Tevinter Nights - Spoiler Thread

I think this all has to do with differences in how to deal with Solas.

I just finished re-reading Half Up Front. The fake Dumat's Folly weapon that the cultist hired Vadis to track down is interesting. It seems like an accelerated version of Solas' orb. A sort of collector and concentrator of magical energy.

The cultists ended up using it as a bomb, but I wonder if it might have been more useful to Solas as a battery, since we know he needs a lot of magical energy to pull off whatever he's planning.

I also wonder if it was the plan all along for it to be planted in the Archon's palace for the Qunari to steal, or whether it was actually supposed to stay in the Archon's palace, and everything since then was Plan B. If meant to be used as a battery, it could have absorbed magical energy at the palace but instead it ended up on a boat full of magical artifacts that it could draw on (and cripple Qunari research efforts at the same time.) If meant to be used as a bomb, it could have taken out the cream of Tevinter society in Minrathous, but once in Kon-Taar, it could have been used to take out a sizeable chunk of Qunari society.

The one cultist we met in the story killed herself before Irian and Vadis could question her. If Vadis had stayed paralyzed and Irian hadn't been there to knock out the cultist, it is possible that the cultist could have used the rune to stop charging up the artifact. But she ended her life instead, and Vadis and Irian couldn't have known how to turn it off (if that was ever a possibility to begin with). So I think there is room for doubt that Solas meant to blow things up.

I agree with you that it's possible the cultist got the fake Dumat's Folly from Solas, especially since the code word was Felassan. Not sure how random elves would know that name unless they had some link to Briala, Mihris, or Solas. But I'm also not sure if she followed his plans or went off on her own.

More importantly perhaps: Since the real Dumat's Folly is not magical at all - it's just an inert chunk of the Black City - why did the Qunari go after it in the first place? Did they just assume "this thing is valuable to the Vints, therefore it must be magical"? Then it's probably an accident they took it at all. Did someone give them the idea that it was magical and therefore something they needed to study? The obvious culprit would be one of Solas' agents. But if that's the case, it's almost an absurdly complicated plot with lots of opportunity for failure. What if the cultist hadn't managed to replace the real Dumat's Folly in the Archon's palace with the fake one? What if the Qunari hadn't succeeded in stealing the fake one? What if someone else had attacked the Qunari agents on their way to the new Darvaarad and stolen the fake Dumat's Folly? What if the cultist hadn't been able to track it/hire Vadis to track it? What if the cultist had been able to track it, but she'd been attacked or killed en route? Were there other cultists waiting in Kon-taar for Vadis to show up with the rune that was needed to activate the fake Dumat's Folly on the Darvaarad?

If Solas wanted to blow up Kon-taar to incite war, there surely would have been a more certain way to do it while still framing others. That's why I think it's possible the original plan was to use the fake Dumat's Folly in the Archon's palace - whether to simply absorb magical energy from all the spells and mages or possibly to blow up the Archon and important Magisters, I cannot guess.

I agree that Vadis and Gatt drew their own conclusions about what the plan was. They might be right or they might be wrong, just like us fans speculating - only time and playing DA4 will tell! I think it's important to note here that Gatt, being Qunari, would have reason to think the worst of the Dread Wolf since Solas is certainly a Saarebas of the highest order, as far as they're concerned.


(Edited to clarify my thoughts.)

The other interesting thing about Half Up Front is that Gatt sent Vadis and Irian to "A dwarf in Kirkwall. He will want to hear what you have to say about the enemy. And more than that, he will have work for you. Something more than survival--a chance to strike back. A chance to matter."

Is he talking about Varric? And if he is, that suggests the Ben-Hassrath are working with the Inquisition behind the scenes.

Yet in the very next story, the Ben-Hassrath don't show up to Charter's meeting in spite of being invited to attend.

Although, unless the Ben-Hassrath did something Solas finds reprehensible, I think they might have been safe.

The Assassin murdered an elf in cold blood. It seems likely that he double crossed Solas as well, since the elf who hired him to get the idol appears to have been one of Solas' agents. So the dwarf died for murdering one of Solas' people and for double-crossing Solas.

The Mortalitasi kept binding spirits even after Solas warned her to stop. She also allowed a number of slaves to be murdered by the Tevinter mage. So her life was forfeit for those reasons.

The Executor is apparently extraordinarily dangerous, so that's why Solas killed them.

Charter was safe. I don't think her life was ever in danger from Solas to begin with, for several reasons, none of which were that she begged for her life: She hadn't crossed Solas; he has a soft spot for the Inquisition; and he seems to want them to stop him. (Otherwise he wouldn't keep letting people like the Inquisitor and Charter go on their merry ways.)

So anyway, I think there's a good chance the Ben-Hassrath would have been safe if all they've been doing is tracking Solas' movements as much as they can. I think the Antaam could expect no mercy from Solas, though, after force-feeding numerous mages qamek. I think Solas would consider that reprehensible.

I really have to read the Dread Wolf take you again...

It would seem likely the idea was given to them by one of his agents pretending to be one of their's.

"One of our agents spoke of Dumat's Folly. Suggested it was a artefact of great power and danger, integral to Fen'Harel's plans."

However he also says: "We captured him, planned to interrogate him but he killed himself first."

That seems very odd to me. Why did they need to capture him if he was one of their agents? If he was not, did they not think it odd he hinted about the object, then killed himself? So I feel there is something missing there. May be it should have said one of our agents overheard another agent talking about the object, so they captured that person and then he killed himself. Anyway, it would definitely seem that it was a ruse by enemies of the Qun to trick them into taking the false Dumat's Folly to the Darvaarad.

Sometimes the way these plots are written don't make a lot of sense but essentially I think the idea was to destroy the Darvaarad first and foremost and it required a bit of ingenuity to enable this to happen because the Qun were keeping it on the move to avoid that possibility. The idea was to disrupt the Ben'Hassrath's search for ways to stop the Dread Wolf. Gatt only told Irian and Vardis how he viewed it or how he wanted it to appear to them, so they would report it as the Dread Wolf cultists attempting to destroy a load of innocent civilians rather than disrupting the efforts of the Ben'Hassrath by destroying their latest magical research facility.



Nope, they are definitely tracking him with the intent of interfering with his plans and, as Charter admits, probably know more about his movements than anyone. If the Ben'Hassrath had sent anyone to that meeting, they would be dead too, and likely killed off like the Executor was, before they could reveal what they knew. However, the Ben'Hassrath were one step ahead of him and declined to attend. Charter could even have been lying and it was the Inquisition who warned them not to take part, because it is clear they are co-operating with the Shadow Inquisition because of Gatt's mention about the dwarf in Kirkwall that can only be Varric.   Solas hates the Qun full stop.  He would show them no mercy.



Yes, absolutely, which is why I think Charter was lying about that.

@gervaise As Midnight Tea pointed out in the Blanketfort thread, Solas hates the Qun (the philosophy), not the Qunari (the people). There is a difference.

I wonder what if any kind of society Solas hopes the new world will be built up to be? The Ancient Elven Empire was the worst traits of Orlais and Tevinter combined, yet that society came about through necessity. The rule of the Evanuris was brought about through war, and now he wages war against the entire physical world with an army of fanatics and spirits. The ones left standing will live in a world where the Elves alone are considered 'people' and everything and everyone else is considered animals. I will laugh in his face when his great 'Elven restoration' results in an entirely new generation of Evanuris, even worse than the originals. Unlike the older ones, these ones lived in a world where they were powerless and considered 'less'. Now they have all the power. The ones who will live through it, will be the worst of the worst, and he wants them to rule themselves? Unless he is lying and plans to rule forever as an undisputed god ing, policing everyone on what is the 'correct' way to be. How long does gratitude last when the people you rule are immortal?

The poor kossith, or whatever they were originally, can't win with Solas can they? They're damned if they stay in the Qun and they're damned if they leave it. Also, the fact he claims to know so much about the race is disturbing, as it suggests he has encountered them in an earlier era, even though he has viewed Par Vollen from the Fade.

Mind you he is pretty bad really with any race I think. Essentially asking them if the anchor has affected them in any way is really a backhanded compliment/insult whichever way you look at it, because he is trying to find an excuse for why you have shown such wisdom and judgement. It surely can't be because you became like that naturally or through your upbringing? No it must be because of his orb.