Taint Resistance in a Bottle - Random Thought Blogs: The Blighted Entries 2
Totally just a random exercise in speculation this week after reading some very interesting ideas about whether the taint could be spread from Grey Wardens to their LIs or to those healing them. I highly recommend reading the excellent thoughts and evidence presented by the OP, @altalemur , @rederiswrites and @higheverrains. My thoughts took a tangent, of course, that eventually circled back to become this post.
I think there is a fairly simple, albeit probably magical, answer to the question. Whatever gives the Grey Wardens their resistance to the taint makes it nigh impossible for them to pass the taint on to others. Even with prolonged exposure to a warden’s body, like during a rare warden pregnancy, the warden is not contagious, including to the child. In fact, we know that Morrigan had to go to extreme, probably blood magicky, means to have a baby with the taint. Wardens just don’t pass it on. Examples:
If Morrigan is involved with a male warden who refuses to do the Dark Ritual, she still gets pregnant with a taint-free Kieran (which implies there must be some consent on the part of the warden in order for the ritual to work).
Side note: The fact that Morrigan could have a baby with the warden without the Dark Ritual implies that the ritual had nothing to do with increasing her fertility. The ritual was purely to pass the taint on to their child or create a connection with the archdemon. Ergo, Morrigan probably was using other means (again likely magical) to ensure she became pregnant.
Fiona gives birth to Alistair, taint free.
Side note: Fiona had been a warden for about a year when she became pregnant. Same thing happens with Morrigan, if you do the Dark Ritual or the warden is romantically involved with her. This suggests that a warden’s best chance at having children is during a 18-24 months window right after the Joining.
When griffons were forced to undergo a modified Joining ritual, they are completely unable to develop the Grey Wardens’ resistance to the taint. This leads to their (near) extinction because they can infect each other with the taint, unlike wardens.
I suspect that when the first Grey Wardens discovered how to do the Joining, they also figured out a way to magically block, or resist, the taint...at least for a while. If this theory is true, it would also give another reason for the Calling. If the Grey Wardens eventually lose all their resistance they would become no different than a ghoul, who can and do spread the taint to others.
“There are stories across Ferelden of these ghouls, maddened by the corruption of the blight, attacking their friends and spreading the corruption further. While it is likely that the sickness will eventually kill a ghoul, the dying strength of these poor creatures makes them nearly as great a danger as the darkspawn themselves.
They are no longer our friends, our family, or our countrymen. They are victims of the Blight, and must be given the same mercy Hessarian showed Andraste: a swift sword.”
It stands to reason that Grey Wardens who completely lose their resistance would then pass on the taint like other infected beings. (I wonder if the Architect’s accelerated ghoul program, which he used on Bregan, Genevieve, and Utha, allowed them to keep their resistance longer. Utha seemed pretty lucid in Awakening. I wonder if the Architect gave Seranni some form of the resistance too.)
A warden’s resistance to the taint is so powerful, in fact, that it literally blocks the song of the old gods in darkspawn. The Architect needed the blood of wardens to free the darkspawn of their compulsion, or rather their resistance to the taint.
So yeah, that resistance that Grey Wardens have to the taint is probably what prevents them from spreading it to their companions. Now the next question should be...what gives Grey Wardens that resistance? Like I said before, I think part of the resistance is part of the magic of the Joining Ritual, but that doesn’t explain why some can survive the Joining and other die. What makes a Grey Warden able to survive the Joining and develop that resistance to the taint? Is it some innate quality or biologic feature in the warden themselves? Or is it an outside force or aid?
Leliana seems to have a natural resistance to the taint. Maric is able to resist via potions concocted from “rare herbs” and, possibly, his dragon flavored blood. There are also suggestions that a person’s willpower can affect their level of resistance. Former lead writer and ex “word of god”, David Gaider, said:
“Insofar as how long a Grey Warden could remain on the throne, it depends. The taint will make a Grey Warden age faster, so someone like Loghain isn't going to be able to stay a Grey Warden for very long as he's no young man. The "thirty years" quote is about the maximum, but the reality is that it depends on how often one is exposed to the corruption and sometimes just personal variance-- even so, for a monarch to stay on the throne upwards of thirty years is no mean feat. I don't really think that's the limiting factor when it comes to this sort of thing.” (Bioware Forums, I miss your information if not the sea of negativity. More interesting taint related info here.)
Another quote:
“But the idea is also that it varies. Thirty years is the maximum that you could probably expect. It's going to vary for an individual according to their willpower and the level of their interaction with the darkspawn. During a Blight you can expect that the Grey Wardens are going to have shorter lifespans. Outside of a Blight the Grey Wardens would tend to live longer. We have instances in the game of people going on their Calling after five or ten years. Alistair's thirty year quote shouldn't be taken as gospel, that's the way I like it.” (Interview with Gaider, posted on Swooping is Bad LJ)
I’m going to have to investigate this further, but I am pretty sure the level of resistance in each warden varies and can be affected by several factors.
Taint Resistance in a Bottle?
“King Maric was given a leather satchel full of potions, each of them contained in a delicate glass vial. According to the First Enchanter, this was a precious mixture of herbs that would enable Maric to resist the disease spread by the darkspawn. He was, after all, the only one in the group without the Grey Warden’s immunity. One full vial was to be swallowed each morning; according to Duncan’s count, that meant the King had a two-week supply.
Rather optimistic of the First Enchanter, really.” (The Calling, p. 71)
I’m very curious about the “rare herbs” mentions in The Calling and in the Joining ritual description. I suspect that Marethari used a variation of the potion Maric took to keep Mahariel alive long enough to take the Joining. The fact that none of our companions were tainted while killing the oodles of darkspawn in Origins would make a lot more sense if we had to make potions to help them keep their resistance up. And here is the section of total speculation that began this whole post:
What could those “rare” herbs be? (Possible ingredients list lies below the cut.)
(I mean, this could be critical information for those of us that like to write fanfiction and don’t want to totally hand wave encounters with the darkspawn by saying, “Once again, we’ve all managed to not get tainted in spite of all the people around us who are totally tainted now because darkspawn!”)