Fade


 * ''"You know very well, Shale, that demons do not create everything in the Fade. They set the stage, as it were, and we fill it with our own dreams and nightmares."
 * --Wynne, from Dragon Age: Asunder

The Fade, known by the Dalish as the Beyond, is a metaphysical realm that is part of Thedas yet separated by the Veil. According to the Chantry, the Black City - a feature of the Fade which tends to be distantly visible to all 'visitors' - is the corrupted Golden City, despoiled by over-ambitious mages (in the early days of the Tevinter Imperium) attempting to wrest control and/or power from The Maker by physically invading the Fade (the first and last time such an attempt has been made). This is also the standard explanation for the origin of the Blights.

Magic and the Fade
Every living being (with the exception of dwarves) enters the Fade mentally when they dream, and mages tap into it when they cast spells. Most people do not remember their time in the Fade - mages being a distinct exception, as they are able normally to remain "conscious" while traveling there.

Mages of the Circle frequently visit the Fade with the aid of lyrium - in particular during the rite of Harrowing, in which an apprentice is pitted against a demon and ultimately either put to death as an abomination or promoted to full mage status.

Fade characteristics

 * ''"There is no geography in the Fade. Place and time are far less important than concepts and symbols."
 * ''--Fiona, from Dragon Age: The Calling

The Fade and its inhabitants generally copy locations, objects, people and concepts of the real world, often in a cruel or confusing way. These copies are nowhere near consistent, and may alter from moment to moment. The Fade is split up into fiefs or demesnes belonging to the spirits or demons that live there, and they change the landscape of the Fade to emulate what they see in the minds of mortal dreamers.

The Black City seems to be the only constant feature of the Fade, always on the horizon. No one has managed to "reach" it since the catastrophic event described in Codex entry: Tears in the Veil.

Fade rules

 * 'Killing' a mortal's dreaming form while in the Fade (thus ending that individual's dream and waking them up) is a shock to the living body, but not normally lethal. However, Dreamer mages have been known to be able to kill others in their dreams, and if an individual is "awake" in the Fade death there can potentially lead to physical death.
 * Belief and willpower are paramount in the Fade. Even though a mage cannot change every aspect of the Fade (Dreamer mages have greater capabilities in this respect), they can draw unprecedented power from it while sleeping.  Similarly, even non-mages may instinctively shape the Fade in small ways: armoring and arming themselves with weapons able to cut even in dreams.
 * Enemy dead in the Fade do not yield loot, with two known exceptions:
 * In Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening adds Ethereal potions for use only in the Fade.
 * Fade manifestations of corpses can yield Corpse Galls to a party currently on the corresponding quest.
 * Characters usually manifest their inventory while in the Fade; insofar as this occurs, disposing of anything (drinking potions, throwing items away) will deplete equipment just as it does in the physical realm.
 * Learning to assume various forms during The Fade: Lost in Dreams only pertains to the Sloth Demon's realm; it does not carry over into the physical realm - even for a mage who has specialized as a shapeshifter - nor into any later Fade scenario.
 * In Dragon Age: Origins, Rangers cannot summon animals while in the Fade. This does not seem to apply during Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening.
 * Neither Animate Dead nor Devour will function properly in the Fade.


 * Attribute gains will remain after one exits the Fade, as will codex entries.

Chantry teachings
According to the Chantry, the Fade is a realm of primeval matter from which the Maker formed the physical world and all living beings. It was the first realm created by the Maker, populated with spirits, the first of the Maker's 'children'. Growing unsatisfied with them (as what they created was "fleeting, ever-changing", he then created Thedas, separated from the Fade by the Veil and populated by mortal creatures. Many spirits grew jealous of these new children, and became what mortals call demons, craving and/or emulating their basest desires and sins.

The Chant of Light states that the Black City was originally the Golden City, seat of the Maker. An attempt by Tevinter magisters to physically enter the city blackened it with their prideful ambition, and their punishment was to be cast down as the first of the darkspawn, commencing the First Blight.

The Chantry also holds that when a person dies, their soul passes through the Fade to the afterlife and the Maker's side. Those who have turned away from the Maker enter the Fade and are lost, trapped and wandering forever in the place from which they were formed ("to the Void").

The Fade beyond the Chantry

 * The Dalish elves believe that in the time of Arlathan their ancestors did not die, but rather entered a dream-like stated called uthenera, in which their souls wandered the Fade, accompanied by Falon'Din and Dirthamen. They would learn the secrets of dreams, and some would return to the People with newfound knowledge. The Dalish refer to the Fade as the Beyond.


 * Ancient elven beliefs further state that the Fade is a holy place that was once the home of the gods. Following Fen'Harel's deception preceding the fall of Arlathan, it is said that the gods now lie imprisoned in the Eternal City at the heart of the Fade while the Dread Wolf roams, gleefully feasting on the souls of the dead.


 * Dwarves rarely enter the Fade as they normally "sleep like the Stone." Dwarves do not dream, and longterm lyrium exposure has rendered the Fade little able to affect them.  Whether this distinction directly relates to their natural resistance to magic, or merely coincides with it, is unclear; but under certain conditions a dwarf can be 'forced' into the Fade in a dream state.


 * According to the Chantry, as dwarven souls do not naturally enter the Fade, it is evidence that they were not created by the Maker.


 * Qunari consider the Fade the "Land of the Dead," and entering it is forbidden according to the Qun. Indeed, the very idea of a Qunari entering the Fade in sleep is abhorrent to them, as it is a realm of demons and chaos.  Like dwarves, Qunari insist they do not dream as other peoples do, and this is difficult to deny as they are rarely seen in the Fade.


 * Despite this, Qunari mages presumably have associations, affinities and vulnerabilities to the Fade identical or similar to those of their elven and human counterparts.


 * Fade spirits such as Justice claim that the souls of the dead pass to the Fade, but are uncertain of their subsequent fate.

Dragon Age: Origins
, if the Warden is mage , depending on certain choices , during the main quest Broken Circle , in The Golems of Amgarrak

Dragon Age: Asunder

 * Chapters 11-12

Trivia

 * The Fade has distinct ties with surrealism, it being a dream realm and surrealism being the omnipotence of dream. It is thus apt that the art style of The Fade is that of surrealism. This art style is also reminiscent of that of Antoni Gaudi's Casa Batlló and Casa Milà.
 * The ship encountered on one of the islands of the raw Fade in Dragon Age: Origins appears to be a reference to the Myst puzzle-game series. A similar stationary ship is encountered in two Myst games, and all Myst games involve solving puzzles to progress between areas.
 * The Fade holds several similarities, including its fleeting nature, to the World of Dreams, Tel'aran'rhiod, from The Wheel of Time series.
 * The dynamics of the Fade as well of its inhabitants are very similar to that of the [|Warp] of the Warhammer universe- mainly in the aspects that sorcery stems from this realm and that it is inhabited by demons who fed from human vices.
 * The Fade seems to be very much like the "Shadowlands" from White Wolf's "Wraith: The Oblivion" in that it's inhabitants strive to mimic the real world as closely as possible.
 * People dream of their loved ones in the Fade because the spirits there recognize the bond between souls, and that bond has power in dreams.
 * Though magic cannot see the future, mages can interpret special dreams--visions--of the Fade to make guesses as to what may come.