Random Fun Stuff

Gaby Soto is a gift

I have about 7 different requests for this in my inbox. It’s taken me a while to sit and think about this, but I finally have something I believe fits and makes sense.

Of course, a caveat before we start: Elvhen, as it is used in game, is a cipher - not a language. Project Elvhen, on the other hand, is a conlang that I have constructed around this cipher. I like to call it ‘conlang lite,’ or a ‘simulated conlang’ as I can’t really give it the full depth of a “real” conlang without throwing out a lot of work that Bioware has done, and that’s not something I’m willing to do. The purpose of this conlang is to provide more depth to the language, and therefore deepen the fan’s consumption and enjoyment of it.

Given that my project is a conlang, and I am approaching these translations from this point of view - my translation may not be in line with what the developers intended. However, given Patrick Weekes’ explanation on how they use the language, I believe I’m on the right track for what they meant (or tried to imply).

In Trespasser, a Dalish inquisitor who has pursued a romance with Cullen has the chance to choose to marry him. If they do so, they can choose to use Dalish vows instead of chantry vows. In that case, they say these vows to him during the ceremony:

Sylaise enaste var aravel. Lama, ara las mir lath. Bellanaris.

Literally translated, this means: Sylaise blessing our aravel. To time pass, my ambition towards love. Eternity.

It should be noted that aravel would be the word closest to ‘house’ or ‘home’ for most Dalish clans. Therefore, most Dalish phrases that use it can translate aravel to ‘home’ or ‘house.’

Therefore, the full translation, taking into account poetic meaning:

Apart from Neve and Bellara, Lucanis seems to be the last companion to succumb to Elgar'nan's spell during Blood of Arlathan, evident by the lack of red sparkles around his head in comparison to other companions.

He seems to get under Elgar'nan's control only close to the end of the cutscene, when Bellara starts to cast her counter-spell.

It claimed that he'd been built up as this legendary mage-killer who had practically decimated the Venatori, yet he supposedly shows no signs of trauma after spending a year in the Ossuary. The creator was also disappointed with his lack of hatred towards mages.

Uhm.

Hello?

Did we play the same game?

Lucanis is a legendary mage-killer. But that doesn't mean he should be single-handedly wiping out every Venatori cell across Thedas. He's the most accomplished assassin in Treviso. His contracts are primarily in Antiva. We don't exactly see Treviso crawling with Venatori, and the city is under Antaam occupation for much of the game anyway. The Venatori and the Antaam work together at points, but the Antaam are the occupying force. It would be weird if Treviso were overflowing with Venatori.

As for the complaint that he doesn't hate mages enough...

We already have that character. His name is Fenris.

Fenris' hatred of mages is one of the defining aspects of his character in Dragon Age II. If I want to romance a brooding mage-hater as a mage and bask in all that delicious angst, Dragon Age II is right there. We don't need to recycle the exact same character arc every other game.

And Lucanis doesn't hate mages - he hates the Venatori, because they imprisoned and tortured him. Those aren't the same thing. Dragon Age has always been at its best when its characters have different perspectives rather than recycling the same ones.

And finally...

"He has no trauma."

I...

What?

The man barely sleeps. He's constantly hypervigilant. He's emotionally guarded to the point of isolation (his snails pace slow-burn romance, hello?).

Also there is LITERALLY a companion quest where Rook enters his subconscious and discovers that he's still psychologically trapped in the Ossuary. He's been carrying that prison around in his own head the entire game up til that point. The whole quest is about helping him let go of the part of himself that never escaped.

Like... that's not subtext. That's just text.

Not everyone processes trauma by becoming angry. Some people become quieter instead.

Trauma doesn't have to look like screaming, crying and punching walls. Sometimes it looks like never sleeping. Sometimes it looks like burying yourself in work. Sometimes it looks like pretending you're fine because that's easier than admitting you're not.

Does Veilguard have flaws? Absolutely. Every Dragon Age game does.

Origins? Incredible game. It redefined the genre and is still widely regarded as the darkest - and by many, the best - game in the series. But its combat is clunky by modern standards, the Fade sequence is notorious, the Deep Roads even more so, and the gift approval system is hilariously abusable.

Dragon Age II? Adored it. It introduced us to one of the franchise's best protagonists, gave us unforgettable companions, and somehow balanced genuine humour with an ending you knew couldn't possibly be happy. But it also reused the same caves and warehouses about eight billion times, had an infamously rushed development cycle, and recycled environments throughout the entire game.

Inquisition? Amazing. Gorgeous scenery, fascinating lore, and it pushed the history of Thedas further than any game before it. Buuuut it also gave us enormous maps full of MMO-style busywork, hundreds of collectibles, quests that amounted to "go here, gather ten of this," and.

So.

Many.

Fucking.

SHARDS.

It's also one of the buggiest entries in the series.

None of those flaws erased what those games did well.

The same should be true of Veilguard.

You don't have to love it. You don't have to think it's your favourite Dragon Age. Criticise it all you like - I know I have my own criticisms.

But I'm so tired of being told I'm a "fake fan" because I enjoy it.

I've played every Dragon Age game. I've read every Dragon Age novel. I've spent years with this series, literally since the first game came out.

Veilguard is different.

But different doesn't mean non-canon. Different doesn't mean it isn't Dragon Age.

And enjoying it certainly doesn't make someone less of a fan.

Everyone always turned to stare at Hawke when she walked into the room. That’s just the kind of person she was, even before the stories started to get out. She had a presence, something that went beyond the face tattoo and the lip rings and the eyes that you swore could glow at you in the dark. It’s why there were stories, after all. All of Kirkwall could tell that a woman like that was one in a million.

The way the elf stared at her, though? Well, that was different.

When Fenris stared at Hawke, you felt like you were seeing something private. It would’ve been less scandalous to walk in on the both of them naked, honestly. We all could tell something changed overnight, even without that scrap of red silk he started to tie around his wrist all the time. The first time he showed up at the Wicked Grace table with that thing on, everyone stopped talking.

Everyone but Hawke, that is.

“Silver to buy in,” she said, cheerful as ever. She scooted over on the bench to give him room, and he sat down at her side, and everything was just like normal. Only the sharp-eyed observer would have noticed that she sat up a little straighter, that he held himself a little too carefully, and that the steps of their practiced little dance were too practiced.

- The Tale of the Champion by Varric Tethras

—

“Pictures!” He tells Rook, because Rook is good to share things with. They make the appropriate sounds of appreciation, and sometimes bounce on their feet.

“Oh very nice,” Rook says, clearly not understanding the scope of Manfred’s discovery. This is not something he has drawn.

“No!” He insists, taking their hand and placing the crystal in it. “Pictures.”

Rook stops, and stares open mouthed at the vibrant play of color and memory unfolding in the air of the Fade in front of them.

“Ohhhh,” they say, with an appropriate level of amazement. Very good. Manfred rattles with appreciation.

The Fade, it turns out, is FULL of people’s crystalized dreams, not just Solas’s. Big ones, small ones, some as big as Solas’s head.

The Veilguard starts to make a casual hobby of it as they traipse around the Crossroads, picking up active, vibrant stones to stuff into their pockets for later that night when they will gather and watch them over one of Lucanis’s snack trays.

Taash finds a shocking amount of dragon fights, which they watch in a series that they call “dragon week.”

Lucanis and Bellara prefer dramatic memories of emotional meetings and sordid love triangles, which are also in abundance, and which never seem to resolve cleanly.

“I’m not sure we should be watching any of these,” Emmrich says dubiously, “it doesn’t feel entirely ethical. We viewed Solas’s memories to save the world.”

“Okay,” Rook says, pouring him some tea while the others munch on wisp made popcorn. “But I found a whole little brood of crystals with the memories of some king from the Steel Age. Very historical. I’m sure you wouldn’t have any interest in…”

“…well. If it's for research…”