Dragon Age Codex

Codex entries found in the Dragon Age games, typed up, tagged, and sometimes read by me.

Requests are welcome. I can see if I have the entry already or, if I don't, feel free to send me a screenshot and I'll post it with an audio.

At the moment, I'm focusing on Veilguard, because it's the game I'm playing right now (yet another playthrough where I make all the same decisions as before, classic bioware gamer). That said, I do hope to do more than Veilguard in future as well.

I like to try accents/voices but I am very much an amateur and sometimes I'll just decide to read it in my normal voice instead (english southerner). Please remember this is all just for fun, so be kind!

–Beau

Categories

I try to use the same headings and categories as in the game, for ease of reference. This does mean that occasionally the category won't seem to make sense (e.g. a Zara Renata codex entry in the Antivan Crows tag).

The Elven People | Grey Wardens | Mourn Watch | The Dwarven People | Antivan Crows | Shadow Dragons | Lords of Fortune | World of Thedas | Miscellaneous | Inquisition* | Fen'Harel*

Shadow Dragons - Neve's Case Notes: Maevaris Tilani

Maevaris Tilani was kicked from the Magisterium over a year ago for treason. Allegedly. Her faction, the Lucerni, supported the movement to grant greater rights for non-mages and slaves. They went silent.

Silent, but maybe not gone. Tilani may be working behind the scenes with allies still in Minrathous.

Dorian Pavus, another Lucerni founder, still has his Magisterium seat. Could Tilani have taken the fall to keep Magister Pavus clean?

The Vesperians – another highborn family – have ties to House Tilani. Corimer Vesperian is a traditionalist, but his youngest son... his youngest succeeded Urian Nihalias to become Imperial Divine. Lofty role. But he spoke in support of the Lucerni. At least until their fall.

And there's evidence that funding for the various slave rebellions may have come through members of the Dwarven Ambassadoria. Tilani's always had allies in the Ambassadoria. Is it her gold that's going to the rebellions?

Grey Wardens - From Davrin's Journal: Griffons Are Real

Like every Grey Warden, I've heard about griffons. The tall tales, the stories of legend, the role these animals once played in our history. And like every Grey Warden, I've wondered what they were really like. We've got statues of them all around Weisshaupt, but that's not the same thing.

Today, I actually met one. The First Warden said I was being assigned to a secret project out in the Anderfels. I'd never have imagined it would mean I'd meet real live griffons. Lancit and Remi have gotten used to them, but the shock still hasn't worn off for me. Thirteen of them. Thirteen secret miracles we need to protect at all costs. I still don't understand how they came to be, but somehow I'm part of it all now.

Shadow Dragons - Neve's Case Notes: The Fade Sky

More to this place than it's letting on. Solas's influence? Something more?

Sometimes I hear the tide as I'm waking up. Disappears when I remember where I am. Could be me. Can't say I don't feel a little swept away. In half a dozen ways and counting.

Found 'Fred sitting on a little outcrop. He pointed at the Fade sky. Nothing new there I could see, but I'll keep an eye on it. I told 'Fred we can see half of Thedas in a day with the eluvians, but we're all small next to that. Almost nothing.

'Fred hissed in response and left. Not sure how long I sat there, but suddenly he was back, handing me tea. Sat back down and we kept an eye on the sky.

World of Thedas - Majestic Bastards

I remember the second-last one. I wouldn't get closer than sixty feet, double the wingspan. That left you time to move. The beast was too weak to do much. Still, seemed respectful to keep the distance and leave its end to animal and trainer. She starved out. Not the way they should go, and not the way I was used to seeing them.

Oh, they were majestic bastards, and they knew it. Ask any Warden dumped arse over ears for not picking nits. See, trainer and beast had a kinship, and both knew what they wanted. For griffon, that bond meant grooming. Couldn't fault them. They needed what they needed. I mean, what's fair trade for saddling a Warden-Commander, full plate, lightning storm, sheer dive straight through an Archdemon's wing! Legendary, you can't argue! But back on the ground they knew what they were owed. And you couldn't shortcut and douse them – they had all the majesty of a paddling rat if you waterlogged the feathers. No, it was a greuling task of preening thirty bloody feet of wing. And you'd better remember, or maybe the thing got pissy next flight and cut an oak too close, give you a love tap so hard your next helm dented. Still, everything in balance, every talon tipped, there was nothing that compared. You could reach down from the sky and cradle Thedas in your hand.

Anyway, yes, I remember the second-last one. After she dropped, the robes took some crosscuts, because they do things like that. And then we burned it. And then I got drunk.

I do not remember the very last. And you can't make me.

–Comments of an unnamed Grey Warden, excerpted from Weisshaupt records on the extinction of a treasured species, liberated for public consideration by Philliam, a Bard!

Grey Wardens - Every Warden's Journey

There's the Joining and the Calling. The Beginning and the End.

Every Grey Warden gets the first. They drink the potion of Archdemon blood, laced with more magic than they know. If they survive, they'll sense the darkspawn, hear the blight's song. The blight itself won't hurt so much. They'll be forever changed. I was forever changed.

Not everyone survives the Joining. They end at the beginning.

Others end in battle. They're killed by darkspawn. Or maybe some other monster kills them. We go to sunless and forsaken places, we fight what would devour Thedas, and we don't always return.

I've survived all those battles myself. It makes me no better than anyone else.

Finally, there's the Calling. And that is the end, no matter how far you've come.

After the Joining, the blight won't hurt so much, but it's still inside you, and in the end, it still wins out. The blight's song, the one you can only hear because you're a Warden, starts to change. It starts to call you. At first, you can ignore it. And then one day you can't. Because you're changing. At first you can't see it, but then you can. In the veins in your arms, the circles under your eyes.

So you leave. You find the biggest batch of darkspawn you can, and you take down as many as you can before the blight takes you. You leave the world a little safer.

The other Wardens will tell you that you'll know when the time comes. That you'll be certain when it's real. But they haven't heard the Calling yet, and you wonder if it's really true, if you'll really know.

You will. I do. I've got my spot in the Deep Roads picked out.

Take care of yourself.

–A page torn from Warden Eryn's journal, left for Warden Theo

World of Thedas - The Magisterium

There is a mistaken impression outside the Tevinter Imperium that a "magister" is simply a mage, and the mere act of being a mage is all that is required to be among the ruling class – a misperception aided, no doubt, by some Tevinter mages claiming the title outside their homeland to take advantage of its reputation. In truth, being a magister requires one hold a seat in the Magisterium, the upper house of the Imperial Senate. This is the body that makes laws, and which chooses the new Archon if there is no approved heir. The Senate's lower house, the Publicanium, consists of elected officials, but it has no true power and is considered a bureaucratic body.

Magisters, meanwhile, come from the ranks of the Circle of Magi and the Imperial Chantry, but most hold their seats by virtue of an Archon having granted it to their family long ago. It is not technically required for a magister to be a mage...indeed, after the Transfiguration that saw the Old Gods abandoned and Andrastianism embraced, most were not. Since the Towers Age, however, non-mages in the Magisterium have slowly been weeded out. A true magister is thus a figure of real power in Tevinter. All other mages serve at their pleasure, and any mage not of proper lineage has no influence outside of that which personal wealth and talent provide.

–From The Ancient North by Sister Petrine, Chantry scholar

Miscellaneous - The Dread Wolf's Eluvian

Most of us have only traveled through the eluvians at the whims of those who called themselves our gods. We know them as mirrors that always go from one to another, a bonded pair linked no matter the distance.

Solas has outsmarted the so-called gods. If we used normal eluvians, they could track us to our lair. Solas has improved upon June's work by creating a mirror whose singing stone can change its tune to take us to any eluvian and not just its bonded partner. Thus, we can travel wherever this rebellion needs us, with no fear of pursuit.

Travel is as safe as a normal eluvian. If you have questions, ask for the Slow Arrow, and I will guide you.

–Felassan

World of Thedas - Lyrium

Lyrium is the king of metals. Beneath our feet, it sings. When properly refined, it is a smooth, slightly iridescent, silvery liquid. In the hands of the dwarven Smith Caste, it is mixed with steel to produce indestructible armor and blades that hold an edge for centuries. In the hands of the Shaperate, it becomes a repository for living memories. And some scholars maintain this as evidence that lyrium is, itself, alive.

It finds its most lucrative application in the hands of the Formari, who use it in conjunction with baser metals like gold, silverite, veridium, or even iron, to produce enchantments. Though mages, of course, consume it in a diluted form to bolster their abilities, this is not recommended. Overindulgence in lyrium can have disastrous consequences, particularly in more concentrated amounts. It is not advisable, for instance, that any reader handle raw lyrium, which in many cases can kill on contact.

–An excerpt from An Alchemical Primer of Metallurgy: Volume One by Lord Cerastes of Marnas Pell

Shadow Dragons - Transcript: Magisterium Session #16 (Excerpt)

Magister Ademar: Blanket abolition of slavery would leave Tevinter's economy in shambles. Perhaps a compromise, or a gradual adjustment–

Magister Pavus: What? Enslavement on even days, and self-determination on the odd?

Magister Ademar: Or maybe holidays...?

Magister Pavus: Kaffas. That wsn't a suggestion, you cretin.

Archon Radonis: Language, Magister.

Magister Bataris: What Magister Ademar means to say is that our laws have ever followed shifts in public opinion and perhaps abolition is too drastic. Too sudden. Perhaps in time–

Magister Pavus: The public is in support of abolition, or do you only take into account the opinions of your damned cohorts?

Magister Bataris: The average citizen cannot be expected to comprehend the complexities of policy.

Magister Pavus: We are talking about people! People who are born, who live and die as property of others, or the empire!

Magister Bataris: The way it's always been.

(Magister Pavus leaves his seat and approaches Magister Bataris. There is a small commotion.)

Archon Radonis: Magister Pavus.

(Magister Pavus regards Magister Bataris for several seconds, then leaves the chambers. Session continues.)

Mourn Watch - Emmrich: Note to Harding on Souls

Note left on a thick book:

It wasn't a "silly question" at all. There's an enormous difference between a spirit and a soul, but the metaphysics are rarely taught outside mage Circles.

A soul is the richly numinous force within every living being. You and I, our companions, our opponents – all possess a soul. When we slumber, it slips into the Fade, our most intimate connection with the land of dreams.

A spirit is an entity formed entirely in the Fade from raw magic. While both dwell in intangible regions, a trained mage will never mistake one for the other.

I've found Kravertin's Dialogue of the Outer Reaches to be the best starting book on the subject, if you'd like to peruse his absolutely gripping theories on autogenous liminality.

The Elven People - Letter from Irelin to Bellara

Bellara,

It was good to see you. Felt a little bit like old times, you know? Just going out there and doing the work instead of worrying about everything else that's happening right now.

I know things are a little weird. And I know that some of this isn't really my business to say, even when we were together. But I'm going to say it.

You have to stop beating yourself up over what happened with Cyrian. I know you think you're the person who can fix anything, but you can't. No one can.

You're a friend, Bellara. And I still care about you. So give yourself a break.

Irelin

The Dwarven People - Returning to the Stone

Harding's thoughts scribbled in the margins of her journal:

They say we return to the Stone after death.

In Orzammar, only those laid to rest with the proper rites get to return to the Stone, and the privilege of a good burial is reserved for the upper castes. No luck for the casteless or surfacers. Rejected by the Stone, they say.

But I'm a surfacer. The Stone, whatever it is, hasn't rejected me.

But if we do return to the Stone, every single one of us, why can't I sense the others that have passed?

Lords of Fortune - Code of the Hall

Matches are only against spirits or people fighting of their own free will. No innocent animals. No prisoners.

Every fight is a lesson. Fight well and be better for it. No death matches. Everyone gets the chance to lose and learn.

Never bet against Isabela.

Keep the fight in the pit.

Special rules for trick fights are binding.

If you lose a fight, wipe off the dirt and try again.

Again, never bet against Isabela.

Miscellaneous (Inquisition) - Letter to Charter

Charter

I'm assuming you got my last message about Varric. We're adjusting with Rook stepping up. We're still searching for answers on the elven gods we released. Solas remains contained, and less of an immediate problem.

How is the situation in the South? Has there been any activity related to the elven gods? What about the Antaam? They seem entrenched in Antiva, though any increase in the number of scouts might signal them getting ready to move. I'm still receiving letters regularly from my ma, so I gather Ferelden is far enough away that trouble hasn't reached it yet. What about Orlais? Or the Free Marches?

Please respond as soon as you can. The usual channels remain open.

–Harding

World of Thedas - The Fade

The study of the Fade is as old as humankind. For so long as men have dreamed, we have walked its twisting paths, sometimes catching a glimpse of the city at its heart. Always as close as our own thoughts, but impossibly separated from our world.

The Tevinter Imperium once spent vast fortunes of gold, lyrium, and human slaves in an effort to map the terrain of the Fade, an ultimately futile endeavor. Although portions of it belong to powerful spirits, all of the Fade is in constant flux. The Imperium succeeded in finding the disparate and ever-shifting realms of a dozen demon lords, as well as cataloging a few hundred types of spirits, before they were forced to abandon the project.

The relationship of dreamers to the Fade is complex. Even when entering the Fade through the use of lyrium, mortals are not able to control or affect it. The spirits who dwell there, however, can, and as the Chantry teaches us, the great flaw of the spirits is that they have neither imagination nor ambition. They created what they see through their sleeping visitors, building elaborate copies of our cities, people, and events, which, like the reflections in a mirror, ultimately lack context or life of their own. Even the most powerful demons merely plagiarize the worst thoughts and fears of mortals, and build their realms with no other ambition than to taste life.

–From Tranquility and the Role of the Fade in Human Culture by First Enchanter Josephus

Antivan Crows - On the Invasion

Treviso has always been a free port. Even the Merchant Princes respect this. Their fortunes exist because we trade and work where we will.

So of course, the first act of the Antaam invasion was to blockade our trading ships with their dreadnoughts. Then they somehow took out our guard outposts in a single evening. After that, the Antaam built fortified camps right inside Treviso, positioned as though they'd already figured out where to choke off resistance.

Or as though someone drew them a map.

The Butcher seems capable. He has, irritatingly, a gift for anticipating acts of sabotage. But I want to know what traitor gave that monster our city before we see him dead.

–From Viago's diary