#thedas magic

[wyrdsistersofthedas]

Is the Crossroads essential to eluvian travel? Or could there possibly be a way to 'link' two eluvians to each other and bypass the Crossroads altogether?

Eluvian lore.  I love eluvian lore!  Looking through the instances of eluvian use in the games and in The Masked Empire, I would say yes, it’s totally possible to connect two eluvians without using the Crossroads.  The only things that seem essential to the operation of an eluvian is sufficient knowledge and power to create a path connecting two eluvians.  If the distance being traveled is sufficiently short, neither of these pose much of a problem.  The longer the distance, however, the more difficult it is to gather the power to create the path.

The Path Makers

Once you step through, stay on the path, and you will find your way to the crossroads.  (Imshael, The Masked Empire, p. 258)

One day I hope we get to craft eluvians (or at least have Merrill and Dagna put their respective knowledge together to make us a few) but for right now all we know is that eluvians are linked together with magic that creates paths that are neither the mortal world nor the Fade.  These paths are described in The Masked Empire:

“When her vision cleared, Briala saw that they stood on a path whose stones were carved with the same runes that had adorned the sides of the tunnel last night.  Unlike the tunnel, however, the stones shone with brilliant light.  The light seemed white, but when Briala looked away, it glittered with rainbows at the edge of her vision.  The path stretched off into the distance ahead.  Behind her, it ended at the eluvian, which looked here just as it had back in the burial chamber, only without the elaborate decorations.  

Beyond the path, everything was hard to make out.  The ground looked like grass, but it was grey and dim, despite the light coming from the stones of the path.  Briala thought she could see trees in the distance, but they were merely smudged outlines against the horizon.  

“What is this place?” she asked Felassan, who was rocking back and forth on his heels.  

“You know, da’len, I honestly have no idea.”  He leaned over and poked at the stones.  “It’s not the Fade.  The runes are elven… If I had to guess, I would say our ancestors actually created some sort of a tiny world between the eluvians.

“Can that be done?”

“Apparently.” Felassan stepped off the path and reached down into the grass.

“The demon said not to do that.”

“The demon says a lot of things.”  Felassan focused his gaze, and the gray grass around his hand filled with color, one lone spot of lush green in the strange dime meadow.  “And this little world seems to like us.”

….

“I suspect that this land was made for the elves,” Felassan said as Michel stood up, stiff and awkward, wincing against the light.  “Which they aren’t.” (The Masked Empire, p. 281-282)

So the elves made pockets “little worlds” that connect the eluvians together.  The trails help travelers stay on their designated path.  (You have to wonder what happens if you wander too far off the designated roads.  Bets on if we find out in the next game?)  It’s interesting that the trails in The Masked Empire look like a meadow while in Trespasser we have trails suspended in a void.  Does that mean that the trails in Trespasser were damaged when the Veil was created?  Or does the look of the path reflect the design of its creator?  Not sure, but the the presence of the magic eggs on the Trespasser paths suggest it could be the latter.

Depending on the needs of the travelers, the distance between the eluvians could be very long or almost instantaneous.  We’ve used both kinds in game.

The Shortest Distance

There are many instances of short distance eluvian travel that doesn’t require a visit to the Crossroads to manage.  These could be considered door, escalator, or elevator eluvians.  These types of eluvians can be found in just about all of the ruins in Trespasser and there is evidence that there were others in various Elvhen/Almarri ruins throughout Ferelden.  Some great examples of this can be seen in the Vir Dirthara.  It is likely that the paths would be so short that you would step through one eluvian and out the other without any travel at all.  Straight shot, no crossroads required.

Stranger Trails

“The eluvians are magical mirrors.  You walk into one of them, journey through a kind of in-between place for a bit, and come out the other side several days’ ride elsewhere…. Old elven magic.  Always have to respect old elven magic.” (Imshael, The Masked Empire, p. 227)

Others eluvians we know connect through a crossroads.  These mirrors are meant for long distance travel and  function more like roads than doors.  They are set up like a highway system with lots of intersections, on ramps, and off ramps for the convenience of those traveling them. This is the kind of setup we find in Trespasser.  Lots of trails intersecting so that areas of import can be accessed.  One has to wonder if this section of the Crossroads was meant for and/or created by Solas for his followers.  (An interesting question is whether more than one eluvian can lead to the same important place, like the Vir Dirthara.)  

The Nexus

The Crossroads Morrigan takes the Inquisitor to in Inquisition seems to be set up for another purpose.  It seems to be a portal convergence, a place where all eluvians can be accessed if one has the time and geographical knowledge needed to search through all the eluvians connected to it.  This part of the Crossroads seems more like an airport than a road system, given that it is capable of sending the user to a far greater number of destinations.  On could, in theory, use Morrigan’s eluvian for a quick trip to Kirkwall (if Merrill’s was in working order).  You just need to catch a connecting flight through Morrigan’s Crossroads.

The Paths of Power

So could an eluvian connect two places that are farther apart from one another without using the Crossroads?  Yup, they can.  I would label these the “high speed trains” of eluvian travel.  We have seen just these types of eluvians in at least three instances.  

The final eluvian in the Darvaarad appears to lead directly to the Elven Ruins without a stop over in a Crossroads.  

The eluvian Tamlen and Mahariel found in the Dalish Origin also seems to be a direct path, although it is strange because Tamlen can look through it and see an underground city when it is active.  

None of the other eluvians we have encountered seem to be able to do this.  

And then there is that business with Kieran and Morrigan’s mirror.  He, and it, are the best example of what is possible in eluvian travel with enough power backing you up.

Kieran basically rekeyed Morrigan’s eluvian to lead directly to the Fade, something that was certainly shocking to his mother and all together expected by his grandmother.  (A good question is whether the eluvian in the Fade already existed or if he or Flemythal created it.)  So not only is a direct path between eluvians possible, one can also repurpose them to lead to other destinations.  Useful.  

Stretching the Limits

“[Imshael] pressed his hands together, and coils of read light shone from between his fingers.  When he brought his hands apart, he held a ruby the size of a child’s first.  “The keystone,” he said.  “It will awaken the mirror nearest you.  Once you step through, stay on the path, and you will find your way to the crossroads.  From there, let the keystone guide you.  It will point you towards a chamber where you will find a pedestal that lacks just such a gem.  Place the gem, whisper anything you like, and all the eluvians will awaken, ready to use.”  He smiled.  “But only to those who whisper the same phrase.  Old magic.  Lets honored guards in, keeps tomb robbers out.”  (The Masked Empire, p. 258)

I suspect, however, that there are limits to the direct paths eluvians can take.  All of the eluvians require a power source open them, and one can assume the greater the distance it travels the greater the power the eluvian will need to work.  Sort of like needing more fuel for a long drive.  If you don’t have enough fuel, you are going to run into problems.

“These mirrors have been dormant for centuries.  It would take powerful magic to awaken one.  I might be able to do so, but I’d need the rest of you to carry me for the rest of the day.”  (The Masked Empire, p. 279-280)

Felassan is certainly no slouch when it comes to magic.  He is either being modest or the power demands of opening an eluvian are high enough to be taxing even to an ancient elven mage.  If opening a dormant eluvian is difficult, one can assume that repair one would be more so.  (Props to Merrill!)  Such efforts demand a high price, or so Morrigan says.  

Morrigan’s mirror does the prudent thing and connects to an already existing eluvian nexus.  From there she can take portals to many different places around Thedas and beyond.  

Creating or repurposing an eluvian to lead to only one place would also come with a price, and I suspect that price would become very steep as the distance between them increased.  Can it be done?  Yes.  Can you take a direct eluvian from Skyhold to Minrathous?  Possible, but that is a vast distance.  

If magical engineering is anything like real engineering then there are limits and consequences to making direct gateways.  In addition to the power drain, it is very possible that long distance direct eluvian travel would make the mirror less stable.  And the key for such an eluvian may need a very high power source.  

It is interesting that Morrigan’s Crossroads has so many elven “energy” trees.  I postulated in a different post (and a follow up) that these served as power collections and/or conduits.  The presence of so many in the Crossroads lends support to the notion that they are more than merely decorative.  Perhaps they once channeled energy to the eluvian nexus.  

So, to sum up, you don’t need to use the Crossroads to link two eluvians together.  Two eluvians could be linked to provide a more direct, and private, means of travel.  The lore suggests that one would need to create a new path through the “in between places” or reestablish an old connection.  It wouldn’t be instantaneous travel.  Any traveler using such an eluvian would still need to walk the path to the other.  And it is likely, however, that more power would be needed for such a connection and it is possible that bridging too large a distance could make the connecting eluvians less stable.

-MM

[wyrdsistersofthedas]

Globes and Circles: More from the Brecilian Forest

Thanks for the great ask, Nony!  This was so much fun to investigate!  

Is it any wonder that the Brecilian Forest is one of our favorite areas to theorize about?  So many interesting details to dissect!  Is there something going on with the globe and the circles?  Almost certainly!  Are they related to the Veil artifacts?  Possibly!  And the Forest Ruins are just the beginning.

Let’s get the easy, but important, details out of the way first.  The circles on the floor of the chamber in question are summoning circles used to make it easier for spirits and demons to cross the Veil.  We see a simpler version of them at Soldier’s Peak.  Avernus used them to summon the demons that later possessed Sophia Dryden and sundered the Veil (5:10).  

The presence of the circles in the Brecilian Forest suggests that it too was a site where experiments involving spirits, demons, and the Veil were taking place, but on a larger scale than Avernus’ work.  And that makes it far more likely that globe and the nearby weird ass whirlygig (pictured below) in the Brecilian Forest ruin is also tied to the Veil, and thereby creating a potential connection with the veil artifacts.  

So what is it all about?

There are some curious similarities between Soldier’s Peak and the Brecilian Forest.  Both locations have summoning circles, it is highly likely that both had eluvians, and the Veil was messed up in both places.  Anyone else seeing some parallels?

Now, you might say, “Morta, there’re no globes or weird ass whirligigs at Soldier’s Peak...is there?”  

Behold!!

Avernus (or the Wardens before him) embedded the same type of globes and a whirligig in the damn roof!  There is something going on here...

If these connections are in fact connections, we should find more locations with similar features: summoning circles, globes and whirligigs, eluvians, and Veil weirdness.  And, sure enough, there are.

At Kinloch Hold:  

Globes, both in the tower and the basement.

A whirligig and Veil weirdness in the basement.

And note the eluvians and floor pattern, which is most likely given this is the Harrowing chamber a large scale summoning circle.  

At Vigil’s Keep there are some of the same features:

There is a whirligig in the Vigil’s basement, although I haven’t found a globe, summoning circle, or eluvian.  

There is lots of Veil weirdness, however.  Walking corpses, the wraith in the crypt, and the Dark Theurge being prime examples.

The Architect got in on this shit too.

(What the hell was the Architect trying to do in this chamber?!?  If these whirligigs are really used to mess with the Veil, what was the Architect trying to do to that involved piles of dead people?  Experimenting with sending them through the Veil ala the Anchor??)

But I digress.

It sure looks like these artifacts have connections to places where the Veil has been messed with, and these globes and whirligigs could very well be what allows the Veil to be manipulated.  So is there a connection to Solas’ Veil artifacts?  Very possible.  Especially when you start connecting some dots.  

Now you might be asking, “Well, why do they look so different from the the real Veil artifacts?”  My (Watsonian) guess is that someone was trying to reverse engineer the magical tech in order to create objects that could do the opposite.  These globes are meant to make the Veil vulnerable to thinning or tears.  Next question, who would want to tear the Veil?  

The most obvious answer would be Tevinter given that Corypheus and Magisters Sidereal given what happened with the Black City.  Tevinter certainly had a presence in Ferelden, albeit for a relatively short time, around the time that the Cory and Co. breach originally the Veil.  

But there is another explanation that is interesting to contemplate as well.  Were these magical artifacts created, not by Tevinter, but by the elves and humans (Alamarri/Avvar) living side by side in Ferelden during the thousand years after the creation of the Veil?  Not impossible.  I’ve written other posts about what appear to attempts and collaborations between these two groups to recapture some of Arlathan’s magic. (Links! Wells of Sorrow, In Search of Eluvians, Eluvians in the Temple)  

It looks to me like Tevinter was riding on the coattails of earlier efforts to undo the Veil.  I don’t believe all of these artifacts being found in Brecilian Forest ruins is a coincidence.  The ancient elves, and the humans who appear to have been their allies to some degree, had every reason to want to undo the magic that created the Veil.  They could free the elven gods and regain the magic and immortality that the elves lost to the Veil.  They had a thousand plus years in Ferelden to figure out how to do it, and it is very likely that the artifacts found in the Brecilian Forest are the result of their efforts.  

Why weren’t they successful?  Lots of reasons.  1) shortened lifespans 2) magic limited by the Veil 3) Fen’Harel’s people, or other elven groups, making war on them and/or 4) something targeted the Brecilian Forest ruins for destruction (see the video at 2 minutes).  Bonus) Pressure from the growing Tevinter Imperium probably didn’t help.

So...yeah!  I think the globe thingy is totally related to the Solas’ Veil artifacts, but they do the opposite.  

Thanks so much for the ask!

- Morta Mahariel

PS - If the globe is Solas’ orb reverse engineered to weaken the Veil, I’m thinking the weird ass whirligigs are possibly an attempt to recreate these thingies from the glory days of the Elvhen Empire, which are typically found in places where the Fade once touched the mortal world. (Where is the rest of the Dead Hand in the Exalted Plains?  In the Fade, of course!)

PPS - One last weird idea that is somewhat related to this post and has been bouncing around in my head for a while...  If Fade magic and Titan anti-magic is basically competing music, and the Veil is sound waves; are Solas’ artifacts basically mini speaker playing a Titan song that basically says:

Fade, Fade, go away Come again some other day

???

[wyrdsistersofthedas]

Stars and Guarders: Random Thought Blog #6

One of our recent posts had an interesting response from @thereallonelyagain​ .  I was thinking quite a bit about it this week and, naturally, I had to share the results of that thinking.  

I read quite a bit about navigation and astronomy instruments, including astrolabes, while I was in high school and in my early college years.  I was writing fanfiction for a very different fandom at that time that I felt required knowledge of 16th century sailing.  I did notice that the globes in the Brecilian ruins resembled an orrery under glass and the orbs I jokingly called “weird ass whirligigs” do bear a resemblance to a dioptra or an armillary sphere.  So could they be used for astronomy?  

In order to prove a connection to Thedosian astronomy, we should expect to find similar traits to an observatory in our world.  We should find star charts and writings that describe the heavens and the movement of celestial bodies around Thedas (murals, paintings, or starry images would be a start), multiple instruments that can be used to make observations of such things, and an unobstructed view of the sky.  I can’t definitely find any of these things in the Brecilian Forest ruins, but there is a case to be made for all of them being present in the Western Approach, specifically at Coracavus and the Still Ruins.  Items and evidence found there suggests there could also be a connection between the Fade, Time Magic, and Thedas astronomy...maybe.

Here is what I’ve got:

This object looks a lot like an orrery, perhaps showing Thedas and its two moons.  

At least one of these scrolls seems to show a star chart or a map of constellations around Thedas.

Here’s a close up of the chart.  It looks a lot like constellations,especially when you compare it with other Thedosian star charts.  (I haven’t been able to make a match between these and the constellations marked by the astrariums and in World of Thedas, but I’ll keep at it.)

You know...come to think of it, Coracavus and the Still Ruins are hosting some shady shit!  “Prison” my ass!  No “prison” has green marble walls, richly decorated rooms, and a teeny tiny cells for a dozen-ish people at most.  All the evidence points to Coracavus being a well appointed research facility, whose occupants conducted some nasty experiments, fueled by lyrium and their prisoners’ blood, all of which resulted in a Veil breach that required time magic to contain ages before “the Breach” we deal with in Inquisition.  Could astronomy be part of the magic that alters time?  No clue, but it would be interesting to be able to talk with Dorian about his work with Alexius more.

The clearest connection between magic and astronomy is seen in the astrariums scattered across Southern Thedas and the codex entries associated with them.  

It’s pretty clear that armillary spheres inspired the design of the astrariums and suggested their purpose, i.e. mapping the locations of various star clusters. Thedas has the added twist of them being used to magically seal away treasures from an ancient Tevinter cult that seemed a bit obsessed with constellations.

Could these be related to the globes in the Brecilian Forest?  Maybe.  

As you can see in this picture from the basement in Kinloch Hold, there are spheres and planes that resemble the parts of a dioptra and look a lot like a medieval armillary sphere.  Since we have never seen these objects used, however, all we can do is speculate about their purpose.  They do bear a resemblance to an astrarium, but I can’t say for certain that they are related or not.

It is worth noting that the Western Approach does have something in common with the Brecilian Forest; the Veil is very thin in both places.  The book Asunder talks about how thin the Veil is near Adamant as does this codex found at the Ritual Tower where the Inquisitor first confront Erimond.

“Many Tevinter structures litter the wastelands of southwestern Orlais. In the age before the First Blight, the Imperium expanded through the South at an incredible rate, and the lands farthest from Minrathous became home to a great many sites dedicated to magical experimentation, taking advantage of natural weaknesses in the Veil as well as the distance from the Archon's oversight to try ever more dangerous fields of study. As with Aeonar in Ferelden, the laboratories of Orlais were set upon by the followers of Andraste during the uprising, and little remains of them now save crumbled stone.”

-An excerpt from Empire and Imperium by Sister Petrine, Chantry scholar

There are also aspects about the Western Approach, the Brecilian Forest Ruins, and the Old Temple in the Frostback Basin that are similar.  Tevinter may have conducted magical experiments in all three places, two of which definitely went very wrong.

So let’s get back to the original point: Could the weird ass whirligigs and the ancient elven tree ornaments be astronomy instruments like an astrolabe, orrery, or armillary sphere?  Well, we have seen the Brecilian Forest whirligigs in use in Awakening.  Twice.  Once in a modern context, the other in an ancient one.  

Here’s the modern use.  The Architect was using four whirligigs in his experiments in the Silverite Mine.

They are definitely magical tools of some sort, perhaps serving as conduits and/or collectors of energy.  Turning the apparatus off also releases the magical door lock the Architect put in place to keep the unwanted out (and the wanted in?).  I assumed up to this point that the Architect’s experiments focused on the Blight and individuals who are naturally resistant to it, but this particular experiment doesn’t seem to have much to do with the Blight.  Perhaps the whirligigs themselves may have been the experiment, the unlocking effect merely a side effect of the apparatus being turned off once the room safe to enter.  (A good question to ponder is if the Architect brought the orbs to the room or if they were part of the original construction of the Silverite Mines.)

The other time we see a whirligig used in during the battle with the Dark Theurge.

In this case, even more than with the Architect, we are probably seeing the original purpose for the whirligigs, which I guess we could now call the “Strange Apparatus”.  The Strange Apparatus activates when the Dark Theurge is about to be defeated.  Why is a whole other matter.  It is likely that the whirligig’s strange apparatus’ energy is part of what kept the Dark Theurge from escaping his Deep Roads prison.  By turning it off, we seem to have unleashed it. Hopefully its sorry ass was sent back to the Fade after the Warden-Commander defeated the Avvar lord corpses it raised.  My Warden-Commander doesn’t love the idea of having to deal with that nasty bastard every time the wardens need a turnip from the root cellar.

The elvhen orbs seem to serve a similar purpose.  They also seem to channel energy, such as we can see in the elvhen shrine under the Dead Hand and with the energy “trees” in the Vir Dirthara.

Given the energy associated with all of these artifacts, I still suggest the “strange apparatus” whirligigs have more to do with directing power than they do with astronomy. 

Make of all of this what you will.  :)

-MM 

PS - We actually have seen astrolabes in Dragon Age before or rather, their navigational cousin, the sextant.  In our post about non-magical technology in Thedas, we pointed out that the Warden-Commander can give one to Nathaniel Howe in Awakening.

[wyrdsistersofthedas]

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!”)

The Wilds Flower: (rare-ish) Given that it these flowers can help a mabari suffering from the taint, it stands to reason it can help a human build their resistance.  This flower would be available to the Dalish and was known to the kennel master at Ostagar, so it would very likely be included in the tincture.  It can be found in the swamps of the Korcari Wilds.

Embrium: (common) This flower is often used in healing mists and potions, and to enhance regeneration.  Sounds like qualities that could help combat the taint.  It is commonly found in the regions around the Waking Sea.

Spindleweed: (common) A common ingredient in resistance potions, it stands to reason that a taint blocker would include this herb.  It can be found in the valleys on either side of the Frostback Mountains.

Dragonthorn: (rare-ish) The leaves of the dragonthorn tree “enhance and stabilize other, more volatile magical compounds”, a helpful trait for a potion that combats one of the most virulent diseases in Thedas.  It also is used in spirit resistance tonics.  It can be found in the Forbidden Oasis and the Wellspring, but sample could theoretically be obtained from one of the Circles of Magi, the Wonders of Thedas or other merchants of medicinal/magical ingredients.

Vandal Aria: (common) Cousin of the Silent Plains rose, this plant can be used to craft healing potions and a rock armor tonic.  This plant can grows in dry climates, like the Western Approach and the Hissing Wastes, but can be purchased from most medicinal merchants.

Deep Mushroom: (common) The right varieties of deep mushroom can restore stamina and help heal injuries.  “The most common varieties used in the herbalist's trade are the Blightcap, Ghoul's Mushroom, and Brimstone Mushroom, almost all of which tend to carry the darkspawn's corruption. While they cannot transmit the disease, this trait often makes them quite poisonous.”  Clearly, deep mushrooms are taint resistant themselves, but choosing the right variety and careful preparation would be needed in order to harness their beneficial properties and avoid accidental poisonings.  Various varieties of deep mushrooms can be found in caves and in the Deep Roads.

Concentrator Agent: (common) Composed of distilled and purified Heatherum and Foxite, which are both common herbs in Ferelden, a concentrator agent would enhance the effects of a taint resisting potion.

Lifestone: (rare) Although lifestone is a rock, not an herb, it would a powerful ingredient to add to a taint repelling recipe.  It can only be found in proximity to lyrium veins in the Deep Roads and likely was affected by it.  “Lifestones enhance the natural properties of other materials used in item creation.”

Felicidus Aria: (near extinction, extremely rare) “Commonly known as the Silent Plains Rose” this flower is the only plant that can grow in Blighted lands.  This implies that it has an extreme natural resistance to the taint.  It would be nearly impossible to find and extraordinarily expensive, but it could be a powerful component in an taint eliminating elixir.  Hawke has some (if you do Isabela’s quest).  It could also be stolen from very rich nobles.

High Dragon Blood [living preferred]: (Rare. Super rare if the dragon was still alive! Damn near one of a kind, if the dragon was a great dragon.  Be prepared for weird grand kids with that last one though! ;-} ) Dragons are, perhaps, the most naturally taint resistant creatures in Thedas and their blood might convey some of their power.  Known side effects: Reaver-itis and scaly skin if too much is consumed.  You might have to make friends with a dragon worshiping cult to get the blood of a living dragon, btw.

Magic also seems to be necessary in the alchemic process to create taint resistance tonics, so a knowledgeable mage healer would likely be required to make the concoction work.  An experienced Grey Warden mage would likely be an ideal brewer and, according to the RPG, the Grey Wardens are aware of the existence of these herbs (or whatever they turn out to be), and have helped spread this knowledge across Thedas.  Perhaps it was even the Grey Wardens at Ostagar who told the Kennel Master about the Wilds Flower.

And there you have it!  My random thoughts collected in a slightly less random post.  

Drink in good health!

-MM