Dragon Age Lore

Like, I think most players and GMs (especially those of us that come from the D&D paradigm) tend to think of the dice roll as representing how well the character does the thing. This seems intuitive, but it tends to make a character's perceived level of competency at the things they're supposed to be good at weirdly swingy, which might be undesirable unless you're aiming for a slapstick tone.

Like, your stats/skills/modifyiers/whatever the hell the game you're playing has/ already represent how good/bad your character is at doing certain stuff. So the die roll, being a luck-based number unrelated to these skills, probably shouldn't ALSO represent how well your character does the thing, but instead represent outside factors that influence the outcome of your action, such as something distravting your hero, the enemy jumping away to avoid the swing, or the lock you're trying to pick having a bit of rust that's giving you trouble.

Source: [x]

A trader on the road with dozens of pretty baubles glimmering against her dark skin, coordinated beautifully with her outfit, and folks swear they see fire dancing in her eyes. Templars let her pass without a second look. Bandits who dare to stop her on the road die tormented, grotesque deaths as she burns them alive; calls lightning from her rings, fire from her necklaces and bracelets.

A nondescript, smiling clerk in Denerim. He puts up with rude customers but knows the movement of every thief in his store. No one sees the sigils carved under each of the display tables.

A scribe with a favorite quill. When she knows no one is watching, she twirls it and sends up a tiny whirlwind of golden sparks. Sometimes when her hand starts to cramp in the dead of night, she’ll stand up and walk around the room, stretching. The quill continues its diligent march across the vellum alone.

Only one edge was allowed to be sharpened, but oftentimes a small part (a couple inches) of the short edge (e.g. the edge that wasn’t sharp) would be sharpened, and weapon design often allowed for this

In this way, something that looked like This, a messer of just over a meter in length…

…would be legally considered a knife, and therefore allowable for non-nobility to possess. (you can also see the bit on the back of the tip that would be sharpened)

A lot of people are excited about the new option to play as qunari in Dragon Age: Inquisition, an option that has never been present in previous games AND that also marks the first ever appearance of female qunari outside the games! Very exciting!

But some people have also noted that because the qunari aren’t a PC race, we don’t know as much about them as we do others, and the fandom understanding on them isn’t widely covered.

So I’m putting together what I hope is a concise and factual post that’ll help get the basic info across and maybe clear up some things along the way. 

Note that this post MIGHT go into some minor spoilers for Dragon: Age Inquisition and the other games, comics, etc.

The majority of Thedas, from Tevinter to Ferelden, celebrates five major holidays, each tied to the transition of a season or, in the case of First Day, the beginning of a new year.

First Day: The traditional start of the year, this holiday involves visits to neighbors and family (in remote areas, this was once an annual check to ensure everyone was alive), as well as a town gathering to commemorate the year past, accompanied by drinking and merriment.

Wintersend: Once called “Urthalis” and dedicated to Urthemiel, the Old God of Beauty, this holiday has now become a celebration of the Maker. It stands for the end of winter in many lands and coincides with tourneys and contests at the Proving Grounds in Minrathous. In southern lands, this holiday has become a day of gathering for trade, theater, and, in some areas, the arrangement of marriages. It is celebrated at the beginning of Pluitanis.

Summerday: Once called “Andoralis” and dedicated to Andoral, the Old God of Unity, this holiday is universally celebrated as the beginning of summer, a time for joy and, commonly, marriage. Boys and girls ready to come of age don white tunics and gowns. They then join a grand procession that crosses the settlement to the local Chantry, where they are taught the responsibilities of adulthood. Summerday is a particularly holy occasion in Orlais. It is celebrated at the beginning of Molioris.

Funalis: This holiday was once dedicated to the Old God of Silence, Dumat. However, since Dumat’s rise during the First Blight, Thedosians turn a blind eye to any old ties between the day and the dragon. The holiday is now known across Thedas as All Soul’s Day and spent in somber remembrance of the dead. In some northern lands, the people dress as spirits and walk the streets in parade after midnight. The Chantry uses the holiday to remember the death of Andraste, with public fires that mark her immolation and plays that depict her death. It is celebrated at the beginning of Matrinalis.

Recently, asolitaryrose asked me if I had any headcanons regarding jewelry in Ferelden. I realized that I have quite a few; I’ve worked a fair number of pieces of jewelry into “Unshaken by the Darkness,” and, using them as a starting point, I was easily able to come up with more ideas. This is the first in a series of posts on the subject for Headcanon Wednesday. Today, I’ll talk about the Alamarri, the ancestors of most of the humans who now live in Fereldan; I’ll cover the jewelry of the Avvar and the Chasind in a separate post, and possibly branch out into other races, and other parts of Thedas, as well. These headcanons are a combination of ideas gleaned from the jewelry and gems we encounter in Dragon Age: Origins, some of which are canonically of Fereldan make, along with appropriate historical sources (see end of article for references).

Since Ferelden is based upon medieval Great Britain, I have used the jewelry-crafting history of the Celts as a jumping off point for this discussion, and many of the things I describe below are historical details drawn directly from that culture (although, of course, some are purely of my own invention, or have been adjusted to better fit Thedosian lore). While the Celts may have been seen as “barbaric” by outsiders, that is by no means an indication that they lacked a rich artistic and cultural heritage. The same holds true for Ferelden. 

Please note: this article will not address the jewelry crafting or enchanting skills of the Tranquil who live and work at Kinloch Hold; I assume that is a culture somewhat separate from that of Ferelden’s “mundane” populace, although it seems like that from time to time, items of Fereldan make could be enchanted, and therefore imbued with magical properties. That topic is somewhat outside of the scope of this article, though, as are the jewelry traditions of elves and dwarves.

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Origins of Fereldan Jewelry Crafting:

From the time humans first appeared on the continent of Thedas, they have amused themselves by using things from the natural world to adorn their bodies.

“Honor does not preclude tactics, and glory is not won through foolishness.”

In 9:16 Dragon, a strange book was recovered during a University of Orlais expedition into an uncharted section of the Western Approach. The book is written in an invented script by an unknown author, apparently on the subject of animal physiology. The author of this book, dubbed the “Grim Anatomy” by its finders, dissects various creatures using unorthodox methods. The resulting diagrams illustrate in great detail how nugs, giants, wyverns, and others look on the inside.

I wanted to do something along those lines for a long time now, both for writing purposes as for personal amusement. I’m a big ASOIAF fan, no surprise here, and I find the idea that Martin developed in his books - in that each House had a sigil and colors of its own - actually really fascinating, which is why I tried to come up with something similar for the Dragon Age universe and the diverse families in Ferelden. I added the words I consider would fit each family, and they are ofc open to interpretation - it’s actually just me fooling around with the lore more than anything else.

Obviously this only applies to the noble families, and I admit I’ve focused mainly on the Theirins, the Mac Tirs ans the Couslands, as they are the three most powerful noble families in Ferelden, which gave me a lot of info to work with for this post

What follows is both meta and headcanon, so bear with me.

the dalish keepers typically use wooden staves, occasionally embedded with stones or crystals. some clans might simply use large fallen branches as-is, only doctoring them as necessary for grip and balance, whereas others might carve intricate designs into them. regardless of the clan’s preference their staves are generally tall, sturdy, and fairly heavy; they double as walking sticks given the dalish’s nomadic nature, and their height helps in identifying their users as the clan leader.

saarebas of the qun don’t use staves, and cast with their whole body, their technique relying on stances - opening, flow, and finishing, making their use of magic look more like a dance than use of a weapon. most qunari mages are likely to have difficulty using staves, as the inherent strength of their magic coupled with how saarebas aren’t taught control means they struggle channeling magic into a small, focused point. 

circle mages’ staves can be tall, especially if the mage is in an important position such as first enchanter, but for apprentices and junior mages the staves would be more likely to resemble wands, smaller and more conveniently sized for the circle’s compact nature, as well as austerity on resources allocated to them; smaller staves means less valuable materials wasted on mages who shouldn’t be casting much anyway. they’re usually made from a combination of wood, metal, and leathers.

apostates in hiding, such as malcolm hawke and his family, usually have staves that resemble spears (if at all). their staves will nearly always end in a blade, and often have another one concealed at the other end in case their magic is blocked by pursuing templars and they need to fight melee.