Dragon Age Meta Nexus

Nevarra's history with the interwined forces of magic and death is a long one, so much so that it is impossible to speak of one without also discussing the other. Since the earliest days, magical advisors have sat at the right hands of the Nevarran Kings, a role which remains prominent into the modern age. Indeed, Nevarra's history of magic remains incredibly rich, diverse, and significant, from the controversial Nevarran Accords, to the gilded dome of the Circle of Magi's leading body, the College of Enchanters, and the massive gardens and bathhouses of the Grand Necropolis populated only by the Mortalitasi mages and the dead. Much is shaped by these arcane forces, originally born of the cultural clash between Tevinter's Magocracy and the Chantry of Kordillus Drakon, culminating in a rich belief system with regards to magic, death, spirits, power, and politics that is uniquely Nevarran.

In 2:46 Glory, the Nevarran court is a viper's nest of infighting. Its sitting ruler, Ionas, is weak and frail after several decades on the throne, and many whisper that the power behind his throne lies with his friends and advisors, who seek to use him for their own political advantage. At the town of Hunter Fell, a small distance westward along the Minanter, a plot to depose Ionas and stabilize the Nevarran throne is underway, spearheaded by the sixty year old Caspar Pentaghast. Before the year is out, Ionas will have been overthrown, and Caspar Pentaghast will have been crowned the first of the Pentaghast Kings (WOT 1, pg. 52).

"World of Thedas II talks about the origin of the chant, which is huge. That the chant we have in our hands is translated from the Ciriane (ancient orlesian) that it was written in by Justinia I Furthermore though she is credited with writing it modern study revels the chant has a variety of inconstant styles and repetitions as well as contractions. indicating multiple different authors It is now believed that Justinia was actually describing a much older oral tradition. What I find most interesting of all is that there are Tevinter legal documents from as far back as -182 that make reference to "The Slave Dirge" which was apparently sung during uprisings"

So my post on non-magic medicine in Thedas has gotten popular. And I've been seeing some posts wondering about magical healing lately. So I decided to make a post about magical healing. Then decided I should make a series and later adress blood magic and necromancy because apparently I can't do anything small.

All folk belong to a social class, and each class has its own rights and responsibilities. However, in Ferelden, unlike nearly all other countries in Thedas, members of the nobility are not considered to be intrinsically better or afforded more rights than any other class; they just have different ones.

The year is minus one hundred eighty five (-185) Ancient. The once great Tevinter Imperium is in retreat, decimated by the Darkspawn hordes that shattered the empire in the First Blight. (WOT1 pg 37). In its wake, Thedas lies fractured, and a new world order is emerging. Chasind barbarians lay claim to the fortress of Ostagar deep in the Korcari Wilds. (WOT1 pg 37). Under Maferath, the Alamarri tribes are stirring, and a marriage alliance to Andraste, only living daughter of the great Chieftain Elderath, has united the Planasene, the Ciriane, and the Alamarri into a massive military power following the song of a new god sung by their Prophet Queen (WOT2 pg 12). In the City-States of the Free Marches, Tevinter power beguns to crumble, and as Andraste and her followers grow in strength, slave revolts strike towards the very heart of the Imperium itself. Within fifteen years, all of it will have fallen forever. (WOT1 pg 44). For now, the empire clings to the last vestiges of power, and the edges of its one massive territory are left to run wild.

So, here's a screenshot of @higheverrains's Deep Roads map overlaid on the SVG Map of Thedas. I'm gonna open with the general assumption this is more or less correct, but it only covers the parts of the deep roads from Origins. There's three more points in Ferelden that I'm … relatively sure of, and I offer the maps from Inquisition and Awakening to back that up.

So, what do we know, then? Dwarves have been using lyrium to store 'Memories' since long before the First Blight - since before the founding of the 'first thaig', since that's how long Orzammar's go back, and they have no mention of the titans, though there are ancient Memories inside the titan under Heidrun Thaig. The Shapers are able to record 'living memory' - the actual thoughts of the Shaper - into special runes. Although Arberg describes the Memories as symbols that 'glow as if alive and capable of speech', we see the Tevinter use of red lyrium capable of reproducing both speech and images - and this doesn't surprise Dagna. Indeed, when you find the first piece of the crystal on Vicinius's corpse, it speaks, so it's not just Dagna's doing that makes the lyrium actually reproduce sound.

So, you know how I was talking about titans and vines and flowers and glowing spheres, the other day? Yeah, about that. I give you a dwarven chair back. Zoom in on that. (Also some relevant codices, a mural, and an elven tombstone.)

It's a freaking travesty. If you look at the fact that it's a Tevinter mine, originally, and connect the dots about the shit going on near Kirkwall at the time, most of it makes sense. Except the spiders. But fuck the spiders. Who needs an excuse for spiders, really?

So I have a lot of headcanons about magic in Thedas and the ways in which it can be used to make everyday life a little bit easier, at least in theory: I love the idea of boring, mundane, unprepossessing or just downright silly spells that aren't flashy and don't do anything spectacular (or have any sort of combat application). Because I'm waiting for the tumble dryer to finish, here is a list of some of my favourites.

Yo what kind of booze do you think the Dalish drink? I can't see them setting up stills-they're nomadic. Are there nomadic cultures that traditionally consume spirits? And presumably they don't do much with grains, so probably not beer. Still leaves meads, various berry and fruit wines, maybe fermentations of starchy root crops-but I am currently most amused by imagining them drinking halla-milk kumis.

Yes, yes, guess which asshole just got through the Dead Hand. Things that strike me? - That's probably Andruil. There's little reason to imagine the archer is anyone else. - There are wolves ALL OVER THE GODDAMN PLACE, notably on the four blocking pillars and two more in the first unlocked tomb chamber. - There's one owl, with the switch on it. The owl is symbolic of either Andruil or Falon'Din - more correctly, it's the messenger of Andruil and the sacred animal of Falon'Din. Contextually, it's probably Andruil-related because the switch turns the archer in the puzzle. But…

Dirthamen-Dumat, the "Tevinter" Bas Relief Mosaics, and the Limitations of Dwarven Perspective - posted in Lore Discussion: Warning: this interpretation depends heavily on triple threat theory and the implication that there are seven members of the elvish Panthon, not nine. If thats a no-go for you, feel free to skip!

Q:Do you think the demon from asunder was anything special? For the record, I mean the Pride (?) Demon from the quest asunder, and not the Cole from the book asunder. :p

So, Thedas has (and has had) a variety of religions throughout its history, and some of them share some freaky traits. Here's the ones I can think of that aren't like… sects/cults of one of the others, and what I notice they have in common.

Other shit along the northern coast includes Soldier's Peak, which by 9:30 Dragon is inhabited by demons, an undead Grey Warden, and a nearly-immortal Grey Warden blood mage; Blackmarsh, where an entire village got dragged into the Fade by a lunatic maleficar dragonslayer; and Aeonar, which is said to be at the northernmost point of the Imperial Highway in Ferelden. Interestingly, that would put it almost dead north of Kinloch Hold, and near where Lake Calenhad drains into the sea. Also interestingly, that puts Aeonar almost on top of a fairly important trade crossroads, and spitting distance from Crestwood. So, uh… o_O;

Ok, so, there's a quest in Origins, during Broken Circle, called 'Watchguard of the Reaching'. The 'reaching', apparently, judging from the codex entries for this quest, is some sort of journey into the Fade, like a Harrowing, but by more advanced mages.