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Tevinter Nights: Three Trees To Midnight

This is a write-up and new stuff (wider plot developments & new lore both major and minor) rundown of the first story in Tevinter Nights. Also contains some thoughts and wonderings, notes I made, stuff like that. It’s under a cut for spoilers and length. There is no leak, it’s just that the whole of this story is available to read already via preview. Skip to the tl;dr at the end if you just want the main new plot points & takeaways.

SUMMARY

Set about 1 week after the fall of Ventus to the invading Qunari in 9:44 Dragon, as shown in the comic Dragon Age: Deception. Title clearly a reference to the Dalish Way of the Three Trees. By Patrick Weekes. 2 men were captured separately in Ventus, 1 human 1 elf, and taken as slaves by the invading Qunari when it fell. They are put to work chopping wood but manage to escape by running away into Arlathan Forest. They’re pursued and along the way they’re forced to work together and work out a sort of truce/rhythm (human Tevinter mage vs. Dalish-esque elf) so that they don’t meet a terrible end. The twist is that the Huntmaster Qunari, surprise, he’s not Antaam at all, he’s undercover Ben-Hassrath. Bad Antaam!

NEW CHARACTERS OF NOTE

MYRION OF VENTUS: Human Vint mage, not a Magister. I’d place him in his 20s. Probably came into his power when he was about 14, since he says he’s been guarding his thoughts from demons since he was 14 and we know demons are attracted to mages. He’s MLM – in what was probably his Harrowing, a Desire Demon took the form of a boy he liked. He’s skilled in the Primal school of magic, clearly favors lightning spells and knows spells like Chain Lightning. He knows a little healing magic. His family were slaves and he only became a citizen after his magic came, when the owner of the factory where they worked adopted him into his family because of that. He never owned slaves either. His job was a magical street-lamp lighter. He has good char development in this short, especially considering it’s a short and it all occurs for him in one single afternoon/evening and mostly while he’s running terrified for his life.

STRIFE: City Elf from a Starkhaven alienage. archer. Stood up for elvhen children who were getting hit by a human guard and ended up having to run away and live in the woods where he met and joined the Dalish. extra details because I’m a sucker for elves. To a Vint, his accent places him as being from the south, and he’s clearly a proud free elf nowadays from the way he talks and holds his head. Tall, silver hair, straight back, square shoulders, callused hands, brown laborer’s tunic, lean with long ropy muscle, “casual strength”, nimble, can scale a big tree in seconds, fast, good hand-to-hand combatant, light treader, tracker, planner, navigator, all that good stuff. Older in age, likely around 50-60, which makes his physical prowess and agility all the more impressive. He’s bold, perceptive, whip-smart, fairly light-hearted, lil bit snarky and has an easy manner. Claims to be trained in alchemy. Was close to Thantiel. he talks himself down a bit compared to his Dalish-Dalish clanmates but I think he sounds like he’s equal to any of them. I ramble about him more disjointedly here.

IRELIN: Dalish elf mage, shapeshifter (halla, bear, falcon and snowy owl are all in her repertoire. worth noting that halla, owl, bear and hawk are all sacred animals to the Dalish and their pantheon. totally makes sense these would be forms Dalish shapeshifters are inclined to) and able to manipulate plants, which is classic Dalish magic. Thin, short hair, freckles that blend into the vallaslin on her forehead, more striking than pretty. Her vallaslin make her look like she’s glaring. Badass. It’s nice to meet a Dalish shifter because in DA:O you can unlock the spec by buying a tome from the Dalish camp, and Morrigan tells Mahariel that the skill is known by some Keepers. This makes me wonder if Irelin is a Keeper’s First or Second. We meet her as we’re running away into the forest. She’s Strife and Thant’s friend/clanmate.

NEW LORE - MAJOR

Tevinter

In less than a day, the city of Ventus fell to the Qunari invasion. It seems like until that day, the average modern Tevinter citizen didn’t know much about Qunari and were fairly ignorant. The Qunari were a far-off annoyance, something young soldiers went off to fight while everyone else grumbled about the taxes they paid to defend the Imperium from the “savage ox-men”. During the invasion of Ventus, the Qunari cut down anyone wearing armor. The unarmed were herded into different groups. The elderly, women and children were swiftly returned to their homes. The mages screamed as alchemical concoctions (i.e. the drug qamek) killed their minds and turned them into stumbling empty husks with vacant dull glassy stares, devoid of recognition; they sway open-mouthed and shuffle through the streets sweeping up dirt with their beautiful expensive robes trailing along behind them in the muck. Such zombified mages are also seen doing laundry, mindlessly stirring dirty clothes around in vats in an atmosphere of hot lye and acrid sweaty steam. The men were chained together and put into work camps, some being shipped elsewhere in the holds of prison-ships for the purpose of being put to work, such as chopping wood, in other locations. It likely holds that this same pattern is being followed by the Qunari in every new Thedosian settlement they conquer.

Elves and Elfy stuff

A Dalish elf called Thantiel snuck into Ventus to get information on the Qunari invasion and get his hands on their plans. He did so, right after the city fell. The plans were in the form of a small folded up piece of paper. Irelin, who was also part of this sneaky plan, takes this word of the Qunari moving into Rivain to the Dalish clans before they land (she flies). I think Strife snuck in with Thant as well to assist because it’s stated he was captured in the city. The Qunari qamekked Thant so Strife took the plans from his clothes and mercy-killed his friend.

Arlathan Forest contains creatures called forest guardians. They’re massive forms of wood and stone that crash through the forest and can rotate, as tall as a golem, walking on four wooden legs bound to stone feet covered in runes and moss. They are noted to be rare, with usually more than a day’s walk between them. The one we encounter’s body was stone covered in vines, and it had 2 great wooden blade-arms which each ended in a blade of thick metal whose edges glowed with lyrium, with which it chops Qunari in half. Their blades swing swiftly but in a regular pattern. Magic inside the creatures seems to give them life, but if you puncture/penetrate through where their necks would be if they were real critturs, you can strike the magic ‘core’ as it were and fell the creature. Myrion seems to have sort of attracted or prompted its most recent ‘awakening’ (for lack of a better term) by pulling across the Veil to cast magic at their pursuit while he was emotional/angry. Strife recognizes what the creature is and tells Myrion not to harm it. He calls to it repeatedly in formal elvhen “Enter this place in peace”, and this is obviously a known prompt to get them to stop/be peaceful, as it’s clear it wouldn’t normally be hostile to elves, but it doesn’t work. Seems like they just sit there kinda dormant unless something triggers them into action.

Qunari

They are moving into Rivain. The Antaam sent Bas-taar some help in the form of the Huntmaster just days after the fall of Ventus. Bas-taar did not think he needed a Huntmaster. There is disorganization in their invasion and various small signs of this. The Antaam attacked the southern bas without the blessing of the other Qunari, thus little things are not working as well for them as they should. Supplies are late, ships aren’t in good repair. Workers aren’t there to craft gear and manage supplies, Tamassrans aren’t there to ensure the Antaam are healthy in mind and body, Ben-Hassrath spies aren’t there to scout behind enemy lines and remove Antaam who forsake their training and abandon the Qun. Some of the Antaam, for example Bas-taar, think the others not joining them is treachery on behalf of those Qunari. In the conquest of Ventus, the Antaam killed all the mages, even the ones who surrendered and did not fight. Without the assistance of the Ben-Hassrath to sort out which makes were dangerous, they ‘had no choice’ but to administer qamek to all bas mages taken in the conquest of Ventus. Some of the Antaam, like Bas-taar, are reveling in this fact and see it as a benefit. With no Ben-Hassrath to measure qamek doses, they just gave heavy doses to all captured bas mages AND other ‘troublesome’ bas prisoners to be sure. Bas-taar enjoyed this turn of events, thinking it yet another benefit.

The Ben-Hassrath have heard rumors of the Antaam’s actions in Ventus and do not approve. They think the Antaam in Ventus did not act according to the Qun. They dispatched Saarbrak (fake Huntmaster!) to find out and deal with what he found. The regular Antaam guards seem terrified of Saarbrak once he’s revealed, they’re very cowed and obedient/deferential to him, and he’s clearly disappointed by Bas-taar’s actions. He says that these actions are causing bas to see them as monsters and that they are not wrong, and considers actions like Bas-taar’s and what they did in Ventus to be the true threat to the Qun. He’s polite and formal, even has a sense of humor, and leaves in peace. We know that “Saar” is Qunlat for dangerous. The meaning of “brak” is unknown but it has been seen before in the unknown-meaning phrase “Stel brak!”.

NEW LORE - MINOR

Tevinter

New names: Myrion (m), Jasecca (f)

Ventus is described as the “jewel” of the Imperium. It seems that by ship it takes a few days to get from Ventus to the shore near Arlathan Forest. Most elves in Ventus are slaves. A Tevinter view is that their elvhen slaves have no understanding of what they are protecting them from (i.e. the Qunari), and as such have no loyalty to the Imperium; that elves are stupid and will stab you in the back. Strife asserts that the humans of Ventus are an ugly lot who only care for their own. It seems young Vints take or are able to take classes about the Qunari and their philosophy. The Magisterium warned Vints about qamek and issued a pamphlet on it. Tevinter sabers are a thing, they may bear a slight resemblance to halla horns. Tevinter streets have glowing lamps which lower-tier mages light with magic as their jobs. Vints play a game called “wisp-darts”. Iced wine is a thing in Tevinter, as are little pastries with honey and nuts baked into them. The gardens of Minrathous have ornamental ponds. “Dumat’s breath” is a Vint swear. In Ventus there used to be a café on the hill overlooking the docks that made lovely pastries. One Vint’s job seemed to involve dealing with warding rituals all summer, this particular Vint was also noted to work with spirits and sounded like a spirit healer. Tevinter fashion includes robes trimmed to leave the arms bare and twining serpent bracelets that glitter in the light. Universities in Tevinter teach old meditation chants to mages that help them to focus and guide magic. Older mages also train younger mages in combat magic at universities there, from barriers to firebolts. Some of these older teacher mages are veterans from fighting Qunari on the front lines. Vints think that compared to how the ancient elves did, they know how to wield power rather than just letting it ‘run wild in a haunted forest.’

Elves and Elfy stuff

New names: Strife (m, City Elf from a Starkhaven alienage), Thantiel (m, Dalish, called “Thant” for short by his friends), Irelin (f, Dalish)

The shores near Arlathan Forest are sandy beaches which give way to scrubby grass and then soon to forest. The forest itself is described from the outside as a dense cloud of black impenetrable foliage hunkered over twisted green mossy tree trunks with ridged bark, with waist-high weeds below, and as a wall of green with heavy leaves. One of the trees at the edge is described as a blunt ugly thing with a trunk so thick you couldn’t reach your arms around it, and I imagine this is the case for most of the others. Shafts of sunlight snake down through gaps in the leafy ceiling. Tevinters all think that the forest is haunted, wracked by old elvhen magic centuries later, dangerous and uncontrolled. An old magister says this is a “monument to a lack of discipline”, but Myrion thought it sounded rather sad. Inside the forest, the darkness is sudden and blinding and the air reeks of dead leaves and old dirt. There are noises, sibilant whispers that curl through the branches overhead, “tiny crackling breaths of something huge just out of view.” A Dalish mage says that the spirits remember what had once been. At one point a spirit moves on a tree branch, “silhouetted against the sunlight so that he couldn’t see it, only the suggestion of a shape”, but it flickers away. I personally imagined this like the lil white spirit dudes in Princess Mononoke. The spirits of Arlathan Forest can feel the moods and ‘whether-they-belongingness’ of people who enter the woods. They leave Strife and elves like him alone because he knows he belongs there. Myrion’s initial fear/discomfort sparked a bit of supernatural attention, his worry being like chumming the water for sharks and having the potential to lure something more malicious to them (probs demons). These spirits are stronger, older and more powerful than the spirits/demons apprentice mages’ teachers summon to test them. One forest denizen - a creature of some kind?- is heard off in the distance chasing its prey on “too many legs”. A varterral? They are noted in existing lore to thrive in secluded places and hunt elk and bears. Not a guardian since they have 4 legs, but maybe a varterral, they have 5. Interestingly Strife describes the Forest as belonging to or being of Andruil (like Andruil specifically), and warns Myrion againt speaking ill of the Lady of the Hunt while he stands in “her” forest. The magic in the woods is slick and dangerous, heavy one moment and leaping the next. Myrion has cast magic before in places where the Veil is thin, and it definitely is thin in the forest, but there’s something different there, something else that lurked ominously at the edge of his awareness twice when he was casting, sensing him.

We are given a slightly different recitation of first 2 tenets of the The Way of Three Trees, which is described as a whole as wisdom passed down to elves from the goddess Andruil. Could simply be a different way of expressing the sentiments, paraphrasing, or maybe the exact wordings of the chants differ a bit from clan to clan or in clans that are fairly far apart region-wise. “The Way of the Bow: as the sapling bends, so must you. In yielding, find resilience; in pliancy, find strength.” “The Way of the Arrow. Be swift and silent, strike true, and do not waver.” The third tenet normally but doesn’t always literally refer to the food the Dalish catch and eat. Gifts of the hunt can also be knowing about useful things and making the most of such opportunities as they arise.

Strife claims that both he and Thantiel are trained in alchemy, suggesting that some Dalish elves have alchemical knowledge. When performing a mercy-killing, he says “Andruil guide your way”, implying Andruil can be invoked in scenarios like this. He later exclaims “What in Andruil’s name did you do?”, curses “Andruil’s tits!” and asks Ghilan’nain to guide his steps. He seems particularly fond of or devout to Andruil, if that makes sense, asserting that if they escape their scrape, it will be thanks to the wisdom Andruil taught his people. Strife had intended on turning his shackles into a lovely decoration for his quiver. He thinks about singing old elvhen songs around a campfire with his 2 Dalish companions, and laughing about the Qunari and idiot Tevinter men. It seems that for some City Elves who join the Dalish, their obviously City-Elf accents sometimes remain even after many years. Thantiel’s eyes are described as bright blue and having never known the pain and indignity of living in an alienage. Strife refers to “his clan”, giving us another example of a City Elf who joined a Dalish clan. He seems to think of himself/identify as Dalish now. Interestingly despite this, his age and apparent devotion to Andruil he did not get vallaslin - you might have thought he would have opted to take the vallaslin and get Andruil’s markings, no? Dalish shapeshifters are capable of changing into forms like halla, snowy owl, bears and falcons. Dalish clothing includes supple leather trimmed with fur. Strife and Myrion began their trek/flee into the forest around afternoon, and met Irelin at around 10pm, deeper in it but by no means at the center, giving us some idea of the forest’s size and how long it would take to traverse.

Qunari

New titles/roles: Bas-taar (m, Antaam), [The] Huntmaster (m, Antaam), Saarbrak (m, Ben-Hassrath)

Bas-taar is a Qunari role, meaning “keeper of bas”. They seem to be leaders who oversee workcamps of bas slaves/prisoners; the bas belong to Bas-taars. If these bas work, they live, and if they resist, they die. If they work well, they get to eat well. If they prove themselves useful and obedient, they will one day earn a place in the Qun. In workcamps, if bas slaves need to be given weapon-like implements/tools such as axes for cutting down trees, they are given what essentially constitutes ‘watered down’ versions of the objects that permit the job to be done but are not suitable to use in a fight (e.g. clumsy wooden axes). These bas are given prison uniforms, kept chained to a long chain during transport and are shackled in separate pairs to work, connected at the ankle by a length of chain no longer than your forearm. At night they’re re-chained to the long chain lines and secured in makeshift shelters with pallets, and fed bowls of some sort of savory porridge, like a lukewarm stew.

The Bas-taar who appears is a warrior who wore gold vitaar with red slashes (symbolizing battle and power, as befitting the Antaam) and armor which was a mass of knotted rope twisting around jutting spikes. He was particularly large and his horns were jagged and swept forward to either side of his face like a low helmet. One horn had been chopped off in battle and replaced with steel. We are also introduced to the Qunari role of Huntmaster. Bas belong to Huntmasters if they run, as these guys’ jobs are to chase and track down any escaped bas slaves. The Huntmaster who appears is a warrior & tracker/scout/hunter in light armor of strips of leather and drakescale bound by red ropes. His vitaar was stripes of black and white, symbolizing sight and finding. He notes that Ashaad are better in the woods than Huntsmasters however. Another warrior is described as being thick and seeming like he’s entirely made out of scar-tissue and knee-skin. Another has a face like something a Tevinter noble would save for his dog at the end of the day. A third’s horns were replaced with dragon’s-head caps. We see some height variation referenced with one being taller than the others and one noted as being short for their race.

Most Qunari don’t speak Trade well, as you might expect. A memorable example of one not understanding nuance/puns etc is when Strife cheekily calls Bas-taar “Bas-taard”. Qunari weapons include cudgels, double-headed axes twisted with cruel barbs, great bows as tall as humans and wicked spears longer than some of their Qunari wielders. Qamek was described as bitter, viscous, brown and contained in a bottle. We learn that the amount of qamek given to a person matters; if given a lot, the person never “comes back” and there is no cure. The effect of qamek is compared to the southern mages who have been rendered Tranquil. Qunari society isn’t perfect despite all the rules and roles, Bas-taar seems to beat prisoners when he feels angry, he thinks little of other Qunari combat-related roles like scouts and hunters, he brutally delights in hunting down runaway bas and punishing them. There’s conflict here under or in terms of views of the Qun from within, like ideological stuff; Huntmaster asserts that the path of the Qun does not call for needless violence, Bas-taar responds that the path of the Qun does not call for wasted effort (a philosophical or ideological quandary). One of the sayings of the Qun is: “To not know something is foolishness. To know by doing is experience. To know without needing to do is wisdom.” Bas-taar considers this sort of thing a talky lesson and doesn’t care for it, instead preferring the parts of the Qun which involve obeying orders and grinding non-believers into dust. In war Ben-Hassrath interrogate captured bas mages and determine who can be trusted. It’s also their role to measure out how much qamek to give the other captured bas mages. Bas-taar thinks Ben-Hassrath always prefer half measures. He also thinks the Qunari must ensure unnatural beasts, unknown magics and creatures are destroyed. Saarbrak ends up killing Bas-taar. “Hass ebala-varaad nehra” is a Qunlat phrase which almost certainly means “For those I watch, of which I am one”. These are all words/particles we’ve seen before, but not in this combination.

Magic

After firing a lightning spell, tendrils of lightning curled around the caster’s fingers. The spell shot a hole in the opponent’s chest. The effort of casting it seemed to cause that mage’s nose to bleed. Magic is usually an awful effort without a staff. Using magic seems to leave some or all mages feeling sensitive, as if everything is a bit sharper. Shapeshifting is described as sliding between forms with a shimmering sparkle of magic. Extra objects can be carried while shapeshifting, not just the clothes on your back – Irelin delivered a bow and quiver to Strife in this way. Shapeshifters can shift from animal-form to animal-form without returning to human form first. The descriptions of magic in this whole book in general are really interesting and illustrative/illuminating actually: “guiding the magic with his will, until it was ready, scratching at the edge of the barrier between the mortal world and the world of spirits, and then, sweating, he opened the path and let the energy through”, “he pulled the magic to them”, “pulling at the threads”, “let it loose”. (This stuff is right up your alley @simonjadis) We learn some more about the stronger capabilities of healing magic – Myrion’s friend Jasecca once reattached a man’s hand after it was chopped off!

Misc

There is at least 1 black species of gull found around the coastline near Arlathan Forest. Most likely halla live in there, like I’ll eat a hat if they don’t. The Forest contains at least 1 river. The one they come across is about 50 paces across, with dark water foaming white around the rocks. It’s also shallow enough that they could walk across rather than swim if they were careful.

Some thoughts - minor

I found it curious that the Huntmaster role/title/name doesn’t seem to be in Qunlat or at least, given in Qunlat, like all the rest.

This book is the first time I remember seeing the common tongue/the King’s tongue/Trade tongue simply referred to as “Trade”.

Thantiel’s vallaslin were described as being “like branches” – Mythal’s?

This is the first time in the lore I remember a Dalish elf being called by a nickname which is a shortened form of their full name.

In the comic where Rasaan tries to use qamek on Isabela, it’s a pale glowing substance and looks like a solid sphere. I’m not sure if this is a lore discrepancy or if the qamek liquid in Tevinter Nights was like a different form of it? It’s worth noting that in DA:I Bull is stabbed with a dagger coated in saar-qamek, implying that this variation of it was indeed liquid in form. We’ve learned a bit more about how qamek functions: small doses shackle the mind, large doses break it permanently.

I can only assume that wisp-darts is similar to playing regular darts only it involves using harnessed/bound wisps, considering its name and how Vints don’t see using spirits in this way as wrong and bind spirits to use as servants – how distasteful. This is the exact kind of thing Solas despises.

Irelin offers to hide Strife and Myrion’s trail, I took this as meaning this is something she can do via magic.

Come on Qunari, what u doin? Another unauthorized/not all agreed with/officially sanctioned invasion/foray south? we just had this with the rogue sect who tried to fck up the Exalted Council. I guess that was like their initial prong..? BUT what’s weird about it is that was the Ben-Hassrath conspiracy to blow up all the leaders of the south! And this is the Antaam.

Why is the forest specifically linked to Andruil?

There are some great quotes about Strife, his past and what he thinks about, in this story

he probably isn’t but if they wanted, despite what he said about Starkhaven (Solas said he grew up in a lil town did he not? Felassan also kinda masqueraded as Dalish did he not), Strife could easily be an ancient elf. He’s tall, strong, proud, sassy, you know. Not that this is the purview of ancient elves only but he does serve some big Felassan and even Solassy energy in this story. Plus he’s named after a meaningful noun, albeit in Trade/English. BUT. I would rather that he not be an ancient elf. I don’t like it when everything links back to the ancient elves and minimizes modern elves, and I want the modern elves to be able to have strong, capable, awesome heroic elfy and pro-elf figures of their own. Strife is a perfect example of what I’ve wanted to see in non-PC modern elves!

I appreciate BW giving us another example of a City Elf who left the human settlements and ended up joining the Dalish. It’s nice to see that solidarity and integration. It’s nice to see Strife reclaiming elvhen religion and ways of thinking about the world, and making friends with his counterparts. The mini-arc Strife has been on his life is really cool/good - from being a young elf in the City who kept his head down just to survive through another day, to standing up for the elvhen children, then finding the Dalish and coming into his own as a proud head-up dude who managed to get back in touch with his heritage/roots and stuff, now almost an elder. From what little we saw I really liked his relationship with his new clan and Thant and Irelin and his new life.

I think this is the first time we learn that the specific shapes and colors of vitaar designs do have specific meanings beyond just their protective function, e.g. black and white stripes mean speed (see above). Previously we only had Nameria Origanus’ speculation about “oh I’m sure there’s /some/ cultural significance to the patterns and colors they choose” musing in the Vitaar Codex entry.

Existing lore says Harrowings are practised even in Tevinter. Myrion’s “test” which involved the Desire Demon sure sounds like a Harrowing to me.

Desire Demons can take male forms finally confirmed

Wish we had learned the name of Strife’s and Irelin’s clan. Wonder where they’re camped - Rivain? elsewhere/deeper into Arlathan Forest? If Strife ran away from Starkhaven to nearby woods, he likely met this clan near Starkhaven. Has the whole clan ranged this far north or just their 3 agents?

With one or two of the fragments in the language which is employed when Myrion is thinking about his female friend, stuff like “sun-kissed skin”, you couuuld squint and read it a bit like he liked her as more than a friend, I guess. I didn’t really but it wouldn’t be insane to infer. Either way he’s definitely MLM because obviously that would make him bi or similar. Also I feel like I felt a lil undercurrent between Strife & Thant but maybe I’m just projecting.

Ironically, as the Vints built their empire on the backs of slaves and on the bones of the ancient elvhen empire, so too now are the Qunari stomping all over the Tevinter Empire. What goes around comes around, huh?

Why would only Myrion’s sandals leave footprints for the tracker..? Surely even if Strife is barefoot, he’d still leave tracks too. Is this a elves-are-light-footed thing, maybe in combination with Strife’s woodsmanly skills..? On reflection we see an example of this later in the book – a human and an elf walk through muck, and the human becomes filthy, and the elf kind of daintily goes over the top. Huntmaster does say Strife treads lightly in these woods. How Legolassy.

As stated, Huntmaster points out that Strife walks lightly in these woods and that the forest carries old magic the Qunari don’t know. I’m idly wondering if the thin Veil & pro-elf leanings of the forest and its denizens sort of naturally enable elves to be stronger and more sprightly while they’re in there..? Kind of along the same lines of how the space in the Crossroads is brighter and more lively for elves? Strife takes a whole ass beating in this story but is still like super strong/fit & competent.

I’m pleasantly shocked Dalish elves sent what amounts to undercover agents into a Vint city that was being razed by the Qun with the express purpose of stealing copies of the Qunari’s invasion plans. what pluck! reminds me of Lavellan clan sending Lavellan to investigate the Conclave. I guess in times like these, even the Dalish clans that tend to keep more to themselves can’t really afford to remain ignorant of what’s going on

The way Strife kept referring to Andruil and talking about her teachings was giving me BIG Felassan referencing Fen’Harel to Briala vibes. Hmmm.

I was intrigued by the mention of clans + Rivain. If they need to “warn the clans” before the Qunari land to move into Rivain.. are those clans in Rivain or nearby? This interests me because previous lore about whether there’s Dalish clans in Rivain is conflicting: DG once said they have a semi-permanent settlement in Rivain and later banter in DA2 says the Dalish have not yet reached Llomerryn. Personally I want there to be clans who are Rivaini Dalish or who wander Rivain. And I see no real reason why there wouldn’t be, especially given how Rivain is. Like why wouldn’t they wander across the land-bridge, and as long as they stayed away from Kont-aar they’d be fine. It’s not like Tevinter where crossing into Tevinter lands increases your risk factor to be set upon by racist aggressive human army people by a lot (this is the impression I get of Dalish on the Tevinter border’s fortunes from the rest of the book)

Some thing that did make me sad/troubled was how despite his family formerly or being slaves themselves, and being only a low-tier mage himself as an adult only thanks to the fortune of his magic and his benefactor adopting him, Myrion is still (initially) super racist to and about elves. Slurs, derision, disrespect, all that gross offensive stuff. I guess it’s realistic in that that’s how fucked up, racist and stratified Tevinter society is. At least he has development tho ofc.

Thank fuck we don’t have to add Strife to the list of great secondary chars BioWare killed alongside Felassan, Tamlen, Kal’Reegar..

Some thoughts – major

Why did the invading Qunari bring so many prison-ships filled with prisoners to the shores of Arlathan Forest to get them to chop wood at the forest edges…? Do they have such a need for wood? Is it simply for gathering wood as a resource? To give bas prisoners work to do – a purpose and a way to break them? Or do they want to systematically get rid of the forest since it’s known to be magical and they think all magic stuff is dangerous and to be controlled/destroyed? I’m leaning towards for the simple reason of gathering supplies, since the existing Qun workmen and craftsmen did not accompany them on their invasion, and since Ventus is a northeastern coastal Vint town Arlathan forest is probably the nearest big wood to it, but I did wonder a bit.

So the Antaam have attacked the south without the blessing of the other Qunari. The Antaam are led by the Arishok. Is Sten still Arishok? Was this his idea? Did he lead and condone this? Remember, he warns the Warden in DA:O that this day would come. He says when it does, he will not look for the HoF on the battlefield. I also have to wonder: even hobbled as it is, without all their normal support of the workers and healers and such, the Antaam have taken Ventus and are pushing into Rivain, & threatening northern Antiva (references to that come later in the book proper tho). How much more would they have been able to conquer so far, and how much faster, if they had their usual support with them?? It’s a slightly terrifying thought. Or, in fairness, maybe the other parts of the Qunari would have been that moderating influence on its military arm.

We knew this before, but I like how this book emphasizes that the Qunari are not a monolith, with differences even within the ranks of front-line combatants, like dudes from the same bit. There are good and bad Qunari, as is the case in every race. Measured and calm Huntmaster/Saarbrak contrasted greatly with aggressive, violent, simplistic and aptly-named Bas-taar. Huntmaster is so much more tactical; ‘this is a waste of time, a flawed hunt, this creature is unknown to us, there is too much here that we do not understand.’

Arlathan Forest in general super intrigues me. I’d been waiting so long for some insight into it and for the DA story to take us there. What might we find further in? Will we get to explore it in DA4? What’s that structure we see drawn on the new TN map?

Let’s talk about the forest guardians. They remind me a bit of sylvans and heavily of varterrals. How many are there? What were they originally supposed to protect the forest or that area from? Do they date back all the way to ancient Elvhenan? Did ancient elvhen craftsmen make them, or some of the Evanuris themselves? June the crafter? Ghilan’nain with her weird beast/monster creations? Andruil, since the forest is linked to her and she’s known to have made other great weapons? Are they more machinery, spirit-possessed matter, golem things, or magic-based? Are they similar in origin and do they function similarly to varterrals? Strife calling to it in elvhen reminds me of Well-drinking Inquisitors speaking in elvhen and knowing what to say to the spirit guardians in Trespasser. What’s with the lyrium?

So this story kicks eveeerything off. On reading it I appreciated the further insight into the Qun and the differing views within it. I didn’t expect the Ben-Hassrath twist. I’d love to meet Irelin and/or Strife in the next game. Strife’s reaction and sadness over, and in general brave Thantiel’s fate made me super sad. I became super worried about Strife’s fate from the moment he got punched through with an arrow. Finally getting to see Arlathan Forest was very welcome. Myrion started out a right little shit, racist and whiny, but to their credit the pair of them learned to work together quickly and he’s not nearly as irredeemable as he initially seems by the end. I felt like the learning curve was still decently-written though and there was a surprising amount of development on both their parts, though especially Myrion, for the confines of a short story. They develop an unlikely, fairly believable and quite moving/touching camaraderie and sort-of respect for one another. neat.

TL;DR / IMPORTANT POINTS

The Qunari invasion is progressing beyond Ventus and moving into Rivain

The Qunari Antaam has launched this invasion without the authorization and support of the other parts of the Qunari government/society. Consequently, the invasion is hampered by lack of workers/crafters/healers/supplies etc. They are taking lots of slaves/prisoner-workers as they go.

The Ben-Hassrath disapprove of the Antaam’s actions in Ventus. Giving ALL mages mentally-lethal doses of qamek and stuff goes against the Qun and the Ben-Hassrath are concerned it’s making them look bad to the southern peoples. They’ve sent at least one agent under cover to look into things and take action.

At least one Dalish clan launched a covert operation into Ventus just as it fell, with the aim of stealing Qunari invasion plans so that they could be informed and inform the clans in general. They succeeded.

We get into Arlathan Forest for the first time. We did go there a bit in Blue Wraith but didnt learn anything really there about the forest and its nature. The spirits in there are very powerful. Wood-stone-elfy golemn-esque/varterral-esque entities called forest guardians lurk in the woods to protect it.

A low-tier Tevinter mage and City-Elf-turned-Dalish elf learn how to work as a team and begrudingly come to a sort of truce/respect for one another.

MLM human Tevinter mage, non-magister

Strife the Elf for president

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