Jan 5, 2025
5. a note/letter found in your OC’s pocket
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5. a note/letter found in your OC’s pocket
Dirthamen's Soliloquy (Codex)
https://archiveofourown.org/works/64117600
Rating: G
Category: Gen
Additional tags:
Codex (Dragon Age), fan codex, fan worldbuilding, Elvhenan, Elvhenan Culture & Customs (Dragon Age), Ancient Elves (Dragon Age), The Fade (Dragon Age), Fade Spirits, metaphysics of thedas
Celebrations of winter solstice among the Avvar
Winter Solstice, also known as the Longest Night among the Avvar, is the day when Hakkon’s grip over the Mountains becomes the strongest. Yet it also marks the moment of change, a reversal of roles.
During the day, everyone is bound to be outside, basking in what little light reaches the surface. Offerings are made to the three chief gods, as well as the local deities. First thing come the morning, the augur prepares an offering to messengers of the Lady of the Skies. Birds that remain in the Mountains during winter are presented with a mix of grain and white fat, in hopes that they will feast on it and gain strength, which they then would share with the sky and the sun, as until the Winter Solstice, the source of light had been growing weaker and weaker.
A gift to Korth is made as well, usually a painting on a cliff, somewhere near an entrance to the deepest caves, through which the Avvar ask him to preserve the Stone, his domain, in perfect steadiness through the rest of winter, keeping avalanches away from settlements. Then, the local gods are appeased, each in a unique manner, as every spirit yearns for something different. Last but not least, an offering is made to Hakkon, a plea to convince him to restrain winter within its boundaries, and once the time is right, draw his breath back into his lungs, retreating to the highest peaks until the next season of ice.
Once the sun sets, everyone has to hide inside a shelter, most often in the Thane’s hall, as it’s usually the biggest building in the Hold. During the Longest Night, the Veil is at its thinnest, so the local gods might not be able to protect everyone against the less benevolent denizens of the Land of Dreams. Thus, the people flock together to shield each other against evil. A feast is held, during which blessings, wishes, and small gifts are exchanged. Skalds sing about gods and heroes from the dawn of times. The community is tight-knit over the entire year, but during the Longest Night everyone becomes even closer.
- Submission by @ammocharis Dear Scholar, Your research into Avvar customs has been gladly received, and will be filed under ‘Thedosian Customs,’ in the library. The information is well written and concise, and I hope it will prove useful to the researchers that visit the collection. Kind regards, [An unintelligible scrawl of a signature]
9. Rook's shopping list - Adryn
Fan codex for today. Based on the prompts of this post
You guess who wrote last.
Half-assed template I did if you want to use it to do your own.
The Theory of Arcanist Derangement, and why we need the Circles
In Tevinter, during the height of the Towers Age, a Magister named Allineas devised the theory of Arcanist Derangement. The talent of all mages - that is to say, the magic itself - runs like a river. Properly forded by training the river ‘returns to the ocean,’ and is channelled properly through the vessel, out into the world where it is largely drawn back to the Fade, allowing mages to cast spells as we know them. Those who have not received this training, however, cannot on their own learn to channel this magic in the same way. But the river still must flow, straining against whatever barriers of willpower a mage should try to hold in order to stop themselves burning down houses unintentionally when emotions run high. Those individuals who manage to survive, whom we term Hedge Mages, are those who have learnt to live with the way their magic expresses itself, even turning it to their advantage. Some, like the Qunari Saarebas, may even express magic in dangerous and spectacular ways, as it rushes forth and is expressed in the only way the Saarebas can control it without destroying themselves. Their magic, therefore, is solely destructive. It is important to note that some cultures, such as the Chasind, Avvar and the Dalish do not experience this, having their own cultural traditions in the training of mages. A Dalish mage, therefore, might master the way of the Knight Enchanter in a way a Saarebas never could. THESE ‘CULTURAL TRADITIONS’ NOT RELEVANT
Prior to the establishment of the circles, then, magical talent expressed itself in many ways. Not always randomly, sometimes mages were ‘trained’ in ancient traditions and had abilities no circle mage could ever hope to master, but without modern training methods discovered, this way of learning and practising magic would always be especially risky. Indeed, the term ‘arcanist derangement’ expresses in its name the effects of such channelling: Very often unpredictable, practitioners were chaotic and wild with their talents. Allineas writes from experience of mages communing with spirits and being lured down ‘darker paths,’ < GIVE EXAMPLES! with many eventually succumbing to madness. He makes it clear that many of these individuals did not live long lives.
In addition, those who have forced a path for their magic, after a certain amount of time doing this, can no longer relearn the proper way to ford the river. They are no longer able to cast spells, and can only direct magic as they have learnt themselves. Therefore, Circle training is paramount to both the survival and sanity of mages everywhere, as we pass on the knowledge of how to safely draw the magic through us that is in turn drawn to us naturally from the Fade.
✓ GOOD ANSWER. DON’T FORGET TO USE CITATIONS WHEN QUOTING THE WORK OF OTHERS.
-- From a marked essay by a young Circle Mage, concerning the question, ‘Why are the Circles necessary to the survival of mages?’ Recovered from the Tower library of Ostwick, after it fell in 9:41 Dragon.
[Sources: 1. Known Magisters, 2. Talking Dragon Age, 3. Dragon Age: Asunder, pg. 284 4. Interview with David Gaider]
“The clothing of Orlesians is like nothing else I have seen: Rich silks cut in strange, exaggerated shapes which rise and fall with the tides of the trends. What one noble wears to breakfast may be seen all over court by supper, prompting him to change to something else outlandish the next morn, by which time he has already been denounced as passé. I cannot help but think of what Andraste would think of these strange people who pay her lip service, but then, it is not for me to judge what lies within the heart. Behind such a mask may lie evil, but then again, most need no mask at all to hide their wickedness.” - from the Writings of a Chantry Scholar
An unpublished draft of Magister Dorian Pavus's speech given on the Summerday of 2040 TE
https://archiveofourown.org/works/64068952
Rating: T
Category: Gen
Summary:
An alternative "unpublished" draft of Tevinter's Shame, a.ka. Dorian's "check your privilege" speech.
This is a canon-divergent fan Codex entry aligning with the Veilguard timeline.
16. A conversation between your OC and their best friend
Fan codex for today. Based on the prompts of this post
This one, written by Varric to my Rook before the first mission of the game.
Half-assed template I did if you want to use it to do your own.