309 réponses à ce sujet

[Shadow of Light Dragon]

Wow, some nice information in this thread. Thanks, David!

[Arttis]

Hope we learn more in DA2.

[In Exile]

tmelange wrote...

This. Are they, then, not living? How exactly does a blood "corruption" serve as nourishment, or are they just animated dead?

This is interesting, since, long time ago, I participated in a discussion about darkspawn being parasitical to humans. If they don't need to eat, and are actually smart enough to engage in "psychological warfare" naturally (and aren't, in fact, mindless) then Awakenings has a bit of a different bent. The only truly problematic issue to the ability to negotiate, then, is the whole broodmother thing, I suppose. Interesting.

I liked this point in particular despite it having been made a while ago, but I wanted to add a different slant. One important thing about the darkspawn is that they are vessels. They are things that an archedemon can occupy and make into another copy of itself, which apparently becomes another high dragon.

The darkspawn hear the archdemon. Allegedly, it says things which are comprehensible. The brood mother in DA:A described it as a kind of sweet music.

So whatever the darkspawn are, it isn't right to consider them living beings in the same way as other people. Awakening is in itself an interesting process, because I happen to think it doesn't actually wake them it - it makes them something different. Why is that? Because Warden's have archdemon blood; and the archdemon is teh essence that fills the darkspawn container, and why only a Warden can kill an archdemon. So it may be that that spark of life (since blood is very special in DA) is enough to add a kind of soul and/or living essence to a darkpawn that fundamentally makes it a different kind of creature.

[Lord Gremlin]

Addai67 wrote...

AbounI wrote...

So David has told that darkspawns do not feel the need to eat.
But in the Stolen Throne, chapter 14, before Maric has found his sword, there are some interesting lines concerning that subject.The book described something (perhaps dead spiders) that has been eaten by something.Do the spiders eat dead spiders?Cannibal spiders?
"Peut être que ce qui les a mangées ne se préocuppait pas de ce qu'il mangeait", said Rowan
possible translation: "perhaps that what did eat them didn't mind about what they eat"
sorry, cannot give you the exact lines, because my book is a french one, so not only my own french to english translation will be exact, but also the true number of those pages I am refering to.

so here it some entries that let me think the darkspawn probably feel the need to eat

He says they don't need to eat to sustain themselves.  They can eat, but not for sustenance.  Often you hear people referring to the darkspawn eating people- Morrigan says she thought that was what they were doing after the battle of Ostagar, for instance.  We see the ogre in the Tower of Ishal appear to be eating the dead soldiers.  So they eat, but not for nutrition's sake- something else is going on that is as yet unclear.

That's my handle on it, anyway.

Maybe they enjoy humble digestion process? I suppose in their case it's important that they don't die of starvation - since in the Deep Roads food sources are extremely limited. It appears however that they use every chance they get to fill their stomaches - for pleasure, maybe?

[Tirigon]

Lord Gremlin wrote...

Maybe they enjoy humble digestion process? I suppose in their case it's important that they don't die of starvation - since in the Deep Roads food sources are extremely limited. It appears however that they use every chance they get to fill their stomaches - for pleasure, maybe?

Maybe eating humans is to Darkspawn what sex is to humans.

[AbounI]

Ok, darkspawns do not feel the need to eat.But what about the Broodmothers?Do they have to eat for sustain?
To birth a darkspawn, it requires kind of energy that can be found in a digestiv process.
So do the darkspawn eat to feed their Broodmothers?
It would be like bees or ants?They probably have a social structure with working class, nutritiv class, warriors class, scout class etc etc.
Is there a hierarchy in their "society"?

Modifié par AbounI, 19 juillet 2010 - 01:32 .

[Lord Gremlin]

Actually, it was mentioned that broodmothers need to eat. Maybe darkspawn feed them with bile, like bees feed their larva?

[Mecha Tengu]

I  BBW in the mornings

[Gill Kaiser]

Darkspawn are, in essence, a macroviral species. They are not truly alive themselves, but exist because they parasitise other species. What viruses do to cells, they do to people.

Just like the Reapers from Mass Effect are an macroviral species, but cranked up an extra notch to the galactic civilisation level.

[Rubbish Hero]

They eat there own feces, it's tainted.

[Iscaredeath]

Darkspawn don't need to eat but they do. Sounds like most Zombie movies I see. As for Female Grey Warden fertility, so making a female noble queen was all for nothing since Alistair and that character cannot have children?

[Ponce de Leon]

David Gaider wrote...
Yes, my serious answer to the question is that broodmothers are based off a creature that does have breasts-- so they're going to have vestigial remnants of the creature they once were, now twisted and corrupted, even if they don't need them for their current purpose.

But doesn't evolution mean to eliminate all the superfluous parts and get new parts that are useful? If so, and if broodmother's breasts have no function, can we call the Darkspawn (and their ghouls) a genetic mistake? 
And since I base myself in the "there is only science, no religion" theory, could we guess that the Darkspawn are in fact a part of a race that didn't actually make it to the level of the other races? Some far cousins? 
Of course, here I am not taking magic in consideration. Worlds with magics are always very tricky... 

[tmp7704]

dark-lauron wrote...

David Gaider wrote...
Yes, my serious answer to the question is that broodmothers are based off a creature that does have breasts-- so they're going to have vestigial remnants of the creature they once were, now twisted and corrupted, even if they don't need them for their current purpose.

But doesn't evolution mean to eliminate all the superfluous parts and get new parts that are useful? If so, and if broodmother's breasts have no function, can we call the Darkspawn (and their ghouls) a genetic mistake?

The broodmothers aren't exactly product of evolution though. And even evolution doesn't guarantee some sort of clean removal of "no longer necessary" parts -- there's plenty species which retain some remains of no longer useful bits and pieces, humans included.

[Lord Gremlin]

Iscaredeath wrote...

Darkspawn don't need to eat but they do. Sounds like most Zombie movies I see. As for Female Grey Warden fertility, so making a female noble queen was all for nothing since Alistair and that character cannot have children?

It's very unlikely. Wardens have reduced fertility, so two wardens having a child - chances are very slim. In other words, it's up to Gaider.

[Ken555]

David Gaider wrote...

tmelange wrote...
This. Are they, then, not living? How exactly does a blood "corruption" serve as nourishment, or are they just animated dead?

That's an excellent question, if perhaps an academic one. Darkspawn don't breed, either... unless you want to call the process by which darkspawn are created by broodmothers breeding. Broodmothers technically aren't darkspawn themelves-- they're ghouls. So do the darkspawn qualify as living creatures in their own right?

Tirigon wrote...
It is argued that the Darkspawn make DAO a
game that is not morally ambiguous because the Darkspawn are pure evil,
and I defended them on the grounds of having to eat somehow so they just
eat humans like we eat animals, and now.. and now...../../../images/forum/emoticons/crying.png../../../images/forum/emoticons/crying.png../../../images/forum/emoticons/crying.png

They´re
pure evil!!! Boring!!!!!!!

They're compelled to be what they are by a force that is not well-understood. If that makes them "pure evil" to you, then so be it-- not everything in Dragon Age is morally abiguous; just that there are no easy answer. Beyond that you might want to be careful using imaginary logic to defend fantastical creatures.

Don't they eat people, I mean Morrigan descirbed the scene at Ostagar and she said that they "swarmed the corpses feeding." After all they feed the Broodmother human flesh so wouldn't Darkspawn do the same.

[Tirigon]

David Gaider wrote...
Beyond that you might want to be careful using imaginary logic to defend fantastical creatures.

I wouldn´t know how to waste my time if I had to stop defending imaginary creatures;)

[M8DMAN]

David Gaider wrote...

tmelange wrote...
This. Are they, then, not living? How exactly does a blood "corruption" serve as nourishment, or are they just animated dead?

That's an excellent question, if perhaps an academic one. Darkspawn don't breed, either... unless you want to call the process by which darkspawn are created by broodmothers breeding. Broodmothers technically aren't darkspawn themelves-- they're ghouls. So do the darkspawn qualify as living creatures in their own right?

Tirigon wrote...
It is argued that the Darkspawn make DAO a
game that is not morally ambiguous because the Darkspawn are pure evil,
and I defended them on the grounds of having to eat somehow so they just
eat humans like we eat animals, and now.. and now...../../../images/forum/emoticons/crying.png../../../images/forum/emoticons/crying.png../../../images/forum/emoticons/crying.png

They´re
pure evil!!! Boring!!!!!!!

They're compelled to be what they are by a force that is not well-understood. If that makes them "pure evil" to you, then so be it-- not everything in Dragon Age is morally abiguous; just that there are no easy answer. Beyond that you might want to be careful using imaginary logic to defend fantastical creatures.

I thought it was implied that broodmothers were created through darkspawn Rape.

[Blackbaron15]

joriandrake wrote...

horses

I LOVE HORSES

[Spawny]

Yes agreeing with the in game comments about darkspawn "feeding". So if they don't eat or that's how you have written them up Mr Gaider, does it mean the feeding thing was adapted for the game?

Modifié par HagSpawn, 21 juillet 2010 - 09:24 .

[TheShadowWolf911]

someone post a picture of the ogre Snarling at the King from Origins (the idiot) face, with text that reads "GET IN MAH BELLEH!"



please.

[Sable Rhapsody]

Lord Gremlin wrote...

Actually, it was mentioned that broodmothers need to eat. Maybe darkspawn feed them with bile, like bees feed their larva?

Two words: Hespith's poem.  *shudder*  In fact, this thread in general is...TMI.  But morbidly fascinating.

Iscaredeath wrote...

Darkspawn don't need to eat but they do. Sounds like most Zombie movies I see. As for Female Grey Warden fertility, so making a female noble queen was all for nothing since Alistair and that character cannot have children?

Well, not all for nothing as far as the Warden and Alistair are concerned.  They're presumably happy and in ruv.  But as far as the line of succession to the Ferelden throne is concerned, definitely.  I do remember David Gaider saying at some point that there really is no way for two Wardens to conceive children outside of some really hefty blood magic shenanigans.  

[Spawny]

rofl!!!

[KalDurenik]

Far down in the underground maze...1 000 000's of Darkspawn sit and eat cake!

[Lord Gremlin]

KalDurenik wrote...

Far down in the underground maze...1 000 000's of Darkspawn sit and eat cake!

The Cake is a lie, they just fooling themselves.