Yay! I'm glad you guys like it.
It's one of my top two DA fics ever. And I love the way the author writes Leliana.
It's a valid question, but I think you answered it yourself: it doesn't matter. In a world where the Circles are dissolved, the Templars are rendered obsolete, so it doesn't matter how or if they can still use their abilities, with or without lyrium. And, generally speaking, most people who want a "mage freedom" ending for their game are either going to ally with the mages in the first place (in which case the Templars will have been corrupted and destroyed by the end of the story anyway) or, at worst, are going to disband the last remains of the Order, so again... in that scenario, the question of lyrium or no lyrium doesn't really matter anymore.
These questions are mostly pertinent to those for whom the Templars continue to exist and serve a purpose in the world - how to serve that purpose in less self-destructive ways, whether it's possible to break the chains that bind them to lyrium without getting half the ranks killed from the side effects of withdrawal, whether it's even in everyone's best interest to do it so immediately (or at all), etc. The equivalent questions to a "mage freedom" ending might be along the lines of, how exactly do the mages intend to police themselves, who gets the say in what is or is not allowed, how lenient would they be with fellow mages until it proved too late etc; but that's neither here nor there with the comparison we were initially drawing between Cullen's addiction and how other members of the Order will deal with their own in a world where they are trying to follow in his steps and quit lyrium too, as Cassandra's slide states.
If the Circles are dissolved, is that the scenario that results in the Silver Shield order? And are they similar to the Templars?
Gotta ask but is your other top fic cullen-centric as well? If not, tis okay, but I'd love to give it a go if you can find it and PM me??? Pweeeease
Thankz!!!
No, sorry.
It's actually Cousland/Loghain. 
What ever the templars end up doing, and there have been some cool suggestions, if they decide to continue with a lyrium regimen, how long can it last? We don't know explicitly how long the events of inquisition take to unfold, but the spread of red lyrium throughout southern thedas has happened incredibly quickly. Yes, Sampson and Corypheus were spreading it around, but it's out now, and it's in so many places. How can they control the spread of it and how will they keep it from tainting the regular lyrium supply? It's got to be a finite resource, so I'm just wondering how they could contain this infection. How many more years can they last as templars, with abilities, as things stand now?
What ever the templars end up doing, and there have been some cool suggestions, if they decide to continue with a lyrium regimen, how long can it last? We don't know explicitly how long the events of inquisition take to unfold, but the spread of red lyrium throughout southern thedas has happened incredibly quickly. Yes, Sampson and Corypheus were spreading it around, but it's out now, and it's in so many places. How can they control the spread of it and how will they keep it from tainting the regular lyrium supply? It's got to be a finite resource, so I'm just wondering how they could contain this infection. How many more years can they last as templars, with abilities, as things stand now?
In part, it was due to Corypheus's own personal influence in helping it grow. I'd imagine that it has stopped spreading by now. That said however, I am unsure if the crystals necessarily will disappear.
Also, note that we do not have any evidence yet that the red stuff will taint or overtake the normal blue version due to simple contact. We do know that the blight itself will taint normal blue lyrium, but we have not yet seen direct blue and red contact where the blue is overtaken by the red.
As for a resource, the dwarves have long standing contracts with the Chantry for mining lyrium, so it's not like there's a chance of running out of the stuff.
Little snippet of Faith and Lies:
Spoiler
Ti, expect to see the finished product later tonight!
I had said that in my first comment - that maybe they'd have a smaller number of Templars just to fight evil mages running amok.
Ah, sorry misunderstood ya...
I love when Cullen growls...he doesn't growl enough...this needs to be rectified...look forward to reading the rest!
Lol! This is not a pleasured growl, but I thought it was rather fitting. It seems that I am right on schedule to have everything fully ready for the 5K celebration.
If the Circles are dissolved, is that the scenario that results in the Silver Shield order? And are they similar to the Templars?
The Silver Shield is formed under Vivienne, so the Circles are still in place. They are Templars, who refuse to answer to a mage as Divine, so they lolbye the Inquisition and form a new order. (this only happens if the Seekers are not rebuilt, so they're probably still drinking from Lucius' "ultimate destiny" kool-aid here)
No, sorry.
It's actually Cousland/Loghain.
*cough*
Link on PM, plz. 
In part, it was due to Corypheus's own personal influence in helping it grow. I'd imagine that it has stopped spreading by now. That said however, I am unsure if the crystals necessarily will disappear.
Also, note that we do not have any evidence yet that the red stuff will taint or overtake the normal blue version due to simple contact. We do know that the blight itself will taint normal blue lyrium, but we have not yet seen direct blue and red contact where the blue is overtaken by the red.
As for a resource, the dwarves have long standing contracts with the Chantry for mining lyrium, so it's not like there's a chance of running out of the stuff.
Good points. I wouldn't think they would disappear, no. I'm definitely curious if there would be a reaction between the blue and red crystals. It's not unreasonable to think that there might be, since we do know that lyrium in general has some kind of (magical?) radiation that can infect living things. We also know that the blight is contagious as well.
I appreciate that the dwarves have access to a large amount of lyrium, I just have no idea how much that could be. It also begs the question (at least from me), How did it manifest in the thaig that was found in DA2? Are there more ancient thaigs down there with the same stuff? What if it gets released and starts spreading up?
The Silver Shield is formed under Vivienne, so the Circles are still in place. They are Templars, who refuse to answer to a mage as Divine, so they lolbye the Inquisition and form a new order. (this only happens if the Seekers are not rebuilt, so they're probably still drinking from Lucius' "ultimate destiny" kool-aid here)
*cough*
Link on PM, plz.
Ah, that makes much more sense now. I'd heard a few people talking about it, but couldn't recall the circumstances.
On it's way. *ahem*
Good points. I wouldn't think they would disappear, no. I'm definitely curious if there would be a reaction between the blue and red crystals. It's not unreasonable to think that there might be, since we do know that lyrium in general has some kind of (magical?) radiation that can infect living things. We also know that the blight is contagious as well.
I appreciate that the dwarves have access to a large amount of lyrium, I just have no idea how much that could be. It also begs the question (at least from me), How did it manifest in the thaig that was found in DA2? Are there more ancient thaigs down there with the same stuff? What if it gets released and starts spreading up?
As for the thaig in DA2, that Thaig precedes the First Blight, which, in recorded history, means before the Black City was Breached. The Dwarves also claim that the thaig precedes the Memories, the dwarven recorded history. My firm belief is that the Taint existed in Thedas before the first Breach, and the elves sealed away as much of it as they could within an ever present, fixed Fade construct - the Golden City. That said, I think they just took all the raw Taint within the world and shifted it into the Fade - hence all the red lyrium we see hanging around when we visit the Fade. I think the bits of infected lyrium were simply not all destroyed before the Great Sealing. Hence, we have an enormous dormant thaig filled with red lyrium.
Hmm, but then again the Templar Order: Traditional Role codex entry says
In reality, the Chantry's militant arm looks first for skilled warriors with unshakable faith in the Maker, with a flawless moral center as a secondary concern. Templars must carry out their duty with an emotional distance, and the Order of Templars prefers soldiers with religious fervor and absolute loyalty over paragons of virtue who might question orders when it comes time to make difficult choices.
So maybe a mass Tranquilization wouldn't have such a poor turnabout? I imagine the issues would be more in getting enough spirits to cooperate, making sure these spirits are not corrupted into demons in the act of possession, and the emotional recoil in the reversion process, which would have to make this a very gradual and calculated process so we don't end up with even worse results than we started out with.
I have a hard time believing they were doing a very good job at identifying unshakable faith in the Maker when they failed so miserably at a flawless moral center. Faith is expressed through behavior, and the rampant abuses of mages and tranquil (remember even Minaeve comments on this, and she likes Templars) suggest they only looked for loyalty to the Chantry, a very different thing from faith. People with unshakable faith do not abuse their charges, or cover up abuses or indirectly condone abuses.
Unfortunately, they haven't made it clear whether the harsh conditions in mage circles such as Kirkwall's and Kinloch Hold were typical or what Viv describes is more typical. There was no question about the restrictions in the original DAO. Marriage in theory only, no children, no family, extremely difficult to get permission to leave the circle and only for limited times, Templars with absolute authority (remember Greagoir was ready to punish a warden mage even if he or she acted strictly under Irving's orders), no contact with birth families, etc. I have a hard time believing what Viv described was more typical considering the number of stories from other circles (for all we know, her relative freedom was largely the result of being a duke's mistress, not an option available or acceptable to a lot of people.)
Viv worries me a lot more as divine than Leliana. I see her leading toward Tevinter style mage rule, honestly. Cass is my first choice as a middle ground, but softened Lel is still a good choice (we don't know if she really was touched by the Maker back at the start of the blight, so maybe she's his choice 
.) Her faith is certainly a lot more apparent than Viv's.
Sorry guys & gals, can I ask for a favor please?
Which one from these two images do you prefer...?
Spoiler
These are still rough sketches on paper so it can be easily modified yet. I might want to colour one tho...
I think I like the one with the cheek scar on the other side (the second one) - balances the composition out a bit more.
Little snippet of Faith and Lies:
SpoilerTi, expect to see the finished product later tonight!
Great, looking forward to it! I'll do my best to work through it by tomorrow night.
Great, looking forward to it! I'll do my best to work through it by tomorrow night.
Take as long as you need. It seems it will still be a little while until the celebration is upon us, lol!
Ack - so I recently started up a new game, and I didn't select the first Cullen flirt about the speech - I just think that smile is really creepy that the IQ gives him, and I've never heard any of his other responses so I thought I'd try something different. I just tried to talk to him about Templar life and I didn't get the flirt about taking vows. Am I locked out of his romance? *sweats*
Ack - so I recently started up a new game, and I didn't select the first Cullen flirt about the speech - I just think that smile is really creepy that the IQ gives him, and I've never heard any of his other responses so I thought I'd try something different. I just tried to talk to him about Templar life and I didn't get the flirt about taking vows. Am I locked out of his romance? *sweats*
Lol. No you are perfectly fine! You can start his romance in Skyhold without taking any flirt up to that point, so you're good.
That is so totally unfair if you are! You just met the guy (again) and maybe quizzy is trying to get a feel for this new commander guy instead of macking on him right away! He could be a total creeper...Ack - so I recently started up a new game, and I didn't select the first Cullen flirt about the speech - I just think that smile is really creepy that the IQ gives him, and I've never heard any of his other responses so I thought I'd try something different. I just tried to talk to him about Templar life and I didn't get the flirt about taking vows. Am I locked out of his romance? *sweats*
Lol. No you are perfectly fine! You can start his romance in Skyhold without taking any flirt up to that point, so you're good.
What's worrying me is that the flirt for the vows didn't even show up in the wheel at all. I really don't want to get all the way to Skyhold and then realize I messed up (what is wrong with me that I can't romance anyone else - UGH).
Qween, I chose the top option - diplomatic/nice.
I think I like the one with the cheek scar on the other side (the second one) - balances the composition out a bit more.
Noted, thanks a lot, I really can't decide.
What's worrying me is that the flirt for the vows didn't even show up in the wheel at all. I really don't want to get all the way to Skyhold and then realize I messed up (what is wrong with me that I can't romance anyone else - UGH).
Qween, I chose the top option - diplomatic/nice.
Hmm, that is indeed odd. Perhaps your game glitched out? I know for certain that you don't get locked out of Cullen's relationship if you don't flirt with him at Haven.
Thanks Zarro. Something else just occurred to me - does Mother Giselle ever change what she says about the Hinterlands refugees, like she does with Crestwood and Emprise du Lion if you help the people there? Even when I did practically ever side quest in Hinterlands, she would still say "the people are desperate".
How far do you think Cullen would go in a fight with the IQ, that he is romantically involved with? Imagine that he is extremely fed up and exasperated with a very important situation and knows that she has been lying to him. I could see him going as far as yelling or to an extent like that, but what do you guys think?
Retour en haut
