40 réponses à ce sujet

[Heimdall]

They might be emulating actual medieval European narratives of the Orient, by which I mean they tend to be fanciful and exaggerated

[Statare]

It's somewhat amusing to think that Thedas might be the safest continent on the planet.

 

That's why the Qunari really showed up on Thedas' doorstep. Squatters. 

[QuarianOtter]

They might be emulating actual medieval European narratives of the Orient, by which I mean they tend to be fanciful and exaggerated

 

I agree. Seems to be popular in fantasy nowadays. The ASOIAF worldbook that came out last fall did the same exact thing, even to the point of expressing "facts" that readers of the series knew to not be true.

[Ariella]

I agree. Seems to be popular in fantasy nowadays. The ASOIAF worldbook that came out last fall did the same exact thing, even to the point of expressing "facts" that readers of the series knew to not be true.

Not really all that different from the in universe codex.

[X Equestris]

I wonder what this supposed cataclysm in Voshai was.

[leaguer of one]

Please oh please oh please let the wingless dragon be a big-ass boa constrictor.

Says the dwarf small enough to be eat hole by it...

[Mihura]

So I got World Of Thedas 2 yesterday .I haven't read everything in details , there's a lot to read.

But as promised there's some news about what lies beyond Thedas.

Well kind of...(it's mostly  all "rumors " "tales" and "legend" at this point)

It seems Genitivi is writing In Pursuit of Knowledge volume 2 , I hope it means he's not dead .Since he disappeared in DAI.(If you shanked him in DAO , well your warden was bad and you should feel bad.)

 

Anyway for those interested , here it is :

Also a Thedas map to help locate those place (it's an ancient map not from WOT): http://img1.wikia.no...0/ThedasMap.jpg

 

 

Spoiler

North and South :

 

In the South , beyond the Korcari Wilds  and south of Orlais, there's a "sunless land" covered in snow with mountains of ice.(I think we knew that).The news is there's people called "Agadi" living there.

Agadi means Exile in Chasind .Apparently when Genitivi wondered if the agadi were ancient chasind , the Chasind were displeased.It seems there's bad blood between the two and the Chasind are afraid of the "Sunless land".

 

In the North West  there's the Donarks jungle.Nothing new here.

It seems it goes a long way up , there's some Qunari from Qundalon haging around and wild animals (rumors of flying chimera and wingless dragons )

 

The Boeric Islands :(north)

 

There's a lot of islands there , such as Seheron.

There's rumors about a large island called Par Ladi...the people living there are called Parladians and are quite isolationist.They wouldn't  even let a crippled ship gets near their coasts.

They have a capital and fortresses on the coastline (rivaling those in Thedas) and the people are into bling bling (gold and jewels) it seems they are highly educated but they speak their own language.

 

There's some sailor tales about Parladian Witches using spells to hide their land.

 

The West :

 

Laysh , a settlement in the Anderfels used to be a spawling port town.

They used work with traders across the Volca Sea called Voshai (well according to legends anyway).

They were quite hostile with the locals , didn't bother talking except when it came to bantering and were obsessed with acquiring lyrium.

It seems the captains of those ships were always dwarves and they were almost worshipped by their crew.(I assume the crew were humans , anyway they didn't have elves among them)

Of course Tevinter send their own ship to find out about the Voshai but those never returned.

In the early Black Age  , Voshai ships stopped coming...

 

It seems recently the Voshai ships are back , with tales of a "massive cataclysm " in their homeland.

 

The East:

 

Antivan legends say some sailors found , across the Amarathine Ocean, an untouched and verdant land called "Amaranth".Tales says it's some kind of paradise , there's no dangerous animals and would be a perfect land to settle.

A number of people tried to go there , they all disappeared.

One woman looking for her husband went there and only found one crew member left who was so afraid he killed himself when they tried to make him leave a cave in which he was hiding.

 

 

Oh that Themyscira?

[Snook]

Thanks for sharing, OP! This stuff is fascinating. I really hope we get to explore some (all?) of these new cultures/lands in future DA games. I wonder if the cataclysm mentioned was something to do with a Blight? 

 

Oooh, and that's out west, and the Warden just so happens to be out west. That would fit. 

[leaguer of one]

Oooh, and that's out west, and the Warden just so happens to be out west. That would fit. 

The warden alway has to find trouble....Some way some how.

[PlasmaCheese]

Dang, so it is out. I'm way out of the loop. Thanks for the summary, OP. I've yet to order mine.

[madrar]

On what's in the East: 

 

Spoiler

"Antivan legends say some sailors found , across the Amarathine Ocean, an untouched and verdant land called "Amaranth".Tales says it's some kind of paradise , there's no dangerous animals and would be a perfect land to settle.
A number of people tried to go there , they all disappeared.
One woman looking for her husband went there and only found one crew member left who was so afraid he killed himself when they tried to make him leave a cave in which he was hiding"

Amaranth comes from the Greek word amaranton which means "unwilting".

Milton mentions the flower of Amaranth being beside the tree of life in Paradise Lost.

It's also an actual family of plants... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaranth

 

Spoiler

"Amaranth" seems like a possible nod to Tolkien to me- the Undying Lands of the West inhabited by the Ainur and Valar.  (Which is itself based on real-world Norse Vanaheim, I think?)  Either intended reference would suggest running into ancient Elvhen there as a distinct possibility.  If so, it's worth noting the role of Ungoliant in Tolkien's mythos and Mythal's potential link to primordial spider iconography means they may have been allied with primordial Order and consequently very unlikely to be friendly.

 

On the other hand, considering the parallels of Tolkien's Second Age Ar-Pharazon to Corypheus and his invasion of the Golden City, it's just as possible the original reference is no longer accessible in the physical realm- making this "New World" more likely to be populated with tribal humans, as it was in our own.  Also, the possibility that Amaranth is the domain of the "Powers across the Sea" that the Executors reference points to an alliance with Mythal rather than Order.

 

We'll have to wait and see.  @w@  

[vertigomez]

Says the dwarf small enough to be eat hole by it...

Well... there are worse ways to die.

[vertigomez]

ok but:

SEAFARING DWARVES

[Little Princess Peach]

Thank you so much for the information I hope we can get to see these other places this thread is

[Jedi Master of Orion]

It could just be because of the sea they arrive on, but I figured the cataclysm the Voshai might have suffered might have been a volcano. 

[Phoenix_Also_Rises]

 

*vibrates with anticipation*

 

This is fantastic stuff!   @w@   Thanks for sharing while I wait for the UPS guy.

 

Most people have caught on to the whole "turn the map of Thedas upside down and viola, you have Europe" trick, but delving into these uncharted territories underscores the point.  

 

Spoiler

The Agadi are incredibly suspicious in light of an Avvar split- their "sunless lands" literal in one sense thanks to their proximity to the (flipped) arctic circle, but no doubt metaphoric as well.  The Avvar appear to equate the Lady of the Skies with solar imagery- not a surprise given her link to Ghil and Chaos, but it begs the question of who the Agadi worship.  (Barbarians who follow Order?  How exactly does that work?)

 

The flying chimera and wingless dragons fit fairly well with the area of the Donnarks and beyond being (probably) something like c.1600AD Persia and China.  

 

Given the flipped map, the Voshai being a twist on slavic/Russian culture wouldn't surprise me, but the idea of a pre-Black Age surface-dwelling (possibly human-enslaving) dwarven population is... surprising.  And since dwarves don't (I think?) figure at all in slavic mythology, I'm totally at a loss for potential context.

 

And finally the east!   It sounds like the Antivan Chrisopher Columbus stumbled over good old 'Murica, complete with Roanoake.  Given real-life parallels, I've got $10 that says the native cultures there have a healthy respect for a trickster wolf/coyote god.

 

...which sounds like someone we know, yes?  =w=

 

"Voshai" do sound a bit Slavic-y to me too. As regards dwarves in Slavic mythology, in parts of it that I have come across, there are some mentions of them, although these are dwarves as in "Snow White and the Seven". Interestingly enough, there is a somewhat obscure part of Slavic folklore that mentions a "permonik", which is an underground-dwelling type of imp. They are VERY strongly tied into the lore of areas where mining was the dominant industry. They could be helpful, mischievous or downright evil, although I am too murky on that particular bit of folklore to tell you how often which of these incarnations manifested. The overall idea of them was that they were unpredictable - at times, they helped a stranded miner find a way out, but they could also be the ones who have caused the cave-in in the first place.