Ok, so that settles it then, Calpernia is a run-away slave. There is no way she could "go back" in the Imperium, and live.
Should I have a problem stating the obvious?
I am pretty sure the oldest nation in Thedas has a secret service rivaling with the qunari, inquisition or any other nation in Thedas. I would assume they know who was the leader of the Venatori and who was his right hand. They would be looking out for Calpernia just to put her down.
There is nothing malicious about that, I just feel like people are overlooking a lot of details which would make her return impossible.
We don´t know that, what the story implies is that he is dead. I didn´t play the templar side so I don´t know if he appears there.
Corypheus is the empodiment of the Venatori. He was the one the Venatori follow. People joining in that group did not join Calpernia and certainly do not share her views of slaves. Corypheus getting killed will not make them followers of Calpernia. If there is anything left of the Venatori after Inquisition then most likely other people will step up for the leadership. She was just a Corypheus pet.
In theory, he only gets bound if Calpernia is the one to serve Corypheus. If Samson does, then the red lyrium will act as a method of control over him, and thus the binding spell isn't needed for Calpernia. In fact, Calpernia herself isn't needed.
Whatever happens to her in the mage path, I'm sure BioWare can write it to where she serves in a lesser capacity until Cory is defeated and then she goes off on her own with any Venatori under her command. As for Erastinies, the short story seems to indicate that he was paying Cory plenty of veneration. So I doubt Cory killed him for no reason. Theoretically, Cory was keeping him around to use as a test subject for the binding he would later place on Calpernia. But if that binding is not necessary, then he may just disregard Erastinies and focus on other things.
But the point is, Erastinies can live. In this case, Calpernia has a way back in to Tevinter.
As for TI having an intelligence community, each magister probably has their own group of spies optimized for spying on each other. Doubt they have a single cohesive one like the Qun.Should I have a problem stating the obvious?
I am pretty sure the oldest nation in Thedas has a secret service rivaling with the qunari, inquisition or any other nation in Thedas. I would assume they know who was the leader of the Venatori and who was his right hand. They would be looking out for Calpernia just to put her down.
There is nothing malicious about that, I just feel like people are overlooking a lot of details which would make her return impossible.
Yeah, but is it plausible? That is the question, isn't it? Incessant or not. There seems to be a lot of fawning over the character to see the settings. Someone with her backround is going to need a hell of a story to just stroll back in the Imperium.
I'm sure BioWare will make it plausible. It all depends what Calpernia brings to the table. If she's got the power and the forces, Tevinter may welcome her in rather than risk an internal war.
But even if they reject her, I highly doubt that will stop her. She will simply launch a war against the magisters. She'll become a revolutionary figure, attacking magisters and freeing their slaves. Spreading propaganda. Inspiring dissent. Will the magisters placate and pacify her with an offer of position within the magisterium and promises of a reformed Tevinter? The situation with the Qunari may force them to.
The real questions are how this will play in the grand scheme of the war with the Qunari, and if the minority of reformers in Tevinter such as Maevaris and Dorian will support her or not. Also, will the Inquisition play a role?
I don't think we are overestimating Calpernia's character here. The game and her short story show that she is serious about changing Tevinter. It isn't baseless to conclude that she will either try to insert herself in Tevinter or take down all those in her way.
As for TI having an intelligence community, each magister probably has their own group of spies optimized for spying on each other. Doubt they have a single cohesive one like the Qun.
Also I don't recall the Venatori ever being stated to be illegal or really even considered a threat by TI. There is a war table mission about a Magister introducing a bill to heavily curtail Venatori activity, but it doesn't pass because most members of the Senate don't care about the Venatori activities.
The Imperium is not a band of tribal lords. Of course it has a system controlled by Archon and the Magisterium. Like Rome.
At least in my playtrough the Archon requested Inquitions support to root out Venatori pockets along Tevinter border, I would say that qualifies for being a outlaw.
I'm sure BioWare will make it plausible. It all depends what Calpernia brings to the table. If she's got the power and the forces, Tevinter may welcome her in rather than risk an internal war.
But even if they reject her, I highly doubt that will stop her. She will simply launch a war against the magisters. She'll become a revolutionary figure, attacking magisters and freeing their slaves. Spreading propaganda. Inspiring dissent. Will the magisters placate and pacify her with an offer of position within the magisterium and promises of a reformed Tevinter? The situation with the Qunari may force them to.
The real questions are how this will play in the grand scheme of the war with the Qunari, and if the minority of reformers in Tevinter such as Maevaris and Dorian will support her or not. Also, will the Inquisition play a role?
I don't think we are overestimating Calpernia's character here. The game and her short story show that she is serious about changing Tevinter. It isn't baseless to conclude that she will either try to insert herself in Tevinter or take down all those in her way.
Sure, but here is the difference again.
You think she has influence over the Imperium enough to Magisters to notice her. I think the opposite, none of the information I have read about her so far suggests that she was nothing more than a (runaway)slave when she left the Imperium attacking a influential Magister in process. What importance could that give to her?
Then she goes out to join a fringe extremist group (which ends up being the enemy of the Archon and the Magisterium), hell bent to bring back the old Imperium. How on earth such person could have the slightest leverage inside the Imperium? Or that the Magister would see fit to even discuss with her, besides outright killing her the moment they get their hands on her? I think people are grossly overestimating her meaning in Tevinter.
What she thinks does not matter, what she can bring to the table does and that is what counts. Even if she could rally some slaves into revolt (since who else would follow her, Venatori are supremacists) you don´t think Archon and Magisterium have ways to deal with it? Like hundred times before. She is just one person, against a old Imperium. All the support she could muster can in no way to be compared to the strength of a complete nation.
Even Dorian, who is a noble by birth is in my mind a outlaw in the Imperium. He allied himself with the southern Chantry institution, the Inquisition. How possible is for him to return and avoid any repercussions of that action? Just think how radical stance between the churches is presented in DA2.
Anders says he would be executed just by wearing the northern amulet. Now think Doria who allies with Inquisition and one of his former team mates becomes the new divine. One would think the Archon, true divine and Magisterium would run to hang Dorian the moment he steps inside Tevinter borders to make an example of him, altus or no. Religion is serious business.
But, like I said, if they appear again I really hope any retcon for them is dam good. Otherwise it is just sad. For me the settings are just so badly against them.
Question, are you sure it was the Archon of the Imperium who asked for Inquisition help with the Venatori, or was that the King of Nevarra?
I wouldn't say she has influence over the Imperium, just that she would have some influence among the lower classes within the Imperium's society. Also, the Archon and Magisterium would likely want to deal with her one way or another. Like you wrote, she could be an outlaw that the Imperium recognizes as a threat. So I see them as either trying to appease her, or taking the risk of diverting resources from holding back the Qunari in order to attack Calpernia and her Venatori forces. Or maybe they do both. They attack her first, then when she proves formidable they try to make peace with her rather than waste more resources that would be better spent fighting the Qunari.
Did you read her short story? Granted, I don't know if it's considered canon or not, but I think it was written by the same writer who created her. She is shown to be well loved among the lower classes, especially slaves. The game also shows that she commands the Venatori. So they will definitely follow her and her vision of a restored Tevinter. With them as well as numerous slaves joining her cause, she could grow to be a major threat to the Magisterium. She also already pwned a magister in the streets. So her magical skill is not to be messed with either.
If what you wrote about the Archon is correct, he considered the Venatori a threat. Thus, not a fringe group. Also, it was led by the main ancient magister darkspawn. That's hardly a fringe group.
What she thinks matters to those who follow her, and those who would yet follow her. She would recruit more followers by sharing her ideas and visions with them. The Magisterium is fragmented though. They have agendas against each other. They have their own cliques. Calpernia isn't just one woman. She has various Venatori with her. She has former slaves. These slaves may have secrets. As a former slave herself she knows how to work the magisters and their games. She could send assassins and spies disguised as slaves to magisters that she needs to eliminate. There's all kinds of fun things she could do. So are they a complete nation? I don't think so. And even if they could unite against her, she's young and they're mostly old. She could outsmart them. Be unpredictable. Think up new ways to dominate that they would not have considered or planned for. They would be stuck in their old way of thinking, trying to protect a crumbling nation and their own excess. Calpernia and her followers would be fighting for a new future of restored glory, prestige, and freewill. What happens if children start turning on their parents, like what happens with Dorian and Halward? Calpernia could represent a dangerous element to the Magisterium.
Regardless of how we see Dorian, he can possibly return to Tevinter with no consequences. But the way I see it, he helped destroy an ancient magister who brought the blight into the world and tarnished the Imperium for ages to come. His accomplishment should play well in Tevinter, even if people continue to see him as a pariah.
Anders has been known to exaggerate. But if the Magisterium rushes to kill Dorian, I think Calpernia would soon find herself another useful ally in the war against the Magisterium.
The settings are indeed bad, but that's what makes for an interesting storyline.
If they do this plot, my theory is that they will equalize Calpernia and the Venatori in both the mage and templar paths. Meaning, a Calpernia of the templar path who led the Venatori will find herself with a crippled and demoralized force that she will have to build back up on her own. Conversely, in the mage path, she will have always been a lower ranking commander of a small group of Venatori that didn't see much action, and feeling that her true skills were never properly utilized by Cory (who chose Samson), she will set out to make the remaining Venatori into a force to be reckoned with.
That would be... awakened, gap-toothed, war-tested human. Get it right.
Honesty folks hoping a deluded buck toothed mass murdering knife ear returns to try to restore the worst society in the known world along with a group that even their country labels terrorists...
This reeks of modern politics
But she is not a knife ear.
Whose operation reminds me a startling amount of Al Qaeda
Well Isil to be specific given even normal Tevinter was like...GTFO
One man's terrorists are another's freedom fighters.
One man's terrorists are another's freedom fighters.
Frankly I feel like she is a great character and from all of my templar playthroughs I have played I have yet to kill her off. Frankly I have crazy respect for her and I saw her as more of a anti villain than anything else. She took the easy way out to hopefully get Tevintir to rise to power again by making a deal with Corypheus but didn't know she would get bit. Killing her off would be a inmoral thing to do since she's a puppet. i do hope to see her in a future DA game.
here's some of my noteable pictures of her
*snippity snip*
It was the Archon.
I did not get any hints of her holding any specific support among the masses. What I got out of her story was that she was a loner who had thoughts about returning the glory of the Imperium. Besides that she had practically zero friends let alone supporters.
How did she acquire support among the slaves and poor? What actions did she do for it? No one knew her in the Imperium and after that she was a zealot. Why would slaves and poor people support a zealot?
Tevinter does not need to appease her. She has zero power after Inquisition. Venatori are being destroyed, or completely crippled. Every country from Tevinter to Orlais is after them. What could she possibly have to force the Imperium to take note? You don´t think much of Tevinter if you think one ex-slave could pose any kind of threat to it. The Qun is a threat, Calpernia is nothing.
The Venatori followed Corypheus and his supremacist views. They do not follow Calpernia and her freedom for the slaves ideas. People are mixing badly what Venatori represent.
I´m pretty sure the Archon and Magisterium has enough agents to sniff her out if she tries to sneak in the country. Remember blood magic, it will make people talk, everyone. She has no change.
We shall see how it goes.
As for TI having an intelligence community, each magister probably has their own group of spies optimized for spying on each other. Doubt they have a single cohesive one like the Qun.
Also I don't recall the Venatori ever being stated to be illegal or really even considered a threat by TI. There is a war table mission about a Magister introducing a bill to heavily curtail Venatori activity, but it doesn't pass because most members of the Senate don't care about the Venatori activities.
http://dragonage.wik...y:_The_Venatori
That it was submitted as evidence suggests that there were charges brought against the Venatori, and they're seen as a fringe cult. 
It could just be typical politiking and they don't actually care, they just see it as a good excuse.
Maybe the Senate didn't bother to curtail the Venatori because at that point, they were mostly harassing the South and causing chaos, and they didn't really mind their old enemies suffering? And by that point, the Venatori had showed themselves to be more 'successful' than your average cult devoted to revanchism.
I liked Calpernia, and from the sounds of it the writers wanted to leave some kind of opening in case fans liked her. I'm thinking a fifty-fifty shot of seeing or hearing of her in some way in future DLC.
It was the Archon.
I did not get any hints of her holding any specific support among the masses. What I got out of her story was that she was a loner who had thoughts about returning the glory of the Imperium. Besides that she had practically zero friends let alone supporters.
How did she acquire support among the slaves and poor? What actions did she do for it? No one knew her in the Imperium and after that she was a zealot. Why would slaves and poor people support a zealot?
Tevinter does not need to appease her. She has zero power after Inquisition. Venatori are being destroyed, or completely crippled. Every country from Tevinter to Orlais is after them. What could she possibly have to force the Imperium to take note? You don´t think much of Tevinter if you think one ex-slave could pose any kind of threat to it. The Qun is a threat, Calpernia is nothing.
The Venatori followed Corypheus and his supremacist views. They do not follow Calpernia and her freedom for the slaves ideas. People are mixing badly what Venatori represent.
I´m pretty sure the Archon and Magisterium has enough agents to sniff her out if she tries to sneak in the country. Remember blood magic, it will make people talk, everyone. She has no change.
We shall see how it goes.
Could you provide the Chore Table operation's name? I looked for it in the list and didn't find it. All I found was stuff involving Maevaris and Dorian and how the Magisterium is repulsed by the Venatori but also don't want to lift a finger to address them.
In her short story she was an outcast among her fellow slaves until she showed magical talent. From that point on they would all gather around her at supper to listen to her talk. She also defeated that magister and told his two slaves that they may follow her if they wish, and I think she said something about appreciating their full talents and potential, and of course the slaves decided to follow her.
They will support a zealot if she is zealous about raising them up out of poverty and oppression.
She has a little power after Inquisition. More or less based on how you play it. Like I wrote, they have no need to appease her at the moment, but after she gains some more support and proves formidable, then they will have a growing need. Venatori are being hunted down and destroyed because of their link to Corypheus, but once he is dead, the threat is gone and so is the Venatori's cause. Those who remain will find a new cause in Calpernia, and that is a cause other countries might actually support. The Inquisitor who convinces her to back down will encourage Calpernia to be a strong leader. Could there even be room for an alliance? And even if Calpernia never becomes anything more than a thorn in the Magisterium's side, they will reach a point where they would rather have her on their side rather than working against them. The Qunari are the main threat, and they will prefer to fight them instead of waste energy on Calpernia. In fact, if she is willing to help fight the Qunari, they may even make her part of the Magisterium depending on how much power she can devote to the cause. As for her being an ex-slave... so was Andraste. And we know how close she came to toppling the entire Imperium.
The Venatori followed Corypheus because they feared and exalted him as a god. They believed that he would claim ultimate power in the Black City and change reality for their betterment. After he was destroyed, they would have no one but Calpernia to turn to, and she would inspire them to fight for something much more attainable. A restored and glorious Tevinter where they would be free.
The Magisterium can try whatever they wish. Calpernia knows their tricks. It will be interesting.
I don't understand why Calpernia is Templar-siding specific. The Venatori appear regardless. Just because I sided with the mages doesn't mean Calpernia magically stops being leader of the Venatori. So why isn't she there?
I don't understand why Calpernia is Templar-siding specific. The Venatori appear regardless. Just because I sided with the mages doesn't mean Calpernia magically stops being leader of the Venatori. So why isn't she there?
I think it's a 'the lieutenants jockeying for power' deal, and in the Templar path, the Venatori succeed in recruiting the mages to become more Venatori, and naturally Calpernia is one of the strongest and most loyal lieutenants Corypheus has. But if the Venatori fail to recruit them, then the deed of the hour is Samson successfully subverting the Templar Order, and he acts as their leader. Presumably in a Templar path, Samson is exposed and dies alongside the majority of his Red Templar brethren at Therinfall. And presumably in a Mage path, Calpernia remains active, but isn't chosen as the Vessel. Instead, Samson, with his surefire red lyrium as a control method, is.
That's my guess, anyways. *shrug* It bothers me as well. I'd have loved to have seen the interplay between Corypheus, Calpernia, and Samson.
In her short story she was an outcast among her fellow slaves until she showed magical talent. From that point on they would all gather around her at supper to listen to her talk. She also defeated that magister and told his two slaves that they may follow her if they wish, and I think she said something about appreciating their full talents and potential, and of course the slaves decided to follow her.
I think you are giving her way too much leverage. It is not like she had gigantic gatherings where she would talk to stadium full of people. In truth she speaks with like 10 people, so what? That does not make her popular among the slaves or known. Nor that the slaves she speaks to are willing to put their lives in danger because of her.
With regard to some comments above:
I would support a powerful Tevinter if it was convincingly on its way to abolish slavery (you can't expect that to happen in a day). The high prevalence of human sacrifice depends on the presence of slavery for cheap ritual fodder, and mages who would sacrifice people will have a much harder time doing it if their victims are free citizens. In any other respect, as I said elsewhere, I like the culture of the place and its dedication to magic, and if Calpernia can revive it from its ossified state I will appreciate it.
I think you are giving her way too much leverage. It is not like she had gigantic gatherings where she would talk to stadium full of people. In truth she speaks with like 10 people, so what? That does not make her popular among the slaves or known. Nor that the slaves she speaks to are willing to put their lives in danger because of her.
Right, but this isn't a political campaign. This is an underground movement. That's how these things work. It's a counter culture, a secret group, working in the shadows, inspiring people to action, planting ideas in their heads. She might only talk to 10 people, but then those 10 people will talk to 10 people each, and then each of those will talk to maybe 1 or 2 people each, etc. That's how influence spreads.
I'm saying this is Calpernia's way in to the next storyline. She could convince a lot of slaves to side with her, especially if they start loving her vision more than they fear their masters.
Frankly I feel like she is a great character and from all of my templar playthroughs I have played I have yet to kill her off. Frankly I have crazy respect for her and I saw her as more of a anti villain than anything else. She took the easy way out to hopefully get Tevintir to rise to power again by making a deal with Corypheus but didn't know she would get bit. Killing her off would be a inmoral thing to do since she's a puppet. i do hope to see her in a future DA game.
LoL 
you say that as she is innocent lamb that didn't knew what she was doing , pretty much contrary she did a lot of shitty things ( and i mean a lot) for her own ends and ambitions only thing she was being manipulated is her end goal in corypheus plan.
It's hard to say exactly what wrongs she committed in the game though. She commanded the Venatori but there were all these side projects and generals. One unknown general worked with Alexius to create and post the occularum. One was the head of the spy network. Servis was hired help who oversaw the discovery and collection of ancient artifacts. Another one was investigating the Still Ruins. Erimond was working to enslave the Wardens. So it seems to me like Calpernia's main mission was to recruit more people to the Venatori, including the buying of slaves, and then to send them to each area. Then later her role would have been to drink from the Well of Sorrows. And of course we know that she led the attack on Haven, until Corypheus took command with his dragon. She also led the forces in the Arbor Wilds.
So she killed Inquisition troops (we can assume), and she killed elvhen guardians, both times under orders. I think the only real killing I know of that Corypheus did not command was when she killed the slaver in Val Royeaux for mistreating the slaves, and this was after she warned him. The spy crystal also shows that she treats her slaves very well and respects them. She also questions Corypheus, which could indicate that he would not trust her with tasks that might cause her to have a change of heart, such as the wholesale slaughter of tranquil to make occularum.
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