#the tranquil

[abyssal-ilk]

where is the dialogue option to drop to your knees and get so nauseous from dread and disgust that you vomit when you find out that the venatori are using the tranquil's skulls to find the shards in dai. where is the option to have the inquisitor try to find out who each of the skulls once belonged to. where is the option to put them all to rest, either by burying or burning. ig the devs must have forgotten it during final development, smh.

[raven-6-10]

toying with the idea that one of the Antivan Crow Houses (which one? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) knew about the cure for Tranquility for decades. and kept quiet because they don't fancy having an Exalted March called on their head.

but also, the Tranquil are not required to live in Circles. they just don't have many other options. so the House was quietly hiring the Tranquil - officially as apothecaries and so on - having them cured and then training them up as spellblades.

even those who didn't want to be assassins after the cure were kept as healers, or even as accountants and servants. after all, employees who don't gossip or sell secrets, who are completely loyal to you and wouldn't never betray you don't grow on trees.

[vulvalini]

ohhhh, the shack in redcliffe where you find the codex entry regarding how oculara are made,

the shack full of voices whispering in your ear, hairs raising on the back of your neck as you turn away from the book it’s in, to find THIS,

the shack containing entire shelves full of the skulls of dead tranquil whose part in the mission failed, i.e. they were not beheaded within range of any shards and their skulls are now worthless

the shack explaining the story behind bioware’s most horrifically worthless fucking fetch quest

…that shack?

[librivore42]

How about Lux and Hector running into each other again during Inquisition? ~ @lordgoretash

How ABOUT it. This was very fun to think about, thank you @lordgoretash for letting me borrow Hector to play with, he's lovely! For @thedasweekend

Words: 832

Characters: Lux, Hector

~~~~

Mages were wandering the Hinterlands again. That's what the rumour had been, and of course the Inquisitor saw fit to personally investigate. It would hardly be the first story of mages out in that wild landscape, but hardly any of those stories had been pleasant ones. She'd expected Venatori. She returned with more refugees, a wave of confused unease passing through those she had already collected at the sight of the newcomers. Their placid faces. Their sunburst brands.

Tranquil. Wandering like children, or animals hand-raised from birth and then abruptly thrust into the wild to fend for themselves. And at their head, a half-step behind the Inquisitor—

"Hector?" Lux blinked, her voice coloured in a surprise that would never have been audible when they'd first met. Of course she remembered. Hadn't she remembered every single name in the tower? Remembered each Tranquil as they were before the brand, with a strange and unwell twist in her belly? And hadn't it ached, to recognise so many bodies so vividly as the circle fell?

"… Ser Lux?" And of course he remembered. Hadn't he always remembered the little things? That Tranquil felt pain, even if they didn't speak of it? Known so many of them before the brand, with a shuddering down his spine? And hadn't it been strange to remember those names when so many were bleeding and broken?

Hadn't they both remembered? Been the only ones to remember? Rushing back into the tower, past the screams and the blood, to find the Tranquil that everyone else had forgotten? The Tranquil that did not even know to be afraid, could not feel afraid, and thus felt not impulse to save themselves. Had never been given any instruction for this circumstance.

Being assigned to the Tranquil was a duty that so few wanted and so many often found excuses to avoid. And though in fairness everyone should have been tasked to it regardless of their wants, it was often simply easier to assign Lux to the duty repeatedly, for she never complained. A blessing in disguise, for she was never frustrated, with a need to expend it. She was kind to them, as if they were still unbranded. As if it made no difference to her. Perhaps it didn't.

All the same, when Hector had run deeper into the tower to evacuate them, he had expected to be alone.

"Hector?" The helmeted wall of steel with the sword still smoking from the remains of a Rage demon could have been any Templar, certainly, but the stiff posture and flat affect was unmistakable even now. As was the way she said his name, as if it was an identity, and not just a synonym for mage. For something broken and dangerous.

"Ser Lux."

He'd expected her to try and stop him, to force him to leave for his safety. He hadn't at all expected her to already be headed in the same direction as him, but it kindled his heart with something more hopeful than he'd felt in a long time.

And here, years and lives later, they were again. She'd barely changed, expect that there was no more Templar sword on her chest. Except that expressions flickered across her once-impassive face as if she'd awakened after a long, long sleep.

He hoped that another thing had not changed, and they were still in that strange alignment that had saved the Tranquil once before.

"You know him, Ser Lux?" the Inquisitor asked with interest. Clearly a vote in his favour. A vote, he hoped, that meant they would not be sent out to the questionable mercies of the Hinterlands again.

"Yes, Inquisitor. Hector is a good man," she said firmly, as if were absolute truth. As if she'd only seen him yesterday, and the years did not matter. "May I. Find a place for them?"

"More mouths to feed, Ser Lux." It was not an objection, but a gentle warning, though the Inquisitor knew very well that the Tranquil could pay for their mouths many times over with their talents in enchantment. But she also knew, extremely well, how fragile the peace in the Inquisition was, between templars and mages and refugees of all stripes. The placid, unsettling Tranquil would bring no security to that peace.

It was little warning that simply said. They are your responsibility if you choose to find them a place. On your own head be it.

Her eye caught Hector's, nodding slowly. "We will manage, Inquisitor."

If we do not, who else will?

The yawning maw of the Chantry and the Order failed to devour them, through luck, through strange horrors, through some twist of fate and faith. It was hard, sometimes, not to wonder if they were existing on borrowed time, before the endless jaws closed around them again.

Maybe not now. The world was shaking, and the Chantry's mighty jaws were, perhaps, weakening enough to slip between the teeth. It was enough, just enough, for a kindling of hope.

[theheartmold]

once again learning about the tranquil as mahariel is horrifying bc of two things

a) you are one of the dalish, from clans whose mages lead and teach

b) the CHILD of a Keeper, therefore magic is in ur blood

like. agh. truly nomaris was horrified and pitying.

[tavtiers]

A hypothetical god tier for the Tranquil from Dragon Age: the Mage of Light.

A Mage of Light is among those who explore knowing and perceiving. They are motivated by themselves to know awareness. (x) The Mage of Light has trouble forgiving their own mistakes and enjoys knowing things others don’t. (x) They are the Genius Scholar, defined by introspection and awareness. (x) Their opposite is the Seer of Void. Their inverse is the Heir of Void. They share their personality with the Seer of Mind. The Mage of Light would quest on a planet similar to the Land of Thought and Light, reigned over by Hemera (Goddess of Daylight) or Apollo (God of the Performing Arts). They would rise to ascension on the wings of moths. (x)(x)(x)

[deedeemactir]

My most controversial dragon age take is that I understand why some mages choose tranquility for themselves. There are a lot of times where I think that if someone could flip a switch and make me neurotypical, I would do almost anything for them to flip that switch.