My Fantasy Qunari and the Dragon Age
With the history of qunari in Thedas re-contextualized, it's finally game time. This post covers in broad strokes what's going on regarding Par Vollen, the qunari people, and a bit about major qunari characters during MFDAO, MFDA2, MFDAI, and (ideas for) MFV.
Qunari and the Fifth Blight
When rumors of a new Blight stemming from the Korcari Wilds of Ferelden reached the salasari, the Arishok dispatched a continent of soldiers to investigate. The group was attacked by darkspawn, and only one solider survived. ➨ Note: in MFDA, followers of the Qun do have personal names, but Sten (qunlat for "soldier") declines to share his, as he feels his dishonorable actions shamed himself, his ancestors, and his people, rendering his personal identity null.
A group of qunari living near the Brecilian Forest - some of whom belong to the Cult of Koslun - involved in a generations-long feud with a Dalish clan (and nearby humans) can be recruited by the Hero of Ferelden for assistance battling the Fifth Blight (my revamped Nature of the Beast quest).
The Cult of Kolsun, Returned - the ""Qunari Occupation"" of Kirkwall
Sometime in 9:31 Dragon, a delegation of Ben-Hassrath set out to meet a delegation of Orlesian forces, which had agreed to surrender to Tome of Koslun as a gesture of goodwill from Empress Celene. The Ben-Hassrath were under order to destroy it.
However, the Tome was stolen by a random pirate - which thwarted the Cult of Koslun cultists who also planned to steal it. The cultists (tal-vashoth) pursued the pirate across the Waking Sea, until a storm grounded both ships in Kirkwall.
Led by a warrior called the tal-Arishok, the surviving cultists posed as a delegation from Par Vollen and took up a residence in a compound granted to them by Viscount Marlowe Dumar, determined not to leave without their holy book.
By the time a formal missive from the salasari reached the Viscount, exposing the fraud, enough anti-qunari sentiment had been generated in Kirkwall that any attempt to clarify to the public that the occupation was the work of fringe cultists was futile. Thus, word that "the qunari" had invaded Kirkwall spread across the world, fanning tensions that still ran hot since before The Qunari Wars. ➨ seeking not to muddy the message that Par Vollen was not involved, the Ben-Hassrath kept to the shadows, monitoring the city-state and sending information back to the salasari (and occasionally covertly helping [future] Champion of Kirkwall, Hawke), but otherwise not intervening. ➨ thus, realizing Kirkwall was relatively safe from the Ben-Hassrath, which had hunted them for generations, tal-vashoth from all over flocked to Kirkwall, making the populace nervous and straining relations further
In 9:34, tensions boiled over, and the tal-Arishok decided to overthrow the viscount and bring order to the chaotic city-state by forcibly converting it to the Cult of Koslun, including chaining of its many circle and apostate mages. Despite what they claim, they are clearly gearing up for another bid at conquering Northern Thedas. ➨ In the ensuing violence, deemed the First Battle of Kirkwall, the Viscount was slain ➨ a tal-vashoth scholar named Shathann, along with her young child Evataash, escaped during the chaos, assisted by a sympathetic Ben-Hassrath agent. Shathann was born into the cult and had dedicated her life to serving it, but recently had discovered that Evataash was an adaari, and under the Cult would be doomed to a life in chains as a saarebas berzerker. They fled to Rivain. ➨➨ this is the default explanation if it happens off-screen, but this may also be incorporated as a side quest during the events of the battle. TBA ➨ Hawke's actions determined the specific outcome of the battle, but either way, the tal-vashoth were killed or driven from Kirkwall, with escaping survivors hunted by the Ben-Hassrath.
With the cult eliminated and the city-state free from "qunari" occupation, Par Vollen attempted to mend public opinion, but the chaos ensuing with the attack on the Kirkwall Chantry drowned it out.
The Annulment of the Dairsmuid Circle
Far from the seat of Chantry power, the Dairsmuid Circle in Rivain was largely a formality. Its mages were free to move about society and young women were openly trained to interact with spirits to become seers. Like most Rivainis, even mages who more or less cooperated with the Circle were only nominally Andrastian, and instead were dedicated to the Qun and the region's native pantheistic/naturalistic religion.
When the circles rebelled, the Seekers of Truth declared Dairsmuid a lost cause, unsalvagably overrun by apostasy. Templars brought in from Antiva helped the Seekers invoke the Rite of Annulment, slaughtering countless mages, their families, and the civilians who rose up to oppose the massacre.
Although only around 25% of the victims were qunari, the overwhelming sentiment in Par Vollen was that all of the victims were "their people", as Rivain had been part of Par Vollen for most of history and even its non-qunari folk were followers of the Qun.
The Rivaini populace, which had tolerated the King and the Chantry only because they weren't substantially disrupting their daily lives, could not be convinced the Annulment was anything short of a declaration of war on their way of life.
Thus, anti-Andrastian sentiment spiked both in Par Vollen and Rivain, with many interpreting the Annulment as the first move in a new Exalted March. Anti-monarchy/chantry rebels in Rivain secretly conferred with the salasari, and agreed that the Annulment violated the terms of the Llomerryn Accord. Thus, Par Vollen would be justified in stepping in. ➨ The goals of the alliance: free Rivain from oppression under the chantry and its king. In return, the freed Rivani forces would then help Par Vollen finally oust Tevinter from Seheron.
While the rest of the world fawned over the Inquisition, Par Vollen's armies and Rivaini rebels quietly geared up to go to war - assuming that once the Inquisition conquered Southern Thedas, it would turn its holy swords on the heathens in the north-east... as the original Inquisition of old had tried to do a millennium ago.
Qunari and the Inquisition
Qunari attended the Conclave, both as delegates/spies from Par Vollen and as unaffiliated mercenary guards
The explosion at the Conclave was immediately blamed on qunari retaliating against the Annulment of the Dairsmuid Circle. While this was swiftly proven false, the rumor persisted in some areas, exacerbating long-held anti-qunari sentiment and putting the Par Vollen-Rivain front further on edge
The Ariqun commanded Ben-Hassrath agent The Iron Bull, who had been undercover as a mercenary in Orlais, to join and spy on the Inquisition.
Par Vollen did not send any other dignitaries, soldiers, or aid to the Inquisition, although it minimally cooperated when it was beneficial enough to do so. While it did not wish to aid or abet the Inquisition, it agreed that the Inquisitor must be allowed to work relatively unencumbered to deal with the breach and the threat posed by Corypheus.
Assuming the Inquisition would not cede power during the Exalted Council, Ben-Hassrath spies led by Viddasala were dispatched to sabotage the council via Operation Dragon's Breath ➨ Aside from assassinating the Inquisitor and hamstringing the believed-to-be Exalted March, the other goals of the operation were to bolster Par Vollen-Rivain's might for a decisive victory in the impending war, particularly magic, via learning more about the eluvian network and the veil and improving lyrium mining to eliminate the need to rely on dwarven allies. ➨ While the nobles attending the council were not the target, unrest followed in the nobility as it seemed too convenient that the regents happened to be absent from the council, having sent other delegates instead. Accusations of conspiring with qunari and qunari-adjacent heathens dogged the leaders of both Orlais and Ferelden for years to follow, along with the same accusations about cowing to the Inquisition ➨ during the council, barrels of gaatlok were discovered stashed all around the Inquisition's major strongholds, set by non-qunari Ben-Hassrath spies that had infiltrated the Inquisition, which cast further doubts and mistrust on the Inquisition
Operation Dragon's Breath was ultimately thwarted, causing a major setback in the Par Vollen-Rivaini rebel cause.
Around 9:47 or so, rebels were able to launch a surprise attack on the palace in Dairsmuid, killing the royal family and kicking off the Rivain Civil War, which is often simplified/sensationalized/propagandized as "the Antaam occupation" ➨ the combatants: Rivaini monarchy/chantry loyalists + Antivan forces (including the Antivan Crows) + other chantry-allied reinforcements ("chantry forces") VS Rivaini rebels + Par Vollen ("rebel forces")
My Fantasy Veilguard Scratchpad
Exact details are pending as I decide how much of Rivain/Antiva are actually in My Fantasy Veilguard, thus how exactly it needs to play out to support the MFV narrative
Since there is no discord between identifying with Rivain and the Qun in MFDA (not that there ever really was lol), Taash's character arc and quest is also being adjusted. One possibility is an arc of being tempted by my good friends the Cult of Koslun, into which Taash was technically born (and which is most definitely still beefing with Shathann for leaving them and stealing an adaari)
Generally, by 9:52, the rebel forces have overtaken Rivain (as there were few loyalists to oppose them) and thus the main front of the conflict is in Antiva and at the border. Port cities such as Treviso are occupied by the Antaam to prevent them from being used as strongholds by the opposing chantry forces
While the rebels are probably "right", the fact that war always causes immense suffering should not be ignored; this is the likely theme that would be explored in MFV
While I probably will not imply the South falls during the events of MFV, the armies being occupied with the mess in the north is part of the explanation for why things were so vulnerable down there