While the Inquisitor carries many titles, the least spoken of is the one given by the spirits. When the Augur calls them “the one who blazes like fire and mends the air,” it feels less like his wording and more like the words the spirits themselves gave to him. And they insist on seeing this person when they arrive.
But I'm particularly interested in how the Inquisitor is percieved by spirits and some dialogue gives us a clue.
Augur: How do you think you appear to the gods of the Fade? To those beyond the Veil, your hand burns like the watchman's bonfire.
The one who mends the sky is here, the one who closed the Breach has arrived - and they press what they know upon the Augur, recounting what the Inquisitor has done: Hushed Whispers, Champion of the Just, the Well of Sorrows. In the Fade, nothing about them is hidden. Their deeds travel ahead of them, and their light gives them away wherever they stand.
Inquisitor: Are you saying every spirit in the Fade knows where I am?
Augur: Only those nearby, but thoughts spread quickly among the gods.
Awareness travels among spirits - the one who blazes is near rippling through the Fade as spirits watch.
But spirits also feel the Inquisitor and recognize something familiar in them, perhaps that's part of what draws them - yet they don't quite know what the Inquisitor is.
The Spirit of Command: "What of you? I felt your coming. Is there something alike in us?"
They feel their coming before they even see the Inquisitor - they know that great blaze is drawing near. Command senses something familiar but also knows the Inquisitor isn’t a spirit. So what's it noticing?
The Anchor is rooted in ancient magic from Solas, Solas' own power stored over a millennia through his orb created the Anchor - that power which now weaves itself through the Inquisitor's body. It connects them directly to the Fade at all times. If spirits respond to what something is at its core, then reacting the way they are suggests the Anchor has changed the Inquisitor , being a part of the Veil changes them (metaphysically, physiologically).
In my own interpretation (as I've shared before), I believe the Inquisitor is a changed, liminal kind of being (all versions of the Inquisitor):
So, when I think of the Inquisitor and how the Spirits, with their spirit eyes might see them in the waking world while they are in the Fade - these are the images I have in my mind:
Inquisitor Maraven has a carved wooden necklace of a dragon that she wears everywhere, and her eyes seem to glow with pride when someone compliments it; a gift from Thane Sun-Hair, made by the finest craftsmen in Stone Bear Hold. They still keep in touch, and Inquisitor First-Thaw visits from time to time. Because even though she went there on business, she left as kin and she has a great appreciation for the hold and their culture. She even refuses to let them call her ‘Inquisitor’, and instead insists that they just call her First-Thaw.
Show me your Inquisitors during Inquisition, and then during Veilguard.
I finally have time to do this! Thanks for the nudge @fadetouchedlurker
Saethre Lavellan
Inquisition: She turns 29 during the events of the Inquisition, and always wears her hair back or up. It's long and thick, easier to manage that way, especially in battle. Her dark black hair is one of her indulgent vanities. Whenever she could she would spend time tending to it - washing, brushing, oiling it in her favourite scents and braiding it in intricate, complex patterns - very ritualistic for her. Subconsiously though there is meaning in it. Saethre has issues with control so I liked the idea that this ritual with her hair is about containment, everything put in its place just like everything else in her life has been - order, controlled, held in place for the sake of duty (and avoidance but she's not there yet at this point).
There is a softness to her in the Inquisition, one that serves her well. That softness allows her to adapt quickly to a situation or person, it's why she was always the one interfacing with other races as First of her clan. Her face is plump and full with lightness and her eyes bright - she is quick to laugh with a mischievous look in her eyes.
Trespasser: 31. Saethre is doing her best hiding her pain during this time. Her eyes have dulled somewhat because of it. She is preparing to die, and if she's honest? There's a part of her that welcomes it though she'll never speak it out loud.
She can't remember what she looked like with her vallaslin and if she wears her hair up a certain way, hiding her ears, she can pass as human. She uses this to her advantage when dealing with the exalted council, they seem far more relaxed when not faced with an obviously Dalish elf with a severe look upon her face (again, her hair a symbol of her attempts at control). She's not as quick to laughter as she used to be but she always has a soft smile for those she's closest to and puts herself in a position to be there even more for her companions (so as to avoid her own issues - she's really good at avoiding things internally).
Veilguard: Turns 40 during VG events
I've written many times that I interpret the "spirit" of Justinia's comment "the anchor cannot be removed without your death" as prophecy. Saethre didn't die so the anchor wasn't fully removed. That, combined with the piece of the Veil so woven into the Anchor and her being (Cole: It's the Veil. It wants to be back, but it's trapped on you) has resulted in her being altered.
She ages slowly now - she is like Tolkien's Dúnedain. She started noticing over the years that she rarely gets sick, if at all. She is stronger in Veil thin places as she is more connected to the Fade, feeding into that energy to sustain her. Where the veil is strong she is actually weaker, more prone to exhaustion more quickly. To say in VG she is in her magical element is an understatement. Only Dagna, Cole, and Morrigan know this truth about her.
With this knowledge though she's a bit more wild now, she takes more uncessary risks and has more of a frenzy in battle than before.
To symbolise her letting go of control and her starting to actually face some internal trauma, her long, thick black hair is now free. Her skin is paler, more tight, with dark circles around her eyes. I like the severe look her long black hair gives her face, like the night surrounding the pale moon (which I have connected to owls for a very specific reason but that's another post). If she had resting bitch face during DAI, this is atomic resting bitch face during VG (especially when dealing with Dozer). The scar is from a journey she takes with Cole related to the massacre of her clan in Wycome. She doesn't laugh as much as she used to and her smiles are hard won, but she still loves fiercely and will fight to protect those around her - that's never changed about her.
Inky lovers - if you have the abilty to share before and after please do! I love me an Inky. So this is an open tag. (Oh but tagging @sh00kspeared who requested the tag).
Ame’len Fen'Vhenan - "She who carries the heart of the wolf"
- As spoken by Keeper Shiven before the gathered clans at the Arlathvhen.
It is asked why we refer to her as Ame’len Fen'Vhenan. Why we invoke her in our darkest moments. Why, when we light our fires, we offer the first flame to her before any other. I will tell you.
It is said that before the Dread Wolf brought havoc upon the world, his heart was wise and kind - but betrayal turned it cold. In the long ages before the Veil was torn, he waged war without cease. He tore down thrones, cast down those once called kin, sowing destruction wherever he went. So great was his power that it sundered Thedas itself, and forced him to slumber, the world reshaped in his absence.
When he woke, all he saw was ruin. The world he had known was gone and in that moment, his grief became a fury so vast, the wolves of the world were said to howl with his voice.
To calm his rage, one was sent to face him - one who blazed with fire, her body bearing the power of gods. The Avvar named her First-Thaw, the shemlen called her The Herald, believing the flames that leapt from her hand were sent by Andraste herself. No matter the name, all agreed: her fire reached the Dread Wolf’s heart and in its thawing, they fell in love.
For a time, he knew peace in her arms. The wisdom and kindness he had forgotten returned to him. And the world, for a breath, could rest.
But sadly, peace could not hold in the heart of this grieving god for it was too weakened by an eternity of pain. Unable to let go of the world he had lost, he chose to restore it - knowing it would destroy the world she lived in and the heart she had awakened in him. To protect her and his heart, the Dread Wolf tore it from his body and gave it to her so that his wisdom and goodness might survive within her, shielding her from devestation. Though she begged him to stay, he vanished before she could turn him from his path.
He journeyed where no one could follow, and wherever he went, ruin unfolded. Without his heart, his pain spilled into the waking world. Rivers poisoned, demons rose and dreams turned to nightmares.
In fear, the people of Thedas turned once more to Andraste’s Bright Flame, begging her to destroy the Dread Wolf. But the Herald - who loved him still, and who held his heart within her - felt his pain and saw the wisdom still flickering within. She alone understood that a wolf only bites when it has been made to bleed. And so she set out on the most perilous of journeys to find him.
She crossed battlefields steeped in blood. She faced demons that clawed at her spirit and darkness that tried to break her. But through it all, she guarded his heart. And true to his word, his own heart guarded her as well. In carrying both their hearts, a bond was forged so deep that the spirits came to know her by it. They called her the Dread Wolf’s Heart. And when her strength failed, when the path grew darkest, the spirits came to her aid and carried her forward. Finally she found him at the top of the highest mountain, his hands poised to tear the world apart. Here in this moment, she offered his heart back to him.
It is said that when his eyes fell upon her face, his heart leapt from her body and returned to his. And when it beat once more within his chest, the Dread Wolf fell to his knees, overcome by grief so vast it should have destroyed him.
But it was not the same heart he had given her.
In her keeping, it had not only endured - it had grown stronger. By carrying both their hearts within her, she had entwined them, and each drew strength from the other.
And so the Dread Wolf found the strength to stand and face his crimes. He bound his life to the Veil and stepped into the Fade, to bear his punishment.
But he had not foreseen what it meant to love - and to be loved in return. When Andraste’s Flame came to stand beside him, willing to bear his punishment with him, he tried once more to shield her. She reminded him that their hearts were one and she could bear it - because they would bear it together.
It is said the kiss that followed was filled with such love that it healed the Veil behind them as they left this world behind.
That is why we name her Ame’len Fen'Vhenan - She Who Carries the Heart of the Wolf. That is why we call upon her in our times of need. When our strength falters and our pain is too much. Because she bore the Dread Wolf’s heart and her own through the deepest trials and brought them forth whole, and stronger than before.
So that we know our own hearts may endure as well.
Found, hundreds of years after the events of the defeat of the last elvhen gods, in an old forest ruin. An old legend, written and recorded by a faithful follower of Ame’len Fen'Vhenan - also known as First-Thaw, Herald of Andraste, the Woman Who Blazes Like Fire, Inquisitor, The Dread Wolf's Heart.
*Thank you K and V for the inspiration and love of Solas and Lavellan.
It is asked why we refer to her as Ame’len Fen'Vhenan. Why we invoke her in our darkest moments. Why, when we light our fires, we offer the first flame in our hearth to her.
I wanted an image to go with my folk legend: "Ame'len Fen'Vhenan" and who better than @heyitscuteway (Seriously, go commission this talented artist if you can.)
The concept is how I imagine my OC Saethre Lavellan might be remembered hundreds of years in the future by the Dalish - when the myth of her departure from Thedas has grown with each retelling. I imagine Solas' own legend would change yet again over time.
She is surrounded by flame - Andraste’s Flame, the Woman Who Blazes With Fire - but she is also a proficient fire mage. She bears two hearts: her own and the legendary Dread Wolf’s. Through every trial she carries them both, until the moment she can return his heart to him. However over time, the symbolism shifts, representing the strength and power of connection between souls and the connection between two worlds - the physical and the Fade.
The antlers evoke her Dalish roots: the halla, the harts - horns that symbolize protection, strength, resilience, growth, and renewal. It is a nod back to the times when the Emerald Knights rode the halla into battle alongside their wolves - horned and canine warriors together - Lavellan and Solas - fighting side by side.
The vallaslin, too, takes on new meaning as centuries pass - some may reject it, others may change it's meaning yet again and create new ones for new eras.
Those who choose her vallaslin mark it with a single flame over the third eye - honouring her mastery over fire, but also signifying vision beyond the material, intuition, and spiritual perception. The flame also represents her connection to spirits and the Fade - the Anchor that blazed like a beacon to spirits.
So that we know our own hearts may endure and shine like a flame through the darkness.
Thank you @heyitscuteway - thank you for giving vision to the story.
