28 réponses à ce sujet

[Sandrax]

There is a lot of lore in DA to be speculating about such a small detail as the Invisible Sisters, but I'm sorta curious why an all-female gang of hightown thugs is attacking me at night.

We know there is a side quest to kill their leader, and we know they are vying for hightown.

1) Are they limited to Kirkwall, or apart of a syndicate with chapters in other cities?

2) What is the lore reason for their gender limitation?  Other criminal gangs have both males and females.  There is very little in the DA saga that is out of lockstep with Bioware's egalitarian philosophy, perhaps hinting at a special story or lore piece behind this group?

3) Hightown is where the wealthy live, and it is revealed in the "Aveline courts guardsman Donnic" quest line that it is the safest.  It is a very bold move for the Invisible Sisters to try for it when its probably better off competing with the Coterie or some such for the docks or lowtown, where there would be less trouble from the guard, or private guards in the employ of the wealthy.  Why Hightown?


When I'm playing, the Invisible Sisters are not-so-invisible because they attack me, but they are something of an enigma.

Cheers

Modifié par Sandrax, 01 octobre 2011 - 12:08 .

[whykikyouwhy]

1. I guess we'll see if there are offshoots when we get to additional DLC or DA3.

2. All-female gangs have been around in our own history, so it doesn't seem incongruent in any way for Thedas to have some of their own. Their 'sisterhood', as it were, would be derivative of this, or perhaps it also alludes to their proximity with the Chantry. Maybe the group was founded by a former Sister, or brings into the fold those no longer enchanted with talk of the Maker. If anything, they seem to be a group of rogues - a sisterhood of the like-minded, and similarly trained. Plus, there is the sort of hazy link to the Friends of Red Jenny, in that it seems the FoRJ are interested in the disbanding of the Invisible Sisters and other gangs (since a "friend" is who hires you). Perhaps there are simply numerous underground groups in Thedas, both "good" and "bad", working their own agendas. The Invisible Sisters would lean on the bad side, the Friends of Red Jenny on the good - their goals are in direct conflict, so they have to do some "these streets are mine"-Warriors face-off. In DA2, it's indirect.

3. Why not Hightown? There's coin to be found. And if their founding members are of nobility (or, as mentioned above, former Chantry members), it would make sense for their base of operations to be in that area. And even if not, maybe Lowtown simply has slim pickings due to the sheer number of gangs and thugs in the area. Perhaps the Invisible Sisters are just ambitious.

[naledgeborn]

Do you have a theory for everything? Like why are there statues of hawks everywhere in Kirkwall? Or why is a bird shown in the beginning of each act? Or why does Hawke smear blood on his/her nose if they're not a mage? Or why...

[AlexXIV]

Well we also know that the invisible sisters were not as invisible as their name suggests.

[whykikyouwhy]

naledgeborn wrote...

Do you have a theory for everything? Like why are there statues of hawks everywhere in Kirkwall? Or why is a bird shown in the beginning of each act? Or why does Hawke smear blood on his/her nose if they're not a mage? Or why...

Were your questions directed toward me?

[mousestalker]

naledgeborn wrote...

Do you have a theory for everything?

Yes.

Like why are there statues of hawks everywhere in Kirkwall?

Those aren't hawks, they're phoenixes. Leliana has thoroughly infiltrated Kirkwall.

Or why is a bird shown in the beginning of each act?

Leliana has thoroughly infiltrated the game as well.

Or why does Hawke smear blood on his/her nose if they're not a mage?

We have dismissed those claims. Hawke likes nutella and Hawke is a messy eater.

Feel free to ask more questions. Questioning is the first step of the journey to the palace of wisdom.

[Yrkoon]

naledgeborn wrote...
 Or why does Hawke smear blood on his/her nose if they're not a mage?

You don't need to be a mage to  finger o-  oh, just  nevermind.

Modifié par Yrkoon, 02 octobre 2011 - 12:47 .

[AlexXIV]

Yrkoon wrote...

naledgeborn wrote...
 Or why does Hawke smear blood on his/her nose if they're not a mage?

You don't need to be a mage to  finger o-  oh, just forget it.

... finger in your nose until it bleeds?

[Yrkoon]

It's darkspawn blood, actually. Hawke was attempting the joining, but missed.

[Nerdage]

Disposable trash fights, I imagine. Why are they all female? Why Hightown? Why were the Redwater Teeth once known as the Dandy Lamprays? I doubt we'll ever know, they just are.

[Lenimph]

I wonder if the McClintock effect applies to them.

[Shadow of Light Dragon]

Sandrax wrote...


2) What is the lore reason for their gender limitation?  Other criminal gangs have both males and females.  There is very little in the DA saga that is out of lockstep with Bioware's egalitarian philosophy, perhaps hinting at a special story or lore piece behind this group?

Ehhh...Thedas doesn't have as much gender equality as you might think, to the point that I wonder why Bioware bothers with the 'Males and Females are represented equally in (almost) all organisations' notation in character creation.

Dwarven culture has gender restrictions. Check out the Silent Sisters, or how the caste of a child is determined.

The female warrior thing in Ferelden is not typical of the rest of the world, and isn't even that in Ferelden, merely accepted/tolerated (note how Arl Howe will address a female character as "All grown up and still playing the man" in Origins).

In Antiva there appears to be a thing against women bearing weapons, or at least being fighters.

Grey Wardens don't have many women in their ranks, although we have never officially been told why.

And let's not even get started on the qunari.

All that said, I'm glad there is not full equality in Thedas because it means these things can be explored in the game environment.

And who are the Invisible Sisters? Just a random DA2 mob.

[TEWR]

AlexXIV wrote...

Well we also know that the invisible sisters were not as invisible as their name suggests.

You have to be invisible to parachute in without being seen .

They're sneaky like that

[Nerdage]

Their parachutes were invisible though, you have to give them that.

[naledgeborn]

whykikyouwhy wrote...

naledgeborn wrote...

Do you have a theory for everything? Like why are there statues of hawks everywhere in Kirkwall? Or why is a bird shown in the beginning of each act? Or why does Hawke smear blood on his/her nose if they're not a mage? Or why...

Were your questions directed toward me?

Lol yep. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy reading them. But you're like a walking encylopedia of Thedas hypotheses.

[naledgeborn]

mousestalker wrote...

naledgeborn wrote...

Do you have a theory for everything?

Yes.

Like why are there statues of hawks everywhere in Kirkwall?

Those aren't hawks, they're phoenixes. Leliana has thoroughly infiltrated Kirkwall.

Or why is a bird shown in the beginning of each act?

Leliana has thoroughly infiltrated the game as well.

Or why does Hawke smear blood on his/her nose if they're not a mage?

We have dismissed those claims. Hawke likes nutella and Hawke is a messy eater.

Feel free to ask more questions. Questioning is the first step of the journey to the palace of wisdom.

Thanks for the laugh.

[whykikyouwhy]

naledgeborn wrote...

whykikyouwhy wrote...

naledgeborn wrote...

Do you have a theory for everything? Like why are there statues of hawks everywhere in Kirkwall? Or why is a bird shown in the beginning of each act? Or why does Hawke smear blood on his/her nose if they're not a mage? Or why...

Were your questions directed toward me?

Lol yep. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy reading them. But you're like a walking encylopedia of Thedas hypotheses.

More like a wikipedia, as in you can't guarantee that anything is indeed a fact. It's a bunch of fluff, and cheese.

So...your questions....

 - There are statues of hawks because the hawk is a symbol of power, prestige, and avian glory. Long-standing motiff for all of the afore-mentioned. It's also a predator, who is merciless with its prey - sharp, fast and deadly. And then there is the nod to Hawke, the hero and central figure (unless you count Kirkwall as the central figure).

- The bird at the beginning of every act is to symbolize the passage of time - it's a nice cut scene nod to movies where the camera starts in the sky, follows the bird in its lazy bit of travel for a few moments, then pans down to street/ground level to where the action is about the play out. It's just cinematic.

 - The blood smear...well, the devs have put in their 2 coppers about the blood smear. I would say if it needs to make sense for a non-mage, call it a birthmark, a badge of honor, a sign of first blood drawn - maybe something earned at Ostagar. A tattoo to mark some grand adventure or battle. Or it adds the air of mystery and helps Hawke get free drinks at the tavern.

There you go.

Though really, you should listen to mousestalker. She is a wise halla indeed.

Modifié par whykikyouwhy, 02 octobre 2011 - 08:46 .

[thats1evildude]

I like the quest line you get after you defeat them.

"The Invisible Sisters were exposed. Stalkings are down considerably."

[Xilizhra]

They seem to be some sort of stalking-centric cult that believes in female superiority on the matter. Maybe they're linked to the Chantry somehow, being ex-members, or even current members for some of them...

[devSin]

Maybe they're really dudes in drag?

They're "invisible" because if you look at them too closely you discover they're not "sisters" at all.

[Sandrax]

Thanks for all the replies. Disaffected Chantry sounds like the best theory (lol @ dudes in drag). Perhaps even a distant arm of Sister Petrice (she's certaintly evil enough for it, even if there is no evidence for a connection)..

Shadow of Light, do you have a collection of those kinds of parallels?? Nice call, I guess Thedas is a far cry from Edmonton anyway.

[Shadow of Light Dragon]

Sandrax wrote...

Shadow of Light, do you have a collection of those kinds of parallels?? Nice call, I guess Thedas is a far cry from Edmonton anyway.

I don't, but gender equality issues in DA is something I've pondered in the past, just not in light of the Invisible Sisters. It's a subject that's occasionally touched on in the games and interesting as points of cultural lore, but never really focussed on as a current affair (at least in Ferelden or Kirkwall).

[Mike_Neel]

Maybe they're trying to infiltrate the Chantry by killing the sisters and taking their places sort of like the Haven doppelgangers. That sounds incredibly convoluted though.

Maybe the leader Gillian is planning to break into the various vaults of Hightown and take all the treasures the hightowners have hidden away in their estates.

[thats1evildude]

Shadow of Light Dragon wrote...

Ehhh...Thedas doesn't have as much gender equality as you might think, to the point that I wonder why Bioware bothers with the 'Males and Females are represented equally in (almost) all organisations' notation in character creation.

Well, there are some cultural differences, but most of Thedas embraces gender equality.

You cite organizations like the Silent Sisters, but that order was formed centuries ago. Dwarven culture has changed since then to allow for women to become warriors (provided they are part of the appropriate caste).

Shadow of Light Dragon wrote...

The female warrior thing in Ferelden is not typical of the rest of the world, and isn't even that in Ferelden, merely accepted/tolerated (note how Arl Howe will address a female character as "All grown up and still playing the man" in Origins).

I wouldn't put much stock in what Arl Howe says. The man is grasping for whatever insult he can come up with.

Shadow of Light Dragon wrote...

Grey Wardens don't have many women in their ranks, although we have never officially been told why.

Fewer women serving as warriors in general.

Shadow of Light Dragon wrote...

And let's not even get started on the qunari.

Women are equal to men under the Qun. But both genders are suited to specific roles. For a woman to be a warrior is as ridiculous as a man serving as a merchant.

Modifié par thats1evildude, 04 octobre 2011 - 07:27 .

[tmp7704]

Sandrax wrote...

2) What is the lore reason for their gender limitation?  Other criminal gangs have both males and females.

Dog Lords of Ferelden.

(then there's the dwarf gangs which are 100% male thanks to the lack of dwarf female model)

Modifié par tmp7704, 04 octobre 2011 - 08:00 .