#dragon age lore

[nikiferous]

The Chantry / The Inquisition faction for DATV

A part of my worldstate i wish to share; many aspects of the faction are tailored specifically to my own worldstate, but other are not, and I encourage to take from this what you want and make your own spin!

[100jewels-between-teeth]

A semi-comprehensive list of every pre-established lore inaccuracy in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Please note, this isnt me saying you cannot enjoy the game for what it is. This is not me saying you shouldnt play the game. But as a long time Dragon Age fan (started with Origins, has consumed all extra media including books/shows/novellas/etc..) the way Veilguard has fumbled the lore is, to someone who cares, infuriating. I shall keep the list under a read more to avoid spoilers for Veilguard. This will also be added to with more points that are given for people who wish to add

But without further adieu;

Bioware Kind of Forgot...

Bioware kind of forgot...

That Solas, after you choose to drink from the Well of Mythal (whom in Veilguard is confirmed either a lover/mother figure) is fucking pissed

That Solas was not bringing down the Veil to move the Evenuris and put them somewhere else, but to establish the ancient elves once more

The fucking orbs

That the elves were currently, at the end of inquisition, beginning the elf uprising and following Solas

the Elvhen Language

Solas having an extensive spy network that never gets brought up

That most of the Elves would be on board with Solas's plan

Brialla and how she controls Eluvians too

That in Inquisition, it is stated that barely any working Eluvians exist and that the one in Skyhold and the one in the temple of Mythal are extremely rare

The Valaslin and how if all of what happened is common knowledge, that the elves arent currently freaking the fuck out that they are wearing slave markings

Solas does not abhor the use of Blood Magic

That the Evanuris were trapped/locked in the Black City specifically and not the fade in general, so Solas would have to open the Veil either at the doors of the Black City or travel. The gods would not be wandering around the Fade

Using the lore/logic confirmed in Veilguard, the ancient elves being spirits that, with the help of lyrium, were made into elven form, that Cole should technically be one of the most powerful creatures known to man since they gave themselves a human body without the assistance of Lyrium. Bioware kind of forgot...

Slavery in Tevinter (really now there are no slaves shown in Minrathous?)

Varric hates the deeproads/dwarves so why is he so okay with Harding's magic

Hawke in general

Varric is a world famous author so someone would have mentioned his death at some point?????

how the fucking Blight works (seriously the entire party is infected with the Blight)

How spirits work

Morrigan never wanted to become a vessel for Mythal and despises the thought

The Antivan crows bought/tortured child slaves and children from brothels, to be trained as crows, basically nullifying all of the trauma Zevran had gone through

Fenris freeing slaves, still

In the final battle they refer to the head of the Imperial chantry as the "Divine" when it should be the "Black Divine"

That Thedas has two moons

More shall be added with discovery

[exhausted-archivist]

Dragon Age Media Timeline Visual

Accidentally flattened the work file image so have this until I get the motivation to redo all this work and then the other eras lol

Notes:

Non Canon Material: The IDW comics and Dragon Age Journeys are non-canon and added for posterity.

Short Stories:

Sebastian: Derived from the timeline outlined for his age. He is 28 as Act 3 of DA2. He was given to the Chantry shortly after receiving his grandfathers bow at the age of 13. Additionally, he states not having returned to Starkhaven for 15 years.

Aveline: Derived from the fact story takes place when she first enters Cailen's army and meets Wesley. Cailen's only been king for 5 years as of DAO, thus giving her the window of 9:25-9:30.

Fenris: Derived from the fact when we recruit him, he's been on the run for 3 years, putting the earliest this story can happen at 9:28. Given that the story doesn't specify where it takes place other than outside Tevinter, it give us the time frame of 9:28-9:30.

Merrill and Varric: Stated to happen before the events of Act 1.

Anders: He has a dedicated window of becoming an abomination post Awakening which means he specifically has a window of Month 7-12 of 9:31 for this to happen.

Isabela: Is stated to arrive in Kirkwall after the Tome of Koslun is stolen. It is noted to be stolen in 9:31.

The Next One: Evka isn't with Antoine at this time. But we know that Antoine joins the Wardens at the earliest in 9:45 due to the short story Hunger, which has the time frame of 9:45 when the Wardens were summoned back to Weisshaupt.

Ruins of Reality: Occurs after the Tevinter Night Anthology of Three Trees Till Midnight.

The Wake: Lucanis states in Veilguard that he's been missing from Treviso for a year and was declared dead. Meaning this has to occur in 9:51.

As We Fly: Lucanis states that the Antaam started occupying Treviso in his absence/"death".

Comics:

The Missing: Is supposed to lead directly into Veilguard. We also know Rook is recruited after these events and Rook has been with Varric and Harding about 6 months prior to the events of Veilguard.

Games:

A Tale of Orzammar: Events happen before DAO. DAO is stated to begin in the first month of 9:30, leaving this to take place in 9:29.

The Last Court: States it is early summer/late spring. Inquisition takes place 1 year after the Mage Templar War is declared, meaning that Inquisition presumable starts in late autumn/early winter when referencing the start of the war in Asunder.

If there's a typo or something lemme know. But I think I got most of it. If you have any questions or would like me to expand on something lemme know.

[solisminatio]

Veilguard Mention Upon Ye

Saw a post on Reddit (I only touch it for the posts about game lore and for help on stuff because I'll trust some stranger's post answers from ten years ago with the exact same problem over ChatGPT any day) that had a theory that all of Rook's team were parallels of the Evanuris. It was as following:

"Rook = Elgar'nan, the charismatic leader.

Neve = Mythal, a fierce protector of the weak.

Harding = Andruil, the hunter who went mad from learning forbidden secrets.

Bellara = June, the inventor and master of magical artifacts.

Lucanis = Dirthamen, keeper of secrets with two pet *ravens* who returned from death.

Davrin = Ghilan’nain, master of monsters and keeper of the Halla.

Emmrich = Falon’din, keeper of the dead.

Taash = Sylaise, a god of fire, both destructive and of the hearth.

Now, who is the parallel to Fen’Harel, aka Solas?

At first, I figured Solas was his own parallel since he’s a constant ‘companion’ in Rook’s head, regardless of whether he or Rook want to be, and he does betray Rook in the end…

But there’s also someone else constantly at Rook’s side, constantly lying (if only by omission) to Rook and presenting himself as Rook’s ally (even if it is legitimate and sincere) only to lead Rook to ruin near the end of the game (even if it is unintentional).

Varric."

This has to be the most BEAUTIFUL thing I've ever seen in my life. It's so perfect. It gives me an exact idea of the next Rook I want to play. I hope all of you enjoy this just as much as I did.

(The link to the post so you can see it and the interactions under it as well: https://www.reddit.com/r/DragonAgeVeilguard/s/Q0jf4fxifn )

[vhen-harel]

In my current replay of DAI, I went back to Val Royeaux after defeating Corypheus, and dialogue mentioning Mythal immediately caught my attention. So of course I ran to the internet and found the full exchange here on Tumblr, (credit to dalishious). So I wasn't imagining it.

It’s a conversation between a noble and his elven servant. The servant recalls that, as a child, he discovered ruins in the Arbor Wilds - ruins, that years later, people from Tevinter seek him out for. This is almost certainly the Temple of Mythal.

But the most fascinating part is the conclusion to this ongoing dialogue:

Noble: You're worrying Madame with your shouting during the night, not to mention the other servants. Servant: I can't help it, sire. A woman comes to me in my dreams, and she whispers things... Noble: You mustn't say that, not in public. People will think you'll be taken by a demon! Servant: She's not a demon, sire. She says her name is Mythal, but... I will be quiet, I promise.

So this same elf - who discovered the Temple as a child - is later being visited by Mythal in his dreams. And did they discover the well and drink from it themselves, or is Mythal’s presense just generally strong in the Temple?

This has a few interesting implications:

Solas isn’t the only one who can visit/talk to people through their dreams; but how? Is it the Flemythal fragment? (possibly, considering Flemeth's dialogue about Mythal coming to her in the lonely dark).

If the Inquisitor drinks from the Well, it becomes easy to imagine that Mythal could communicate with them in a similar way.

This adds even more weight to Solas’ angry and desperate reaction if the Inquisitor drinks from the well.

There’s another interesting detail: by the end of this exchange, the servant - who is initially described as not having vallaslin - appears to later have one. (I didn’t catch it on my first pass, so I’ll need to go back and confirm whether it was always there or if it appears later when I saw it.)

Either way, it raises an interesting question. Was taking the vallaslin his own choice? Or was he influenced by Mythal? And what was Mythal whispering to him?

Oh that Mythal…

Full dialogue exchange:

Noble: How odd that more men show up at the manor to speak with you. You, and not I. Servant: I apologize, sire. I'd never met those men before. Noble: And what did they need? Nothing unsavory, I hope. Servant: They asked about ruins, something I found when I was a child. Rather strange they knew about it at all. Servant: Sire, you should know those men approached me again. Noble: Again? The last time they came to the manor, I told them to leave you be. Servant: They came to me in the market. They claim I misdirected them, but I swear I didn't. Noble: No need to worry. I'm your patron, not them. I won't bow to Tevinter scum, that's for certain! Noble: How is it that you know anything about ruins? Servant: You forget, sire. Before I became a servant at the palace, I was with one of the Dalish clans. Noble: Ah, yes. I keep forgetting because you don't have those ridiculous markings on your face. Servant: I was too young. Long ago as it was, I remember the Arbor Wilds as if it were yesterday. [Post-Ending] Noble: You're worrying Madame with your shouting during the night, not to mention the other servants. Servant: I can't help it, sire. A woman comes to me in my dreams, and she whispers things... Noble: You mustn't say that, not in public. People will think you'll be taken by a demon! Servant: She's not a demon, sire. She says her name is Mythal, but... I will be quiet, I promise.

[thevulturesquadron]

Dropping this as an example and leaving out any names - so please don’t go and start an argument with these people or harass anyone. It’s not why I'm writing this, it gives them more attention, and there is no room for an actual conversation.

But, to my point! I am starting to believe that people online aren’t always shitheads on purpose. They are seriously lacking reading comprehension and that is absolutely terrifying.

In this one example the dev has not said any of the things they are being accused of. Let me break this down a bit.

Starting with the Bellara statement - the answer literally says Bellara is the most knowledgeable when it comes to elven magic EXCEPT compared to the elven gods. And even then, it’s prefaced by two things: 1. PROBABLY, which is used to show that it’s not a certainty and that there's a high chance there are others around the world (let’s saaay... people like Merrill), but they are not within reach so it's inconsequential. And 2. ‘Bellara ASSUMES’, which implies she doesn’t actually hold the totality of knowledge. The game shows again and again that she is in the process of learning through experimenting and nothing in this answer contradicts that. Additionally, literally during the game, Bellara has access to Solas’s ancient library at the Lighthouse AND an ancient archive of knowledge. Basically she has MANUALS on ancient magic from the very people that practiced it.

2. ‘Evanuris don’t understand magic’ - again the answer never said that. What it conveyed was that the Evanuris had access to magic and found ways to make it work for them. It was a tool, much like electricity: we didn’t invent it, it is a phenomenon we learnt to turn into power and use. The game kept reminding everyone again and again that the Evanuris weren’t gods, just powerful mages and Epler’s answer just reaffirmed that. (Plus this is something previous games have also hinted at repeatedly). The Elven Gods didn’t invent magic, and much like everyone else in Thedas, after they tapped into that force they started applying it in ways they were able to understand. Solas himself (the voice the devs created to tell a story) said that in so many ways throughout the game, so why are people acting like this is the first time they're hearing about it??

Anyway, this is just me taking the time to analyze one of the many absolutely mind-boggling takes that exist out there, and there’s… a lot of them. These people should just put the phone down and open a book.

[illusivesoul]

[nikiferous]

evanura la'enansal mythál ghilana vhenàs. the independence of the Dales c. 9:53 Dragon.

[ notes: my inquisitor dar’vunlea lavellan post DATV restores the Dales with the help of the Divine Victoria, banking on her position as the inquisitor and orlais falling apart into smaller dukedoms and overall chaos. Long story. The pose references two depictions of mythal from DATV ]