Recently have been writing a Chantry brother character and got to contemplating how I think the clothing of folks in religious life in the Southern Chantry actually works, so here's some interpretation and headcanons!
(I'll be using clergy in the Catholic sense here, referring to folks who hold authority in the church hierarchy--e.g. at the rank of mother, revered mother, grand cleric, divine--and those in consecrated life to refer to anyone who has taken vows outside of the Seekers or Templars, e.g. folks in those upper ranks plus the brothers and sisters. Lay brethren do not take vows. See this codex about the hierarchy.)
General principles:
Styles derive from simple, historical garments worn by women. There are many regional variations and adaptations for different climates, often with a nod to local fashions (hence why we see different designs in rural Ferelden versus metropolitan Orlais.)
Despite the presence of ornamentation, especially on high-ranking clergy, the basic materials are coarser blends of wool, linen and silk.
Because women and men in consecrated life prioritize their duty to the Maker over family life and pleasure-seeking—most take vows of celibacy—religious clothing is modest in cut and covers the body from the neck down, with the sole exception of the hands (as touch is important in ministry.) In Orlesian styles, touches like leather boots and loose-fitting cowls allow for movement as they go about their duties.
Cleanliness and good grooming are valued, as those in religious life are to be examples to the world. Noticeable cosmetics and elaborate hairstyles are discouraged, and those in consecrated life generally cut their hair short for convenience.
Colors are symbolic: gold represents the light of the Maker, white represents Andraste, black represents death and ashes, and red represents fire and sacrifice. (The latter color is still referred to as rouge when speaking about Orlesian styles, but it’s actually more of a pink, a tone originating in the deliberate use of inferior dyes as a renunciation of worldly affectations.)
Underlayers:
(Some visible, some assumed, based on my knowledge of historical clothing.)
A short-sleeved linen shirt or chemise (depending on the length of the overgarments), to absorb sweat and dirt.
Short stays, worn over the shirt or chemise, if needed for comfort.
Black stockings of opaque, bias-cut wool, worn beneath boots. Length varies—for lay brothers and sisters, as well as high-ranking clergy, these are knee-length and secured with ribbon garters (lay brethren have them under their trousers); for vowed affirmed/initiates/clerics, these take the form of leggings fastened with ties about the natural waist, which the shirt is tucked into. The masculine version of these has a fall-front for comfort.
High-ranking clergy wear a feet-length black underskirt over the chemise, as well as petticoats if needed for warmth.
Overlayers
The clothing of brothers and sisters has a white cowl (long-sleeved robe with an integrated hood) over the shirt—relatively short for lay brethren and knee-length for those in consecrated life. Clerics may have decorative cuffs and trim. Above this garment, lay brethren wear a sleeveless pink knee-length tunic, while those in consecrated life wear a pink scapular.
Higher ranks wear a guimpe (stiffened, decorated piece of cloth) over the shoulders, to which is pinned a sort of four-panel overgown with a center piece resembling a stole. The Divine may wear a garment like this, or a variant with a sleeved overgown and a scapular.
Headgear
Typically consists of two to three layers: an underscarf (for cleanliness, modesty and to keep the hair in place), a hood, and a cap or headdress (to hold the hood in place and convey rank.)
The underscarf is typically black and secured about the neck with pins. In warm climates, it may be omitted.
The hood is a sewn-in part of the cowl, loose and flowing for lay brethren and more fitted for consecrated brethren. It may be in a contrasting color for the higher ranks.
Lay brethren wear a simple cloth cap. Consecrated brothers and sisters wear a brimless cap a bit reminiscent of the eastern skufia. High-ranking clergy wear a veiled headdress somewhere between a bishop's miter and a koukoulion, except on informal occasions.
Accessories
Lay brethren wear a pendant resembling a devotional scapular to signify their commitment, given the plainness of their dress, and high ranking clergy wear chains of office as a sign of authority.
Belts and purses are permitted with the more informal garments for practicality. (I imagine cowls and overgowns generally have small, unnoticeable side pockets.)
The fact that Lavellan is now Andraste really adds to my:
Lavellan doesn't use fire for a reason
Headcanon, I mean
Part of it is that my Lavellan specifically,
Delphi doesn't use fire because
She burned her sister when her magic manifested
Her wrath her anger toward her circumstance, becoming Herald of a religion she doesn't care about and having to lead them because of a magic mark, being so powerful.
Her rage toward her own pantheon for abusing their power to the point of leading her love to a duty he feels he cannot escape.
And heres the thing, Darkspawn are weak to fire. If she actually used it she might just be able to end the forces of Elgar'nan and Ghilian'nian in a second. But she doesn't and for me personally that explains a lot better why the inquisitor really failed in the South.
Okay I’m going through my screenshots and I want to talk about this line from Viago.
So throughout playing my canon Veilguard playthrough, I have had this consistent headcanon that behind the teasing, humour and sarcasm, my Rook, Ariadne, truly believes she is the worst Antivan Crow in existence.
She can barely make jumps, she can not swim in deep water, she fucked up an entire Crow mission for doing what she believed was right in the moment, she still thinks she did what was right but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t think she’s a good Crow.
Also the tough love from Viago, someone who practically raised her under his wing as an older brother from when she was the age of about 9, had a kind of opposite effect on her. She laughs about it but deep down it hurts when he calls her an idiot or something similar because she really likes Viago and looks up to him still. They have an responsible & tired older brother and chaotic younger sister relationship after all.
So to hear ‘you’re a damned fine Crow’ coming from Viago of all people, really made her feel like she has validation in the Crows after all these years.
The first painted with cool, but vibrant blue, violet, and green. A qunari with long fair hair and one of his curled horns made out of emerald and fastened by gold bands to match the other jewelry on his neck and fingers. Joy on his face and love on his eyes as he carries an older man in his arms. A hand on his head and the other supporting his back. The man returns an equally beloved smile looking into the qunari’s citrine eyes.
The second carved out of granite. A skeleton adorned by ceremonial robes holds a skull in its hands. A skull with a single curved horn, the other depicted as missing. To be the right a third skeletal hand is held palm up with a wisp hovering above it. There is a fourth hand, the other left, held up to its own skull with the index finger extended in front of its teeth. A shared secret.
There’s a lot of posts where people wonder how Merrill would react to Solas. I’m a bit worried myself tbh. But here’s a different one: Merrill meeting Morrigan!
All I want in life is for Merrill to get to have a chat with Morrigan where she finds out that 1.) Asha'bellanar, whom she met and spoke to, is actually Mythal, THE goddess whose valaslin she freaking carries and therefore once chose to committ to with a tattoo on her face for LIFE, like can you imagine what that would mean to her!!! 2.) what Eluvians can really do and what significance they had to Elvhenan 3.) that really she probably managed to fix hers a long time ago and all she is missing is the password and why yes, Morrigan would love to take a look actually 4.) that it makes no bloody sense for a demon to have been bound inside the mirror that somehow also could be let out by Marethari without activating the eluvian so really Marethari was full of shit and her death isn’t Merrill’s fault. 5.) MYTHAL HERSELF FREAKING CALLED HER BRIGHT I’M GOING TO CURL UP IN A BALL AND CRY NOW.
Not even going into scenarios where the Warden is a Dalish elf...
Please just let Merrill befriend Morrigan. Can you imagine how her sweet little mind would just be blown.
You know Morrigan would be weirded out by her unbridled enthusiam at first and try to keep her at a distance but Merrill would just worm her way into her heart by being oblivious to Morrigan’s initial coldness until Morrigan would realise that Merrill really is exceptionally bright and gifted at magic, equally doesn’t care about conventialism and social taboos around magic, and that they both share not just a goal but an obsession!
I’m not about to say dai’s presentation of Hawke was good or anything but for the people who say that it makes their Hawke a massive hypocrite; I like to think that Hawke in dai is just lying through their teeth.
By this point Hawke has been hunted by the Chantry for 3+ years so now they’re making sure to shout very normal and agreeable opinions like ‘blood magic bad’ in front of the leader of the new, rapidly growing in power, religious organisation that also originally held one of their friends hostage.
Once settled into Skyhold and properly established the inquisition could very easily resume the search for Hawke and his companions. I mean they already know where the more ‘neutral’ ones are; they have Varric, Aveline’s in Kirkwall and Sebastian went to Starkhaven. So that means they’d be looking for the ones you really don’t want them to find like; Merrill, the blood mage or (if you let him live) ANDERS, especially if they’re who Hawke romanced.
So to me if a Hawke is being very contradictory to their da2 self in dai, what they’re doing is: ‘Hi I am very normal and cool and I’ll help you do this thing with the Wardens that benefits us both and then I’m leaving, don’t look for me byeeee’ lmao
I have a head cannon that is both hilarious and kind of sad.
I hc that no one knows the Inquisitors first name. They know the last name (Ex. Lavellan, Adaar, Trevelyan, etc) but not the first.
Which is funny bc imagine a powerful organization just forgetting to learn the name of its leader.
It's sad bc imagine a powerful organization not caring enough about its leader to learn their actual name. Instead calling them by a title they never chose.
It's even worse if you romance someone. Imagine telling someone you love them without even asking them their name. That's not love, that's obsession and blind devotion.
In a very lovely Dragon Age roleplay server I am on, I have a Rivaini OC that believes in the Natural Order. While we know a bit about the Exalted March on Rivain (a religious massacre of Rivaini by the Chantry, especially those believed in the Natural Order, though the Qun were massacred too), as well as used the Right if Annulment against Seers in Rivain. We know about Dairsmuid, how it is the only place with any Chantry influence in Rivain, as well as how well it treats its mages, or Seers, and how its Circle is largely a front. We know about Seer practices somewhat.
All we know of the Natural Order is that it is Pantheistic. I decided to look more into Pantheism to properly play my OC, as well as to explore more about various religions, which I find interesting. Here is a compilation of my head canons on what the Natural Order may be like or believe, considering their stance on the Qun, spirits, and resistance to Chantry influence (likely due to having very separate beliefs from the Chant). I will also touch just a little on why they may get along with the Qun despite valuing mages, though that will mostly cover what pretty much everyone has long since theorized.
"We have today to learn to get back into accord with the wisdom of nature and realize again our brotherhood with the animals and with the water and the sea. To say that divinity informs the world and all things is condemned as pantheism. But pantheism is a misleading word. It suggests that a personal god is supposed to inhabit the world, but that is not the idea at all. The idea is trans-theological. It is of an indefinable, inconceivable mystery, thought of as a power, that is the source and end and supporting ground of all life and being" (Campbell & Moyers, 2011).
Simply put, there are two ways to see Pantheism, from what I've found. One is definitely how monotheistic people see it, viewing it as how "God is a part of everything, and everything is God." The second seems to be described mostly by people who practice Pantheistic beliefs, is that Nature itself is divine. As a Pagan who agrees with this sentiment (I may be closer to Pantheism than I ever knew, since it is not taught much, at least not where I live), I am more inclined to look into this concept, as I feel it also aligns best with the Magical practices we know from Seers, and how Rivain as a community views Seers. I will go forward with the assumption that the Natural Order is this kind of pantheistic: They see nature and the universe itself as divine.
"I believe in the cosmos. All of us are linked to the cosmos. So nature is my god. To me, nature is sacred. Trees are my temples and forests are my cathedrals" (Gorbachev, n.d.).
That's great to have established, yes, but what exactly would that mean for what the Rivaini believe (keeping in mind that many Rivaini are Qun converts, at this point, so really more like what do the 10-35% of Rivaini believe)? Well, for one, it would mean that the Rivaini do not have a god or singular deity, or even a set of deities. If they do have a "God," it is just a name for the Natural Order of the universe itself.
"Yes, say I with Nietzsche. I could not pray to it, but I can stand in affirmation of its magnificence. This world is sacred" (Dennett, n.d.).
The concept of worshiping the universe and land we live on may be foreign to some, so I will share some real-world examples to help show how this is often done. Keep in mind that Pantheism is just a theology to most and is based on the concept of having no personal god or deity. People who worship all personal deities believe in Omnism, not Pantheism, though both theologies could be present at once.
There are three different types of Pantheism in the real world: Pre-Christian, Post-Christian, and Modern Pantheism (Picton, 1908). I will focus on Post-Christian and Modern Pantheism, as Christianity parallels heavily with the Chantry and I am focusing on the Natural Order as it would be practiced in Rivain during the games, which take place centuries after the Chantry tried and failed to take over Rivaini culture. Christianity and similar beliefs took Pantheism from a semi-religion to a Philosophy, especially in Greece (Picton, 1908). Many religions were turning to Monotheism, and Pantheism faded into an intellectual discussion as opposed to a full theology. Pantheism was understood only through the lens of God, as science believed all things were made by “God” and rejected all other thoughts and beliefs as invalid. Pantheism bled into the background, but it’s underlying Philosophy was found in the works of many great thinkers, even if fundamentally tied with another ideology (Picton, 1908). This may be what the Rivaini’s Circle beliefs and even somewhat the Qun in Rivain looks like. While the Circle still teaches the values of the Chant, it is likely heavily intertwined with concepts of the Maker being less of a distant belief or guiding spirit, and more of a constant, interwoven force. To Dairsmuid’s Circle, the Maker is all things, and all things are from the Maker, an ideal that makes mages seem as valuable and as loved as all others; after all, they are part of the Maker and should be treated with the same love as things around them, as should magic. This is likely why Seers are treated well and revered. The Qun has likely not changed philosophies much, but mages and nature are treated better by the Qun in Rivain for a different reason that is still based in the philosophy aspect of Pantheism, but with emphasis on Qun belief: mages are a natural part of the natural system, and the order of the world is as it shall be: the concept of Merevas in Rivain extends to Seers, and so they require no change. They are a part of the functioning system, a natural presence. So shall it be.
For those who still practice the Natural Order outside of the Qun, I liken it to Modern Pantheism at this point. Modern Pantheism is far more of a religion than a theology and is characterized by Picton (1908) as “the wonders of the spiritual life.” Still, this comes from outside the life of someone who practices it. To better understand the active practice of Pantheism, we should look to someone who believes in it: World Pantheist Movement. All information is taken straight from the actual organization’s website; I highly suggest you check it out. While it is not free to join with a membership, they provide some valuable, free insights, and many Pantheists practice outside an organization (see: Pantheistic Pagans, naturalists, “Mother Nature,” “Brunian,” etc.).
"All things in the world are one, and one is all in all things..." (Toland, 1720).
First, Modern Pantheism, especially the Nature-oriented type, believes all things are nature and nature is in all things. Everything, in some form, is natural. This concept of natural unity would make Rivain a place with a tight-knit community atmosphere, which is in fact canonical to Rivaini society.
Another important aspect that the World Pantheist Movement addresses is the concept of a “Natural Death” or a natural, given end to individual life. One embraces the natural end to things as a part of the cycle, as life and death are accepted as is. There is no “afterlife;” for Rivaini, this likely means that as you are, right now in this moment, is as you should be and will be. This doesn’t mean people can’t change, but that the part of nature they are is single and valuable to the whole. When they are dead, their existence has come to its natural conclusion. There is nothing else to be.
Giordano Bruno, a man who was made a martyr by the Church for his belief in Pantheism, saw these traits as significant to the religion and theology: “plurality, uniformity, and cosmic unity” (Birx, 1997). The universe and life are continuous, looping, a unit that never begins and never ends. Again: all is one and one is all. You could argue that this theology argues the communal concept of a “drop in the ocean,” or “a tree in a forest.” If you were to ask a Pantheist, and by extension most Rivaini, “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”, their answer would be yes.
That, I believe, is the most important part of the Natural Order. Even if all other theology, all other religious importance falls away, the concept of unity, of community, the belief that even one drop in the ocean can reach out and affect everything around it.
In Summary:
The Natural Order is a pantheistic religion that sees nature itself as divine.
The natural order believes in Unity, and that we are all a part of nature and of each other. This leads to a strong sense of community.
Everything in nature affects everything else, infinitely. We are all intertwined, and we are all divine, as divinity is a state of being.
We will all die, as we should- similar yet different to the concept of Merevas. All natural things will come to end.
*Both the Chantry and the Qun in Rivain are heavily altered by the underlying philosophies of the Natural Order as a theology. It is entirely my head canon how they are altered, but it is clear in canon that they are. This is why they accept mages and elves, this communal concept of innate divinity and togetherness.
Resources
Birx, H. J. 1997. Giordano Bruno, The Harbinger. Internet Archive. The Harbinger. Giordano Bruno (archive.org)
Naturalism and Naturalistic Pantheism: Can there be a naturalistic and scientific spirituality? World Pantheism. The World Pantheist Movement. Naturalism and Naturalistic Pantheism: can there be a naturalistic & scientific spirituality? – World Pantheism
Picton, J. A. 1908. Pantheism: Its Story and Significance. Open Court. The Religion of the Universe - James Allanson Picton - Google Books
