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Post by gervaise21 on Jan 23, 2021 18:58:12 GMT
I think this is from one of the rooms (the one with avvar decor) where you find a piece of the armor set. Yes, I've found it now, thank you. So this letter was found in the same room as a piece of the armour together with notes about creating the piece that seem to have been written either by Ghilan'nain herself or one of her followers. Whilst there are codices in another location that seem to have no connection with Ghilan'nain or the ancients, perhaps that was to make us doubt the significance of this one. I do suspect a connection because of the reference to someone or something coming across the sea and the brinedark. Also the tower was once occupied by an ancient elf.
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Post by Black Magic Ritual on Mar 11, 2021 15:31:22 GMT
I was flicking through old codex texts before I got to the lost chapter from Hard in Hightown, which features the MC meeting the Warden ally left behind in the Fade dragonage.fandom.com/wiki/Codex_entry:_Hard_in_Hightown:_Chapter_%3F%3F%3FI'm sure this has been mentioned in the thread, but it feels very Sea-Salty and Executory. Maybe the executors were the ones who wrote this lost chapter?
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Post by gervaise21 on Mar 11, 2021 17:20:01 GMT
I'm sure this has been mentioned in the thread, but it feels very Sea-Salty and Executory. Maybe the executors were the ones who wrote this lost chapter? It does seem strange and you wonder what significance it had or whether it is just a red herring reference to tease us. The reference to the Amaranthine Ocean would seem significant and I also wonder at this: The tavern didn't get many visitors—just a little too far south of the Antivan border to catch the caravans—but he hadn't opened it to make a profit.
So why did Donnec open a tavern in some remote off the route place on the Amaranthine Coast?
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Post by Black Magic Ritual on Mar 11, 2021 19:02:56 GMT
I'm sure this has been mentioned in the thread, but it feels very Sea-Salty and Executory. Maybe the executors were the ones who wrote this lost chapter? It does seem strange and you wonder what significance it had or whether it is just a red herring reference to tease us. The reference to the Amaranthine Ocean would seem significant and I also wonder at this: The tavern didn't get many visitors—just a little too far south of the Antivan border to catch the caravans—but he hadn't opened it to make a profit.
So why did Donnec open a tavern in some remote off the route place on the Amaranthine Coast? Maybe it's referencing the Executor's philosophical/religious beliefs? As in if they're working for an Elven/Old God, they're actually trying to help them get into Paradise/Heaven/a higher plane of existence rather then sucking their money out like a blood vampire leech (Ironically, it could be a jab at the Chantry if you read between the lines) Wherever Donnec and Hawke/Warden are, it definitely does sound like a really nice place, very heavenly in it's description. Either that, or it's a reference to DA4
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Post by gervaise21 on Apr 2, 2021 9:38:15 GMT
I've just noticed something in Three Trees to Midnight that gave me pause for thought. Now Strife clearly seems to have reverence for Andruil and so the emphasis on the Way of Three Trees is understandable and is in keeping with traditional Dalish beliefs. However, after he kills his friend who has had his mind wiped with Qamek, he says: "Andruil guide your way, Thant." Now a typically Dalish blessing would be "Falon'Din guide your way". After all, he is the god of the dead and the Dalish believe it is his responsibility to guide their souls through the Fade. Even though currently they are aware that he is incapable of doing this having been shut away by Fen'Harel they would still give this blessing: "O Falon'Din Lethanavir—Friend to the Dead Guide my feet, calm my soul, Lead me to my rest."
So why did Strife invoke Andruil to guide him? If you believe the story he told Myrion, then he has been with his clan long enough to know these things? This does seem to point to him being from a clan of elves that are not typical Dalish in their outlook and may not be Dalish at all. Similarly there is their familiarity with Arlathan Forest. Dalish belief is that the city there was the capital of the elven empire but they know little else about it, yet Strife says the forest is dedicated to Andruil. At the very least, could this clan be a group of Andruil worshipers in much the same way that the sentinels of the Arbor Wilds were devoted to Mythal? However, given the Executor symbols on their clothing in the short story Ruins of Reality, is this another indication that the Executors could be another faction of ancient elves devoted to Andruil? Hence the arcane archers with their magical bows.
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Post by theascendent on Apr 7, 2021 17:45:37 GMT
I wonder how Elves fought back in the Ancient days where almost everyone was a mage. You probably had Eldritch Tricksters (Mage/Rogue), Arcane Warriors (Mage/Warrior), Arcane Archers (Archer/Mage), and the traditional Mage with staff. Does anyone know why staffs are the default weapon for mages. Not just for Dragon Age, but in general.
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Post by gervaise21 on Apr 7, 2021 20:15:40 GMT
Does anyone know why staffs are the default weapon for mages. Not just for Dragon Age, but in general. It probably dates back to the original D&D, which in itself was based around LoTR. The wizards in LoTR have a staff as their main weapon, which also channels their magic. However, Gandalf could also use a sword. In D&D a staff was considered a simple two-handed weapon that anyone could use with very little training, which is why it was the default weapon for a wizard who otherwise would not normally engage in martial training, unless they were dual class, but that would mean they would advance more slowly as a wizard. In Dragon Age they keep changing their minds about staffs as the default/only weapon of mages. In DAO we could use other simple weapons, provided with had the required strength/dexterity (altered to magic score if you took Arcane Warrior spec allowing more advance weapons to be used) but had to sheath them to cast spells, apart from the staff which could also be used to channel magic. Then in DA2 it seemed like you could only cast spells via a staff, although this was not true in the comic series that came out straight afterwards, so it would seem the staff requirement was a game mechanic rather than a lore requirement. We still seemed to need a staff in DAI and Knight Enchanter/Arcane Warrior now meant something completely different, so no longer able to use armour/weapons based on our magic score.
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Post by telanadas on Apr 8, 2021 6:30:02 GMT
In Dragon Age they keep changing their minds about staffs as the default/only weapon of mages. That's an interesting point actually. I remember in Bull's quest the Venatori were using their hands to channel magic. Solas also didn't have a staff on him in the blue concept art we got last year. Maybe higher level mages don't necessarily need staves to channel magic? That would be an interesting game mechanic for DA4, especially since Solas has insinuated that everyone was connected to the fade at some point so may be able to tap into its magic as a result of his ritual.
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Post by telanadas on Apr 8, 2021 6:50:34 GMT
At the very least, could this clan be a group of Andruil worshipers in much the same way that the sentinels of the Arbor Wilds were devoted to Mythal? I definitely got the impression from that story and the ruins of reality story that Arlathan forest was Andruil's domain. The fact that Ghil's statue is also within the forest also seems to reinforce the notion suggested by Strife that the forest was "hers", so I could definitely see her having her own sentinels within the area. The thing I find strange about Andruil is that she was widely known as the goddess of sacrifice. So if she was hunting people in the forest, were they sacrifices too? The concept of sacrifice suggests that she was making an offering to another person or deity, and we know now that the evanuris weren't exactly gods at all, they just happened to be powerful mages with access to secret magic. She is also known as 'blood and force', which suggests having a mortal form. Maybe she sacrificed people to keep that form? And eventually she had to create a spear so terrifying because she had to constantly appease whoever it was she was sacrificing to, culminating in whatever Solas found underground. If the executors are associated to Andruil, which does seem to be what the stories are suggesting so far, they could also be carrying on that legacy in secret.
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Post by gervaise21 on Apr 8, 2021 8:12:08 GMT
The thing I find strange about Andruil is that she was widely known as the goddess of sacrifice. Well I suppose a simple answer could be she simply liked killing things and in the absence of anything better to hunt, would routinely sacrifice those living in her domain to her urge to hunt. An alternative explanation might involve those pools in Horror of Hormack. If she and Ghilan'nain were working together, then it is likely she was sacrificing her followers to fuel Ghilan'nain's experiments at monster creation, particularly as initially the latter was not a god in her own right so would have to seek the permission of one of the gods to use their people. Then after her creations became a nuisance to the other gods, it was Andruil who had to bribe her to cease her activities, knowing that Ghil was now powerful enough in her own right that she couldn't just order her to stop, although I wonder if possibly Ghil continued to do so in secret. Something that also struck me is the description of Andruil creating her weapon. " She shook the radiance of the stars, divided them into grains of light, then stored them in a shaft of gold." I always assumed they were likely talking about droplets of lyrium but was it actually describing a process similar to that which created those arcane bows but in this case it was a spear? The fact that Ghil's statue is also within the forest also seems to reinforce the notion suggested by Strife that the forest was "hers", so I could definitely see her having her own sentinels within the area. My point about Strife is that he knew it was Andruil's domain and it didn't seem simply because it was a generic forest but specifically because it was that forest. So how did he know that? The Dalish Keepers speak of a city in the forest that belonged to all the People but there is never any mention in the lore we have received up to now that they knew the forest itself was the domain of Andruil, any more than they knew that the Arbor Wilds were the domain of Mythal. Morrigan knew about the Temple of Mythal likely from reading ancient texts, particularly the one on eluvians she stole in Witch Hunt, but also possibly from Flemeth in the past, not from the Dalish since much of what she said was at variance with what Lavellan had been taught. So how did Strife's clan know about the Arlathan Forest being the domain of Andruil? Incidentally, I've wondered a great deal about which clan Ariane was from and how they came by their book? It seems odd to me that the ancient elves bothered writing about the eluvians and in fact you would think those who created them would want to keep the knowledge to themselves as much as possible. Also, whilst I thought Morrigan returned the book at the end of Witch Hunt, if there is no OGB, you can find her in the garden reading a book about eluvians, so was it the same book? This book recorded the fact that the eluvians were shut down during the elven civil war. Which begs the question by whom? If it was Fen'Harel then was it his followers who recorded the details in the book? So, as I've previously suggested, was Ariane in fact an agent of Fen'Harel and part of the same "clan" as Felassan? Then in Ruins of Reality we are told Strife's clan have a detailed map of the forest. " Or the bewildering realization that his time-worn, always reliable map of Arlathan Forest—a map that detailed every hidden trail, cave, and elven ruin - could no longer be trusted." That isn't a Tevinter map as they tended to avoid the forest, as evidenced by Myrion, so where did this "Dalish" clan get it from? Clearly they had spent enough time in the forest to know it had previously been accurate. Additionally there is that journal he is following. It is said to be: " a relic of the Morlyn clan, handed down over generations." Now this could have been simply an old journal found in elven ruins that was written in ancient elvish, so regarded as a relic to be treasured but what if it was specific to the Morlyn clan who are not Dalish at all but a group of elves who escaped the war with Tevinter in ancient times and have been occupying the forest ever since? Why had the Keeper given it to strife when it started rewriting itself? " Their Keeper had given it to Strife when it started rewriting itself last month. Mysterious entries appeared of their own accord, describing sacred ruins in Arlathan Forest that guarded an artifact of fabled power." Why didn't the Keeper undertake the quest to the sacred ruins? Also, it seems to me that the book rewriting itself wouldn't have been much use if it was just lying somewhere in some ancient ruin. So is the book sentient and knew it was in the keeping of living elves? Or had it always been part of the clan since ancient times and was entrusted to a priest of Andruil in much the same way as the Well of Sorrows was entrusted to the priesthood of Mythal? Remember at the time of the Dales, the Keepers were not the overall leaders of the people but spiritual leaders, the priesthood and the Keepers of the Lore. So could the Keeper of Morlyn clan be a priest of Andruil (or Ghilan'nain)?
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Post by helios969 on Apr 9, 2021 10:31:46 GMT
It's lame I have to learn about this stuff from codices, books and comics, and online forums (mostly the latter). Anyway the term executor makes me think of a proxy or mediator...which means they're working on behave of some other group or entity. There are plenty of candidates but given all the elven influence laid out in previous games I'd put my money on one of the ancient elven "gods" - someone in opposition to Solas that can provide us a fighting chance. Admittedly my lore knowledge is pretty superficial so take this with a grain of salt.
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Post by theascendent on Apr 9, 2021 11:35:02 GMT
We know that the Executors oppose Solas, but do they oppose the other Evanuris or even the Forgotten Ones? The emissary they sent kept their race/identity secret and Solas killed them before they could share any information, indicating he didn't want them sharing anything with his enemies. Maybe they want the Veil to come done, but on their terms.
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Post by gervaise21 on Apr 9, 2021 13:08:34 GMT
Maybe they want the Veil to come done, but on their terms. This is something that I had suggested previously. After all, Solas says he "has plans" for dealing with the Evanuris on their release. So it is entirely possible that there are other elves, who are loyal to them, who have plans for Fen'Harel. Somehow even the Dalish got the idea that one day their gods would return "when remember what it is to be true elves". They thought this meant they had to prove themselves worthy of their gods, so remembering how to be true elves is a precursor to the gods returning but whoever it was who originally started this idea may have actually meant that they would literally return to their former state because their gods had returned as a result of the Veil being destroyed. Now the Dalish claim to be descended from elves that once lived within Arlathan Forest and we now understand that these elves were occupying an area devoted to Andruil. This would explain why the Way of Three Trees is the lore that has always been promoted among them and they seem to know far more about lore connected with Andruil and Ghilan'nain than the other gods, whilst this omits the negative stories found in the Temple of Mythal. An idea that also occurred to me concerning the war with Tevinter is that the priesthood of Andruil may have allowed the lesser elves to be captured whilst they made their escape. Some definitely fled to the dwarves in Cad'Halash and if those on Sundermount were from the same group, then apparently another last stand was made there but that doesn't preclude the possibility that some of them may have escaped altogether, possibly over sea. Two speeches by the Executor in Dread Wolf Take You particularly stood out for me. Firstly, when the participants are debating what Fen'Harel might be: " What he is does not concern us. We across the ocean care only for his goals and means of accomplished them." Note that the Executor does not say that they are only concerned about stopping him but they are only interested in what he intends to do and how. That makes me suspicious that they might not be entirely against the removal of the Veil. Secondly, when the participants are arguing about the truth of the Carta dwarf's story, just before Solas silences them the Executor says: " This does not help us eliminate the Wolf." Once again the emphasis is on removing Solas, not necessarily stopping the removal of the Veil. Plus they refer to him as simply "the Wolf", not the "Dread Wolf". Maybe there is also significance in that.
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Post by theascendent on Apr 9, 2021 17:36:18 GMT
So if all modern 'Elves' are the descendants of Andruil worshipers, and we know what became of Mythal's people (the Sentinels) that still leaves 7 batches of former slaves unaccounted for. Technically six since we know that Solas had people working for him even as he woke up. What became of them all? Since we know that the Evanuris owned people they likely had specific regions that they ruled over with their subjects, with maybe Arlathan as a neutral meeting ground to discuss matters. Could explain the hostility of the Sentinels against other elves, they see them as the servants of Andruil trying to wipe out the last servants of Mythal. That might also explain the unusual Elves from the Tirashan.
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Post by xerrai on Apr 9, 2021 18:36:21 GMT
So if all modern 'Elves' are the descendants of Andruil worshipers, and we know what became of Mythal's people (the Sentinels) that still leaves 7 batches of former slaves unaccounted for. Technically six since we know that Solas had people working for him even as he woke up. What became of them all? Since we know that the Evanuris owned people they likely had specific regions that they ruled over with their subjects, with maybe Arlathan as a neutral meeting ground to discuss matters. Could explain the hostility of the Sentinels against other elves, they see them as the servants of Andruil trying to wipe out the last servants of Mythal. That might also explain the unusual Elves from the Tirashan. Maybe not. Just because they served different evanuris and probably resided in different geographic locations doesn't automatically mean they couldn't get together after the fall of arlathan. Hunger, survivability, mutual understandings, tribal conquests; all could result in the assimilation and mixing of elves of different evanuris. If the elves were topside on mainland thedas, there was a decent possibility they intermingled--even if it was against their will. The only diehard holdouts for these natural occurrences would be those like the sentinels or high priests of Dirthamen who more or less holed themselves up in secret communities at the exclusion of everyone else. Or those that would rather die by the Imperium than integrate into a new elvhen society (though I can't blame them). Or those stuck at geographically isolated locations like an archipelago, Haven, or so on. But it seems unlikely that modern elves were JUST descendants of Andruil worshippers. That said, if we were to search for batches of elves descended from one sect of evanuris worship...some could be underground. Knowing now that the elves had underground colonies, the history of Cadash Thaig, and the mere existence of places like Kal-Sharok the Sha-Brytol colony; there in theory could still be an underground colony of elves somewhere. Forcefully cut off from the mainland once the eluvians became inoperable and stuck underground. Admittedly the chance is slim since the Darkspawn are virtually everywhere down there and are constantly expanding over the ages, but the chance is still there. In fact Trespasser added another morbid layer of possibility to this, since Cole implied that elves were possibly sleeping in the coffins found by the lyrium well. If there were indeed elves inside of those coffins, I wouldn't be surprised if they tried using lyrium as a substitute for fade-sustenance that traditionally required mastery of uthenera. And I can totally see elves resorting to it to wait things out or as a means to keep themselves alive in a glorified cave that may not have had a self-sustaining food population. Given how Cole described it though, I wouldn't be surprised if these elves were...well. They might not even be elves anymore. Maybe the word "survivors" is too optimistic a term for them. Cole: They're all singing. Coffers, coffins, corpses that aren't dead. A song crying out in the dark. ....aaaaand now I am hoping we see them as an enemy in DA4.
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Post by gervaise21 on Apr 9, 2021 19:26:20 GMT
that still leaves 7 batches of former slaves unaccounted for And I can totally see elves resorting to it to wait things out or as a means to keep themselves alive in a glorified cave that may not have had a self-sustaining food population. This is one of the things that has had me puzzled since we discovered the Temple of Mythal. Now in Masked Empire, Felassan says that those in Uthenera sustained themselves directly from the Fade but that would have been before the Veil. So what happened after it was raised; did they all die through lack of sustenance? What of the sentinels though? Clearly they survived down to the present through sleeping out the years because Abelas says they only awaken when their sanctuary is threatened and each time there are less of them. Is this because they have died defending their refuge or of lack of sustenance or simply old age? (I assume that each time they awaken they age in real time). Then there is Solas himself. How did he sustain himself down to the present? I assume that wherever he was holed up he was not alone because of the risk to him in deep slumber, so others must have guarded him. Was his sense of urgency on first awakening because he knew that he would only have a finite amount of time before the effects of his advanced years caught up with him? Reading the account of the experiences of the Imperium that led to their eventual war against the city in Arlathan Forest in WoT, it definitely seems to me that they were another enclave of elves, similar to the sentinels of Mythal, but instead devoted to Andruil, who had been sleeping out the years. When people invaded the forest they would initially be protected by various magical constructs, like vartarel and the strange golem in Three Trees to Midnight, and during the early years of the humans this was sufficient to give the forest a dubious reputation that meant they avoided it. However, as the Imperium grew in power, their subjects became bolder and so it was necessary for the elves themselves to awaken and deal with the threat. Here is the curiosity though. Whilst the elves seemed wholly the aggressors, the Imperium initially responded with a peaceful diplomatic delegation. Was this because they recalled the benefits of making an alliance with the dwarves and saw similar benefits in doing the same with these strange new humanoids or was it because they knew from their own archives just how much of a debt their magical knowledge owed to them? I was surprised how many years they refrained from direct attack, even after their envoys had been murdered, and it was only when a new Archon decided enough was enough that they launched an all out campaign against the elves. Even then that one enclave successfully fought the Imperium to a stale mate that was draining their resources and threatening their hold on areas elsewhere, causing them to resort to drastic action to break the deadlock. It is also curious as to what became of the other elves at the time of their civil war. From the memory of the Arcane Warrior in DAO, it would seem that he was involved in some sort of conflict against a dark and deadly force, quite possibly that of another faction of elves. The fact that there were both elves and humans living together is merely confirmation that there were humans around before the Veil, which was asserted in Dalish legends about Arlathan that clearly indicate the humans appeared just before the loss of their gods. In fact the Dalish legend also goes on to say that the rise of the Imperium occurred whilst the elves slept, so those in Arlathan Forest did go into uthenera at some point not long after the Veil was raised. So, I wonder if the group in the Brecillian Forest were wholly wiped out by whatever it was that came against them and this was also the fate of other enclaves. As you say, if some of them chose to sleep out the millenia underground, they could well have been destroyed by the darkspawn or even corrupted to become the first darkspawn. As for the group in the Tirashan, we have assumed they were followers of the Forgotten Ones because of the reference to blood red vallaslin. However, given the history of Falon'Din as told by Solas, they could just as easily been followers of him sacrificing their enemies to honour their god. If the elven civil war was so violent that large numbers of elves simply perished in the conflict, it seems to me that it would make sense for some of them to leave Thedas altogether and travel across the sea (or through eluvian before they were shut down) in order to find a safer sanctuary to sleep out the years.
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Post by dayze on Apr 25, 2021 5:55:04 GMT
The name and description of Executors makes me think they are probably some kind of underground cabal of Necromancers.
They do it for "those across the sea"......considering necromancy involves the use of putting spirits into bodies, they may work for the spirits in the fade.
"Those Across The Sea" could be a reference to Spirits because the fade, like the sea is ever changing.
The Red Jenny of Kirkwall might be one of them.
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Post by gervaise21 on Apr 25, 2021 7:08:24 GMT
They do it for "those across the sea". I have to admit that I am coming around to the idea, that has been suggested by several people, that the sea referred to is not the literal ocean but the "sea" of the Fade. The only argument against this is that the Executor did have the "whiff of the ocean" on their clothes, as though they had traveled across the sea to get to Thedas. However, we know that the pools in Horror of Hormack also smelt strongly of brine and the ocean (or at least that is the nearest equivalent that the warden could ascribe to the smell), so that could be the origin of the strange smell on the Executor. Also, when we are in the Fade in "Here Lies the Abyss", there is actual water there, suggesting maybe some sort of link with the real world. There is also the fact that those in Uthenera were able to contact those in the wider world, presumably through the medium of the Fade. So the Executors could be the agents of ancient dreamers, thus working for those across the "sea of dreams" (I'm pretty sure it has been described that way somewhere). The term "Waters of the Fade" has definitely been used and the Maker allegedly said this to Andraste: Here lies the abyss, the well of all souls. From these emerald waters doth life begin anew.
What I also find disturbing is that the lyrium crystal powering the briny pools in HoH is said to be a yellowish green and a strange new life was created from those pools, so were they in fact linking to somewhere else across the Fade maybe and the magic controlling them actually came from there? Regardless, it seems odd to me that these pools seem to have been reactivated only recently, as has the appearance of the agents of the Executors who also have a similar smell. So are they responsible for unlocking the pools and are preparing the way for their goddess' imminent return?
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Post by Hanako Ikezawa on Apr 25, 2021 19:03:15 GMT
Oh Maker, please no! Please don't have even more things be "Because Ancient Elves" with them just being from the Fade like that. It's getting ridiculous at this point.
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Post by gervaise21 on Apr 25, 2021 20:44:12 GMT
Oh Maker, please no! Please don't have even more things be "Because Ancient Elves" with them just being from the Fade like that. It's getting ridiculous at this point. Don't get me wrong; I'd much rather the Executors had nothing to do with the ancient elves and did literally come from across the sea. I'd tried linking them previously to the strange people from Par Ladi somewhere in the northern part of the Boeric Ocean. The Iron Bull claims that his people originally fled south to Par Vollen (as opposed to west across the Amaranthine Ocean from some continent on the eastern side). If what he claimed was correct then that could tie in with the inhabitants of Par Ladi, who clearly have powerful magic that can both shield them from discovery and repel those who manage to penetrate that protection. It also made sense that they might finally reach out to the wider world as a result of the threat they perceived from the breach. However, that doesn't explain their apparent knowledge of "the Wolf" or how Solas knows so much about them (although I suppose he could have discovered this through the Fade). Also, there do seem to be a lot of hints that everything links back to the time of the ancient elves, even if they are not wholly responsible for what occurred.
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Post by dayze on Apr 26, 2021 16:06:47 GMT
Welp; I just came across a serious clue in this puzzle, in the astrology sign Peraquialus to quote:
"but rather the primitive vessels sailed by ancient peoples such as the Neromenians. The translation from Ancient Tevene is usually "across the sea," and lends credence to the idea that the Neromenians
So who are "Those from Across the Sea"?
Neromenians apparently
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Post by gervaise21 on Apr 26, 2021 16:49:52 GMT
This has always been known. Allegedly the Neromenians were the first humans to arrive in Thedas and originally made landfall on Par Vollen, which suggests that sea currents must generally push ships in that part of the ocean towards that island, or that both the Qunari and Neromenians must have had a particular reason for heading there. I say, allegedly, because the barbarians of the south claim to have originally come from the west across the Frostback Mountains into what is now known as Ferelden in order to escape a Shadow Goddess. Solas has confirmed this was so as he had apparently spoken with this "goddess" (spirit) in the Fade. Now they could have been an offshoot of the Neromenians who gradually made their way south-west, possibly to escape the dreamer mages who were starting to assert themselves in the north, before turning back across the mountains to the east. This was in -2415 (according to WoT), and the first humans were originally said to have arrived in Thedas in -3100 (according to WoT), so that would have been sufficient time for their numbers to grow and tribes migrate and the date for the first appearance of humans has been pushed back further in the Keep. Nevertheless it is equally possible that the southern barbarians were from a completely different group of humans that originated out to the west, although they could equally have come from across the Volca Sea as there was/is another civilisation called the Voshai who lived across that sea. So there are plenty of candidates for being "those across the Sea" that we had been told about prior to the appearance of the Executors. Yet the hints that the writers are giving lately seem to point to none of them.
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Post by Heimdall on Apr 27, 2021 19:02:45 GMT
I have a few things I’m starting to think are linked together, assuming “beyond the sea” really means beyond the Fade.
Dorian mentions that the Kekorax could be a creature from beyond the Veil, neither demon nor spirit. I assume he means beyond the Fade. What if that sort of monstrosity is what the Executors serve? And what if a portion of their power is what Ghilan’nain used to make her monsters, hence a link between the gray pools (smelling of the sea) from the Horror of Hormak. Maybe the sea monster we’ve seen in concept art is also allied with the Executors rather than Solas.
So maybe there’s a third major player here for DA4. The Executors see Solas as a threat and are using these monsters to intervene.
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Post by fairdragon on Jun 7, 2021 7:01:20 GMT
The thing I find strange about Andruil is that she was widely known as the goddess of sacrifice. Well I suppose a simple answer could be she simply liked killing things and in the absence of anything better to hunt, would routinely sacrifice those living in her domain to her urge to hunt. An alternative explanation might involve those pools in Horror of Hormack. If she and Ghilan'nain were working together, then it is likely she was sacrificing her followers to fuel Ghilan'nain's experiments at monster creation, particularly as initially the latter was not a god in her own right so would have to seek the permission of one of the gods to use their people. Then after her creations became a nuisance to the other gods, it was Andruil who had to bribe her to cease her activities, knowing that Ghil was now powerful enough in her own right that she couldn't just order her to stop, although I wonder if possibly Ghil continued to do so in secret. Something that also struck me is the description of Andruil creating her weapon. " She shook the radiance of the stars, divided them into grains of light, then stored them in a shaft of gold." I always assumed they were likely talking about droplets of lyrium but was it actually describing a process similar to that which created those arcane bows but in this case it was a spear? The fact that Ghil's statue is also within the forest also seems to reinforce the notion suggested by Strife that the forest was "hers", so I could definitely see her having her own sentinels within the area. My point about Strife is that he knew it was Andruil's domain and it didn't seem simply because it was a generic forest but specifically because it was that forest. So how did he know that? The Dalish Keepers speak of a city in the forest that belonged to all the People but there is never any mention in the lore we have received up to now that they knew the forest itself was the domain of Andruil, any more than they knew that the Arbor Wilds were the domain of Mythal. Morrigan knew about the Temple of Mythal likely from reading ancient texts, particularly the one on eluvians she stole in Witch Hunt, but also possibly from Flemeth in the past, not from the Dalish since much of what she said was at variance with what Lavellan had been taught. So how did Strife's clan know about the Arlathan Forest being the domain of Andruil? Incidentally, I've wondered a great deal about which clan Ariane was from and how they came by their book? It seems odd to me that the ancient elves bothered writing about the eluvians and in fact you would think those who created them would want to keep the knowledge to themselves as much as possible. Also, whilst I thought Morrigan returned the book at the end of Witch Hunt, if there is no OGB, you can find her in the garden reading a book about eluvians, so was it the same book? This book recorded the fact that the eluvians were shut down during the elven civil war. Which begs the question by whom? If it was Fen'Harel then was it his followers who recorded the details in the book? So, as I've previously suggested, was Ariane in fact an agent of Fen'Harel and part of the same "clan" as Felassan? Then in Ruins of Reality we are told Strife's clan have a detailed map of the forest. " Or the bewildering realization that his time-worn, always reliable map of Arlathan Forest—a map that detailed every hidden trail, cave, and elven ruin - could no longer be trusted." That isn't a Tevinter map as they tended to avoid the forest, as evidenced by Myrion, so where did this "Dalish" clan get it from? Clearly they had spent enough time in the forest to know it had previously been accurate. Additionally there is that journal he is following. It is said to be: " a relic of the Morlyn clan, handed down over generations." Now this could have been simply an old journal found in elven ruins that was written in ancient elvish, so regarded as a relic to be treasured but what if it was specific to the Morlyn clan who are not Dalish at all but a group of elves who escaped the war with Tevinter in ancient times and have been occupying the forest ever since? Why had the Keeper given it to strife when it started rewriting itself? " Their Keeper had given it to Strife when it started rewriting itself last month. Mysterious entries appeared of their own accord, describing sacred ruins in Arlathan Forest that guarded an artifact of fabled power." Why didn't the Keeper undertake the quest to the sacred ruins? Also, it seems to me that the book rewriting itself wouldn't have been much use if it was just lying somewhere in some ancient ruin. So is the book sentient and knew it was in the keeping of living elves? Or had it always been part of the clan since ancient times and was entrusted to a priest of Andruil in much the same way as the Well of Sorrows was entrusted to the priesthood of Mythal? Remember at the time of the Dales, the Keepers were not the overall leaders of the people but spiritual leaders, the priesthood and the Keepers of the Lore. So could the Keeper of Morlyn clan be a priest of Andruil (or Ghilan'nain)? A simple question: For me it sound like Andruil is still around and not behind the veil like Solas thought. Can that be? Because the power in the Forest can't be there without Andruil is still there, or does i miss something. If i does we have more than one place. Then every one of them have a place.
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Post by fairdragon on Jun 7, 2021 7:03:59 GMT
Oh Maker, please no! Please don't have even more things be "Because Ancient Elves" with them just being from the Fade like that. It's getting ridiculous at this point. I think that too. An other Race would be better. There are so many possibilities.
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