They're old and many of you have seen them before I'm sure but after 3 months or so I've run The Beast in the Gloaming and The Wolf At Heaven's Door through the editmachine today and just thought a few of you might be interested. Not much has changed tho!
If you haven't seen them before: two very short Solavellan drabbles set postgame, second is a kind of spiritual sequel to the first, neither are warm and fuzzy.
I thought they were beautiful! Thank you. 
I roleplayed my elf to make it a true tragedy (the breakup). See, she's always been an odd Dalish. She doesn't look down on city elves at all and thinks that acting superior to other races or other types of elves as an extremely arrogant thing to do, she almost had a Sera way of thinking in that "people are people". She also suspected that most of what the Dalish "knew" was probably not exactly accurate, most of the so-called facts about the ancient elves seeming to be grasping at straws or just plain pulling stuff out of asses.
So where's the tragedy? She always thought that Fen'Heral sounded like a classic case of scapegoating, like he probably wasn't remotely the villain the Dalish said he was. Or, if he did lock away the gods after all that he must have had a really good reason for it besides being a dick. And she always felt like he was an underdog, being hated on by pretty much everyone for something he might not have even done. Because of that, he was probably one of her favorite elven gods. I'll put it this way, she would have decided on his vallaslin if such a thing existed (and wouldn't have made her a pariah). So this means that, if anything, she would have not only accepted who he really was but probably would have loved him even more for it. She was with her favorite god without even knowing it, and he broke up with her because he was afraid she would reject him because he didn't know her feelings on his alter ego. And he didn't hide things as well as he thought, she realized he was an ancient elf after meeting Abelas with Solas in the party and realizing how differently he treated Solas compared to her and realized Abelas and the other temple elves had the same unusual facial structure that Solas did. So he was her favorite god and she already knew he was lying about who he was but didn't want to confront him about it because she didn't want him to reject and leave her, and he rejected and left her because of fear that she would hate him for lying to her and for being the big bad dread wolf. Their break up happened because both of them were too scared to tell the other things they were worried would cause them to reject each other, their fear of rejection caused rejection. How's that for tragedy? Yes, I did indeed use meta knowledge to come up with this characterization... But it definitely made it more interesting to me as a spectator to look at their relationship this way. Still, she hasn't given up on him. She expects him to come back to her some day and explain everything, and until then she consoles herself that he must have had his reasons since she could tell the break up hurt him as bad as it hurt her and wouldn't do it for a minor reason.
Awww.....just imagine the sound of relief in Solas' voice if he tells Lavellan whatever it is and she is still on his side. I mean, just think of when you surprise him with being on his side in the beginning saying "However I had to"(I think fulfilling this promise in a DLC would be awesome by the way. Nice way to come full circle with the romance anyway) or his relief if you side with him on the Wardens. I imagine it would be like those times 1000 because it would be like the ultimate shocker for him. He might even laugh hysterically to be honest.
*sigh*
Back to waiting.
Awww.....just imagine the sound of relief in Solas' voice if he tells Lavellan whatever it is and she is still on his side. I mean, just think of when you surprise him with being on his side in the beginning saying "However I had to"(I think fulfilling this promise in a DLC would be awesome by the way. Nice way to come full circle with the romance anyway) or his relief if you side with him on the Wardens. I imagine it would be like those times 1000 because it would be like the ultimate shocker for him. He might even laugh hysterically to be honest.
*sigh*
Back to waiting.
Reread my post again if you want, assuming this was about my post. I edited in a few sentences here and there. I have a bad habit of continuing to edit for 10 minutes after I made the post, and then people read it while it's a work in progress. Got to stop doing that... 
I agree with you and I would love it if Solas explained some things to our Lavellan. But if I had to put myself in Solas' footwraps, I could imagine how difficult it would be to tell my partner exactly who I am.
Rather than Solas tell us directly, I'd prefer it if the Inquisitor has to come to the realisation on our own.
We see throughout the game that Solas approves when people question assumptions and try to figure out things for themselves, rather than accept things at face value. I think that Solas posing the question of who he really is and leading us to the answer, would probably be more in-character for him than just telling us the truth outright?
By the way, she kept her vallaslin. It was pretty and was in her favorite color and its color was the exact same color as her eyes (dark purple). Her favorite color, matches her eyes, and is a pretty design? And purple is an extremely hard color to get your hands on when you're a dalish, it was a lot of work getting that exact color. And she spent an entire week looking at the designs in a book before deciding on which she wanted. No way was she giving that up, with all the time and patience and thought that went into getting hers. She didn't care about the cultural significance, she cared because she loved the way it looked on her.
Rather than Solas tell us directly, I'd prefer it if the Inquisitor has to come to the realisation on our own.
We see throughout the game that Solas approves when people question assumptions and try to figure out things for themselves, rather than accept things at face value. I think that Solas posing the question of who he really is and leading us to the answer, would probably be more in-character for him than just telling us the truth outright?
Not... Quite. He doesn't like questioning it if is questioning that could make secrets start falling out. Know why? Take him to the Wicked Eyes And Wicked Hearts, and then talk to him afterward about how much he missed political intrigue and being involved in politics like that. And then ask him what he's talking about, because he's supposed to have grown up in a tiny village. And then get a -5 approval drop for it and listen as he stumbles over his words for probably the first and only time in the game as he quickly thinks of a lie to cover up his slip up that you called him on. He approves of questioning, but not questioning of things that might reveal his identity. And she remembered that, and it's why she didn't want to confront him when she figured out he was an ancient elf. She thought that if he disapproved of that, her calling him on his lie about being a modern elf would make him leave and never look back.
Reread my post again if you want, assuming this was about my post. I edited in a few sentences here and there. I have a bad habit of continuing to edit for 10 minutes after I made the post, and then people read it while it's a work in progress. Got to stop doing that...
Haha, I didn't read your post before putting mine up. But it does sound like we played very similar Lavellans.
When playing games like Dragon Age, or anything with a lot of choices and such, I generally play two character that are sort of presets that can work across different worlds. One is Mayriya, she is always an elf(or whatever the closest I can get to it), always a mage of some sort and has always questioned whatever beliefs she has been raised with and is generally anti whatever the current system is. Despite arguing with whatever their belief system is, Mayriya is a character who will stand by her people though. So.....I get Inquisition and Mayriya Lavellan becomes a Dalish mage who is highly doubtful of her people's religion, wants to do away with the Chantry nonsense of Templars and Circles, very into being an elf and tired of her people getting treated like trash.
Then she met Solas. And I'm sure we can all understand how that went.
The other character I usually play is my Noori character. Someone who is almost always human, comes from a good background and likes the system so she fights to keep it in place. I have been so stuck in lavellan la la land that I have yet to play this is Inquisition.
I enjoy playing my Mayriya character more anyway. She's more fun.
@Sifr I think that would be very interesting. I mean, can you imagine the look on Solas' face if he heard Lavellan call him Fen'Harel. And not in a nasty way or anything, just call him by his real name.
Actually, sadly......we would probably just see the mask go on. Or maybe we would see it melt completely off at that point. Who knows at this point.
I have to say, I'd rather see them both dead than only one of them. It is because I don't want either of them to suffer the heartbreak.
Anyway, I'd love to see him happy, I can't stand that he's such a tragic character. Only imagine such long and lonely life with so many failures and guilt.
^This. Especially the sentence I bolded. I can't stand the thought of Solas dying and I would rather have both Solas and my Lavellan die together. My Lavellan is my baby, but I could imagine she would kill herself in grief if Solas died (whether by her hands or by somebody else's hands). It's not a happy ending for her, but it's the headcanon I'm willing to go with if things with Solas go down (even if Bioware won't give the option for your Inquisitor to kill themselves).
Listening to classical music and finishing up the latest comic page for Solavellan... and I realize. Dudes. I'm so happy the devs are actively teasing about DLC -- it's the first ray of hope I've seen in a while! So thanks for sharing 
Also -- on the topic above about Solas lying about being a modern elf -- he never really outright lied, did he? Most of the time he just avoided telling you things... not outright said things that weren't so. xD
^This. Especially the sentence I bolded. I can't stand the thought of Solas dying and I would rather have both Solas and my Lavellan die together. My Lavellan is my baby, but I could imagine she would kill herself in grief if Solas died (whether in by her hands or by somebody else's hands). It's not a happy ending for her, but it's the headcanon I'm willing to go with if things with Solas go down (even if Bioware won't give the option for your Inquisitor to kill themselves).
You know, I'm pretty sure the Inquisitor's connection to the Fade enables her to be a Dreamer. One bittersweet ending that I'm sure has made its rounds even outside of this thread as a possibility is them both 'dying' persay (never meaning to wake up), and going in to uthenara together. Or if they do die, they find one another in the Fade.
There are just so many possibilities and I really am looking forward to seeing how the writers give Solavellan fans our ending. Happy ending? Sad? Bittersweet? A bit of everything depending on what you choose? If anyone hears anything else about DLC teasing make sure to post it here, because you're my only source of news hahaha
Not... Quite. He doesn't like questioning it if is questioning that could make secrets start falling out. Know why? Take him to the Wicked Eyes And Wicked Hearts, and then talk to him afterward about how much he missed political intrigue and being involved in politics like that. And then ask him what he's talking about, because he's supposed to have grown up in a tiny village. And then get a -5 approval drop for it and listen as he stumbles over his words for probably the first and only time in the game as he quickly thinks of a lie to cover up his slip up that you called him on. He approves of questioning, but not questioning of things that might reveal his identity. And she remembered that, and it's why she didn't want to confront him when she figured out he was an ancient elf. She thought that if he disapproved of that, her calling him on his lie about being a modern elf would make him leave and never look back.
I always thought the approval drop was more down to him being irked that he'd nearly given himself away more than our asking questions, something he normally approves of... kinda like how Varric has a similar approval drop when you end critiquing his novel, when pointing out how the Orsino Harvester incident from DA2 made absolutely zero sense?
I always thought the approval drop was more down to him being irked that he'd nearly given himself away more than our asking questions, something he normally approves of... kinda like how Varric has a similar approval drop when you end critiquing his novel, when pointing out how the Orsino Harvester incident from DA2 made absolutely zero sense?
I thought the Varric approval drop was because he was annoyed that you thought he could explain the magic behind becoming a harvester or that he could possibly explain why he did it, asking him as if you expect him to be able to answer such a question.
I always thought the approval drop was more down to him being irked that he'd nearly given himself away more than our asking questions, something he normally approves of... kinda like how Varric has a similar approval drop when you end critiquing his novel, when pointing out how the Orsino Harvester incident from DA2 made absolutely zero sense?
This is kind of how I thought afterwards as well. Playing that a second time I was had to giggle because I could just hear him cursing himself in his head. Sort of. I mean, the cursing was probably something in ancient elvish....but you get the point.
This is kind of how I thought afterwards as well. Playing that a second time I was had to giggle because I could just hear him cursing himself in his head. Sort of. I mean, the cursing was probably something in ancient elvish....but you get the point.
If Cole starts swearing in elven, we'll know where he got it from.
Solas is very good at obscuring details and deflection. He lies extremely rarely, and even when something might seem like a potential lie, it often turns out to be a carefully constructed sentence with more than one meaning to be had.
It's one thing that makes the character better.
As far as the 'people are people' thing, my canon Lavellan is more like that - it grows over time. She came into this whole thing dutiful and a believer, but some of her experiences have shaped her perspective. for one, her first love was another girl, and they were together for years, and while there wasn't outright homophobia, there is a kind of resentment among the Dalish due to there being no possible children out of same sex relationships. Also, she has had experience among humans going along to protect the merchants of her clan, even kind of liking a guy she met, and has heard a lot/earned her place a the clan representative at the Conclave.
so while she has a lot of respect, she's still curious and accepting, and has some trouble not wearing her emotions on her face.
This is kind of how I thought afterwards as well. Playing that a second time I was had to giggle because I could just hear him cursing himself in his head. Sort of. I mean, the cursing was probably something in ancient elvish....but you get the point.
The elvish in his head probably translated to-
"Filthy fornicators of livestock!"
(That's actually a Firefly reference)
The elvish in his head probably translated to-
"Filthy fornicators of livestock!"
(That's actually a Firefly reference)
Book's Chinese was lovely.
I'm with the 'Let's sniff suspiciously at Gisharel'. Anything with only one source like that, and one inclined to be biased, is suspicious as all hell.
The real question for me is, why throw Fen'harel under the bus? The dev notes suggest he went to sleep a thousand years ago, around the time the Dales were promised to Shartan and the elves by Andraste, and a few centuries before the Exalted March. Was he there in person, have any influence, or did the Dales hold Fen'harel in high esteem since he was the one god who didn't screw up massively?
I can buy the Dalish loss of history if the Keepers themselves were hit hard. There's what, a few dozen Keepers for their few dozen tribes across Thedas? If the Keepers were originally priests and lorekeepers, then there used to be a much larger caste of them. The Romans ripped out the guts of Brythonic society in the slaughter at Ynys Mon. Generations of religious and historical knowledge cut down. I imagine that if the Dalish had libraries, they would have been burned as heretical materials by the Chantry. (Not before looting and pocketing the ones with useful spells, of course.) From the Codex entries in the Exalted Plains, by the end, the war had become very, very ruthless.
Art break. 
Solas really loves Lavellan's legs. (Slightly NSFW)
Unfinished. 
Don't look at a gift toupee in the mouth
This is the end, you know. (Warning: Blood)
Bee!Solas. xD
Pretty sketch of Solas.
Nice artwork of Solas.
Solas is tired of Lavellan landing on his desk.
Exploring the Temple of Dirthamen. xD
Companions looking after the Inquisitor's small child. 
EDIT: Top Solas.
Have another lovely screenshot from captaincaranis. 
Source: http://captaincarani...st/122964192383
Exploring the Temple of Dirthamen. xDSpoiler
Oh goodness, THAT. That is what happens when game developers want to troll players. Making us take the long way around.
Spoiler
Honestly, he probably didn't even care after a while. It happened so often that her dropping down onto his desk didn't even register anymore. And how does she do it? She's a mage, she just does well timed mini-barriers around her feet whenever she jumped. What kind of mage can't drop a couple dozen feet without hurting themselves?
Book's Chinese was lovely.
I'm with the 'Let's sniff suspiciously at Gisharel'. Anything with only one source like that, and one inclined to be biased, is suspicious as all hell.
The real question for me is, why throw Fen'harel under the bus? The dev notes suggest he went to sleep a thousand years ago, around the time the Dales were promised to Shartan and the elves by Andraste, and a few centuries before the Exalted March. Was he there in person, have any influence, or did the Dales hold Fen'harel in high esteem since he was the one god who didn't screw up massively?
I can buy the Dalish loss of history if the Keepers themselves were hit hard. There's what, a few dozen Keepers for their few dozen tribes across Thedas? If the Keepers were originally priests and lorekeepers, then there used to be a much larger caste of them. The Romans ripped out the guts of Brythonic society in the slaughter at Ynys Mon. Generations of religious and historical knowledge cut down. I imagine that if the Dalish had libraries, they would have been burned as heretical materials by the Chantry. (Not before looting and pocketing the ones with useful spells, of course.) From the Codex entries in the Exalted Plains, by the end, the war had become very, very ruthless.
I can totally see the original Keepers being high priests. When you read up on one of the Emerald Knights you see this:
Mathalin is believed to have been the first Emerald Knight, and the first to wield the legendary sword, Evanura, forged specifically for him by the High Keeper of June
And I have always found the whole "We say he's the god of crafts, but no one really knows much about him" thing about June odd as well.
And let me just say, if you were going to go around and destroy lore and knowledge of a people you just conquered, it would make total sense to get rid of as much information as possible about how one of there gods made amazing weapons and the other being a tricky rebel. And who would also be the first Keepers that these conquered people would turn to? The ones who know how to make amazing weapons and start rebellions sound good to me. I wouldn't be surprised if there were Keepers of June and any kind of Keepers or followers of Fen'Harel they would be some of the first targets to get rid of. And all their knowledge.
And it didn't have to be humans. I'm sure plenty of shady elves were happy to accept bribes of power, wealth, etc to basically throw anything elven under the bus.
And nother note, Gisharel's name has harel in it. And Gis could come from a shorthand of ghilani or ghilas( to guide or to go). So just some speculation, but this guys name could possibly translate to something along the lines of guiding through trickery. Or some kind of rebellious guiding? What age does this guy live in? If he's a relatively modern elf, his name is kinda shady. Total shot in the dark, but work with me here.
http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Keeper
Yeah, I think it was in Inquisition that we got confirmation that Keepers are the remnants of the Dales' priesthood. And spent most of their time gathering old elven lore and accumulating it. So we can thank them to the trippy laser defense forts in the Dales.
Gisharel is, according to the Wiki, attributed with writing:
Fen'harel, the Dread Wolf
Vallaslin: Blood Writing
Ghilan'nain, Mother of the Halla
Falon'din, Friend of the Dead, the Guide
Elgar'nan, God of Vengeance
Arlathan: Part One
Arlathan: Part Two (The Sequel)
Sylvaise: The Hearthkeeper
All of which are the things we've found to be spectacularly wrong. Hmm.
I can't help but wonder if he was one of the Keepers back when that meant Keeping a Temple rather than leading a tribe, and that he was one of the first to lead a tribe after the Dales fell. So he managed to hide away whatever secrets his fellows had found, and remake his people's history as he saw fit. A terrifying amount of power. 
And possibly an academic crime that puts Loghain's coup and Howe's Howeness to shame! (Okay, okay, so maybe not from the perspective of everyone that's not me. 
)
(I'm still real curious about the Dales' system of governing. Was it a kingdom? A tribal council? A magocracy? I'm guessing some kind of veneration of elders was involved.)
http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Keeper
Yeah, I think it was in Inquisition that we got confirmation that Keepers are the remnants of the Dales' priesthood.
Gisharel is, according to the Wiki, attributed with writing:
Fen'harel, the Dread Wolf
Vallaslin: Blood Writing
Ghilan'nain, Mother of the Halla
Falon'din, Friend of the Dead, the Guide
Elgar'nan, God of Vengeance
Arlathan: Part One
Arlathan: Part Two (The Sequel)
Sylvaise: The Hearthkeeper
All of which are the things we've found to be spectacularly wrong. Hmm.
I can't help but wonder if he was one of the Keepers back when that meant Keeping a Temple rather than leading a tribe, and that he was one of the first to lead a tribe after the Dales fell. So he managed to hide away whatever secrets his fellows had found, and remake his people's history as he saw fit. A terrifying amount of power.
(I'm still real curious about the Dales' system of governing. Was it a kingdom? A tribal council? A magocracy? I'm guessing some kind of veneration of elders was involved.)
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