Glad I'm not the only one who picked up that loot.
You're not ... every time I play I have to pick it up. And like Uirebhiril (I had to copy/paste your name btw! lol =x) I carry it with me. Never sell it. If you could actually put valuables into the storage chest I would but ... yeah.
I also like the relationship between Sera and Solas.
My favorite exchange between them is probably this:
This. I find the artwork amusing but I am someone who is really not interested in having children. They cost too much resource (money, time, emotions) and the main reason people have kids is because they want to pass on their genes, whether they think this consciously or unconsciously.
They do now, but believe it or not that's something of a modern social construct. Before the Industrial Revolution in the late 1800's, most humans lived in rural areas, and having many kids was considered more desirable because it meant not only more free labor during your working years, but more likeliness that you'd have someone to take care of you in your old age.
Throughout most of (recorded) human history most people were farmers who had to work the land to eat; the more crops you grew, the more you ate. So more land was more desirable, but that also made it so they had to hire farm-hands to help work the land (the bigger your plot of land, the more your earnings) or hire themselves out as farm hands to other land-owners if not that well-off yourself. But if you had lots of kids, you had free labor to help you work your land so you didn't have to hire out (and thus keep your earnings in the family), and/or you could hire your extra kids out to work as farmhands for other people and then have them bring home their earnings.
Then when advanced farming technology made it so fewer people needed to work the land and people started moving en masse into big cities to work the factories in the Industrial Revolution, the financial advantage to having lots of kids changed. Suddenly you had whole families living in small apartments and getting factory jobs that paid a measly 10 cents a week (I'm exaggerating), and suddenly having lots of kids wasn't a huge help. The more kids you had the more they took up space, ate your much-needed food and water, got sick, needed babysitting, etc. Then child labor laws and mandatory K-12 education requirements eventually made it so they couldn't even go work in factories to bring things in (although thankfully those same reforms made it so parents could earn higher living wages). Parents work, kids eat till they're old enough to get their own jobs and move out.
Yay, history.
Regardless of social constructs and environmental circumstances, I do agree though that the main reason people (hell, all living creatures) reproduce is to pass on their genes. Self-preservation is arguably the most basic and fundamental desire of all life (from the tiniest bacteria to the great blue whale), yet none of us live forever, so the next-best thing is to reproduce so our genetics can live on through our offspring.
It's funny, though, how this works on a macro and cultural level for Thedas elves. In Thedas elves used to be immortal, so (as far as I know) they rarely reproduced, but when they did it was mostly to pass on knowledge and memories rather than to pass on genetic material to replace the deceased ancestors. And/or to take up the torch after their elders became world-weary and went into uthenera to rest, either temporarily or permanently. Then elves became mortal, and found that children with one non-elven parent were non-elven themselves, so there's been a big push by the elven community to have elven children to keep their species alive, so they don't die out and become nothing but fairy tales written by humans.
(It's funny, though, how this works on a macro and cultural level for Thedas elves. In Thedas elves used to be immortal, so they rarely reproduced, but when they did it was mostly to pass on knowledge and memories rather than to pass on genetic material to replace the deceased ancestors. And/or to take up the torch after their elders became world-weary and went into uthenera to rest, either temporarily or permanently. Then elves became mortal, and found that children with one non-elven parent were non-elven themselves, so there's been a big push by the elven community to have elven children to keep their species alive, so they don't die out and become nothing but fairy tales written by humans.)
Do we actually know what the reproductive rate of ancient elves was, or did I miss something? Apparently there were enough of them around that Falon'Din could kill so many that the blood would fill lakes as wide as oceans, and Elgar'nan has a million slaves working on his eidolon, from that entry in the Vir Dirthara.
-snip-
Was about to mention that 
(It's funny, though, how this works on a macro and cultural level for Thedas elves. In Thedas elves used to be immortal, so they rarely reproduced, but when they did it was mostly to pass on knowledge and memories rather than to pass on genetic material to replace the deceased ancestors. And/or to take up the torch after their elders became world-weary and went into uthenera to rest, either temporarily or permanently. Then elves became mortal, and found that children with one non-elven parent were non-elven themselves, so there's been a big push by the elven community to have elven children to keep their species alive, so they don't die out and become nothing but fairy tales written by humans.)
Which brings an interesting question - would Solas even care to have children? We don't really know how ancient elvhen families and relations were, but it could be that the role of "father" or "mother" wasn't tied to biological parents; in fact it's curious whether a lot of ancient elvhen population HAD any biological parents, given that they could just manifest from the Fade. Therefore Solas might desire to be a father-figure (he DOES like to mentor people and most of them ARE like children to him), rather than actual father.
In fact, in a way, he's a father to all of modern Thedas (which kinda brings new spin into the whole "our Maker abandoned us!") - that's a permanent imprint on reality no desire for passing on own genes can ever rival, and whatever he's planning to do next, it will leave another permanent imprint on it still.
It also turns him into a joke of an antagonist. Oh look at Solas always screwing things up! Can't take that seriously, can we? Really though I don't think he's screwed up as many things as he thinks he has or as many things as others thinks he has. Was locking away the Evanuris a mistake, really? Probably not. Was creating the Veil a mistake? That is open to interpretation. Allowing Corypheus to find his orb? Not the best idea, no.
So, so much of my this. Whenever I see someone go "Solas is so dumb, he's done nothing but screw-up!" I just think to myself "Well, what would you have him do?"
Like, the Veil was a complete success - it just had some side-effects he didn't want or intend. Giving the Orb to Corypheus was a mistake, but what other options were available to him? He had no other way to unlock it, except perhaps for Mythal, and of course he didn't know she was alive. And his plan to retrieve the Orb was actually pretty great - it screwed up literally because of a fluke, because the Inquisitor didn't have the presence of mind to keep onto it,, because it happened to fall in a bad spot and get crushed - and there's no possible way Solas could've planned around any of those things. So I fail to see how he even messed up there.
And then there are all the places he succeeded - the Veil, again. The rebellion, presumably. Infiltrating the Inquisition. Subduing the Qunari. You know, all those things he did that went off without a hitch, that people seem to conveniently ignore?
But people insist he's a screw-up and whatever he has planned now will inevitably fail, too. Like... it's not even a matter of debate, Solas can just say "I have plans" and someone will go "You're plans always fail." And why - because some of them already have? And who has a hundred percent win rate in... anything, basically? (Well, I mean, I have a hundred percent win rate at Risk, but I've also only played one game of Risk.)
And the suggestion for what he should do differently is always "Give up." How the hell is that a good suggestion? Giving up achieves nothing at all, it's great if don't agree with his goals, but it's an awful way of somehow making him more successful.
So I took a short nap, 20 minutes or so...and I had my tablet with me. And somehow.....somehow, I managed to, while dozing off, hit Lost Elf on the YouTube app. It started, I realized, and turned it off before I actually slept.
So I took a short nap, 20 minutes or so...and I had my tablet with me. And somehow.....somehow, I managed to, while dozing off, hit Lost Elf on the YouTube app. It started, I realized, and turned it off before I actually slept.
Your very soul is reaching for it 
Or, alternatively, you have a troll for a brain, lol 
Do we actually know what the reproductive rate of ancient elves was, or did I miss something? Apparently there were enough of them around that Falon'Din could kill so many that the blood would fill lakes as wide as oceans, and Elgar'nan has a million slaves working on his eidolon, from that entry in the Vir Dirthara.
Sorry, we don't know this for a fact, I'm just guessing. Generally, longer-lived species tend to reproduce less than shorter-lived ones (compare the breeding rate of elephants and greater apes to, say, rabbits and other rodents), and societies where the life expectancy and infancy survival rates are higher reproduce less than societies where the life expectancy is low and infant mortality rate is high.
And then, of course, thanks to Tolkien, it's been kind of a standard fantasy idea that elves reproduce way less than the shorter-lived races since they live longer and thus there's less need. (I believe Tolkien's elves rarely reproduce--they have one or two kids and that's about it, since the kid will theoretically keep them company until the end of the world. In D&D, elves live to be about 600-700 and retain their youth in all that time, so they tend to only have a few children at most throughout the centuries. Only the drow breed like rabbits, and that's just because of how often they backstab and murder each other. They have to keep breeding to keep up with their high, self-inflicted death toll.)
You might be onto something, though. I hadn't considered that. What if ancient elves reproduced a great deal despite being immortal, which caused huge overpopulation problems, which might have contributed to the high death toll in wars and slave sacrifices?
Or the stories of the ancients' death toll were exaggerated to make them seem greater than they were. You never know.
Which brings an interesting question - would Solas even care to have children? We don't really know how ancient elvhen families and relations were, but it could be that the role of "father" or "mother" wasn't tied to biological parents; in fact it's curious whether a lot of ancient elvhen population HAD any biological parents, given that they could just manifest from the Fade.
Um... do we know this for a fact? I know it's a popular fan theory that ancient elves were derived from Fade spirits, or Fade spirits taken physical form or something like that, but has new evidence come out to support this? 
Therefore Solas might desire to be a father-figure (he DOES like to mentor people and most of them ARE like children to him), rather than actual father.
In fact, in a way, he's a father to all of modern Thedas (which kinda brings new spin into the whole "our Maker abandoned us!") - that's a permanent imprint on reality no desire for passing on own genes can ever rival, and whatever he's planning to do next, it will leave another permanent imprint on it still.
Well, you never know. He's seen a lot and has a lot of unique stories and experiences to pass on--preferably to someone close to him rather than the masses who just worship him like a god or spit at him as a devil. Having some little Dread Wolf pups who love their daddy, who want to hear his stories, who want to be like him (you know little kids, "When I grow up, I wanna be my dad!"), and who might want to carry on his legacy would probably mean more than little kids who've been raised to either blindly worship him (as those in the past did) or hate/fear him.
It's also all but stated that Solas is very lonely. Cole mentions that when he was the Dread Wolf in Arlathan, he didn't want people to worship him because "worship makes you more; he just wanted to help." DAI also explores how being the Herald of Andraste is in some ways isolating, because people are so busy putting you on a pedestal it's very cold and lonely from up high--and Solas commiserates with you on this in Trespasser, talking about how the elves worshiping him as a god is not so different from modern Thedas worshiping you as the Herald of Andraste. Then, of course, he spent centuries wandering the Fade alone, and it's implied that he's seen many friends die over the years. After the Spirit of Wisdom is killed in "All New, Faded For Her," Solas says something like, "It never gets any easier." He's likely lived to see so many friends and colleagues die.
Even if he doesn't have children to carry on his own genes for his own death, it might be comforting to create and rejoice in new life, so he doesn't have to just dwell on lost life and those who are no longer here. (Of course, this might require Solas to stop dwelling on the past before he's ready to take that step...)
Of course, I could just be blowing all this out my ass. You never know. It's just different things to consider.
Um... do we know this for a fact? I know it's a popular fan theory that ancient elves were derived from Fade spirits, or Fade spirits taken physical form or something like that, but has new evidence come out to support this?
First - there's Cole.
Second, there's Cole's cryptic message about Solas and (assumedly) Mythal:
"He didn't want a body, but she asked him to come. He left a scar when he burned her off his face."
And there's a codex in Vir Dirthara (http://dragonage.wik...he_Deepest_Fade)
"Epiphany requires a mind smooth as mirror glass, still as stone. Put aside ten years for practice, and the next hundred for searching. What others have learned will ease your journey. Those who never manifested outside the Fade will find it easier to find its stillest roots, but it is rare the compulsion overtakes our brethren of the air."
Well, you never know. He's seen a lot and has a lot of unique stories and experiences to pass on--preferably to someone close to him rather than the masses who just worship him like a god or spit at him as a devil. Having some little Dread Wolf pups who love their daddy, who want to hear his stories, who want to be like him (you know little kids, "When I grow up, I wanna be my dad!"), and who might want to carry on his legacy would probably mean more than little kids who've been raised to either blindly worship him (as those in the past did) or hate/fear him.
It's also all but stated that Solas is very lonely. Cole mentions that when he was the Dread Wolf in Arlathan, he didn't want people to worship him because "worship makes you more; he just wanted to help." DAI also explores how being the Herald of Andraste is in some ways isolating, because people are so busy putting you on a pedestal it's very cold and lonely from up high--and Solas commiserates with you on this in Trespasser, talking about how the elves worshiping him as a god is not so different from modern Thedas worshiping you as the Herald of Andraste. Then, of course, he spent centuries wandering the Fade alone, and it's implied that he's seen many friends die over the years. After the Spirit of Wisdom is killed in "All New, Faded For Her," Solas says something like, "It never gets any easier." He's likely lived to see so many friends and colleagues die.Even if he doesn't have children to carry on his own genes for his own death, it might be comforting to create and rejoice in new life, so he doesn't have to just dwell on lost life and those who are no longer here. (Of course, this might require Solas to stop dwelling on the past before he's ready to take that step...)
Huh. Then I don't think you'd be able to save him. The game suggests fairly strongly that trusting that he's not as huge screwup as he himself thinks to be and helping him to re-learn trust in return is likely the key to his redemption.
I myself think that just making Solas this big master at breaking stuff is just a bad way of looking at things.
I've made the joke, though I have tended to call him the 'god of bad PR' more than anything else, and that tends to extend to himself. Because he does feel like a screwup and internalizes everything, and is bent upon self-denial in so many ways, seemingly believing there are sacrifices he must make to set things 'right' and not caring much for himself or anything he might want, which is also seen in that moment of realization with Lavellan.
I see were everyone is coming from but I do see kids as making it so you have to totally change your lifestyle for the kid but I don't want kids myself. I like kids I just have no desire to have one and all that entails. That said it could also be me being defensive because I genuinely don't see Solas as wanting kids so when people write/draw him with kids it feels forced. I can't tell you how many times I've told people I didn't want kids and they'd say something against it. Before I got married it was oh wait till you meet the right man now that I'm married it's oh it'll be different when your older or just wait the desire will kick in. It just feels like to often kids are expected so not wanting them is like taboo.
As above, Solas is at a point where he's very self-sacrificing, and is going to deny himself anything he might want, including a chance at love and happiness, because of what he feels is his duty. Personally, the idea of children, of maybe a wish for a more peaceful circumstance in which he could have this sort of family, isn't outside my realm of belief for Solas. He's a father figure to Cole, and as Cole says "He wants to give wisdom, not orders", which to me, hints at the desire for a quieter life, spreading knowiedge, teaching others, and maybe giving wisdom to offspring of some sort.
In real life, children are an intensely personal decision. I very much want to be a mother. My Lavellan? Not so much. She thought she would be because it was expected of her, but then she had a lot of internal conflict over said Dalish duty to reproduce, in large part initially due to believing she'd be settling down with another woman. And then, again, having Mythal's vallaslin, she almost felt that conflict even more. But then she found other things in her life. So, if somehow Solas can find a certain peace, and be reunited with Lavellan, he and Nirwen would likely wind up kind of nomadic teachers of history and culture and lessons.
First - there's Cole.
Second, there's Cole's cryptic message about Solas and (assumedly) Mythal:
"He didn't want a body, but she asked him to come. He left a scar when he burned her off his face."
And there's a codex in Vir Dirthara (http://dragonage.wik...he_Deepest_Fade)
"Epiphany requires a mind smooth as mirror glass, still as stone. Put aside ten years for practice, and the next hundred for searching. What others have learned will ease your journey. Those who never manifested outside the Fade will find it easier to find its stillest roots, but it is rare the compulsion overtakes our brethren of the air."
That... still doesn't point to all or most ancient elves coming from Fade spirits.
Also, what are "our brethren of the air"? My computer sucks right now, so clicking on the Dragon Age Wiki just causes my whole computer to freeze until I close the window.
That... still doesn't require biological offspring. And many things Solas was deprived off during his time as worshiped demigod, or Fadewalker has been offered by Lavellan/Inquisitor and companions.
Or the stories of the ancients' death toll were exaggerated to make them seem greater than they were. You never know
True, I mean if we take the amount of water in Lake Superior (about 3 quadrillion gallons) and divide that by how much blood is in an average human body (about 1.5 gallons), that would be like 2 quadrillion elves worth of blood.
That... still doesn't point to all or most ancient elves coming from Fade spirits.
Where did I even say anything like that?
The only thing I've done is say this: "we don't really know how ancient elvhen families and relations were, but it could be that the role of "father" or "mother" wasn't tied to biological parents; in fact it's curious whether a lot of ancient elvhen population HAD any biological parents, given that they could just manifest from the Fade."
I've made no claims you ascribe to me.
Also, what are "our brethren of the air"? My computer sucks right now, so clicking on the Dragon Age Wiki just causes my whole computer to freeze until I close the window.
Frilly cookie break.
I wonder if Solas' cherished frilly cakes were decorated as intricately as this cookie? The artist's techniques are very similar to henna artist techniques, I find. I would be torn about eating this cookie, I think. It's just so beautiful.
https://www.facebook...36904323174437/
Frilly cookie break.
I wonder if Solas' cherished frilly cakes were decorated as intricately as this cookie? The artist's techniques are very similar to henna artist techniques, I find. I would be torn about eating this cookie, I think. It's just so beautiful.
Wow, that is so pretty. And intricate. It reminds me of a dress I had as a little girl.
And there's a codex in Vir Dirthara (http://dragonage.wik...he_Deepest_Fade)
"Epiphany requires a mind smooth as mirror glass, still as stone. Put aside ten years for practice, and the next hundred for searching. What others have learned will ease your journey. Those who never manifested outside the Fade will find it easier to find its stillest roots, but it is rare the compulsion overtakes our brethren of the air."
Brethren of the air - This refers to dragons.
Brethren of the earth - This refers to Titans and the Dwarves.
Manifested outside of the Fade - Refers to the dual nature of Spirits and Elves, or should I say dual nature of spirits that are advanced and complex enough to manifest themselves as Elves. We see from Cole that not all spirits can become constructs of flesh and blood, but highly complex ones like Spirit of Compassion.
"Epiphany requires a mind smooth as mirror glass, still as stone. Put aside ten years for practice, and the next hundred for searching. What others have learned will ease your journey." - This refers to why I end up never playing a pure mage. It takes way too long for someone to be proficient at it. & by very long I mean hundreds of years, not tens of years. Hence I prefer to multiclass and play as characters who dip into magic such as Spellswords and Arcane Archers.
Brethren of the air - This refers to dragons.
Brethren of the earth - This refers to Titans and the Dwarves.
Manifested outside of the Fade - Refers to the dual nature of Spirits and Elves, or should I say dual nature of spirits that are advanced and complex enough to manifest themselves as Elves. We see from Cole that not all spirits can become constructs of flesh and blood, but highly complex ones like Spirit of Compassion.
"Epiphany requires a mind smooth as mirror glass, still as stone. Put aside ten years for practice, and the next hundred for searching. What others have learned will ease your journey." - This refers to why I end up never playing a pure mage. It takes way too long for someone to be proficient at it. & by very long I mean hundreds of years, not tens of years. Hence I prefer to multiclass and play as characters who dip into magic such as Spellswords and Arcane Archers.
How and why does "brethren of the air" refer to dragons? I'm not seeing the connection. That sentence connects "brethren of the air" with "manifesting outside of the Fade". Which is something spirits would or could do. Dragons? We don't really know much about them. We have Flemeth who can turn into one. We have Mythal statues being dragon-like. We have the dragon guarding Mythal's altar. Note all of these things are connected to Mythal specifically. We have a reference to an elf taking the form reserved for the gods, which many have inferred to be taking the form of a dragon but the reference is vague at best and nothing actually pointing to dragons is present in that reference if I recall correctly.
Also, that length of time meditating has absolutely nothing to do with casting magic. It has to do with finding and exploring the deepest parts of the Fade. And ancient elves wouldn't really care how long it took as they were immortal. Most of the actual mages we meet in game, most of whom are human, could be considered proficient at magic. Any of the mage characters we play could be considered proficient at magic. I would suggest that becoming proficient at magic takes no longer than say, learning to become a master swordsman or master thief.
Art post. 
Concept!Solas and Lavellan by kallielef.
Solas and Lavellan drawn to mark the 100th day the artist passed in Solavellan hell.
Star Wars AU Part 1: Solas and Lavellan lightsaber battle.
Star Wars AU Part 2: Lavellan defeated? 
Trespasser Solas and Lavellan.
Modern AU Solas in spandex. (NSFW-ish for bulge. 
)
Trespasser Solas WIP
Solas sketch.
Solas VS Iron Bull Chess Match
Those dang fangirls. (Cullen, Varric, and Solas.)
Er... Hello! *waves*
Long-time lurker, finally worked up the courage to post something on this amazing thread.
... Butler!Solas AU, anyone?
Sorry for the hugeness! 
*disappears*
Er... Hello! *waves*
Long-time lurker, finally worked up the courage to post something on this amazing thread.
*snip*
... Butler!Solas AU, anyone?
Sorry for the hugeness!
*disappears*
Is that your own work, random_michan? It's really good.
Er... Hello! *waves*
Long-time lurker, finally worked up the courage to post something on this amazing thread.
Spoiler
... Butler!Solas AU, anyone?
Sorry for the hugeness!
*disappears*
My mind is already going to places... naughty places....
I'll be in my bunk...
EDIT: GDI why did this become the top post? 
Here are some Solas gifs:
Source: http://sussoria.tumb...e-questions-the
Is that your own work, random_michan? It's really good.
It is, and thanks! Everything but the background, anyway (which is a photo manip of a morguefile pic). And I had plenty of help from GIMP and Fotosketcher (for the watercolor effect).
In retrospect, Solas' lineart gave me the most pain, but the hours of tablet-scribbling paid off. ^-^
Spoiler
My mind is already going to places... naughty places....
I'll be in my bunk...
LOL Didn't mean to inspire anything R, honest!
... But Solas is just that... inspiring, isn't he? XD
Retour en haut
