Felassan said that some ancient elves could draw sustenance from the Fade to keep from dying while in uthenera. Considering the games consistently stating that elves have a natural affinity for magic and inborn connection to the Fade, this is consistent with the lore and doesn't indicate other races having the same abilities.
Elves have affinity for magic and special connection with the Fade, but they're not the only ones who can perform magic or connect to the Fade.
And you'll note that after Halamshiral Solas basically stumbles and reveals that he feels he has more in common with mages (regardless of race), than modern elves. Mages - regardless of race - are the ones who's connection to the Fade hasn't been severed, unlike "most", whom Solas views as Tranquil-like.
Add to that the fact that we do know that ancient Tevinters WERE talented dreamers who spent long periods of time dreaming. Feynriel is a Dreamer. He's half-elf, but we know both from lore AND devs that there are NO half-elves in Thedas.
Also, if you don't believe any person in Thedas can go months without food or water, how come you keep insisting that Andraste did it?
(Although, scientifically speaking, while humans can't go for more than several days without water, given the right circumstances they can go weeks to months without food. It sucks, but it can be done.)
You missed the part when I mentioned that the Guardian in the Gauntlet in DAO? Did you think I just pulled that out of nowhere?
And I know of many cultures who have rituals and traditions of fasting, but I specifically mentioned that the Guardian mentions that Andraste went weeks/months without any food or water - the fact that you feel the need to unnecessarily spend time describing things that only apply if I mentioned only food in order to try and dismiss my point is kinda... frustrating.
Also - whether people can go without food for longer than without water it doesn't change the fact that after a few days without food we can already see devastating effects of that get worse the longer people go about without food. And nowhere in the lore it's mentioned that Andraste was basically a malnourished skeleton, or anything of the sort.
Some ancient elves needed to be fed, others didn't. Those who didn't were, in fact, celebrated for reaching a higher plane of existence.
The stuff about Andraste? Pure conjecture formed from wild and inconsistent stories surrounding a woman shrouded in myth.
Okay, now that's just funny. See the irony here?
We don't know enough about her or her life to draw any meaningful conclusions, especially since people in-universe cannot.
Thing is, that that little fact has been mentioned by a person/spirit of a person who knew Andraste. Personally. This is exactly why I brought it up - this isn't just some wild conjecture made by speculating Thedosian historians or storytellers or fervent believers.
I don't personally think the story of Andraste fasting and meditating is meant to be indicative of uthenera so much as mirroring countless real-world examples of gurus and religious/spiritual leaders who separated themselves from society, deprived their bodies of worldly pleasures, and fasted and meditated to obtain some kind of divine guidance / spiritual epiphany, then brought it down to bring guidance to their people.
Thing is, this is NOT happening in real world, but where we know dreams and meditations and communing with spirits or other otherworldly beings is actually A THING. Inquisitor likely also has many fantastical tales being told about them that they haven't done, while some of them they've absolutely did, through power bestowed by orb that belonged to a being from legends. So Andraste might as well totally have had her visions or periods of immobility (as described by WoT 2) - though that doesn't necessarily means that she was communing with the Maker. Exactly like her Herald.
(Hell, Andraste going up to the mountain, supposedly having an encounter with the Maker, then coming down to share the Maker's Word to her people sounds a lot like the story of Moses going up to Mount Sinai, communing with God for 50 days, then coming back down with Ten Commandments for the Hebrews.)
Um... at this point you're just making stuff up.
Where did I ever mention "going up to the mountains"? The Guardian mentions periods of Andraste going meditating with no sustenance that has little to do with mountains or event the like the one with Moses. You've reached the strawman territory with this.
Going to sleep in a temple for one year is not the same as uthenera, though.
That's what you claim. There's nothing in the lore that suggests that uthenera, or periods of sleep that perhaps prepare for it, lasted any specific period of time - whether it's a month or a year, it is STILL beyond what physical body can withstand, be it on Earth or in Thedas.
In fact, there's more evidence for short-period uthenera from people who actually know about it first-hand - Solas and Felassan. We do know that uthenera is pretty consistently translated as as "slumber". Solas uses that world specifically to describe his thousand-years old uthenera to Mythal.
And Felassan uses the same word to describe a nap Andruil and Anaris took simply in order to heal their wounds. We do know that this story is mostly an allegory, but we can assume that - since it was told by Felassan - it wasn't a complete BS. It had to be based on something. The elven gods appear to have simply used "power nap uthenera" in order to heal from wounds.
That does suggest that it's more of a type of dream (one that helps to sustain and regenerate if one knows how to achieve it, which throws entirely new light on why uthenera is sometimes translated as "immortal"), rather than just something that lasts long.
To be honest, this seems like another example of trying to take something "elfy" and make it about humans. You seem to want to believe the other races can do it too, so you keep trying to stretch the definition of uthenera to apply to any deep sleep or Fade-walking, even if it's one that lasts only a few months or a year, even though the whole definition of "uthenera" ("long/eternal sleep") is one of a very long and very deep duration.
You know, you really could do without such things... basically painting me as someone who just "really, really wanting something", instead of just digging out interesting tidbits form story in order to make the topic interesting and analyze it from all angles.
Like... from your reaction I kinda have a feeling that you're just projecting on me: it's not me 'really, really wanting' it to be this or that (because I don't. I find it interesting, which is why I brought it up, but I don't necessarily say that this is exactly how it is or should be); it may as well be you and your specific vision or theories on Bioware elves or else - which is fine, because hey, we all do and so long as the story doesn't confirm or deny something we all will have them - but react somewhat allergically to either in-story facts, lore tidbits, suggestions, or just plain speculation that may or may not clash with that vision. I may be entirely wrong, but that's just how it seems after some discussions I've seen, be it with me or others.
And the whole "trying to take something 'elfy' and make it about humans'? It's like... how am I even supposed to react to that other than with a facepalm?
I haven't posted anything about other races, because unlike things like Brecilian Ruins or Andraste we don't have any other interesting tidbits I could bring up from the top of my head about other races. We know that Valta ceased sleeping whatsoever (according to her own notes sent to Inquisitor after we finish the dungeon) when she got connected to Titan, but it's safe to assume that it may be something entirely different, or connects with the plot differently, and we simply don't know that much about Titans at this point to know what really happened to Valta, or will she be ever important later. Andraste, on the other hand, as well as whole religion and beliefs of the Chantry (which includes the story and place in the world of "Herald of Andraste") can and probably should be dissected for the way they more than likely connect with ancient, forgotten history, or powers that try and either nudge or shove history.
Retour en haut
The spirit quite likely belonged to a body we see, and the ghost happens to be a woman. A human woman, of all things.
