#nevarran

[new-austin]

Making Emmrich's Hazelnut Torte

so, in a codex entry Emmrich gives lucanis a recipe that his mother used to make

Me and @themournwatcher decided to try and make it

We followed the recipe, except I stupidly overfilled my pan so it kind of deflated

Apparently Nevarrans make their food very beautiful which we did not succeed at. The presentation was... a bit sad

But the taste was really good!

Julian and I give it a 8.5/10

[dragonagegallery]

Timeworn Magknife

By Valeriya Voronina

[winter-wise]

Nevarra is a culturally vegetarian nation with only a minority of meat eaters, and Nevarran dragon hunters consume dragon blood, and I've seen some people say this is a contradiction, but if you look into the cultural reason for vegetarianism in Nevarra, it isn't actually a contradiction at all.

Emmrich states that as a member of the Mourn Watch, he has to carefully consider the deaths he is responsible for, and in Nevarran culture that includes the deaths of any animals killed in order for him to eat them, even if he personally did not kill the animal - hence his vegetarianism.

And if a dragon hunter in Nevarra hunts, fights, and subsequently kills a dragon, then that definitely counts as taking responsibility for the dragon's death, so there's no contradiction there when it comes to consuming dragon blood.

[the-arcane-booty]

More Nevarran cultural/anthropological ramblings:

A/N: this is all for fun I just love pondering about how world building in fantasy can highlight some really beautiful things about our culture in the real world :3

As an amateur folklorist, I have been rotating Nevarran traditions in my brain like a rotisserie chicken. In the process of letting it cook, I stumbled upon another possible real-world connection. This one involves the design and approach to the armor of the Mourn Watch—More below the cut:

I got this idea from some of the helmet designs for the Mourn Watch faction. My personal favorite helmet is the “smiling visage”. In the flavor text, it states ‘The smiling expression eases passing souls as they cross into the afterlife’.

This got me thinking about masked traditions in regard to death rituals. In my last post, I made a loose connection of Nevarran traditions to be akin to southern European/Balkan culture. I think I want to expand on that theory by presenting the Bulgarian tradition of Kukeri.

During New Years, it is common for many regions of Bulgaria to participate in a costumed tradition. People of all ages don large suits made of leather and long-haired fur. They also make elaborate masks that are monster-like and a little scary. On top of their garb, large bells hang off their body. Their tolls are meant to scare away nefarious spirits. When these people dress up, they become kukeri, guides of good spirits, and banes to evil ones.

A lot of the Nevarran armor seems to have some sort of “masking” or costume-like structure that reminds me of the kukeri tradition, and other masked traditions like it. Much of the armor changes Rook’s body/head shape that they look more akin to the dead, or a spirit—similar to how the Kukeri suits change the form of the person wearing them.

The flavor text for “smiling visage” suggests that spirit guidance is an important aspect of the job of a Mourn Watcher. They are not only ambassadors between mortals and spirits, but they are also apt in fostering relations in the other direction: spirits to mortals.

I know I talked a lot about Bulgaria specifically in this post, but masked traditions from all over the world have a similar intimacy with “the other side”. When spirit work is involved within a ritual, it seems almost customary to approach it with a mask. It is not armor for the body, but armor for the soul. It allows one to leave the body of the human behind, and embrace the wholeness of a spirit.

[trashwithvariety]

real world equivalent languages for all Thedas countries, some are easy to connect, others not so much, such as Orlais being so obviously French

I'm suuuuuuuuper stuck on what country or language to equate with Nevarra and its making me lose my mind someone help

I've heard Egypt, Germany, Prussia, Bulgaria, and even Transylvania

I just want a language for fic purposes PLS

what is the consensus here I'm gonna freak out

[visceralcoma]

Emmrich is vegetarian! Maybe even Vegan.

Though it looks like Nevarran is synonymous with a no meat cuisine. (bottom of the second image below)

[crowtoed]

Ears! This is so fun!

A tinkling pair of Parthian (Arsacid) earrings c. 2nd century C.E.

[megthemariner]

It’s everyone’s favourite crypt baby!

[No reposts or use with AI]