So About That Thedas Calls Teaser...
I am by no surprise a map fiend and have been combing over the map shown. First off it is tilted and squashed to heck cause of the really fun stylization which seems to be pulling inspiration from historical nautical maps as it has at least two sea bound center points.
Second, we have confirmation of:
Treviso, Antiva
Rivain
Weisshaupt, Anderfels
There are elements that suggest the following:
Merdaine, Anderfels: a location that holds the giant white sculpture of Andraste titled "Our Lady of the Anderfels", this is also near Weisshaupt.
Minrathous, Tevinter: which would make sense considering everything we've seen in previous concept work and through the short stories and anthology Tevinter Nights
Arlathan Forest, Tevinter: Same reasoning as above
Kal-Sharok: This one is a bit more tenious because as I mentioned in the first point the map is squashed and tilted so exact location is hard to figure out. Couple with the fact the structure is largely hidden in the fog of war. It could very much also be Andoral's Reach as that is the other known location in that area, but that is in Orlais so I have my doubts.
The following images are organized in order of mention:
The last image shows the whole frame for Minrathous, Arlathan forest, and the mysterious southern fortress (Kal-Sharok?) I also wonder, given that the Thedas Herbology oversized mousepad shows two varieties of deep mushrooms we've only seen in a drawing in The World of Thedas Vol. 2; the bleeding russula and the blighted morel. I wonder if that further lends to the possibility that we will be venturing back into the Deep Roads.
I'm really hoping we get to see more than one place in each location outside Tevinter. Not only that, but I also hope we get to go to Antiva City, though not named it would be interesting to see the capital of Antiva as well as how the "crown" and crows are handling the fifth occupation of Treviso by what they perceive as the Qun and if the main body of the Qun is helping fight against the rebelling Antaam as we see suggested in Tevinter Night.
I do really love the map they've shared, the stylization definitely communicates a focus on certain locals and fades away the ones we don't need to even consider. The use of the fog of war also plays so well into that and the sea monster.
Unfortunately, it doesn't portray much in terms of climates/biomes. The Anderfels looks arid as it always has, but Antiva is even more un-informing than usual. The fact the map is essentially stylized cracking rock portrays little on if Antiva is an arid climate or not. Considering Treviso seems to have snow on the mountains, and pretty low on the peaks as well, I have questions considering the rough placement we've been suggested they are on the globe and the fact that Seheron and Par Vollen are tropical and Rivain has the hallmarks of the same with the crops they grow - bananas, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, rice, chickpeas, bell peppers, ect.
Very excited to get back into the world of Thedas again.
