You know… I'm not actually convinced that the Templars would always notice if you got possessed during your Harrowing?
Like they don't have the best track record for noticing that people are possessed? Sure if you're glowing, speaking in double voice or visibly mutated they notice. But if you look normal and act normal, they don't.
To all appearances Templars don't have have any special ability to detect possession. Special ability to provoke spirit/demon flare up possibly yes, but that is by being a traumatizing, violent, threatening, abusive and all round a terrible person that their victim knows can and will murder them.
'Abominations' (for lack of a better word) seem to have some degree of adjustment period, but it isn't always extreme and seems to act up mostly in response to strong negative surprises.
A patient, calm level headed spirit/mage pair who entered into the possession willing and in full anticipation of how they would need to Not React to the Templars. Or a very skillful demon who managed to take possession of a mage very smoothly in full knowledge of the situation they would be getting into. These seem like instance were a Mage could walk away from their Harrowing possessed without the Templars having a clue.
Look Caitie, if you didn't pick up that it's gross as fuck how BioWare spent over a decade coding the elves as Indigenous, only to double down in Veilguard what began in Trespasser, saying the ancient elves are the evil behind all evil in Thedas but the colonizers of Tevinter are actually a haven for queer people under attack by a single cult or whatever, that's between you and your lack of media literacy.
there's a lot of dragon age media out there other than the main games. novels & other official books, visual novels, movies & shows... please raise awareness to not spread literally ALL the pdfs and videos around. please be responsible here.
also includes the flash games, ttrpg, and some official dao toolset resources, as well as a timeline with both in-universe dates and release dates (timeline's not currently up to date, it's not a priority, but it's decent)
update (novemeber 2024):
added the official screenplay for dragon age redemption
still looking for:
a scan of the art section from the collector's edition of the da2 guide
special features from the redemption dvd
anything released since mid-2024 (i think that's just the veilguard art book. also the podcast, but it's freely available online so i'll only do it when i can be bothered sorryyy)
that’s literally it. everything else is there, other than the main games and things you can read on the wiki
a very self-indulgent sketch of marian and fenris in traditional clothing from my city (KRAKÓW !!!!!! polska gurom!!! ) fen came out so cute in this i'd thought i'd share though i doubt there's much of an audience for this nonetheless i hope you guys enjoy !!!!!
Bioware missed an opportunity by not having the inquisitor's family/clan/mercenary group make an appearance in Skyhold. It would have given a nice lull in world saving and expand on your Inquisitor's past a bit more.
Like can you imagine your Inquisitor being woken up in the morning by Josephine rushing into your chambers to tell you your family/clan/mercenary group has basically invaded Skyhold within the small hours of the morning and are demanding/asking to see you?
What would your inquisitor's reaction be?
I've been thinking about the templars lately. they were promised honor, virtue, told that they would be charged with protection of the innocent... And then those same people are systemically exploited and abused, abuse others because they're taught to regard everyone else as either sheep who need to be lead or potential threats. Never equals, except in their brothers/sisters-in-arms. They act as the guard-dogs and military arm of an entirely different organization that they're only a functionary member of but have no governing say in. Even the chantry aren't their equals- they function as the templar order's supervisors! And all this isolation and closing of ranks ends in disability, addiction, death, and abandonment by the system they spent their bodies in service of.
To top that off, retaliations against them just confirm the paranoia they were taught to embrace. It's probably a long hard road to get out of that hole.
Like, listen. the dichotomy of mage vs templars is a satisfying and easy one, but the system is tearing them apart too. have you ever heard of a retired templar?
at the end of it, mages and templars need to unite against the real threat. the chantry.
Mages can't unite with templars if templars can't even admit what they've done to the mages.
Look at Cullen. If he's urged off the Lyrium, he retires-- and promptly opens a halfway house for retired Templars who can't function anymore. He still only cares about Templars and, after 3 games, is annoyed at BEST at the suggestion that mages deserve freedom.
In DA the jailers are in chains. But no matter how draped in chains, they still have more power than the prisoners. The nastiest, most barbaric actions are heavily rewarded with promotions and titles, while the smallest act of rebellion by a mage is met with whippings and even death.
Some mages dehumanize templars to cope. Most, if not all, templars dehumanize mages to preserve their power. The only good templar is either a VOLUNTARILY retired one or a dead one.
yknow solas from dai right and forgive me bc im sure other ppl already knew this but i just found out about this just now and now i have to say it
so i was scrolling reddit and someone was asking how come they can't seem to write solas dialogue correctly for fanfiction and someone in the comments pointed out that he, not always, but very often, speaks in IAMBIC TETRAMETER? and that's why he SOUNDS LIKE THAT?
shipping Varric and Cassandra in the ending where she become the Divine is so fucking funny, let's be honest like
Varric returning to Kirkwall after Inquisition: "Hey everyone, I'm back!"
Aveline or someone: "Varric! You've been gone for literal years, what happened!?"
Varric: "Eh, nothing much. Just got kidnapped by this pissed off 30-something lady and dragged all over the world to a bunch of fights and, like, political machinations, etc. Fighting an undead priest bent on world domination, that kind of stuff"
Them: "...oh my God!"
Varric: "Nah, it's fine actually. We developed this kind of begrudging bantery relationship that developed into something deeper, and now I write erotica for her, which she goes totally feral over. Just absolutely loves the stuff."
Them: "Oh, uh, okay. That's cool, I guess... And who is she?"
Demands of the Qun, or How the Inquisitor's Choice Answers the Iron Bull's Most Important Question
I was having a chat about the Iron Bull and his personal quest with some friends and one person said in response to something I said that I should make it a Post, so here it is! And a usual disclaimer: this is not about which in-game decision is "correct"--it's an RPG, there's no wrong way to play the game. I just want to talk about the meaning of this decision for Bull's character and for his future.
Dragon Age: Inquisition’s “Demands of the Qun” is, for me, one of those quests where the RPG format of “player character makes major decision for companion character” really works. I do not see this as an example of game mechanics taking away agency from an NPC. I think Bull has agency in this situation.
The Chargers are not Inquisition soldiers. They are mercenaries, and Bull is their commander. If the Inquisitor makes a call he doesn't like, he is free to say "Screw you" and take his people and leave, because they are not soldiers, they're independent contractors, so leaving isn't desertion, it's just quitting. If he were already certain he wanted to leave the Qun, he could simply call the retreat himself, take the Chargers and leave. Similarly if he were certain of his loyalties and willing to sacrifice the Chargers for that purpose, he could do that, regardless of what the Inquisitor says.
He lets the Inquisitor make this choice.
The Iron Bull has had one foot out the door of the Qun for a long time now. But he's gone back and gone back, submitted himself for re-education and done his best to keep serving the Qun, because he believes he needs the Qun. To him, becoming Tal-Vashoth means losing himself, his identity, his purpose, his very sanity, and as the Fade tells us in "Here Lies the Abyss," this is quite literally his greatest fear. Bull could never bring himself to leave the Qun with nowhere to go instead, nothing to give his life purpose and meaning—and no one to entrust himself to should he doubt his own sanity.
But in his work in the south, the Iron Bull has found community and identity and purpose outside the Qun. The very name he has given himself speaks to that, as does his close relationship to the Chargers.
Right from the beginning, there is tension in "Demands of the Qun." Bull remarks that he's gotten used to the Qunari being "over there" during his life in the south. I think Bull has a very potent anxiety when he meets Gatt again on the Storm Coast, and introduces him to the Inquisitor and their party. To me, it very much has the vibes of introducing two friend groups, where you're not only pretty sure they won't get along, but you're also very aware that they know very different sides of you—and neither of them are going to like seeing the other side. Bull's discomfort is visible both when Gatt speaks freely about Bull's work in the Ben-Hassrath, and when the Inquisitor's other companions make disparaging remarks about the Qun. His two worlds have collided, calling into conflict two sides of his sense of self that he has thus far managed to avoid confronting.
And this is likely part of the point. The Qun does not truly respect alliances with any outside the Qun. I wouldn't say for sure that the Qunari set up this whole situation just to test Bull—it's possible they knew exactly how many Venatori would show up, but they couldn't have known precisely how the Inquisition would respond. That, and their desire to root out the Venatori is no doubt sincere. But I do think they are watching Bull's actions very closely throughout this proposed alliance, gauging his loyalty. Gatt tells him outright that many already believe he has betrayed the Qun.
Bull's internal conflict quickly becomes an external one when the Venatori reinforcements show up, and Bull is faced with the decision of whether to withdraw the Chargers or defend the dreadnought at the cost of their lives.
The thing is, Bull is not neutral on this. He tells the Inquisitor what he wants. He wants to save the Chargers. If the Inquisitor says that the Chargers still have time to retreat, Bull agrees. When Gatt tells him they need to hold position, he says in a low, intense tone, "They're my men."
And then, when Gatt tells him in no uncertain terms that calling the retreat will make him Tal-Vashoth, the Iron Bull looks to the Inquisitor.
Again, he is not neutral. He knows what he wants. He is standing there basically begging the Inquisitor with his eyes to save his boys.
So why doesn't he just make the call himself?
Because just as this whole situation is in part a test of Bull's loyalty, this is also a test of the Inquisitor.
What Bull needs to leave the Qun is not simply for someone else to make the choice for him, but to believe that there is a future for him outside the Qun. That he will still be himself, that he will have purpose, and meaning, and that someone else is worth trusting. Bull cannot bring himself to leave the Qun if it means he will be left utterly alone with nothing but his own mind and his deepest fears. And if that's what leaving the Qun means… then in his mind, it would be better to stay.
The Inquisitor's choice will answer that question.
To sacrifice the Chargers leaves Bull with nothing outside of the Qun. He has just watched his closest friends die, and he cannot trust the Inquisitor. With Krem and Rocky and Skinner and Stitches and Dalish and Grim, the new sense of self that the Iron Bull has found in the south also dies.
Of course he turns back to the Qun. He has nothing else left.
But if it's the Inquisitor who makes the call to save the Chargers… Bull can leave. He has friends who care about him. He has purpose. He has someone whose command he can trust. He has hope. None of this makes the choice easy for him. It is quite clearly very painful and difficult, and I don't think there's any way it could be otherwise. But he has a way forward nonetheless. The choice makes leaving possible.
The Inquisitor doesn't force the Iron Bull to become Tal-Vashoth. Instead, Bull implicitly asks a question, and the Inquisitor by their choice gives him an answer.
