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[Sifr]

Gorrim's source for what happened in the Assembly was...Harrowmont. And you have to accept Harrowmont's word that he actually tried. It's easy to put up a token resistance when you don't want to win a fight. And Harrowmont could have encouraged Endrin to insist on your right to defend yourself in front of the Assembly which you are denied. The king could have overruled the Assembly.

 

Endrin's letter to the DN tells us that part of the reason he didn't overrule the Assembly and launch an investigation because he knew the DN was either innocent or had been set up, but knew that if the truth came to light then the scandal would ruin House Aeducan and provide enough fodder for their enemies to exploit that it might even cost them the throne.

 

It seems that Endrin and Harrowmont (as his friend) had their hands tied with what they could do to help the DN, especially after they realised Bhelen had bought most of the Assembly. I like to think that it was probably Endrin who provided Harrowmont with both the information on the Wardens and a semi-decent weapon for the DN's exile, as means of allowing the King to claim deniability if Bhelen or the Assembly found out they were trying to aid their "guilty" middle child.

[Tishina]

Endrin's letter to the DN tells us that part of the reason he didn't overrule the Assembly and launch an investigation because he knew the DN was either innocent or had been set up, but knew that if the truth came to light then the scandal would ruin House Aeducan and provide enough fodder for their enemies to exploit that it might even cost them the throne.

 

It seems that Endrin and Harrowmont (as his friend) had their hands tied with what they could do to help the DN, especially after they realised Bhelen had bought most of the Assembly. I like to think that it was probably Endrin who provided Harrowmont with both the information on the Wardens and a semi-decent weapon for the DN's exile, as means of allowing the King to claim deniability if Bhelen or the Assembly found out they were trying to aid their "guilty" middle child.

Oh, I have no doubts that Endrin arranged for the little bit of help the DN gets. But my point was that Harrowmont didn't try to convince the king to overrule them. How was Bhelen's actions going to disgrace the house more than having the DN condemned as a kinslayer? Was it Endrin's idea that overruling the Assembly would be worse than having the DN condemned out of hand, or did Harrowmont convince him of that (it's easy to plant an idea in someone's head and have them believe it was their own idea...and Harrowmont must be good at Dwarven politics to have survived.)

 

It all comes around, over and over, to Harrowmont's access to and influence over Endrin. Harrowmont had nothing to lose by helping the DN once she was condemned as a kinslayer, and he may even have thought if the DN did survive to become a Grey Warden, it might give him some influence... At the worst, he wasn't wasting someone who fought well against the darkspawn.

 

Though really, my point is that my DN wardens are interpreting events that way, whether that's really what the writers had in mind. Belief and fact don't have to go hand in hand, and there's a lot of room to suspect Harrowmont.

[PCThug]

I do like the DAI CC better for the options built-in, but I thought I came up with good male dwarf faces in DAO- and ones that had a lot more character than the humans I tried to make. The larger, wider nose was always a bit weirded by the graphics- more on the "lumpy mass" side than big, rocky dwarf nose look- but you could blend it with other larger facial features to seem more natural- max-sized eyes, wider cheek bones, wider mouth, lower the chin/jaw and mouth to create a larger face. Dwarves are kinda "supposed" to have heavier, rounder faces due to their physical stature, I think, so one man's "potato" is another man's "chiseled stone."

Very true! I've seen pretty much an exact copy of my female human warden probably a dozen times over online.

[Qun00]

While it sucks to pick Bhelen and reward him for his betrayal, I like to imagine that the Dwarf Noble gets a huge degree of satisfaction post-game, being able to issue proclamations and end all their correspondence with the title of;
 
"Warden-Commander Aeducan, Hero of Ferelden and PARAGON of Orzammar."
 
Because you just know that being reminded of that constantly will irritate the Stone out of Bhelen, that he's only a King who's reign might span a couple decades, and not a Living Ancestor who's legacy might last centuries. And worse, it wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for him.

Oddly enough, Bhelen mantains the DN's status as a living Paragon while Harrowmont succumbs to the assembly's pressure and declares him/her "dead".

[Tishina]

Oddly enough, Bhelen mantains the DN's status as a living Paragon while Harrowmont succumbs to the assembly's pressure and declares him/her "dead".

True, but a Paragon GW Aeducan isn't a threat to him, and it actually adds to his power to have a sister/brother who's a paragon (and has proved to put house loyalty above vendetta.) Harrowmont may view the paragon as a threat to his heir's succession or believe the Paragon may oppose him at some point. And instead of adding to his stature, a living Paragon diminishes it - it's clear from that quest-line that they revere Paragons higher than kings. They're living ancestors.

[Merela]

Oddly enough, Bhelen mantains the DN's status as a living Paragon while Harrowmont succumbs to the assembly's pressure and declares him/her "dead".

 

Also he makes the statue of (dead) Paragon Aeducan smaller than the other Paragons'.

[Tishina]

Also he makes the statue of (dead) Paragon Aeducan smaller than the other Paragons'.

Yep. Sounds like he's threatened by both Paragon and Aeducan, especially for such a traditionalist.

[vertigomez]

Maker bless fictional brothels, I'd never heard this one before. I laughed reeeaally hard.

Prostitute: What's your secret?
Denier: Pardon?
Prostitute: You're paid more than anyone else in the Rose. Even Quintus! How'd you do it?
Denier: Dwarves are irresistible. I can't help it.

[AlleluiaElizabeth]

I'm sure there are copious amounts of deep roads puns involved in his "appointments". lol

[Bhryaen]

But seriously, now. Isn't it hard to choose between Bhelen and Harrowmont as a dwarf noble? You don't want to see that ******* profiting from his betrayal but you also know that Harrowmont is a terrible option for different reasons.

One thing about the DAO dwarf storyline is that it remains evocative to this day. Humans get their revenge payoff as do the city elves (the latter early on), and Dalish just sort of do their thing, but dwarves have more to talk about at the end, the struggle with the choices involved, the inescapable unease with however it turns out (unless you're a self-hating dwarf who chooses Harrowmont, I suppose). As much of a seeming arse-pull as the epilogue slides might be for making Bhelen the clearly better choice (yes, I know the arguments for why it's completely reasonable), they certainly don't make him the perfect choice, successfully adding a compelling, thought-provoking dynamic that applies heavily to replayability as well. And the scenario is so steeped in the lore that there's no sense of contrivedness to it either just for the sake of making rpg choices.

 

That's the kind of writing that DA4 needs- uncompromising controversy- the kind that keeps people opining intelligently about it years later without even employing any easy ideological polemics: just placing the player in a situation with no pretty, simplistic choices. Hard to be a pristine hero regardless of origin after running the Bhelen/Harrowmont gauntlet. I've never felt about a game narrative or a character quite the way I have with my DN weathering (without responding with immediate bloodshed) those incessant Bhelen (and Vartag) insults even after the frame-up and murder attempt... and yet choosing the scumbag as ruler... Took a lot of mulling it over as a player, but presumably it's what my Aeducans were doing as well.

[Tishina]

One thing about the DAO dwarf storyline is that it remains evocative to this day. Humans get their revenge payoff as do the city elves (the latter early on), and Dalish just sort of do their thing, but dwarves have more to talk about at the end, the struggle with the choices involved, the inescapable unease with however it turns out (unless you're a self-hating dwarf who chooses Harrowmont, I suppose). As much of a seeming arse-pull as the epilogue slides might be for making Bhelen the clearly better choice (yes, I know the arguments for why it's completely reasonable), they certainly don't make him the perfect choice, successfully adding a compelling, thought-provoking dynamic that applies heavily to replayability as well. And the scenario is so steeped in the lore that there's no sense of contrivedness to it either just for the sake of making rpg choices.

 

That's the kind of writing that DA4 needs- uncompromising controversy- the kind that keeps people opining intelligently about it years later without even employing any easy ideological polemics: just placing the player in a situation with no pretty, simplistic choices. Hard to be a pristine hero regardless of origin after running the Bhelen/Harrowmont gauntlet. I've never felt about a game narrative or a character quite the way I have with my DN weathering (without responding with immediate bloodshed) those incessant Bhelen (and Vartag) insults even after the frame-up and murder attempt... and yet choosing the scumbag as ruler... Took a lot of mulling it over as a player, but presumably it's what my Aeducans were doing as well.

I enjoyed a lot of things about both dwarf origins. There were a lot of little details that went into helping you feel the difference in rank, then the reversal when you return later in the game, like the tavern owner who cheerfully greets a casteless warden (who couldn't have gotten the time of day from anyone before) but who will refuse to serve a noble warden because she liked Trian. All the nobles you can click on and get the sense of people taking sides, including their opinion of a noble warden or your sister if you were casteless. How the losers after someone is crowned are suddenly saying different things. How Dusttown changes if you let Branka have the Anvil. DA:I, well, you have a few people here and there discussing a dwarf as Herald or IQ. A few dwarves at Halam'shiral you can overhear gossip from. Otherwise, you just hear kind of generic remarks.

[Qun00]

So, how do you guys usually go about naming a dwarf character?

[Andraste_Reborn]

So, how do you guys usually go about naming a dwarf character?

 

I compiled a list of pretty much every dwarf name in the material for a tabletop I was running. To my ears, they have a sort of Norse flavour a lot of the time.

 

The closest thing to an actual rule I've found is that female dwarf names almost invariably end with 'a' or 'i', although there are a handful of exceptions.

[vertigomez]

So, how do you guys usually go about naming a dwarf character?

I look for Scandinavian and German names, since those seem to be popular among dwarves. Sigrun, Rica, Beraht, Helmi... here is a great resource.

I ended up with Yuri Brosca, Elsa Brosca, Ingrid Aeducan, Durnan Aeducan, Lorna Cadash...

[Bhryaen]

I enjoyed a lot of things about both dwarf origins. There were a lot of little details that went into helping you feel the difference in rank, then the reversal when you return later in the game, like the tavern owner who cheerfully greets a casteless warden (who couldn't have gotten the time of day from anyone before) but who will refuse to serve a noble warden because she liked Trian. All the nobles you can click on and get the sense of people taking sides, including their opinion of a noble warden or your sister if you were casteless. How the losers after someone is crowned are suddenly saying different things. How Dusttown changes if you let Branka have the Anvil. DA:I, well, you have a few people here and there discussing a dwarf as Herald or IQ. A few dwarves at Halam'shiral you can overhear gossip from. Otherwise, you just hear kind of generic remarks.

Wait, what??? How?? You mean the epilogue or do the NPCs actually say new things? I only let Branka have the Anvil in my crazy elf mage run-through, and my mage never had cause to go back to Dust Town after.

 

But, yeah, they did a great job of adding many little variable details in DAO, and especially Orzammar.

 

So, how do you guys usually go about naming a dwarf character?

From what I've experienced, dwarf names (first names anyway) tend to be short (most often 2-syllable), have decisive consonants, and tend to start with a consonant- hence my Jagan Aeducan. I also try to make it a name that "fits" within the world, but, meh, ultimately I just go with what I want. I liked the word Snark as a name, so I tried that for one of my Broscas. The name Kruklya was from my first NWN character who I so-named because she was a rogue- i.e., a "crook." Not that dwarfy an origin, but it still works.

[Krypplingz]

So, how do you guys usually go about naming a dwarf character?

If I want to have a dwarfy dwarf name I usually just use Icelandic names/words. If they have special letters (á,í,ð,þ)I usually switch them out for the vanilla letters. Both so they fit in better and if the game freaks out about them. Þ is a dangerous thing after all. 

Aldis, Feykir, Bergstein(n), Hörn, Sigurd, Gefn got their names that way. 

For Broscas I sometimes google russian/russian sounding names. 

And sometimes I just pick a random name, based on a word that I heard recently or something that Behindthename gives me.

[Merela]

So, how do you guys usually go about naming a dwarf character?

 

I borrow names from the norse mythology: Freyja, Galar, Fjalar, and it'll be either Kvasir or Eir for DA4.

[Tishina]

Wait, what??? How?? You mean the epilogue or do the NPCs actually say new things? I only let Branka have the Anvil in my crazy elf mage run-through, and my mage never had cause to go back to Dust Town after.

 

But, yeah, they did a great job of adding many little variable details in DAO, and especially Orzammar.

 

From what I've experienced, dwarf names (first names anyway) tend to be short (most often 2-syllable), have decisive consonants, and tend to start with a consonant- hence my Jagan Aeducan. I also try to make it a name that "fits" within the world, but, meh, ultimately I just go with what I want. I liked the word Snark as a name, so I tried that for one of my Broscas. The name Kruklya was from my first NWN character who I so-named because she was a rogue- i.e., a "crook." Not that dwarfy an origin, but it still works.

If I recall (I think I let her have it once) when you go back later, Dusttown is almost empty. Because where are they getting the bodies to make new golems? Not from the Diamond Quarter... Otherwise, you can overhear conversations about who you put in power. I particularly recall hearing things about Bhelen's wife being casteless, though I can't remember if that's DC origin only.

 

I'm a lazy namer. I mostly use the feminine form of Russian adjectives or feminine nouns rather than names. Rezka is "sharp" or "cutting." Vetra means "wind." One of my Dalish, Derzka, is "audacious" or "cheeky." They aren't consistent enough in game for me to want to obsess on creating perfect names. And doesn't Bianca say that women in the merchants' caste either get named Bianca or something else (the name escapes me, Helga maybe?) Lace Harding's parents didn't worry too much about traditional names...

[Cespar]

I borrow names from the norse mythology: Freyja, Galar, Fjalar, and it'll be either Kvasir or Eir for DA4.

 

Hopefully, we can still play dwarves in DA4. *Fingers-crossed.* I hope Bioware improves on the races instead of just cutting them out.

[Qun00]

I think the most obvious Norse names so far are Sigrun and Helga (mentioned by Bianca).

[BigBad]

I use names from my favorite fantasy fiction. Like my dwarf warden was Khalel because I couldn't resist with all the Superman references in the game. Hawke was Garion, after the hero from the Belgariad. My dwarf Inquisitor was Mandor, named after Mandorallen from the same series. Since Cadash is a surface family, and spends most of their time in the Free Marches, I didn't feel as wedded to the norse/anglo-saxon dwarfy theme for names.

[Bhryaen]

I think the most obvious Norse names so far are Sigrun and Helga (mentioned by Bianca).

So Sigrun is an actual girls' name? Huh. I always thought it seemed odd as a name, didn't quite get the devs' intent with it. Like Antraste_Reborn said above, girl names tend to end in an "a" or "i," and I like attempts to break with convention, but "Sigrun" didn't seem like the sort of convention-breaking variation that fit so well. But if Sigrun is actually a relatively common Norwegian girl's name, I finally see how it works.

[BigBad]

IIRC, Sigrun was a Valkyrie, yes? Unless I am confusing Dresden Files trivia for actual mythology.

[Krypplingz]

So Sigrun is an actual girls' name? Huh. I always thought it seemed odd as a name, didn't quite get the devs' intent with it. Like Antraste_Reborn said above, girl names tend to end in an "a" or "i," and I like attempts to break with convention, but "Sigrun" didn't seem like the sort of convention-breaking variation that fit so well. But if Sigrun is actually a relatively common Norwegian girl's name, I finally see how it works.

It's also quite popular in Iceland, at the moment there are 2557 girls with that name as the first name and 408 with it as a middle name according to the name database. Well it's Sigrún, but the origin and meaning is the same. Victory+Secret/Rune. And yup she's also a Valkyrie from Hávamál. 

 

Spoiler

Rún is also pretty solid ending to a name. Alrún, Arnrún, Álfrún Hugrún, Dagrún and Særún. 

Other lady names not ending with an a or e could be some of the norse gods and their waifus : Frigg, Eir, Gefjun, Gerður, Hlín, Iðunn, Lofn, Rindur, Sif, Sigyn, Sjöfn, Syn, Vár, Vör. And then Hildur, Auður, Unnur, Þórunn, Hallgerður are quite classic. Gunnlöð is also a pretty swell lady.

Then there are plenty more none a,e ending names, although some of them might be more recent. But -dís (faerie),-vör (lip, place to dock a ship during storms), -laug(pool of water),-ey (island), -veig(alchaholic bevrage) ,-björg (help,food), -gunnur(battle), -brún (edge/brown) are all legit endings and are all "female" words. 

And as a added bonus Dulin is also the female version of the adjective hidden in Icelandic. So he goes to the Skyrim group of "Who would name their daughter Gisli?!" in my mind.

[Sifr]

IIRC, Sigrun was a Valkyrie, yes? Unless I am confusing Dresden Files trivia for actual mythology.

 

Yeah, Sigrun being a Valkyrie makes it especially fitting for her namesake in Dragon Age. While it's meaning ends up being even more appropriate, if you decide to spec her as your resident runecrafter in Awakening.