forgotten (Gin)

7. Gluttony - Circle of the Ancients (Ouro)

Those of the first blood line under the Vinculum Infernalis are the most powerful of their coven and seated at a special rank due to their rarity. Unlike those of the first line the members of the coven are not Infernal/Celestial blooded.

The First Grimoire: Just because their bond and Infernal blood comes from their ancestral line does not mean that they are as powerful as they once were. In fact there is a Grimoire for each specific coven that only a direct descendant from the line can utilize and open. It is incredibly rare and the first bloodline (the ones that first made the deal) are thought to be dead so the books reside in the highest ranks of the 7 covens until such a time comes that they can be opened. There are Grimoire for every acolyte (the book chooses you type deal) but not anywhere close to those labeled the first Grimoire. These tomes are written entirely in High Infernal Script. These are incredibly deadly and powerful Infernal artifacts and each comes with a specific name:

Lust- Willbinder, Memoire of Blackfire

Pride- Featherfall, Legacy of Pride

Envy- Ash, Oath of Lasting Night

Wrath- Flameward, Boon of Slaughter

Greed- Sapience, Soul of Desecration

Sloth- Draughtbane, Tome of apathy

Gluttony- Apostle, Ledger of the Devourer

Coven Organization (Hierarchy): Each coven is organized by the will of the Prince that is its patron. They can recruit neophytes with no prior ties if they deem them worthy enough to be inducted into the coven. There is still a process and ceremony that needs to be followed. Once the initiation is complete they are tutored by generally a well learned acolyte (think of them as TAs) while Dominus and Magus are the instructors. If they prove their worth then they will be given a grimoire that chooses them to become an Acolyte. They are then placed under a bond similar to the Vinculum Infernalis but not nearly as strong and there is quite a lot of fine print.

*The First Bloods- A specific rank for those that are of the first bloodline. They actually have Infernal/Celestial blood within their veins which makes them some of the most powerful of the witches/warlocks. Their souls are also marked if they are a part of their first bloodline.

1. Mortiferum Magistrum- The heads of the covens and the most skilled practitioners. They run more of the direct communication between the Infernal Realm (their patrons) and those under their coven. Some have spoken directly to their Patron but for the most part they are dealing with dukes or lords. There is only one of this rank in each coven.

2. Dominus- The recruiters with approval from the Mortiferum Magistrum. Their job is to maintain the order within the lower levels of the coven. They are also teachers along with the Magus.

3. Magus- A magus’ job is to teach their acolytes higher level abilities and possibly prepare them for Magus status as well. In each coven there can be an unlimited number of Magus but only 2 or 3 Dominus.

4. Acolyte- Servants of the coven and the second lowest tier these are the students.

5. Neophyte- Those that possibly have potential but have not yet proven themselves to the rest of the coven. You have to start as a Neophyte first. The only exception to this are the First Bloods.

The Cult of the Fallen One (THE LITERAL DEVIL):

Hedge Witches/Warlocks: The Hedges probably nicknamed as such due to the phrase “hedging one's bets” are dangerous and rebellious. They are mortals with a craving for power and magic that were neither chosen or of the First Bloods. These are the types of mortals that will make contracts with Imps and Changelings in order to reach a certain end. Sometimes that is wealth, power, magic it just depends. They are not Infernal blooded. These are the souls that end up in the Kingdom of Envy under Sanneth. He does not take kindly to greedy and foolish mortals. The Hedges are the ones that originally proclaimed witchcraft pointing to the covens effectively thinning their once steadily rising numbers.

They are reckless and generally only care for their own ends. They are the ones that give witches and warlocks a bad name. Unlike those of the coven they gain no such immunity from the Infernal Pit. It is easy for lesser demons to trick these mortals into freeing them to cause chaos in the mortal realm. This includes cracking open Purgatory for some unsavory Infernal Blooded Hybrids to slip through.

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#demons #Souly Damned #SD Saturdays #worldbuilding #info #askbox open #original content #Celestials #Evelyn Rogers #Lilith

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customhawke · 5 years

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I love your questionnaires... would you consider making a version for companion OCs? I have a few and fleshing them out is. hm. hard

Thank you very much! I’m glad you enjoyed my questionnaires. Unfortunately, I wrote them when I was deep into DA hyperfocus, and I don’t know when/if I’ll ever be that interested again to write new ones or finish the ones I started and abandoned

However, there is already a DA companion meme out there! I believe this is the source for it, so you can use that to help flesh out your ocs! There are little links that lead to other parts of the inquisitor companion meme in the original post as well.

I have a slightly more detailed version in my notes that I used for my inquisitor and warden (which I never finished and posted lol) so I’m adding that under the cut if the extra questions are any helpful. I’m keeping my answers in because some of the questions are little vague, so hopefully the answers help with how I intended them to be answered. Feel free to delete them to use for yourself, or use the shorter original one in the link!

Inquisitor’s Name: Phaedre Lavellan

Alternate Name?: Phaedre Athevera

Race, Class, & Specialization: Elven mage, specialized Rift Mage

Varric’s Nickname for them: Dewdrop

Default Tarot Card: Reverse Judgment (Self-doubt, refusal of self-examination)

How they are recruited:

After being snubbed by the templars at Val Royeaux, a cutscene with Josephine is available where she can speak of gaining more allies, specifically with non-human species (since the Chantry/humans are pretty much non-communicative). She’ll mention that a Dalish clan near the Emerald Graves has offered to meet with Inquisition forces and discuss possible benefits of an alliance. If the Inquisitor is Dalish, they will have the option of learning they are the Athevera clan, one of the largest Dalish clans in Fereldan/Orlais, and one of relative renown—their Keeper tends to lead the Arlathvhen,and mainly decides where the next one will be held.

Show interest in this option and the war table operation to unlock a special area will appear. It will take 2 power to complete with Connections. Fast travel there, and you will be immediately ambushed by local human soldiers—while the Dalish waited for the meeting, it seems the humans decided to drive them off, killing some in the process. Phaedre is the only one still alive, and the Inquisitor helps kill/drive off the human forces.

Afterwards, a cutscene will ensue with Phaedre introducing herself. She was part of the welcome group that was to escort the Inquisitor to the clan’s location to discuss alliance terms, but now that the humans have acted up it is very likely the clan has packed up and moved. Phaedre thanks the Inquisitor for helping her and with varying levels of enthusiasm will offer her services to the Inquisition, both as a mage and as a connection to the largest Dalish clan in Orlais (she will wholeheartedly help if the Inquisitor is Dalish, be neutral if the Inquisitor is dwarven, and be reluctant if the Inquisitor is human/Qunari, though this may be nullified if the Inquisitor is a mage—this enthusiasm level will determine her starting approval rate). If the Inquisitor agrees, Phaedre will join as a companion.

Where they are in Haven:

In Josephine’s office, next to Minaeve. If the Inquisitor waits, idle banter will sometimes appear where Phaedre speaks to Minaeve, either asking her about Minaeve’s research or arguing with her about the Dalish.

Where they are in Skyhold:

In the secret library beneath the war room, near the kitchens.

Things they Generally Approve of:

Asking for her input on anything will generally yield approval, as well as asking about Dalish history and/or magic. Showing support for mage freedom will garner great approval, as well as choices that help the helpless, even if (or especially if) it means the Inquisitor must give up something (ie charity, or taking on quests that do not have to be done). Being lenient in judgments and showing interest in learning new things/history will also gain her approval (ie, accepting quests that involve magic/rune gathering, reading certain codexes, etc.).

Things they Generally Disapprove of:

Supporting Templars/the Circle in any way, expressing hatred/fear of magic or mages, being harsh in judgment or refusing to help civilians/be rude to them (she will disapprove if you walk away from conversations with civilians, so watch out for that), asking for her opinion on the matter and then ignoring her advice, expressing disinterest in her stories and history, expressing distaste of elven culture.

***Depending on race, Phaedre will automatically be at a certain approval level (similar to how Dorian’s approval is automatically changed depending on if you sided with mages or Templars). She automatically Greatly Approves if you are an elf, Approves if you are a Dwarf, Slightly Disapproves if you are Qunari, and Greatly Disapproves if you are a human. She will also Approve if you are a mage (so add that on to whatever approval and disapproval already gained). It’s pretty easy to build a good relationship with her as long as you’re pro-mage, though, so it’s not too much of a detriment.

Mages, Templars, Other?:

Super pro-mage. She’s very sympathetic to the cause, and believes that while there definitely needs to be a checks and balance system it’s basically a system of oppression and abuse under Templars/Chantry. She actively fears Templars and will avoid them in the beginning, which she can reveal through conversation to be because she once witnessed a Templar group brutalize their mage charges as a child. She believes magic is a gift, not a curse, and the way the Chantry teaches mages to view their magic and themselves is despicable.

Friends in the Inquisition:

Solas: Phaedre takes on a bit of a mentor-mentee relationship with Solas, and their banter generally consists of her peppering him with questions about the Fade and of his journeys there. Later on, she will express interest in learning how to walk in the Fade as he does, so she can learn more about her lost history. However, several banters will appear where Solas derides the Dalish, and depending on whether or not her personal quest was completed, Phaedre will either uncomfortably change the subject or argue with Solas on the point.

Sera: Phaedre and Sera are BEST FRIENDS due to Phaedre’s initial reluctance to make herself seem contrary, and their similar ages. Their banter will consist of references to pranks they’ve pulled, inside jokes, gushing over girls (mainly Cassandra) and general goofing off—if neither Sera nor Phaedre are romanced, it will be referenced that they may have slept together (if the Inquisitor’s friendship level gets beyond a certain point, they can ask about the encounter either at Haven or at Skyhold). However, after IHW/CotJ, banter will appear where Sera derides the Dalish, and (again, depending on status of personal quest) Phaedre will become uncomfortable/angry. This will spread over several banters (Phaedre will inevitably become angry and argue, regardless of personal quest), to the point where other companions will remark upon their “spat.” Eventually Phaedre will apologize and say that even if Sera doesn’t consider herself an elf Phaedre will always see her as a friend, but any romantic entanglement ends.

After this fight (or, alternatively, sometime after either Here Lies the Abyss or Wicked Eyes, whichever is completed first), Sera will start to comment on a hidden crush Phaedre has on a member of the Inquisition. Depending on the Inquisitor’s actions, the identity of the object of Phaedre’s admiration will vary:

if the Inquisitor has flirted with Phaedre and either hard-locked or soft-locked into a romance, the “crush” will be the Inquisitor (which Phaedre will outright confirm to Sera once her personal quest is completed; otherwise, she will be close-lipped about it, saying she doesn’t know if “the interested party” is willing to advertise the flirting—the Inquisitor can make a comment during this banter)

if the Inquisitor has not romanced Phaedre and has not romanced Cullen, it will be Cullen (which Phaedre will be close-lipped and surly about, saying that she’s not sure “the other party is interested” and “even if they are interested, I’m not sure I want them to be interested”). Later, after both her and Cullen’s personal quests are completed, Sera will accuse Phaedre of having kissed Cullen, revealing him as the object of her affection

if the Inquisitor has romanced Cullen, the object of affection will turn out to be Cassandra (which Phaedre will not reveal, saying she knows “the other party is not interested”). Later banter with Sera and Cassandra will have Cassandra letting Phaedre down gently.

Varric: Varric outright compares Phaedre to Merrill (you’re like another Dalish I knew, but with less blood magic), and treats her in a similar manner—calling her “Dewdrop,” he often expresses worry over her battles and constantly invites her to play games of Wicked Grace to “get her out of those dusty tomes.” Unlike Merrill, Phaedre happily accepts the fatherly concern, allowing herself to be drawn out when asked to appease Varric. After her personal quest, she will thank Varric for looking out for her, but asks him to let her take a few steps on her own.

Cassandra: Early banter with Cassandra will reveal a puppy-crush on her, which may or may not blossom into full-blown infatuation. Cassandra will ask about Phaedre’s life as part of the Dalish, which will reveal more about Phaedre’s life not otherwise accessible; Phaedre will also compliment Cassandra’s ability as a warrior and her opinions on change (she very much approves that Cassandra is willing to see the innate corruption within the Templars and her willingness to admit that she’s wrong/change things). If Cassandra is chosen for Divine, Phaedre will offer to help Cassandra; Cassandra will then point out that Phaedre isn’t Andrastian, to which Phaedre will say “you don’t need to believe in the power to believe in good people.” Depending on the Inquisitor’s choices, post-game dialogue may reveal that Cassandra has taken her up on her offer and she will be leaving the Inquisition with Cassandra.

Several banters will also include arguments surrounding the Chantry and its purpose, as well as Templars.

Cole: She and Cole get along great. She constantly tries to decipher what Cole (and sometimes Solas) are saying, and other banter will reveal that she actively tries to help Cole with his “helping” people, which Cole appreciates.

She will, however, get rather uncomfortable when Cole tries to help her, though she’s pretty much used to people trying to help and protect her and therefore her reaction is very mild compared to others’.

Dorian: Phaedre and Dorian both get along well, though initially Phaedre is hostile to the “Vint.” She will often make references to Tevinter habit of slavery, and most of the early banter is her arguing with him about his stance on it (Solas, if in the party, will often have extra dialogue). Later banter will allude to the fact that Dorian was properly convinced about slavery, and the banter becomes much more friendly and lighthearted (if Sera is also in the party, she will contribute, alluding to the idea that Phaedre spends a lot of time with them and Varric).

Companions she doesn’t get along with:

Vivienne: While they don’t necessarily fight, Phaedre clearly acts uncomfortable around Vivienne, and Vivienne treats Phaedre like a child that is to be ignored or derided. After her personal quest, Phaedre will actively stand up to Vivienne and argue for mage rights, and during a particular cutscene they can be found discussing the issue on Vivienne’s balcony, where Vivienne will tell her that even if they never agree, Vivienne will always respect her articulate way of debating the matter.

If Vivienne is made Divine, Phaedre will express disapproval.

Iron Bull: Phaedre’s interactions with Iron Bull reveal she is rather intimidated by him and his bloodlust, and strongly disagrees with the importance of the Qun. Iron Bull, for his part, treats her like a little girl who can occasionally make things explode.

Later on, if Bull saves the Chargers they will become closer, as banter will reveal she has started to spend time with the Chargers and learned a few new tricks from Dalish, spending more time with Iron Bull as a result.

If Bull does not save the chargers and Phaedre’s personal quest is completed, Phaedre will actively tear down Iron Bull for his decision, and calls him despicable.

Blackwall: While she is always respectful of Blackwall, they are distant with each other. Their banter typically involves him giving her advice on how to better fight—she more or less treats him like an elder, but not one she is especially close to, though she does express admiration for his noble goals and purpose, and if asked on her opinion of him she will speak praise BEFORE it is revealed who he is. Blackwall, for his part, admires Phaedre’s dedication and kindhearted nature, and takes on a benevolent-uncle kind of relationship with her.

After he is revealed as Thom Rainier, she will say that she doesn’t know who he is anymore, and she cannot trust him to be a different person than he was before. Later he will say that he will show her he is different by earning back his honor as Rainier, to which Phaedre replies with a neutral “We’ll see about it, then.”

MISSIONS

Small side mission:

After moving to Skyhold and approval is around 35+, Phaedre will comment that there are various tomes missing from the Hidden Library that she cannot find anywhere. She and Solas have together looked (in the Fade) for the various possible locations of the tomes and asks the Inquisitor to keep an eye out for them. If she is present when one is discovered, she Approves; if all are discovered, she Greatly Approves at its completion.

· War Table Missions:

There will be various war-table missions concerning Phaedre’s connections with various Dalish clans. Depending on who is used to complete them (generally anything but Forces), Phaedre will gain approval.

Companion quest:

After HLtA, a cutscene will occur the next time the Inquisitor tries to speak with Phaedre. Josephine will ask after Clan Athevera—though the war table missions involve connecting with various Dalish clans, none of them are her own, and Josephine wonders at their safety. Phaedre will be dodgy and walk away, and Josephine will go to the Inquisitor and express distress. If you ask Phaedre about it, she will say the clan is fine and not to bother them, but it will unlock the war table operation “Find Clan Athevera” regardless. Only Josephine can complete it, and doing so means gaining a letter asking to meet the Inquisitor, with Phaedre, to properly discuss an alliance—the entire letter is worded all shady and shit. When traveling there, Phaedre is a locked companion.

When they arrive, the Keeper of the clan is there to welcome you. She expresses happiness that Phaedre is safe and unharmed, and talks to Phaedre like she is a young child. She will tell the Inquisitor that Phaedre should not have been waiting to meet the Inquisitor with the hunter group, as it is too dangerous for her to leave the safety of the clan—she was never given permission to join the Inquisition, and as such was never working on behalf of the clan. Phaedre will attempt to interject at various points, and will be shot down by the Keeper. She then asks the Inquisitor to let Phaedre return home where she can be “safe and taken care of properly,” away from the dangers of the Inquisition. In return, they will send a new representative to deal with the Inquisition, and the true force of the clan will be utilized in the alliance.

Option 1: Tell Phaedre to return “home.” Phaedre will go back to the Keeper without complaint, and while very quiet seems to part with little ill will. New war table operations will appear, and a Dalish agent will be added for Josephine.

Sera and Solas Greatly Disapprove; Varric and Cassandra Disapprove; Cole Slightly Disapproves/Approves (depending on dialogue choices made); Vivienne Approves

Option 2: The Inquisitor insists Phaedre stay with the Inquisition, saying that Phaedre has been an invaluable asset. The Keeper will get angry and says that Phaedre is still too young and too inexperienced to make it on her own. The Inquisitor can either encourage Phaedre to talk the Keeper down or further the break by egging her on; either way, there is no alliance, and any unfinished War Table operations involving securing Dalish clan alliances will disappear.

Phaedre Approves, Sera Greatly Approves, Varric Approves, Cole Approves

Option 3: The Inquisitor insists that it’s Phaedre’s choice to make, not theirs. Phaedre tells the Keeper that while she loves them all and understands they are trying to protect her, she needs to make her own path now, and her past has begun to choke her. She respectfully asks to leave the clan to join the Inquisition permanently. With great reluctance, the Keeper will agree after seeing how Phaedre has grown, but will refuse to cut Phaedre off from the clan, telling her she is always able to return home if she needs to. New war table missions specifically concerning Clan Athevera appear, and Phaedre remains a companion.

Phaedre Greatly Approves, Sera Greatly Approves, Solas Approves, Varric Approves, Cole Approves

If the Inquisitor picks Options 2 or 3, a following scene back at Skyhold will ensue. Dialogue will slightly vary depending on if the Inquisitor defended Phaedre themselves or if they let Phaedre choose, but the main portion is the same. Phaedre defends the Keeper’s actions, saying that the clan is just looking out for what’s best for her. She tells the Inquisitor about the death of the clan’s old First—her best friend and future Bonded—and how his death essentially destroyed her for a long time, making her unable to really care for herself or make decisions. She states that joining the Inquisition was the first time in years she truly made a decision for herself, and it’s one that made her remember why she needs to stand up for what’s important. She decides it’s time for her to put aside her past and remember what’s truly vital about living. If the Inquisitor has flirted with Phaedre in the past and picks the romance option here (and approval is high enough), Phaedre will say that staying with the Inquisition was the best choice to make because it meant meeting them. A kiss scene will occur and the Inquisitor will be hard-locked into a relationship. Romance dialogue options will now be available.

Romance-specific quest:

After a romance is initiated, the Inquisitor can ask more about the clan’s old First, Ghandriel. They will learn the circumstances surrounding his death—he died protecting Phaedre from rogue mages escaping the Circle—and Phaedre will lament that because of the clan’s need to flee, she never retrieved the body or laid it to rest. This will unlock a war table operation to scout the area where Ghandriel died to find his remains—the mission is unsuccessful, but they do find the place where Ghandriel likely died. The Inquisitor can then take Phaedre to the clearing, where she will confirm it is where she watched Ghandriel fall. The Inquisitor will tell her that she can finally put Ghandriel’s soul to rest here, and they will help her create a small pyre to burn. A cutscene will occur where the Inquisitor witnesses Phaedre sing In Uthenerato small shrine that she built before lighting it on fire. Back at Skyhold, Phaedre will express a wish to have properly burned the remains, but feels that Ghandriel’s spirit may finally be at rest now—at least, she now feels more at peace with it.

Tarot card change

Option 1: (If Phaedre returns to her clan) Phaedre’s tarot card changes to a darkened Reverse Tower.

Option 2: (Friendship card) Changes to the upright Star

Option 3 (Romance): Changes to upright Sun or upright World

ROMANCE

Romanceable?:

Yes, by any gender and any race. However, she will be easier to romance as an elf, a female, and/or a mage, as flirt options will gain more approval if you are a certain gender/race and there are extra dialogue options that will gain approval for certain races/classes.

Sexual/Racial Preference:

Phaedre is bisexual, with a stronger preference for women. She is highly wary of humans and prefers to date within her own species, but is amenable to advances from any race.

Nickname for PC:

“Arla,” meaning home.When asked what that means (or why ‘home’, if Dalish), she will respond that home is wherever her heart is.

Dialogue:

Being asked for a kiss:

“Really? Well, I was just in the middle of this book…I’m just kidding, come here.”

Halamshiral Dialogue:

“Wow, there are so many people! Look at all these masks—have you talked to anyone yet? I’ve been talking to the elves, but they don’t like talking to me for some reason.”

Being asked to dance during the mission:

“Oh, dancing! I don’t actually know how to dance. You might get your toes stepped on, is that all right? Oh, but maybe later, too. There’s another elf over there and he’s giving me a look, I think he wants to talk to me.”

Asking to dance post-mission:“-giggles- Well, remember to watch out for your toes.”

Party Reactions:

Who is concerned about their relationship?

Vivienne expresses disapproval at starting up with a Dalish apostate, even if the Inquisitor is Dalish.

Varric will worry about Phaedre’s feelings, and tells the Inquisitor not to hurt her.

Sera threatens the Inquisitor to keep Phaedre happy or else.

Who supports the relationship?

Solas will offer congratulations to Phaedre about the relationship regardless of the gender/race of the Inquisitor, saying that a strong partnership will only help her, and that he’s noticed she’s been happier.

Blackwall will offer congratulations as well, but depending on whether or not his personal quest is completed, Phaedre will either respond positively or negatively.

Cassandra will make a comment on it, saying she’s happy to see Phaedre happy. Cassandra will allude to the fact that she knew about Phaedre’s infatuation, and is glad to see her with someone who can return her affections.

Sera will be sour about Phaedre not telling her immediately, but will later be enthusiastic, talking to Phaedre about possible pranks to pull on the Inquisitor.

Who had a bet running on it?

Sera and Dorian will have been trying to find out who Phaedre’s “crush” is, and will have willingly or unwillingly dragged various people and companions into the speculation. Regardless of who Phaedre actually holds affection for, Dorian will always choose wrong and Sera will always choose right.

Breaking Up:

If PC Breaks it off:

If NPC breaks it off (and why):

Love Confession:

End game dialogue:

BANTER

Cole’s reflection on their thoughts:

“She waits for the sunlight, strength to stand on her own, a solitary sapling with hearts carved in the bark, still bleeding, still sore.”

“Sick of trying for her, sick of dying for her, she walks away instead of wagering lives.”

(After personal quest is completed) “Home stays in her heart, roots no longer planted in the ground but in the soul. The bark still bleeds, but the pain has faded.”

(If in Romance): “She tires of trembling, but standing beside you gives her the strength protect herself.”

(After romance quest) “The breaks in the bark fade, not gone, but no longer bleeding. The hearts smooth out into scars.”

Comment(s) on Mages:

“Oh…well…yes, I think that mages deserve to be free. It just…it’s right, you know? It’s the right thing.”

“I’ve seen what happens when you trap and keep a wild animal still for too long—they try to hurt themselves, trying to get out. People are no different, and mages have been struggling for centuries to leave their cages.”

“Why is everyone so angry that mages just want to be treated like people and not weapons?”

“All power is dangerous, and all power corrupts. But you don’t see anyone locking away the swordsman because of how well he swings, or the ruler because she bends a country to her will. Teach a mage how to control themselves, not how to be controlled.”

“Stop speaking that Chantry nonsense. Magic is a force of nature like anything else, not something to be put in a box. Does the Chantry also claim that the monsoon rains are meant to serve man? What about thunderstorms, or the snow, or the sun?”

Comment(s) on Templars:

“I mean…I’m sure there are nice ones. There are nice everythings. But…well, I was taught to hide whenever I saw the flaming sword insignia. That’s all.”

“It’s amazing how people will deride mages for being so easily corrupted when the people we expect to protect them from us are already rotten to the core.”

(If CotJ is completed) “Mages are dangerous because they can be taken over by demons—but who was being led by a demon this entire time?”

“’It’s not that simple?’ No, I suppose the consistent brutalization of the fellow being isn’t that simple.”

“It’s funny, but somehow the Dalish managed to deal with magic without Templars for centuries now.”

“Don’t tell me the system is needed. Don’t tell me it’s good. For every good Templar, there’s a bad Templar giving bad orders. The entire Order is designed to terrorize mages.”

When looking for something:

“I’m feeling a thing. Maybe we should look a little closer?”

When finding a campsite:

“Oh good, my feet were just getting tired.”

When the Inquisitor Falls:

(If romanced) “Arla! Stay with me, I’m coming!”

“No, not again—I won’t let it happen this time!”

“Inquisitor!”

When they are low on Health:

“Where are the healing potions again?”

“This is harder than I thought!”

When they see a Dragon:

“Oh, look at that majestic beast—no, no, looking at it this far away is good enough, thank you though.”

When doing their small side quest:

“This is close to where Solas and I think a tome is!”

Default saying: (when you want to talk to them in Skyhold, how do they respond?)

Default: “Hello again.”

Low approval: “Oh…it’s you. Um. Did you need something?”

High approval:“Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Here for another story again, huh?”

Romance:“Arla.”

“Oh, there you are. I was just wondering if I would have to go searching.”

Travel Banter with Canon Companions of your choice:

Varric

Vivienne

Solas

P: “Solas…”S: “Again? Here?”P: “This is really boring. Please?”S: -sighs- “What would you like to hear?”P: “Tell another story about that one faith spirit. The one that was always near those temple-things?”

Cassandra

Sera

Blackwall

Iron Bull

Dorian

Cole

Location Banter:

The Hinterlands:

The Fallow Mire:

The Storm Coast:

Exalted Plains:

Emerald Graves:

Crestwood:

Emprise du Lion:

Fade:

Forbidden Oasis:

Hissing Wastes:

The Western Approach:

Leaving the Inquisition: (what do they say or do if the approval is low enough for them to leave?)

OPINIONS

The Fade

How they react: They’re pretty excited. Actually walking in the Fade can lead to new and interesting information about magic.

Their Tombstone: Abandonment

What the Fears look like: They all tend to look like Ghandriel’s corpse, following her and whispering about protecting her.

What the Nightmare says:

Their reflection about the Fade:

Hawke or Warden: Phaedre is upset that anyone is left behind, but will Disapprove if Hawke is left—she got to know Hawke while they stayed at Skyhold and apparently looks up to them. Beyond that, she likes Hawke because Hawke is Varric’s friend.

As for a Warden, she will show varying levels of distress at their sacrifice; for Alistair, she will be very distraught, especially if Alistair is in a relationship with the Warden (she’s a romantic at heart—even more so if the warden is Mahariel). She will be sympathetic to Stroud, but she won’t show that much distress over Loghain’s departure, as she never really trusts him.

The Wardens

Their feelings: Her clan fought with the Dalish forces against the Blight, and while Phaedre herself was too young to fight she personally knew people who had to go up against Darkspawn (one of whom is revealed to be Ghandriel). As such, she has a healthy fear of Blights and believes Wardens to be necessary; it is one of her points of argument against Solas. The idea that Wardens can’t actually stop Blights once Archdemons are dead makes her very, very scared.

Exile or Allies?: Allies, though she expresses fear about the chance of the Wardens being corrupted again. She will not disapprove heavily if they are exiled, though she will express fear of the organization disappearing.

The Ball

How they feel: Excited!!! There’s so much food!! So many pretty sights!!! A secret library!!! People always like talking to her, though the elves don’t seem very happy here, and that makes a her a bit upset—she will tell the Inquisitor afterwards that she helped them deliver certain messages while hanging about.

Where they linger: Near Cullen in the main ballroom. When asked, she says that she thinks it’s funny that Cullen is so uncomfortable, but ambient dialogue will show her intervening when Cullen gets too overwhelmed with people.

Are they good at the Game?: To the surprise of literally everyone in existence, Phaedre more or less accidentally masters the game. Her nature is so guileless it comes off as dissembling, and everyone more or less takes her polite, passive remarks as hints that she knows what they’re thinking. There is a chance to gain Court Approval during the mission by talking to Phaedre while she’s conversing with a noble—the noble will then make a comment about the Inquisition not being made up “completely of rustics” after all. (+5 Approval. It will only occur after returning to the ballroom after meeting Morrigan. It cannot be accessed after you leave the ballroom.)

What people say about them:

“The elf, the little one. What is that knife-ear playing at? I don’t even know what she’s thinking.”

“Oh she’s so very polite, for a knife-ear. She’s even nice to her own kind—how quaint.”

“I spoke to her for ten minutes and know nothing about her! She never seemed to say anything true—what is her game?”

Gaspard, Briala, or Celene?: For obvious reasons, Phaedre supports Briala and will Greatly Approve if you put her in charge. However, she will show a romantic streak and Approve if you reconcile Celene and Briala. She will Disapprove if Celene or Gaspard rule alone, believing them to be a threat to elves and the country at large. She will have no opinion of them working together, except that she doubts it will last too long.

Temple of Mythal

Rituals or Hole?: RITUALS. She will Greatly Disapprove if you bypass them.

Agree with the Elves’ bargain?: Agree. She will also have extra dialogue about learning Dalish history and culture if she’s brought to meet Abelas. She’s hurt by his dismissal, but will continually insist on helping the Temple elves as they go through.

Morrigan or Inquisitor for the Well?: As she’s a mage, she can be asked to drink from the Well herself. She’ll say she can’t say she’s not tempted, being an elf and all, but says that she isn’t really equipped to handle that kind of power, and will decline.

As she seems to heavily dislike Morrigan and her remarks about elven culture, Phaedre will Greatly Disapprove if she drinks from the well. She will Approve if you drink, though she will warn you that the effects of such knowledge may be detrimental.

Comments on Canon Romance (little remarks on the inquisitor getting lucky)

Cassandra:

Dorian: “Dorian seems much happier now. I wonder why? I’m joking, I know why.”

Sera: -pleasant voice- “Hurt her at all, and after she’s done with you you’ll have to deal with me.”

Iron Bull:“I didn’t realize you were into that. If you need some extra…um, rope or anything, I can find you some that doesn’t chafe.”

Josephine: “I see her smile all the time now—you two are so cute together.”

Cullen: “The Templar? Well, he’s a good one, at least. Or better than most. Stay safe though, okay?”

Blackwall:“Uh. Okay. Well, as long as you’re happy!”

After Rainier:“If you can trust him after…well, it’s not any of my business.”

Solas: “But…isn’t he old? I mean, okay, but I’m just saying. He’s a little old.”

#reply #i don't remember how i tag asks anymore lol #dragon age #companion meme #i have ocs too #(since the example one is phaedre as a companion #hope this helps!

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advrik · 5 years

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BluReview | Shadows of Adam [Nintendo Switch, 2019]

I want to preface this review with I LOVE THIS GAME.

Shadows of Adam is a 16-bit turn-based RPG inspired by those of days long passed. When RPGs were simpler and told their stories through expressive little sprites and window boxes full of text. When even the most devastatingly powerful spell animations lasted but a few seconds.

Something Classics ‘Shadows of Adam’ hit Steam 2017, and as of May 3rd 2019, has made its way to the Nintendo Switch. My now all-time favorite console and only current generation machine, which for various reasons, I’ll delve into in a future blog entry.

Story

Looking at the title, you’d think that Adam was some person within the game; Perhaps the main character or a very important NPC or even the main villain! But no, it’s actually the village the hero and heroine live in.

The story follows Kellan and Asrael as they travel the world searching for Kellans father. Things get pretty crazy and a whole bunch of revelations start pouring out as the more party members you recruit.

Story beats come at you fast and there’s not a whole lot of fluff in between, so the game moves at a brisk pace, which can either be a good or bad thing depending on the type of gamer you are.

The story has, at least in my opinion, a satisfying finish that made the slog through that overly long final dungeon worth it. The credit roll was great as well and really captured what I loved about video game endings during the 90s.

Gameplay

I’m always weary when a developer, indie or otherwise, states that their game is a throwback to the 16-bit era of Japanese RPGs. The statement rarely ever holds any weight I have found in all my experiences. Not that I am dissing other devs that make this claim as those that do always end up putting out a great game in the end, but what Something Classic has done has produced something that legitimately plays and feels like a game that could have released on the the Super Nintendo.

Like the many games that SoD calls inspiration from, it’s a top down tile-based turn-based RPG. Your movement is limited to the four cardinal directions. The controls are tight and responsive and the movement feels weighty, i.e: Not something that feels as if it was developed in flash. It’s really hard for me to explain since I am terrible at explaining things in general, but there’s a certain... “heaviness” that games had that some developers can’t seem to get right when trying to imitate those games. Take any of the Kemco RPGs for example.

The tile-based movement has allowed the team to deliver some Lufia styled puzzles, particularity in the block moving genre of RPG puzzles. It took me a good long while to figure out some of the puzzles in the Water Garden dungeon.

...but it’s here with the puzzles that I find my biggest gripe: They’re almost all sliding block puzzles. Shadows of Adam hits the same problem that Blossom Tales (A really great Zelda-like. Also on Switch. Go play it) hit and that is there is very little variety in puzzles. They definitely do get tiring after a while.

I bet you’re probably wondering about how encounters work, eh? Well if you’re one of THOSE people, then you’ll be happy to hear that there are no random battles. Enemies appear on screen and are stationary, so you have to walk up to them to initiate combat. Some can be avoided(but only if you want to miss out on valuable EXP/Gold and treasure), but a lot of the time the enemies are placed to block your progress so initiating combat is a must if you want to move forward.

The real meat of the game is with the battle system. Battles take place on a separate screen and are viewed from behind your party, ala Tecmos Secret of the Stars... Okay, Phantasy Star for those of you of lesser tastes(I’m kidding, but I’ll be mentioning Secret of the Stars again later!)

You have your standard attack, skill, item and run menu options. No ability to defend oddly enough. Characters perform their actions based on their speed stat, so you can imagine who will likely act first just based on the looks of each character as they all, at least stat-wise, fall under a certain RPG archetype.

Kellan is your well-rounded “main hero”. Good stats all around He even has a healing spell. I’m allowing him to develop naturally.

Asrael, or “Azzy” as she’s called, is your white/black mage. Low defense and medium speed. I try buffing her speed as much as possibly personally as the enemies begin hitting pretty hard, sometimes multiple times, and thus needed her on constant healing duties when possible, AP% willing.

Curtis is your tank. High attack and HP, but the slowest of the four. I’ve been dumping all of my attack-boosting juices into him.

Talon is your thief-type. Highest base speed stat among the four. You’ll be using him to inflict poison on enemies more than anything, and in conjunction with Azzy to heal allies as he’ll typically act first before any buffs are made.

Each of the four party members all have a widely different set of skills that take up varying percentages of AP. AP refills naturally in combat after every round of battle, but can also be restored by using the characters signature skill, which takes 0% but restores a certain amount of your AP and gives you a stat boost for the following round.

As mentioned, each character has a set of skills that are unique to them and are all quite useful. Kellan can use Rally on himself or an ally, which boosts attack and magic for three rounds. He also possesses a taunt skill that eliminates the Blur status on enemies, which I guarantee you will be using a ton.

Look and Sound

The game sounds fine. Sound effects have a nice, clean and crisp sound to them with no familiar stock or public use effects from what I heard.

But the music. Huh boy, the music! After hearing the boss battle theme, I immediately went and bought the soundtrack [https://shadowsofadam.bandcamp.com/releases] and let me tell you, I don’t regret it one bit. There are some truly amazing pieces within the game, but the one that sticks out to me the most was the Water Garden theme. Soooo good.

Closing

This ended up being a tad bit longer and detailed than I intended, so if I rambled at any point, just note that it isn’t typically how I do my reviews. I try to keep them short and to the point, but I was just so darn happy with this game that I couldn’t help it.

I definitely recommend giving Shadows of Adam a try if you like well built turn-based RPGs. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

#Shadows of Adam #Nintendo Switch #Blog #BluReview

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cometladyicarus-blog · 7 years

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Swords and Children - Part Three

Takes place after Dragon Age Origins, and during the events of DA2.

This also has my wardens, mostly my Elissa Cousland, and mentions of my other wardens (mostly in passing).

Part One

Part Two

Part Three - Here!

The baby boy in his wife's arm was his. His uncle – sort of – was busy trying to convince him to let him in, but he was enjoying this moment to set aside being a King and just admire the sight of his wife. His exhausted, sweaty, delighted wife smiling and counting the fingers and toes on the hands and feet of the heir.

His son. He never thought he’d actually have someone to put those words to. His son, the son of Alistair. The son of Elissa Cousland. His son with Elissa Theirin, formerly Cousland.

He just leaned against the door hinge, effectively blocking out the Bann, and any other members of the court, from entering the room. Elissa looked up at him after bringing their son to her face and blushed as he grinned.

"So, I finally get to see you with your hair down."

If he had said that at any other time, he'd have gotten a gauntlet thrown at him. And he'd be throwing it at Teagan just because it was the Bann's fault she started that habit. But the midwife and her assistant were cunning enough to hide away the Queen's armor and weapons from the room, and El was certainly not going to throw their son at him just yet. Not until he was closer and it wouldn't count as throwing.

Her glare softened enough to a smile. "Not quite." She turned her head to show that half of her snow-white hair had been pulled and clipped back to be out of her face.

"Blast, but y'know, Elissa, one of these days – or nights – I'm going to see you with your hair down."

She shook her head again, some of the locks falling over her shoulder like a frozen waterfall, but her smile dissolved as she looked at the door he was keeping shut. "I will not be responsible for a curse on you, not anymore than people think I have done."

"Whichever member of the court who says that about their Queen should be a bit more concerned that their Queen killed the Archdemon who had angered her a year ago."

Her melancholy expression was wiped away as she smiled and beckoned him over with one occupied hand. "Now get over here and look at our son."

"'Our son', I can't say I ever thought I'd hear those words and be part of that 'our.'" He walked over, finally releasing the weight from the door and looked down at the dozing tiny human. Turning to kiss her forehead, he muttered into her damp bangs. "I just realized we haven't decided on names."

She almost headbutted his chin as she laughed. "Not Maric, not Cailan, not Oren, and for the mercy of the Maker, certainly not Bryce."

"Teagan will be so disappointed to hear you reject all of the names he and the rest of the court have been trying to force me to decide on. Not sure if he’s grumpy enough to name after any grumpy mages we know."

The dozing newborn opened his eyes, his bright golden eyes, identical to the ones Alistair saw on himself in every reflected surface and that Maker's-help-the-artist awful portrait of the coronation. The eyes he saw as King Cailan delighted in announcing the battle plans and made his speeches, or the eyes he saw once before when he was very young and Cailan took the few minutes to correct his stance with a sword. The eyes the portraits claimed were the ones of the King who took back Ferelden from Orlais who fathered him and was therefore the grandfather of the bundle in the King's arms.

"If we must name our son after a man who has passed to the Maker's side, I can think of only one name for him." She turned her face to him and smiled.

"Duncan? If anyone complains, he was a very dear friend of Maric's."

"And my father's."

"And because of Duncan, the kingdom of Ferelden is not covered in darkspawn because we were recruited to the Order."

"Welcome to the world, Prince Duncan Theirin. You were named for a man who rose from the most common to the greatest of people."

"Duncan!" He shouted from the stables and waved his arms to get the attention of the ten-year old boy riding in the field.

"Yeah, Pop?" The golden haired prince grinned the Theirin grin at his father as he brought the gelding over. Looking over Alistair's appearance, his smile widened. "Wait – Ma's here?"

"She won't be if you don't take care of your horse right now and before you come back in."

"What?! Why not? I haven't seen her in months – she can't just leave already!"

Alistair laughed at the outrage on his son's face, one of the times the heir to the throne looked like the now often absent Warden-Commander of the Grey and Queen of Ferelden. "Well, she's been arguing with the Orlesian Wardens about things for a while, apparently, so I have to try and keep her from starting a war already."

"Right,” Duncan’s outrage shifted with a roll of his eyes, “and Aunt Anora would just love to rub your face in how Mother started the war you guys were worried Loghain would start."

"Yeah, killing her father and letting her live may not have been the wisest of choices on my part, but she has a point." Alistair held a hand out to help young Duncan down and the two started to care for the horse, storing the saddle away.

"Hey, Father, is it true you were raised by giant Andrastian dogs from the Anderfels who loved cheese?"

He laughed. "Now, who told you that line?"

"Aunt Solona."

"Well, the cheese was horrible for their breath."

"But Uncle Teagan got mad at her for the story and said you were raised in Redcliffe castle."

He slowed his brushing and ran his hand over the hair of the horse before smiling. "Well, the dogs were at Redcliffe Castle. Joking aside, no, I was not raised by dogs despite some of my manners according to our Orlesian neighbors. I was raised in Redcliffe Castle until I was a little older than you, when I went to the Chantry to be trained as a Templar before I Joined the Grey Wardens nine years later."

"Huh. I like the dog story more."

"They were flying dogs. Giant dogs. Strictly Andrastian."

The prince snorted. "Bigger than Mabar?"

He smiled and looked up to the door from the castle to the stable where silver and blue armor was topped by a smiling woman with her white hair braided up, and all of her was leaning against the doorway watching them. At her side was a massive Mabari hound who was more grey than brown.

"A little bigger than Mabar."

Duncan had finished brushing his side of the horse, so Alistair nodded his head towards the door with a smile.

He was going to have a few words with his fellow Heroes of Ferelden about stories of the Blight they were telling his son, and a few more words with Teagan and Eamon about stories of his own childhood. Not keep the tales secret, just keep in mind that the court still muttered about their young Prince being a bastard's son as well as the stories they spread about Elissa not being his mother despite the midwife and her assistants being questioned so many times.

For the love of the Maker, he really didn't want to deal with more questions about why he and Elissa hadn't had anymore children after Duncan was born. He would rather only having one child than have a second child deal with the pressures of being The Spare like their mother had grown up under. Like he had grown up under, though in a very different kind of environment.

Duncan ran and had his arms around Elissa's, telling the Warden-Queen all about the latest lessons he had taken since she started her quest for 'The Solution'. He finished caring for the horse and meandered over to his wife and son, for a moment imagining to himself what this very kind of scene would have been like if she were just Guard Captain of Highever returning home from a long patrol while he stayed home and was charged with being the Chantry's sword and in caring for his Templars in Highever.

It was a pleasant imagining, but it wasn't reality. Nah, reality may not be as kind, but it was better considering he didn't really want to be a Templar, though being a Knight instead of a King would have been nice.

"Come on, Pop! Ma said she won't be here too much longer if you keep standing in the stables like a Paragon statue."

He laughed and walked the rest of the way, pulling his small family into a hug.

Prince Duncan was thirteen when King Alistair got the report from Nathaniel Howe about the problem with Warden-Commander Clarel, and when in that same report he was informed of the Ferelden Order of the Grey had essentially dissolved to keep themselves alive. A report from Elissa arrived the next day, with a letter to himself and another for Duncan.

"Alistair,

“I'm still alive, don't worry. The Wardens have not left Ferelden, I have only issued the order to not congregate in Vigil's Keep. I had also called to cease recruiting in Ferelden. Clarel needs to believe we've left the Order and abandoned our posts if Ferelden is to stay safe.

“If I must, I will rebuild our Order from scratch again, and I will declare a new Order of the Grey, free of Weisshaupt's nonsense.

“I can't let our home go to war, we're still suffering from the Blight and the end of the Circles has caused too much pain and chaos. I do not want Duncan to become an adult in a world where he grows up hearing about The War Against Orlesians. Well, The Second War Against Orlesians, I suppose.

“Tell Anora she can stuff her snide comments about how Loghain Mac Tir would have done anything else than what I or you have done. I worry war is coming anyway.

“I worry about why the Seekers have been seeking 'Us' out. But the song is getting stronger. And it sounds wrong. Other Wardens, new Wardens, they hear it already. Not just the ones who get Blighted like Maharial and I were, but the ones who were too young to hold a sword in the Blight.

“Al, my love, my King, my heart, the protector of the Rose, I am terrified that I will find myself in the Deep Roads, and not know if Duncan's ever fallen in love. I want to see our son become a man, and I've already missed the last few years.

“Keep safe, please,

“Love,

“Elissa, Ferelden Commander of the Grey"

He wasn't certain what terrified him more, hearing the Calling so loud in his bones that he worried he was going to kill someone and run through Denerim stark naked, how his wife was alone in the wilderness seeking the cure and the end of the Calling, how Duncan had stopped asking when his mother was coming home, the eyes of some of the noble women had started looking to Elissa's empty throne, or the fact his days were not as bright and colorful without seeing her white hair loose across their sheets and her smile before kissing him in the mornings when they weren't the Warden-Queen and King – just Elissa and Alistair.

But his wife was alone out there, away from him, facing who knows what. Listening to the song she's heard since her home was invaded by darkspawn, and if she goes into the Deep Roads...

Duncan shoved the door open.

"Mother wrote a letter?"

He held out the other letter and smiled at his son.

Duncan grinned, took the letter and stuck it between his teeth as he tied back his blonde hair into a low ponytail. His hands free, he opened the letter still standing next to Alistair. Shaking his head with a smile, the King left the aviary wondering how in the world the Theirin line managed to keep the male members looking so similar to each other.

Then he wondered how in the world Duncan managed to get a flock of young noblewomen already following him around when the kid seemed to have inherited his father's ability to shove his own foot in his mouth while trying to flirt. It was almost painful hearing Teagan's reports on his pickup lines, not that Alistair was any better when trying to woo Elissa.

Not when her last letter asked him if he'd been licking any lampposts in the winters since she'd been gone.

The answer was no. In all caps.

As was hers when he asked her.

And then she asked if she should swoop over.

"Swooping would be bad."

He looked to the peaks of the Frostback mountains to about where that blasted cult once lived, and now the Divine was calling for a meeting between Templars and Mages.

“You said something, Pop?”

He shook his head with a smile. “An old joke.”

“Like the hair obsession?”

“And the cheese.”

#Dragon Age #alistair theirin #elissa cousland #Babies ever after

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