Then again, you have probably just come up with an elven origin story for the next game. The writers do love their little links with previous games. So the elven PC was a child sold into slavery by Loghain. That could be the case whatever race the Warden was because the alienage story happens regardless.
I've been writing my own sequel to the events of DAI/Trespasser to fill the time, which is why I keep coming back to see what other people think how certain things are going to resolve themselves. It will be interesting to see who, if anybody, is right.
Anyway, I was having my Lavellan recount the story of Elgar'nan to Dorian and at the end he says, "How could such a story of forgiveness and reconciliation come out of the society that Solas depicts?" So Lavellan says that perhaps it was just a fanciful tale that the Keepers made up to fill the gaps, to which Dorian replies that it was a much better one than the humans came up with.
If you think about it, amid all the negativity about the Evanuris, the story that the Dalish Keepers tell if nothing else reflects well on them. Because the story is about a family warring among themselves, then reconciling and forgiving, and then becoming unified once more. Let me remind you of it in full:
In the beginning there was just the earth and the sun. The sun bowed its head to touch the earth and there Elgar'nan was born. They both loved Elgar'nan but the earth produced beautiful gifts of plants, birds and animals for his delight. Then the sun grew jealous of the regard he gave to these gifts and burnt them to ashes. Elgar'nan was furious and fought his father the sun, finally burying him in the Abyss. The earth wept tears for all that had been destroyed and from these the oceans were created. Mythal was born of the sea. She calmed Elgar'nan's anger and persuaded him to forgive his father. The sun was released and together with the earth, helped Elgar'nan and Mythal restore all that had been lost.
It is clearly a story about the value of family and coming together and remaining loyal to one another despite any differences that might arise. Contrast this with the story of the Maker, who creates the spirits, gets frustrated with them because they do nothing but praise him, creates another set of creatures to be nothing but creative and industrious and gives them a world suitable for this. Gets upset because they forget him and gets upset with the spirits for finally taking an interest in something other than him. Spirits are jealous of men, the Maker is angry with spirits and men, because the latter were interested praising something other than him. He punishes them all and then goes off and sulks. Very edifying.
So regardless of what the Evanuris may or may not have been at the end, what the Dalish recount of their beginnings is nothing to be ashamed of and in fact not really contradicted by anything we have learned, since initially they were just leaders at a time when the people needed them to be. The Dalish faith at its heart is about unity, family, reconciliation and forgiveness. Be proud fellow elven.
Incidentally, my Lavellan also recalled that the stars were the life blood of the sun, spilled during the fight. Since they were the result of Elgan'nan's anger at the destruction of his world, he has decided they should be symbolic of his struggle to prevent Solas from destroying his own world. Every time he looks up at the night sky, he remembers what is at stake.
Yeah, I never really felt that much sympathy for humans when playing an Elf.
I mean it sucks what happens to a fair amount of them, but if you reverse it, very few humans care what happens to Elves.
Then again, you have probably just come up with an elven origin story for the next game. The writers do love their little links with previous games. So the elven PC was a child sold into slavery by Loghain. That could be the case whatever race the Warden was because the alienage story happens regardless. Nice irony too if you end up saving the world, or even Tevinter, that Loghain's betrayal of the Night Elves in particular and the alienage elves generally, results in a good outcome. Then at the end they manage to track down all the other elves who were sold with them (if still alive) and lead them to a better life. (I can but hope)
I've been leaning toward playing a dwarf in Tevinter, but if this was the backstory, I'd seriously consider rolling an elf.
Though I can only imagine the complaints about getting "another Fereldan" as a protagonist. lol
If you were sold as a child you probably wouldn't be obviously Ferelden in accent and such like, or remember too much of actual Ferelden culture, as you wouldn't have seen much outside of the alienage. You'd have assimilated the culture you were brought up in and the only thing you'd probably have is a memory that you were once free and the names of the people who came north with you.
If you were sold as a child you probably wouldn't be obviously Ferelden in accent and such like, or remember too much of actual Ferelden culture, as you wouldn't have seen much outside of the alienage. You'd have assimilated the culture you were brought up in and the only thing you'd probably have is a memory that you were once free and the names of the people who came north with you.
*nods* Those would be good arguments against them technically being Fereldan being a problem.
Thedas is such a strange continent. The south is cold and the north is hot.
Well spotted, Q-man.
Thedas is such a strange continent. The south is cold and the north is hot.
Call it a wild, fantastical, ludicrous guess, but I'm pretty sure Thedas is in the southern hemisphere.
So?
South America is hot. Or are you implying that Ferelden is the Thedosian equivalent to the South Pole?
Yes. They're south of the tropics, so it gets colder the more south you go till you hit the frozen wastes south of the Kocari Wilds.
The South American continent has a huge range of climate and vegetation. You have the tropical rainforest in the north, that gives way to temperate grassland down Argentine way and then much colder at the tip. I can't remember exactly what Peru has but I know there is a lot of upland. Then there is a desert that borders the Pacific on the western side, part of Chile I think. It's really strange because you wouldn't think there would be desert that close to the sea but I think there is a rain shadow caused by the mountains that run down that side of the continent. Still to get Thedas right you really need to tip the world up the other way so North America and Europe are upside down in the south.
It's funny but even the writers sometimes forget that it is round the other way. In Masked Empire PW had a character commenting on the birds flying south for the winter, when of course they would fly north.
Yes. They're south of the tropics, so it gets colder the more south you go till you hit the frozen wastes south of the Kocari Wilds.
People talk that way in real life too. Canada can actually get relatively hot in the summer but people sometimes still refer to it as being cold.
So?
South America is hot. Or are you implying that Ferelden is the Thedosian equivalent to the South Pole?
If you look at a map of Thedas, you see that, yes, south of Ferelden, you get into arctic type climates
Call it a wild, fantastical, ludicrous guess, but I'm pretty sure Thedas is in the southern hemisphere.
It rains a lot in Ferelden and being so far south, that makes it cold and damp. It makes it feel colder than it really is because it gets into your bones. Essentially it is meant to be Britain round the other way, so warmer in the north than in the south but still not an extreme difference. It will have a summer and if they are lucky they may even get a bit of a heat wave but being so far south the winters are going to be longer than the summers. Also there seem a lot of mountains and that means it will rain more as well, as well as there being a greater chance of snow.
How cold it feels is also going to be relative to where you grew up. Dorian finds it cold because he is accustomed to Tevinter which I presume is warm all year round, at least in the northern part where Minrathous and Qarinus are. Some years back we had a holiday in southern Spain in February. We left behind snow in England, so when we got there we were walking around in T-shirts and shorts because even in the middle of winter it was nearly as warm as a lot of our summers and certainly felt a lot warmer because of the cold we had left behind. The locals were wrapped up in overcoats because to them it was cold compared to their summers when it gets really hot.
The odd thing is there is a picture in World of Thedas above the entry on Tevinter that is meant to illustrate a Tevinter Circle built in the ruins of an Old God temple but it looks like it is nowhere near a city, when I thought most temples would have been there and the landscape and climate looks more like it is set in Ferelden. There are pine trees, bare rocks and mountains that are covered in mist. The sky looks really overcast and cloudy. I realise the mist could be humidity because of the heat and you can get Mediterranean pine trees but it isn't really what I imagined Tevinter would like like. So may be this is somewhere near the coast in southern Tevinter and the area around Minrathous would look more exotic and semi-tropical.
Then again, you have probably just come up with an elven origin story for the next game. The writers do love their little links with previous games. So the elven PC was a child sold into slavery by Loghain. That could be the case whatever race the Warden was because the alienage story happens regardless.
I want this as an origin. Now.
When a Dalish elf is referred to as a "scout", does it mean s/he is a rogue?
I think "scout" means someone who say in a forest look for safe ways to travel for the clan ?Or someone who goes and find new location (to hunt or whatever)..like scout Harding.
I'm pretty sure that a Dalish scout travels ahead of the clan to spot any potential dangers. They may also scout for the presence of suitable game in an area, so the clan can decide the best place to camp. Once camped they probably continue to scout the area to ensure that the clan isn't taken unawares by hostile creatures. As such I would imagine they could equally be a rogue or a warrior, although I think the warriors probably stay closer to the clan, actually defending them, while the scouts are more likely rogues who are better at moving around stealthily and not revealing themselves to the enemy, or scaring off game.
My guess is that Felassan gave him some helpful hints and then left Thelhen to work it out for himself, so he wouldn't realise that Felassan was actively interested in what he was doing. It seems too convenient to me that Thelhen was summoning Imshael in order to get the secret for activating the eluvians, which just happened to be what Felassan had been tasked to obtain control of by Fen'Harel.
Thelhen was using an elgar'arla (spirit trap) and since there is an elven word for this, it has to be something they once knew how to do. However, modern Dalish are said to be extremely wary of any magic involving spirits, so wherever Thelhen got his knowledge, I imagine it would not be something widely known among the Keepers. Thelhen says he has "spent years finding the right location and preparing my spells". Since the entrance to the eluvian network is not far from where they are camped, I assume this is what he means by the "right location", although that could also refer to the ancient stone circle within which Imshael was trapped. He also apparently needed something for the ritual that he could only get from the shemlen. I'm guessing it was probably lyrium with which to inscribe the runes on the stones that activated the trap. So he needed the right location, the correct spell and certain components. From the reaction of the Keeper and the clan when they heard that Michel had been freed by the demon from within its trap and he had been talking with it, I think they were well aware they were dealing with something very dangerous but getting control of the eluvians was worth the risk.
I actually think that Imshael wouldn't have resisted being summoned. It was probably what he had been hoping for. This seems borne out by the fact that Felassan sounded impressed that the demon summoned was actually Imshael and not some random demon. What Imshael was disappointed about was that having summoned him Thelhen wasn't willing to pay the price that Imshael demanded to unlock the eluvians. If you assume it was the same price he suggested to Michel, then he wanted someone to possess. He certainly required the Keeper to make a choice and Thelhen was not willing to do so. Whether it was because he had scruples about allowing anyone to be possessed by the demon or whether he guessed that it might backfire in some way, is anyone's guess, but Thelhen seems to have got cold feet about the whole thing and Imshael was fed up waiting, so he looked for someone new to manipulate. However, whilst he told Michel he wanted to do a deal, he also hinted smashing that runes would destroy him. Naturally Michel thought he was very clever in getting the keystone from Imshael without having to allow himself to be possessed but by smashing the runes, he broke the trap.
Certain rituals, certain conditions and certain places...
The Forbidden Ones sound more and more like the God Hand. Then again summoning Demons, Devils and Daemons is rarely a simple matter. The more powerful the entity the greater the magic must be to draw it in.
I think people make way to big a deal of the Forbidden Ones. They sound like a bunch of ancient criminals who got banished by the Evanuris and it stuck. Everything we see suggests they're minor players.
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