Tarasyl’an Te’las

Thank you for tagging me @fadetouchedlurker - I love adding (and sharing) lore for Saethre and I love someone else's enthusiasm for exploring the environment as part of the storytelling.

So I choose the Legacy Ferelden Throne because it is an owl - and the owl holds a lot of symbolism for Saethre. My blog's tag is the gaze that cuts through masks and it's a line from an owl quote I found that is kind of the guiding star for Saethre.

As Clan Lavellan's First (who would be Keeper once Deshanna was gone), Saethre learned many lessons - one important one about leadership:

“The owl is wise because it watches and observes before it acts. A Keeper who cannot see beneath a smile or an angry word will doom their clan long before any blade reaches them. Leadership is not the right to command nor rule, Saethre. Leadership is the burden of seeing clearly when others would be fooled or comforted by masks.” ~Keeper Deshanna Lavellan

In my HC Saethre requests this throne be built for her as a reminder of this. (And it does look like something the Dalish would make so it makes her feel more connected with her Dalish roots.)

One that caught my attention while playing Veilguard is the one hidden in a little cave in Rivain only accessible after solving a puzzle quest.

It’s a Chasind tomb erected under the protection of the “Owl-mother”.

The epitaph reads :

“CHASIND BURIAL MARKER

Translated from Old Alamarri:

Oh, Owl-mother, She of Spring and Tide,

Watch over our sons in this land far from home.

They fell valiant and remain beloved

We leave them offerings and totems from this life for the next.

Guide them onwards, and guide our steps to familiar shores.”

The last bit could easily allude to Falon’Din, whose elven altar can be found not far away in an other cave up the cliffs and was said, in elven lore, to have accepted the help from an owl to guide the dead to their final destination…

But the Chasind style owl figure can also be found in a few other locations that tend to associate it with other elven gods.

We know from DA:I that Andruil had an owl as messenger. On Tearstone Island, a massive site indicates the place was originally owned by the elves. A specific place on the island is dedicated to Andruil. A note from Ghilan’nain clearly states that she’s desperate to give her a proper tribute.

A bit later on during that main quest, Rook’s team enters the stronghold’s throne room, full of Chasind owls.

The two thrones in that room also allude to Elgar’nan and Mythal’s dominion, and this gives the owl another interesting affiliation with elven highest power. “Owl-mother”, after all, could partly refer to Mythal’s role among her people, and some owl statues can be found in the fade near what may have been on of her temples, next to the “cathedral of roots”.

Despite my efforts, I couldn’t find any consistent pattern that would explain its role in the lore, or enlighten some part of the Elven lore in the way it inspired religious practices after their world collapsed.

And then I actually used my critical thinking skills and was like, well, but they aren't normal by any reasonable definition of the word, are they? Four kisses total in game, one of which results in the removal of the failing Anchor and incidentally part of the Inquisitor's arm.

And Lavellan is still down for it. She fell in love with this dude when he was just some quiet mage in love with the Fade. Sure, he's also the Dread Wolf, but that's just a minor detail, just like she's also the inquisitor. And then she spends the next almost a decade dreaming for him before stepping into the Fade about it. (I think she's tracking him down in the Fade and he's letting her, much like the first dream)

Solas, I think, is the more reasonable of the two here. He's immortal. What's practically a decade to him? Lavellan, on the other hand, has been real serious about holding that torch.

I don't think it necessarily has to be a toxic ship, but I think they do pretty much have to be real weird and intense about each other after a certain point.

“The elves believe their gods remain trapped in the prison to this day, as Fen'Harel, the Dread Wolf, gleefully patrols the Beyond to feast upon the souls of the dead.”

Alight, I just decided to create an own post for this topic because I see it often here, in fanart where people draw Alistair with elven ears just because his mother Fiona is an elven woman while his father King Maric was a human.

Alistair is not only shown with human feautures (ears included) in the games, but in the graphic novel too. I do not understand why people assume he has elven ears (half human-half elven ears) and why some even try to sell this as "canon" (I have even seen that elven ears on him were called canon)

So yeah, it tends to irritate people like you and me who stick to the canon (rigidly, for my part) because it fucks with the rules of the world we love. I do sympathise, really. At the end of the day, though, people just enjoy fiction however it works for them. Doesn’t hurt. Learn to select what fits your taste and ignore the rest. 😅

Now, to further your demonstration (because, y’know, rigidity and all that), canon is in fact quite clear on that matter (although I couldn’t swear it doesn’t contradict itself at some point): elf-human couples will only have children with human features. It is clearly stated in The Masked Empire (about Sir Michel de Chevin). So, for the record, you’re right. 😉

(Titan Books edition, p.77)

Technically, the “right” to decide for all the mages belongs to the Chantry and, in Kirkwall’s case, to Meredith until a new viscount is designated. Now, if we’re speaking of some sort of moral right, it is no more debatable than the PC having entire groups of people decimated because they deemed it preferable for some reason that entirely depends on the player’s morals.

Anders makes a costly decision that he thinks will make a difference by removing any chance of compromise where everything else he tried has failed — in the same way some pacifist green activists go from non-violent to more aggressive measures to make a difference (e.g, you can read Andreas Malm on the reasoning behind that process). In DA2, he’s still one of the only mages Hawke meets who tried to play “fair” by the Chantry rules (except for the fact that he lives outside a Circle): never attacked Templars, never used blood magic, never bargained with a demon, focused on healing those in need and helping willing mages to flee from the Circle for free, for almost ten years; not mentioning the fact that he’s willing to take full responsibility for his actions, even if it has to cost him his life. The “right to” is on neither side here because in that case it leads to an impasse.

Ya know.. the first time years ago, I played Inquisition blind and romanced Solas. I really expected.. something.. from this end scene. A note.. I thought there might be a note. After all.. he promised all would be made clear. And nothing was clear.

Solas to Inquisitor: I'm not a self-taught actually.

Solas to Iron Bull: I'm a self-taught, you see.

Solas to Cassandra: Maker? Uh-huh, why not, I am always open to new ideas. What? Your religion is about 2000 years old? Pretty much new to me idk.

Solas to Varric: I am sorry to bother you questions about your people. You see, I don't know anything about dwarves because they're not dreaming.. also here's my 1000 pages essay about dwarven economy with tips on how to improve it.

Solas to elves: My people. Not my people. Your people. Our people.

Solas, in general: I am nothing but a humble apostate. Lived most of my life alone in the woods, avoiding templars, people and etc. But I miss court intrigues. And, obviously, was at war. What war? Not important, haha. Also I have at least three PhD, professional artist skillfully handled ancient painting technique and translate old tractates for fun. How? ADHD, and I'm taking adderall. I guess.

Man literally waltzes through the DAI with veil runes fake it till you make it on his face.

Soft morning with Fenris