The Blanketfort (crying and throwing up) - The Official Solas Thread [Spoilers]

I'm a mage and I want a silverite infused lyrium prosthetic arm

Or it could be replaced by some sort of tool like crossbow, retractable blade or a shield of some sort.

Though I have to admit, I kinda like the idea of my 1 armed mage. I trully think that it's badassery on its own.

ladyiolanthe

Rogue player here too. I hadn't thought of the 2H sword solution for Dagna and it's a good one. Like you however, I'm still stuck about what picklocking-centric rogue and/or a dual wielding rogue would do.

Not all rogues pick locks. I played a Cleric/Rogue in D&D 3.5 that had high points in stealth and backstab but couldn't break into a chicken coop.

I was watching the scene again where Solas reveals the meaning of the vallaslin and something struck me. He says they are slave markings and that nobles would mark their slaves to honour their gods. Does that mean there were ancient elves who had no markings and this is how you identify who are the nobles and who are the slaves? Up to now I just thought it was Solas and his followers who removed their vallaslin who had bare faces but this would suggest otherwise. In which case, are the priesthood an exception, marking their faces because they serve their god, like Abelas?

Even if not necessarily dual protagonist, I hope  it's possible to create a mechanic where you can choose another character's dialogue in a scene even if you're not playing them. Then your Inquisitor could be there for the Solas confrontation only and you could still make your own choice with them. I have no idea how difficult something like that would be, though.

True, true. I was referring specifically to DAI, though, not tabletop RPGs.   I wonder how many people played rogues and didn't pick locks to get into otherwise inaccessible areas?

My Lavellan unabashedly picked locks to get into doors. In front of whoever happened to be travelling with her at the time. Hey, it's less property damage than bashing in the doors like a warrior or stonefisting doors like a mage. She was respectful of property. For the Inquisition!

A magical arm would be good for things other than picking locks, of course.

I've been under the assumption that Tevinter closely resembles ancient Elvhenan in their social class system. Based off some of the implications Solas' revelations generate and the repeated harping of Tevinter mimicking and downright claiming Elven things as their own, I tend to lean on this being true (at least until we are given better answers in the coming games). Some quick things the Imperium set in place: Codex, Tevinter Social Classes: Social Classes of Tevinter

Soporati- (Tevene) Tevinter social class. Lit. 'sleepers'. Common citizens of the Tevinter Imperium who are non-mages. Allowed to own property and serve in Tevinter's military but they have no real power in the nation's governance and are unable to attain a higher rank in the Imperial Chantry than mother or father. Are most often found to be merchants.
Laetan- (Tevene) Tevinter social class. Second step above Soporati after praeteri (there is no expansion of praeteri. Based off the little information given, I assume they are Mages -hence considered better than Soporati's, nonmages, but are perhaps indentured or so magically curbed that to consider them mages is laughable?). They are mages born into families that had up to that point shown no magical ability or who have been mages for generations but have no link to the higher Altus or Dreamer class.
Servus Publicus- (Tevene) Class of slaves within Tevinter. Differ from the Liberati in that they do the all the tasks proper citizens will not and are indentured.

That is entirely possible. Tevinter does have quite a few Roman leanings. I wish they would have given a little something as to what praeteri are specifically. The most that is stated is ''The well-bred altus sneer at the laetans, who in turn sneer at the praeteri." Yet praeteri is a subset of laetan, so there must be an element of magical capability in them. A question for DA4 i guess

Looking at my trusting Latin dictionary (I swear I have read it more in connection with Tevinter than I ever did at school) the word praeter means "beyond, excepting, more than, in addition to", and praetarii means "to pass or overtake" but also "leave out, neglect or forget". So either the praetari in Tevinter are first stage Laetans, having newly escaped the Soporati class through being born with magical ability from non-magical parents, or alternatively they are subsequent generations of Laetans who have not inherited magical ability, which can happen among the Altus so even more likely to happen among the Laetans. So they have escaped being mere Soporati by virtue of their birth but are considered inferior to their magically gifted relatives (a bit like squibs in the Harry Potter world).

Still the Tevinter social classes do not really explain what was going in the elven civilisation before the raising of the Veil. At that time everyone had some degree of magical ability, which is why it would seem they marked those who were considered inferior to indicate they were commoners (whether slaves or servants by designation) rather than the nobility. I was struck by the earliest account of Arlathan that we were given in DAO where it in fact says that Arlathan was a place of knowledge and debate where the BEST of elves would go to interact. Assuming that was deliberate on the part of the writers, it would suggest that not only was Arlathan definitely the seat of government (hence the knowledge and debate) but also only certain individuals were able to go there. It may be that it was forbidden to the slave class and part of the reason that they were marked was so they could be readily identified if they were in a place they were considered not worthy of, particularly if not accompanied by the noble they belonged to.

If the nobility were unmarked, it would give an additional reason for Solas to remove the markings of slaves, in addition to the fact that it signified that now they were free. It would mean his followers were able to move around freely in places where they would otherwise be instantly recognised as former slaves.

Actually there is an older culture than Tevinter that may reflect this idea of marking the lowest class and that is the dwarven civilisation. The castless are branded on their faces to mark them as in the bottom rung of society, from which they are never permitted to rise. Considering the link we now know there is between the current dwarven civilisation and the ancient elves, it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that this practice of the dwarves originated with copying the ideas of the elves.

Haven't been here in weeks....

Art Post

The Matching Making Spirit
Source - ancaxbre.deviantart.com/art/The-matchmaking-spirit-655219948?src=MC_deviation_stack

Solas Color Study
Source - ladytheirin.deviantart.com/art/DAI-Solas-Color-study-656366225?src=MC_deviation_stack

Solas and the Dread Wolf
Source - rose-star.deviantart.com/art/Fen-Harel-657301234

Solas in pencil
Source - kiraxhuimang.deviantart.com/art/Solas-657132594

Solas Shipping
Source - kasonsama.deviantart.com/art/Dread-Wolf-Shipping-655617039
Source - kasonsama.deviantart.com/art/Solas-LATE-shipping-657038699

Solas and Lavellan under the mistletoe
Source - static-mega-byte.deviantart.com/art/Xmas-Siryn-And-Solas-656664150

Solas and Lavellan sitting under a tree
Source - static-mega-byte.deviantart.com/art/Coria-N-Solas-656583298

Motivational Solas
Source - static-mega-byte.deviantart.com/art/Motivational-Solas-656579551

Sad Solas
Source - static-mega-byte.deviantart.com/art/Lone-Wolf-656538927

Passionate kisses in the rain (NSFW)
Source - mirra-arphelous.deviantart.com/art/Passion-655535367

Happy Holidays
Source - joydart.deviantart.com/art/Happy-Holiday-and-Welcome-2017-655077461

Young Solas Male Anatomy Study (NSFW and Happy Very Late Birthday, Sunny )
Source - joydart.deviantart.com/art/Young-Solas-Male-Anatomy-Study-654081493

lol whoops, forgot to mention the magic part! (I got excited with the Tevinter classes)

Well if we use Tevinter hierarchy as a baseboard but simply add 'magic' to every class, I think it would still work quite well for a general idea of Elvhenan. Just because magic is everywhere and everyone does have the capabilities to harness magic, doesn't mean that those capabilities will be equal. Look at Solas, I don't think he lied when he said he was 'gifted with magic'. It is entirely possible that there would be a sect of Elves who even though they have the know-how, are basically so inept magically that they could be considered useless mages. If the most powerful are elevated to positions of nobility then there would certainly be vacuums that the 'lesser' Elves would need to fill. Also, its important to note that slavery is also used as a punishment in Tevinter. So depending on the crime, you can lose your status and become indentured. A nice little way to cripple an opposing house wouldn't you say?