#hossberg

[negligiblemoose]

Headlines of Thedas, courtesy of this generator

This was very fun to do lol

[loustica]

DATV — Hossberg Wetlands

[lyriumrain]

Just wanted to share the true identity of the "blue flowers" in Hossberg. I got so excited when I saw them in-game, did the di caprio pointing.jpg and everything.

Oxalis Triangularis (false shamrock):

It's called a false shamrock because, despite its looks, it's not a clover and is not from Ireland. It's actually a woodsorrel, and is native to some regions in South America. It also comes in green.

I like that the game model leaves the white flowers in, but characters refer to them as blue flowers lol

[thenevarranaccord]

Tevinter

Rivain

The Anderfels

Antiva

Arlathan Forest

[veshialles]

Warden in the Wetlands

[1920x1080p, click images for full resolution]

highkey obsessed with this armour, it reminds me so heavily of Duncan's original armour from DAO!!!

[labhra-setablaze]

Excerpt From World of Thedas Vol. II

No Idleness For Mages

“Not everyone has a window, but we rise at dawn, lightly dressed, and begin at the front gates with Senior Enchanter Verend leading us. A slow jog about the ground floor, then up the stairs and past the dormitories. The wide staircase up to the library floors is where our legs truly begin to stretch. Past the dusty old suits of armor and robes on display outside the first enchanter’s room, then down to a brisk walk as we pass the laboratories - no sense rattling someone’s potions off the shelves.

The last stage is the most grueling, as we run up the many, many stairs to the roof of the tower, where a warm wind is always blowing. The old griffon statues stare down at the dusty city of Hossberg and the walls that encircle it - still scarred from the siege of the Fourth Blight, even after all these years. While we catch our breath and stretch, we can look over and see the wide, hot steppes beyond those walls, smoke trickling from the villages nestled here and there - that desolation where darkspawn crouch in the heat of the day and roam, tireless, at night.

Up on the roof, we work at calisthenics with one of the Grey Wardens assigned to the tower, before the sun grows too strong. Our bodies taken care of, we descend to tend to our souls at the first service of the day in our small chantry.

I have heard that in the Kirkwall Gallows, mages are locked in their cells with barely any room to stretch, let alone exercise. I can promise you that any mage of the Anderfels would be stark raving mad after a week of such treatment. We Anders are not a people to sit idle. Besides, fitness of the body builds the strength of the mind. How can you stand against demonic possession if you’re never given the chance to sweat? No wonder Kirkwall has such trouble with blood mages.

In the Anderfels, softness or sloth is quickly corrected. The Fourth Blight never truly ended here; the land is still scarred by it, and darkspawn and blighted creatures are a constant menace. The Grey Wardens often require our help against them, and many of us join their ranks. And so we train to strengthen our bodies, we play-battle against one another under a templar’s watchful eye, we venture into the Fade to bolster our skills, we pray to the Maker for victory.”

- Notes kept by Enchanter Kessa Enos, of the Hossberg Circle of Magi, 9:35 Dragon

World of Thedas Volume 2, page 173

*Image from official dragon age 2 site*

[anderfels-headcanons]

Breaking down “Hossberg”

Again, we can divide the name into two parts: “Hoss” and “Berg”. The second part still means “mountain” or “hill” in German and is a very common ending of town-names in Germany. “Hoss”, however does not have a meaning in modern German. But a quick google-search brought some interesting suggestions: Hoss can also be written as “Hoß” in German, though the usage of “ß” is not very common in modern German anymore, it is still very common in family- or towns-names. Now, the family-name “Hoß” can either be related to the word “Hose”, which is a general word for two-legged clothes for the legs (trousers, pants, etc.) in German and can be related to a family of pants-tailors. But it can only come from the old German word “hossen” (Swabian-German), which is a word that can mean “to walk”, “to run”, “to go out”, “to move very fast”.

So, based on this, the name Hossberg, could be based on two possible origins. It could come from “Hosenberg” (pants hill/mountain) and mean, that Hossberg started off as a town famous for its tailors? Maybe even prospering through active trade woth pants and other clothes. Or it could come from the word “hossen” and would then be “Hossenberg” (running(?) mountain/hill). Which could indicate, that Hossberg was originally founded on a medieval fast lane, and used to be a place, where people took brief rest on their hurried passing through. Maybe it started with an inn and a market and prospered from their, due to the fact, that many travelers and most importantly merchants passed through this spot on their frequent travels across Anderfels.

[Further Information and links to other towns]