Bellara Lutare - Official Companion Thread [Spoilers]

I still think it more likely symbolic of the Veil/Fade/Black City. However, if you take a look at the table in my thread there is a parchment there with an eye on it, so if you are right about the symbolism of an eye, then that could be a clue.

It is hard to say. When Tyrdda Brightaxe had the Lady of the Skies as her "spirit bride", she was also described as her leaf-eared lover and as laughing. Flemeth used to laugh a lot, so perhaps that was the influence of Mythal. I thought the spirit bride part reminded me of Andraste's relationship with "the Maker", who may or may not have been the actual creator of the universe. After all, I assume any Fade spirit could claim the identity of someone familiar to the mortal without actually being that entity. Also, at that time, as you say, Mythal was still just a spirit in the Fade, so could have been the Lady communicating with Tyrdda, whilst their relationship was conducted entirely within the Fade (which we know is a possibility from our romance with Solas). Now David Gaider maintained there was no connection between the story of Tyrdda and Andraste but that could have been him being ambiguous because the type of relationship was the same but it was a different deity in contact with them. Certainly, I would have thought the story of Tyrdda was included deliberately to illustrate that the idea of having a spirit lover was something known in the Alamaari/Avvar, so was not that unique to Andraste.

I suppose the other indicator would be whether the Lady still continued to communicate with her faithful among the Avvar after Mythal joined with Flemeth. However, as I've pointed out, if a spirit knew she was no longer around to object, it is entirely possible they might have adopted that identity and received the appropriate worship, giving boons as a result, so the worshipers wouldn't know any different.   The Avvar certainly seemed to think the Lady was still answering their prayers.

Flemeth says that Mythal was a whisp of an ancient being, but was still able to give Flemeth everything she wanted and more.  Perhaps Mythal was a wisp compared to what she was in her fullness, but not powerless.

John Epler @eplerjc.bsky.social
no one i know personally is allowed to romance bellara, i'm sorry, that's just the law

Haha, was about to post that myself.

Taash and Bellara getting some love from the devs romance wise!

Well sadly for him his writer is no longer with Bioware, so no one to fight his corner for him.   I think Mary was enjoying stirring the pot a little with her claims about him.

As has already been pointed out, Tricky Weakes was/is particularly fond of Solas, so that is hardly a recommendation.
Meanwhile, John Epler is the writer who gave us the Horror of Hormack. Why is the Veil Jumper icon a halla head? 

Indeed a sI was htinkin go hookin gup m ysecon dRook up with her.

From Game Informer article about companions

Hm, by "entire area of the world" do they mean Arlathan forest?

I've been so suspicious of Bellara, I will actually feel guilty if she turns out to be the sweet innocent chipper delight I'd imagined her to be, before conspiracy theories took over my head. And I fully blame BioWare. This is trauma from past games and betrayals manifested.

When writing my monologue/moan about the innovations in Minrathous, I had reason to consult World of Thedas and was reminded of the fact that originally the Proving Ground in Minrathous was meant to be shaped like a giant, triangular prism. I suspect this may have been quietly forgotten about in the design of the city but nevertheless, yet another reference to triangles associated with the north. This would suggest that when developing the lore they did originally intend for triangles to be significant. There are the pyramids on Par Vollen, the Proving Grounds in Minrathous and the secret sign of the Executors. The first two point to something from ancient times and the latter perhaps to a mysterious connection with the original Neromenians or Kossith. Then a group concerned with discovering ancient magic and artifacts seem to have a thing about triangles. It has to be significant doesn't it?

Given how close (the last chapter in particular) follows the designs we saw in the game, I think they got images, or maybe even whole 3D assets from the game, which were then either traced or converted to lineart (it's particularly visible with that twisted ruin in Arlathan Forest. Won't be surprised if we see exactly that asset somewhere in the game)

And I don't say this as a negative - I use 3D assets/images to trace over and maintain consistency, particularly in comics. It's a normal thing to do.

Anyway - from design perspective I mostly note that both the ancient elvhen and Tevinter architecture is less "gothic-y" now than it was in DAI and they've injected motifs that draw inspiration from South and Southeast Asian architecture, particularly the ancient city of Angkor/temple of Angkor Wat.

 


 

updated ancient elven architecture for comparison: