Thinking About The Mage Rebellion And Fereldan. My Main Warden Is A Surana That Sticks Alistair With

We call it kirkwall fashion

Thedosian Artists and Performers

Here's a little list I compiled over time of Thedosian artists and performers, professionals and hobbyists, that are explicitely named across the franchise. Many more artists haunt the narrative but saddly they remain unnamed.

I saw someone earlier this week struggling with finding canon thedosian artists but the app crashed before I could note their name. Hopefully this will find its way to you, unknown person! I'll post (hopefully soon) additional lists compiling in details all form of Arts, Techniques and Music that are mentionned to exist in Thedas along with named artisans and specialized workers, in the hope it could be useful references for someone. Don't hesitate to fire a DM my way if you need something specific fast! ^-^

Abbreviations you might be not familiar with, just in case : DAtV : Dragon Age - The Veilguard TLC : The Last Court TME : The Masked Empire TN : Tevinter Nights TST : The Stolen Throne WoT and WoT2 : World of Thedas and World of Thedas 2.

Actors :

Interesting tidbit : Orlesian theater actors wear color-coded shape-coded facemasks on stage. A half-face Green mask is to signal the lead masculine role, a half-face purple one for the lead feminine role, blue masks for supporting masculine characters and red masks for supporting feminine characters. Full white masks are for spirits while demons are played wearing red-striken black masks. The race, gender or age of the actors themselves don't matter in the least in the attribution of roles. There are also professional theater critics in Orlais (and maybe Tevinter as well). - Maudine : Orlesian actress, played in front of the Orlesian court in 9:41 (last name unknown, source : DAI) - Juliette : Orlesian actress, played in front of the Orlesian court in 9:41 (last name unknown, source : DAI) - Robert : Orlesian actor, played in front of the Orlesian court in 9:41 (last name unknown, source : DAI) - Stephan : Orlesian actor, played in front of the Orlesian court in 9:41 (last name unknown, source : DAI) - Rendell : Elven actor from Markham, Free Marches (has a slight accent which is frowned upon), played in front of the Orlesian court in 9:41 (last name unknown, source : DAI) - Victor Boyet : Elven orlesian actor, made his big break as the lead in "The Heir of Verchiel". (timeline unknown, before 9:20, source : DAI)

Playwrights : (See : Codex entry: A Compendium of Orlesian Theater, for more lore on those!)

- A. Pourri : Orlais, known for the popular "Wilkshire Downs" (which includes a lot of... farting. Might be why the french adjective used as a name here literally translate as "rotten"). (timeline unknown, likely pre-DragonAge, source : DAI) - Lumière Bartlet : Orlais, author of very little renown during his life, wrote "The Setting of the Light", considered to be one of the strangest plays to have been written and a possibly cursed one, as many of the crew and even the author himself suffered fatal accidents (demon deal gone bad?). (around 4:52, Black Age, source : DAI) - Marquise Freyette : Orlais, author of several plays, her most famous being "The Sword of Drakon : An Examination of the Life and History of the Father of Orlais", the play almost got banned by the Chantry for depicting Drakon as a man with doubts and feelings instead of a perfect hero. (timeline unknown, likely pre-DragonAge, source : DAI) - Paul Legrand : Orlais, author of the play "The Heir of Verchiel", a story of betrayals and revenge beloved by the Orlesian aristocracy. (timeline unknown but an "emperor" on the throne at the time, likely pre-DragonAge, at the very least pre-9:20, source : DAI) - Violette Armand : Orlais, author of the melodrama "Death in the Mansion", very avant-garde in its uses of masks' codification as a tool for subverting expectations. (timeline unknown, likely pre-DragonAge, source : DAI)

Artists and Artisans of various crafts and renown :

- Baldassare of Antiva : master artisan in Antiva City, unknown artistic specialty, sponsored by Orlesian nobility, active in 9:41. (source : DAI) - Chantal of Val Royaux : Orlais, unknown artistic specialty, sponsored by Orlesian nobility, active in 9:41. (source : DAI)

- Gustav of Val Fontaine : Orlais?, master cabinet-maker and virtuoso of fine marquetry. Designed and realised all the furniture of the library of the Winter Palace (one of the biggest library in Thedas). (timeline unknown, assumed dead, source : DAI) - Lady Cinthia : Ferelden or Orlais, renowned master seamstress and glove-maker whose work is recognizable by its stitchwork. (full name unknown, timeline unknown, presumed dead as of 9:30, source : DAO) - Ambrose Forfex : Tevinter (Venatori blood mage), wigmaker of renown, used to host seasonal "wig shows" for the nobility to attend, with models parading on stages in his estate in Vyrantium. (exact timeline unknown, but post-9:41 and pre-DAtV, deceased, source : TN)

Musicians, Singers and Dancers :

Interesting tidbits : Musicians seem especially valued in Orlais but exist everywhere, even under the Qun (Sten is even surprised it is not obvious to Leliana when she asks him). Nobles all around Thedas seem to receive some form of musical education and the most common instrument across the continent is the lute.

Dancers : - Veridian (stage name) : Llomerryn, twins exotic dancers, active in 9:41. (source : DAI)

Singers : - Carlota Montivecchio "The Songbird" : Antiva, famous opera singer, tried to murder a rival soprano only to be murdered in turn. (timeline unknown, source : TN) - Ser Corram "The Bard": Ferelden, famed singer and warrior, active in the Steel or Storm Age and lover of Arl Jacen Guerrin. (source : DAI)

Musicians : - Emeline de Montsimmard : orlesian music composer and private music teacher to the orlesian nobility, active in 9:41. (source : DAI) - Lord Edmond : orlesian, music student under the tutelage of Emeline de Montsimmard. (source : DAI) - Maryden Halewell : identified as both bard (but not the orlesian kind) and minstrel, published an anthology songbook called "A Garden's Grace : Songs of the Field", active in 9:41. (source : DAI) - Zither! (stage name) : Orlais, (actually a mage!), active in 9:41 (actual name unknown, source : DAI, playable character in multi.) - Edmond : Orlais, active in 9:41?, harpsichordist in Zither!'s band. (last name unknown, source : DAI)

Orlesian Bards : I set them aside a bit, since they're versed in music and arts but technically Art is not their primary goal, just a means to an end. - Arianna (deceased, source : DAA) - Bastien (deceased, source : WoT2/DAI) - Katriel (deceased, source : TST) - Leliana - Marjolaine Vasseur (deceased, source DAO) - Melcendre (deceased, source : TME) - Rosalyn (situation unknown, source DAA) - Shayd (active in 9:41, member of the Inquisition, source : TN) - The Black Fox (situation unknown, likely deceased as he was active in the Blessed Age, source : WoT2) - The Black Hart (situation unknown, Charter's previous identity? source : DAI).

Bonus : Named Bands Those were likely made just for the joke but since they're in the game, you can pry them from my cold dead hands lol. (source : DAI) - Evading Demons ("Didn’t they lose their singer to an abomination?") - Fuchsia Lotus ("They had a song about that. “I need to live” or, maybe “Hey! Don’t kill me!” " -Zither!) - Gemstone and the Oculara ("A marvelous band. Sexy too." "With mad skills." -Zither) - Spymaster ("Great musicians, but rubbish in the sack." -Zither!) - Apostacy - Bluebird Coop ("avant-garde rubbish" - Zither!)

Painters, engravers and illustrators :

Interesting tidbits : Thedas has several "traditional painting schools" [WoT2] and Orlais has a "classical period" for paintings [TME]. Commissioning artists seem to be pretty common in noble households in Orlais, the Free Marches, Nevarra, Orzammar and Ferelden. Lockets with painted miniatures of loved ones in them are common in Ferelden, Orlais and Nevarra.

(Funny additions : Adult books with raunchy illustrations are very much a thing in Thedas. Paintings with peepholes hidden in them for spying purposes are totally a thing as well! [TN] There also are professional art critics in Thedas as well as art forgers. Orlais had a critic named "DeCassoulet" (after the French dish) who recently fell from grace because of his association with art forgers. [WoT2] )

Painters : - Ambrose Poirier : Orlais, specialty unknown, sponsored by Orlesian nobility, active in 9:41. (source : DAI) - An Ortienz : unknown origin (maybe the Anderfels given the name?), portraistist of talent, active in Serault, Orlais, during the Blessed Age. (exact timeline unknown, source : TLC) - Caliastri : unknown origin (maybe Antiva given the name?), their style is easily recognisable (and often forged?) and their paintings are found in Orlesian noble homes. (full name unknown, timeline unknown but still famous in 9:40, source : TME) - Griselda Reiniger : Anderfels, portraitist in the "traditional Anderfels style", came to prominence with the painting "The Chant of Light" depicting Andraste playing the harp the night before her execution. Won a price at the University of Orlais for it and is sponsored by both the imperial Orlesian court and the Chantry. Supposedly active in 9:41. (source : WoT2) - Tillendall Lemallen : portraitist and wild-life painter for the Orlesian court. (given his name and his knowledge of Halla, he might be elven or even Dalish of origin, timeline unknown, source : DAI) - Yvette Gabriella Montilyet : Antiva, learned her trade under Antiva's royal tutors and her works are expected to be exposed in antivan salons in 9:41. (source : DAI)

Engravers : - Ambrose Dumont : Orlais, of humble origins, famous for his woodcut carvings and prints, especially pieces representing Nugs, sponsored by Orlesian nobility, active in 9:41. (source : WoT2)

Hobbyists : - Henri Ducette : Orlais, amateur historian and artist, sketched numerous statues around the Forbidden Oasis shortly before or in early 9:41. (source : DAI) - Horace Medford : Orlais, adventurer, took charcoal rubbings of elven carvings in the Exalted Plains for the University of Orlais before 9:41. (source : DAI) - Isabella : loves to doodle in (Hawke's) books, she gets an honorable mention (because I can). (source : DA2) - Lady Marchellette : young Orlesian girl drawing fanart of shirtless Calenhad (lol what an icon), sometime before 9:41. (source : DAI) - Prince Baldewin of the Anderfels : young boy who sent his drawings and fanart to the Inquisitor, deserves a mention for being adorable. (source : DAI) - Solas (source : DAI) - Sera (source : DAI) - Yves Montilyet : Antiva, Josephine's father, hobbyist painter? who hosts salons and art shows. (source : DAI) Known titled artworks : - "Abel d'Onterre" (portrait, source : DAI) - "Anita Chayeau, beloved Grand-mère" (portrait, source : DAI) - "The Chant of Light" by Griselda Reiniger (source : DAI) - "The Dalish Woods in Summer" (landscape, source : DAI) - "General Mathieu d'Onterre, Feared by the Dog Lords" (portrait or statue?, source : DAI) - "Giroux Lemarque" (portrait, source : DAI) - "Jeanette d'Onterre, Matriarch of House d'Onterre" (portrait, source : DAI) - "Nanette d'Onterre, Ma belle Rose" (portrait, source : DAI) - "Portrait of a Goosegirl" (source : DAO) - "Portrait of Leandra Amell" (source : DA2) - "The Rebel Queen" (heroic portrait, source : DAO) - "Val Royaux" (landscape, source : DAI) - "Skyball" (a black stone painted to look like the night sky and showing constellations (source : DAO))

Poets :

Poetry is fairly common across Thedas. It is canonically taught as a discipline to noble children in Orlais, Antiva, Orzammar, the Free Marches and Nevarra but seems to be accessible to broader masses as well; as several occurrences of commoners trying their luck at it demonstrate. Published poetry works and anthology books aren't uncommon either and have existed at the very least for 300 years [DAI]. Orzammar has a long tradition of poetry and haikus [DAO, DAI, WoT2].

- Carlol of House Yonoch : Orzammar, known as a "wordsmith", published in "The Noladar Anthology of Dwarven Poetry". (active during the early Dragon Age, source : WoT2) - Karsten Groeke : poet and philosopher, gave a lecture at the Univeristy of Orlais and was consequently chased out by the students following a bad bit of poetry praising absynthe (a strong alcohol). (Orlais? Anderfels given the name?, timeline unknown, source : DAI) - Lady Madeline : renowned poet and writer, daughter of the Rivaini Ambassador at the imperial Orlesian court, active in 9:41. (source : DAI) - Magister Oratius : Tevinter, known for his Sonnets Anthology titled "A Chant for Dreamers". (timeline unknown, source : DAI) - Paragon Lynchar : Orzammar, known for his Haikus, published in "The Noladar Anthology of Dwarven Poetry". (active during the Steel Age, source : WoT2) - Paragon Seuss : Orzammar, known for his mastery of rhymes, published in "The Noladar Anthology of Dwarven Poetry". (active during the Glory Age, source : WoT2) (- Kaariss of the mercenary group Valos-Kas loves to try his hand at poetry, to the great despair of his companions.) Unsure : - Paragon Ebryan : Orzammar, famous for his "Songs only Nugs can hear", unknown if they were a musician or a poet or both. (Exalted Age, source : DAO)

Sculptors :

Also common throughtout Thedas and despite varying through the ages, sculpture styles are seemingly recognisable for most people. Nevarra and Orlais have a long tradition of heroic statues of their historical figures, while Ferelden, the Chasind and the Avvar have a tradition of animalistic and votive sculptures. Both Orlesian and Tevinter imperial Houses as well as the Anderfels' Chantry seem to have a love for gigantic statues carved out of cliffs. One of Orlais' distinctive sculpture style is called "amour-tourmente style" ("love-torment"), example of it can be found in Art History books or seen in the Nevarran Grand Necropolis. One Fereldan Arl has a drawing room where carvings are exposed for visitors to enjoy, including one representing Yusaris, the legendary sword. To quote Lesha in Tevinter Nights : "Look, every culture has their own artistic signature—something that makes it theirs. Tevinter is all about sharp angles. Ferelden is hard and brutish, and Orlais is delicate and opulent. Dwarves are . . . well, simple is the wrong word, but they get right to the truth.” (Funny side-note : Ice sculptures are a thing in Orlais! [TME] They also have liqueur bottles with peach pits carved with erotica scenes in them. [DAI])

- Appius Trius : Ancient Tevinter, (also published in "Artists of Ancient Tevinter") famous for "sparking the imagination of all gazing at his work". (Ancient Age, source : DAI) - Gatsi Sturhald : formely Orzammar, now on self-imposed exile on the surface, the Inquisition's lead stonemason, produced several carvings of Paragons during his years as a sculptor in Orzammar, alive in 9:41. (source : DAI) - Hemiare Allegri : Antiva, commissioned by Duke Prosper de Montfort, active in Orlais during the first half of the Dragon Age. (exact timeline unknown, but alive during the Dragon Age, source : WoT2) - Juliette Coreau : Orlais, famous for a carving of Emperor Kordillus Drakon The Great commemorating the 800th anniversary of the foundation of the Orlesian Empire. Work displayed in the Winter Palace. (exact timeline unknown, but Blessed Age, so assumed dead, source : DAI) - L'Etourneau (stage name, French for "starling") : Orlais, known for a carving of Maferath The Betrayer, commissioned by Empress Yvette during the Blessed Age. (exact timeline unknown, but Storm/Blessed Age, so assumed dead, source : DAI) - Natalie Breault : Orlais, famous for her carving of "Lambert Valmont, The Swaggering Lion", commissioned by Emperor Judicael I. (exact timeline unknown, but Blessed Age, so asumed dead, source : DAI)

Thanks for making it all the way down! Hopefully, I didn't miss any name (don't hesitate to tell me if you find one I missed!) and this will be of some help to someone! Have a lovely day! ฅ՞•ﻌ•՞ฅ

Bioware will find any excuse to introduce Morrigan to a game via a set of stairs.

On solidarity, and it's lack, and my raw horror and delight at seeing these missives pop up in my file across the game. This SUPER got away from me, so this is now part 1.

I disbanded the Inquisition in this run, and did not save Minrathous, and have not yet seen if that makes a difference to the content of these letters!

I am aware these letters are a controversial part of Veilguard for a lot of people, and it's fine for everyone to feel how they feel about it! I'm not telling anyone that they are wrong, I'm just offering my perspective on why I really love what they did here, and think it's an excellent way to unite disparate threads while also punctuating the theming of this game, respect the struggles of our previous protagonists, and also realistically represent what we could expect of the disparate nations of the South in the conditions we see in Veilguard.

Some personal context that I don't actually need to share, and you don't need to read, but does inform my perspective on this:

I keep a keen eye on international politics in the real world, have a lot of experience in doing so, and I was one of many disabled advocates who saw the danger of covid coming long before it was declared an official pandemic and started doing what I could with a platform I had at the time to keep as many people around me both tangibly and in an online network sense as safe as possible. I know for a fact that my efforts saved lives. But there were limits to what I could do as an individual, and especially one confined to my bed.

When it came to mobilizing individuals, to getting information into the hands of trusted people in influential positions - eg. librarians - and providing them with the resources to then educate and mobilize their workplaces and social circles, I did great. But the issues I and others faced were systemic, and our effectiveness was limited by this.

With that context said and either read or skipped past, let's talk about the state of Southern Thedas across Veilguard.

So, this first letter from the Inquisitor contains a lot of information, densely packed.

Discussion of Morrigan here alone could be another post, but suffice it to say that this tells us that in the last ten years she has succeeded Flemeth as a guardian advisor of the South, inheriting in spirit (heh) if not in name (yet) the mantle of Ashar'bellanar.

The key part here is that she was very firm with the Inquisitor, more so than Scout Harding is being and Varric had been, that Rook is someone to watch and rely on at this time in history. With her personal context of being a hero of the Fifth Blight, that makes Rook contextually a peer to the hero of Ferelden in her eyes. Which might seem unlikely - but we need to remember that Morrigan was there from the very beginning, when the HoF had no idea what they were doing, and in most worldstates she witnessed them unite the disparate groups of Thedas, including those among the margins, into a powerful (if mostly transitory) alliance to combat and ultimately defeat the Blight.

Her endorsement is invoking all of that history.

Next up: it is established that when Solas began his ritual, the consequences were felt everywhere. We can operate on the assumption that at least some fade tears were ripped open, and that demons escaped and wreaked a wave of initial havoc.

This is backed up by a detail in a later letter, about demons having occupied Skyhold, and by the consequences we see in Minrathous, despite the ritual taking place in Arlathan.

On their escape, the gods immediately began to make their moves, and one of the first is Elgar'nan's overtures to the Venatori, which become consolidated into firm control very quickly due to his appeal as a mythic figurehead for them in their own goals, and the power he promises.

That they quickly become extensions of his will, their original cause nothing more than deluded lip-service, is part of the design, as I have gone into elsewhere previously but will likely do so again in more detail after a few more playthroughs.

When we hear that a splinter group of nobles have made common cause with the Venatori, we can intuit that they will be openly Imperialistic, likely a blend of old guard who still carry resentment around Ferelden's independence and up and coming warhawks. They will be those who resent the declining influence of Orlais on the international stage; who resent the gains that have been made over the years in improving the rights of the elves; and that they will be incredibly stubborn individuals who will insist that Orlais needs no allies and can stand on its own.

They will be those who cry for a return to the glorious past, and who are easily swayed by the promises of personal power to do so, because these are all the traits Elgar'nan selects for when gathering pawns - and they are traits that we have seen on display in many Orlesian's across both the games and the extended media. That's not a unique to Orlais situation, it's a cultural marker of a sunsetting Empire.

No matter who is the sitting Emperor of Orlais from the options we have been able to influence in the past titles, these people would still exist. They would be those who are laughed at and dismissed as toothless relics and hotblooded upstarts in Celene's court, and the hawks that consider Gaspard to be weak and lacking in ambition, while likely forming a core part of his supporter group.

They receive backing from the Venatori - and we know that the Venatori are embedded deeply in the upper strata of Tevinter society, that they have long ceased being a fringe group as they were initially presented in Inquisition - and the writing was on the wall even then that they had already made great strides in entrenching themselves in the halls of power.

So, to have Venatori backing is to have Tevinter backing, at a time when they are for the first time across the games free from needing to devote their military resources to combating the Qunari - and, however deeply reluctantly, are actively working with the Antaam, so we can operate with the belief they are providing logistical support that canonically the Antaam have lacked since they performed their military coup and launched their invasions. This read is backed up across this and the rest of the letters, with discussion of the dreadnaughts and the role they are playing.

We can subsequently operate with the assumption that the Orlesian splinter faction is being provided money, logistical support, political influence (key, given the Game) and potentially tangible military backing.

They waste no time, and specifically target the Royal Guard and the border keeps of Ferelden.

What does this tell us?

It backs up who these people are, and what they want, and we can subsequently intuit the kind of populist right wing messaging they will be using. They launch attacks against the core forces of the current Emperor or Empress, signalling a rejection of the current status quo in doing so. The move against the border keeps is a promise to return to the golden era of expansionism, and one that also serves to harry and divide Ferelden's forces.

In the next sentence, we learn that an initial force of Antaam corsairs are harassing shipping out of Ostwick, and that location is very significant.

It, in conjunction with the coordinated attacks in Orlais, is the first move in cutting off core allied supply lines from the North to the South. We know from prior titles that the ocean proper is not navigable without disaster, and control of the Waking Sea is going to be very important in subsequent letters and how the tide (heh) shifts back and forth.

Immediately, the goal has been to attempt to cut off and isolate Ferelden from international support, replicating the conditions of the Fifth Blight. This, more than anything else at this point in the game, made me very scared of Elgar'nan. We know from the memories that he was a brilliant strategic mind, and that the Evanuris started out as generals.

Man wakes up, glances across the board, probably gets a tl;dr primer from his new associates and as someone familiar with the lines of hard and soft power quickly moves to shut down the biggest threat in the South: those fucking weirdos from Ferelden who keep kicking over the board. It's an excellent call.

Ghilan'nain is not idle either, with her control of both the Blight and the work she is doing with the Antaam. Massing the Darkspawn at Ostagar again is both an excellent strategic move - for the same reasons it was in Origins - and a highly effective terror tactic.

We can intuit that it's a terrible time to exist in Ferelden right now. You've just been reminded of the events of Inquisition and the last time the sky was split open, a wound which everyone has gotten used to seeing above them but healed, and now Orlais is harrying the border and the darkspawn are massing once again at the site of the major historical event that led to mass death and upheaval in the LAST Blight.

Every lever possible to invoke and then beat on generational trauma and create mass panic has been pulled at once. It will divide their forces, it will divide their political system - it's what Loghain was scared of in Origins, but this time it's actually happening for real.

But hey at least we have the Free Marches and Orzammar and the Grey Wardens! [I'm being handed a note, which I will open later.]

The rest of this letter is reassurance from the Inquisitor: all of this fucking sucks, but it's terrible things that the South has experienced before, and as it has in the past, so will it survive it again.

This single letter told me so much, immediately.

All of these situations that they put forth are ones that cannot be fixed by swapping people in and out of chairs in the high halls of power.

The vulnerabilities that Elgar'nan preys on are systemic, cultural issues, reflecting ancient wounds and vulnerabilities. The victories that we can potentially make across the games can breathe within this narrative space, but do not in themselves have enough power to override these core weak points.

Orlais is an Empire. Ferelden is geographically isolated and culturally scarred by the horrors of a brutal occupation by said Empire, by the events of the Fifth Blight, and the blows it received during the events of Inquisition. We know that getting the bannorn to agree on a course of action at the best of times is like pulling teeth, and they may as well have dropped a thousand live bee grenades into an active debate.

It's a brilliant opening move, and it isn't one that invalidates what has come before, but one that preys on the active weak points that we have seen remain active across all of the games. We cannot expect solidarity from Orlais in Ferelden. Orlais cannot expect solidarity from Orlais, because their political culture is one of backbiting, plotting, and endless sabotage: this is a feature, not a bug, to them. It is one that ordinary Orlesians have paid for time and again, and one that will continue to have incredibly predictable and dire consequences.

I was thrilled by this letter, because it lit my brain on fire. I began to consider next moves, what I would expect from each faction involved based on historical context and precedent. As I will get into in later parts, this speculation was rewarded for me, and it's one of my favourite things about Veilguard.

You don't have to like it personally, but I am excited to talk about why I do, and how I feel it reflects the best of Dragon Age's political writing.

𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐈❜𝐌 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 unless I'm here by your side. | ♬ ❝ I'm Not A Saint ❞ by Billy Raffoul.

they said it couldn't be done etc etc [x]

the basics of tevinter politics and social classes, as laid out in world of thedas and a little elsewhere

the archon is the supreme ruler of the imperium. their authority and magical power is believed to be divinely granted. they choose their successors before they die, so they are usually the sons, nephews, brothers, cousins, or apprentices of previous archons. (this phrasing implies that, like the black divine, the archon is always a man, and certainly the several named ones we know all are, but i’m not sure if this is necessarily always true.) if an archon does not choose his heir before he dies, the magisterium elects the next; these candidates cannot be magisters or hold rank in the chantry. technically the archon can overrule the laws passed by the magisterium, but he rarely does this. his power mostly stems from families vying for his favour, as he has the unique power to appoint magisters at will. a man named radonis is the current archon; he’s appeared in comics and a war table mission.

the magisterium are the mage elites who regularly gather to govern the imperium and pass laws. magisters become magisters in several ways:

one is chosen from each of tevinter’s seven circles of magi. it cannot be that circle’s first enchanter

the imperial divine and every grand cleric of the imperial chantry gets a seat

magisters can inherit seats

as i mentioned, the archon has the right to appoint any new magister if he chooses

tevinter society breaks down into four major social classes.

the first mage class is the altus class. these are descended from the original “Dreamers”, through ancient and wealthy magical bloodlines. most magisters come from altus families. characters like dorian and danarius belong to this class.

other mages belong to the laetan class. these are mages who cannot trace their ancestry to the dreamers, and may belong to families with no history of magic at all. many vie for power despite their origins, and one third of the imperium’s archons have been laetans. (the first laetan to rise to archon was such an outrage it caused a seventy year civil war, but that was, like, 1500 years ago-ish. they’re more chill about it now.) it feels safe to assume that neve gallus, who says in tevinter nights that she doesn’t feel at home in a wealthy estate because she has more templars in her family than mages, probably belongs to this class.

the soporati are non-mages who are still full tevinter citizens. they are allowed to own property and serve in the military, but they cannot have a direct say in government or rise above the rank of mother/father in the chantry. they can however be civil servants and merchants. a mage born to a soporati family is instantly a laetan.

slaves are not allowed to own property, or to hold military rank even when armed and serving as a personal soldier or bodyguard. they have become a more even mix of humans and elves since andraste’s time. mages can be slaves. if a slave is set free, either by their living owner before a judge or by their owner’s will upon their death, they are considered liberati. liberati are still not citizens and cannot have political say or hold military rank, but they can join a circle of magi, get an apprenticeship in a trade, take apprentices themselves, and own property. fenris was a slave, while his sister varania was implied to have become one of the liberati.

there is also a large surface dwarf population in tevinter. they are not considered citizens, but instead regarded as foreign dignitaries however many generations their families have lived in tevinter. they have large embassies in every major tevinter city, which at least in minrathous, neromenian, and qarinus are completely subterranean, meaning residents can retain their dwarven caste and may never come above ground all their lives. minrathous’ close ties to the dwarves mean it even has a massive proving grounds, as well as enormous stone golems known as juggernauts to guard the city gates. more than anywhere else in thedas, the dwarves do get a political say, with an elected body of representatives called the ambassadoria who advise the archon and the magisterium. it’s the imperium’s reliance on lyrium which gives them this kind of sway.

I’m replaying the Jaws of Hakkon dlc and it really has me mulling over the sheer loneliness of our Inquisitor’s situation.

The Hero of Ferelden gained their title and status after they had already bonded with their companions and stopped the blight. Hawke is known for their dysfunctional polycule/found family. Rook is in the same boat.

But the Inquisitor became a symbol before they even had a chance to really get to know anyone. Every other protagonist leads a group of companions, meanwhile the Inquisitor leads a political and military force. Sure, they still become close with some of their companions and advisors, but everyone constantly reminds them of their status as a holy symbol and how intimidating and unapproachable it makes them.

You can literally tell Varric, Mr. Friends-With-Everyone, “I don’t need a disciple, I need a friend” and he’ll reply “If you knew how intimidating you are, you wouldn’t make it sound so simple”. Imagine how isolating it must be to keep hearing that.

On the pitfalls of relying on myth and historic, faded strength during an international emergency.

Part 2 of a series of posts talking about the letters my first character received from the Inquisitor during the events of Veilguard, and why I am very excited about them and personally really enjoy what they have to say about the political and strategic situations in the South.

I am going to strongly recommend that you read part 1 first, especially if you find this post in isolation! I go into a lot of context there that sets the stage for this one.

However long this series winds up being, in the final post I will wrap up how I feel the letters tie into the overarching themes of both this game and the series as a whole, and my feelings as a narrative designer on how Bioware used these letters to thread an impossibly small needle. If I make any lore mistakes, my apologies! But I'm mainly going to be talking about strategy and political ramifications here.

So!

The first letter, with a load bearing middle paragraph, told us a lot about the starting position of the South, in particular, of Ferelden and Orlais, during the events of Veilguard.

In that paragraph, it evoked a LOT of history. Both in-world historical events prior to the games, and of our actions within each title.

The second letter, received after the fall of Weisshaupt, is even more densely packed than the first. I'll be presenting it in chunks and going through it bit by bit as a result.

From the title of this letter, it sets the tone. The fall of Weisshaupt, capitalized as The Fall of Weisshaupt, reflecting that this is an event of immediate major consequence in the now and historic record.

Weisshaupt, as a fortress that was constructed in the First Blight, and that has never fallen in all that time, is a location shrouded in legend.

Before we can go through this letter, we need to consider the circumstances in which it was built, and why.

To do that, we need to consider the first Grey Wardens. Per the codex entry from Origins of, The Grey Wardens, the original Wardens were former soldiers of the Tevinter Imperium. Their lived experience had been nothing but endless war and Blight, and they met in the newly constructed Weisshaupt fortress to discuss their options. Per World of Thedas, p. 156, Weisshaupt was built in an area strategically close to Tevinter, but not hit as hard by the Blight.

In a time when the Blight had been an omnipresent reality for 90 years, that's a very significant starting position for a new order to have. They renounced their nationality and political ties.

Weisshaupt becomes their base of operations, and while it is a considerably larger fortress, we can consider it analogous to Skyhold in Inquisition in several ways - both in Inquisition itself and in Veilguard.

Per the codex entry gained in Origins, The First Blight: Chapter 4, one of the first if not THE first major victory the Grey Wardens won was at the city of Nordbotten, circled in the screenshot above.

Reports of each Warden taking down 10-20 Darkspawn at a time - a number that seems almost ludicrously low compared to the expectations on them in current Thedas.

But the first Blight, while very long, also saw the Darkspawn divided heavily between their surface and underground activity. There were less of them overall, and they had to cut their way through the Dwarves in order to establish their underground hives that would allow them to become an exponentially multiplying threat.

Over the next hundred years, the first Wardens fought to establish themselves. They made treaties, they established conscription and did not discriminate by race or class or background. In many ways, their actions mirror those the Dwarves took in creating the first Golems, but that's a subject for a different post, maybe.

All of this builds up to saying:

Weisshaupt was critical as a strategic location when it was first used as a base of operations. That victory cemented it as the ancestral headquarters of the Grey Wardens in all the time that follows, but as time marched on it became less and less strategically relevant to subsequent Blights.

Its main value became symbolic - the last refuge, the place to make a last stand. Weisshaupt has never fallen, and while it remains standing, there is hope.

I am being handed a note. It's this note. We can talk about the rest of this note now.

With all that prior context established, we can look at the actions the First Warden takes here with a critical eye. Leaving aside the merit of some of the things he has to say to Rook in the game, when we consider the actual underlying positions that the First Warden holds, he is deeply conservative, and a hardline traditionalist. He is an old soldier, yes, but as has been seen by references to his actions in previous titles and in this one: he is largely a figurehead, caught up in politicking.

As a political figurehead, but one fully on board with the death-cult tendencies of the modern Wardens (obsession with past glory and future heroic, destined death; deeply secretive to its own organizational detriment; rife with paranoia), First Warden Glastrum is faced with a deeply unenviable burden: constant darkspawn activity and multiple Blights across what we can assume is his entire tenure in the position, since no reference I can find is made to his having been a newcomer to the role.

Already quite old, both by normal standards and ESPECIALLY Warden ones, the First Warden displays some irrational behaviours that made me suspect he was actively experiencing his Calling from our first meeting with him.

His fixation on due process struck me as a desperate attempt to seek control in the face of that, and the actions that followed reinforced my feelings that this was a man who wants to cement his own legacy while he still can.

Calling the Wardens back to Weisshaupt is a strategic choice that does not make sense outside of that framework, and it is reinforced as what is probably going on by the Veilguard codex entry: Every Warden's Journey.

Viewed through this lens, and with him experiencing the Calling later confirmed if you reason with the First Warden, we can see that calling the Wardens back to Weisshaupt was less about meaningfully combatting the new Blight, and more about forcing a last stand.

We know that all the Wardens are having a bad time once Ghilan'nain takes control of the Blight. We know, per Dorian, that the First Warden signed off on the plan to raise a demon army in Inquisition, a plan which involved active collaboration with the Venatori. It is not the first time he has approved Glorious Last Stands.

The First Warden is a perfect target to subvert if you are Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain, and the Grey Wardens are a potential obstruction to your plans to consolidate control over the entirety of Thedas.

He wants to do right. He wants to fulfill his duty. He wants to die with honor, and make his mark in a way he has not been able too across the rest of the games, trapped as he is in the role of a figurehead.

And so he calls the Wardens, en masse, back to Weisshaupt. And we all know how that goes.

He concentrates them all in one place, which at this time in history, is a strategically useful location, but not for what we see it used for. Not as a border fort with immediate access to the worst off areas in this new Blight.

Weisshaupt would have been the perfect place to house refugees, and to use as a counterpart to Skyhold in the South. An information and logistics center.

Baiting the First Warden into a suicidal last stand serves multiple strategic purposes:

It consolidates the bulk of the Grey Warden order in a single, isolated location.

It pisses off everyone who currently really needs Grey Warden support.

It denies those people and places Grey Warden support, which as we will go over in the letter has devastating consequences.

It denies the forces in the North a powerful base of operations, as just outlined.

A victory at Weisshaupt is a devastating blow to morale across all of Thedas. It's fall robs everyone of the comforting myth that no matter what happens, they can always fall back to Weisshaupt and know that they will be safe. It sends a message: nowhere is outside of our reach, and there is nobody who can protect you.

We see how this unfolds in the next lines of the letter. The Grey Wardens withdraw, and it results in immediate losses of ground, particularly for Orzammar. It is a betrayal of one of the oldest alliances that the Wardens have, and one that will stoke the isolationist tendencies of Orzammar's ruling class.

If they are abandoned, once again, why should they show up for anyone else? And, indeed, I did not hear of them again until the final letter.

Orzammar has been dying a slow death across all of the games. The humans - and then the Qunari, in the events of Trespasser - have been trying to circumvent reliance on the Dwarves for access to the lyrium trade across all of the games and in the historical record.

There is a horrifying mirroring of the true history of the Dwarven people we learn about in the Descent DLC and the things we learn in Veilguard that we can see in these efforts.

And no matter who we made King, Orzammar has up until now refused to adapt and make the systemic change needed to reverse this slide into obliteration: the abolishment of the caste system. I want to go into the differences between Orzammar's approach and that of Kal-Sharok, but that will have to be a different post I think. Suffice it to say, based on everything we have seen of that city in prior titles, I expected exactly this result. Now Orzammar will have to contend with the same set of circumstances that Kal-Sharok was once forced into:

The unaddressed systemic cultural issues and generational trauma of the Dwarves of Orazmmar led to them becoming increasingly isolationist and reliant on the lyrium trade in order to tend to their daily needs. And without Grey Warden allies, and with their supply lines also affected by the same issues hitting Ferelden, their options dwindle sharply.

And a thousand or so Wardens die at Weisshaupt.

That is a devastating loss. We see what even a pair of Grey Wardens can do multiple times across the series.

With the loss of the Wardens and Weisshaupt both, Ghilan'nain and Elgar'nan can launch the next stage of their offensives. Remembering that aside from being known as the mother of the halla, Ghil is the elven goddess of guides and navigation. We can subsequently intuit that she probably has a very firm understanding of how long it takes to get places, and she has control of the Blight and the Darkspawn - which means she now controls the Deep Roads near entirely unopposed. She's got the subway.

Coordinating an eruption of Darkspawn at historic sites terrorizes Thedas with what the Dwarves already knew: the Darkspawn are everywhere, in seething hordes, and surfacers will reckon with those numbers when Orzammar no longer holds them back.

So!

Per the last letter, the border with Orlais is being harried. The Darkspawn horde at Ostagar appears to have made directly for Denerim - another strong strategic move. Take out the capital, and theoretically you undermine the ability of the nation to organize and field meaningful resistance. Except, here, the less centralized structure of Ferelden society does it a firm favour. As we have seen in prior games, Denerim is not the only key location to locking Ferelden down. Redcliffe is also critical. I'm being handed another note, but that's a problem for future me and for future Ferelden.

The situation in the capital is grim, yes, but not currently totally lost. We have seen how stubborn and determined the people of Denerim are in the face of adversity in Origins firsthand.

Next up is the one part of this that I did not see coming after receiving the first letter - though I should have! I overlooked the implications of the Jaws of Hakkon dlc, having only viewed it through for the first time shortly before Veilguard's release.

When the political process is failing, when the establishments are tearing themselves apart, when civilians lives are on the line and there is an existential threat to everyone: the sorely neglected and othered often step up to provide the most critical support. So it is here, with the Chasind and the Avvar.

Relegated to the margins across all of the games, treated mostly by our viewpoint characters and those we interact with as backward and provincial at best, both the Chasind and the Avvar are substantial and mostly unrepresented groups in the franchise. They also occupy the most outwardly 'hostile' terrain in Ferelden, and know it like the back of their hands.

I got so, so excited when this popped up. The implications of this alliance were the most stirring thing to give me hope for the South. With access to the travel routes and supply lines, as well as remote and well protected territories, the potential to slip civilians out from the noose that Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain are tightening around Ferelden shoots up.

Troops can be moved, and so long as the Blight is contained and harried at by those who at this point have a great deal of learned experience fighting Darkspawn, this alliance marks a potential turning point both in the immediate moment we receive the letter, and in the long-term arc of history that will go on far past the events of the game itself.

It's exciting to me, and I'm excited to also dig into the next letter! As with the last one, nobody else has to like what they've done here, but I think it's great, and I'm really excited to share more of why.

Elf girls 🥹🌿🌸