Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights Posts: 12,629 Likes: 29,932
Member is Online
Consider this, in Bioware's first game with romances, there were three full (and one of them, I still consider EPIC) romances for cisgender males and one underwhelming romance for cisgender females.
Sorry but I must take issue with this. Cisgender is not a sexual orientation. Whether you are cisgender (I personally hate that term) or transgender, the usual sexual orientations apply.
I assume you are referring to Baldur's Gate 2 with regard to these romances. There were three male heterosexual romances and one female heterosexual romance. Since then they have introduced romances that were bisexual and finally two that were exclusively homosexual. Arguably there was also one, Sebastian, that was asexual.
80+/- minutes is way longer than I remember (that was 10+ years ago). If the Complete Romance Youtube collectios include banter that I consider outside the romance arc then boo to them. Perhaps my romance arc viewpoint is too focused. Regardless, that s my perception as a player. Point though, is this: If a player's perception of a romance arc is negative, then the writers need to understand why and correct what's broken. Easy to say, I admit. But, there is an opportunity with DA4. Perhaps a pre-DA4 romance questionnaire is in order. LOL.
You should have just led with this and left the the developer-slamming conspiracy theories on the bathroom floor where they belong.
Snip
Could have but did not.
Fascinating, I find, that a single sentence can unblock a pentup diarrhea of conspiratorial verbiage that has nothing to do with the statement in question. Was skeletal the word that triggered said nauseating reaction?
Regardless, I find Cass' romance to be more of a hurried formula. It satisfied the perceived need of a player to "complete the mission". Once done, it ended... abruptly I add. Unsatisfying, from my viewpoint.
DA4 is an opportunity for the writers to create romances beyond the formula "Start -> End". I'd like to see additional dialogue afterwards. DA:O's Morrigan romance is way better than Cass' in this respect.
(◔‿◔)
____________________
Morpheus: "know what happened happened and that it could not have happened in any other way".
Consider this, in Bioware's first game with romances, there were three full (and one of them, I still consider EPIC) romances for cisgender males and one underwhelming romance for cisgender females.
Sorry but I must take issue with this. Cisgender is not a sexual orientation. Whether you are cisgender (I personally hate that term) or transgender, the usual sexual orientations apply.
I assume you are referring to Baldur's Gate 2 with regard to these romances. There were three male heterosexual romances and one female heterosexual romance. Since then they have introduced romances that were bisexual and finally two that were exclusively homosexual. Arguably there was also one, Sebastian, that was asexual.
Sebastian wasn’t asexual. He took a vow of celibacy, but he is heterosexual. The only LI they’ve had that can be seen as asexual is Josephine, since the writer said that is a valid interpretation of her orientation.
Fascinating!... his view of Cassandra. Compared to Dorian's fully fleshed out story arc (with the necessary Word Budget), Cassandra's suffered a skeletonised romance arc..... yep, truly inclusive.
After the brief but requisite wham-bam scene, Cas never 'opened' up to me again. Truly, I tell you, I was forgotten. Truth be told, though, her penchant for romance novels cracked me up.
(◔‿◔)
______________________
I think one area BioWare needs to improve when it comes to romance is what happens after the entire arc plays out. To me I think Mass Effect 2 was done well for you can invite your interest up to Shepard's cabin and spend time together. I think if there was one or maybe two more events beyond the two there it could have been a good template going forward. They don't have to be much more in depth then what is already there just something different in the Normandy such as a late night dinner alone in the galley just to give the impression of a "date night". With the games released after it seems most of the time it come across as a storyline that is abandoned after completion.
Indeed. I mean, much as how I loved Cassandra's character, her romance was literally just a fetch quest followed by sexitimes.
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights Posts: 12,629 Likes: 29,932
Member is Online
Sebastian wasn’t asexual. He took a vow of celibacy, but he is heterosexual. The only LI they’ve had that can be seen as asexual is Josephine, since the writer said that is a valid interpretation of her orientation.
Sorry, you are right. I forgot about his whole history before joining the Chantry. Perhaps it would be more correct to say that if you wish to romance Sebastian, at least as a Chantry brother, then you could view your PC as asexual if you wish. I hadn't seen what the writer said about Josephine but it's good to know you can interpret it that way.
Sebastian wasn’t asexual. He took a vow of celibacy, but he is heterosexual. The only LI they’ve had that can be seen as asexual is Josephine, since the writer said that is a valid interpretation of her orientation.
Sorry, you are right. I forgot about his whole history before joining the Chantry. Perhaps it would be more correct to say that if you wish to romance Sebastian, at least as a Chantry brother, then you could view your PC as asexual if you wish. I hadn't seen what the writer said about Josephine but it's good to know you can interpret it that way.
Possibly, though they wrote female Hawke as super horny in Sebastian’s romance so not really. That romance made fun of asexuality if anything. Yeah she answered it in a tweet that Josie can be seen as Ace or Demi. Also a couple years ago Merrill’s writer said she could be seen as Demisexual so technically we have two LIs that can be part of the Ace Spectrum. Hopefully in the next game we’ll have some that are explicitly so instead of just being valid interpretations. But I imagine that won’t be for a long time and instead they’ll just stick with some romances not requiring sex.
Mike Jungbluth @lightbombmike The 24th Good Bad Movie on the Dragon Age animation team's watch list was one of my favorites, Transylvania 6-5000. The physical comedy and commitment to the premise are A+
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights Posts: 12,629 Likes: 29,932
Member is Online
Possibly, though they wrote female Hawke as super horny in Sebastian’s romance so not really.
To my mind Hawke comes across like this in all romances. I still feel that offering a heart icon that results, in the case of both Fenris and Anders, in a totally inappropriate and insensitive flirtation in your first conversation after recruiting them, makes Hawke seem a sex obsessed jerk.
Also a couple years ago Merrill’s writer said she could be seen as Demisexual
Hmm, I suppose it does depend on your viewpoint. I just keep recalling the fact that I made a comment that she had nice eyes in Act 1 but then went with Fenris as a romance and had totally forgotten I had said anything. Because I kept balancing out on conversations/actions which Merrill approved/disapproved, her friendship/rivalry meter didn't get to the required level to trigger the next stage of the romance until Act 3. Then, after I had already reconciled with Fenris, so you would imagine was completely locked in, Merrill turned up on my doorstep thinking we were in a relationship and wanting to take it to the next level! So I had literally gone from "you have nice eyes" to "let's have sex", with nothing in between, with Merrill getting really upset if I turned her down. To be honest, I think it was a bug that I was able to do this whilst in another relationship but I could see how the mechanics allowed for this to occur if I had only been interested in Merrill and it came across as really weird. I much preferred how it was done in DAO, with conversations separated between general and romance, so you could choose if and when you opted to pursue the romance path, so you didn't feel like you were over eager and horny when that was not appropriate to your character, and didn't feel you missed out on other conversations in order to keep the romance option open.
Hopefully in the next game we’ll have some that are explicitly so instead of just being valid interpretations.
Sadly they probably feel that there are too few people who would actually go for this. Instead it is likely to continue to be a case of leaving some romances able to be interpreted either way
I forgot but what was the explanation as to why red lyrium was considered unknown to the dwarves, wardens, and chantry if it was just blighted lyrium despite the darkspawn infecting vast swathes of lands throughout the centuries?
I forgot but what was the explanation as to why red lyrium was considered unknown to the dwarves, wardens, and chantry if it was just blighted lyrium despite the darkspawn infecting vast swathes of lands throughout the centuries?
However lyrium gets blighted, 'being near darkspawn' is clearly not it. Red lyrium can spread its corruption to other living things, but the reverse does not appear to be true. Given how much darkspawn blood the dwarves have spilled in lyrium mines, I'm betting that it's just not possible for it to happen. All the red lyrium we see in the series ultimately comes from the artefact brought back from the forgotten Thaig.
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights Posts: 12,629 Likes: 29,932
Member is Online
I forgot but what was the explanation as to why red lyrium was considered unknown to the dwarves, wardens, and chantry if it was just blighted lyrium despite the darkspawn infecting vast swathes of lands throughout the centuries?
All the red lyrium we see in the series ultimately comes from the artefact brought back from the forgotten Thaig.
This is not absolutely true but merely one way of interpreting the facts. According to Bianca, she gave the location of the ancient thaig to Corypheus and it does appear that this was the original source of the red lyrium that was brought to the surface by him and his followers. However, I don't recall it being stated anywhere that the idol was the source of the corruption, just that it was also made of red lyrium. So it is a bit of a chicken and egg situation. Was red lyrium created from the idol or the idol from red lyrium? Whatever the answer, it still begs the question "how did it become corrupted in the first place?" Clearly just proximity to darkspawn is not the answer. This is where we come back to the idea that somewhere there is a blighted titan, since we have now been told that lyrium is the blood of titans and organic (even though originally we were told it was a mineral). It is also strange in that it can multiply on any living organism, which is not true of standard lyrium, so the blight would appear to have given it additional properties.
Of course, we don't actually know the source of the blight as yet. I am prepared to believe Corypheus that the City was already Black when they got there, so they discovered the Darkness (blight corruption) and caused it to be released but they weren't responsible for its original creation. It is also curious that the Magisters were able to absorb the blight but retain their mental faculties, as opposed to gradually degenerating into ghouls. Was it something about being actually in the Black City that allowed them to do this? Why could Corypheus apparently control which body he jumped to when he regenerated, unlike an Arch-demon? Why did he have so much control over the minds of Grey Wardens, even to the extent of preventing them from harming him, when an Arch-demon cannot?
The idol itself is rather peculiar in that it seems to have a life of its own and can regenerate itself. I suggest taking a look at the Crazy Theory thread (pages 45 and 46) for some ideas about the idol and why it can do this.
I forgot but what was the explanation as to why red lyrium was considered unknown to the dwarves, wardens, and chantry if it was just blighted lyrium despite the darkspawn infecting vast swathes of lands throughout the centuries?
All the red lyrium we see in the series ultimately comes from the artefact brought back from the forgotten Thaig.
This is not absolutely true but merely one way of interpreting the facts. According to Bianca, she gave the location of the ancient thaig to Corypheus and it does appear that this was the original source of the red lyrium that was brought to the surface by him and his followers. However, I don't recall it being stated anywhere that the idol was the source of the corruption, just that it was also made of red lyrium. So it is a bit of a chicken and egg situation. Was red lyrium created from the idol or the idol from red lyrium? Whatever the answer, it still begs the question "how did it become corrupted in the first place?" Clearly just proximity to darkspawn is not the answer. This is where we come back to the idea that somewhere there is a blighted titan, since we have now been told that lyrium is the blood of titans and organic (even though originally we were told it was a mineral). It is also strange in that it can multiply on any living organism, which is not true of standard lyrium, so the blight would appear to have given it additional properties. Of course, we don't actually know the source of the blight as yet. I am prepared to believe Corypheus that the City was already Black when they got there, so they discovered the Darkness (blight corruption) and caused it to be released but they weren't responsible for its original creation. It is also curious that the Magisters were able to absorb the blight but retain their mental faculties, as opposed to gradually degenerating into ghouls. Was it something about being actually in the Black City that allowed them to do this?
The idol itself seems rather peculiar in that it seems to have a life of its own and can regenerate itself. I suggest taking a look at the Crazy Theory thread (pages 45 and 46) for some ideas about the idol and why it can do this.
The Black City is supposed to be in the Fade, right? And the Fade reflects emotions and events from the physical world, so perhaps the Blight originally was just the Fade reflecting man's evil and manifesting it as huge black mass.
Don't you see? The Chantry was right all along! The darkspawn are the physical embodiment of sin!
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights Posts: 12,629 Likes: 29,932
Member is Online
The Black City is supposed to be in the Fade, right? And the Fade reflects emotions and events from the physical world, so perhaps the Blight originally was just the Fade reflecting man's evil and manifesting it as huge black mass.
Except it was definitely golden at one time. It is also curious that there are 4 religions who all believe it was the home of their gods. The Dalish call it the Eternal City, home of the Creators; the Vints saw it as the Golden City, home of the Old Gods; Andraste, an Alamarri barbarian, saw it as a Golden City turned black by the sin of the Magisters, home of the Maker; and the Avvar (an offshoot of the Alamarri) see it as the home of the gods, once reachable from earth but lifted up into the Fade by the Lady of the Skies. Strangely enough the Avvar idea of it seems closest to what we now know about the relationship between the earth and the Fade and their legend seems to suggest that the ancient Alamarri barbarians witnessed the creation of the Veil.
I do wonder if some part of the city was left in the Waking World when the Veil was created and sank beneath either the earth or the sea (listen to Maryden's song Mercy for the Elves). It was this latter place where the blight was created but when the Magisters briefly breached the Veil, it allowed a sort of spiritual unification of the two structures, instantly corrupting the Fade side.
I forgot but what was the explanation as to why red lyrium was considered unknown to the dwarves, wardens, and chantry if it was just blighted lyrium despite the darkspawn infecting vast swathes of lands throughout the centuries?
However lyrium gets blighted, 'being near darkspawn' is clearly not it. Red lyrium can spread its corruption to other living things, but the reverse does not appear to be true. Given how much darkspawn blood the dwarves have spilled in lyrium mines, I'm betting that it's just not possible for it to happen. All the red lyrium we see in the series ultimately comes from the artefact brought back from the forgotten Thaig.
I forgot but what was the explanation as to why red lyrium was considered unknown to the dwarves, wardens, and chantry if it was just blighted lyrium despite the darkspawn infecting vast swathes of lands throughout the centuries?
All the red lyrium we see in the series ultimately comes from the artefact brought back from the forgotten Thaig.
This is not absolutely true but merely one way of interpreting the facts. According to Bianca, she gave the location of the ancient thaig to Corypheus and it does appear that this was the original source of the red lyrium that was brought to the surface by him and his followers. However, I don't recall it being stated anywhere that the idol was the source of the corruption, just that it was also made of red lyrium. So it is a bit of a chicken and egg situation. Was red lyrium created from the idol or the idol from red lyrium? Whatever the answer, it still begs the question "how did it become corrupted in the first place?" Clearly just proximity to darkspawn is not the answer. This is where we come back to the idea that somewhere there is a blighted titan, since we have now been told that lyrium is the blood of titans and organic (even though originally we were told it was a mineral). It is also strange in that it can multiply on any living organism, which is not true of standard lyrium, so the blight would appear to have given it additional properties.
Of course, we don't actually know the source of the blight as yet. I am prepared to believe Corypheus that the City was already Black when they got there, so they discovered the Darkness (blight corruption) and caused it to be released but they weren't responsible for its original creation. It is also curious that the Magisters were able to absorb the blight but retain their mental faculties, as opposed to gradually degenerating into ghouls. Was it something about being actually in the Black City that allowed them to do this? Why could Corypheus apparently control which body he jumped to when he regenerated, unlike an Arch-demon? Why did he have so much control over the minds of Grey Wardens, even to the extent of preventing them from harming him, when an Arch-demon cannot?
The idol itself is rather peculiar in that it seems to have a life of its own and can regenerate itself. I suggest taking a look at the Crazy Theory thread (pages 45 and 46) for some ideas about the idol and why it can do this.
Thank you two for the heads up. I was almost losing it after combing through the post DA2 books and comics i could find.
Except it was definitely golden at one time. It is also curious that there are 4 religions who all believe it was the home of their gods. The Dalish call it the Eternal City, home of the Creators; the Vints saw it as the Golden City, home of the Old Gods; Andraste, an Alamarri barbarian, saw it as a Golden City turned black by the sin of the Magisters, home of the Maker; and the Avvar (an offshoot of the Alamarri) see it as the home of the gods, once reachable from earth but lifted up into the Fade by the Lady of the Skies. Strangely enough the Avvar idea of it seems closest to what we now know about the relationship between the earth and the Fade and their legend seems to suggest that the ancient Alamarri barbarians witnessed the creation of the Veil.
I do wonder if some part of the city was left in the Waking World when the Veil was created and sank beneath either the earth or the sea (listen to Maryden's song Mercy for the Elves). It was this latter place where the blight was created but when the Magisters briefly breached the Veil, it allowed a sort of spiritual unification of the two structures, instantly corrupting the Fade side.
A thought that I'm looking forward to you shooting down, is that the Black City manifests in both realms simultaneously. We know its possible to somewhat calibrate between the two. The Inquisitor spots the rift opened in the Adamant Courtyard by Clarel from the Nightmare's Realm and the party moves towards it. We also know that areas of great emotional power can manifest in the spirits the Fade as Solas talks about going to ruins and battlefields in the mundane world to learn of history in the Fade. (He just kindof neglects he's been doing it for millennia and didn't have to bother with the Veil ) We know people visiting the Fade in person or in dreams can see the Black City. We also know (from our recent discussion about Tamlen's eluvian) that there is some kind of Black City deep underground. If the Black City is the seat of some Great Power (and possible prison of the twisted Evanuris), then it could manifest in both the physical world and the Fade.
On a side note, there were veins of red lyrium throughout the Primeval Thaig depicted as red versions of the usual blue veins seen elsewhere in the Deep Roads in Exodus. There's thus no reason to assume that the Red Lyrium Idol is the source of all the red we see on the surface in Inquisition. The reason dwarves and Wardens don't know (or seem to know) much about red is that the Primeval Thaig was deeper underground than anyone in memory had gone according to Nathaniel in Exodus. Also, the dwarves had sealed the Thaig for unknown reasons after finding it abandoned and the Red Lyrium Idol somewhere in the distant past with the records expunged from The Memories. That's some pretty big denial. What about the idol had so concerned/terrified the king was left unsaid, but it had to be big because, until that time, that Thaig had supplied most of the kingdom's lyrium. (Come to think of it, sounds kind of like Heidrun Thaig before the Blight. Hrrrrmmmmm)
The Rules of the Game 1: All gamers are Gamers 2: It's not Your Game, it's not My Game, it's Our Game 3: Developers aren't lazy or out to get You 4: Of course Publishers want more money, it is how Games get made 5: Listen, Rethink, Build
The Black City is supposed to be in the Fade, right? And the Fade reflects emotions and events from the physical world, so perhaps the Blight originally was just the Fade reflecting man's evil and manifesting it as huge black mass.
Except it was definitely golden at one time. It is also curious that there are 4 religions who all believe it was the home of their gods. The Dalish call it the Eternal City, home of the Creators; the Vints saw it as the Golden City, home of the Old Gods; Andraste, an Alamarri barbarian, saw it as a Golden City turned black by the sin of the Magisters, home of the Maker; and the Avvar (an offshoot of the Alamarri) see it as the home of the gods, once reachable from earth but lifted up into the Fade by the Lady of the Skies. Strangely enough the Avvar idea of it seems closest to what we now know about the relationship between the earth and the Fade and their legend seems to suggest that the ancient Alamarri barbarians witnessed the creation of the Veil.
I do wonder if some part of the city was left in the Waking World when the Veil was created and sank beneath either the earth or the sea (listen to Maryden's song Mercy for the Elves). It was this latter place where the blight was created but when the Magisters briefly breached the Veil, it allowed a sort of spiritual unification of the two structures, instantly corrupting the Fade side.
"I see some kind of city..underground? And...there's a great blackness."
Except it was definitely golden at one time. It is also curious that there are 4 religions who all believe it was the home of their gods. The Dalish call it the Eternal City, home of the Creators; the Vints saw it as the Golden City, home of the Old Gods; Andraste, an Alamarri barbarian, saw it as a Golden City turned black by the sin of the Magisters, home of the Maker; and the Avvar (an offshoot of the Alamarri) see it as the home of the gods, once reachable from earth but lifted up into the Fade by the Lady of the Skies. Strangely enough the Avvar idea of it seems closest to what we now know about the relationship between the earth and the Fade and their legend seems to suggest that the ancient Alamarri barbarians witnessed the creation of the Veil.
I do wonder if some part of the city was left in the Waking World when the Veil was created and sank beneath either the earth or the sea (listen to Maryden's song Mercy for the Elves). It was this latter place where the blight was created but when the Magisters briefly breached the Veil, it allowed a sort of spiritual unification of the two structures, instantly corrupting the Fade side.
A thought that I'm looking forward to you shooting down, is that the Black City manifests in both realms simultaneously. We know its possible to somewhat calibrate between the two. The Inquisitor spots the rift opened in the Adamant Courtyard by Clarel from the Nightmare's Realm and the party moves towards it. We also know that areas of great emotional power can manifest in the spirits the Fade as Solas talks about going to ruins and battlefields in the mundane world to learn of history in the Fade. (He just kindof neglects he's been doing it for millennia and didn't have to bother with the Veil ) We know people visiting the Fade in person or in dreams can see the Black City. We also know (from our recent discussion about Tamlen's eluvian) that there is some kind of Black City deep underground. If the Black City is the seat of some Great Power (and possible prison of the twisted Evanuris), then it could manifest in both the physical world and the Fade.
On a side note, there were veins of red lyrium throughout the Primeval Thaig depicted as red versions of the usual blue veins seen elsewhere in the Deep Roads in Exodus. There's thus no reason to assume that the Red Lyrium Idol is the source of all the red we see on the surface in Inquisition. The reason dwarves and Wardens don't know (or seem to know) much about red is that the Primeval Thaig was deeper underground than anyone in memory had gone according to Nathaniel in Exodus. Also, the dwarves had sealed the Thaig for unknown reasons after finding it abandoned and the Red Lyrium Idol somewhere in the distant past with the records expunged from The Memories. That's some pretty big denial. What about the idol had so concerned/terrified the king was left unsaid, but it had to be big because, until that time, that Thaig had supplied most of the kingdom's lyrium. (Come to think of it, sounds kind of like Heidrun Thaig before the Blight. Hrrrrmmmmm)
We know it isn't. Varric told Bianca about the Primeval Thaig. She, in turn was tricked into telling Corpyheus while he was still wearing his Larius/Janeka skinsuit.
The Black City is supposed to be in the Fade, right? And the Fade reflects emotions and events from the physical world, so perhaps the Blight originally was just the Fade reflecting man's evil and manifesting it as huge black mass.
Except it was definitely golden at one time. It is also curious that there are 4 religions who all believe it was the home of their gods. The Dalish call it the Eternal City, home of the Creators; the Vints saw it as the Golden City, home of the Old Gods; Andraste, an Alamarri barbarian, saw it as a Golden City turned black by the sin of the Magisters, home of the Maker; and the Avvar (an offshoot of the Alamarri) see it as the home of the gods, once reachable from earth but lifted up into the Fade by the Lady of the Skies. Strangely enough the Avvar idea of it seems closest to what we now know about the relationship between the earth and the Fade and their legend seems to suggest that the ancient Alamarri barbarians witnessed the creation of the Veil.
I do wonder if some part of the city was left in the Waking World when the Veil was created and sank beneath either the earth or the sea (listen to Maryden's song Mercy for the Elves). It was this latter place where the blight was created but when the Magisters briefly breached the Veil, it allowed a sort of spiritual unification of the two structures, instantly corrupting the Fade side.
Yes, the Golden/Blackened City is the one constant in the Fade. Everyone who visits it, in dreams or in person, can see it. So it's blackening is a matter or recorded history. Even if the circumstances regarding the event are debated.
The idea that it's an ancient Elvish city sundered from the world with the Veil is an interesting one.
I forgot but what was the explanation as to why red lyrium was considered unknown to the dwarves, wardens, and chantry if it was just blighted lyrium despite the darkspawn infecting vast swathes of lands throughout the centuries?
All the red lyrium we see in the series ultimately comes from the artefact brought back from the forgotten Thaig.
This is not absolutely true but merely one way of interpreting the facts. According to Bianca, she gave the location of the ancient thaig to Corypheus and it does appear that this was the original source of the red lyrium that was brought to the surface by him and his followers. However, I don't recall it being stated anywhere that the idol was the source of the corruption, just that it was also made of red lyrium. So it is a bit of a chicken and egg situation. Was red lyrium created from the idol or the idol from red lyrium? Whatever the answer, it still begs the question "how did it become corrupted in the first place?" Clearly just proximity to darkspawn is not the answer. This is where we come back to the idea that somewhere there is a blighted titan, since we have now been told that lyrium is the blood of titans and organic (even though originally we were told it was a mineral). It is also strange in that it can multiply on any living organism, which is not true of standard lyrium, so the blight would appear to have given it additional properties.
Of course, we don't actually know the source of the blight as yet. I am prepared to believe Corypheus that the City was already Black when they got there, so they discovered the Darkness (blight corruption) and caused it to be released but they weren't responsible for its original creation. It is also curious that the Magisters were able to absorb the blight but retain their mental faculties, as opposed to gradually degenerating into ghouls. Was it something about being actually in the Black City that allowed them to do this? Why could Corypheus apparently control which body he jumped to when he regenerated, unlike an Arch-demon? Why did he have so much control over the minds of Grey Wardens, even to the extent of preventing them from harming him, when an Arch-demon cannot?
The idol itself is rather peculiar in that it seems to have a life of its own and can regenerate itself. I suggest taking a look at the Crazy Theory thread (pages 45 and 46) for some ideas about the idol and why it can do this.
What's interesting about red lyrium is it appears to grow on its own, when in contact with organic matter.
What's interesting about red lyrium is it appears to grow on its own, when in contact with organic matter.
There's a humorously horrifying set of dialogues between an Inquisition Scout and a Tranquil in the Suledin Keep about the spread of red lyrium and how that spread is seemingly unstoppable once it has reached the surface. If you have a save where you have freed Suledin and haven't walked in and out the long way too much (not using fast travel), there's a tent with some yellow glowing machinery and scout is the big courtyard where you fight the Behemoth, a couple of Shadows, and couple of Horrors and a couple of Red Templars. Get close enough to listen in. They have three or four discussions about the red lyrium in the nearby quarry. kind of eye-popping stuff and, like a lot of that kind of information SO easy to miss if it doesn't catch your ear on the way out.
The Rules of the Game 1: All gamers are Gamers 2: It's not Your Game, it's not My Game, it's Our Game 3: Developers aren't lazy or out to get You 4: Of course Publishers want more money, it is how Games get made 5: Listen, Rethink, Build