augurs are the most powerful mages the avvar have. they are the equivalent of a clan keeper or a grand enchanter. they are incredibly talented and gifted in magic, often becoming so through their involvement with spirits. because they learn from and invoke spirits regularly, their type of magic is different from many in formal circles. the closest would be mages like spirit healers and necromancers, as they are the few who interact closely with spirits. they’ve developed an entire branch of magic exclusive to the avvar. the most important distinction however is that augurs do not perform blood magic, do not encourage blood magic, and are generally disgusted by blood magic. over time, blood magic has proven to weaken one’s connection to the fade, and therefore, one’s connection to the spirits and gods they hold so dear. it is sacrilege to distance yourself from the gods in such a way, and seen as a horrific act of fatal individualistic thinking that gives disrespect to the hold, the gods, and the spirits. it is one of the worst offenses an augur can commit--while other mages in the clan have slightly more leeway (still highly offensive), an augur cannot dabble in blood magic even slightly, as their duty is to interpret the wills of gods and spirits alike.

blood magic aside, augurs can be skilled in any form of magic, though tend to lean towards practices that make use of the freezing cold of the frostbacks and the spirits that they are in constant communication with. augurs are also especially adapt at dispelling or banishing demons and purging them from their hosts. some possible abilities are as follows:

existing spells:

horror, spirit mark, walking bomb, fade shield, heal, healing aura, group heal, vitality

these may have different names to the avvar, but the effects are basically the same

winter’s grasp, fade step, cone of cold, frost weapons, blizzard, mana surge, winter stillness, frost mastery, wall of ice, ice mine, ice armor

because of the avvar’s close ties with winter, many avvar find it practical and easy to master the ice/winter elements. augurs always master at least this element, in honor of hakkon

augur only

fresh wind--the augur regains health from the surrounding spirits when below 25% health, and encourages the spirits to help the rest of the party. 

second spirit--the augur invites a spirit of valor into themselves, and uses that experience to fell foes with whatever weapons available (increased attack and duration of spells, is not effected by dispelling abilities as this is a willing possession)

the avvar’s concept of marriage is vastly different from all others in thedas. there is often a tradition of “kidnapping the bride,” which serves as a public proposal of sorts, though for many holds that is an outdated tradition from a time where a clan depended on having fresh blood to keep the people alive. nowadays, marriage is typically arranged between the romantic couple and their families, and the “kidnapping” more of a game the clans play to assure that the courter is fit to care for the courted. it is never done to an unwilling party, which would be a declaration of war, not marriage. the marriage ceremony itself is simple:

Permanence is a foreign concept to the Avvars. Nothing in the Frostbacks stays the same forever, and nothing in Avvar life is permanent either. Their settlements are temporary; their agreements are temporary; even their marriages are temporary. When two Avvars are married, the courted* will sing a hymn to a select god while the courter* attempts to undo a series of knots in a long rope. The number of knots the courter* undoes before the hymn ends determines the number of years that marriage will last.

*edited to be gender-neutral. men or women can initiate a courting for either men or women. this includes those who have no gender as well

generally speaking, marriage only lasts as long as the number of knots untied. however, there are a few select couples that might commit themselves to each other multiple times, couples that are not “married” but are known to be together and will not take another lover or spouse even after their marriage years are over, and still others who seek a more permanent union before the gods. a permanent marriage is much more rare than the temporary ones that most avvar adhere to, but not so foreign that the avvar would not understand.

the ceremony for a permanent marriage is vastly different from the temporary one. for the couple seeking a permanent marriage, they must prove their commitment to the gods and to the clan. while the ceremony can vary from clan to clan, a common challenge is for the couple to work together to climb the tallest peak in the frostback mountain range and offer a sacrifice to the lady of the skies. they are then to pray and fast for two days on the mountaintop before making the return trip. if they are successful, the augur blesses them and anoints them with blood, marking them of the same flesh and spirit, the union blessed by the gods. if they fail to make it to the altar at the top, if they do not fast for the required amount of time, or they do not work together, the marriage is denied and will not be recognized. if one or both courters die, a funeral will be held, but the marriage will not be recognized.

most avvar marriages, however, only last a certain amount of years. this tends to result in the avvar having multiple spouses over a lifetime, and families having multiple children from each coupling. because of this, and because of their love of the lady of the skies, the avvar follow a matrilineal decent--meaning that family lines are traced through the mother, not the father. because marriage is fluid and sex outside of marriage is common, as well as family lines being traced through the mother, avvar societies have no concept of a “bastard.” all children carry the mother’s name, and should a child be orphaned, the whole clan will care for the child as if it were their own.

yesss you find that codex in Haven in Origins, btw and I think that’s sort of indicative that the cult there had a trading relationship with the Avvar maybe?

trade with the avvar is really interesting, i think, because on the whole, i don’t think they really like trading with lowlanders (read: anyone not living on a mountain). especially with fereldens, since way way back in the day they used to be rivaling tribes people. and you know, raids that the avvar perform on fereldens in winter. that doesn’t help.

it’s definitely a clan to clan, hold to hold, tribe to tribe sort of situation where maybe they have limited trade in the summers when crops are good, or trade arms with travelling merchants to ensure safe passage through the frostbacks. and there’s evidence of orlesian things in the avvar hold in the Jaws of Hakkon DLC, even varric’s books make it to one avvar in particular. so it’s not super uncommon, just not a formal practice. there are no treaties saying that they have trade agreements so they can’t raid the same people--the avvar are probably likely to trade one season and raid them the next.

tbh I tend to envision Avaar marriages as like Celt marriages; there’s a trial period and if it doesn’t work out, they can no fault divorce

you’re actually not too far off tbh!! i talked about it some here, but essentially the courter (whoever is doing the proposing) is given a rope with dozens upon dozens of knots. the courted chooses a traditional avvar hym--which can range from something incredibly long like a ballad or be as short as a children’s song. however many knots the courter undoes before the courted finishes the hymn is how long the marriage is supposed to last. now granted, a lot of the power lies with the courted, since they’re choosing the hymn. that’s why the courter is supposed to do a damn good job in impressing the courted--otherwise, they could get stuck with a super short hymn and therefore a short marriage.

after the marriage, they can opt to marry again in the same fashion, stay together but not formally married, or part ways and look for other spouses. they could also marry permanently, but it’s rather uncommon.

but i love the idea of there being this trial period at first--that if there is serious incompatibility between them, they can part ways without either side at fault. though on the whole, i feel like divorce rates among the avvar are incredibly low. mostly because they’re not for life, nor are they really convinced into getting married. if they want children, they can have them outside of marriage to no real consequence--it’s just more convenient to have two people raising a child rather than one. but since an entire family will come together to raise a child, it’s really no big deal. also, women as a whole have so much more autonomy in avvar culture--trying to make an avvar woman do something she doesn’t want to do is like trying to convince a bear to put on a dress. spousal abuse is rare and tends to end with murder (or no marriage in the first place).

i think marriage is used more to bring fresh blood into a hold in a peaceful way rather than raiding other clans. it’s certainly not about forming alliances because those change just as much as the frostbacks themselves, but is more about sustaining the avvar as a race and ensuring holds don’t become inbred with the same family units. raiding would cause a huge loss of life--and before the avvar moved into the frostbacks, the tradition of “kidnapping a bride” was common. but their numbers have dwindled and killing other avvar serves no one but the lowlanders. so, marriages are now more important than ever in keeping fresh blood around to have more kids.