How and Why the Big Wolf Statue?

Well if all the personal guard or soldiers/army of the evanuris were known as (and possibly would shapeshift into) wolves then that would certainly explain the sheer volume of wolf statues. If they were all fen'harel then that would make him look like a very popular deity going by dai.

Gotta be honest, I don't like making theories about areas in the Dales because I have such a hard determining what was part of the Dalish Kingdom and what was leftover from Arlathan.

But if we go with your idea that the area was one of Solas's territories or areas of influence,  have we completely discounted the idea that the simple reason behind the wolves' more subdued appearance is just because people viewed it barely any different than the other animal statues used to represent an evanuris? There is nothing particularly grand about the various hart or owl statues we see all over the place. It's just the quantity on slight variance of wolf statues that we take interest in. But even the variance in wolf styles isn't all that unprecedented since Mythal has both the dragon and dragon-lady statues for herself. But I digress.

Even if the "Dread Wolf" moniker came into being later, that may not have mattered to any followers who may have inhabited the region and chose to depict his more 'benign' iconography since Solas seems to be big on the "I am no god" messaging. The quantity (and magical preservation) of the statues may have even been a way to compensate for how Solas may not have had the same amount of 'grand' temples like the other evanuris did.

I think the Qunari may be onto something when looking into the idea of Solas's prior identity or identities. Whatever previous names he held will doubtlessly give us more knowledge of him. That said, I am not so sure he ever had a 'true' name to begin when he first 'manifested' as the 'elves-were-once-spirits' theory would typically suggest.

He could have been something closer to a Fade Rifter or whatever the Lady of the Forest had going on (but wolf-themed?). Alternatively, he could have been a spirit who took possession of a wolf and lead a pack, just as the terror demon in the Hinterlands did in DAI, and lead the pack as a sort of unofficial guardian. And I can see Mythal controlling or making a deal with any of them.

The connections arguably gets a itty bitty deeper when you consider that mabari, Witherfang, and blight wolves have a game move conspicuously named "Dread howl" in DAO. I'm just not sure if I am reading too much into things or what it would mean if those connections were being made. But that is an odd amount of connections, all things considered.

I've also been looking into that "tevinter artifact" in the magi origin that looks suspiciously like a Fen'Harel statue. Dog-like creatures are a peculiar choice for something of tevinter origin, but I suppose it could be a coincidence. Or were certain Fen'Harel statues always capable of amplifying magic?

Well according to Fenris it was Tevinter that originally bred the mabari, so that could account for it. (To be honest I don't remember this statue). I wonder how far back that was in their history, though. Did it pre-date the Imperium, which would point to it perhaps being part of the Dreamer period when they may well have been influenced by what they discovered in elven ruins or even elves themselves, since I'm still convinced the Dreamers were in fact elf bloodied children and the elf parents were the ones who introduced many ideas into the northern barbarian tribes and taught them new forms of magic, including blood magic. Hence the similarity to elvhenan in the political and religious hierarchy that developed which were totally different to those found in the southern barbarians.

Whilst on the subject of statues in DAO, I came across an entry about an elven statue you obtain early on from one of the humans, presumably if you either kill or threaten them as I don't recall ever receiving this: "A small stone statue of a woman with antlers like a halla, with the moon under her right foot, and two hares beside her. The base of the statue is covered in strange writing." Do you remember that mural in Skyhold with the figure of an antlered female being hugged/crushed by a bear? I initially assumed the pale antlered figure was that of Ghilan'nain. If that is the case, then the statue with the antlered woman stamping on the moon could be referring to her rebelling against or even killing Mythal (who is associated with the moon). The hare is the symbol of Andruil but why two hares? Servants of Andruil who were working with Ghilan'nain?

However, looking at the Skyhold mural again, it is possible the "bear" figure is actually that of a wolf with its ears covered by its cloak. That would fit with other images of Fen'Harel. In which case could it reflect his anger with Ghilan'nain for what she did to Mythal? Notice there is a crescent moon shown over the figure's head, perhaps indicative of his loyalty to the moon.

The alternative explanation that I came up with after reading Horror of Hormack was that the bear/wolf figure isn't attacking the antlered female but rather embracing her, comforting her for what has been done to her by another, whilst expressing their anger at the one who did this to her. However, my discovery of that entry from DAO about the antlered statue treading on the moon makes this seem less likely. Still, it is another instance of something introduced right back at the beginning of DAO that reappeared in DAI, so I feel it has to be significant.

Well in the Last Flight it is said that the Arch-demon's breath was using magic that wasn't drawn from the Fade but somewhere else. I've tended to assume that meant the Void, as Banal'han, the "Place of Nothing", is where the Dalish believe the Blight originated. I assume this comes from a genuinely remembered ancient piece of lore as the ancient elves' story of Andruil in the ToM associates the Void with the Forgotten Ones and also believe they are associated with corruption and pestilence; hence Andruil returning with plague that attacks her land, which sounds very like the Blight. However, the Wolf Demon in Ameridan's tale is definitely said to breath Fade fire, so I think that is something different from the Arch-demon. If the colour of the flames being breathed by the bear/wolf are accurate in colour, that suggests Veil fire such as we ignite in DAI rather than the Void fire of the Arch-demon.

It would be helpful if we knew exactly who painted the picture. It is not in the style of most of Solas' other murals but artists can change and develop their style over time. Otherwise, who is the anonymous artist? This might be helpful in establishing who exactly the horned figure is. We are assuming Ghilan'nain, although she is depicted in the mosaics riding a halla but not antlered herself. However, there is the Dalish story of Andruil transforming her into a halla, which could be a residual memory of Ghilan'nain having antlers. Mythal is shown in statues with wings for arms, so possibly having non-elven appendages was something the gods did with their appearance or it was the sculpture/artist's symbolic way of showing which animal they were associated with. Does it have anything to do with that strange rhyme in the Darvarad?

One sees the hunter, one flees from it, one hunts it in turn, one outwits them all. This indicated the order in which to light the veil fire lamps in front of different statues: Owl, halla, dragon, wolf. The only one from the rhyme that does not have a statue is the "hunter", whom I assume is Andruil. So based on their associations this can be interpreted as: Falon'Din (the Owl) sees Andruil pursuing Ghilan'nain (the halla) but is hunted in turn by Mythal (the dragon) whilst Fen'Harel (the wolf) outwits them all. In what way I wonder? It cannot refer to the Veil/trap he created because Mythal was already dead, unless the dragon is not Mythal but Elgar'nan, who is also known for bringing Winged Death to their enemies. So, may be this refers to the chaos and conflict between the gods that occurred after Mythal's death, with Solas using it to entrap them.

The god of hunting? In the legend of Andruil with her hunting in the Void, she appears to be obsessed with hunting and it says that the other gods became fearful she would hunt them in turn, so they asked Mythal to intervene. So the interpretation of that rhyme could be an allusion to that story, where Andruil has already started hunting the other gods, which is why Mythal (the dragon) is finally forced to act. What doesn't fit though is the bit about Fen'Harel outwitting them all, which is why I thought that perhaps the dragon was Elgar'nan and not Mythal. After all, if Mythal was the only one who was able to stop Andruil, with Mythal dead perhaps she resumed her hunting of the other gods.

They could be something of this sort. However, something has struck me on considering these stories and that is how often the gods are said to be fearful and look to Mythal for protection. Aren't the gods powerful enough to defend themselves? The story about Andruil is found in the Temple of Mythal, so it could just be propaganda by her followers that suggests she is the only one who can deal with the situation. However, according to Solas, Falon'Din was causing a bloodbath elsewhere but Mythal only took action when he threatened her own lands and people, so perhaps several of the other gods aren't as powerful as we might imagine.

Ghilan'nain's power seems to derive from her ability to create powerful monstrosities, so presumably the deal where she destroyed them on the promise of being elevated to godhood may have included being offered the protection of Andruil. Dirthamen is known as the god of secrets and knowledge, which give a form of power over others but ultimately may not aid against direct attack. Sylaise appears to be some sort of mimic, as her followers just point to how she can do what the other gods do, only better, and June is said to be "Clever" and is known to the Dalish as the god of crafting, which again suggests that may be his power lies in what he is able to invent and craft. So, perhaps all of these were vulnerable to attack by Andruil or Falon'Din and that is why they looked to Mythal for protection. May be that is why Solas blames them collectively for her death because he knows they couldn't have accomplished it individually but only by uniting together to defeat her.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by this. The Grey Wardens were formed specifically because of the Blight. It is not clear but it could be possible that a previous group of heroes had succeeded in killing Dumat, only for him to regenerate, so ordinary mortals could kill the vessel that god was contained in but not counter the magic involved that allowed him to soul jump. What is relevant though is this form of regeneration does seem to be connected in some way to the regenerative power of the Evanuris. It is also stated in the Core Rule Book that the idea for the Joining as a means of dealing with the problem was originally suggested by an elf Grey Warden, so that is significant. However, I don't think this points to there being a similar sort of god killing organisation in ancient times or surely Solas would have used them/their knowledge to kill off the other gods. Instead he states that he entrapped them because he knew if he killed them, they wouldn't stay dead. I found this claim to be a bit odd because if that was the case, surely he knew Mythal wasn't really dead, so I assume there had to be something to her murder that made him think she was really gone or prevented him from finding her in the Fade.

The only clue we have comes from Solas and, of course, he may be biased. He says it was their lust for power that drove them to kill her. So, in what way was she threatening their power?

As I said in my previous post, the nature of their power may vary according to their abilities but it is noticeable how Mythal was regarded as the one the majority looked to for protection and adjudication in the event of antagonism between factions potentially leading to violence. For example, it was her idea that when Elgar'nan and Falon'Din were shaping up for a conflict, she suggested they use champions to resolve the dispute rather than opt for all out war. Another example would seem to be when a follower of Dirthamen had broken the rules but claimed they had been encouraged to do so by Ghilan'nain, the matter was given to Mythal for judgement and she thought it serious enough that she passed it on to Elgar'nan as the ultimate authority. It was Elgar'nan who banished the Forbidden Ones (as we know them) in punishment for desertion during their war with the Earth. So, there was clearly a hierarchy within the gods that all seemed to respect and had served them well, which does make one wonder what could have caused the others to break it. It also seems impossible that the other "lesser" gods could have done this without the approval of Elgar'nan because it is clear that he is absolutely someone you would not want to offend or anger.

Anyway, in no particular order, here are some possible motivations that have been suggested for their actions:

Personal resentment: Andruil and Falon'Din. The latter in particular, according to Solas, thought a lot of himself, so her "bloodying him in his own temple" would be a motivation for revenge but also the fact she persuaded him to use a champion in his dispute with Elgar'nan instead of allowing the war that he wanted.

Jealousy: Elgar'nan - Did he suspect Mythal of taking a lover? Flemeth says that "She was betrayed as I was betrayed". Now we were given two different versions of her story. In the first Flemeth is the wife of Conobar, runs off with her lover, Osen but is tricked into returning out of compassion for her former husband, who then kills Osen and imprisons Flemeth. With Morrigan's version she says that she was originally the wife of Osen and Conobar was jealous of the poor bard, tricking Osen to his death, after which Flemeth took revenge on him. Either way it is a story of jealousy leading to betrayal and death. Except in Flemeth's case it didn't lead to her death, so I'm not sure what Flemeth meant by that, unless it refers to the fact she was betrayed by someone close to her. (Whilst Morrigan denies that Flemeth was aggrieved by Osen agreeing to sell his wife to Conobar, as her situation in life would have improved as the latter's wife/lover, I would certainly have regarded it as a betrayal). Still, it would seem that the betrayal is something that Mythal wants revenge for and the main driving force behind her assistance to Flemeth and everything they have done down the years. As I've already stated, I do not believe the other gods would have acted without Elgar'nan's tacit approval even if he wasn't directly involved in the deed. Mythal likely knew this too, which is why it is Elgar'nan who was likely the main target for her revenge.

The other gods discovered Mythal was behind Fen'Harel's rebellion: This depends on whether you think the rebellion started before or after her death. Since Solas claims he only moved against the gods as a result of her murder, that would seem to discount this theory but it is possible to put a different interpretation on his words and whatever the Inquisitor may have meant by their question, he answered as though they were asking about his final action of entrapping them. So, from this perspective, Mythal approved of his rebellion and it was making progress but someone, probably Dirthamen, discovered her duplicity, and the other gods, particularly Elgar'nan, were enraged as it was a direct attack on their power, so they killed her, thinking that would quash the rebellion. Fen'Harel feared this too, as her death meant there was no one to hold the other gods in check, so he took drastic action. Various snippets of information would support this theory. The spirits of Mythal's priesthood knew the password to Fen'Harel's sanctuary. Abelas was adamant that Fen'Harel was not guilty of her death, suggesting he knew this to be impossible. Mythal and Fen'Harel were clearly shown as allies in the Deep Roads. Flemeth says to Merrill: "The People are too quick to bow the knee", which might suggest that Mythal had started to doubt the cult of godhood that had developed around the Evanuris.   I also wonder if Mythal had discovered what was going on in the Deep Roads as revealed in the Horror of Hormack and that more than one of the Evanuris was complicit in it.

Mythal had tried to deny them access to either lyrium or more likely red lyrium: The latter would be something that those lusting for power would covert. Red lyrium is blight infected lyrium. Flemeth definitely opposed the Blight and actively helps the Wardens. Solas also said that anyone who thinks they can use it safely is mad. From what we know of them, that would accurately describe several of the Evanuris. Is this what Andruil discovered in the Void and brought back with her? Was it red lyrium that sent her mad? The legend speaks of her crafting "armour of the Void" and "weapons of darkness". Corypheus called the Blight "the Darkness".

Now it is possible that all of the above could have been contributing factors that led to her death. All I do know is that I shall be very annoyed if we don't get some definite answers in DA:D.

As to potential consequences, some of these happened at the time.   Community cohesion between the gods had probably started to break down before Solas locked them away, but clearly continued afterwards until at least some of the factions decided the only thing to do was to withdraw from the world.   One of these was the community in Arlathan Forest, which according to Strife was the domain of Andruil, which would account for the favourable memories about her among the Dalish and the emphasis on The Way of Three Trees.   I assume they stayed in Uthenera until disturbed by the expansion of the Tevinter Imperium when they retaliated in much the same way as the Sentinels did in the Arbor Wilds.   What I found interesting about the history concerning this in WoT is that the Imperium initially did their best to form diplomatic relations with them and then put up with a lot of aggression when this approach failed before they finally decided enough was enough.    Was there something in the archives of Minrathous that meant the leadership knew more about these humanoid creatures than they let on to the general populace at the time?   Also, why were the Venatori and Corypheus so interested in finding elven artifacts?   Cory definitely knew that the elves had a special connection with the Fade that made their blood more potent in blood magic rituals.   Was this something that the Altus had worked out from their prolonged use of their slaves or were they going on something they already knew?   Where did Danarius acquire the knowledge that he used on Fenris?   Apparently he didn't just tattoo him with lyrium by hand but used the sarcophagus introduced in Blue Wraith.   So, did he construct this himself or find it somewhere?   If the latter, who was responsible for it originally, June perhaps?  A box that creates the ultimate warrior though marking them with lyrium, so the ultimate form of blood writing, and is even more potent with red lyrium.   It certainly points to something that was devised in ancient times. 

Currently, going by the short story Ruins of Reality and the comic series the Missing, something is definitely "wrong" with the forest.   Varric and Harding seemed to assume Solas was responsible but I'm not so sure.   I'm also not clear if RoR occurred before or after the events in the comic series.   According to that short story, the halla idol appeared to have some connection with the strange anomalies and control them but the Veil Jumpers made no mention of this to Varric and Harding, so perhaps RoR happened after they left.    Concept art has also shown a floating landscape, similar to what happened when Cory punched a hole in the Veil at the end of DAI, so I suppose it is possible that Solas' ritual to remove the Veil has already started to work over a limited area.  It is certainly something you wouldn't want spreading.

Not problem, my threads do have a tendency to wander but that's why I like making them as it encourages participation.

That doesn't necessarily rule out it being from an earlier period, just that Fairbank's assumed it was just an artifact of the Dales period. After all, why would he assume any different when even the Dalish lore suggests the old elven empire was located up in the north. Mind you, I think Andraste knew something different, which is why she specifically promised the Dales to Shartan. According to the Canticle of Shartan (in WoT), which was based in elven oral tradition, the sword she gave to Shartan (which we can acquire in DA2, Act 3) originally belonged to her mother, who was a Ciriane from that area. The Alamarri poem, Where the Willows Wail, is said to be based off an elven lament found in the ToM, where glandival would appear to translate as "freedom". The sword was called Glandivalis and Andraste handed it to Shartan with the words: "Take this my Champion and free our people forever". In a different part of the Chant of Light, Shartan is referred to as "the Liberator" when he tries to save Andraste from the fire, which is likely how the reference survived when the main canticle about him was purged, because it wasn't obvious it referred to Shartan without it. According to the preface to the Canticle of Shartan, there were suspected to be elements of a much earlier elven folktale in there of a "trickster warrior who fought against tyrants". This is clearly hinting at Fen'Harel's rebellion. Now I am wary of World of Thedas as a reference because the writers do seem to often expand on lore without necessarily considering the impact on readers who are trying to piece things together and which are not carried through to the games or later contradicted by what we discover there. This is then explained by the "unreliable narrator" excuse. Nevertheless, considering what we know from the lore in game, the ideas in WoT do seem consistent with it when it comes to the wolf statues being more than simply random elfy placements.

I had wondered about this myself. However, the surrounding area was in ruins so it is possible he was referring to the whole complex rather than that inner sanctum, which was likely accessible only to her chosen. After all, the sentinels started attacking us out in the forest, long before we got to the temple in the middle of the lake. What did they think they were defending out there? Some clue may lie in the quote from Sylaise worshipers: "Sylaise, whose temples rival Mythal's cities." Perhaps the entire city area was considered sacred to Mythal, which is why the sentinels were alerted to start defending it the moment outsiders entered the Arbor Wilds. Otherwise, why not save your strength to defend the actual temple should the intruders ever get that far? According to the codex connected with the area, attributed to a Tevinter scholar, the place had long had a fearsome reputation. He commented how it was odd that the Dalish shunned the area considering it was so obviously an elven ruin, which normally interested them. He had also observed that the architecture was very similar to that found in Arlathan Forest. This presumably peaked the curiosity of the Magister to whom he was reporting, who ignored the warning and made a doomed expedition to the area the following year. Back in ancient times, likely the city was destroyed in the battle between the two factions, bearing in mind a lot of magic was probably involved. However, the inner temple probably survived because the enemy forces withdrew, possibly when the gods directing them were imprisoned so they were no longer receiving orders or perhaps they were recalled by their superiors because of the civil war that had broken out elsewhere. Abelas was adamant that it was the elves themselves who had destroyed the empire but if he was shut away in the temple, how did he know?

As you say, he must have known Solas to be a follower of Fen'Harel, if not the Dread Wolf himself, because of the lack of vallaslin and the fact he acknowledged him as one of his own People. I do wonder though if he did recognise him but knew to keep quiet about it, may be even received some sort of secret sign or mental projection to that effect. When Solas tells him his people still linger elsewhere and he should join them, I suppose he might take the word of just a Fen'Harel follower but he would definitely believe Fen'Harel himself as an ally of Mythal. Incidentally, I don't think Solas was truthful about what his words were to Abelas, or rather he didn't give the entire translation.

Again, this would tie in with the fact that an ancient elven lament ended up in a human poem of Alamarri origin. Also, the similarity in some of the legends of the elves, the Alamarri and the Avvar (who were an offshoot of the Alamarri). Could it be how an ancient elven sword ended up in the possession of a barbarian leader?   I realise they could have just looted it from ruins but that wouldn't explain how Andraste knew its name and meaning.   I really hope all these breadcrumbs of lore were leading somewhere and they were not simply tossing them out there randomly, with it being just coincidence that some of them seemed to tie together. I could accept that being the case if there were only one or two but they were constantly occurring across all three games and in WoT.

What makes me doubtful is that I recall one of the writers saying how they would refer back to the Wiki when unsure of a bit of lore. This had me worried because not only does the Wiki occasionally misrepresent the lore but I would have thought they would have a core lore book of their own to reference when writing the narrative. The lack of such a reference would certainly explain the anomalies and outright inconsistencies at times in the writing with what we had been told previously. So, when discussing what various clues might mean, I am working to the assumption that there is a core narrative they are following rather than what may actually be the case.

I did realise what you meant about it simply being level designers randomly scattering some appropriate iconography. However, that wolf statue is so big and obvious on the skyline, it seemed it just couldn't be because they tossed a coin and that's what they came up with. I mean, why have a statue up there at all? I suppose the opposing argument would be, why didn't they reference it in a codex, if only one saying: "Many people have speculated why there is a giant wolf statue overlooking the Exalted Plains but to date no one has an answer", or something equally cryptic.

The ones that do have a codex associated with them are clearly intentional. With this in mind, I have been thinking again about the codex connected with the one at the entrance to the temple of Mythal. Without Trespasser that codex is odd. Why make reference to the name possibly having an alternative meaning of "rebel" when even Flemeth/Mythal refers to him as "Dread Wolf". Also, I questioned how human scholars were meant to have a better knowledge of the elven language than the Dalish, considering whenever we needed something translated in the Inquisition, we called upon our Dalish agents to do this and even they apparently couldn't translate those ancient writings we find in the temple complex. Incidentally, this makes the entry in WoT2 about meaning of the elven poem found there somewhat strange as well. Did Morrigan translate it for them on a whim? Or perhaps the default world state has the Inquisitor drink from the well, as that would explain it.

Anyway, once we have the information from Trespasser, whilst Solas still seems to insist that "Harel"does indeed mean "Dread", I suppose it is possible that he was the one who altered the meaning from just being that of "Rebel" as he admits he wanted to frighten his enemies with the name that was originally intended as an insult. The knowledge that he did in fact lead a rebellion, that the spirits of Mythal in your head know the password to his sanctuary and that codex about his name originally meaning rebel being given in response to Morrigan's assertion that having his statue placed there was sacrilege, does seem to lend a lot of credence to the idea that Mythal not only supported the rebellion but may even have instigated it, using her old ally Fen'Harel (or Solas as he was known before the rebellion) as her front man. It has just occurred to me that perhaps it was Mythal who originally came up with the insult Fen'Harel and suggested it to the other gods, having already agreed with Solas that he should adopt that name once the Evanuris named him as such.

I also wonder if they are going to connect the rebellion to what was revealed in Horror of Hormack. It would seem that Ghilan'nain was conducting horrific experiments on elves. Since the murals indicate the elves already regarded her as a god, it would seem different to the episode we find related in the Temple of Mythal when her elevation to godhood was dependent on destroying her monsters. If Mythal, or Solas, uncovered the fact that she had gone back on the deal and some of the other gods were implicated as well, it might explain why she couldn't simply act against Ghilan'nain alone. If what was being buried in that text in the Deep Roads, was not just red lyrium but possibly the monsters, darkspawn perhaps or something worse (the original broodmother perhaps?), that Ghil had created, it would fit with the words in that codex:
"What the Evanuris in their greed could unleash would end us all. Let this place be forgotten. Let no one wake its anger. The People must rise before their false gods destroy them all."

It certainly seems to be linked to the rebellion. They also sealed the caverns in the Deep Roads with stone and magic. Somehow the Magisters Sidereal breaking into the Black City, also broke the seals on the caverns in the Deep Roads, or enough of them to release the darkspawn, even if the worst of them were still contained. Then Cory using the orb to create the Breach, if only by accident, weakened the seals once more. If it was sufficient to awaken the Titan in the Descent, what else might have been released? Hence the cavern in the Horror of Hormack being opened up to the outside world, when apparently the dwarves at the height of their empire were unaware of it.

Good to know, I will proceed then.



Why are there big, angular armored figures looming over the Western Approach? Why are there hammer hefting dwarves appearing on top of peaks in both the Hissing Wastes and Storm Coast? Why are there statues of Maferath above Old Crestwood with flags in them? They don't all have nor need lore entries to tell the Player 'This is old Dwarven country', or 'Tevinter holdings', or other flavors. As for why, specifically, its the wolf, there could be several reasons. First, and most likely, it was the model that looked best on that scale and distance. I know that's disappointing from a secret lore perspective but they snuck in so many other hints and clues, couldn't we give them that? One more lore entry that says basically nothing other what you already know (Hey, there used to be elves here). Basically that's what the note on Morrin's Outlook gives you anyway. That doesn't mean I've given up entirely on some significance to that specific wolf statue. Read on later.



    I'll just add a few comments here. Sometimes, a group of 'experts' can become so steeped in a particular approach or viewpoint that it is hard to break the mold. Note Morrigan's shock when Abelas confirms that not only was there a Mythal but that she was murdered. Morrigan is supposedly well-steeped in elven lore but this just floors her. While I'm doubtful about the textual approach in what seems to be depicted as a largely verbal tradition, but then, we find out that is closer in Trespasser. The inclusion isn't particularly odd though. Fen'Harel was known to be the villan in DA4 which was supposed to be coming soon even when Inquisition was wrapping up. The lore was just setting up some additional reveals for DA4 for those that didn't get Trespasser. I don't hold out too much promise for Tevinter Nights linking into DAD. I think that was the plan then but Bioware has gone through so many plans now, I have to wonder if they aren't using Suessian 'On Beyond Zebra' letters by now. I do think that the fact that Fen'Harel states that the murder of Mythal and the raising of some kind of existential threat were reasons for his rebellion means that it is likely she opposed the course of action taken by whatever group of Evanuris did both deeds. As for the inscription, most likely is referring to red lyrium to me. We know the ancient dwarves sealed it away and we suspect that the ancient dwarves did have access to magic (Primeval Thaig buildings, the Valdasine staff, the use of staves as badges of office by the deshyrs of Orzazmarr). Was that what was severed when the elves conquered them long ago and slew a titan? Is that why a later dwarven king sealed away the Primeval Thaig?

    Now it only seems fitting that I should stick my own neck out a bit. Something(s) have struck me while researching a bunch of this both with online and in game resources. First is that there are two types of 'wolf' statues (and not coincidentally I believe, two Mythal 'dragon' statues as well) in Inquisition. The first is the one we are all pretty familiar with and is found (among other places) atop high places in the Exalted Plains, Emerald Graves, and Emprise du Lion. The other, though is a smaller 'howlin wolf' design that you will most often find around an eluvian. My memory may not be entirely correct, but it seems that the reclining wolf is only seen where there are no Mythal statues like in the wilderness area of the Emerald Graves, Exalted Plains, etc. The smaller howling wolves are seen usually where Mythal is present (Din'nan Hanin, Altar of Mythal, etc.) There's also the central piece of the Dalish myth about Fen'Harel ticking both the Evanuris and the Forgotten One that Fen'Harel could pull it off because he moved between both groups. What if Fen'Harel was believed to be in both camps until the one killed Mythal and thus the two statues and the big ones not being destroyed in the rebellion. Of course, it also begs thebquestion: why are there two Mythal statues? Is the representation of Elgar'Nan actually supposed to be one? The more dragony one as opposed to the female figure with wings? It's a thought.

    Just for more fun, what do you make of the two statues seen around the Venatori Camp in the Hissing Wastes? They also appear (that I'm aware of) on the huge pillars that held up the ancient highway in Emprise (not Judaciel's Crossing. The one from early Tevinter according to Genetivi) and in Vir Dirthala as massive pillars. One looks like a fully armored Tevinter warrior with that horn-nose helmet and the other is a female figure with curled horns that I have seen variably interpreted as a Desire Demon and a Qunari. Neither one of those really appeals to me. A theory that's kind of swirling around in my head is that these are the early Tevinter representations of Fen'Harel and Mythal before the worship of the Old Gods took hold. That would then fit with Genitivi's timeline but why they are on the opposite side of the Sunstop Mountains. They don't make any sense as flavor in a Dwarven area and the Venatori wouldn't be carving them themselves. There's plenty of other random, dropped junk (like the weird orbs near the Colossus that do nothing and the abandonded elven camp that has no known purpose) that I'm tempted just to ignore them myself.

      Have fun. 

Thanks for the additional information as I do not have either of the WoT books. Its as good a theory as we're likely to get and, to tell the truth, I'm not sure there's anything to those statues. There are none visible in the Silent Ruins which are the oldest in-game Tevinter Ruins I know about. Ditto Coracavus and the Temples of Razikale in the Frostbacks. (Side note: there are a pair of GRIFFONS in the Silent Ruins which I think just proves the point that sometimes, weird stuff just got by QA). The "tevinter" statues DO apparently also appear in The Fade but that's an artistic junkyard anyway so no help.



But I'm still holding on to the significance of the Bulbous One



Now you are giving me more reason to push my Fairel is Fen'Harel crazy theory. More to your point, the being we knew as Solas was deeply concerned with spirits to the point I would call spirits his actual 'people'. The artistic renderings make me think the real 'Fen'Harel' is also a spirit-like entity like Mythal and shares a physical body just as she did with Flemeth. Last, now you KNOW I'll have to go back to Tevinter Nights and reread some stories.

Thanks again for the valuable conversation even if we are chewing a a long overchewed bone (like a hungry wolf).