BioWare. The Art of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Dark Horse Books, 2024.
Post-Inquisition, p 32-36; “Black Codex”
[There was a top-secret document on BioWare’s network that contained the objectively true history of Thedas called the Black Codex. Each culture had its perspective, its own emphasis and style, and over time more was added and taken away. It was decided to reveal a lot of truth in this game, so early on we wanted to illustrate the Black Codex. This would help to act as a visual guide to the events that formed Thedas as we know it.]
[Peaceful beginnings, gentle giants gardeners, and curious spirits.]
[The spirits saw the dwarves as they tended to the Titans, and they wanted to try making bodies for themselves.]
[The spirits made physical bodies for themselves from the “flesh” of the Titans. The first elves were born, and the first war began.]
[A brutal war rages on between the elves and the Titans, only ending when one elf (Solas) rendered the Titans “tranquil,” capturing their souls.]
[With the Titans rendered tranquil, dwarves lost their connection to magic. They fled into the bodies of their fallen hosts.]
[The elves brought a powerful war trophy home.]
[With the power that came from the captured Titan souls, the elves built the greatest empire Thedas would ever see.]
[Solas fought against the self-proclaimed gods, earning the title “the Dread Wolf.”]
[The gods drew upon the power of the Titan’s souls to gain more power. The imprisoned sould became twisted with rage. This became the blight.]
[To contain the blight outbreak, Solas performed a desperate blood-magic ritual. He bound up the magic of the world behind a veil and powered it with the blood of the evil gods.]
[What remined of the elven empire collapsed. The early human empire of Tevinter discovered it in shambles.]
[Eons later, the blight reached out to power-hungry Tevinter magisters through their dreams. They were lured to the Golden City, but the magisters found it already blackened by the blight.]
