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[pudi0072000]

I've asked several other people about this. I have the Kindle PC version of The Calling, and in it, it says that Cailan is 5 and Rowan has been dead 3 years during that time. But it seems that in the printed version, Maric says he’s 9 and Rowan is gone for 2 years.


This is from Chapter 4, locations 1,623 - 50 (Apparently it’s page 93 for printed editions.)


"Don't you have a young son?" [Fiona] asked.

"Cailan. He is five years old, yes."

"Isn't he without a mother? Perhaps we hear it wrong in Orlais, but my understanding is that the Queen of Ferelden is dead."

He was silent for a long minute, and noticed none of the others offered to change the subject or intervene. Perhaps they wondered the same thing. The thought of Cailan touched a painful place inside him. Like a coward, he'd left Loghain to tell the boy that his father was gone. Cailan would never have understood. His mother had disappeared, and now his father, too? If Maric had gone to tell him, however, he would never have come at all.

"She is," he admitted quietly. "Three years now."


Based on Maric's musings, I cannot imagine Cailan as nine. I understand that all children are different, but I would think by nine he would start to understand that Rowan is dead. For a five year old, it’s easier for him to understand that she’s just gone. Or maybe it has something to do with Maric's lack of parenting? (Wouldn’t his governess/nanny/whatever explain it to him, though?)


So now I’m interested what Cailan’s age is supposed to be, if anyone in the know would be so kind?



Edited for formatting

Modifié par pudi0072000, 08 février 2010 - 01:17 .

[grieferbastard]

Clearly you are under the influence of a malificar. The Maker does not make mistakes. Please report to the nearest Chantry so a Templar can attend to your needs (read: burn you alive) shortly.

[Leonia]

Huh, I wonder what it is up with that. Just checked my printed copy and you are correct. What has annoyed me a little is that we do not know the ages of other characters, like Fiona or Duncan, so those numbers cannot be used to help us try to guess whether or not Fiona is the mother of a certain character (though I think there is no doubt about it, personally). Would be interesting to know how old Cailan is when we meet him in Ostagar as well. We know that Anora is in her 30s based on some notes.

EDIT: Just had a quick look at the Epilogue of the Stolen Throne but it doesn't state how old Cailan was when his mother died, only that he rembered it when it happened.

Modifié par leonia42, 08 février 2010 - 02:01 .

[Maeves_Child]

My print version says:

"Cailan. He is nine years old, yes."

and

"She is," he admitted quietly. "Two years now."

At the end of the Stolen Throne, Cailan is 7 and Rowan has just died.

Whatever than means, but I can say, as someone who has a lot in common with Cailan (I was seven when my father died) that yes, I'm sure he would understand it. I think that "disappeared" was just metaphor on Maric's part.

Oh, and the bit about Anora?  It says in the RtO note "nearing her thirtieth year" which considering the subject matter (her fertility) just means to me that she's more than 25.  And she is older than Cailan.  She tells you that herself.  

Modifié par Maeves_Child, 08 février 2010 - 01:57 .

[Leonia]

Good points, Maeves, I had missed that about Cailan being 7 (he is 12 in the Epilogue) and about Anora nearing 30, not actually being in the 30s.

[David Gaider]

Oy.

Honestly, I've avoided responding about this before because it's the one thing that still bugs me.

"The Calling" was edited really quickly. Unfortunately I noticed the mistake in the dates when we'd already moved into the proofing process, and apparently that meant that there was more than one version of the manuscript in the editors' hands. I don't know how it works, but I imagine that's responsible for the changes not all migrating into the final version (and apparently the version the OP has uses something different, as well, which is awesome).

Cailan is supposed to be five years old in "the Calling". Rowan died two years before. He is twelve in the epilogue for "the Stolen Throne".

The blame is really mine for not noticing until the last minute and then frantically trying to slip two sets of changes in. So I've resigned myself that the original dates (even though I don't think they're consistent throughout the published version) will simply have to stand. I suppose it's a niggling detail, though I still do bang my head on the desk every time someone brings it up. But that's what you get for writing so quickly I guess.

Sorry for the confusion.

[Stippling]

Oh David, always so honest. Thanks for the information! We don't blame you, it happens.

Modifié par Stippling, 08 février 2010 - 04:25 .

[Leonia]

Hey, Mr. Gaider, I know you have answered this before but I cannot find it.. which version of Duncan's parentage is correct, The Calling or the Codex in-game? Just curious.



I know how it is to write too quickly and overlook minor details, sometimes you are just too excited about getting to the next plot point

[David Gaider]

leonia42 wrote...
Hey, Mr. Gaider, I know you have answered this before but I cannot find it.. which version of Duncan's parentage is correct, The Calling or the Codex in-game? Just curious.

The Calling is. The Codex was pulled from legacy info -- which is how a number of inaccuracies creep in, since we have so many hands on the data and the info changed so much over the five years of development. In fact, that's responsible for the initial date problems in the book. I didn't realize I was working from a legacy timeline until too late.

Now, thankfully, we have editors whose job it is to keep all that stuff in our wiki straight. Which is nice.

[Stippling]

And then the biggie Mr. Gaider... WHO is Alistair's mom?

Modifié par Stippling, 08 février 2010 - 04:32 .

[pudi0072000]

Ah, thanks so much for answering Mr. Gaider! I really appreciate that!



I also know how little things can slip through the cracks; it seems like the most trivial things don't get noticed until it's published. (Don't bang your head like that! I'm hoping for more books and games! Your brain is highly valued!)

[Sandtigress]

OH! I like this change. Glad you made this thread!

[twincast]

Your honesty is appreciated as always, but, you know, the DA books wouldn't be the first novels to have corrections (or new covers re:TST) in subsequent editions and the codex could be fixed with an update. I'd prefer that to you (and us) having to grudingly live/work with errors that swindled their way into the finished products.
And I would definitely buy them again. Like I said before, DA has my full support - aside from the comic that is. Speaking of which, AFAIK there hasn't been any news since its initial announcement. Is it still happening?

Modifié par twincast, 08 février 2010 - 01:17 .

[emynii]

I also appreciate the information. There's been a lot of speculation about ages, and any tidbit of information is welcome.

I've been working to put together a timeline, if there's any way you could even give me an idea if my dates are right or not it would make my life a whole lot easier I won't even bug you to get Alistair's official birthdate (though, it's been nagging at my mind for a while)

9:00 - Start of the Dragon Age
9:02 - Death of Meghren,
9:03 - Maric Crowned King (Age 24)
9:05 - Cailan Born
9:08 - Queen Rowan Dies
9:10 - The Calling (Cailan age 5, Maric age 31)
9:25 - Maric Dissapears (Age 46), Cailan takes throne (Age 20)
9:30 - Modern Dragon Age Game

that leaves Alistair being born between 9:05 and 9:08 if we go by the story given to us in the game. If we go by the other theory, then he was born in 9:10 or 9:11.


Am I at all in the ballpark of on track? Also, any chance we can get Duncan's age at any of the major turning points?

Modifié par emynii, 08 février 2010 - 01:53 .

[Maeves_Child]

I recall Duncan being 18-19 in The Calling, but I guess I can't tell you if that is right. But it would make him 38 or 39 during the game by your timeline.

[David Gaider]

twincast wrote...
Your honesty is appreciated as always, but, you know, the DA books wouldn't be the first novels to have corrections (or new covers re:TST) in subsequent editions and the codex could be fixed with an update.

Insofar as the book goes, I have no idea if another edition is planned. I don't think they would put out an edition just to change this, however. Codex fixes would be nice, but are more complicated than simply changing a line of scripting -- localization costs when changing any text in the final game make it more prohibitive than you'd think (we wouldn't just be changing the English version, after all).

Like I said before, DA has my full support - aside from the comic that is. Speaking of which, AFAIK there hasn't been any news since its initial announcement. Is it still happening?

As far as I know. Why wouldn't it be?

[David Gaider]

emynii wrote...
9:00 - Start of the Dragon Age
9:02 - Death of Meghren,
9:03 - Maric Crowned King (Age 24)
9:05 - Cailan Born
9:08 - Queen Rowan Dies
9:10 - The Calling (Cailan age 5, Maric age 31)
9:25 - Maric Dissapears (Age 46), Cailan takes throne (Age 20)
9:30 - Modern Dragon Age Game

I'm gun-shy of confirming any timeline at this point, and I don't have my notes from the novel on hand -- but at a glance this doesn't look too far off.

[twincast]

David Gaider wrote...

Insofar as the book goes, I have no idea if another edition is planned. I don't think they would put out an edition just to change this, however. Codex fixes would be nice, but are more complicated than simply changing a line of scripting -- localization costs when changing any text in the final game make it more prohibitive than you'd think (we wouldn't just be changing the English version, after all).

D'oh. Totally didn't think of localization.
Well, Awakening should be big enough to squeeze some corrections in - theoretically, at least. Depends on how tight the schedule is, I suppose.

As far as I know. Why wouldn't it be?

It's just that things have been quiet for quite some time now (3-4 months?), which naturally doesn't have to mean anything, but very well could. (It would only be a short time for a game, for a comic it's right about the borderline of being suspicious.)

[emynii]

David Gaider wrote..
I'm gun-shy of confirming any timeline at this point, and I don't have my notes from the novel on hand -- but at a glance this doesn't look too far off.

Thank you. It's at least something to go off of so far

[David Gaider]

twincast wrote...
Well, Awakening should be big enough to squeeze some corrections in - theoretically, at least. Depends on how tight the schedule is, I suppose.

Not sure what you mean. Awakening doesn't alter anything in Origins, insofar as I'm aware.

[twincast]

firefox was being [female dog]y. I'd planned on adding: "Then again, I don't know how much Awakening affects Origins, if at all."

Which you've pretty much answered now, so all that's left to say is a big, hearty 'alas'. *shrug*

[emynii]

Sorry, I have another question.



Which version of Alistair's recruitment is correct? The story that he tells in game or the one on the website about the tournament?

[David Gaider]

emynii wrote...
Which version of Alistair's recruitment is correct? The story that he tells in game or the one on the website about the tournament?

Maybe I'm missing something. How are they different?

[spirit-dog]

Alistair tells you that he was recruited because Duncan saw how unhappy he was in the templars. In the offical wiki, there is a story about a tournament and Dunca recruited him because he was plucky.  There is also no mention in the version on the wiki about the Reveared Mother being upset at his recruitment forcing Duncan to use the Right of Conscription.

Modifié par spirit-dog, 08 février 2010 - 09:26 .

[Sandtigress]

I don't see why the two are at odds with each other. The tournament version mentions that Duncan noticed one templar not participating and asks for him to be brought out. That doesn't meant that Duncan had not also noticed the young man before, and Alistair made his unhappiness fairly evident at times (screaming just to see the brothers run, for instance).



Duncan then uses the tournament as an excuse to see Alistair's skill, knowing that he's not going to recruit the winner. People throw a fit because Duncan recruits the trainee instead of the victor, Grand Cleric feels the templars are being dishonored, throw in some spoilers about Alistair that you find out playing the game, and Duncan pulls right of conscription.



The two can go together fairly well, at least to me.