nobody cares and nobody asked, but as i've been struggling with finishing a chapter of a fic that is already 100% plotted but the words just wont come to me, I've been thinking about my WIPs, those that I have already plotted but will probably never write.
the dearest WIP of my heart is the DAI rewrite I've been wanting to do for years
I love DAI with all my heart - on all platforms I've played it on, I might have 1k hours of playtime - and this sucker of a game bricked 2 (TWO!) of my PS3s while I was trying to run Jaws of Hakkon, and I still love it with all of my heart.
But man, if I had been in charge of it, I would have made one single tweak to it that would have changed the whole story while it still fundamentally allowing it to remain the same by fixing, what is, in my opinion (as someone who cannot be objective about these games), DAI's story most egregious flaw.
I'm sorry, but what the fuck is Ferelden's purpose in DAI?
The heart of this story, the meat and bones of this tale and how it unfolds, rightfully belongs to Orlais.
It's not only the Civil War (which is Orlesian) or the Mage Rebellion (that started in Orlais) or the Wardens (whose numbers in Orlais are only second to Weisshaupt) or the fact that Corypheus wants to decimate Orlais because it's the only country posing a treat to his plan of Making Tevinter Great Again. It's not even the fact that literally none of the companions or advisors has relevant ties to Ferelden and could have ALL been set in Orlais and it would have made as much if not more sense than what we got (what the hell is Bull, a mercenary, doing in Ferelden when he could be making BANK in Orlais protecting foppish nobles during the Civil War???) The fact of the matter is; the heart of this game is the Chantry. It's past, it's present, and it's future. What are the consequences of mounting this religion and grappling with what it did the Continent, both good and bad, the fallout of centering such a religion in this particular country and what it did to said country.
Orlais is militaristic, yes, but it is ESPECIALLY so during the formation and then establishment of the Chantry - the Chantry that demands that the four corners of the world sing the Chant. And not all of Orlais' expansion is Chantry-derivate, but one can't help but wonder what were those Orlesian/Andrastian Emperor's thinking of when they set out their armies and just... stayed in the places they might have 'liberated' -- cough, cough.
Especially poignant to wonder, because the Ciriane were not particularly expansionist - hell, they were downright isolationist, with Jeshavis despising her husbands' foreign influence and literally either murdering them or setting them up against each other.
DAI grapples with all institutions of Orlesian life that protect it; the Chantry, the Grand Game, the Army, the Wardens (especially relevant to the Valmonts since they a common family that rose after the Fourth Blight for exemplary service).
But, man, the Chantry's heart as well as its birthplace is Val Royeaux. Its greatest atrocities were established when Val Royeaux was under threat and yet we start the game in retconned Haven? The Dragon cult place in isolated Ferelden?
Why?
Why would you undercut your own plot to insert Ferelden of all places into this, when the heart of it belongs to Orlais? We can still get updates from Ferelden, but are we in there at all.
So, anyway, my fic idea is that all of DAI takes place in Orlais, as it should - and it changes almost nothing of value on it's surface, but the flavour, my guys, the flavour.
Felassan romance culminating in “You should not have to destroy yourself for him. You were the driving force of the rebellion — you are stronger than either of you give you credit for. If he will not respect you as an equal, you should not prostrate yourself seeking his approval. He’s not worth it.”
this was getting too long so i’m posting two separate chapters.
Anise awoke but did not open his eyes. He heard the shifting of people in suits of armor, smelled wet cold air. This was not where he’d passed out. He racked his mind for memories but could only remember running, a woman, and then passing out in a place ablaze. Slowly, he opened his eyes, finding swords pointed at him in a cell, his arms were bound in front of him. His hand suddenly alit green, pain searing up his hand into his forearm. His mouth clenched, the pain demanding silence, not screams when it suddenly stopped. He panted heavily, leaning over. He looked up when he heard footsteps, his back still curved.
Two women walked in through the door, a woman with short dark hair leading, the second having a hood covering her hair and shading her face, and the men put away their swords. The dark-haired woman walked behind him and leaned down next to his ear. “Tell me why we shouldn't kill you now.” She spoke with an accent he recognized. Noble Nevarran. Who was she? “The conclave is destroyed. Everyone who attended is dead. Except for you.” She said pointedly. His eyes widened.
“What? What happened?”
“Explain this.” She lifted his hand, it glowed painfully once more.
“I…” He paused for a beat. “Can’t.”
“What do you mean you can't?” Her tone grew more aggressive.
“I don’t remember anything.” He said calming, but internally his panic grew.
“You’re lying!” She shouted, grabbing him and pushing him back, in an attempt to intimidate him.
“We need him, Cassandra!” The woman, now whom he could tell had red hair, said, pulling her away.
Anise stared at them, processing what she just said. “How? How are all of them dead?” He asked. He couldn’t understand- What? Qunari gaatlok?
“Do you remember how this happened? How this began?” The red-haired woman asked, standing over him, the fire lighting up her face.
“No. I remember running from… something. And a woman. Then passing out.” He explained, feeling the best way to survive was to be honest. He couldn’t lie well, at all.
“A woman?” She said, a strange accent peaking out.
“She reached for me- But I can’t remember anything past that.”
“Go to the forward camp, Leliana,” A name! “I will take him to the rift.” Rift? The woman- Leliana, turns and leaves.
The black-haired woman crouched down in front of him, unchaining his shackles. He isn’t surprised they remain, though. “What did happen?” He asked as she looked up.
“It- It will be easier to show you.”
She leads him up and through a chantry. Not a surprise- Outside of major prisons chantry’s usually hold prisoners. It wouldn't be his first time inside one- But the first time from the eyes of a criminal- Suspected criminal.
The doors open, and immediately a garish green spiral in the sky caught his attention. “What is that?” She turned to look up at it with hatred.
“We call it the breach.” She started to explain. “It’s a massive rift into the Veil that grows larger with every passing hour. It’s not the only such rift, just the largest. All were caused by the explosion at the conclave.”
“How could an explosion do that?” Anise asked absentmindedly, staring in awful awe of it.
“No one knows. Unless we act, the breach may grow until it swallows the world.” The breach lit up as it expanded, as did the mark on his hand. The pain hit a moment later, cause him to strangledly groan as he fell to his knees. She kneeled in front of him once again. “Each time the breach expands, your mark grows. And it is killing you. It may be the key to stopping this. But there isn’t much time.”
The pain slowly ebbed back, his breathing returning to normal. “…I understand.”
“Then?”
“I’ll do what I can. Whatever it takes.” She smiled softly, a look of relief when she stood and helped him to his feet. She pulled him up- So hard he felt he may get thrown into the air. This woman frightened him.
She dragged him through a crowd of glaring and whispering people. “They have decided your guilt. They need it.” They walked not far to a gate that opened when they approached. “We lash out ,like the sky, but we must think beyond ourselves. As the Divine did. Until the breach is sealed.” She stops, and removes his shackles. “There will be a trial. I can promise no more. Come, it is not far.”
“Where are you taking me?” He asked, rubbing his wrists.
“Your mark must be tested on something smaller than the breach.” She began walking forward. “Open the gate! We’re heading into the valley.” She yelled to the gatekeeper. Barricades are set up on the path she leads them down, Anise shook his head, they will do nothing in a fight with a demon.
Suddenly, as they near the top of the hill, his hand screamed once more. “The pulses are coming faster now. The larger the breach grows, the more rifts appear, the more demons we face.” She explained, although he’d already concluded that. She helped him up and continued on.
After a moment he speaks. “How did I survive the blast?”
“They said you… stepped out of a rift, then fell unconscious. They say a woman was in the rift behind you. No one knows who she was. Everything farther in the valley was laid waste, including the Temple of Sacred Ashes. I suppose you’ll see soon enough.” The gate in front of them opens, and onto the bridge they go.
As they reach the middle, something from the breach comes hurling down, crumbling it to pieces. He falls onto a frozen lake, where a wraith got thrown down as well. The dark-haired woman charges them, sword and shield in hand. Another wraith begins to appear, as Anise spots a staff nearby. He scrambles to grab it when the body of the wraith conjures.
Quickly he casts a bolt of fire and chucks it towards it- But it still approaches, burning. He slowly walks back as he attacks it, but it quickly crowds him where he can’t back off anymore. He bashes it over the head with the hilt of the staff. It recovers quickly and tries to slash him with its claws, but he catches them with the staff and redirects it quickly, scrambling away while it fumbles.
The dark-haired woman finishes off the wraith she was fighting and slashes down the other. She then suddenly pointed her sword at Anise and said, “Drop your weapon! Now!”
Anise raised his hand, gently lowering the staff. “Okay. Okay.” Staying on her good side was a primary goal. He decided not to mention that he could kill her without a staff. She looked to be contemplating something for a second.
She sighed. “Wait.” Anise tilted his head and stopped. “I cannot protect you, and I cannot expect you to be helpless. I should remember that you agreed to come willingly.” She sheathed her sword and grabbed something from out of the bag on her hip. “Take these potions. Maker knows what we will face.” They were small and red, clearly healing potions, dyed to be able to tell them apart. A standard practice of apothecaries. They continued up the hill, passing by a dead soldier. Normally, he would take anything left on them, the resourcefulness of a dalish elf, but believed it would bother the dark-haired woman. He still didn’t know her name.
“Where are your soldiers?” Anise asked. With the amount of soldiers they’d seen earlier it was a surprise there weren’t more now.
“At the forward camp, or fighting. We’re on our own, for now.” She explained, then breaking out into a run. Anise huffed and set to follow her, but her pace was too quick for him to keep up. She turned when she heard his footsteps grow far and slowed down. They finally reached the top of the hill, where they spotted some wraiths in a valley. “There! Watch out! If we flank them, we may gain the advantage.” She said, her head turned to Anise as she began to run down to the wraiths, her sword unsheathed.
Anise stayed at the top of the hill, being a mage granted him the extra range, hurling powerful blue flames down upon the wraiths. They were defeated quickly, after all there were only two, and they continued on into the valley. Another is thrown down onto another hill in the distance, a wisp this time.
Anise conjures a ball of lightning in the time it takes the dark-haired woman to close the distance between her and the other demon and attacks the wisp, killing it in a sudden burst. She quickly thrusts her sword through the wraith, finishing it off quickly. “You’re very efficient.” Anise points out.
She nods but otherwise does not comment.
They continue over the small hill and into another valley, where more lurk. Anise sighs and readies himself once more, this time casting a shield over the dark-haired woman. She quickly closes the distance on the wraith, leaving the wisp for Anise. She bashes it with her shield and slashes off one of its arms. It fumbles and tries to attack, but she blocks it with her shield and runs it through. The wisp shoots a bolt of spiritual energy at Anise, weakening him. He tries to shrug it off but cannot kill it before the dark-haired woman reaches it, and she takes the final blow.
“Are you alright?” She asked, as he caught up.
He nodded, a little winded. “I’ll be alright.”
She nodded and continued up the stairs embedded in the hill, covered in snow. He followed, rolling his shoulders. “We’re getting close to the rift. You can hear the fighting.”
“Who is fighting?” Anise asked, as she started to run.
“You’ll see soon. We must help them.” This woman much preferred to show him than tell him, clearly.
They reached a ledge and she immediately jumped off, joining the fray below. A rift like the one in the sky floats above a scene of people fighting with wraiths, a few humans, an elf, and a dwarf. This must be who we must help. He jumped down and cast a shield over them, targeting the wraith that was fighting another elven mage. The humans group up and defeat a wraith together while the dwarf pins down another with powerful shots from his crossbow. One unlike anything Anise had seen before.
The dark-haired woman defeats the final one, when the elven mage grabs Anise’s hand and thrusts it towards the rift. “Quickly! Before more come through!” He yelled. The rift crackled and lit up, before closing. Anise shivered- He’d felt nothing like that before…
“What did you do?” Anise said, holding his hand close to his chest, frightened slightly.
“I did nothing. The credit is yours.” The man said, as if it were clear as day.
“How?” Anise said, questions seeming to be the majority of his speech.
“Whatever magic opened the Breach in the sky also placed that mark upon your hand. I theorized the mark might be able to close the rifts that have opened in the Breach's wake - and it seems I was
correct.” He said with a smile.
The dark-haired woman approached, sheathing her sword. “Meaning it could also close the breach itself.”
“Possibly.” He said to her, before turning back to Anise. “It seems you hold the key to our salvation.”
“Good to know! Here I thought we’d be ass-deep in wraiths forever.” The dwarf exclaimed as he fiddled with his gloves, then walked forward, crossbow now on his back. “Varric Tethras: rogue, storyteller, and occasionally unwelcome tagalong.” He winked at the dark-haired woman, making her huff.
“Varric Tethras… The author? What are you doing here?” Anise had read Tales of the Champion- Of course he had. Almost everyone who could even read had. It was good- The ending with Orsino bothered him, though. Why go through all that just to become a blood mage at the very end?
“Oh? You a fan? I’ll give you an autograph if we survive this.” He said with a laugh.
“Absolutely not. Your help is appreciated, Varric, but…” She began.
“Have you been in the valley lately, Seeker? You need me.” A Seeker? Is she…? She makes a noise of disgust. Cassandra Pentagast! The Seeker who became right hand to the Divine! No wonder he felt he recognized her. He should’ve known. And the other woman must’ve been the left hand of the Divine.
The elven mage interrupted his thoughts. “My name is Solas, if there are to be introductions. I'm pleased to see you still live.” Anise tilted his head.
“He means, 'I kept that mark from killing you while you slept.'” Varric explained, making Anise smile.
“Then I owe you my thanks.” He said, bowing to him.
“Thank me if we manage to close the breach without killing you in the process.” He smiled grimly. “Cassandra, you should know: the magic involved here is unlike any l have ever seen. Your prisoner is a mage, but I find it difficult to imagine any mage having such power.” He explained to her.
“Yes. I have felt nothing like this either. But I will do what I must.” Anise said with a nod.
“Understood. We must get to the forward camp quickly.” The woman he now recognized as Cassandra said, turning to leave. They jump over a broken wall and continue down the path.
There was an open frozen lake, with two wraiths and two wisps blocking the path to the forward camp. The three men stayed on the high ground while Cassandra charged the wraiths, hitting them both with a swipe of her sword before tucking behind her shield when they returned the attack. Silas and Anise accidentally both cast a ward on her, wasting mana. The wisp on the right sent a blast of energy toward Varric, hitting him dead on and weakening him. Quickly reacting, Solas cast a healing spell to help him recover before launching a ball of ice at the wisp, killing it. After Anise sent a ball of fire and killed the final wisp, the party regrouped and continued on.
Anise spotted a burning house and quickly turned and ran towards it, trying to see if anyone needed help. He used a bolt of force to bust down the door, but could see the body of another already dead on the floor. He sighed and backed away from the smoke infested area and returned to the group, who’d followed him closer to the house, though not as closely as he’d gotten. They were silent until they began up the stairs embedded in the hill. “So…” Varric started. “Are you innocent?”
“I don’t remember what happened.” Anise said concisely.
Varric snickered. “That’ll get you every time. Should’ve spun a story.”
“That’s what you would’ve done.” Cassandra returned.
“It’s more believable! And less prone to result in premature execution.” He pointed out.
“When you are able to lie.” Anise said with a laugh. “I was not gifted with such abilities.”
They topped the hill to see two more little humps with wisps stationed on top with a wraith in the middle. Varric and Solas focused one while Anise focused on another, effectively taking them out despite not being a team for very long. It was clear they were all either well seasoned, or well trained. Cassandra rushed the wraith, cutting off its neckless head.
“I hope Leliana made it through all this.” Cassandra said anxiously.
Solas spoke up, “We will see for ourselves at the forward camp. We’re almost there.”
They continued on the path up to the forward camp, coming across another rift in front of the gate. “Another rift!” Cassandra said, sounding panicked and surprised.
“We must seal it! Quickly!” Solas shouted.
“They keep coming! Help us!” A soldier that was fighting a demon screamed. Solas quickly froze the wraith in front of the soldier solid, where it was quickly destroyed by her sword. With the battle now balanced, they quickly overtook the brutal but mindless demons.
“Hurry! Use the mark!” Solas shouted once more. Anise lifted his hand and reached out to the rift, manipulating the marks magic like he would his own. This felt… different. Like holding a tool and now using a part of your body. He felt like he was sewing the Veil shut with a needle.
“The rift is gone! Open the gates!” Cassandra shouted to the gatekeeper.
“Right away, Lady Cassandra!” Anise smiled. He was right! He already knew that, though.
“We’re clear, for the moment. Well done.” Solas said, placing a hand on Anise’s back.
“Whatever that thing on your hand is, it’s useful.” Said Varric. Anise laughed and nodded in agreement. “It ‘tis.”
They entered the forward camp to yelling. “We must prepare the soldiers!” Shouted a female voice. Sounded like Leliana… He couldn’t tell for sure.
“We will do no such thing.” A male and pompous voice exclaimed.
“The prisoner must get to the Temple of Sacred Ashes. It is our only chance!” Leliana reasoned.
“You have already caused enough trouble without resorting to this exercise in futility.”
“I have caused trouble?”
“You, Cassandra, the Most Holy —haven't you all done enough already?”
“You're not in command here!”
“Enough! I will not have it!” He yelled as they approached. “Ah. Here they come.” He said with disdain, his arms folding over his chest as he turned to them.
Leliana ran over to them with a smile, patting Cassandra’s shoulder. “You made it. Chancellor Roderick this is-“
“I know who he is.”
“As Grand Chancellor of the Chantry, I herby order you to take this criminal to Val Royaeux to face execution!” He said, pointing at Anise.
Cassandra scoffed “Order me? You are a glorified clerk. A bureaucrat!” She insulted him, standing intimidatingly in front of him.
“And you are a thug. But a thug that supposedly serves the Chantry!” He does not back down, trusting she would not touch a hair on his head.
“We serve the Most Holy, Chancellor, as you well know.” Leliana butts in.
“Justina is dead! We must elect a replacement, and obey her orders on the matter!”
“And that makes you in charge?” Anise questions, stepping forward and tilting his head.
“You killed everyone in charge!” Roderick said, pushing past Cassandra to point a finger at him. “Call a retreat, Seeker. Our position here is hopeless.” He said turning back to her.
“We can stop this before it's too late.” Cassandra said with conviction.
“How? You won't survive long enough to reach the temple, even with all your soldiers.”
“We must get to the temple. It's the quickest route.”
Leliana interjects “But not the safest. Our forces can charge as a distraction while we go through the mountains.”
“We lost contact with an entire squad on that path. It is too risky.” Cassandra shook her head.
“Listen to me! Abandon this now before more lives are lost!” Roderick is promptly ignored.
Cassandra turns to Anise. “How do you think we should proceed?”
Anise’s eyebrows raise to the top of his head. “You’re asking me?”
“You have the mark.” Solas simply put.
“And you are the one we must keep alive. Since we cannot agree on our own…” Cassandra trailed off, cueing Anise in.
“We should take the mountain path. We may yet find your squad.” Anise assumed it was probably a rift that opened up that caught them up. With him, they could close it.
“Leliana. Bring everyone left in the valley.” Cassandra commands. “Everyone.”
“On your head be the consequences, Seeker.” Roderick curses as she passes by.
