#aeonar

Prompts used (with credit):

@elfyroot — take on Morrigan visiting the Gallows maybe after the events of Inquisition when it has been abandoned

CW: historical violence, slavery reference, institutional horror

Dragon Age | New Bad Beginning (NBB)

Note: This is not Morrigan at the abandoned Gallows. It is the closest clean textual echo I can offer from NBB: Kirkwall as a city that keeps its old cruelties standing in stone, the Gallows named not as scenery but as testimony. Sometimes a place does not need the character inside it to cast a shadow over the story. Sometimes it is enough that someone remembers what kind of wound the stone was built around. Vir’abelasan.

Excerpt:

Alright, new game! Thanks to @hyperions-light for the tag and @becausedragonage for the game, and tagging @imasithduh in case she wants to play!

Mission, for those who choose to accept it, is:

What to do: Go through your writing, art, gifs, etc. that you started but never finished and find something you love. Brush it up a bit if you want and share it.

Alright, ancient history here (last edited October 8th, 2019), featuring one of my AU Wardens, and what happens with her in my canon world state. I made a Warden for each origin, and they all exist (if briefly, for some) in my canon state.

(CW beneath the cut for attempted possession, implied solitary confinement, references to ending of DA2):

Solona said nothing on the two day journey to Aeonar. This was a precaution, she knew. The templars needed to be sure neither she nor Lily had been corrupted by Jowan.

Aeonar

I was really hoping that was where we'd find the Lord Seeker

And in a place where the Veil was SO thin anyway, surely the blast at the Conclave would've effected it more than just everyone disappearing? Also wouldn't Corypheus be interested in such a place?

Even the rebel mages have nothing to say about the most infamous mage prison in southern thedas, even if you ally with them

(These are notes I’m compiling for my fic, all dates can be found on the wikia or the World of Thedas books. These are also where various quotes come from. Conjectures and synthesized data and hypotheses mine.)

Aeonar & Ostagar: Approximately -760 Ancient, no later than -715 Ancient. No earlier than -895 Ancient, as that’s when the Tevinter Imperium first expanded into Ferelden -- sometime between -895 and -760 is likely when Ishal was Archon, the one the Tower of Ishal at Ostagar was named after. Almadrius became Archon in -760, and -715 is when the Imperium led a concerted campaign against the Alamarri into the central regions of Ferelden. This allowed them to expand the Imperial Highway into Ferelden and connect to Ostagar. Chasind (re)claim Ostagar in -184 Ancient. Upon the news of Andraste’s death in -170 Ancient, her followers invade Aeonar and slaughter the mages “while all but one” were in the Fade, leaving it “spiritually damaged.” (This latter point is often given as the reason it’s turned into a mage prison, because it’s those with strong Fade connections that attract demons.)

Fort Drakon (original Tevene name unknown): “Denerim, the capital of Ferelden, originally began as an outpost of the ancient Tevinter Imperium. Its mages rose up a dark tower from the side of a mountain, a symbol of the Imperium's power. [...]  Today that tower still stands as Fort Drakon, immediately recognizable to any ship that approaches the rocky coast.” (From the Denerim wikia page.) “Fort Drakon is an ancient fortress that predates the city of Denerim and is both the oldest and the tallest structure in the city.” (From the Fort Drakon page.)  Vigil’s Keep is older than Denerim according to the Vigil’s wikia link. Tevinter initially expanded around -895 due to influx of elven slaves, but only “conquered” in -715 -- but note Vigil’s Keep link specifies  it’s older than Denerim, not older than Fort Drakon. Meaning, the latter was built first and Denerim grew around it. Fort Drakon and Vigil’s Keep could have been built around the same time, perhaps the Vigil in response to Fort Drakon, and expansion of both following.

Kinloch Hold: Unknown when it was built. However, this source says it was built by Avvars and the dwarves, and this source says by Tevinter. I think all of the above. See above dates for Tevinter expansion into Ferelden (-715 Ancient), the Tevene architecture of what we can see (and the fact the Imperial Highway used to connect but now lies broken), and see also the construction of Vigil’s Keep by dwarves and Avvar to fight against Tevinter incursion. 

 Additionally, the novel The Calling references a cavern under the Circle of Magi accessible by boat, which would track with dwarven construction. The Avvars and dwarves constructed first, then Tevinter conquered, took over, and built over/around/on top of the Avvar/dwarven stronghold in the lake. Vints like towers and cities surrounded by water. (Minrathous, Ath Velanis, and imo Aeonar.) Or bogs. (Ostagar, Razikale’s Reach and other Tevene ruins in the Frostback Basin in JoH.) Or coastal regions. (Denerim, Qarinus, Carastes, Marnas Pell, Neromenian, etc.) Only becomes Circle of Magi in 3:87 Towers, after the Circle in Denerim “was razed.” (No explanation given for why or any other context, nor where this Circle in Denerim was housed -- maybe Fort Drakon?)

Vimmark Prison: -191 Ancient Sashamiri captures Corypheus. -181 Ancient, Corypheus is sealed away. “Years spent studying Corypheus in captivity teach the Wardens little, as his influence penetrates the minds of even the most powerful rnages. The Wardens seal him away deep in the Vimrnark Mountains, concealing his existence.” (WoT Vol.1) The prison was built first, the ritual sealing him away second. Prison built by (Tevinter mage) Grey Wardens and dwarves -- proof here and here and here. 

They call the ‘Mage Prison’ Aeonar, which reminds me of the Gàidhlig word ‘aonar’ meaning ‘alone’, like (and i’ll use song lyrics for an example here bc i am rubbish):

Ach dh’fhàg e na h-aonar a’ caoineadh air tràigh i...

meaning

But he left her alone, crying on the shore...

COINCIDENCE? Probably xD

...unless they keep the mages (and Lily, i guess...) in solitary confinement all the time... in which case...

A confession written by Lily, Jowan’s former lover, whilst imprisoned in Aeonar:

“I dream of that moment. But I am never in it; I am always apart, watching it happen over and over and over. I see what he does to the templars, and I see her, Lily - the girl I used to be - recoil from him. “He loves you! He said he would give it all up! You know there’s no lie in that!” But the hurt is too fresh, and the Chantry’s lies are stark in her mind. She never goes with him. She stays and is taken away, and I always wake up here in Aeonar.

He could’ve saved me. And if I were with him, I could’ve saved him.”

- World of Thedas Volume 2, page 110