#da legacy

[my-blonde-shadowdragon-wife]

So I started the Legacy dlc...

Y'all must know that I love naming my save files for laughs

[bohemiantea-scorpiocoffee]

A Whole Lot of Well, Shit

One of the things that used to puzzle me a little was how Corypheus even learned about red lyrium in the first place. The quest “Well, Shit” heavily implies that it was through Bianca, but that didn’t quite completely track for me. (Also, as much as I do not care for her, I also didn’t want to place the entirety of blame on her. I’d rather be upset with her for her failings in her relationship with Varric than making her a scapegoat for all the red lyrium shenanigans that came after. There’s always more at work behind the scenes in stories like this, anyway.)

This is the dialogue from “Well, Shit” - note that “Larius” can be switched out for “Janeka” depending on whom Hawke sided with in DA2 Legacy:

Bianca: *key found* “There you are.” *locks door* “They won’t be able to use this entrance again.” Varric: “Bianca.” Inquisitor: “You were the one who leaked the thaig’s location.” Bianca: “It’s not like that. Not... entirely.” *sighs* “Shit.” Bianca: “When I got the location, I went and had a look for myself. And I found the red lyrium, and I ...studied it.” Varric: “You know what it does to people!” Bianca: “I was doing you a favor! You wanna know how this stuff works just as much as I do. I just... wanted to figure it out.” Inquisitor: “How did you go from studying red lyrium to giving the location to Corypheus?” Bianca: “I found out that red lyrium... it has the Blight, Varric. Do you know what that means?” Varric: “What, that two deadly things combine to form something super awful?” Bianca: “Lyrium is alive, or... something like it. Blight doesn’t infect minerals, only animals. I couldn’t get any further on my own, so I looked for a Grey Warden mage. Blight and magical expertise in one, right? And I found this guy, Larius. He seemed really interested in helping my research. So I gave him a key.” Varric: “Larius? He was the Grey Warden we met in Corypheus’s... aw, shit. I knew something seemed off.” Bianca: “I didn’t realize until you said you found red lyrium at Haven. I came here and, well... then I went to you. Inquisitor: “That name mean something to you, Varric?” Varric: “He was at the Grey Warden prison where we found Corypheus. And he definitely wasn’t a mage before.” What Bianca is definitely guilty of is giving Corypheus the location of a small buffet of red lyrium and an opportunity to study it. What’s not so certain is whether or not this also revealed red lyrium’s existence to him.

I believe it’s entirely possible that Corypheus could have heard about the existence of red lyrium before meeting Bianca thanks to another person he met in Kirkwall: Samson. 

Unfortunately the same sort of codex entry does not show up in DA2/Legacy for Janeka, but this is a codex that is supposed to show (and is often bugged from not appearing): A Strange Sighting

Yesterday, I saw a man I could swear was Larius, just walking around Lowtown. I wasn't sure at first, but that armor, that hair... he's unmistakable.

He was talking to Samson, of all people. I can't imagine what a Grey Warden commander and an ex-templar vagrant have in common, but they seemed intent in their discussion. When I came closer, Larius pulled Samson into a doorway---I don't know if he saw me or not, but it seemed almost like they were avoiding me.

Anders says that no one as far gone to the taint as Larius would ever have been reinstated by the Grey Wardens. Even without Corypheus, Larius will be plagued by the calls of the Archdemons until they drive him mad.

I tried to contact the Grey Wardens, to find out why they let him return to Kirkwall, but they weren't talking. They won't acknowledge a Warden named Janeka, a prison in the Vimmarks, a captive darkspawn magister, or ever having worked with Father.

they didn't even want to hear what Corypheus claimed to be--I'm certain they know something about what happened down there, but whatever it is, they're not sharing.

--From the diary of Garrett/Marian Hawke

Samson, especially if you helped reinstate him near the end of the game, would have known about Meredith’s sword and related to Larius/Corypheus what it did for her, power-wise, before she became a red lyrium statue. It also helps explain how you can “reobtain” Meredith’s sword Certainty, which had definitely shattered and was what turned her, or helped her turn, into a red lyrium statue.

I will also note that Hawke trying to contact the Wardens about what happened and trying to get answers is likely what alerted Stroud/Alistair/Loghain and put them on the trail and being worried about the Archdemon-like body hopping. (Because personally, that too had seemed strange to me -- how they’d up and wonder and start asking in the first place. This way helps connect the dots.)

[bohemiantea-scorpiocoffee]

I’m replaying DA2 Legacy DLC (my mostly-blue rogue Hawke, Siobhan, is doing so damn well in this so far), and I got to Amgeforn and remembered that there’s some neat meta in this thing. What I did *not* remember, and why I’m posting now, was a specific passage in the landmarks for this hidden quest.

That last one, “Amgeforn the Foul,” is the specific one to point out.

http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Codex_entry:_Amgeforn_the_Foul

We called it Malvernis. The Pestilent One. It devoured thaigs, turning our fairest work into a noxious waste. It consumed living warriors, turning their bodies to slime, and when its hunger was not abated, it consumed the bones of our ancestors.

Foulness came from its touch, poison and filth and desecration. It threatened even the Stone itself. The Shapers bound it. Chained in lyrium stained with the blood of a hundred warriors. But within the orb, it hungered, it waited.

We carried it here to the wasteland of the surface, where it can threaten nothing of value. The Stone will live. The Stone must live. We have sworn to defend it from the Foul One at any price.

(Bold emphasis mine.)

We never get to see what this “warm orb” looks like, it’s just this:

Obviously, I was hoping it was a Foci. A Dreamer’s orb. It could still be/have been!

Especially when this is its pedestal:

Finally: where oh where have we seen unusual lyrium before. I dunno, seems like a mystery...

...well, shit.

Oh, and Malvernis turns into this about halfway through the fight.

(”Assassinate” is amazing, and the ring Ichor? PUT IT ON it’s so good.)

[spiderkiss]

Just Finished Legacy

I took Fenris Varric and Anders even though I know you're supposed to bring Carver Varric Anders

Seriously Templar Carver, hope you had a good time watching the return path all day long. (Never forgive you for the Leandra comment, you jerk) I may take Warden Carver on a run through later... hmmm

spoilers under the cut IF I COULD GET THE CUT TO WORK ARG

FenrisxVarric Banter WIN

AndersXFenris bickering WIN

I especialy loved when poor Anders was freaking out about the voices and Fenris' sentiments were "He's going to snap and kill us all, why did you bring him UGH" Marric was all 'be nice to each other children!'.

...then Fenris was totally right. I forsee an explosion of Fenders fics... not that there's a shortage of them on the kinkmeme XP

Also sarcastic male Hawke has to be the best thing ever MY GODS he slays me

"manners Varric, introduce me to your lunatic friend."

and the early line about Corynthius Mwahahaha-ing

It made me a little sad to hear Malcolm hope his first child isn't born with magic. I had pegged him for the kind of guy that wouldn't be ashamed of his magic and now I have to rearrange my head canon a bit to fit this.

I keep thinking I missed something with Fenris as love interest being mentioned... someone somewhere mentioned the 'cute thing' which I'm not sure I know what they're reffering to... though there are several a couple of moments of Fenris being his violently protective self.

I also found it interesting to see Legacy 'Jossing' the theory that the chantry version of what caused the Blight was a lie. Curious to see where they go with that. And Corynthius calling on the power of the old god Dumas, interesting indeed.

Legacy also gave me fodder for DA:O things. I like how my main Warden and Hawke are so different. Tiarandir isn't all that worried about ancient evils since he's found they die just like most other things and made a deal with the Architect figuring the end of Blights was worth the risk and if something went wrong he could just Kill the Architect later, no biggie. Marric on the other hand is quite wary of dark, ancient things he doesn't understand and while he can't help but be curious and poke things he probably shouldn't he thought the Warden's plans of using Corynthius sounded like a recipe for disaster and was all NOPE

Listening to Anders I of course was imagined Tiarandir down there... he'd definatly be thinking about Tamlen and if Corynthius' whispering was like what he had to go through and... and... ;_;