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Post by wickedcool on Sept 11, 2017 18:22:51 GMT
Quick question? The dwarf lantos that writes the letters. Think he/she survived?
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Post by Sifr on Sept 13, 2017 12:57:51 GMT
I think to think Lantos survived the game and was one of the lyrium smugglers the Inquisition used.
(My Cadash also named one of their daggers after him)
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cespar
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Keep a Liam Kosta near! :D
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Mass Effect Andromeda
XBL Gamertag: MysteryCespar
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Post by cespar on Sept 30, 2017 0:09:21 GMT
I just want to say how bad ass it is to be playing an undead dwarf in divinity original sin 2. Also, it's great to be playing a dwarf again, especially having people react to it.
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Andraste_Reborn
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Post by Andraste_Reborn on Sept 30, 2017 2:33:04 GMT
I just want to say how bad ass it is to be playing an undead dwarf in divinity original sin 2. Also, it's great to be playing a dwarf again, especially having people react to it. I hear that the game also has a romanceable dwarf in it! And also a romanceable lizard and a romanceable skeleton because why not. I was going to play a lizard first, but dwarf - dead or otherwise - does sound pretty tempting ... (I backed the game on Kickstarter so I already own it, but I'm impatiently waiting for my new CPU and motherboard to arrive in the mail so I can make my desktop work again and play a game made some time this decade.) |
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Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquistion, KOTOR, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by spectre4hire on Nov 26, 2017 16:36:12 GMT
Hey fellow dwarf fans and friends of the Stone. Been replaying Inquisition recently, (is it too early to hope for some sort of clue/confirmation for DA4?)and decided to replay my first dwarf inquisitor which I played on my 360. So that means he never got a chance to shine when I upgraded to Ps4 or to experience all the great DLC. It's been fun replaying Inquisition after being away from it for about a year or so.
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Post by vertigomez on Dec 25, 2017 16:17:14 GMT
Happy Holidays, dwarf thread! Have some ultra heroic dwarves.  |
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boxofscreaming
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Post by boxofscreaming on Dec 26, 2017 19:52:49 GMT
Playing the dwarf commoner origin again, I'm struck by how much of a proto-Varric Leske is. I know they have the same voice actor, but he even jokes about writing an epic poem at one point.
I wish you didn't have to kill him.
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Post by Walter Black on Dec 26, 2017 20:06:09 GMT
Playing the dwarf commoner origin again, I'm struck by how much of a proto-Varric Leske is. I know they have the same voice actor, but he even jokes about writing an epic poem at one point. I wish you didn't have to kill him. Not just Leske, Brogan and Jerrik Dace from The Golems of Amgarrak are like Bizzaro versions of Varric and Bartrand. They all start in the same plot (searching lost thaigs for secrets and riches) but end up at different destinations. |
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Post by vertigomez on Dec 27, 2017 8:01:37 GMT
Leske was the best. I'm bizarrely attached to everyone in the dwarf commoner origin and I'm sad that it's the only one he dies in.  Devs gotta get that sweet, sweet irony in |
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copper
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Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire
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Post by copper on Dec 27, 2017 15:12:34 GMT
Gasp, a dwarf thread?!
*proceeds to spend the next hour reading all 14 pages*
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boxofscreaming
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Post by boxofscreaming on Dec 27, 2017 18:59:41 GMT
Another thing - am I missing something or is Rica the only character apart from Duncan who appears in more than one origin story?
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Post by vertigomez on Dec 27, 2017 18:59:47 GMT
Gasp, a dwarf thread?! *proceeds to spend the next hour reading all 14 pages*  |
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Post by vertigomez on Dec 27, 2017 19:01:58 GMT
Another thing - am I missing something or is Rica the only character apart from Duncan who appears in more than one origin story? Hmmm... I think you may be right. Can't think of anyone else who appears in two actual origin sequences. I really love the family connection between the DC and the DN. |
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Post by vertigomez on Dec 28, 2017 3:29:18 GMT
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Post by vertigomez on Dec 28, 2017 7:36:42 GMT
Sorry for the multiple posts, but uh... I found this and had to share lolol. |
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cespar
N3
Keep a Liam Kosta near! :D
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Mass Effect Andromeda
XBL Gamertag: MysteryCespar
Posts: 555 Likes: 1,517
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Post by cespar on Dec 31, 2017 6:57:49 GMT
Ugh I need more dwarf stuff in my life. Dragon age 4 needs to come on already. I guess it's time to start up inquisition again.
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Post by vertigomez on Jan 1, 2018 6:15:17 GMT
Starting my "official" canon playthrough in the hopes that I'll be able to finish all three games before DA4 comes out.  For a long time my DW rogue Brosca was my so-called canon Warden, but now I've passed the torch to my 2H warrior Aeducan. I'm basing his personality off of Korbin from DAMP. A traditional dwarf, but one who is awed by the beauty of the surface. He's a soldier and a scholar and takes his exile seriously - in the words of Malcolm Reynolds, "We're all just folk now." He's currently running around the Korcari Wilds collecting darkspawn blood... but soon, soon the adventure begins! Ugh I need more dwarf stuff in my life. Dragon age 4 needs to come on already. I guess it's time to start up inquisition again. Everyone always needs more dwarf stuff in their life. Can't argue with that.  |
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Post by vertigomez on Jan 1, 2018 15:15:43 GMT
Or maybe... maybe I'll make this character a casteless dwarf after all.  I'm still deciding. He'd be a fundamentally different character from my other Brosca, but if he's casteless I imagine he only becomes bookish later, when he has the opportunity (and learns to read). Aeducan will have been bookish his whole life. He probably works better as an Aeducan from an RP standpoint, but playing the DN origin made me nostalgic for the DC.  "Where'd a casteless learn to fight like that?!" indeed. |
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Post by Fredward on Jan 1, 2018 17:23:01 GMT
So what's the prevailing theory on Kal-Sharok's weird dwarves? More likely to be darkspawn related or titan related? I was just thinking about how they seem to get around (ie sinkholes) and it kinda seems like the effortless manipulation of the earth Valta gets after titan-senpai noticed her.
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Post by vertigomez on Jan 1, 2018 17:42:05 GMT
So what's the prevailing theory on Kal-Sharok's weird dwarves? More likely to be darkspawn related or titan related? I was just thinking about how they seem to get around (ie sinkholes) and it kinda seems like the effortless manipulation of the earth Valta gets after titan-senpai noticed her. It'd be cool if it was both. What if they're ahead of us wrt Red Lyrium, found a way to cure the Blighted blood of the Titans, and got their mojo that way. They're described as ghoulish (as in, pale and possibly Tainted) and that they've got the same look in their eyes as darkspawn. I think it would be cool if, in trying to save their thaig, they discovered something about their origins. Or made a deal with... something. An awakened darkspawn? Whatever Dagna tapped into that let her "feel" all of dwarvenkind? I don't know about Harrowmont, but Endrin wouldn't deal with them unless they acknowledged Orzammar's authority. In the video below, the gossips at the Winter Palace say the Merchant Guild sent emissaries to Kal-Sharok behind Bhelen's back and that he knows nothing, but when has that ever been true? I can see him being interested, but I imagine he's unable to act openly. He's probably pushing it with all the reform anyway. Kal-Sharok talk starts at 1:53, |
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Post by vertigomez on Jan 1, 2018 17:44:08 GMT
Oh! And I've been meaning to share these juicy dwarf lore videos by Highever Rains. There are six of them so far, and here's the first one. Well worth a listen.
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Post by Fredward on Jan 1, 2018 18:44:50 GMT
I always assumed Dagna was tapping into a titan, somehow. Though it is kinda weird that her Fade experiment would lead to that. Hmm. Them using/being used by a blighted titan would explain both the Blight symptoms and the apparent stoneshaping abilities. So what was up with the primeval thaig in DA2? The wiki mentions a pantheon of gods so does that mean each titan was seen as a discrete entity? Or were they worshiping the elves for some strange, strange reason? Maybe as liberators? Also, don't the rock wraiths and the guardian look awfully similar? I suppose that might just be because there's really only so many ways to draw a rock monster. And the rock wraits have a distinct lore. Codex entry for the Profane: Soooo their titan 1) dies/falls silent cuz it's battling the Blight which the evanuris somehow unleashed 2) the dwarves who are no longer being hivemind controlled by the titan "claw at the rock" to try and wake it up 3) whatever they got from their relationship with the tighten dries up hence the hunger 4) they feast on their gods literally on metaphorically and over the ages 5) turn into the rock wraiths? Would explain why the thaig was "abandoned." |
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Post by vertigomez on Jan 2, 2018 1:37:18 GMT
Some interesting thoughts on sex and sexuality in Orzammar courtesy of this person's tumblr. Disclaimer: these are but one person's musings. Question: Hey! Do you have any more thoughts on Orzammar + homophobia (and/or transphobia)? I have a Cadash guy I'm trying to flesh out, and while I'm not certain if he himself has ever actually been there, other members of the Carta have. I'm trying to think what kind of background he would have, and how he'd internalise things.
Answer: Ohhhoho, man. Well, this might turn out super rambly and make no sense at all.
So from having played both as a female Aeducan (a woman operating in a traditionally masculine sphere) AND a male Brosca (a man with zero chance to ever rise above the poverty line), the conclusion I drew personally was that Orzammar is a profoundly shitty place for a whole bunch of reasons… that really boil down to two major factors that fuck it up for everyone.
And let me start off by saying that Orzammar is fucked on the long term. This thing they have going on is not sustainable. Like, it really isn’t. It’s fucked up.
But I’ll try to lace my thoughts together in a semi-coherent manner.
1.) The caste system
First things first, the first thing the dwarves should throw out the fkin window right this second.
The caste system was designed to fuck over everyone who isn’t already at the top, and it’s especially geared towards reinforcing the status and power of men in high positions, while pushing down and KEEPING down those who are lower caste or casteless. Which promotes almost sort of an “alpha male” culture, imo.
Because let’s keep in mind, the children born from a relationship (or just a quick fuck) between two people of different castes will invariably take the caste of the parent of the corresponding sex. From the canon events though, we know that this is deeply unequal for men and women.
If the father is of a high status and it’s a boy (eg. male Aeducan sleeping with a noble hunter), the child will be noble, but if the mother is of higher status, having a son with a lower caste or casteless lover drags not just her child, but her down as well (eg. the lady in Dust Town who was disowned by her parents for having given birth to a casteless child). Which, to me, means that a nobleman having a daughter with a noble hunter doesn’t affect him that much, but giving birth to a casteless child can ruin a woman for life, and for that reason, for a man the caste of his partner doesn’t matter much, but it’s in a woman’s best interest to never, ever look lower than her own caste.
This rampant gender inequality coupled with the rigid caste relations make the already HUGE chasm between higher and lower castes even bigger, and it makes it all but impossible for lower caste men to find a mate, because higher caste women won’t even look their way, as to not risk losing their caste, and women of their own caste would generally rather become concubines to a noble caste man than bring another mouth to feed into a household where they’re already living on the poverty line.
2.) The Taint
Another reason Orzammar is such a shitty place is because of the Taint permeating everything. And that canonically affects the dwarves’ fertility rates, which caused their population to dwindle drastically.
So naturally, it is a patriotic dwarf’s interest (which is like, is there any other kind than a patriotic Orzammar dwarf) to augment the population. And since it’s accepted for higher caste men to take multiple concubines into their household, as many as they can support in fact- for many casteless women, that means survival.
Basically, while from playing femAeducan I feel that noble caste women do have mostly the same rights as the men, the only bargaining chip a lower caste woman has, if she wants to make it not even into high society but out of Dust Town, is her desirability to noble caste men and her ability to maybe bear children. Which is fucked up and it constantly feeds into reinforcing concubine culture and female prostitution. (Think of Rica. Now stop thinking about Rica before you make yourself sad.)
These lower caste women’s primary value is defined by their sexuality, and their availability to higher caste men, strictly.
so this brings me to
Sexuality in Orzammar
With the dwindling population, like I said, I think in determining any union’s value, the ability to bear a child plays a big part- not only because the nobles need an heir, but because extinction is a very real threat for the dwarves of Orzammar.
And as shitty as this sounds… lower caste- and casteless men may just be the ones with the most freedom in this sense. But then we kinda need to account for the whole “alpha male culture”, the general emphasis on traditionally masculine values (lbr, the Glory Provings are pretty much a giant cock-measuring contest), toxic masculinity which might breed internalized homophobia… I don’t want to risk saying anything accidentally ignorant, so I’ll leave it at that.
Between women however, I don’t really know. Considering that female fertility and desirability to men is such a valuable asset to the point that dwarven women are participants in their own constant objectification with the intent only to survive, I honestly doubt it’s common to see lesbian dwarves. (Keep in mind that I said SEE, I’m talking strictly about general societal acceptability and not existence.)
In general, I would say that maybe same sex relationships are most uncommon among the middle classes and the women of the low classes- those who still have somewhere left to climb and a potential chance to do so.
And man, I really have no idea about trans dwarves. Honestly, there is this little voice in my head that’s just saying “who even decided that a fantasy world needs to observe the same kind of arbitrary gender binary our bullshit society does”, but… without an example, I don’t know. I really don’t, and I honestly wish we had seen at least one transgender dwarf because the drag queen/crossdresser in the Pearl is a tasteless joke that I refuse to take into consideration.
I hope that made at least a lick of sense and helped a little, because man I’m officially past the 30 hour mark without sleep. |
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Post by vertigomez on Jan 2, 2018 1:41:32 GMT
Soooo their titan 1) dies/falls silent cuz it's battling the Blight which the evanuris somehow unleashed 2) the dwarves who are no longer being hivemind controlled by the titan "claw at the rock" to try and wake it up 3) whatever they got from their relationship with the tighten dries up hence the hunger 4) they feast on their gods literally on metaphorically and over the ages 5) turn into the rock wraiths? Would explain why the thaig was "abandoned." This sounds likely to me. I imagine they responded quite like the elves did when they lost their magic. Or how spirits feed off of emotions - the dwarves were so desperate to reunite with the Titan that they became a perversion of that union, a thing that was stone and soul but wrong. |
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Post by Walter Black on Jan 2, 2018 3:13:49 GMT
So what's the prevailing theory on Kal-Sharok's weird dwarves? More likely to be darkspawn related or titan related? I was just thinking about how they seem to get around (ie sinkholes) and it kinda seems like the effortless manipulation of the earth Valta gets after titan-senpai noticed her. My personal theory, based less on any specific Dragon Age lore and more meta narrative, is that Kal-Sharok Dwarves are Goblins. I could simply reading too much into these things, but several patterns in the non humans in DA remind me of other fantasy race tropes:
Ancient Elves, particularly the Evanuris, have bits of both traditional High and Dark Elves, or the Seelie and Unseelie Courts of the Fae. Dalish are Wild Elves. City Elves are "House Elves", i.e. Hob/Pixie/Sprite types bound into service.
Qunari are Orcs; not just with the "noble savage" tropes, but the fact they were mutated into more "monstrous" forms over time.
Orzimmar Dwarves being traditional genre Dwarves is a no brainer, but surface Dwarves are Halflings/Hobbits. Seriously, Varric's backstory, being an adventurer writer who still loves his comforts who wears a ring on a chain pretty much makes him an honorary Baggins  . Sandal and Dagna, being eccentric inventors, are obviously Gnomes.
Which brings us to Kal-Sharok; their low level Taint mutations, isolationism, labyrinthine architecture and travel, and looser and less honor bound society reminds me of different versions of Goblins. Obviously Bioware uses their versions to deconstruct these clichés; Qunari are less the Mongol Horde and more the Ottoman Empire mixed with Taoist Confucianism and Plato's The Republic, City Elves being fully three dimensional Elves, and so on. Just saying I think the writers started with such stereotypes in order to move past them. How this will affect the evolution of Kal-Sharok Dwarves, hopefully DA4 will shed a little light on. Preferably in a romancable Companion  .
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Devs gotta get that sweet, sweet irony in
For a long time my DW rogue Brosca was my so-called canon Warden, but now I've passed the torch to my 2H warrior Aeducan. I'm basing his personality off of Korbin from DAMP. A traditional dwarf, but one who is awed by the beauty of the surface. He's a soldier and a scholar and takes his exile seriously - in the words of Malcolm Reynolds, "We're all just folk now."
I'm still deciding. He'd be a fundamentally different character from my other Brosca, but if he's casteless I imagine he only becomes bookish later, when he has the opportunity (and learns to read). Aeducan will have been bookish his whole life.
"Where'd a casteless learn to fight like that?!" indeed. 
. Sandal and Dagna, being eccentric inventors, are obviously Gnomes. 
.