Emmrich Volkarin - Official Companion Thread [Spoilers]

I'm liking Emmrich more and more. I mean, he's always been *a* favorite (alongside Harding, Neve and Lucanis... I guess, because they feel familiar?) but not like top 3. Now, I think we'll make great friends!

And I like his sense of style, he dresses like a carnivorous plant themed drag queen if Liberace and Dolce & Gabbana were necromancers and did a collab.


Crazy theory / plot twist: what if turns out Rook and the majority of the companions are spirits caught in a loop where they think they're trying to stop the world from ending, but really Solas succeeded in his little ritual, Thedas has gone to sh*t and Emmrich is one of the only survivors, there to help guide us into the beyond - like Myrna did with that other dude, whatshisface. So we've been dead all along (save for the prologue). #ISeeDeadPeople

I'll drop-kick the damn tv and then jump out a window.

Well that is one spin you could put on it. I still don't believe Solas was just accidentally sucked into the Fade whatever he might maintain. He was still there okay when the gods emerged but the look on his face said it all. I reckon he spotted a convenient rift and slipped through whilst his old pals were still adjusting to the change. I really would like to know how we ended up with his dagger though. Presumably he just dropped it out of shock or inadvertently let it slip out of his hand as he was thrusting back the pillar with his magic. It definitely wasn't in his hand when he faced them.

I just saw this on the discussion thread:

Is summoning a type of slavery? I mean, yes, it is, and usually one justifies it by the importance of the task needed, the greater benefits of saving others etc. So for this trivial thing, I'm not sure I'm super keen on this idea of summoning or reanimating people for just anything and everything.

In answer to the first question, Solas would definitely say "Yes". He objected the use of spirits that Dorian was promoting (and he was a Necromancer) and he must having been seething watching the Mortalitassi in Tevinter Nights using a spirit to stir her cup of tea for her. I mean, how lazy can you be that you can't even be bothered to do that for yourself? Of course, Solas was just bidding his time. He had warned the Mortalitassi engaged in the blood magic ritual, which was intended to bind spirits to their service against the Antaam, that "from this moment on, should you ever bind a spirit, then your life is mine". She was one of them and now she was using a spirit bound to the stirring stick to perform a menial task for her. So, she was a dead woman in his eyes. After he had petrified her, he freed the spirit from its binding.

It has also occurred to me that could be why Felassan felt justified in allowing Michel to break the bindings on Imshael without warning him what would happen. According to the code of his boss, Fen'Harel, the life of any mage was forfeit who bound a spirit against its will and that does appear to be what had occurred with Imshael. The Keeper had summoned him from the Fade and then kept him bound in the circle. By association the rest of the clan were also culpable because they should have insisted that the Keeper release the demon by banishing him back to the Fade rather than simply panic every time they thought the demon might be influencing events.

It is also likely why Solas killed the mages who harmed his friend. Regardless of the reason they summoned it, essentially they had summoned it against its will, bound it and then forced it to take an action against its nature. Essentially they had used it as a slave. So, he dealt with them as he would any slaver.

His concern about what the Wardens were proposing to do may not simply have been because they were seeking to destroy the last two Old Gods but that they were going to bind spirits/demons to do this on their behalf. As we know that being forcibly yanked through the Veil can be all that is required to turn a spirit into a demon, this mass summoning by the Wardens was likely turning harmless spirits into demons by their action.

If this isn’t a point of contention in Veilguard, I’m going to be very disappointed. One of the oft overlooked aspects of Solas’s motivations, in my opinion anyway, is that the current state of the Veil is a slow form of genocide for spirits. If persuading Solas to stop is going to be a possibility, we also need to be able to demonstrate that this is a world spirits are capable of existing in. Cole (and arguably Wynne) shows it’s possible, and maybe whatever they have planned for Lucanis will too, but so far most spirits seem to meet a grim fate when drawn out of the Fade.

It's quite likely (like Gervaise mentionned somewhere else) ancient elves first were spirits who managed to take material form, we saw it with Cole.
There's several hints Solas used to be one and was called forth to the material plane by someone.
There's also hints the Evanuris were policing that ability, and also simple shapeshifting.

Evidently the veil made it near impossible for spirits to take form if they so desire, the main option left is possession. It's also fairly obvious to me Solas wants to peace out and go back to frolicking in the fade, but can't.
Sad story, sure. But with the veil, other less magical race were able to strive. Qunari, dwarves, humans will never be able to compete with creatures like this. And once they are out of control, they are near impossible to get rid of. They can't even kill each others properly, like Mythal still dragging her carcass around foaming at the mouth. (love her )

As for using spirits, no it's not always a form of slavery. Some spirits are curious and wants to interact with humans, and help.

Not even as "his good friend". In IGN video about companions Corinne Busche said that Manfred is like son to Emmrich, which i find a bit creepy.

Oh I absolutely agree. That was the case with the Spirit Healer and the Spirit Warrior, although we have never been given the chance to play one again outside of DAA. The spirits want to help. They do so voluntarily, so there is no slavery involved. Unfortunately it can sometimes go badly wrong as when Justice wanted to help mages achieve justice so he suggested cohabiting with Anders but that made their relationship too close and Anders started to adversely effect Justice.

Now I've always been a bit wary of the practices of the Mortalitassi because they maintain it is just a straight swap between the spirit of the deceased entering the Fade and the other one coming out to inhabit the body. There is also some nonsense about this being necessary because room needs to be created in the Fade to accommodate the new entry. That has always sounded like cope to me. So, the question has always been does the spirit really come through willingly or is it tricked in some way? After all, if you want to see the world you are not going to get much chance locked away in a crypt. Cole was very unhappy at the Inquisitor becoming a Necromancer because at least some of their actions would seem to harm spirits, or potential full spirits, since they seem frequently to be dealing in wisps.

Without a doubt, as evidence by the Mortalitassi in Tevinter Nights, some of their order to abuse their control over spirits. Solas had fundamental objections to the way in which Dorian said that he and other mages in Tevinter use spirits. He made it quite clear he disapproved strongly because it involved binding them against their will. When Dorian defended himself by suggesting that spirits do not have free will owing to their nature as "amorphous constructs of the Fade", it is clear now that Solas had to bite his tongue when it came to saying more but that the unbridgeable differences between them, which Solas said were more than mere technicalities, had a lot to do with his attitude towards spirits.

As for Emmrich, it will be interesting to see exactly how he explains his activities and what exactly the nature of the relationship between him and Manfred is. I know they say it is fatherly on Emmrich's part but that may be simply how it developed, not how it began.

"So long as no intelligent spirits are harmed by your action it may be a wise and effective strategy."   He is speaking ambiguously here because he feels the need to be tactful with the Inquisitor in a way that he didn't with Dorian.   He can only say so much without revealing himself.   But he does disapprove if the Inquisitor says their use of the spirits is mainly pragmatic because they may be useful.   That is what he objects to, that no regard is given to what the spirit may want and they are being treated no different to a slave, who may be useful to their master.     I'll have to find the video with Cole talking about it.   He is a lot less tactful about the matter.   Here we go.


Whilst he does seem to suggest some of what the Necromancer does only utilise wisps, it should be remembered that Mythal returned to being a wisp, as did Solas friend, so pulling the wisp apart is harming a sentient being.   Cole also says not to bind proper spirits, so at that point there no doubt that he does not approve and this is what Solas objects to as well.  If it is necessary to bind the spirit to get it to stay where you want it then clearly it is not there of its own volition.

Yes, I hope either Rook or one of the others is able to give a bit of push back on this so we do get to consider all aspects. I say the companion may need to do so because that is basically what happened with the Inquisitor. We could only say so much to Dorian about slavery for example that didn't really push the issue as much as I would have liked, before he was given the last word on the matter. However, Solas could be far more caustic about it. Likewise, Iron Bull and the Qun. I may be remembering this wrong but I don't recall being really able to challenge him on the more distasteful aspects of their ideology. Once again, though, Solas doesn't pull any punches. What is so ironic in hindsight is where he challenges Bull by saying "Do not equivocate." That is rich coming from Solas. I did love some of his conversations when he put people on the spot about matters about which I felt the same but was not allowed to express it.

It will be fascinating to hear his opinion on Emmrich and vice versa.   I assume Emmrich would have heard about that lethal run in between the Mortalitassi in Tevinter Nights and Fen'Harel.