The World Is In Great Peril, And You Are The Unlucky Protagonist Who Must Save It! Spin This Wheel Three

Now THIS is the biggest glow-up in Dragon Age history

A list of potential cures for the Calling, that we know about, that BioWare has apparently forgotten

Andraste's grace: it's not specified whether the flower the kennelmaster has you pick in the Korcari Wilds is Andraste's grace or if the game just needed a one-off asset and decided to reuse one they already had. However, in the dark future in DAI, Leliana is found to have unusual tolerance for the taint, and in DAO she talks about her mother pressing her laundry with dried Andraste's grace flowers, so it makes you wonder. Anyway, the flower stops Barkspawn becoming a ghoul and seems to make them immune to the taint from that point on.

Maric's longsword: he finds it in the Deep Roads and is suprised it isn't covered in the same Blight-rot as everything else - until, that is, he touches the sword to a patch of it and sees it wither away. Whether it's the dragonbone the sword is made of or the runes on the blade is difficult to say, though if it was just the dragonbone then it would make sense for that to be a more well-known property of the material (and would have been an interesting reason for why dragons were hunted to extinction). If Alistair carries it with him, doesit slow the progession of the taint through his body? Does he know its effects, and give it to the HoF to help keep them safer on their journey to find a permanent cure?

That obsidian dagger Duncan finds in The Calling: the dagger belonged to First Enchanter Remille - who also gave the expedition members brooches that accelerated the spread of the taint. iirc the both the dagger and the brooches are made by the Architect with Blight magic, which means the darkspawn magisters have more knowledge of how the Blight works than the Chantry attributes to them.

Whatever the fuck is going on with Avernus: he hasn't managed to cure himself yet, but he's managed to make it to 200 and the Warden can let him continue his experiments if they don't kill him - and he'd be a really useful resource if the Warden later wanted to send him other potential cures for testing.

Dragons: they have an ability to isolate the Blight in their bodies by forming crystaline cysts around the initial infection to stop it spreading. Useful if it can be more widely applied. Also, it's implied that Maric's reaver blood, which Calenhad gained by mixing his blood with a dragon's, is what somehow cured Fiona of the taint, kinda like a reverse STI, BUT in the Deep Roads they went through an area where the walls were coated in a pale, chalky substance suspiciously devoid of Blight-rot and she touched it, so I'm a bit suspicious of that.

Blood magic: makes sense since the taint is a problem that starts with infected blood. There are two major instances in DA canon where blood magic has been used to purge the taint from an object or being (both by elves btw). The first is Isseya using it to draw the taint out of a clutch of unhatched griffon eggs, which she says is only possible because the taint hasn't yet taken over the hatchlings' bodies to the same extent that it had with the adult griffons. The second instance is Merrill purging the Blighted eluvian in DA2. It's insane that Anders - who is a reluctant Warden and who possibly knows the HoF seeks a cure - isn't more excited about this. She literally removed the Blight from a fully tainted object. Since Isseya proved the same can be done with living tissue, it's probably the closest we've come to an actual cure, but since it also took years there's no telling if it could be a practicaly solution for all Wardens

Dragon Age NPC Ages in DA: The Veilguard

This assumes that the 9 years between Dragon Age Inquisition and Dragon Age: The Veilguard refer to the Trespasser DLC (as in the last time Varric would have seen Solas), versus the start of Dragon Age Inquisition. This places DAV in 9:53. Characters who showed up in a previous game will not be repeated in the lists for later games they also appeared in (i.e., Leliana is under DAO, not DAI).

Read more for length & spoiler reasons. The ages listed are assuming they have not had their birthday in 9:53 yet.

Dragon Age: Origins - 9:30 - 23 years prior

Alistair Theirin - 42

Morrigan - 48

Leliana - 49

Zevran Arainai - 47

Oghren Kondrat - 65

Wynne - RIP (would've been 70)

Shale - Eternal

Sten (now Arishok) - 66

Loghain Mac Tir - 74

Anora Mac Tir - 49

Dragon Age: Awakening - 9:31 - 22 years prior

Nathaniel Howe - 52

Anders - 53

Sigrun - 47

Velanna - 47

Dragon Age 2 - 9:30-9:37 - 23-16 years prior

Hawke - 47

Carver/Bethany Hawke - 42

Fenris - ~53

Isabela - 53

Merrill - ~46

Sebastian Vael - 45

Aveline Vallen - ~58

Varric Tethras - 52

Dragon Age Inquisition - 9:41-9:44 - 12-9 years prior

Josephine Montilyet - 40

Cullen Rutherford - 41

Cassandra Pentaghast - 49

Solas - ~2000 (appears mid-40s)

Sera - 31

Vivienne de Fer - 56

Blackwall/Thom Rainier - 57

the Iron Bull - 49

Dorian Pavus - 41

Cole - Ageless (appears 20, or he may have aged into his 30s if he were made more human in DAI)

Kieran - 21

𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑐 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑑𝑎𝑠; 𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑖𝑛 🌻 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑚 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑅𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑤𝑎𝑠ℎ 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑎𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑢𝑛. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑛, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝐸𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑄𝑢𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑖 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑒𝑛𝑗𝑜𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠. 𝑀𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑙𝑙 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑎 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒. 8𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑠 / 𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑏𝑒

How much canon info is there about Highever? I haven't been able to find much apart from: It has an alienage, is by the coast and makes a signature kind of cloth (wool industry?). How big is the city? Is it near/around Castle Cousland? Does it have a harbour? How big is the alienage and what is it like?

(Alright, for you I’m going to make this into an official lore post, because this is actually small and specific).

Disclaimer: All of this is completely canonical knowledge. Nothing headcanoned, there are sources for it and I’ve gathered from every source that I could. This includes: Codice (Highever, Construction Report: Brickmarks, ), Dragon Age Origins Ultimate/Collector’s Edition Prima Guide, Dragon AGE Core Rulebook. Nothing is headcanon and nothing is taken from an unreliable sources (i.e. Wikipedia).

 Highever

Location

Highever is a Teyrnir in northern Thedas, one of the few that set on the Coastlands. It sets on the coast of the Waking Sea, west of Amaranthine, across the sea from Kirkwall and the Vimmark Mountains, and North of The Bannorn.

In the very center of the Highever Teyrnir, is Harper’s Ford, this area used to belong to the Howes of Amaranthine. However, during the Orlesian Occupation, Tarleton Howe sided with the Orlesians, Harper’s Ford was marched upon by the Couslands and Howe hung.

Highever is the name of a village in the Teyrnir along the coast, as well as being the name of the Teyrnir (all lands, holdings, and bannorns within in area).

Castle Cousland is located in the Highever Teyrnir, the exact location is unknown.

Highever possesses an Alienage, though the location of it is unknown.

There was a Silver Temple in Highever where Andraste’s Ashes were first held, before being moved to a secret location. Whether the Temple still stands in unknown.

History

In -165 Ancient, Andraste’s “sons” (Maferath’s sons were adopted by Andraste, though many tried to claim to be her birth son in order to earn leadership of the Alamarri tribes) sought to steal Andraste’s ashes from Highever’s Silver Temple and strengthen their claim to Chief of the Alamarri. The ashes were moved to Haven, but the location was never revealed and eventually lost.

Castle Highever, eventually known as Castle Cousland, was built in the Divine Age and was considered no more than an outpost to the Amaranthine Bannorn. The oupost was held by the cousins of the Howes, the Elstans until the Tower Age.

In the Age of Towers, Bann Conobar Elstan was murdered by his wife, Flemeth, leaving no heir behind. Cononbar’s Captain, Sarim Cousland, stepped up and took the land instead.

The Couslands would declare themselves an independent Bannorn from Amaranthine and start a 30 year war, until Highever was freed and owned southwest Amaranthine as well.

It wasn’t until the Black Age that Highever would be named a Teynir under Haelia Cousland, who would unite the nearby lords against the werewolves and earn herself the title along with their fealty.

4:80 Black, Orlais tried to take Highever in hopes to conquer Ferelden, in the first Orlesian Invasion. They would use Highever to supply their troops by sea. However, Redcliffe stood strong against the Invasion and Orlesian was forced to retreat, unable to pass into Highever.

 During the Exalted Age, Eletha Cousland would fight Ferelden’s future king, Calenhad, to remain independent. She would lose, but Highever would remain one of two Teynirs and Eletha would remain their teyrna.

However, in the Dragon  Age, the Couslands would be betrayed and Castle Cousland would be stormed by Arl Howes forces, the Cousland family almost completely wiped out. The only to survive would Fergus Cousland, who would be lost in the Korcari Wilds until after the Fifth Blight ended. 

(Conditional: The youngest Cousland would also survive the attack and go on to become a Grey Warden, swearing vengeance on Howe.)

Highever would be relinquished after Howe’s death by the Warden and returned to the Couslands.

Fergus Cousland is the current Teyrn of Highever.

Heraldry

Highever has two major Heraldry, The Cousland Heraldry (Left) and The Highever Heraldy (Right).

Known People from Highever

Ardal Cousland (A knight/soldier to King Vanedrin Theirin)

Bryce Cousland

Calenhad Theirin

Duncan

Fergus Cousland

Flemeth

Helena (Jory’s Wife)

Oren Cousland

Riordan

Roderick Gilmore

Ser Eryhn (A Templar woman with unmatched grace with a sword and shield)

Warden Cousland

Facts

Highever has a population of 20,000.

Highever has given Ferelden the most famous Alamarri Legends so far (Calenhad, and Flemeth)

Nelaros’ Wedding Ring was forged in Highever, it is also where Tabris’ bride/groom comes from.

Sarethia is the Hahren of Highever’s Alienage.

Warpaint of the Tempest, is the traditional kaddis for mabari in Highever.

Highever Weave is most likely a cloth originating from Highever and may be an export.

Skyhold has bricks stolen from Highever, apparently before the First Orlesian Invasion.

Dalish Political Opinions:

I've been working on worldbuilding regarding Dalish culture and beliefs, as a framework for writing stories more focused on Dalish characters and clans. This is a rough draft of what different clans might believe and practice, and how those attitudes could differ.

The Future Homeland:

Building a Neo-Arlathan: The great city should rise again, as the jewel of the Dalish culture. We'll benefit most from having a single, large city with strong defenses and room for the clans to overwinter.

Reclaiming the Dales: The Dales should be ours. We should have a wide range of settlements from tiny homesteads to a capital city, dispersed and defended so that we can never loss everything in a single siege.

Founding a Third Kingdom: We need to find a new place to live and build a kingdom, bringing the best of Arlathan and the Dales to a fresh slate.

Nomadic Life: the Dalish are best served by continuing to be nomads, with only semi-permanent encampments and small settlements. We are best served by finding better ways to bring wealth with us and defend ourselves while on the move, not putting a target on our backs by having a fixed location.

Religion: 

Literalists: These are the stories we have, which we believe are the truth of what happened. The moral and social rules they lay out should be followed as strictly as possible

Reconstructionists: Our myths may be missing information or misconstrued. What matters is that we act in good faith, keeping to the core tenets, and continue searching for more evidence of our past. The details of the rules are less important than the intent.

Functionalist: it doesn't matter if our myths are true or not. What matters is the fact that they're ours, and they show us what it means to be Dalish. Rules can be discarded entirely if they no longer work for a clan.

Diplomacy:

Non-Dalish Elves:

Isolation: we should have nothing to do with anyone outside the Dalish Clans. In an ideal world, we would have a country all our own that no one outside of the clans even knew existed. The elves of the cities are not our concern.

Expansion: we should actively be bringing non-dalish elves into the clans. In an ideal world, all elves would be Dalish.

Collaboration: We should develop positive relationships with elves outside the clans, without recruiting. In an ideal world, the Dalish would be independent but have friends, business partners, lovers, and allies who were of many faiths.

Dwarves:

Alliance: The dwarves' religious beliefs are perfectly compatible with Dalish beliefs, and both groups specialize in areas the other lacks. We're natural allies, and should seek to strengthen ties.

Non-Interference: The dwarves are not our problem, and there is nothing they can offer us that would make it worth getting involved in their politics or the mess of the darkspawn in the deep roads.

Hostility: The dwarves have never helped us, they've never acted even when it would cost them very little. They have no magic. They're not like us, and they can't be trusted.

Humans:

Hostility: Fuck Orlais, fuck tevinter, and fuck everyone who allies with them. Shemlens can't be trusted.

Strategic Ties: Many, if not most, humans are awful, but individual ones can be trustworthy. Maintaining ties with the morally upright among them will keep us safer than a universal rejection.

Sympathy: We have a great deal in common with the poor and unwelcome of human society. What is done to them, and what they do in response, could make them valuable allies if we approached them in the correct way.

Qunari:

Most clans outside of the free marches don't have an opinion about the qunari. Clans within the free marches range from 'well they scared the shems' to 'and they scared us'. It's expected to be a major subject of debate at the next Arlathvhen

Magic:

Political beliefs about magic can generally be split into two attitudes: enthusiastically embracing it, or accepting it with reservations. (There are a few fringe clans who reject it entirely, and have non-mage keepers, firsts, and seconds, and a few more will allow non-mages as keepers, but they are very rare.)

Political opinions about magic map very neatly to geographic location - the closer a clan's territory is to Tevinter, the more suspicious that clan is of magic. It was the northernmost clans that took the precept of the three mage minimum and decided it would also be their maximum.

Northern clans, if they're sending extra mages away, will travel south to make sure the young mage isn't picked up by Tevinter. Not doing so can result in a clan's leadership being declared illegitimate at the Arlathvhen.

As a result, most non-Dalish are not aware of the variety of opinions regarding magic, and assume that all Dalish clans allow only three mages.

Dalish clans in Rivain, on the other end of the spectrum, pride themselves on having as many mages as possible, to the point that not having a mage available to be a clan's Second is a bad omen and sign of potential disaster. This has, in the past decade, lead to what the Daliah call 'Rivaini diplomacy' - the practice of Rivaini clans sending members to live with clans adjacent to Tevinter, for the chance to adopt any young mages the clans send away.

Languages of the Dragon Age

I am not a linguist. I have had loose associations with linguists in the past; I am at best passingly familiar with some general or interesting features of a scattered handful of languages and writing systems. This is more than enough to despise the way Dragon Age lore handles languages.

“Trade Tongue” is a convenient device for streamlined storytelling—you don’t have to worry about characters being able to understand one another—but it’s in the absolute top tier of poor world-building, especially for a fantasy medieval setting where information travels slowly and most people aren’t going to be doing much travel at all.

So, on the basis of some off-the-cuff reflection and with utter disregard for canon linguistics (aside from canonical names and vocab), I present a sketch of the known languages, and language families, of Thedas in the Dragon Age:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Proto-Alamarri: Originating between the Waking Sea and the Frostback Mountains, the Alamarri language family is the most diverse in modern Thedas; Alamarri languages share phonetic and structural features with real-world Celtic and Germanic languages.

Fereldan: The common and court language of the kingdom of Ferelden; its use was suppressed among the nobility during the Orlesian occupation, but to little effect in the long term; it shares features with the Welsh and Gaelic languages.

Chasind: The language of the nomads who inhabit the Korcari Wilds south of Ferelden; although evidently related to its neighboring languages, it is not written and is little attested outside the Chasind tribes.

Avvar: Spoken by the semi-nomadic peoples of the Frostback Mountains, Avvar shares certain phonetic features with Andrisch by linguistic convergence.

Rivaini: The popular language of most of Rivain, to which the first Alamarri speakers came before the Tevinter period. Its vocabulary is strikingly varied from other Alamarri languages, including significant Neromenian borrowings, although it retains distinctively Alamarri phonology.

Andrisch: The dominant language of the Anderfels, Andrisch is less closely related to other Alamarri languages than any other pair in the family; it parallels real-world Germanic languages.

Marcher: The common speech of the Free Marches, characterized by its heavily Neromenian vocabulary fitted to Alamarri grammar. Spoken with significant regional lexical variation from Kirkwall to Ansburg and Wycome.

Neromenian: Originating in north-central Thedas, the Neromenian languages are the most widely spoken in the modern world; they correspond to real-world Romance languages.

Tevene: The language of the Tevinter Imperium and closest to (though by no means intelligible with) Neromenian, it has three distinct but mutually intelligible dialects in modern Thedas.

Classical: The dialect of Tevinter’s upper classes, featuring some modifications to vocabulary and pronunciation but grammatically very close to the Tevene of the old Imperium.

Vulgar: The dialect—or, more properly, dialects—of Tevene’s non-mage and slave castes, featuring significant regional variation, altered vocabulary, and grammatical innovations.

Arcanum: Not actually spoken in Tevinter, Arcanum is a preserved academic form of Ancient Tevene read (and loosely “spoken”) in southern Circles of Magi.

Orlesian: The language of the Orlesian Empire, Orlesian takes much of its vocabulary from languages of the Alamarri and Planasene families, although its grammatical structure remains distinctively Neromenian. Orlesian is the most widely spoken language in southern Thedas, used to facilitate trade between non-Orlesian kingdoms (although this is often lamented as a sign of persistent Orlesian influence).

Antivan: The language of the kingdom of Antiva, Antivan differs from Orlesian in the historical timing of its word loans and the decidedly higher concentration of Neromenian and Alamarri vocabulary. 

Planasene: Originating in south-central Thedas, Planasene culture was largely wiped out by successive Tevinter and Orlesian expansion. 

Nevarran: The only surviving Planasene language, sharing features of Classical Greek and Avestan, with significant influence from surrounding Neromenian languages, especially Orlesian.

Dwarven: The dominant language of the dwarven trade empire by the time of the First Blight, preserved in remarkably stable form in the surviving thaigs of Orzammar and Kal-Shirok. Its grammar and phonology parallel Uralic languages, especially Hungarian; it is written in an alphabetic runic script which is the basis for most human writing systems.

Elvhen: The language which was dominant in Arlathan before the rise of Tevinter, it is now spoken among the Dalish clans in diversely modified form, often drawing on regional human languages to replace vocabulary lost under Tevinter domination; these dialects are, however, transmitted carefully to ensure that they remain mutually intelligible. Elven script is alphabetic and unrelated to other Thedosian writing systems.

Qunlat: The language of the Qunari people and organized ideology, unrelated to the other languages of Thedas. Qunari script is logo-syllabic. 

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.

I know people probably don’t like the idea of it because we’re literally playing the leader of the Inquisition, but I think it works really well as a genuinely morally questionable imperialist force. Stories from the POV of non-inquisition characters where the Inquisition acts as an antagonist would actually work really well.

Like we see the Avvar get displaced when the Inquisition moves to Skyhold. One of the throne decisions even lets you banish a tribe from ‘Inquisition’ territory aka the home they’ve lived in for thousands of years that you just showed up in. And they’re probably dealing with famine due to their land now hosting thousands of more mouths to feed.

Plus the vast majority of the Inquisition’s troops believe they’re carrying out a holy mission for the herald of their religion’s founding prophet. That sort of fanaticism in general is trouble enough, but their main garrison being in a region full of polytheistic tribes? Uh, yeah, that could cause some problems.

And speaking of their 'main’ garrison, the fact that others exist is a problem too. We see the Inquisition making unsanctioned claims on fortresses in both Orlais and Ferelden like Suledin Keep and Caer Bronach.

The Inquisition’s presence in general is something many nobles in both nations take issue with, but outright claiming territory? Major fortresses? Even quartering troops in various towns like Redcliffe and Crestwood? If it wasn’t for the world ending crisis that’d be a declaration of war.

The Inquisition also conscripts soldiers from all over the place. you have dozens of opportunities to force people to work for you throughout the game. People probably fear the Inquisition showing up at their doorstep and forcing them to fight.

It also has either an army of templars or army of mages, both which can be pretty scary groups to your average person, and those armies might also be conscripted.

And how can Ferelden feel secure with all of these Orlesians tearing across their lands for the first time since the occupation? Sure, they may be fighting demons and wearing Inquisition colors, but they’re still Orlesians marching through Fereldan land.

Also the Inquisition may have been involved in an assassination plot to overthrow the ruler of Orlais, the largest nation in Southern Thedas, the one that’s been backing the Inquisition the most. If the Inquisition put a figurehead in place, does Orlais’ backing really even mean anything? Can you really trust a faction that so readily betrays its primary ally?

With all of that in mind… yeah it kind of looks really really bad for the Inquisition.

And all of this happens within the span of a year.

Oh and then it turns out an ancient elven god was hiding within the ranks of the Inquisition and was a close friend/lover to the Herald of Andraste and he wants to destroy the world.

Daemon Age: Inquisition

Advisors

Cullen Rutherford & Aeltjedemuis - (Mabari/Pittweiler) Cullen, ever the Fereldan, settled quite patriotically (and young) as a robust and strong dog. Aeltje is often seen next to the stern-faced Commander, wagging her tail ferociously. Pitties can be either aggressive or gentle depending on who trains and nurtures them. Their bond is tender ever since weaning off Lyrium. It is unbearable for her to leave his side.

Josephine Montilyet & Agapito - Bluestreak cleaner wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus) Agapito sits within a fishbowl on the ambassador’s desk, or floats within a water-filled bauble hanging around the Antivan’s neck. He can put on quite an attractive show, dancing about, and revels in practical and mutual cooperation.Yet beyond the flashing scales lies a cunning mind. Like Josephine, the cleaner wrasse always finds the benefit in a transaction.

Leliana & Sharon - Common nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos) Why do you think they call the spymaster Lady Nightingale? Actually, the nickname is purely incidental. While malcontents are focused on the frightening Right Hand, Sharon works away chipping foes down bit by bit, singing beautifully all the while. She can be seen under her human’s hood, or sometimes at an unnervingly far distance.