this is Hadassah "Rook" Mercar, she's a non-Dalish elf, and she is going to punch Solas in the face

YES, Solas, I DO, because I was THERE and you were SUNK COSTING THE WORLD TO DEATH

Shadow Dragons fistbump!

heck yeah!

yes, Solas, Rook hasn't met gods before but I have

god he's so fucking. such an asshole.

"I realize it may have SEEMED like I was tearing down the Veil, which would have killed every non-elf in the world btw, and you know that because I said it, and that doing that would have released the gods I raised the Veil to imprison, but...I had a plan"

"which I told no one, including the friend who was begging me to stop"

the thing is. Solas means putting this on Rook as a curse.

but to me, giving agency and responsibility for their gods and their fates to a not-even-Dalish elf is the only right thing he's ever done

I'm going to do something I do not want to do at all, and go to bed

but - I like how Varric goes into this clearly thinking about Anders, thinking about the times he didn't ask, didn't push

when he knew something was wrong and decided it wasn't his problem

and now, with Solas, he can't help but see the parallels, so he goes the other way...and that also doesn't work

because they're different people

I like that the past affects Varric without actually talking about it

That’s a good point! I didn’t think about that

Poor Varric keeps making friends who explode

I got an ambient line from varric about not being friends with abominations and. oof

it doesn't work, because they're in different situations and mental states

and Caretaker/Activist Burnout works differently than...whatever the hell Solas has going on

my (mage, nerd) Adaar wasn't enough, couldn't talk him down

THERE'S A SPHERE GRID

Harding is so mad at me ;_;

in my defense, I couldn't not say "you're hurt and that matters" and "let's figure out what the fuck before rushing in"

oh nooo

gently manipulates her into staying with the veil jumpers with "they need you to protect them"

hopefully she doesn't die about it

ow ow ow I love being a three-mage party it's good it's fine

crowd control who needs it? aaaaaaaa

Morrigan what the fuck are you wearing

her mom's hat

and a shirt that is a pair of scarves

her torso showing no evidence whatsoever of pregnancy, childbirth, and 15 years

Rook: ma'am I don't mean to seem rude but we are three mages and a rogue right now. we have so much mage.

do you know anyone with a sword.

Bellara has been a delight, but I can't help but notice that she could have been Merrill

"weird Dalish elf woman who knows more than is healthy about artifacts including eluvians"

oh! I hadn't noticed - that's a prosthetic leg Neve's got, isn't it?

I think bellara and merrill should be friends

and yeah! prosthetic leg!

...you know, I was thinking, yes, Harding should probably be the one handling the pure lyrium dagger, since dwarves are resistant to it and mages are The Opposite Of That

but uh

that just happened

Previews showed her doing rock magic but not her coming out of a rock cocoon and talking in the voice of Something, so that took me by surprise

fun

(if Solas had stuck that dagger into anyone but Varric, I doubt there would have been much point hauling them out)

other people we need here: Bodahn and Sandal

"Not enchantment," you say?

it's arophobic that "You're not a problem" is romance-only response

Ooh good point, who knows what sticking a non dwarf with a ritual lyrium Dagger What Is Real Magic would do

I mean, the understanding of lyrium is that Varric is still looking at heavy metal poisoning, with the organic-compound neuro nastiness, for being fully stabbed with it

which even dwarves who work with the stuff accumulate over a lifetime

only dwarves and tranquil can do enchantment work, because you have to not have a Fade connection at all

and in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with G-d, and the Word was G-d

...yeah you'd think people would remember being a collective

my simple answer to Solas is: I'm not the best, but I'm the one who's here

Hadassah being a Storm Dragon is important to me because it adds to her and Solas as foils

chainbreakers

god yeah that's him

so. current goal: recruit an assassin and a practical abolitionist

good choices! have the relevant skill-set

but does make it kind of obvious who isn't being considered to fight the evil archmages

(templars)

fuck. Solas IS much more fun as a known antagonist that we chat to sometimes.

I mean, we always knew, that's why Emet-Selch is soooooo popular

but it's fun to see it in action

this about solas is the strongest selling point for the game yet. what the hell.

he is! he's sort of fun, like this, rather than as condescending racist grandpa who is lying to me!

Chatting openly with the antagonist about your conflict is always fun

Lets you both make your case

And haha yeah the minute they said “who can fight mages” I was like “Templars?”

I wouldn't trust templars if I were this gang, either, but they're on my mind

rosebriar: you wouldn't think that condescending racist grandpa who is telling the truth was much of an improvement, and yet!

I think it's also that, structurally, I no longer have to keep Solas moderately pleased with me in order to unlock more Solas

no stress, just telling Solas "well gee if I'm not who you had in mind you shoulda considered NOT STABBING MY BOSS"

"and breaking his crossbow. frankly that's what he's gonna be really pissed about, and you know this."

"muscle and sinew heal, but he shot the guy who made Bianca in the head during Corypheus Part One, so, you know"

they are REALLY leaning into the Mob Family Crows vibe

also uh. Ma'am. You are aware that an "Ossuary" is where they keep the bones, yes?

just. moderate your expectations.

people...

ugh I don't want to FLIRT with Lucanis I want to HANG OUT

but the option for "I don't think you're safe alone right now" is romo-coded

I am glad to see in the documents that Dorian has in fact gotten to "slavery is bad, conceptually"

I like it, compared to Cullen's whole stance on the personhood of mages, because even in just the scrap, it doesn't deny that the bad beliefs happened

It was a little on the nose but I was happy to find that from Dorian

it was! but it was a political speech, and very little space

YES Bellara be That Bitch who insists on doing thorough safety checks every time, I will support you

I'm getting an image of a younger Bellara getting cocky, going, "that's never been the problem, I can just", and someone (multiple someones?) dying as a result

ah, I see, it is complicated

everyone else: you need to forgive yourself. it was not your fault. you checked! three times! there is always a risk.
Bellara: I need to fix everything ever to make up for it

MAEVARIS

wow you look GREAT, by which I mean "actually allowed to look vaguely middle-aged"

and dressed like a person who is wearing clothes

Rook managed to keep a lid on "eeeee THE Maevaris Tilani knows my name!!" but. only just.

there aren't a lot of magisters who are openly against slavery. or openly queer, for that matter.

I gasped so hard when maevaris showed up <333

and now I have to deal with some pauldroned asshole

--oh thank fuck hi Dorian

I'm not sure I like what they've done with his whole face...shape...region

but he is here

to swoop in and rescue Rook from arrest

a thing which she has definitely never dreamed about ahahahaa what COULD you mean

(when you are tevene, and an elf, the idea of any authority stepping in on your behalf is a fantasy. your parents can't; you learn that all too early)

(no one who cares about you can protect you)

so having A Literal Magister step in and face off with the First Warden - directly! not apologizing or groveling or bargaining! saying No I Won't Let You and backing that up! - is...a dream

something that can't happen, but just did

which is her whole life right now, but she never thought about most of it

"what's our move" like we can't make two teams

rook and harding for neve's team, davrin and bellara for lucanis's

ugh

you know what? Minrathous is Hadassah's city, but she also has the most people, the most powerful people, to defend her

there is at least one person in the city who has killed a high dragon before

there are more ways to deal with a venatori coup than there are to deal with mass blight poisoning

oh sure AFTER that we split, into teams, like I JUST said

and since rook is now going to treviso, I don't even get to use the party comp I wanted

cygna this is so funny. everyone I know has gone to treviso. "cygna will probably go to minrathous, she's playing a shadow dragon", I said. no. treviso for everyone

civilians are the priority

Dorian is in Minrathous; the First Warden may be useless but he's in Minrathous; there are just a lot of mages all over the place

in Treviso there are only the Crows, as far as I know, and this isn't remotely their field

and now: consequences

the quencies

..oh

Neve won't heal me anymore ever

Neve I honestly figured Dorian Pavus and Maevaris Tilani could pull something together

meanwhile: oof, whose vallasin is Davrin wearing?

andruil, I think

nope, june

okay, so he's not about to stab his own personal patron

yet

I may have picked Elgar'nan vallaslin on purpose

nice

let one of "your" people teach you what we've learned about vengeance about the last thousand years, asshole

yes exactly

time to yell at an elf

god wolf thing whatever

"and then flowers would grow again" my dude we already have flowers

Rook: they can call me what they want, as long as they're alive
Solas: will remember this

the world is dark and full of terrors, but I just hugged a juvenile griffon

the Qunari came here to teach everyone about the Qun and order and so on, but it seems that Thedas has taught them about factions, coups, and just going ham

oh noooo not being hunted by the DRAGON KING, so scary

I was like, but do I want to pursue romance with any of these characters

and then Taash

sometimes a very tall person with long lovely hair says "You don't get to tell me what I am" and breathes fire over people

and that's it. it's over.

okay. the faces in this game are very pretty. HOWEVER.

like so many games, they have sacrificed mobility, expressiveness, for pretty

and the excellent voice acting makes it obvious, because their faces do not match

oh, their mouths are moving at the right times, but they're not moving enough

for the emotion

that's not what someone looks like, when they're telling a story, or when they're laughing that hard

and the rest of their body isn't moving with it

oh I see they have brought in As Played By Vincent Price for the scrungly man fans in the playerbase

they know what people like

a Hand of Glory?

I wonder what it does in this universe

because what it is said to do in ours, make people sleep and not notice you passing, it CLEARLY doesn't do for the Venatori

"You can tell me why you've sought out a Fade expert on the way [to the Lighthouse"
I think...when we get there, you will understand

I don't know who was designing these characters, but they went the fuck OFF and I love it

"step one: pick a Type. step two: add something completely deranged and a personality to match. step three: delight"

Emmrich is delighting me

he's so. he's so weird in a way I love, where someone in a Darque Profession is having a great time

I am discovering this about Lucanis as well

he DOES have the...abusive relationship with the demon, thing, angst

but also he's grocery shopping for everyone because you call this eating?!

Neve he has bought you an orange and you are going to eat it

Ilario: tell him he's being paranoid!
Rook: many members of my anti-slavery organization are hanging from gallows all over Minrathous. he may not be being paranoid enough to suit me.

Lucanis is entitled to all the creature comforts his heart could desire

I mean, everyone is always, but the guy we pulled out of a demon experiment prison cell needs them more than most

"maybe you and I see deer. [Assan] sees...venison souffle?" I have a confession about what happens when I see a deer

aww it's "man who has been fighting his whole life gets a small creature to raise and rethinks everything" I'm so fond

I like Antoine and Evka, the Warden couple

me? influenced towards elf/dwarf romance in my formative years? how dare you!

going to Hossberg, and - yeah. I was right to go to Treviso.

many things are wrong in Minrathous, but none as bad as this

I look at the water - muddy, bloody, blighted, diseased - and I don't regret doing whatever it took to keep Treviso's canals from looking like this

I'm told I can lock myself out of sidequests so Guess What I'm Doing Forever

...so who's the Apostate With A Hidden Agenda?

based on the title screen, Neve

since the camera zooms through the others to land on her

Emmrich is not an apostate, except inasmuch as the very concept is weird now

but he is a professor and works for the government, so he simply is not an apostate

Bellara is, being Dalish, an apostate by definition, but - she's been very clear at this point in what she wants

for herself personally

...why do the wisps all gather around Neve, in the lighthouse?

okay, Emmrich is - he's terribly charming

he took me on a lovely walk in the memorial gardens and asked me if I was ever afraid of dying

That scene was so charming

(Slides in late) Emmrich is so charming and I love Lucanis making sure Neve gets vitamins so much

And his perspective on life and death in a world where there’s necromancy is really interesting