New Character Concept Art, For you it's exciting, for Antiva, it's a Tuesday

Well if that is Minrathous and it is under siege then the likely besieger would be the Antaam of the Qun, or possibly a fleet of dreadnoughts (or both, thereby cutting it off by land and by sea). This happened before, back during the Steel Age I believe, and Minrathous weathered the storm through its strategically defensible position and the fact they can store vast supplies in their catacombs sufficient for a year long siege, which is probably longer than the invading army would be capable of, particularly this time round if the Antaam do not have the backing of the rest of the Qun to keep the supply lines going.

However, it could equally be Antiva City that is under siege if the Qunari have got that far. However, you would think you would see the Crows fighting Qunari if that were the case, not killing off potential allies against them. After all, it is not in the interests of the Venatori or Tevinter that the surrounding nations are conquered by the Qun.

This has some mileage as a plot. I've mentioned previously how that aura around the castle structure could simply indicate it is Antiva City's Circle of Magi, so perfectly capable of producing their own magical protection. However, it is possible the Crows want to obtain a magical artifact that is capable of stemming the tide and they have likely heard that the Venatori made quite a collection of magical items in recent years, or alternatively there is the Archon's palace that apparently has a museum of ancient relics and may be the Crows acquire information that suggests one of those dusty old relics could prove useful. It is even possible that a certain Dread Wolf, or his followers, manipulate them into tracking down an item that they need but don't want certain parties realising the fact; hence using the Crows to do their dirty work. So there are plenty of reasons the Crows could be in Tevinter on behalf of their Crow leadership if the situation with the Qun is that dire.

Of course, what the Crows really need to drive back the Qun is a cohort of dragons. That did the trick back in the Steel Age. Unfortunately for them, their Witch of the Wilds was killed by Alistair. Still, what if someone else could be found who could command the dragons?  (The teaser trailer promised dragons)

I must correct myself.

I think I have to show what I mean.

Tevinter:

1)Behind the scene teaser:

2) short story:

3)teaser trailer:

4)instagram:


Antiva:

1)Behind the scene teaser:

2) short story:

3)teaser trailer:

4)instagram:

I have forgot the behind the scene teaser last time.

We have 4 concept art from instagram and 4 factions were advertised.

i found the flying also very interesting. I am very Interested how they are going to build it in lore.

I don't think you can go over the mountains with a large force. As you say, they could swing round the southern end and enter the Freemarches but that would involve them fighting their way through there before they got to Antiva. So the more likely route would be around the northern end of the mountains down the pass between the mountains and Arlathan Forest. That would take them directly into northern Antiva and seems the more likely one considering how worried the Crows were about the possibility and, allegedly, Strife's group of elves had sight of the secret plans of the Qunari which suggested that was where they were headed next (like the leaders of the Antaam are just going to leave them lying around - duh).

To be honest, I never understood why they would invade Antiva at all until they had conquered Tevinter. So long as they don't break the Llomerryn Accord, the southern nations are likely to hold back from taking sides in the conflict because they don't want to invite trouble (even though it would eventually find them if Tevinter falls). However, if the Antaam have an ulterior motive to mere conquest, because they are seeking to neutralise the threat from Solas, then it may well be that Antiva has something important that the Qun need against him and sensible strategy means nothing when it is a matter of survival. So it will be interesting to see how they explain the actions of the Antaam in the next game.

I've wondered if they're not so much flying but gliding, like some species of animal do. They might have jumped off from some greater height then glided past.

Or perhaps it is only to make the assassins look cool in concept art and nothing reflective of anything in the game.

Also, I might have missed people talking about this, but we've been seeing rapiers/rapier-esque swords pop up a lot in the Crows' concept art for DA4. Unless I'm just balls at discerning types of weapons, which is also likely.

It would be cool to see more Antivans wielding different types of weapons. I wonder if Josephine or Zevran had ever been trained to use a rapier...

Actually, so far as I can tell this was only the opinion of David Gaider when asked on the matter of women in Antiva and never officially part of the lore (as in it has appeared in codices in game or in the lore books), so it is quite possible that current writers might choose to ignore it. However, it is said that outside of the Crows the Antivans aren't known for their martial prowess because they are principally a nation of merchants, who prefer to use other means such as diplomacy to further their interests and when that fails they use the Crows. The reason they have no standing army is that the threat of the Crows has proven an effective deterrent against invasion, except when it comes to the Qun. This probably explains why they fell so easily the first time round, when taken by surprise, and why the Crow leadership know it is going to fall to them to prevent a similar fate in the present.

When it comes to customs and traditions of a country, generally it does seem to reflect more how the nobility see the matter than the ordinary people. Orlais is known as the Masked Empire but that is only among the nobility and their servants. It is forbidden to wear a mask if you are not noble and since it is more a status symbol and to conceal your facial expressions rather than the identity of the individual, there wouldn't really be much point in the general populace resorting to them, even though in DAI they had merchants doing this.

So I think so far as Antiva is concerned, the comment about women would only apply to the noble class even if it is still regarded as part of the lore. It is also possible that learning how to fence with a foil or rapier would not be seen as unfeminine owing to the fact that this style of swordplay relies on correct form, agility and finesse rather than the strength and brute force needed for a long sword, so could still be seen as acceptable for a noble woman to indulge in as a pastime. So if that was the case, even outside of the Crows it could be seen as a traditional activity for both men and women.

I initially thought that too but in the case of the figure on the right, where exactly are they jumping from? Their trajectory would also seem to be taking them past the edge of the building and down into the street. Plus it is normal when jumping onto an opponent from above to do so feet first, so dislodging or attacking them with force and stability, as the guy on the left is doing. Swooping down head first is not something you normally do unless you have some control over the downward thrust because of the instability caused by wind resistance. At the very least they should be descending with the arm outstretched and legs together, hoping they make contact with their target to break their fall. The cloaks may slow things up a bit but do not look designed for gliding, so gravity is going to take effect very quickly. The lady also appears to be standing on one foot balancing on the top of a dome as thought she only just alighted there, so where did she jump from?

I appreciate it is probably just a story board scene or concept art to give a feel for the type of action they want too achieve but being so aerial does make me wonder if flying or at least enhanced jumping with controlled free fall is going to be a thing in the next game.