vishante kaffas.

more Fintan and Dorian shenanigans for @howdy-for-archon

thanks for the tag @woodlandeelf ilu <3 i'm posting this now bc 1. i'm excited 2. so tristan gets the tag on an actual wednesday lmfao

currently i'm working on a davnoam piece for The Lighthouse AU, working title "nerd yearning":

(javi belongs to @ittybi, fintan belongs to @howdyfromantiva <3)

The theme night has their mind buzzing with possibilities, and they're already making a rough sketch of paired outfits for it by the time they realize they haven't even asked Davrin if he wants to go with them, yet. But the idea taking form in their mind is too good, needs to be put down on paper before they forget. The Paladin and the Bard who sings his praises. It's going to require a ludicrous amount of hot glue and cardboard, maybe calling in a favor or two from Bea, but the visual is so perfect it's a bit overwhelming. That's how Davrin finds them when he gets back from working out with Taash; sitting cross-legged on the floor, staring at a hastily completed sketch. "Is that a project for one of your classes?" Davrin asks curiously, dropping down to the living room floor with them to get a better look. Davrin always cares about what Noam gets up to, asks questions and really listens to the answer, files it away for later to ask for updates. He's the best friend Noam's ever had. They chew on their pencil before answering, trying to find the right words. "No. I—", they sigh, "I might've gotten carried away with an idea." Davrin laughs, warm and affectionate. "What is it this time?" "There's a D&D theme night at the Lighthouse next Friday." They explain. "I thought it could be fun if we went together and dressed up." Davrin smiles fondly at Noam, and it's a relief. "Sure, why not? I don't have any plans that night. What did you have in mind?" "Remember that oneshot I badgered Fintan into DM'ing for us?" "Of course I do." Davrin's smile morphs into a smirk, mirth dancing in his eyes. "I remember saving your ass from a pissed off ghoul, mostly." It's Noam's turn to laugh, the memory making their insides go all fuzzy. They're still not sure how much of the rules uncle Fin actually knew, because he'd seemed to be winging it and leaning into rule of cool almost the entire time. Noam had also tactically employed the dreaded puppy dog eyes to convince Javi, their step-father, to join as a player and give them a chance at a halfway balanced party. Mom still teases him about it over dinner, sometimes. It'd been the start of family tabletop nights, and they're still held monthly to this day. (Uncle Dorian, for his part, retreats to the kitchen with Isabela, and they both unwind over a glass of red while Dorian pretends to complain about making the long drive just so his husband can make silly voices at a bunch of adults. No one points out that if he didn't want to come, Dorian definitely would've stayed behind.) And no one needs to know that Noam still doodles little stick figures meant to represent Davrin's paladin and their bard in the margins of their lecture notes. It's not like Davrin doesn't still have the now sort of crumbling air-dry clay attempt at minis he'd made for them, too.

that's it that's the fic prompt

help i am not obsessed with the idea of ayden bea @hightowerqueen & ur fintan all on crew. do i know enough about how professional theatre works to write this? no. but i am Attached.

“Who’s next?” Bea asked, most of her attention on the make-up chart she’d been sketching out plans on. A final few strokes, a note scrawled beside the cheekbone, and she pulled a fresh sheet and slammed it down on top, glancing over at Ayden where they were sat in front of a binder of fabric samples, elbows braced on either side of it. They scrubbed a hand over their face, and tugged their schedule closer to skim over the list of appointments for the day. “Our leading man, apparently.”

Commission of Fintan & Dorian for @howdyfromantiva ✏️

In a community where it places utmost importance in passing down tradition from word of mouth, where it values the survival of the next generation, why the fuck did you think they would abandon their people- their young?

It is not plausible in the grand scheme of what we know of the Dalish. This does nothing but defame the Dalish as heartless for no fucking reason.

So fuck it, I’m gonna say that the Dalish actually don’t abandon their mages.

Similar to how many non Western practices/cultures were looked down upon but were actually accepting and beneficial, I’m going to say the Dalish had practices that kept their mages safe and strong with minimal fear of being turned into abominations.

Of course the Chantry would deny the Dalish could do better than them, of course they would not believe or understand the Dalish’s practices. Do you know how many times I’ve laughed when the West ‘discovered’ something but it’s been done way long ago?

if he joins the templars, he gets yelled at for charging onto the battlefield without waiting for his squad to catch up. they call him dangerously reckless and it’s not like he can say that he’s used to having three healing spells ready for him and at least one barrier already cast.

on the other hand, he’s very popular with the mages in the wardens. he’s the only person on the entire continent for whom run into battle and absorb as much damage as possible is an intuitive strategy. tanking was always his job! he knows to pull the battle away from the mages as much as possible.

he also knows how to be buffed. most warriors need practice to be able to use haste without tripping over their own feet. carver? carver was the guinea pig for hawke and bethany’s support spell training. it takes at least three haste spells stacked on top of each other to faze him. he’s not thrown when the heroic aura wears off and suddenly his hands are slower and his sword is heavier. he’s got a sixth sense for when a mage is about to cast an aoe spell right on top of him and he needs to move. 

you ever think about how no one outside of the dalish elves grew up fighting with mages?

anther pavellan comm for someone afraid of their own email inbox, the wonderful @howdyfromantiva

-Alistair is actually pretty smart, and has a lot of knoweledge to share about the topics he's interested about.

He's also not that shy, and flirts with a warden pretty smoothly, if a bit innocently for his lack of experience and general humorous persona.

And his primary motivator is revenge which is an interesting way to take a character like him.

-Zevran is the only character who actively searches for consent even in simple flirting like calling someone beautiful. If you tell him to stop he never makes a mention again.

He's also one of the most loyal and sentimental companions you can have. He cares a lot, want to admit it or not.

-Merrill is one of the most educated and smart characters on the series, she takes calculated risks based on her own studies and research, and the only reasons she fails is because nobody trusts her and refuses to treat her like an adult.

Part of it is also the game refusing to frame her as anything but a naive child when she's anything but.

-Isabela has the most emotional intelligence out of all the characters in DA2, she knows exactly what they're feeling and what they need to hear at all times. It's clear that she's wise and worldly, and just needs time to build confidence between her and the others because she's been hurt a lot and her respect is gained.

-Fenris has an amazing sense of humor and you can find him consistently laughing at both Hawke's and companions he likes silly jokes. He's just really deadpan when delivering his own jokes.

He's also considerably patient and doesn't lose his temper unless confronted with people who have actively abused him.

-Anders spent SEVEN YEARS protesting peacfully, and it took the risk of genocide on his people to reach the desperation of act 3.

-Dorian is incredibly reserved. He tries to avoid talking about his life with a veil of humor and sarcasm, but he's specially guarded around his sexuality and love life. He only comes out to the Inquisitor in a moment of fury to piss of his father and he may have not done so if not pressed.

If in a romance with Bull the only reason the others find out is because Bull exposes it in front of everyone (I wish they would have find out a better way to let the player find out than Bull ignoring Dorian's wishes of privacy)

If romanced by the Inquisitor he's in his first real relationship and it shows, he's lost most of the time but tries to hide it by acting cocky. It's really funny.

He's also a huge nerd, I wasn't expecting that but I was pleasantly surprised.

-The Iron Bull it's not just smart, he's so caring, he shows you around so you can meet the people, the ones nobody cares about, he introduces you to them.

-Sera also goes to the pile of characters who are really smart and nobody gives them credit for it. She says it herself, she's just really bad with words, but as long as you try to understand her she makes a lot of sense.

The game just gives you no other option than to treat her horribly, which I sense a pattern of framing the neurodivergent coded characters in a certain light with Merrill and Anders.

-Vivienne is the only one (with Dorian) that asks the Inquisitor if they're okay after Haven, and gives beautiful words of afirmation.

the lucerni are a fledgling faction with roughly 12-14 members (wiki says mae and dorian “attracted a dozen minor magisters”—what makes them minor? what’s the ranking system? how high-status are mae and dorian? i will circle back to this). i’d wager they are a pretty small one as well, and they likely continue to be so until their dissolution, as they struggle to gain new allies. so the number of seats in the magisterium, while never specified as far as i can tell, is… i’m throwing spaghetti at the wall but i’d say at least 100-150. maybe 80 at the very minimum. enough that a faction of a dozen or so radicals is notable enough to warrant a scandal being forged to ruin them, meaning they’re seen as a potential threat by their enemies (most specifically the venatori), but not a large enough percentage of the magisterium to actually get very much done (even before their dissolution the lucerni struggled to get any motions passed, iirc; dorian mentions making some progress in his letter to the inquisitor in trespasser, before he’s even a magister himself, and by veilguard it’s been 8 years, but tevinter seems largely the same as it ever was. idk. this might just be speculation on my part).

new magisters come into the position by:

a) being named as heir by a magister who dies (typically a child, but potentially an apprentice? see: “young mages often aspire to become a magister's apprentice because it offers them the best chance of ascending to the rank of magister” from the wiki; the source is only listed as regarding alexius during in hushed whispers and i don’t recall when specifically this is mentioned, but i can double-check the recordings i took while doing that quest);

b) being a grand cleric or senior enchanter (all grand clerics hold a seat, and so does the black divine, which i will get back to; first enchanters can’t hold seats, but senior enchanters can);

c) the archon decides to make you a magister. they can just do that, “at any time.” this part confuses me, and as the wiki’s source is world of thedas which i don’t own i can’t check the exact wording. is the number of seats fixed or does it change? if the former, that implies that the archon can also remove magisters at will, which tracks with the general vibe of the magisterium and with mae losing her seat pre-veilguard.* if the latter… what a mess of a government system, no wonder it’s a nightmare. i don’t think it’s likely, but it is possible. aurelian titus was just kind of made a magister and there’s no reference to him replacing anyone (though again, wiki’s source is world of thedas which i can’t check), but it could just be that it wasn’t relevant. who can say. certainly not me, a guy who doesn’t own world of thedas and hasn’t read the comics.

i want to look at point b above: the circles and the chantry. both are led by the imperial divine, who in turn also has a seat in the magisterium. re: the confusing hierarchy, one would assume that the imperial divine has significant sway in the magisterium, considering that he heads two important groups within it. but when tarquin asks the viper to do something about knight-commander lenos, the viper says that he’s having trouble because lenos has “protection in the magisterium.” if the literal fucking divine, who is in charge of both the circles and the chantry, both of which have a presence in the magisterium, can’t sway enough magisters to remove lenos, either the rest of the magisterium fucking hates his ass so badly that he can’t accomplish anything (a nonzero chance considering that he supports the lucerni, but he’s still the divine) or the ranking system within the magisterium doesn’t really put any one member that far above anyone else in terms of actual power.**

or, as a third and most likely potential reasoning, ignore everything i just said, is that he just doesn’t have enough numbers. which raises the question of proportions of the different groups within the magisterium (grand clerics vs senior enchanters vs miscellaneous rich people and their factions); i would think that there are significantly fewer clerics/enchanters than those who got their position via either inheritance or the archon’s favor. the senior enchanters are selected from the 7 circles, so it’s easy to say there are 7, but there could be more than one per circle. grand clerics preside over regions iirc, in which case there are probably <10. if we’re looking at a magisterium with 100-150 seats, the circles and chantry make up a very small minority. the divine might be the divine, but he can only do so much. and we don’t even know if the clerics and enchanters in the magisterium even agree with aequitas ii. his actual tangible influence in the magisterium is surprisingly quite minimal in this case.***

regarding the way the magisterium works in terms of managing legislation and whatnot, through war table missions in inquisition we watch mae try to get a law passed. josephine tries to support her by trading favors with local contacts, and leliana offers to “arm this magister against those who would oppose her vote,” which is nonspecific but sounds like a threat. either way, mae’s motion “dies on the senate floor.” it seems like it’s a pretty standard senate setup with a heavy emphasis on social connections.

back to the ranking thing again: there are a lot of references to magisters wanting to improve their position within the magisterium, but i can’t find anything specific on what that means—whether it actually comes with more political power in an official capacity or if it’s just some kind of social ranking that grants you more influence within the magisterium. i would wager it’s the latter. dorian and mae put in a lot of work trying to earn the good favor of other magisters. tevinter politics seem as much a social game as orlesian politics, though with a different setup, and with slightly more murder. dorian comments at the winter palace about how orlesian politics make him feel right at home. in a follow-up war table mission you can either express public support for mae with josephine (mixed results as tevinter generally dislikes the inquisition but mae is safe for now, dorian slightly approves) or send spies/templars to kill her enemies with leliana or cullen (mae’s opponents back off, dorian approves).

from what i can tell the magisterium is a sort of mix of a senate and an aristocracy, where the majority of members inherited the position by birth or favor but its internal functions (passing laws and whatnot) are carried out by vote. there is some form of public democracy in the imperial senate, being the publicanium, which consists of elected officials but “holds no true power and is considered a bureaucratic body,” per the wiki. it’s also not specified who can vote and participate, but genitivi refers to the soporati as “a massive class of publicans”—i’m not sure whether this implies that everyone in the publicanium is soporati or whether it’s just a term genitivi used for like, regular people. probably the latter. canon information on the publicanium is limited, from what i can tell by the two-sentence paragraph about them on the wiki page for tevinter and lack of elaboration that i can find elsewhere. it seems like the games want us to regard it as largely irrelevant.

and the internal democracy is more like, idk, survivor or something. you make alliances to get people to vote your way and kill or ruin those who impede you. loyalties are constantly shifting, people are handing out bribes left and right, and dorian and mae are trying to get people on their side by playing cards with them in a warehouse or something

so like. all of this said, without really much of a goal in mind aside from sorting out my thoughts which also might be completely wrong. i’m curious about the party/faction system in the magisterium—how many are there? how large do they get? ALSO by 9:52 how public are the venatori magisters about being venatori and how many of them are there? (eta: went on the venatori wiki page lol and they ARE listed as a political faction. which is fascinating.) how much power do the venatori have in the magisterium? it has to be enough that the dragon allows them to take control but not enough for them to do that without it. (and also they assassinate the archon when the dragon attacks but radonis seems to be doing basically jack shit already anyway). they’re able to successfully frame mae and get her removed from the magisterium without blowback within it. were the lucerni and venatori on similar levels of power when the lucerni were dissolved? presumably the lucerni had been gaining strength and that’s why the venatori felt threatened. but how strong were they when the lucerni were dissolved, and how strong are they in 9:52 before the dragon? if i start thinking about the timeline of the lucerni i’ll give myself a worse headache but just know that it confuses me. i don’t know what any of tgese words mean anymore

also sidenote why did halward pavus get assassinated who did he piss off he seems like a sniveling coward of a man who was maybe just a little bit slightly less shitty than your average magister whose reputation was fucked by his adult son having a brat summer for a few years and then running away. what did he do to get himself murdered in 9:44. was him pushing for dorian to be the ambassador a result of halward thinking house pavus was in danger or was it the reason halward got killed. who killed him. why did they kill him. anyway. not important

in conclusion: ????? why did i do this

*this also could imply that archon radonis could have had a direct hand in mae’s removal, though the wiki states that “the venatori […] stripped her of her title of magister,” so potentially a party with enough influence can remove one of their enemies. which doesn’t make too much sense to me re: the venatori specifically, considering that the justification for saving minrathous is that the venatori haven’t made their big grab for power yet, that they don’t have enough control in the magisterium to make a huge impact, but they could go for it if the city gets fucked up enough. (unless my memory is failing me here, which it very well could be. i don’t feel like booting up veilguard to find out.) also that would allow one party to take control far too easily, and the magisterium is notably in a constant power shift, which is why so many magisters and archons get assassinated all the time. the most reasonable series of events is that the venatori successfully framed mae, and this led to radonis making the choice to remove her. but fuck if i know. it’s veilguard

**interestingly, divine aequitas ii is referred to by neve as a supporter of the lucerni, but not a member. i suspect that being the fucking pope prevents him from being as radical as he would like to be publicly, which is why he decided to become batman. or maybe the divine doesn’t get to pick a faction. his job is chantry. or something

1. i’ve played through the early/mid-game of veilguard again and i recall someone saying something about the venatori controlling a quarter of the magisterium (so based on my estimate, maybe 25-50 magisters). no i don’t remember who said it or when. would be great if i did. i could check my notes maybe i wrote it down but i’m not home rn. but anyway. if they’re a quarter of the magisterium but felt threatened by the lucerni then the lucerni must have gotten noticeably larger between their founding around 9:44 (roughly a dozen members) and their dissolution which. the timing of is unclear, but it can’t have logically happened any later than 9:49 or 9:50 given that rook and neve have been working with the shadows “for years.”

a progressive faction growing significantly in membership, potentially more than doubling its size, in such a short time is impressive, as well as speaking to popular opinion in tevinter changing (or maybe it’s always been that way but now there’s a proper avenue to work toward better things. dorian says in a codex entry that’s an excerpt of a magisterium session that the majority of the public opposes slavery). plus they have the public support of the divine. the venatori feeling threatened makes a lot of sense—as well as the fact that they didn’t have mae assassinated but slandered and removed instead. if ashur struggles to act against lenos because of his allies in the magisterium, the venatori couldn’t act too boldly against mae for the same reason. they had to eliminate an enemy whilst maintaining their power and not putting themselves at risk, and they succeeded.

2. this one banter

“they hand out seats like candy” most likely referencing the archon’s ability to give seats freely. varric is varric so he’s probably speaking in hyperbole, but it’s not based on nothing. so IS the magisterium constantly fluctuating in size? or is it because magisters get assassinated and framed left and right that there are always open seats? unclear. no way to know.