153431 réponses à ce sujet

[BlueElf2]

I have wondered if there is any connection between Arlathan and the Black/Golden City, too. It seems likely to me that there is, but I can't quite reason out how they could be connected yet.

 

I thought the final battle was at the ruins of the Temple of Sacred Ashes, too, but it could just as easily have been some place we had never been to, I guess. It definitely wasn't Skyhold, since the Inquisitor and company go back to Skyhold right after that battle.

[Mims]

Skyhold is elven in origin. I don't know if I'd say its apart of Arlathan, but I imagine it might have been an elven keep. It may have even been Fen'Harel's home. The codex mentions that the old elven structure fell to ruin, and then humans built on top of it. There may have been dwarves involved somewhere too. 

 

But deep enough, you still have the original elven foundations of the keep. 

[Little Mama]

Arlathan?

[Colonelkillabee]

As I said, I like the idea of Skyhold being (a part of) Arlathan. I just do not understand how the architecture of it can feel so... "human"? Not Elven, at least. (Not Dwarven either, but about Qunari architecture I don't know anything.) I would expect an explanation for that, were Skyhold to be Elven in origin.

I was referring to Arlathan and the Black City actually. Part of it goes up, gets cut off when the world splits, and the others stay. I don't think the fort's part of Arlathan, but who knows.

 

I think the old gods were split the same way arlathan was. Black city is its shadow, contains the god mojo of the old gods. The taint. Arlathan stays, gets grounded and sinks, just like the physical part of the old gods. The "killable" part that can't wake until "tainted". I.E. their god mojo's returned.

[PearsAndCherries]

Arlathan?

That looks awesome. I hope we'll be able to play in Arlathan some time. I'd love to have some sort of prologue to the whole series.

[Little Mama]

I have wondered if there is any connection between Arlathan and the Black/Golden City, too. It seems likely to me that there is, but I can't quite reason out how they could be connected yet.

 

I thought the final battle was at the ruins of the Temple of Sacred Ashes, too, but it could just as easily have been some place we had never been to, I guess. It definitely wasn't Skyhold, since the Inquisitor and company go back to Skyhold right after that battle.

 

Before I was of the belief that Alathan in fact was the Golden City, Sealed away with the old elven Gods sleeping in it or something. 

 

In fact all ruins around the games, above or under ground, all carry remnents of elven hands in some way. 

And I always thought the idol in DAII looked like an elf, it has pointed ears... _{(just putting that out there)}

[Ajna]

*has mental image of Solas raising Arlathan out of the ground and back into the sky all epic like*

The stuff of goosebumps.

[madrar]

I was referring to Arlathan and the Black City actually. Part of it goes up, gets cut off when the world splits, and the others stay. I don't think the fort's part of Arlathan, but who knows.

 

I think the old gods were split the same way arlathan was. Black city is its shadow, contains the god mojo of the old gods. The taint. Arlathan stays, gets grounded and sinks, just like the physical part of the old gods. The "killable" part that can't wake until "tainted". I.E. their god mojo's returned.

 

I think I see what you're getting at, but can't get on board.  Everything has a half and half existence in the DA universe- given basic creation magic theory, that's how stuff is made.  Half fade, half physical.  The Dark City isn't special in this regard.  There's evidence that both sides are likely blighted at this point, so I'm not sure what you mean by the city 'waking' on contact with blight.  Or am I missing the point of what you're actually saying here?

[Mims]

It is sad to think about what the world of DA must have looked like before Arlathan and the blight. It isn't surprising that Solas feels like everything is some sort of post-apocalyptic wasteland. 

[jellobell]

I'm sure I'm late with this, but The Watcher... Solas, no? It has to be. Says he's reaching down into the cave, and the waterfall in the caves is called Wolf Falls. Oy, the foreshadowing was sooo thick in this game.

 

"Maybe with him guarding us, we'll survive this war."  Maybe.

-snip-

 

Actually, that's a statue of Dirthamen. There's another one at the Citadelle du Corbeau in the Exalted Plains.

 

[Little Mama]

It is sad to think about what the world of DA must have looked like before Arlathan and the blight. It isn't surprising that Solas feels like everything is some sort of post-apocalyptic wasteland. 

 

We need a god gif for this. Someone make a Solas disapprove gif - quickly!

[Ajna]

It is sad to think about what the world of DA must have looked like before Arlathan and the blight. It isn't surprising that Solas feels like everything is some sort of post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Yeah I feel that too, I'd love experience how it was.

[Colonelkillabee]

I think I see what you're getting at, but can't get on board.  Everything has a half and half existence in the DA universe- given basic creation magic theory, that's how stuff is made.  Half fade, half physical.  The Dark City isn't special in this regard.  There's evidence that both sides are likely blighted at this point, so I'm not sure what you mean by the city 'waking' on contact with blight.  Or am I missing the point of what you're actually saying here?

Waking?

 

I just mean that I think half the city was split and the one that went into the fade was used to seal away the essence of the old gods, while the rest stayed in the physical world, where they were trapped to anchor it.

 

That's why I think the old gods can call to blighted creatures, and why they want to be "tainted". Get their god mojo back. Others elsewhere like in the Black City thread think it was meant to contain the taint. I agree, and I think that's why. To seal away the old gods effectively. Put them to sleep.

 

WE ARE SUNDERED

[Sister Squish]

Popping in because I literally just saw this and thought it may be helpful to the Blight-dissection discussion (sorry if old!); 

 

source: http://irabelas.tumblr.com/

 

Also I'll be away for a few days! Have fun, maintain the blanketfort and be excellent to eachother Solasmancers! 

 

Leaving a previously withheld personal report of my Solas experience behind:

Spoiler

 

Last year my best friend died.

 

We were both kind of introverted, and video games have always been a hobby - so that is how we have spent the past 10 years or so together. Playing various mmos. I played healer, he played tank, every game. Stepping into each new fantasy world, hand in hand, the thrill of exploring them... eventually, we ruled each world together. We loved giving ourselves seemingly impossible tasks, and that high when we finally achieved them. We formed guilds together, grew them to be huge in size and success. The kind of trust we built for each other over the years... keeping each other alive in the most extreme circumstances... we knew none of it was "real", and ultimately we would have nothing physical to show for our efforts.... but I trusted him with my life, in game and out. 

 

In reality, we played together every evening; from the moment we got home from work to the moment we went to sleep. It was the waking world that wasn't "real" to us. The adventures we had... those were the experiences which shaped us. And when real life stuff was going down, I always knew that everything would be fine because I always had him waiting in game. And vice versa.

 

We were preparing to play that "ArchAge" game which was about to come out last year. He was able to play a week or so early. I had an invite to the beta too, but I told him I needed to finish a University assignment before I joined him, so I would be a few days late. 

 

Worst. Regret. Ever. A few days later, when I was about to join him, I got a message from his brother telling me that he had died on the way the work. A sudden death, related to his diabetes. 

 

It's not just the mourning that I have found difficult. I still literally have no idea what to do with myself. All of my spare time for the last 10 years has been with him. For him. I have no other purpose. 

I liked the Dragon Age series, I knew that much. So I focused on looking forward to the DA:I release. I hoped.... I needed.... to have a similar experience to those I had in DA2 with Varric, and Mass Effect with Garrus. A replicated version of that bros-saving-the-world-together scenario. I... didn't process my best friend's death. I didn't know how. I hadn't even cried. All I could do was look forward to DA:I. 

 

In my first PT, I played the game blind - except for the happy knowledge that Varric was returning. But... soon after starting DA:I, it was clear that Varric was not the same person I remembered from DA2. Writing style? Or deliberately miserable being away from Kirkwall? I wasn't sure. 

 

But this bald elf had swooped in and stolen all of my attention! Where had he come from? How dare he be so interesting! And funny! And, as it seemed then, "safe". Playing a human I couldn't romance him, but, as with Varric, that didn't bother me so much. I never enter a game believing I am going to romance anyone. But... there was a vulnerability to my Inquisitor I couldn't shake. As a mage she had lived, from what I already knew of the lore, isolated in a circle tower her whole life. Everyone she knew at the conclave was killed... she wakes up a prisoner, gaps in her memory - unable to trust her own mind as well as her magic. She needed to trust someone, but no idea who it was safe to trust at the Inquisition. And... no doubt all of this was mixed in with my own, real life emotional vulnerability at this time too. 

 

So... there was Solas being a comforting, knowledgeable bro, slowly "doing a Garrus" on me. And, after the destruction of Haven, I was suddenly suprised by one line with Cullen. Something like, "I am never going to let that happen to you again". Swooon. He wants to protect me, I thought. It was exactly what my Quiz (and myself) needed. So that was the moment I decided my Quiz would be with Cullen in the first PT. 

 

Fast forward to the end of the game, and that stinger reveal. I sucked in and held my breath for the longest time. I guess reading between the lines of Solas deflecting all the time, him turning out to be hiding something wasn't the biggest suprise. What would eventually send me reeling was the realisation that this was the end of the game and oh what a dastardly way to get me to buy DLC. 

 

But... my reaction at the time was perhaps not a sensible one. I started... choke-crying? You know the blubbering that comes with panic and lack of control. It was not anger exactly, but it was directed at Cullen. I was so distraught that he had promised to protect my Quiz (me), and the whole time there was a frickin' old god beside me with questionable motives at best. You had one job Cullen. You failed so, so gloriously. 

 

As for Solas, that need from him is still there, as an ache. He ticked all the boxes... and then LEFT. Thanks for mimicking real life for me, dude. That is always what I look for in a video game. 

 

One thing I have to thank the game for (if you can see it as a positive?) is that panic attack. Because... it released the flood gates. After my friend had died, I had become numb. Isolated myself, became awfully unhealthy, did the bare minimum each day. For.. over 6 months. And then Solas-angst. Which uh, I guess was feeling something. And then I found my way onto this forum, and started talking to all these wonderful people with the same appreciation for Solas; who were all raw and angsty and in need of blanketfort too. 

 

So I guess what I am meaning to say is, thank all of you for the distraction, and the healing. And... also, I apologise if at any point I have projected my grief onto Solas. 

 

Peace Out

[Avejajed]

If you've set someone to ignore is there a way to hide the message asking if you want to read their post?

Nope, it's so annoying.

[Mims]

 

WE ARE SUNDERED

 

That was my thought too. And the fact that they'd found the dreams again would imply that they have a method of communicating with the outside world beyond being trapped.

 

I wonder if by killing the archdemon and not preforming some sort of purification ritual, the gods are actually strengthened rather than destroyed. They just rejoin the main entity, fully corrupted and waiting to get out. So by killing the archdemons, the wardens are actually making them stronger. 

[Siha]

I don't think it was the temple, the temple was eviscerated. Was it even that close to Skyhold? People would have known about the place if so.

 

As for lyrium, I'd say in the fade, liquid... but we see it as a solid as well, especially in inquisition where the red lyrium crystals are present.

 

But as Addai showed before, they think of it as water in the fade. Maker's tears or what have you.

 

Then there's all those earlier connections we made of water to the fade and holding knowledge and power. It makes sense, since obviously you can't normally eat lyrium, but you can drink it. Gaining its benefits.

 

Then again, it seems the dwarves who became profane managed to eat it. But those rockheads probably could eat anything, lol. ROCK CANDY, BOYS!

 

I don't know if it was the Temple, but I also never wondered. Villains usually have a hideout you haven't visited before, I am used to that. In DAO the Temple was huge.. or the area around it.. I am not sure, but it took quite some walking to get up to it. So it could be. In the intro we did not see much of the Temple, maybe we only visited parts. Also at the end we basically only meet Cory in one tower, not much is seen of the surroundings. Could be anywhere.

 

Now I must out myself as being stupid, but where do we see lyrium as liquid (except for the lyrium the Templars consume)? In DAO there were "Lyrium veins" that pretty much looked like solid shapes. In the Fade parts I only recognized red lyrium "crystals" but never thought the "lakes" were anything but water.

 

Anyway, you can melt stuff, sure. There's people here who know more about this than me but you can, e.g., melt ice without an external heat source, simply using salt. Now lyrium is not ice, but we might compare it to lava/pyrogenic rock. If there's some catalyst that allows (quick) atomic state changes (magiiiiic) that's not a big problem. When Templars prepare their lyrium, they use that set of instruments, whatever exactly it is. Probably that involves something to transform lyrium into a liquid form. (Maybe even heat, who knows.)

[Little Mama]

To depressing now. We need a Solavellan dance _{(Favorite song too)}

 

[Colonelkillabee]

Waking?

 

I just mean that I think half the city was split and the one that went into the fade was used to seal away the essence of the old gods, while the rest stayed in the physical world, where they were trapped to anchor it.

 

That's why I think the old gods can call to blighted creatures, and why they want to be "tainted". Get their god mojo back. Others elsewhere like in the Black City thread think it was meant to contain the taint. I agree, and I think that's why. To seal away the old gods effectively. Put them to sleep.

 

WE ARE SUNDERED

 

Also, Solas said "This shouldn't be here" when he saw red blighted lyrium under ground, right?

 

Doesn't that give credibility to the theory that it was supposed to be sealed away elsewhere? Like, the fade? Especially when breaching it is what started making it pop up in Thedas.

[Shari'El]

They really needed to explain where that place was? If it was the Temple, how come it wasn't completely flattened as it had been when we went to the Breach during the prologue? If there was more of the temple complex, why didn't we ever see any sign of it before?

 

I don't think it was the temple, the temple was eviscerated. Was it even that close to Skyhold? People would have known about the place if so.

 

The only evidence we have it could be the temple is that the place Coryflakes stood on is directly beneath the breach, which he re-opened (he didn't create a new one after all).. The breach was directly above the temple of sacred ashes, I think it's pretty solid it is the temple of sacred ashes.

[Colonelkillabee]

That was my thought too. And the fact that they'd found the dreams again would imply that they have a method of communicating with the outside world beyond being trapped.

 

I wonder if by killing the archdemon and not preforming some sort of purification ritual, the gods are actually strengthened rather than destroyed. They just rejoin the main entity, fully corrupted and waiting to get out. So by killing the archdemons, the wardens are actually making them stronger. 

Yep, that's what I think too. And as someone said, them finding the dreams also could mean they've reached the fade again, due to this blunder.

 

The grey wardens besides the hero of ferelden weren't helping a damn thing. That also explains Solas' reaction.

 

edit: Assuming you did the ritual.

[Colonelkillabee]

snip

 

I think this is where we get into gameplay representation vs lore. Remember, what you see in dreams isn't always accurate. But every mention of lyrium in the fade I've seen has been referred to as some sort of liquid.

[Ajna]

Popping in because I literally just saw this and thought it may be helpful to the Blight-dissection discussion (sorry if old!);


source: http://irabelas.tumblr.com/

Also I'll be away for a few days! Have fun, maintain the blanketfort and be excellent to eachother Solasmancers!

Leaving a previously withheld personal report of my Solas experience behind:

Spoiler

Last year my best friend died.

We were both kind of introverted, and video games have always been a hobby - so that is how we have spent the past 10 years or so together. Playing various mmos. I played healer, he played tank, every game. Stepping into each new fantasy world, hand in hand, the thrill of exploring them... eventually, we ruled each world together. We loved giving ourselves seemingly impossible tasks, and that high when we finally achieved them. We formed guilds together, grew them to be huge in size and success. The kind of trust we built for each other over the years... keeping each other alive in the most extreme circumstances... we knew none of it was "real", and ultimately we would have nothing physical to show for our efforts.... but I trusted him with my life, in game and out.

In reality, we played together every evening; from the moment we got home from work to the moment we went to sleep. It was the waking world that wasn't "real" to us. The adventures we had... those were the experiences which shaped us. And when real life stuff was going down, I always knew that everything would be fine because I always had him waiting in game. And vice versa.

We were preparing to play that "ArchAge" game which was about to come out last year. He was able to play a week or so early. I had an invite to the beta too, but I told him I needed to finish a University assignment before I joined him, so I would be a few days late.

Worst. Regret. Ever. A few days later, when I was about to join him, I got a message from his brother telling me that he had died on the way the work. A sudden death, related to his diabetes.

It's not just the mourning that I have found difficult. I still literally have no idea what to do with myself. All of my spare time for the last 10 years has been with him. For him. I have no other purpose.

I liked the Dragon Age series, I knew that much. So I focused on looking forward to the DA:I release. I hoped.... I needed.... to have a similar experience those I had in DA2 with Varric, and Mass Effect with Garrus. A replicated version of that bros-saving-the-world-together scenario. I... didn't process my best friend's death. I didn't know how. I hadn't even cried. All I could do was look forward to DA:I.

In my first PT, I played the game blind - except for the happy knowledge that Varric was returning. But... soon after starting DA:I, it was clear that Varric was not the same person I remembered from DA2. Writing style? Or deliberately miserable being away from Kirkwall? I wasn't sure.

But this bald elf had swooped in and stolen all of my attention! Where had he come from? How dare he be so interesting! And funny! And, as it seemed then, "safe". Playing a human I couldn't romance him, but, as with Varric, that didn't bother me so much. I never enter a game believing I am going to romance anyone. But... there was a vulnerability to my Inquisitor I couldn't shake. As a mage she had lived, from what I already knew of the lore, isolated in a circle tower her whole life. Everyone she knew at the conclave was killed... she wakes up a prisoner, gaps in her memory - unable to trust her own mind as well as her magic. She needed to trust someone, but no idea who it was safe to trust at the Inquisition. And... no doubt all of this was mixed in with my own, real life emotional vulnerability at this time too.

So... there was Solas being a comforting, knowledgeable bro, slowly "doing a Garrus" on me. And, after the destruction of Haven, I was suddenly suprised by one line with Cullen. Something like, "I am never going to let that happen to you again". Swooon. He wants to protect me, I thought. It was exactly what my Quiz (and myself) needed. So that was the moment I decided my Quiz would be with Cullen in the first PT.

Fast forward to the end of the game, and that stinger reveal. I sucked in and held my breath for the longest time. I guess reading between the lines of Solas deflecting all the time, him turning out to be hiding something wasn't the biggest suprise. What would eventually send me reeling was the realisation that this was the end of the game and oh what a dastardly way to get me to buy DLC.

But... my reaction at the time was perhaps not a sensible one. I started... choke-crying? You know the blubbering that comes with panic and lack of control. It was not anger exactly, but it was directed at Cullen. I was so distraught that he had promised to protect my Quiz (me), and the whole time there was a frickin' old god beside me the whole time with questionable motives at best. You had one job Cullen. You failed so, so gloriously.

As for Solas, that need from him is still there, as an ache. He ticked all the boxes... and then LEFT. Thanks for mimicking real life for me, dude. That is always what I look for in a video game.

One thing I have to thank the game for (if you can see it as a positive?) is that panic attack. Because... it released the flood gates. After my friend had died, I had become numb. Isolated myself, became awfully unhealthy, did the bare minimum each day. For.. over 6 months. And then Solas-angst. Which uh, I guess was feeling something. And then I found my way onto this forum, and started talking to all these wonderful people with the same appreciation for Solas; who were all raw and angsty and in need of blanketfort too.

So I guess what I am meaning to say is, thank all of you for the distraction, and the healing. And... also, I apologise if at any point I have projected my grief onto Solas.

Peace Out

Awww, I'm at work Squishy so I can't find any cute hug gifs. Thank you for sharing, I've lost two WoW friends over the years, one to cancer and the other to a road accident. Not 10 year ones though, I never met them, but it's still very real, both left entire guilds shellshocked... You got us now! *bighugs*

[madrar]

Waking?

 

I just mean that I think half the city was split and the one that went into the fade was used to seal away the essence of the old gods, while the rest stayed in the physical world, where they were trapped to anchor it.

 

That's why I think the old gods can call to blighted creatures, and why they want to be "tainted". Get their god mojo back. Others elsewhere like in the Black City thread think it was meant to contain the taint. I agree, and I think that's why. To seal away the old gods effectively. Put them to sleep.

 

WE ARE SUNDERED

 

Ahh, I think I get it.

 

Descriptions of the Archdemons as being "maddened" by blight makes that seem like an unsatisfying fit to me, but I can see where you're coming from.  Personally, "sundered" sounds like a more likely reference to being sundered from the original Song of Creation via taint.  Red lyrium, and the Blight that the Magisters crafted from it, is a new Song- one that was fundamentally split from and discordant with the original.  Given that, I don't think being blighted is their objective... but admittedly, evidence is thin either way.

[Mims]

 

The grey wardens besides the hero of ferelden weren't helping a damn thing. That also explains Solas' reaction.

 

 

It would also explain Solas's desperation.  

 

- He has destroyed the elvhen empire and everything he set out to protect

- The elven gods figured a way to convince Tevinter magisters to enter the Black City, releasing the blight back into the open. Except now, there was no Fen'Harel to put a lid on the situation.

- Five [or four, if you did the dark ritual] gods have been fully corrupted and beyond saving

- Wake up. 

- You are still power drained from locking them up in the first place.

- ????? 

- Panic