Valana Cousland - Emptiness
Kadrian Mahariel - Confinement
Briae Surana - Ignorance/Loss of Knowledge
Sairalinde Tabris - Loss of autonomy
Markus Amell - Losing his family
Hawkes
Linri - Failure
Verina - Being helpless
Arthel - Losing connections
Iiana - Commitment
Rhian - Losing Control
Inquisitors
Nesnaya Lavellan- Herself (itâs too complicated to phrase it simply)
Vera Trevelyan- Her faith is a lie
Virnehn - Insignificance
Nirlanni Lavellan. Hunter, tracker, rogue. When it comes to the hunt and duties to the clan she's all business. The needs of the clan always come before personal wants or desires. Outside of that she's the playful sort, upfront and in your face with both her humor and her opinions. Like Nesnaya she tends to keep an open mind about the world and what's out there, feeling that there's only so much a small dalish clan would understand when Thedas is so massive.
She and Nesnaya are not complete opposites - they agree on many things and have somewhat similar hobbies. While they never bought into the clan's superstition behind their blindness, they do feel they have a stronger connection than most. They also had tailored their combat styles to be each other's eyes, so to speak. Nesnaya becoming a part of the Inquisition and leaving the clan for good, thus separating them, was a blow they both felt keenly.
In regard to other races Nirlanni dislikes humans (she blames them for taking her sister away because she may or may not have a slight sister complex) and is indifferent to everyone else. Solas is the exception (she really dislikes him) because 1) Sister complex and 2) She thinks he's a pretentious arsehole. But mostly because of reason 1.
I may or may not ship her with Abelas because shame, what's shame?
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Nesnaya Lavellan. I've talked about her before but it's been a while so updates it is. Formerly First to the Keeper, Nesnaya is the sort of person who dislikes being tied down to one place for too long and is prone to wander. As a child it gave her elders no end of grief and frustration, as she would often skip out on training and studies to explore the forests and climb up to the highest spots she could find and nap. Despite her restless nature she loves history and ancient elven lore. Once the Keeper managed to tailor their lessons to appeal to that side of Nesnaya's interests, things became easier for everyone.
Unlike her twin she tends to be more subtle in her behavior. While not overly outspoken, she is firm in her convictions. She dislikes rigidity and false dichotomies. "There's always another answer" is her saying to anything resembling an ultimatum.
Being thrown into the Inquisition has forced her to think more about religion and faith than she has before. She respected the elven gods from a scholastic standpoint, and her faith came from the fact that it was simply 'how it was'. Her general opinion on Andrastians is low, although she likes the Chant of Light and enjoys reading the text from a historian's perspective.
When it comes to other races Nesnaya is open minded and accepting of just about anyone so long as they don't try to change or stifle who she is.
She (unsurprisingly) ended up in a relationship with Solas.
Ok so what if Lavellan is a Dreamer? And when they were younger they would explore the fade. They are scared at first, frightened of when they fell asleep at night. Not wanting to close oneâs eyes.Â
She remembers the time where she hid in a hallowed out tree, crying out, wanting to wake up. But then a man walks by. He was no older than 20 and he had the most beautiful hair she has ever seen on another elf.
"Whatâs wrong?" He asked softly, silently surprised to another of his kin.
Crying, she mumbles out "I donât like it here, itâs scary and I want to leave." He chuckles softly and offers his hand. âThere are many parts of the Fade that are wonderful, you have to know where to look.â Â
Hand in hand, they walk off.
"What is your name?" She asks as they wander.
"My name is Solas." The young man spoke, turning towards her with a small smirk. "And what is your name, crying child?"
Many months pass, and she learns so much from him. She walks the Fade and seeâs the true beauty of it for the first time. She meets spirits of many sorts, befriending them, eager to learn all they have to share. She is happy with her gift for the first time, and itâs all thanks to him.
But one day, she couldnât find him She called out, searched and asked for help. But all the spirits said he had moved on to find more.
She never ventured far into the fade again for many years. And within time, she forgot about the young man with a mane of dreads who helped her so long ago. She became the Keepers first and was assigned an important mission far away.
She gained the mark, and in the middle of fighting an elf grabbed her hand, thrusting it forward to the rift. Closing it, they looked at each other.
"My name is Solas, if there are to be introductions." She quirked her head to the side. Confused, and wracking her brainâŠ.She had heard that name beforeâŠ.But she couldnât remember where.
the way solas hungers for lavellan when they are in the fade, the way he grabs her and kisses her and itâs almost violent? their kiss is so visceral in their dream? he pulls her in and envelops her whole body in his arms and he wonât let her escape, he goes back for more twice, heâs addicted to her,Â
but then you see the way he kisses her in the real world and itâs like
heâs holding a paper crane or a baby bird? she is offering herself up, hands behind her back as earnest as you darn well please and he tries to leave??? and then when he does touch her, itâs his fingertips on her waist, a bare brush, and the kiss is just so tender and different and uncertain and afraid because the real world is not his reality and he doesnât know what to do anymore and
god damn fucking shit help this stupid bald egg has ruined my LIFE
I DON;T HAVE AN EARLY ENOUGH SAVE TO WATCH THESE WITH MY LAVELLAN AND I'M ABOUT TEMPTED TO JUST REROLL HER SO I CAN RECORFD IT AND GDI YOU ENABLERS DREAD WOLF TAKE YOU ALL.
I donât think Solas intended on âbreaking upâ with Lavellan after he told her about the vallaslin.  I think he got overwhelmed by the moment and realized he was in way too deep.  Thereâs a reason we get the romance achievement after the break-upâŠ
I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels like he didn't take her there for the purpose of breaking up. I also think after that kiss and what have you that he had an o shit moment and realized things could not continue.
There's a line where she tries to convince him that they can work whatever out together and he's just so...like he's convinced it'll be awful when she discovers the truth, that it won't be something they can fix together. Makes me sad.
Headcanon that the inquisitor asks for updates on Solasâs disappearance every day. Leliana makes it sound more fruitful than it really is. She knows how important it is for Lavellan to never lose hope.
Would your inquisitor keep searching forever or eventually give up or stop caring?
Saw this post a few days ago and I wanted to muse it out of my brain.
So I decided to play both my Lavellan twins, Nesnaya and Nirlanni, in Inquisition (who will both romance Solas. Another life, another time, I guess). I've already beaten the game with Nesnaya so I'll have a more complete answer for her.
For one, I don't think Nesnaya would pursue Solas, especially after hearing what she does from Cole. He doesn't want to be found, and as much as it'd hurt, she'd respect that decision. She's always respected him, and as much as she wants to be angry at him she's more confused. More than anything she wants to learn the truth, but she has obligations and things she needs to do as Inquisitor. There's an entire world that needs reform after all.
Nesnaya would go after him if 1) There was an absolute way she could get to him and he'd actually, you know, listen to her and not just run away again and 2) He came to her.
Nirlanni...I'm not sure about her yet. She'd be pissed and frustrated but she's like her sister and would also want answers. Whereas Nesnaya would not pursue him out of practicality and obligation, for Nirlanni it'd be a matter of pride. He hurt her, and while he likely had his reasons, her thoughts would be: "If he'd really loved me, why didn't he try to make me understand?" She would question the sincerity of how much he had loved her because it would make dealing with the pain easier. If the opportunity rose she'd go after him, but she'd be more aggressive/on guard than Nesnaya.
Neither sister would stop loving him, although given enough time, Nirlanni would move on well before Nesnaya.
Iâm curious to know how many other Dalish elf players that are no longer going to use vallasin on their elves
I for one am not .. It doesnât feel right anymore
I thought about this, and to be honest I don't see why I wouldn't unless I'm metagaming/don't care about the RP element.Â
My Nesnaya had it removed for various reasons. One because it seemed to mean a lot to Solas, but also because she was upset and frustrated by her own people's history. She genuinely felt that her people were trying their hardest (she still feels that way), but yet to get something so devastating so wrong means history was written in a questionable light. Nesnaya wants the truth behind her people and who they were, it was one of the reasons why she had fallen for Solas in the first place. Some of it was pride: The dalish swore never to submit again, and she would not have slavery markings on her.
That doesn't mean she will remain barefaced, however. She may design and have different tattoos replace the old, this time telling her story in a way. It'd be her version of starting over, of taking a mistaken tradition and making it something to be proud of.
Her twin sister Nirlanni, however, will keep hers. Her pride as a dalish made her more stubborn than Nesnaya. She would want to own her markings and believe they now stood for something more than they had before. They may have been slave markings in the past, but no longer.
If my warden Kadrian knew, he would also keep his were he ever given such an option. They've been with him for too long and they are as much of a part of him as his arms or legs. It's not so much pride as him feeling that dwelling on the past is pointless. So they were slave markings in the past: what does that have to do with him now? One learns from past mistakes and grows, not dwell on it. Should Zevran remove tattoos from when he was a Crow? Kadrian would not think so.
So yeah, it'd just depend on what sort of character I'd be playing, I suppose.
OKay, I was thinking about this a lot. Â The romance really does sort of feel tacked on doesnât it? Â We know Solas wasnât originally supposed to be a romance, but because they had some extra time, they included him in the LI line up. Â I mean, knowing what we know because of the epilogue, it just doesnât really fit with the idea of him. Â Yeah, I know us die hard Solas lovers are like, âHow romantic, an elven diety/trickster/whatever falling for our Inquisitorâ Â But honestly, my opinion is that the whole romance doesnât fit him.
He loved Wisdom. Â In later conversations Solas gets angry at Blackwall because he has âlost everything he has ever loved!â when theyâre talking about Wisdom. Â So it felt really weird and awkward that Solas would just jump right into a relationship with Lavellan after losing someone so precious to him. Â
I donât know. Feel free to disagree, these are just a few of my thoughts on the whole thing.
Cut for spoilers. It's long, probably because I've had my own thoughts on this and haven't had an outlet for it yet. Forgive the rambling. Speculation is also abound.
***
Would you stop yourself from getting into a relationship if your best friend had been murdered, or would the arms of someone you were falling for be a comfort? Wisdom was his friend, likely one of his oldest, but there was never any hint or implication of that being romantic. Lavellan was there, not only that but she was one of the few people who could understand him even on a base level. It would have been surprising if he had not - people tend to form bonds in tragic situations.
I am not sure if Fen'harel and the others were/are gods. In fact I think Solas outright says they weren't. It's more likely they were highly talented ancient elves of old, or were generals/leaders during their wars with Tevinter. In fact, the Dragon Age Wikia has the codex entry on Aralathan which says:
From time to time, our ancestors would drift into centuries-long slumber, but this was not death, for we know they wandered the Fade in dreams. [X]Â
Sound like anyone we know?Â
My suspicion is that Fen'harel and the others were powerful and influential members of Arlathan to the point where history has turned them into gods. The Temple of Mythal paints the Dread Wolf as a god of rebellion than one of deception - wanting to overthrow the slavery system (apparently their society was similar to Orlais). He failed somehow, the Tevinter invaded and the slaves rose up against the ruling class and slaughtered the lot of them. [X]Â
What the Dalish now know could be what the ruling caste dropped down on their mortal children, which would explain why Fen'harel is painted in such a horrible light. Since Mythal apparently helped him, it'd also explain why that's the only temple that shows a different story. Why she is painted so favorably is curious. Makes me wonder if the "Forgotten Ones" were the servant caste of Elvhenan.
Getting back to the romance subject: I think Solas, by the time he meets Lavellan, has become exhausted from trying to help and failing. You get bits and hints of his frustrations from conversations, and his surprise with Lavellan's open mindedness is genuine - it's likely he really hasn't run across any other elf like her in a long time. He doesn't fall in love with her randomly; it's because she's intelligent, willing to question the world around her, willing to be open to change, and most importantly, she's making a positive impact on the entire world - something he's been unable to achieve. Your Lavellan inspires many, why not Solas? Because he's super old? He's also super stubborn in some ways and Lavellan can be an uplifting force for him.
The romance path gives him real hope for the first time in what probably feels like whatever - why wouldn't someone fall for a person like that? She's not just some random person, she becomes one of the most important people in the world, not too far away from Andraste in terms of importance to the people. It doesn't seem like a huge deal to us because it's in the present, but imagine not even two hundred years in the future what sort of ridiculous tales and legends they would have made up for her. People like Flemeth and Solas probably aren't that much different from Lavellan in that respect.
Without that romance path we fail to see a different side to Solas that I personally think can be a make or break in terms to how he is seen by players. It's not strictly necessary to the plot as a whole, but I don't think it takes anything away either. Now that I'm playing a Qunari, the vibe I get from him is so different that I likely would not have the same views on him that I do now had I not romanced him first.
Solas' arc isn't romantic. It's passionate, bittersweet, and ultimately tragic. Which is likely very frustrating for people who really enjoy happily ever afters (or at least have them be together) or perfect romances. It does feel organic, however. I personally am taking everything that's been told about Fen'harel and throwing it out the window: It's mostly if not all lies/exaggerations at this point. It's not unrealistic for someone to fall in love with another that they feel can and does understand them, especially if that person also gives them hope for the future - even if their personal path to that is a dark one.
That Solas is selfish and indulges himself even though he knows everything is what makes the arc really good. It strips away that whole 'he's a real god' thing and just makes him a really old immortal elf who, for all his intelligence, keeps managing to screw up his life.
Here's to hoping he eventually gets it right someday.
