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[NightSymphony]

Oh Liz..the things she comes up with.

[FernRain]

I finished Descent and now I'm stuck in Solavellan hell again and restarted a new playthrough *sighs* Anyway, it's been a while since I last posted here, but I had a few thought lore-wise that I haven't seen here yet 

 

Spoiler

 

I've been thinking about the link between the Titans and the fade, and about the fact Solas mentionned that the veil didn't always exist. What if the Titans were actually the "creators" of the Fade. They dream it, or at least their consciousness creates it. After all, their blood is lyrium and lyrium, magic and the Fade are closely related. I wonder if there once existed a time, at the very beginning, when the Titans were fully awake and the world was a very different place. The Veil didn't exist, spirit roamed the world and the ground shook with the Titans moving. Dwarfs were a hive-mind, closely tied to their titans, and the first elves tried and barely managed to live on the ever shifting surface. Then, as both the song of El'garnan and the codex about the pillars of the world mention, the elvhen creators went to war with the Titans in a bid to make the world a more secure place for themselves. They killed some of them (and might be in part responsible for blighting others?) and freed some of the dawrves to finally think for themselves. That war ended with the remaining titans falling into a sort of statis, and with that, the Veil came up. The Titans aren't conscious anymore and so the Fade became separate from the "real" world. The Titans are dreaming the Fade more or less.

 

Now, I'm pretty sure there are some here on the forum with more lore knowledge than I do, but I thought the idea was interesting enough to share. What do people think?

 

 

That might relate to Cole's comments if you take him to the fade and read the codex 'The laws of nature in the fade': "They still remember when they were higher, before it woke up and everything fell".

[Caddius]

That might relate to Cole's comments if you take him to the fade and read the codex 'The laws of nature in the fade': "They still remember when they were higher, before it woke up and everything fell".

It?

...

I've been growing fonder of the idea of the Sun being behind the Blight and everything going to hell. 

[FernRain]

It?

...

I've been growing fonder of the idea of the Sun being behind the Blight and everything going to hell. 

 

Yeah "it", hmm. He's talking about the floating stones I believe, which is why I saw the connection to titans.

 

"The objects that strain against the laws of nature are ironically those that are more natural themselves. Great stones, for example, hang in the sky. No hand has ever touched them, no mortal mind shaped them to purpose.

I suspect, though we may never know, that if dwarves dreamt and shaped the Fade with their own perceptions, the rocks would not float".

 

On another note, I've been wondering if the scarf thing Solas is wearing in his romance card, is it the same 'scarf' from the Lavellan's card:

Spoiler

[madrar]

I've gotta say, if this was Weekes' first post-Gaider thing as lead writer, he has the whole "answer one question, create fifty more" thing down cold.  =w=

 

Spoiler

Sooo... a quick thought on the potential relationship between blood and mana.  (Relevant, I promise!)   At this point, it seems possible the two may be aspects of the same fundamental substance.  Mana can be conceived of as the “energy stuff” of the spirit- a sustaining essence that can be spent and restored, but at a much faster pace than its “heavy, slow” concentrated version on the other side of the veil- blood.   (A critical distinction being that a mage cannot be fully and permanently drained of mana, thus running dry does not imply the death of the mage’s spirit.)  

 

This seems supported in the lore by a few examples: first, the bodies of elves who have passed into Uthenera.   The more fully the dreamer occupies the fade realm in spirit form, the less they seem to occupy the physical- and significantly, this transition seems to be marked by the apparent near-bloodlessness of their bodies.  In the Masked Empire, we find that the body of an ancient dreamer in Uthenera later killed by servants left only “the faintest trace” of blood from having his throat slit.   Although not the only explanation, it's plausible that the stored energy that blood represents underwent a gradual transition, being drawn across the veil and transformed into spiritual power, or mana.  

 

Cole provides a second point of reference, in his case an example of the process in reverse.   We know from plenty of rift experience that spirits that have newly made their way across the veil may have physical form and mana – many can cast spells- but they do not bleed.   Cole, on the other hand, does- and as his banter with Dorian makes clear, not because “he thinks he should” but because the transition from spirit essence (mana) to blood seems to be a natural consequence of existing fully on this side of the veil for a significant period of time.

 

A third pillar of evidence supporting the interchangeability of blood and mana is provided directly by written descriptions of blood magic.   In Last Flight, Iseeya discovers Calien’s secret identity as a blood mage by noting that he occasionally casts “without touching the fade”- the critical point being that no mana is drawn across the veil in blood magic.  Asunder supports and builds on the idea that blood may be mana in concentrated form, directly describing the transition from one to the other:  “The blood on his hands sizzled and evaporated as he drew mana directly from it.”   

 

Solas himself gives us a final piece of potential evidence, as this connection might serve to explain why practicing blood magic would be directly detrimental to walking the Fade.  The more power a caster spends via physical blood, the less power she would consequently have in sleeping (spirit) form.  

 

So what does this have to do with lyrium?

 

At this point we have pretty firm evidence that blood is to physical entities as lyrium is to the Titans, including the Earth and the Stone.  Similarly, as the spirit of an entity relates to its physical body – an incorporeal, malleable reflection- the Fade itself could be conceived of as the Earth’s soul.  From this perspective, lyrium is the slower, denser, concentrated (and thus more powerful) version of that Fade.  As Mythal was the Maker who granted souls to sentient life, we are inherently connected to this Fade- the fade of the Earth- and this is what untainted mages draw from.   I believe Dwarves are connected to the fetal, developing Fade of the Stone, while darkspawn (and other blighted creatures) are connected to a third, dark Fade whose source seems most likely to be Elgar'nan. I'm not 100% convinced, but if we're meant to draw parallels between dwarven worship of the Stone and the dragon-helmed, lightning-crescented idols that the darkspawn create, it seems like a pointed hint.  

 

 

What does that make the Titans?  

 

To jump straight into Helsdim-level madness, my hunch is that they are (and were) enormous, primordial, draconic beings with... let's say, some distressingly robotic characteristics.  The metallic nature of their blood/neural network, their "distributed" cloud consciousness- even the question of their purpose in creating this universe, as from a metagame perspective, conceiving of the game as what it literally is -a computer simulation- along with some of Cole's dialogue about proving a point / redeeming themselves to a distant Maker suggests the themes that drive the Mass Effect universe are alive and well in Dragon Age.  Order and Chaos, Control and Free Will- the eternal cycle of Makers whose creations attain consciousness/free will, the inevitability of conflict, the search for a viable solution, etc.

 

Anyway!  An interesting possibility, but also completely irrelevant for now- and since it doesn't dovetail all that well with Jungian Individualization theory, setting it aside for a bit.  The more significant implication is that at this point, it seems likely that the original relationship of the first dwarves to these Titans was as an integral part of their being- as blood, neurons, or mitochondria are to our own bodies.   This has been chewed  over before- I'm pretty sure Sister Squish clued into the dwarves-as-cybernetic-net angle way, waaay back in January actually.   I'll rehash one more time for a sanity check in next post, since my spoiler tags tend to go haywire if posts get too long....

[Dr. Doctor]

It?
...
I've been growing fonder of the idea of the Sun being behind the Blight and everything going to hell. 

If Dark Souls taught me anything it's that I should praise the Sun.

[madrar]

Cutting and pasting from the lore forum.  This is pre-Descent theory so the details are a bit off, but I think the basic foundation still holds.

 

Spoiler

To understand the role of Dwarves, and how that role may have changed, we first need to understand how blood and mind are entwined in the DA universe.  In various contexts, little distinction is made between the two systems: both circulatory and neurological functions seem to share the same vehicle: blood.  (This is most obvious in the details of blood magic, in which blood provides a direct link to the minds of others.  The description of Isseya’s griffon-joining in Last Flight is a pretty graphic example, if you need one.)

 

Consequently, Dwarves actually had two original roles: they were both individual ‘neurons’ in the hive mind of the larger entity to which they belonged, and the blood of the being itself- a particularly important aspect, given the significance of blood in immune response and the need to defend the Stone against blight, red lyrium, gangue, and other “diseases”.   As the theory goes, the lyrium they carry is the essence of their original, true form- their current bodies designed and crafted by June long ago to fight larger threats, golem style.

 

Dwarves as neurons:

 

This trace of lyrium has an essential purpose, though one that has waned over time as dwarven society moved ever closer to the surface and further from the Stone.  This is the source of the dwarves’ vaunted stone sense: an electromagnetic charge created by their movement through the tunnels of the Deep Roads, which were once surrounded by charged (flowing = current) veins of lyrium.  This magnetism not only provided an infallible sense of direction (a literal internal compass) but was also the neural charge that linked them to the larger hive mind, as Dagna seems to discover while tinkering:

 

Dagna: “There's something there. I was face-deep in a rune, and for a moment... I was tall. Really tall.  And I thought -- I thought all the thoughts.” (nervous laugh)

 

Inquisitor: “You felt taller? How much taller?”

 

Dagna: “Like, mountain-tall. Or I was the mountain. But I was moving. I felt dizzy. You know what I remembered ? Watching a shaperate carve the wall of memory. Except... big. Isn't that weird ? Maybe there were fumes.”

 

Inquisitor: What do you mean when you say "thought all the thoughts"?

 

Dagna: “I don't know. As if, for a moment, I was around all my people. And my thought was all of theirs?  No, no, my thought was all of our thoughts. Like parts. Ugh, words are mush.  Maybe that's what the Stone feels like. Or we think it feels like. If we think it feels ? Creepy.”

 

Tearing this apart a bit: first, she feels huge and dizzy.   This makes sense as the subjective experience of the Stone, since if this theory holds, it’s currently spinning beneath the ground as the planet spins. 

 

Second, she’s simultaneously “around all my people” and “thinking all the thoughts” of her people- again, a fair description of connecting with the Stone’s neural network.  She also mentions that the experience evoked the feeling of a shaperate carving the wall of memory, only on a huge scale.  This is an important insight, as –in theory- the Wall of Memory serves to fill a function that was lost when dwarves were severed from their connection with the Earth and its Fade: a connection to the larger mind and memory of the entity of which they were a part.  Cole seems to reference this disconnection in his dialogue with a dwarven Inquisitor: “No dreams with the cord cut. You sell it.”  The cord is a reference to their direct connection to the Fade of the Earth or Stone.  The more lyrium they mine and sell, the less surrounds the passageways they move through, and consequently the weaker this connective charge becomes.  

 

Dwarves as blood cells / lymphocytes:

 

Just as they fill the role of neurons within a larger neural net, Dwarves also function as a fundamental part of the Stone’s immune system: the most common being red blood cells, though some factions may serve a more specific function.  (In Last Flight, we discover that blight can be cleared from living beings by another by taking it into their own body- and critically, this only seems to work on embryonic tissue.  Consider the potential parallel with how real-world phagocytes work in the body, and the odd sense of simultaneous corruption and stalwart defense Ser Evrain Abernache experienced on meeting the dwarves of Kal-Sharok.  It's possible they're drawing blight from the fetal Stone by taking it into themselves.)  The same Inquisitor quote from Cole describes this facet directly:  “The Stone, still there, silent and reaching up for the blood that walks.”   Describing dwarves as ‘blood that walks’ seems apt: their essence is a core of lyrium, the “Blood of the Earth”, encapsulated within a mobile body.  

 

Bits of Solas’ dialogue with Verric  offer further clues.   “Dwarves are the severed arm of a once mighty hero, lying in a pool of blood, undirected, whatever skill at arms it had gone forever.”  That hero, I believe, is Earth: her sacrifice necessary to bring an end –or at least a pause- in the primordial war between Order and Chaos.  In this light, this “severed arm” that the dwarves represent are maternal antibodies, passed from the (now deceased) mother to the fetal child.  

 

He goes on, “Although it might twitch to give the appearance of life, it will never dream.”   Here, Solas and this theory diverge.  It seems likely that dwarves were individually mindless, their actions dictated by their connection to the larger being of which they were a part.  One of the scrawled inscriptions in the Temple of Mythal is a possible reference to that time:  "In this place we prepare to hunt the pillars of the Earth. Their workers scurry, witless, soulless. This death will be a mercy. We will make the earth blossom with their passing."

 

Naturally, one possibility for the referenced “workers” are the dwarves.   In their role as immune system and the Stone’s first line of defense, they would have to be destroyed for blight to flourish unchecked.  Moving back to Solas’ comment, however, it seems clear that although the Stone’s fade hasn’t developed enough to allow dreams or magic, modern dwarves are far from the ‘mindess’ drones they may once have been.  Though largely disconnected from the hive mind, they are still connected to that emergent fade- still “return to the Stone” when they die, and seem to experience ever-increasing access to emotion and other aspects as the Stone matures.  Verric, an example of a dwarf with no stone sense whatsoever, is in some respects practically a dwarven “mage”- crafting entire worlds out of possibility in his novels.  It's arguable that not all dreaming happens while asleep, and that the imaginative daydreaming required to write fiction borders on the same concept.

 

Returning to the idea of dwarves as immune system, it’s interesting to note that the same trace lyrium that serves as a connection to the larger being seems able to guide ‘sensitive’ dwarves to areas of infection, a slightly warped, funhouse reflection of the biochemical inflammation process that occurs in our own bodies.  Gangue has an obvious disease corollary, as does the description of the dwarves’ battle with Malvernis.  Red lyrium itself, in terms of its theoretical source, might be conceived of as a kind of blood (lyrium) lymphoma, perhaps pointing to why it was necessary to disconnect early dwarves from the "flow" of lyrium. 

 

We find a final, slightly shaky parallel in the structure of dwarven civilization itself.   To the right is a map of Orzammar.  To the left, a diagram of a lymph node, production site of white cell leukocytes, including critical B and T cells.  

 

 

We also know that originally, the Deep Roads were teeming with dwarves- that passageways between thaigs weren't simply crowded, but had almost shoulder-to-shoulder traffic.  A fitting image, given the theoretical equivalent:

 

 

 

Ugh.   Jumping to another post, since my spoiler tags are getting twitchy.... 

[madrar]

So what changed?

 

Spoiler

Valta has a quote in Descent: "The Sha-Brytol were dwarves once.  Something turned them against us."  

 

In light of the big reveal at the end of the DLC, it's possible she may have that backwards: the original dwarven race may have been quite a bit closer to the Sha-Brytol in form and function than the dwarves we know today.  They are instruments with a single purpose: to repel foreign intruders and protect the Titan from "impurities"- and as always, the relationship brings to mind one f the infamous ToM codices:

 

 "In this place we prepare to hunt the pillars of the earth. Their workers scurry, witless, soulless. This death will be a mercy. We will make the earth blossom with their passing."

 

For one moment there is a vivid image of two overlapping spheres; unknown flowers bloom inside their centers. Then it fades.

 

"Witless, soulless" workers isn't a bad fit for the Sha-Brytol, and this seems to tie into an aspect of the Deep Roads that's described in more detail in the DA novels.  The dwarven Deep Roads are both teeming with darkspawn and covered in literal blight- a sticky filth that clings to the stone itself.  As soon as you leave the crafted Deep Roads for natural tunnels, there's no trace of blight. There are two obvious possibilities: either something inherent to the Deep Roads allows blight to take hold, or something in the 'natural' caverns is able to repel it.  Given that the only example we have of a substance that repels blight is enchanted dragonbone, this may be additional support for the draconic nature of Titans.

[madrar]

_{more dwarf stuff more dwarf stuff....}

 

Spoiler

If we take the perspective that the original dwarves were an integral component of the larger beings they were connected to- the Titans- then aspects of their current state start to become.. problematic.

 

It's not a precise analogy, but think of your own body: the blood in your veins, the mitochondria in your cells, even the bacteria in your digestive tract.  All pieces that contribute to the larger whole, whose behavior is almost entirely governed by biochemical signals.  You don't exert conscious control over any of it, of course, but neither do your blood cells 'decide' to carry oxygen or fight an infection.  Their behavior is dictated biochemically.  If you woke up one day to find that each blood cell was capable of free will and choice- and that instead of carrying oxygen, some wanted to sit around and write poetry- you'd be in trouble.

 

From a certain perspective, free will is a threat-  the behavior of modern dwarves almost like an autoimmune disease.  Though their connection and purpose hasn't been entirely lost, it's been twisted: mining lyrium attacks the very network that connects them to the larger organism.  

 

And though this is some heavy-duty tinfoil, it's possible the question of free will may be connected to the Gates of Segrammar.   We know that long ago someone attempted to carve a sigil into the stone of the dwarven Deep Roads, the effect of which would have been a mortal threat to "The Creator" mentioned in the codices, a being who refers to the crafter of the gates as "her own" and "her only child".    

 

Marking the gate locations on the dungeon map gives us this:

 

 

No obvious pattern, but if you flip it...

 

 

....I don't know.  It's a stretch, that's for certain.  You can make just about anything out of nine dots.   Complicating matters, it's not certain whether the gates were positioned to interrupt the lines of the original, or overlay them with a countering rune.   

 

Still, given the connection between this particular rune, events in Kirkwall, and the breaking of slave bonds.... it's possible.

[Caddius]

 

So what changed?

 

Spoiler

Valta has a quote in Descent: "The Sha-Brytol were dwarves once.  Something turned them against us."  

 

In light of the big reveal at the end of the DLC, it's possible she may have that backwards: the original dwarven race may have been quite a bit closer to the Sha-Brytol in form and function than the dwarves we know today.  They are instruments with a single purpose: to repel foreign intruders and protect the Titan from "impurities"- and as always, the relationship brings to mind one f the infamous ToM codices:

 

 "In this place we prepare to hunt the pillars of the earth. Their workers scurry, witless, soulless. This death will be a mercy. We will make the earth blossom with their passing."

 

For one moment there is a vivid image of two overlapping spheres; unknown flowers bloom inside their centers. Then it fades.

 

"Witless, soulless" workers isn't a bad fit for the Sha-Brytol, and this seems to tie into an aspect of the Deep Roads that's described in more detail in the DA novels.  The dwarven Deep Roads are both teeming with darkspawn and covered in literal blight- a sticky filth that clings to the stone itself.  As soon as you leave the crafted Deep Roads for natural tunnels, there's no trace of blight. There are two obvious possibilities: either something inherent to the Deep Roads allows blight to take hold, or something in the 'natural' caverns is able to repel it.  Given that the only example we have of a substance that repels blight is enchanted dragonbone, this may be additional support for the draconic nature of Titans.

 

The Descent spoilers. Beware! 

Spoiler

Fascinating as always, Madrar.
I do have this glorious image of the bulk of the Sha-Brytol being guys with leaf-blowers and mops, cleaning the Blight off.   

[ChuChu]

I've been around and across the entire room multiple times. Empty. I claimed the claim spot/fast travel spot, got the cutscene about the thaig, I could continue downward, but can't interact with those corpses. I've never wanted to interact with corpses this much in my life.

 

I've gone back to Life is Strange while I hope they are working on a fix.I'll probably submit a report directly to EA later just to add a number to those having an issue here.

For me it wasn't even in the same room, it was in another area of the map entirely haha. Like the lowest level accessible at that point, on the other side of a wall. I literally went around for over an hour doing the whole map (jumping to secret places and collecting gears) wondering why it kept telling me to check the corpses and thinking it must be talking about a basement level or something. Sigh.

Though since a lot of people area having difficulty with it, I assume maybe other peoples' issue is different. Still. You think it'd be something that they would have fixed by now. xD

 

[FrankWisdom]

I finished Descent and now I'm stuck in Solavellan hell again and restarted a new playthrough *sighs* Anyway, it's been a while since I last posted here, but I had a few thought lore-wise that I haven't seen here yet 

 

Spoiler

 

I've been thinking about the link between the Titans and the fade, and about the fact Solas mentionned that the veil didn't always exist. What if the Titans were actually the "creators" of the Fade. They dream it, or at least their consciousness creates it. After all, their blood is lyrium and lyrium, magic and the Fade are closely related. I wonder if there once existed a time, at the very beginning, when the Titans were fully awake and the world was a very different place. The Veil didn't exist, spirit roamed the world and the ground shook with the Titans moving. Dwarfs were a hive-mind, closely tied to their titans, and the first elves tried and barely managed to live on the ever shifting surface. Then, as both the song of El'garnan and the codex about the pillars of the world mention, the elvhen creators went to war with the Titans in a bid to make the world a more secure place for themselves. They killed some of them (and might be in part responsible for blighting others?) and freed some of the dawrves to finally think for themselves. That war ended with the remaining titans falling into a sort of statis, and with that, the Veil came up. The Titans aren't conscious anymore and so the Fade became separate from the "real" world. The Titans are dreaming the Fade more or less.

 

Now, I'm pretty sure there are some here on the forum with more lore knowledge than I do, but I thought the idea was interesting enough to share. What do people think?

 

 

Let me propose another theory if you'll indulge me.

I also believe there was a time before the veil given Solas' comments as well as Yavana's comments in the silent grove. I think the veil was created through Elvhen magic. The fact that Elvhen artifacts help strengthen the veil would highly suggest this to be the case. Now for the fun part. I believe Fen'Harel and Mythal created the veil in order to protect and imprison their kin (If you want to know what I mean by that you can check out my thread, I'll have a link down below). If so, then they probably needed their Elvhen Orb Foci to manage such a feat, including all of the other gods' respective Foci.

When Solas describes Arlathan's splendor during ancient times when talking about what the Elvhen people lost he says the following.

magic was "as natural as breathing" in a place where there were "spires of crystal twining through the branches, palaces floating among the clouds."

I believe this was a time before the veil. As for the codex entry.

"The objects that strain against the laws of nature are ironically those that are more natural themselves. Great stones, for example, hang in the sky. No hand has ever touched them, no mortal mind shaped them to purpose.

I suspect, though we may never know, that if dwarves dreamt and shaped the Fade with their own perceptions, the rocks would not float".

This is obviously a reference to the Titans. (in a purely meta kind of way for the players by the writers). The comment in the narrative sense is to reinforce and emphasize the earlier part theorized by the codex entry's "author" i.e. "Why are the laws of the Maker bent but not fully broken? Why does a book not turn into a dragon, or a statue explode into countless shards of energy? The answer, I believe, lies in the fact that the items we see in the Fade were most often made by the hands of men".

 

 

More than that though. If we are to assume Titans were the antithesis to The Fade or rather that Titan "magic" is a different aspect of the same coin like yin and yang or nagative and positive charges, than we can assume that they can influence each other to strike a natural balance. I believe Lyrium found in the fade is the product of a time before the veil. I also think it might keep the "laws" of the maker from being completely broken as referenced in that part of the codex.

"Why are the laws of the Maker bent but not fully broken? Why does a book not turn into a dragon, or a statue explode into countless shards of energy? The answer, I believe, lies in the fact that the items we see in the Fade were most often made by the hands of men. A statue is a created thing. The mortal hands that shaped it gave it purpose, and it knows what it is meant to do. The objects that strain against the laws of nature are ironically those that are more natural themselves."

 

If you want to read more about my theories and thoughts on Titans, Dwarves, Elvhen history and culture etc. check out my Thread   It's ordered and conveniently classified for ease of navigation, so you'll have no trouble finding what you're looking for

 

http://forum.bioware...es-discussions/

[CuriousArtemis]

On occasion, Liz will draw Solas - Her contribution to the mermaid AU - SOURCE :

Spoiler

 

What? Mermaid AU?

 

Spoiler

 

Having fun with doll-makers >.> Lots of people on tumblr were doing it and I couldn't resist.

[madrar]

On a non-dwarven note...

 

Spoiler

This is deep tinfoil territory, but I can't be the only one who looked at the Titan setup and thought "Shiiiit.  Huh."

 

 

 

This madness ties into a post a while back: the theory that the Stone is the unborn child of the Earth, that the Sun's OGS may be currently held within it in a primordial mirror of Kieran's Dark Ritual, and that the glorious "dawn" of the Andrastean religion may be referencing (among other things) the rebirth of the Sun via the Stone.  According to Valta, the Titan "shapes the Stone.  It is the Stone.  It sculpts the world within and without."  "The Titans are actually sculptors- and our world is their clay."

 

We know ancient Tevine breached the Bastion of the Pure: they left evidence in the altar we find there, as well as the skeleton of the magister with the fishing pole staff.   It's likely they were as aware of the Titans' existence and nature as the Inquisitor is now, if not more so.  It's possible they were also well aware of the effect of the sentient Titan in guiding the Stone, its ability to influence the nature of the emergent God.  (A parallel, I think, to the Avvar and their collective ability to shape the nature of their reincarnated Gods.)

 

The Tevinter version substitutes human blood for Titan blood- but critically, not just any human.  I believe the device works because two criteria are met: draconic blood to power it, and a sentient mind to guide it.  The Therin line carries the blood of dragons, "the blood of the world"- again, I think, pointing to the fundamentally draconic nature of the Titans themselves.   

 

*adjusts her tinfoil hat*

 

...which may explain the creation of the Qunari.  The ancient magisters needed two things: draconic blood, and a biddable, sentient mind.    I'm not certain where Tevinter-era dragons fall in terms of sentience- even the great dragons seem to be beasts in the modern age.  They may have been able to power the device, but there would be no sentient mind to direct it.   What better solution than to tinker with their massive population of slaves?  

 

It's absolutely a stretch, but given the way Corypheus describes Qunari Inquisitor ("Your race is not a race, it's a mistake!") there's a sliver of suggestion that the mistake may have been Tevinter's, and this device might explain their motivation.

[Renmiri1]

 

Gotcha!  I've gotta say, if this was Weekes' first post-Gaider thing as lead writer, he has the whole "answer one question, create fifty more" thing down cold.  =w=

 

 

Descent was made by Bioware Austin team, Weekes had very little to do with it

[madrar]

Another thing that makes me nervous:

 

Spoiler

 

1) A letter dating before the First Blight mentions concern that the lack of communication with Heidrun Thaig might be due to "those creatures that wear the faces of the dead".

 

2) In the Chronicles of a Forgotten War series, the Scaled Ones (possibly Helsdim's Snake Men of the Earth) gather the corpses of dwarves, using their gray, drained husks in some kind of blood/flame-based rite or religious ritual, the result of which is never discovered.

 

3)  Post-Descent, Inquisition scouts discover that Lieutenant Renn's grave "was recently disturbed, and his remains are missing".

 

I don't know how much we're intended to connect, but taken together, these three are unsettling.   Given Valta's post-end codex describing the domed pool of lyrium and the sets of empty armor, I don't think this is directly related to the Sha-Brytol... but if not, what's the connection?

 

Also, is it a little weird that we've never seen darkspawn versions of these Scaled Ones?  Being a few days north of Cad'halash isn't out of blight range by a long shot, particularly since they seem to have been underground to begin with... though I think the Forgotten War codex has to be predate the first blight.  (Right?  Cad'halash exists = Arlathan hasn't fallen = pre-rise of Tevinter = pre-Blight?)  Which leaves any number of possible explanations, from natural immunity to obliteration of the race before darkspawn contact.

 

^{_{Yet another dangling lore thread.}}   TwT   ^{_{This DLC is killing me.}}

 

[Bayonet Hipshot]

One last thing that makes me nervous:

 

Spoiler

 

1) A letter dating before the First Blight mentions concern that the lack of communication with Heidrun Thaig might be due to "those creatures that wear the faces of the dead".

 

2) In the Chronicles of a Forgotten War series, the Scaled Ones (possibly Helsdim's Snake Men of the Earth) gather the corpses of dwarves, using their gray, drained husks in some kind of blood/flame-based rite or religious ritual, the result of which is never discovered.

 

3)  Post-Descent, Inquisition scouts discover that Lieutenant Renn's grave "was recently disturbed, and his remains are missing".

 

I don't know how much we're intended to connect, but taken together, these three are unsettling.   Given Valta's post-end codex describing the domed pool of lyrium and the sets of empty armor, I don't think this is directly related to the Sha-Brytol... but if not, what's the connection?

 

Also, is it a little weird that we've never seen darkspawn versions of these Scaled Ones?  Being a few days north of Cad'halash isn't out of blight range by a long shot, particularly since they seem to have been underground to begin with... though I think the Forgotten War codex has to be predate the first blight.  (Right?  Cad'halash exists = Arlathan hasn't fallen = pre-rise of Tevinter = pre-Blight?)  Which leaves any number of possible explanations, from natural immunity to obliteration of the race before darkspawn contact.

 

^{_{Yet another dangling lore thread.}}   TwT   ^{_{This DLC is killing me.}}

 

 

Spoiler

The Scaled Ones are most likely proto-Kossith.

[FernRain]

2) In the Chronicles of a Forgotten War series, the Scaled Ones (possibly Helsdim's Snake Men of the Earth) gather the corpses of dwarves, using their gray, drained husks in some kind of blood/flame-based rite or religious ritual, the result of which is never discovered.

 

 

"The robed Scaled One produced fire from its palm and mouth and ignited the blood."

 

Assuming 'scaled' relates to dragons, dragonfire is brought to mind.

 

The Dreamers of ancient times commanded The Fade. The last Tevinter magisters were close to reclaiming this power, and "All they needed was the blood of the Great dragons." He further states, "With it, I have tapped the power of gods." (Dragon age: Until we sleep).

 

Maybe that's what was happening in the sacrifice room (with the eluvian and winged statue of Mythal): someone sacrificing cretahls for their potentially powerful blood. Perhaps anything with horns is fair game for dragon blood .

[Cee]

For me it wasn't even in the same room, it was in another area of the map entirely haha. Like the lowest level accessible at that point, on the other side of a wall. I literally went around for over an hour doing the whole map (jumping to secret places and collecting gears) wondering why it kept telling me to check the corpses and thinking it must be talking about a basement level or something. Sigh.
 

 

Strangely, this sort of worked.

 

I checked and no enemies on the floor but essentially flung myself off the edge and when I landed (back where I started) there was a genlock.

 

Such a weird bug, but I'm glad to be past it.

[NightSymphony]

Art time

 

Tarot Cards Painting

http://pbtgoart.devi...Alana-554775455

 

Edit:  Forgot this one. Solas in wolf skin

http://bethliddle.de...-Wolf-554761640

 

 

 

 

Woah.. Lady Theirin has been busy (there's more on her page of just Lavellan if anyone wants to look)

 

Solas and Lavellan in bed

http://ladytheirin.d...ellan-554755886

 

Thunderstorm

http://ladytheirin.d...rn-AU-554754555

 

Roadstory AU

http://ladytheirin.d...ry-AU-554753444

 

Roadstory AU The End

http://ladytheirin.d...ry-AU-554753973

 

Roadstory AU Partners in Crime

http://ladytheirin.d...ry-AU-554754297

 

 

Also... CapricornSun has been banned for 24 hours for sharing NSFW art.   I am rather annoyed by this! It's not like we're sharing porn just because..it's art. Art should be shared! 

[drosophila]

Also... CapricornSun has been banned for 24 hours for sharing NSFW art.   I am rather annoyed by this! It's not like we're sharing porn just because..it's art. Art should be shared! 

 

Disappointing . Is there anything we can do?

[NightSymphony]

I don't think so. She'll be back tonight I think.

 

It's just upsetting...either someone is reporting it or Mod6 is stalking us.

[The Oracle]

If it's behind spoiler tags stating nsfw then I don't see why it would be a problem. Anyone frequenting this board (and the internet in general) will relate this to be something that is most likely adult in nature. Though, as you said, it's art, and from everything I've viewed that has been posted under the nsfw warnings, it's also been fairly un-explicit.

[Janic99]

Disappointing . Is there anything we can do?

Agreed. It is art that is shared even in schools where people are naked. It is art. Sexual? What is wrong with a natural thing? and exactly it is not like we would be sharing porn here. This is ridiculous. I mean I am an artist myself and I find it super annoying that people cannot understand things artistic way... gosh.. I wish to be able to meet those people and make them understand. Also if we start to talk about the game.. in the game already there are shown breasts and men almost naked.. just not the genitals.... wtf... this is so ridiculous. Anyways here! have a cute cole voice actor to cheer you up ^^ :

[NightSymphony]

Alright..Sunny just showed me what she shared last night. I guess it was kind of pornographic.   But she did post a link to it and labeled it.

 

I dunno..this is ridiculous. I guess we'll stop sharing the really NSFW stuff.  I'm not going to stop sharing boobies and arse shots though.

 

Stop censorship!!  lol

http://content.anima...idpants-new.jpg