#altusnerd

[lindira]

@iio-in-thedas and @shadow-sings - OMG, thank you for all the lovely things you said about me! *flails*

And @mythalsfavour and @altusnerd - *hugs* right back atcha! :)

[elvenbeard]

More Inquisitor questions!!! :D This time around I was tagged by @altusnerd, thanks so much! :D Also a couple of days ago @splinterstaff posted a few questions for everyone who wanted to to answer, and I’d love to do that as well.

The rules: Answer the 3 questions, ask 3 of your own, and tag some friends (including the person that tagged you)! You can reuse questions if you can’t think of anything new or ask more than 3, too.

I can’t really think of any questions myself right now, but if anyone reads this: I tag you :D Feel free to answer any of the 6 below, because I found them all very interesting! Since my answers got longer than expected in some cases I‘ll put everything below a cut for anyone interested.

I’ll begin with the questions by @altusnerd:

1. Regardless of in-game armor and clothing, what is your Inquisitor’s “aesthetic?” Do they tend toward comfort and utility or style and presence? What are their favorite armor pieces or clothing items like?

Tamlen definitely prefers practical and comfortable clothing he can move easily in and that isn’t entirely ruined when it gets a little dirty. Armor ideally is tight-fitting but flexible. He likes muted colors like dark greens, blues and browns, also black and grey. A color combination he loves when it comes to clothing and armor is black and green, because while wearing it he becomes one with the forest and is hardly visible anymore. He puts a huge emphasis on well fitting and supportive shoes and boots because of his weak ligaments. Also he loves scarves and almost always wears one - it’s probably the only piece of clothing he’d ever wear for purely aesthetic reasons.

2. Would your Inquisitor still have joined the cause in the case that they never attended the Conclave and didn’t receive the Anchor? Why would they make the choice they did?

In the “Tamlen as a companion” au the Keeper’s first goes to the Conclave instead of Tamlen and as soon as the clan hears about the explosion at the temple a few hunters are sent out to look for their brother in Haven. Tamlen volunteers to accompany them, just as much as he had volunteered to spy on the Conclave in the first place. He isn’t exactly on good terms with the First most of the time, but he still wants to find out what happened to him. Whether the First lived and later becomes the Inquisitor or not, whoever is called Herald of Andraste in that AU encounters Tamlen in the Hinterlands, where he’s hiding from a group of templars who confused him with a rebel mage. It turns out that the other hunters he had been traveling with got caught in the middle of the fights and were all killed. The Inquisitor can offer Tamlen to join their cause by promising that the Inquisition will restore order and prevent things like the death of the hunters and other innocents from happening again. So yes, although reluctantly and not without informing the keeper about his and the other hunters whereabouts, he joins the Inquisition. After Corypheus is defeated (or if he doesn’t agree with the Inquisitor’s choices) he returns to his clan.

3. How has being the Inquisitor changed their character? What would they think or feel if they looked back on themselves from before the Conclave?

I wouldn’t say that his character has changed a lot, actually. He cared about the people that are important to him just as much as he did after becoming the Inquisitor and he’d still do anything to protect them from harm. He’s still a bit awkward, takes things a bit too personal sometimes and talks faster than he thinks. He probably learned to take a diplomatic approach more often than an aggressive one, but he was already starting to learn that before the Conclave. He’s still a stubborn idealist, but being the Inquisitor probably added the wish and in parts also the power to make the world a bit better than it is in his eyes.

What did change though is his perspective on many things - and I don’t think that’s surprising after everything that’s he learned and that’s been revealed during his time with the Inquisition. If he looked back at himself from before the Conclave he’d think “ignorance is bliss”. He has so many more questions now and no answers (yet), and sometimes feels really disconnected from his former life... and that scares him a lot.

Now the questions from @splinterstaff:

1. Are there any decisions they made as Inquisitor that they have since come to regret?

I still want to see how drinking from the Well of Sorrows plays out in Trespasser (although I’ve heard that it’s not a big change - still I’m curious). I still haven’t yet decided what I’d want to be canon for Tamlen... I don’t really like both options actually, but for now I’m tending more towards him letting Morrigan drink. So.... That is something he’d regret for a long time afterwards. It’s a unique chance to return even the tiniest bit of knowledge of the ancient times to his people and who knows in how far it might be of even more help in the future. Seing a human woman he barely knows (and who probably barely knows herself what she’s doing) claim all the knowledge of the Well for herself is hard for him. He aks himself if he had made the same decision if Dorian hadn’t asked him not to drink from the Well.

2. Which regions of Orlais/Felerden do they enjoy visiting? Which do they despise?

Despite some rather awful memories he loved exploring the desert regions, especially the Western Approach - simply because it’s different from everthing he’s seen so far. His most favourite region for more sentimental reasons though were the Dales, especially the Emerald Graves. They reminded him a lot of home and of course also of how much the elves had lost just in the last few centuries. He was a lot more quiet than usual while they traveled through the forest and ruins there.

A place he despises is the Fallow Mire... but honestly, is there anyone who likes the Fallow Mire? It’s cold, it’s wet, it’s full of corpses. So many things he despises in one place, just the giant spiders are missing.

3. Were there any companions/advisors that your Inquisitor didn’t like at the start of game? Did their opinion change over time?

He and Vivienne didn’t get along at all in the beginning. There was just nothing they seemed to have in common, both concerning their personalities and their experiences. At one point they got into a discussion about the Dalish, Vivienne talking about how they’re not more than savages and that’s something that just got Tamlen’s blood boiling. How dare she judge him or the Dalish as such based on what she knows from some book another human wrote. The discussion quickly turned into a loud argument and well... thankfully Josie was nearby to deescalate the situation a bit :’D

It took a long, long time until Tamlen actually started to understand Vivienne as a person a bit better. They still disagree about a bunch of things, but they’ve built a friendship on their mutual respect for each other.

Among the advisors the one Tamlen didn’t get behind for a long time was Leliana, mainly because he generally doesn’t get along well with people who tend to be cold and calculating like she was in the beginning. But his opinion on her changed as well the better he got to know her and her past.

[lindira]

altusnerd replied to your post “So wait, if Solas wants to tear down the Veil anyway, and needed the...”

I think Solas says at some point that many of the demons you're fighting are spirits pulled through by the Breach and driven into demons by the shift? I might be totally wrong on that.

altusnerd replied to your post “So wait, if Solas wants to tear down the Veil anyway, and needed the...”

Plus, he thought he needed the Orb back for his plan and a good way of potentially recovering it was to act like he wanted the Breach closed. At least, that's the way I look at it

He mentions that spirits summoned against their will turn into demons because they’re driven mad by the nature of the real world or by the sudden change. Something like that. But I was never under the impression that he was acting like he wanted the Breach closed. Like when you “close” the Breach the first time, he looks really hopeful, and I don’t think that’s an act. I mean, he undoubtedly wanted the Orb back, and that was a lot of why he was tagging along with the Inquisition, but if he wanted the Veil gone and Corypheus dead, I feel like the way he seemed actually invested in closing the Breach doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. I mean, I know he said he didn’t want people to suffer unnecessarily before they died when the Veil is torn apart, but I don’t really see how people would suffer any less being killed by demons a few at a time rather than all at once.

[seasaltwish]

altusnerd replied to your post:altusnerd replied to your post:talking to Vivienne...

Very strange. Worse comes to worse, running a repair then editing the patch’s package to be +1 the version might be the solution. You aren’t missing a ton if you decide to skip the hassle, though.

I might, pfft. Vivienne doesn’t really like my Inquisitor anyway. just hope it doesn’t do this anywhere else. D: my game doesn’t even ‘properly’ crash, it just...suddenly closes itself.

[seasaltwish]

altusnerd replied to your post:talking to Vivienne crashes my game lmao

Are you still running the official patch? So far as I know, that shouldn’t be happening if you are.

I thiiiiiink so? I’m really not sure.

[seasaltwish]

altusnerd replied to your post “byrgenwerths replied to your post:are there any particular mods that...”

You can turn most mods back on after you're past the intro cutscene. Hair retextures and complexion deshines cause the inventory/shops/etc. to break so you'll have to do without on those unless you never open a menu again.

groooooss

I guess I’ll live without mods for now

thanks though!

[lindira]

altusnerd replied to your post “altusnerd replied to your photo “Here’s Dorian, miraculously the only...”

Oh yes. Cass, Cole, and Dorian bit it within a few second and, after reviving them once, all managed to die underneath the Guardian so they were effectively out for good. Haha, good luck when you get Aeric and co. there!

doriandandy replied to your post “living-in-headcanon replied to your photo “Here’s Dorian,...”

lmao yep that battle was the worst. I beat 75% of it with just Sera, dodging the fuck out of everything and taking it down slowly. it was.. intense

Wow, bad day for the Inquisition for everybody then, lol. It’s pretty ridiculous that the Guardian is so overpowered. Not sure what they were thinking. I mean, a challenge is fun, but this guy was nuts.

[lindira]

altusnerd replied to your photo “Here’s Dorian, miraculously the only one alive after everyone was...”

That fight is just as bad on casual, trust me. The Guardian is OP as hell. Smart idea keeping Dorian in the corner for it!

Wow, just as bad on casual? That’s nuts! I didn’t even know why everybody was dying half the time, lol. I’m hoping it’ll go better when Aeric eventually gets there, since he’s ranged too. He and Dorian can just hunker down in a corner again and hold position there, hehe.