Pharamond justinia, and sending stones

The cave isn't all that far from Adamant. Maybe it was a stop along the way?If there is a conflict I'm going to have to back DA:I as more consistent with what we've previously seen. She doesn't exactly look young in screenshots of Leiliana's Song, and that took place at least two decades and change before her appearance in DA:I.It notified the Circles that Tranquility could be reversed. But I'd kind of assumed that only the Circles had them, and that everyone else had to make do with lesser means.
Not impossible, but I'm not sure it's true.

As Riverdales says, the Western Approach is on the route to Adamant, so it is likely somewhere he stopped off on the way there.



Actually it says she is young compared with previous Divines. The previous Divine was frail and senile, so probably of a very advanced age for the setting, 80+ I would guess. Justinia could simply be a very active 50-60 year old but still showing signs of aging in her face. Plus Catilina is probably right and the ritual Corypheus was performing on her in some way drained her.



No, the gathering of the First Enchanters at the White Spire was meant to be about the tranquility cure. Then Fiona hijacked proceedings to make another call for independence (her first one a year previously at the gathering of senior mages in Cumberland, failed and led to a crack down by the Templars forbidding all gatherings), Seeker Lambert responded by arresting all the First Enchanters and things went downhill from there. The Conclave was about finding a compromise solution that would end the conflict between the mages and the Templar Order. If this had failed to materialise, the Inquisition was Justinia's fall back plan to force everyone to accept her proposals.



They weren't mentioned in the games prior to DAI. You would think that if they existed the First Warden would have ensured that he and the Warden-Commander of each region had one so they could keep in touch easily. We were told in DAO that it would takes weeks for a message to reach Weishauppt Fortress, so in DAO they didn't even have ravens. Then in Asunder every Circle has got a sending stone (crystal?) but there was no mention of such a communication device in the Circle at Kinloch Hold in DAO or the Gallows in DA2. In DAI there is a sending crystal of sorts that we use to spy on Calpernia and Corypheus, although it only seems to transmit one way, so we can see and hear them but they can't see or hear us. Corypheus also leaves his thoughts in a memory crystal that we can then activate to hear them. Then in Trespasser Dorian gives a friend or romanced Inquisitor a sending crystal so they can stay in touch. He claims this is one of the perks of being part of the Inquisition that he was able to obtain one, although if that was the case you would think that Leliana would have been using one in addition to ravens. It seems more likely that they originated in Tevinter and that is why both he and Corypheus have something of the sort but that still doesn't explain why they were never heard of prior to DAI.

So to my mind they are a re-con even if they did originate in Dawn of the Seeker.

Sending stones- surprised none in orlais

I imagine due to thier superior means of communication and rarity, sending stones are one of the more restricted artifacts in a given Circle. Likely only permitted in the hands of Knight Commander or First Enchanter, or something like that.

But perhaps there's another factor. Perhaps sending stones have a limited usage and that's why they are not used too much? Like, you can only use them so many times before they get damaged and eventually broken beyond repair. That may be able to explain why they are not being used too often (aside from thier presumed rarity).

But it is suspicious they only appeared in Asunder and Dawn of the Seeker (and the Trespasser DLC).

That's like asking why I don't give all my money to charity, unless I'm evil. The people who have sending stones probably want to keep them for themselves, simple as that. I would.

Besides which, the Grey Wardens are not wholly righteous, nor are they a wholly apolitical organization. They involved themselves in at least one coup, and were exiled from Fereldan for hundreds of years as a result. They are also extremely secretive, and outside of Blights, don't seem to do a great deal, historically speaking. In fact, prior to the events of DA:O, popular opinion was that the Grey Wardens were an outdated, unnecessary organisation.

If I possessed a rare and extremely useful magical artifact, I would absolutely think twice about giving it to a secretive organisation with unclear allegiances, who don't seem to be doing much anyway.

Remember who we're getting our info from in DAO? Alistair, who appears to know nothing about anything. Even if Duncan had messenger ravens, they would be in Denerim, which is controlled by Loghain. Or, if he had any at Ostagar, they were probably killed by darkspawn or flew away. That's also assuming he would have brought any with him trained to fly all the way to Weisshaupt. A better assumption is any messages for HQ were already sent by him before he left Denerim on his recruiting trip.

Not so suspicious...

This is exactly why. Well, this is considering that they (writers) had the concept of sending stones or similar in mind during DAO development.

Sending stones or crystals are a contrivance. You can't have everyone having them or else the dramatic tension in some situations would be reduced. Similarly, their usage in Asunder and the gift from Dorian are about convenience.


The very fact that he cites his association with the Inquisition as the means of obtaining them doesn't sound like "without too much trouble" to me. I'll wager that they are prohibitively expensive, perhaps even requiring a certain type of crystal or mineral. Lore-wise, this would account for most scenarios where usage would make sense, yet not be present.

Well clearly that couldn't have been the same as the sending stones in the Circles then because a Knight Commander should know about them if every Circle has one.



I clarified what I meant by "not too much trouble" by saying I thought they were something that could be crafted rather than some ancient artefact. If they were so expensive to produce then I'd have thought Leliana would have had first dibs on them before Dorian. In fact why was it never suggested that the Inquisitor have one before? The expense and rarity of the ingredients for creating them would surely not be a problem for the Empress of Orlais, particularly as she is said to be interested in obscure and unusual forms of magic.

I think the best explanation would be it was knowledge that the Chantry kept tight control over and so it was a secret kept from those outside of the First Enchanters of Chantry controlled Circles, which would explain why it was just the Circles and Divine who had them. It was only after a member of the Inquisition actually becomes Divine that she is able to authorise members of the Inquisition having them.

Then in Tevinter it is possible that they do have them but access is carefully controlled by the State because they don't want their enemies getting hold of the technology. That explanation would work for me.