After a few weeks off for studying and vacation finally able to get back into a somewhat regular writing schedule. I've been tagged in a bunch of stuff I'll catch up to eventually and I appreciate the tags since they take me out of work mode for a bit.
Live on AO3, Wattpad, and Fanfiction.net for anyone interested. Links to each.
In Departures we see Rook and Davrin set sail on the sea while saying goodbye to family as well as to part of the family that they picked up along the way.
"More or less," answered Davrin. "Just had to drop off our stuff."
"We'll settle in tonight once we're moving," said Rook. Rook went to the edge of the boat looking out on the dock and the people who had gathered to see them off. He couldn't pick the kids out of the crowd, but he guessed that Junai and Lorrik just took them home to help comfort them. Davrin walked up behind him and rested a hand at the base of his back before waving to the crowd. Neve and Lucanis were in the front, King Alistair and his detachment were off to the side several others seem to be waving to the crew.
"Did you find what he left for you?" asked Elissa.
Rook looked at her. "No I forgot to look to be honest. I was so preoccupied with thinking about the kids I didn't even think to look." Rook leaned on the railing of the boat. "What did he leave?"
"I'm not going to tell you, he'd be upset," Elissa smirked as she leaned beside him.
"I'll look when I go back," returning the smile. They felt the ship shift as it cleared the docks and Rook looked out at Dock Town part of him wondering when he'd be back and a small part of him wondering if he'd make it back at all. The massive vessel began to turn and Rook could feel the sway of the ocean, he hadn't been on an ocean fairing vessel before and certainly nothing so large as the Amiralucius. It wasn't long before the ship was completely turned around and the sails dropped. A Dalish elf walked up and cast a wind spell causing the sails to catch air and the vessel to pick up speed as it head out into the open ocean.
"Haha, good job Dalish!" called Bull. "Now we're sailin'! Krem come take the wheel for a bit."
"Sure chief!" called Krem hurrying up the steps and taking the wheel. Rook couldn't help but notice the young man's gaze lingering on Bellara as he took over. "Ma'am." She just smiled at him in response.
Bull walked over to them bringing the elf along. "Lady Cousland," he nodded to Elissa who returned the smile. "Gentlemen, I'd like you to meet Dalish, another of my Chargers. A mage as you can see."
"Boss we've been through this, I'm not a mage," the elf smirked as they reached out to shake a hand. "Pleasure to meet you."
"Not a mage? What the heck was that you just did then?" laughed Davrin.
"Old Dalish wind trick," laughed the peculiar elf. "I can't be a mage for if I was, I'd be an elven apostate, and we can't have that." The sarcasm dripped through the elf's words and Rook couldn't help but smile.
"I've never heard of this Dalish wind trick," said Davrin crossing his arms and smirking.
"Well you see, only my clan knew it. Old family secret," Dalish grinned and placed their hands on their hips.
"Ah huh, sure it is," Davrin chuckled. "Well nice to meet you 'Dalish'." Davrin put an emphasis on the word as he spoke.
Rook extended a hand to them. "Nice to meet you, I am a mage just in case you were wondering," Rook smirked as they shook hands and Dalish nodded.
"Pleasure's all mine. I'll see you around the ship, I'm sure." Dalish nodded and walked back to their station.
"Don't mind them just a bit odd," laughed Bull.
"A bit…" Davrin smiled at Rook then looked at Bellara who Rook could see was standing a little closer to Krem than she probably needed to. "Interesting crew you've got so far Bull."
"Yeah, greatest crew a man could ask for, picked up from all over the place. Still need to find Skinner, Stitches and Grim around here somewhere. You'll like 'em," Bull laughed.
"So far so good," Rook added. The ship picked up speed and it wasn't long before the dock began to disappear in the distance. "There it goes." Rook spoke quietly mostly talking to himself as Lace joined them.
So this is going to sound like massive amounts of copium, but hear me out:
Why does the veil not collapse immediately after Elgar’nan’s death?
It is made out of and tied to the life force of the Evanuris, so with all of them dead it should fall, right? But it doesn’t - it holds long enough for Solas and Rook to have a heart-to-heart. So what gives? Are there some leftover life force from the other Evanuris ? Are they not as dead as we are led to believe? Falon’Din’s owl statues are certainly hinted at being somehow important since we can happen upon multiple of them and see they are tied to some sort of weird magic.
Or has the dagger preserved a fragment of those it has killed (just like it did with Mythal), and that is what’s keeping the veil up? Since all it takes to be tied to the veil is a cut (apparently), it begs the question: can a mortal be tied to the veil?
Lyrium is such an interesting aspect of Dragon Age lore, and it seems to work as a vessel for spirits: it is what the ancient elves used to bind themselves to the physical world; it is what held Mythal’s spirit fragment inside the dagger; it might be what the dwarves are actually referring to when they say they “return to the stone”; it might also be why lyrium sings, and “Isatunol” would be the accumulation of dwarven spirits flowing through the rivers of lyrium within the Titans.
In that way, Varric might actually have been the first dwarf in a long time to “return to the Stone” - and what happens to Harding when she touches the dagger? She becomes something very much like a titan! Her magic might literally be Varric’s spirit coursing through her body - her body does become lyrium-infused as you see in her romance.
So is it possible a piece of Varric lives on in Harding? Absolutely. It would also be another explanation on what the Varric who visits Rook in the prison of regret actually is. If he is tied to the veil he might have had access to the prison somehow. Solas’ blood magic should have ceased by now, since any further use would be unnecessary and cruel (which would be out of character for Solas), and the only other explanation for him being there, that I can think of, would be as a guide that Rook has conjured up subconsciously and is part of the magic of the regret prison just like whichever companions you chose to sacrifice.
Helping to hold up the veil while Rook deals with Solas just sounds like something Varric would totally do (and I can’t help becoming a bit misty-eyed thinking he might be there with us in the final hour) - of course it might be Ghilan’nain’s fragment doing the heavy lifting here, but it’s not nearly as poetic.
In the ending scene we see a picture of Varric in the skies: it might be a way to honor the end of his story arc, or it might be a way to imply him watching over us still (maybe both).
It is going to be interesting to see which direction the next Dragon Age game will take: the Executors and Those Across The Sea seem to have a connection to not only Qunari and the Elven Gods, but to death as well. We hear how everything turns cold around the executors and hear the same whenever we meet a lich or Vorgoth in the Necropolis. We are also told the Watchers guard many secrets, so who knows, maybe the next game will explore more about what happens after death to the inhabitants of Thedas, and in that (lyrium) vein maybe if we’re really lucky we’ll get to dive more into dwarven lore as well.
I think I found a reference to the war between the Evanuris and Devouring storm in DATV that hasn’t been caught yet? In one of the codex entries about Arlathan they say “Here is the folly of Meranadas, dreamer and defender of Arlathan. He broke the ragged blades of the Hungering Brethren; he laid the head of the Moon-Bred Serpent at the Vunin Gates” and like… ‘hungering brethren’ has STRONG devouring storm vibes
Thinking about the cold as thematically related to the Void, mainly through demons and the Devouring Storm in the DA lore:
how the Circle Tower feels cold to Owain, and how other characters make similar remarks as the party approaches Sloth
how Connor mentions it's cold in the Fade where the demon is keeping his spirit
unnatural cold mentioned when activating each of The Black Vials scattered across Ferelden -- phylacteries that bind cursed revenants
how far spread out glacial areas are in the map of Thedas, especially the one by Francesca Baerald -- isles east of Ferelden and the bay by the Sundered Sea, with the Arbor Wilds in the middle supposedly remaining evergreen (thanks to the magic of the Temple of Mythal?)
how after losing Haven, the Inquisitor's march for survival happens through a snow storm in blistering cold -- a moment that's also the allegorical darkness before the new dawn of finding Skyhold,
how Emprise du Lion, marked both by the presence of Imshael and a massive red lyrium farm, is also overtaken by relentless cold
glacial areas somewhere across Par Vollen -- which is supposed to lie in the tropical climate -- in Matt Rhodes' concept art
how the Mysterious Substance, related to the Devouring Storm, subsequently makes physical objects around it cold, aside from seemingly annihilating magical effects. Like there's an endothermic process going on.
right, since there’s no telling whether or not we’ll ever know what was intended: tell me your head canons for the devouring storm and the executors in the replies/reblogs/tags!!
Saw a theory recently that "Those Across The Sea" aren't actually from another continent beyond Thedas but possibly existing beyond the so-called "emerald waters" of the Fade. Following the logic that, if rendering the Titans tranquil created the Blight from their "dreams gone mad", then what does that say about the fate that has befallen hundred-thousands of mages who have been made tranquil and never had the ritual reversed since the dawn of the original Inquisition and the Chantry? What if the Executors are what remains of their disembodied souls, merely emmisaries to a swarm of shifting shapeless stolen dreams gone mad, ravenously pressing further into the real world with each breaching of the Fade and drinking the sky like a Devouring Storm... The same Storm that once forced the ancient Qunari to flee their homeland?
Anyways, it's kind of out there but I will be chewing on this idea for a long time I'm sure
