Solas/Dialogue

Solas' dialogue contains a list of conversations he has with his companions.

Combat Comments
During Battle Fallen Companions
 * Away with you!
 * Enough!
 * (Low Health) I'm hurt!
 * (Low Health) I must retreat!
 * (Inquisitor) No! Hold on!
 * (Inquisitor) Fenedhis!
 * (Varric) Varric is hurt!
 * (Varric) Varric requires help!
 * (Dorian) Dorian's in danger!
 * (Dorian) Dorian!
 * (Sera) Sera is wounded!
 * (Sera) Sera's in danger!
 * (Cole) Cole needs us!
 * (Cole) Cole is hurt!
 * (Blackwall) We must help Blackwall!
 * (Blackwall) Blackwall has fallen!
 * (Vivienne) Help Vivienne!
 * (Vivienne) Vivienne!
 * (Cassandra) Cassandra!

Location Comments

 * (Hinterlands) [When first encountering the Black Wolves] The Breach may have driven them mad... or perhaps a demon took command of the pack.
 * (if in the party) Cole: Do you know a lot about wolves?
 * Solas: I know that they are intelligent, practical creatures that small-minded fools think of as terrible beasts.
 * (Exalted Plains) The Dalish remember fragments of fragments, but that is more than most.
 * (Exalted Plains) [Ghilan'nain's Grove] It's quiet here. I like it.
 * (Crestwood) Ferelden has failed the villagers of Crestwood. They deserve better.
 * (Crestwood) Sometimes it seems this land is a collection of tragedies, one piled atop another.
 * (Crestwood) Rifts in the Veil imperil both this world and the Fade.
 * (Fallow Mire) We will want to launder our clothes later. Or burn them.

Solas and Blackwall

 * Blackwall: Sera and I were just talking about you. We need you to settle a question for us.
 * Solas: (Sighs.) Sera's involved? So this question will be offensive.
 * Blackwall: Yes, probably. Sorry.
 * Blackwall: You make friends with spirits in the Fade. So... um, are there any that are more than just friends? If you know what I mean.
 * Solas: Oh, for... really?!
 * Blackwall: Look, it's a natural thing to be curious about!
 * Solas: For a twelve year old!
 * Blackwall: It's a simple yes or no question!
 * Solas: Nothing about the Fade or spirits is simple, especially not that.
 * Blackwall: Aha! So you do have experience in these matters!
 * Solas: I did not say that.
 * Blackwall: Don't panic. It'll be our little secret.
 * Solas: Ass.
 * Blackwall: Now who's twelve?


 * Solas: You have seen a great deal of battle.
 * Blackwall: We all have.
 * Solas: Not all, not like you. You live and breathe war. You understand it. It is home to you.
 * Blackwall: What's that supposed to mean?
 * Solas: I intended no offense.
 * Solas: We have both seen terrible things. We have watched death and destruction render that which we love unrecognizable.
 * Solas: It is calming to see something familiar in another.


 * Blackwall: What happened at Redcliffe, have you ever seen its like, Solas?
 * Solas: The distortion of time? I have seen magic accomplish many things, but ... no, that is new.
 * Blackwall: Magic has little place in a war between men.
 * Solas: Many mages are brutes, seeing nothing more than a larger ball of fire.
 * Solas: But those with imagination, those who use war to push the limits of the possible ...
 * Blackwall: I wish the Chantry could better enforce restrictions against its use.
 * Solas: Such rules never hold. Any who want victory will find some reason their cause merits exception.
 * Solas: The best we can do is ensure the world still stands when this fight ends.


 * Solas: The Wardens see themselves as the world's defense against the Blight, do they not?
 * Blackwall: Yes... why do you sound so skeptical? Doesn't everyone know this?
 * Solas: When an Archdemon rises, they slay it. What will they do when all the Archdemons are slain? Without Archdemons, there can be no Blights, is that the reasoning?
 * Blackwall: Right. Where are you going with this?
 * Solas: Nowhere. I hope they are correct.
 * Blackwall: You remind me of someone I used to know. He was fascinated with the Fade and spirits too.
 * Solas: A mage?
 * Blackwall: No, just a man who liked eating these strange purple cactus berries.
 * Blackwall: I don't think he was ever actually in the Fade.


 * Solas: I heard you in the training yard this morning.
 * Blackwall: Oh. (Sighs.) I was running new recruits through some drills. Should I be quieter next time?
 * Solas: No, no... It's fine. Children don't learn unless you shout at them.


 * Blackwall: You spoke of seeing death and destruction. Did you fight in a war?
 * Solas: There are struggles across Thedas at any given time. I doubt you would have heard of it.
 * Blackwall: An Elven skirmish?
 * Solas: In a manner of speaking. You?
 * Blackwall: I was a soldier. And I... Well... You know how it is.
 * Solas: I do indeed.


 * Blackwall: For all your experience, Solas, you don't carry yourself like a soldier.
 * Solas: You should have seen me when I was younger. Hot-blooded and cocky, always ready to fight.
 * Blackwall: Ah, youth.
 * Solas: It is a delicate balance for those who fight.
 * Solas: If they lack sufficient passion, they never become truly skilled, and die or leave the life.
 * Blackwall: But too much passion, and they end up dead - or monsters better off dead.
 * Solas: Yes. It is a rare soldier who can fight without letting it define him.


 * Blackwall: You haven't said much to me since...well, you know.
 * Solas: There is little to say. I assumed we were alike. We'd seen war, knew its terrible costs, but understood that it was necessary. But there was nothing necessary in what you did. You did not survive death and destruction. You sowed them. To feed your own desires.
 * Blackwall: I know that. I see it every time I look in a mirror. I try to make up for it.
 * Solas: By wearing another skin. You ran away rather than face what you had done. You wasted your time.


 * Solas: I wish to apologize for what I said to you, Blackwall.
 * Blackwall: You were right, though. I deserved it.
 * Solas: My people had a saying long ago - "The healer has the bloodiest hands." You cannot treat a wound without knowing how deep it goes. You cannot heal pain by hiding it. You must accept. Accept the blood to make things better. You have taken the first step. That is the hardest part.

Solas and Cassandra

 * Solas: Did you believe the Conclave could achieve peace, Cassandra?
 * Cassandra: I had hope. As did we all.
 * Solas: The templars went to war to force mages back into their Circles, which the mages would never agree to. What solution could Divine Justinia have offered when all sides rejected compromise?
 * Cassandra: The war was going nowhere for either side. That they went at all showed that they realized this.
 * Solas: Or they believed the other side would relent.
 * Cassandra: We shall never know now.


 * Cassandra: I've wondered: How did you know to approach us, Solas?
 * Cassandra: The Breach opened, we were scrambling and barely had time to think... and there you were.
 * Solas: I went to see the Breach for myself. I did not know you would be there.
 * Cassandra: You must not have been far away.
 * Solas: I was not. I'd come to hear of the Conclave, but did not want to get close.
 * Cassandra: Hmm. Lucky for us, then.


 * Cassandra: It is interesting to hear a mage's perspective of our abilities, Solas.
 * Solas: I am pleased you find it so.
 * Cassandra: I am taught my abilities come from the Maker. You probably think it silly.
 * Solas: Your abilities declare the world real. Who, if not the Maker of this world, could grant such a gift?
 * Cassandra: You believe in the Maker?
 * Solas: I am always open to new ideas.


 * Solas: Seeker, you initially believed our "Herald of Andraste" was involved in the attack on the Conclave, yes?
 * Cassandra: I did. The evidence seemed damning, given the lack of an alternative.
 * Solas: Yet you changed your mind.
 * Cassandra: You also heard the voices at the temple - is it so surprising I listened to them?
 * Solas: Sadly, yes. Too few invested with authority possess the courage to alter their course.
 * Solas: They fear the appearance of weakness.
 * Cassandra: The truth is more important than my reputation, and anyone willing to accuse me of weakness is welcome to try.


 * Solas:  Your abilities are remarkable, Seeker. It is fascinating to see how you and the templars negate magic.
 * Cassandra: Have you never encountered templars before?
 * Solas:  Only at a distance. I am an apostate, after all.
 * Cassandra: And they never caught you even once?
 * Solas: I am a very careful apostate.


 * Cassandra: Solas, did you ever considered reforming the Circle from within? You have both knowledge and wisdom. You could have made the difference.
 * Solas: I admire your optimism, but ask yourself honestly how the templars would have reacted.
 * Cassandra: You fear that they would have made you tranquil.
 * Solas: There is no doubt in my mind. My studies threaten established ideas. I would never have been tolerated.
 * Cassandra: I suppose you are right. Repairing the damage done will take great effort.
 * Solas: Would there be more like you, Seeker.


 * Solas: So, Seeker. Your Inquisition grows.
 * Cassandra: It was never "my" Inquisition, Solas.
 * Solas:  You did the brutal, thankless work putting the wheels in motion. You feel no regret at letting that power pass to another.
 * Cassandra: I do not always agree with the Inquisitor, but I know well that I'm not also always right. So, whatever regrets I have I will endure. The world needs a leader. I did my part. But the power you describe was never mine to carry. I know myself and I cannot be the leader we need.
 * Cassandra: Thus, I have no regrets.
 * Solas:  You surprise me again, Seeker.
 * Cassandra: Your opinion of me must be very low to surprise you so often.
 * Solas:  Not low, but realistic. Very few, however honorable, release power they won.

(If Inquisitor romanced Solas and removed the Vallaslin.)
 * Cassandra: Solas, if you do not mind me asking, what do you believe in?
 * Solas: Cause and effect. Wisdom as its own reward, and the inherent right of all free willed people to exist
 * Cassandra: That is not what I meant
 * Solas: I know. I believe the elven gods existed, as did the old gods of Tevinter. But I do not think any of them were gods, unless you expand the definition of the word to the point of absurdity. I appreciate the idea of your Maker, a god that does not need to prove his power. I wish more such gods felt the same.
 * Cassandra: You have seen much sadness in your journeys, Solas. Following the Maker might offer some hope.
 * Solas: I have people, Seeker. The greatest triumphs and tragedies this world has known can all be traced to people.
 * Cassandra:  I admit, I know little of their meaning, but I did not think it was possible to remove Dalish tattoos.
 * Solas: Most Dalish would agree with you--- and see little value in doing so.
 * Cassandra: Then how---?
 * Solas: It was done in a... private moment, I would rather not discuss it.
 * Cassandra: Of course, I should not have asked.


 * Cassandra: What is it like when templars nullify magic, Solas?
 * Solas: It is as though you are drawing upon the world around us. Mages draw forth the essence of the fade, and use that essence to shape reality.
 * Cassandra: And our powers drive it back, making this world harder to affect?
 * Solas: In a manner of speaking. You reinforce reality so it's less mutable. The fade has nowhere to gain a foothold, and the magic disperses.
 * Cassandra: No one has ever accused me of reinforcing reality before.
 * Solas: You are a seeker of truth.

Solas and Cole

 * Cole: You're different, Solas. Sharper. You're in both places.
 * Solas: I visit the Fade regularly. Perhaps you are sensing traces of it.
 * Solas: You are a spirit who crossed the Veil and took human form.
 * Cole: Spirit or demon.
 * Solas: The two are not so dissimilar, Cole.
 * Solas: While the world may exert a pull in one direction or another, the choice is ultimately yours.


 * Cole: You don't need to envy me, Solas. You can find happiness in your own way.
 * Solas: I apologize for disturbing you, Cole. I am not a spirit, and sometimes it is hard to remember such simple truths.
 * Cole: They are not gone so long as you remember them.
 * Solas: I know.
 * Cole: But you could let them go.
 * Solas: I know that as well.
 * Cole: You didn't do it to be right. You did it to save them.
 * Inquisitor: Solas, what is Cole talking about?
 * Solas: A mistake. One of many made by a much younger elf who was certain he knew everything.
 * Cole: You weren't wrong, though.


 * Solas: Thank you, Cole.


 * Cole: Walking and wandering, travelling the way, he searches for wisdom.
 * Solas: I do not need you to do that, Cole.
 * Cole: Your friend wanted you to be happy, even though she knew you wouldn't be.
 * Solas: (Sighs) Could you... if you would remember her, could you do it as I would?
 * Cole: He comes to me as though the Fade were just another wooded path to walk without a care in search of wisdom.
 * Cole: We share the ancient mysteries, the feelings lost, forgotten dreams, unseen for ages, now beheld in wonder.
 * Cole: In his own way, he knew wisdom, as no man or spirit had before.
 * Solas: Thank you.


 * Cole: I am sorry your friend died, Solas.
 * Solas: Thank you, Cole.
 * Cole: I didn't know there were spirits of wisdom.
 * Solas: There are few. Spirits form as a reflection of this world and its passions.
 * Solas: We will never lack for spirits of rage, or hunger, or desire. The world gives them plenty to mirror.
 * Solas: The gentler spirits are far more rare. We can ill afford the loss of even one spirit of wisdom, or faith...
 * Solas: Or compassion.
 * Cole: I will try not to die.
 * Solas: Do that, please.

(If Dorian is in the party.)
 * Cole: If it helps enough people, it becomes more... wandering, wishing, touched by them, Maker loves you, and it grows.
 * Cole: But I am me. Will I be more one day, if I help enough? Is this a task, timed, temporary?
 * Solas: No. It is a mistake to ascribe human motivations to them.
 * Cole: So I am always this?
 * Solas: You are always you.
 * Dorian: It's fascinating listening to you two, like trying to piece a puzzle


 * Cole: Is there a way to save more spirits, Solas?
 * Solas: Not until the Veil is healed. The rifts draw spirits through, and the shock makes demons of them.
 * Cole: Pushing through makes you be yourself. You can hold onto the you.
 * Cole: Being pulled through means you don't have enough you. You become what batters you, bruises your being.
 * Solas: Yes, exactly. Deliberately crossing the Veil requires that a spirit form will, personality.
 * Solas: That concept of self gives a spirit the chance to maintain its nature.
 * Solas: Wretched into this world unwillingly by the rifts, spirits suffer the same fate as my friend.
 * Cole: Then we will help them.

(If Cole becomes Human.) (If Inquisitor romanced Solas) Or
 * Solas: How do you feel, Cole, now that you dealt with the templar?
 * Cole: I don't know. He hurt me... hurt the real Cole. I'm angry at him.
 * Cole: I can't let that go. I have to become more, let it make me real.
 * Solas: You may well become fully human, after all. I never thought to see it.
 * Cole: When did you see it before?
 * Solas: I did not say that I had.
 * Cole: No, you didn't. It's harder to hear, sometimes. Sorry.
 * Solas: Good luck, Cole. You have taken a difficult road.
 * Cole: (if Inquisitor had vallaslin removed) Ar lasa mala revas. You are so beautiful. But then you turned away. Why?
 * Solas: I had no choice.
 * Cole: She is bare-faced, embarrassed, and she doesn't know. She thinks it's because of her.
 * Cole: (if Inquisitor's vallaslin was not removed) Stop, you're perfect exactly as you are. But then you turned away. Why?
 * Solas: I had no choice.
 * Cole: She feels her face, marked, marred without malice. She didn't know. She thinks it's why you walked away.
 * Solas: You cannot heal this, Cole. Please, let it go.
 * Inquisitor: Perhaps Cole can get a better answer from you than I did.
 * Cole: He hurts, an old pain from before, when everything sang the same.
 * Cole: You're real, and it means everyone could be real. It changes everything, but it can't.
 * Cole: They sleep, masked in a mirror, hiding, hurting, and to wake them... (gasps) Where did it go?
 * Solas: I apologize, Cole. That is not a pain you can heal.
 * Inquisitor: I would rather not discuss it, Cole.
 * Cole: I'm sorry.
 * Solas: It was my doing, not yours.

─────── ─────── ─────── ─────── (If Dorian is in the party)
 * Cole: She wants a Chantry but it does other things instead.
 * Solas: She did not need a Chantry, she needed to remember her faith.
 * Cole: But it also spend time with her. It wanted to fall, feeling.
 * Solas: They are always attracted to the world of the living.
 * Cole: Why did it only talk facing one way?
 * Solas: We all have a face we want to show, and a face we we do not.
 * (if in party) Vivienne: You should not encourage that thing.
 * Cole: Solas isn't a thing.
 * Solas: Well said.
 * Cole: It sees him ready to jump pain pulsing. A life of frustration can finally fall, to freeze.
 * Solas: Ah, yes.
 * Cole: It holds him high, shows the whole were everything falls without him. He never needs to leave. He matters here.
 * Solas: That is one interpretation, yes.
 * Cole: You think it is different?
 * Solas: I think he fell and it held him as he died. Leaving him with images that told him his life was worth while.
 * Cole: That's much sadder, but yes, clam comfort as the cold takes him away. They can only return to the maker if they become real. Why can't they be forgiven as they are?
 * Solas: People say the lack the ability to learn or grow.
 * Cole: Yes?
 * Solas: But the more contact you have with this world the more ability you gain.
 * Cole: They can only return to the Maker if they become real. Why can't they be forgiven as they are?
 * Solas: People say they lack the ability to learn or grow.
 * Cole: Yes.
 * Solas: But the more contact you have with this world, the more ability you gain.
 * Cole: Why would they want to prove the Maker wrong? He's already far away.
 * Solas: It isn't about right and wrong. It's about attention, when you think you have been forgotten.
 * Cole: And rolling the ball so it goes in the hole.
 * (if in party) Cassandra: What are you two talking about?
 * Solas: It will make little sense unless one has spent more time in the Fade.
 * Cole: They left for love, and then love lost them. More pain, more joy than anyone can bear, and yet they embrace it.
 * Solas: How could they not?
 * Dorian: It's fascinating listening to you two. Like working out a puzzle with only half the pieces.
 * Solas: I'm pleased you're enjoying yourself.
 * Cole: It was a game, but more than a game. It meant he would get a family.
 * Solas: Competition brings passion, Cole, and passion lets people attach import to trivial things.
 * Cole: Why didn't they help at the end?
 * Solas: People wish to accomplish the truly great things on their own.
 * Cole: They didn't give the boy what he wanted.
 * Solas: They did. The boy got a family.
 * Cole: They gave him a new one. He wanted his old one. I would have done it better.
 * Solas: The wise must sometimes give people what they need, not what they want.

Solas and Dorian

 * Dorian: Solas, I take it you study spirits?
 * Solas: I do.
 * Dorian: Back in my homeland, we keep spirits as servants.
 * Solas: So I've been told.
 * Dorian: The things they can be made to be are quite marvelous, you should see them.
 * Solas: The Tevinter Imperium is not the safest place for an elf.
 * Dorian: Ah, yes. Point taken.
 * Dorian: Ah, yes. Point taken.


 * Dorian: Do you use spirits as servants, Solas? You'd have no trouble capturing them.
 * Solas: No. They are intelligent, living creatures. Binding them against their will is reprehensible.
 * Dorian: How much "will" do they have? They're amorphous constructs of the Fade.
 * Solas: Hmm
 * Dorian: There's no harm putting them to constructive use, and most mages back home treat them well.
 * Solas: And any that show any magical talent are freed, are they not?
 * Dorian: What? Spirits don't have magical talent.
 * Solas: Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were talking about your slaves.


 * Dorian: Solas, that little flare you sometimes do with your staff... You're redirecting ambient energy to your personal aura?
 * Solas: Yes. The effect clears magical energy and creates a minor randomized barrier to impair incoming magic.
 * Dorian: Fascinating. It's a Tevinter technique. I've never seen anyone in this part of the world do it.
 * Solas: The technique is not Tevinter. It is elven.
 * Dorian: Oh! That means we... never mind, then.
 * Solas: But do go on about the wonders of Tevinter magic.


 * Solas: I am surprised you do not practice blood magic, Dorian. Is it not popular in Tevinter?
 * Dorian: While we're sharing surprises, you've done a lot less dancing naked in the moonlight than expected.
 * Solas: Tevinter lore about elves remains accurate as always.
 * Dorian: I wanted to see you make flowers bloom with your song, just once.


 * Dorian: Solas, for what it's worth, I'm sorry.
 * Dorian: The elven city of Arlathan sounds like a magical place, and for my ancestors to have destroyed it...
 * Solas: Dorian... hush.
 * Solas: Empires rise and fall. Arlathan was no more "innocent" than your own Tevinter in its time.
 * Solas: Your nostalgia for the ancient elves, however romanticized, is pointless.
 * Solas: If you wish to make amends for past transgressions, free the slaves of all races who live in Tevinter today.
 * Dorian: I... don't know that I can do that.
 * Solas: Then how sorry are you?

(If Sera is in the party)
 * Solas: I notice you used a nullification enchantment combined with an offensive attack.
 * Dorian: The nullification disrupts any ambient magic lying about. Things then burn hotter.
 * Solas: Don't you then waste an inordinate amount of magic overcoming your own nullification?
 * Dorian: Ah, no. I warp the Veil slightly to effect distance between the spells.
 * Solas: Of course. Have you considering snapping the Veil-warp to enhance the relative energy?
 * Dorian: Like cracking a whip? Yes, tried it once. Made my teeth taste funny.
 * Sera: Two of you doesn't make this normal!


 * Dorian: I can't believe you entered the Fade. Physically.
 * Solas: You think that is an achievement of which to be proud?
 * Dorian: It's the second time that's been done in all of history. That's not nothing, Solas.
 * Solas: In all of human history.
 * Dorian: The Fade is still a mystery to us humans, yes. Probably always will be.
 * Solas: Perhaps it's best it remain that way.


 * Dorian: Let me get this straight, Solas.
 * Dorian: You're an apostate - neither Dalish nor city elf - who lived alone in the woods studying spirits.
 * Solas: Is that a problem for you?
 * Dorian: No, no. You're a special and unique snowflake. Live the dream.


 * Solas: Your magical skill is impressive, Dorian.
 * Dorian: You're not the first to say so.
 * Solas: Would you not conserve magical energy with a less... flashy... style, however?
 * Dorian: Yes, and I'd live longer if I only ate rice and boiled vegetables, but that's just as unlikely.

(if Vivienne is in the party)
 * Dorian: Ah, Solas. You startled me. You're always so... nondescript.
 * Solas: Please speak up! I cannot hear you over your outfit!
 * Dorian: That orb Corypheus carries... are you certain it's of elven origin, Solas?
 * Solas: I believe so. Why do you ask?
 * Dorian: There are paintings in the Magisterium's archives of men holding similar orbs.
 * Dorian: They were depictions of a time long before the magisters. The ancient Dreamers, perhaps.
 * Dorian: The texts called those orbs "somnaborium"--"vessels of dreams." Could they be the same thing?
 * Solas: Perhaps. The humans of ancient times took much from the elves.
 * Dorian: And Corypheus isn't far removed from the time. Hmm.
 * Dorian: Solas, what's this whole look of yours about?
 * Solas: I'm sorry?
 * Dorian: No, that outfit is sorry. What are you supposed to be, some kind of woodsman?
 * Dorian: Is it a Dalish thing? Don't you dislike the Dalish? Or is it some kind of statement?
 * Solas: No.
 * Dorian: Well, it says "apostate hobo" to me.
 * Vivienne: Unwashed apostate hobo, more specifically.

Solas and Iron Bull

 * Solas: Iron Bull. I understand that among your people, you are... what is the term?
 * Iron Bull: Ben-Hassrath. Secret police. Spies, basically.
 * Solas: You spied upon your own people.
 * Iron Bull: Is that so different from Orlais or Ferelden? They have all kinds of people policing them.
 * Solas: What they say and do, yes. Not what they think.
 * Iron Bull: What you think is what you say and do.
 * Solas: No. Even the lowliest peasant may find freedom in the safety of her thoughts. You take even that.


 * Solas: Surely, even you see, Iron Bull, that freedom is preferable to mindless obedience to the Qun.
 * Iron Bull: How so? Last I checked, our mages weren't burning down Par Vollen.
 * Solas: You think Orlais and Ferelden would be better off under Qunari rule?
 * Iron Bull: Not really my call. I think most people everywhere have a system that works for 'em.
 * Iron Bull: When that breaks, you fix it. Like we're doing now.
 * Solas: Do not equivocate. Would we or would we not be better under the Qun?
 * Iron Bull: It's not that simple, Solas.
 * Solas: It absolutely is.


 * Iron Bull: Alright, Solas, been thinking. You wanna know how this place would be if the Qunari took charge?
 * Iron Bull: Orlais, Ferelden, all of it would be healthier under the Qun.
 * Iron Bull: But the war to make that happen? That'd be ugly. A lot of good people would die.
 * Iron Bull: So I'm not hoping it happens. There! You happy?
 * Solas: Happy? No. Quite the opposite.
 * Iron Bull: Oh, come on. I said I didn't want us to invade you!
 * Solas: No. You said this world would be brighter if all thinking individuals were stripped of individuality.
 * Solas: You only lack the will to get more blood on your hands.


 * Iron Bull: Tell me something, Solas. Do you think the servants here are happier then the people living under the Qun in Par Vollen?
 * Solas: It doesn't matter if they are happy, it matters that they may choose!
 * Iron Bull: Choose? Choose what? Whether to do their work or get tossed onto the street to starve?
 * Solas: Yes! If a Ferelden servant decides that his life goal is to... become a poet, he can follow that dream!
 * Solas: It may be difficult, and he might fail. But the whole of society is not aligned to oppose him!
 * Iron Bull: Sure, and good for him. How many servants actually go do that, though?
 * Solas: Almost none! What does that matter?
 * Solas: Your Qun would crush the brilliant few for the mediocre many!
 * Iron Bull: And then people feel like crap for failing.
 * Iron Bull: When the truth is, the deck was stacked against them anyway.

(if the Inquisitor is Qunari)
 * Solas: If your Qun is so wonderful, so fair and perfect, how does it create so many Tal-Vashoth?
 * Solas: There are enough of them to marry and have children, like the man/woman we travel with!
 * Iron Bull: And for every one who turns out alright, like him/her, and his/her parents, dozens go savage.
 * Iron Bull: Most Tal-Vashoth are nothing more then savages. Killing's all they know.
 * Iron Bull: The Ben-Hassrath are trying to lose fewer people to that sickness.
 * Solas: It isn't a sickness. You are losing them because they see a chance for freedom!
 * Solas: And most of them are "savage," as you say, because your culture taught them nothing else.
 * Solas: They know nothing but the Qun. So even as they fight against it, they are guided by its principles.
 * Iron Bull: Watch it, elf. You haven't seen the Tal-Vashoth like I have.
 * Iron Bull: Try watching a Tal-Vashoth kill a Tamassran and her kids. Then we'll talk.


 * Solas: You fought the Tal-Vashoth for a long time, Iron Bull, did you not?
 * Iron Bull: Every day.
 * Iron Bull: I'd kill some of them, they'd kill some of my guys, and then I'd kill them some more.
 * Solas: No man can kill so many people without breaking inside. To survive... those you fight must become monsters.
 * Iron Bull: The ones that kill innocent people, yeah. The rest... I don't know.
 * Solas: The mind does marvelous things to protect itself.


 * Iron Bull: So, Solas, you go into the Fade on purpose when you dream? Just to... hang out?
 * Solas: Yes. The Fade holds a trove of memories to explore. Spirits know secrets lost to this world.
 * Iron Bull: Yeah, but they're spirits. You can't treat 'em like people.
 * Solas: Would many not say the same of the Qunari?
 * Iron Bull: Uh, no, because Qunari don't go around trying to possess people and turn them into abominations.
 * Solas: Instead, you conquer them and turn them into servants of the Qun.
 * Iron Bull: Oh, come on!

(If the Inquisitor sided with the Qun during the Demands of the Qun quest)

(If the Inquisitor sided with Iron Bull during the Demands of the Qun quest)


 * Solas: Iron Bull, how do your people put on shirts?
 * Iron Bull: We don't, usually. It's pretty hot where we're from.
 * Iron Bull: But I can get into anything with a loose collar. Just gotta ease one horn through and then angle it up.
 * Iron Bull: There's a term for getting caught unprepared that translates to "running around with clothing stuck on your horns."
 * Solas: Colorful.


 * Iron Bull: Nice job in that last fight, Solas. You really kicked the crap outta that guy.
 * Solas: I suppose.
 * Iron Bull: What, you don't think so? You ripped him a new one. It was great!
 * Solas: Unless the fight is personal, violence is a means to an end. It isn't appropriate to celebrate.
 * Iron Bull: I don't know. Gotta wonder about anyone who fights as much as we do and doesn't have some fun with it.
 * Solas: We have fought living men, with loves and families, and all that they might have been is gone.
 * Iron Bull: Yeah, but they were assholes!


 * Solas: Hmm.
 * Iron Bull: Something wrong?
 * Solas: A man in the last village. Something in his manner troubles me.
 * Iron Bull: The baker with the squint and the red nose? Yeah, spy. Probably Venatori.
 * Solas: Why do you say that?
 * Iron Bull: He watched all of us. A normal guy would focus on you, because staff, or me, because horns.
 * Iron Bull: He had a dagger up his sleeve, which no baker needs, and the knot on his apron was tied Tevinter style.
 * Iron Bull: I sent a message to Red. She'll investigate.
 * Solas: You are more observant than you appear.
 * Iron Bull: The good spies usually are.


 * Iron Bull: You've got an odd style, Solas. Your spells are a bit different from the Circle mages or the Vints.
 * Solas: That comes from being self-taught.
 * Solas: I discovered most magic on my own, or learned it from my journeys in the Fade.
 * Iron Bull: I've seen self-taught warriors. Even the good ones have something awkward in their style, something that clunks.
 * Iron Bull: I don't get that from you. Maybe magic is different.
 * Solas: Or without magical training, you cannot notice the parts of my magic that "clunk".


 * Iron Bull: Hey, Solas, you ever do your Fade thing and pretend you can fly?
 * Iron Bull: Just flap your arms and zip around in there? Then maybe bang some hot Fade ladies?
 * Solas: No. Such behavior attracts the attention of demons.
 * Iron Bull: Aww. Demons shit up everything.

(If the Inquisitor sided with Iron Bull during the Demands of the Qun quest)
 * Solas: How do you feel, Iron Bull? Do you need a distraction to focus your mind?
 * Iron Bull: Well, this area's low on dancing girls, sadly.
 * Solas: King's pawn to E4.
 * Iron Bull: You're shitting me. We don't even have a board!
 * Solas: Too complicated for a savage Tal-Vashoth?
 * Iron Bull: (Grumbles.) Smug little asshole. Pawn to E5.
 * Solas: Pawn to F4. King's Gambit.
 * Iron Bull: Accepted. Pawn takes pawn. Give me a bit to get the pieces set in my head. Then we'll see what you've got.


 * Solas: So, where were we? Ah, yes.  Mage to C4.
 * Iron Bull: Little aggressive. Arishok to H4.  Check.
 * Solas: Speaking of aggressive. I assume Arishok is your term for the Queen? King to F1.
 * Iron Bull: Pawn to B5.
 * Solas: All right. You have my curiosity.  Mage takes Pawn.
 * Iron Bull: You call your Tamassrans Mages? Ben-Hassrath to F6.
 * Solas: You call your Knights Ben-Hassrath? Incidentally, Knight to F3.
 * Iron Bull: Ben-Hassrath makes morse sense than horses. They're sneaky, and they can move through enemy lines. Arishok to H6.
 * Solas: Pawn to D3.
 * Iron Bull: Ben-Hassrath to H5. Hah! All right, take some time. Think about your life choices.


 * Solas: All right, Bull. If you are prepared: Knight to H4.
 * Iron Bull: Arishok to G5. So, you giving up the Tamassran at B5 or the Ben-Hassrath at H4?
 * Solas: Neither. Knight to F5.
 * Iron Bull: Pawn to C6. Left your Tamassran hanging out.
 * Solas: And you, your Knight. or Ben-Hassrath, if you will. Pawn to G4.
 * Iron Bull: Ben-Hassrath to F6.
 * Solas: Hmm. Tower to G1.
 * Iron Bull: Hah! Pawn takes your Tamassran - or Mage, or whatever it is.
 * Solas: I get the idea.
 * Iron Bull: Too much time playing with spirits, Fade Walker.
 * Solas: We shall see.


 * Solas: If you have a moment, Bull: Pawn to H4
 * Iron Bull: Arishok to G6.
 * Solas: Pawn to H5. Careful.
 * Iron Bull: You're the one who lost his Mage. Arishok to G5.
 * Solas: Queen to F3.
 * Iron Bull: Oh, clever. Almost trapped my Arishok. Ben-Hassrath to G8.
 * Solas: Mage takes Pawn, threatens Queen.
 * Iron Bull: (Grunts.) Arishok to F6.
 * Solas: Knight to C3. You've developed nothing but your Queen.
 * Iron Bull: Don't get cocky, you're still one Tamassran down. Tamassran to C5, by the way.
 * Solas: Hmm. I will need to consider.


 * Solas: After careful consideration: Knight to D5.
 * Iron Bull: Arishok takes Pawn at B2.
 * Solas: Mage to D6.
 * Iron Bull: Arishok takes Tower. What are you doing, Solas?
 * Solas: King to E2.
 * Iron Bull: All right, Tamassran takes Tower. Your last Tower, by the way.
 * Solas: Pawn to E5.
 * Iron Bull: Really. I've got my whole army bearing down on your King, and you're moving a Pawn?
 * Iron Bull: Are you even trying anymore?
 * Solas: Think about it, my friend.


 * Iron Bull: All right, Solas. I've thought about it. Ready to finish this? Ben-Hassrath to A6.
 * Solas: Knight takes Pawn at G7. Check.
 * Iron Bull: Uh-huh. King to D8.
 * Solas: Queen to F6, Check.
 * Iron Bull: And now my Ben-Hassrath takes your Queen.
 * Iron Bull: You've got not Towers. You're down to a single Mage. Too bad you wasted time moving that Pawn to... to...
 * Iron Bull: You sneaky son of a bitch.
 * Solas: Mage to E7. Checkmate.
 * Iron Bull: (Grunts.). Nice game, mage.
 * Solas: And you as well, Tal-Vashoth.


 * Iron Bull: You're not as flashing as most mages, Solas.
 * Iron Bull: The Tevinter mages I fought in Seheron tried to scare us with what they could do.
 * Iron Bull: Dorian looks like he's waiting for applause after every spell. Even Viv has this confident swagger.
 * Dorian: As any good mage would.
 * Iron Bull: Vivienne has this little swagger, like she knows she's the most dangerous thing in the room.
 * Iron Bull: Not the quiet elven mage, though. No frills. Nothing to give you away. Half our targets never even see you coming.
 * Solas: I shall take that as a compliment.
 * Iron Bull: If you like.

Solas and Sera

 * Sera: You can make magic anywhere, Solas? Ever piss it by accident?
 * Solas: No. Wait...no.
 * Sera: What? How would you not remember something like that?
 * Solas: We were all young once.


 * Solas: Ar dirthan'as ir elgara, ma'sula e'var vhenan.
 * Sera: Pppbbthh!
 * Solas: Excuse me?
 * Sera: Excuse yourself. Whatever you said and what I did, same difference to me.
 * Solas: I'd hoped, well, our people can sometimes feel the rhythm of the language despite lacking the vocabulary.
 * Sera: Uh huh? Know what else is good?  Words that mean things.  Like these.  Words.
 * Solas: Fenedhis lasa.
 * Sera: Pppbbthh!


 * Solas: Have you ever had any interest in learning magic, Sera?
 * Sera: Get off?
 * Solas: While it has not manifested naturally, there are ways to determine whether arcane gifts lie dormant within you.
 * Sera: What? Don't make me think about that. I have to sleep at night!
 * Solas: Sleeping would give you the chance to explore the Fade. I could introduce you to spirits.
 * Sera: Right, you're messing with me on purpose!
 * Solas: Why would I do that? It is not as though I know who filled my bedroll with lizards.
 * Sera: Heh. Fair point! That was pretty good.


 * Solas: Our people used to be here.
 * Sera: Pfft, you say that everywhere.
 * Solas: It is more true than you want to believe.
 * Sera: I bet, right? Who wants to think about stepping on dead elves.
 * Solas: Din elvhen emma him?
 * Sera: Oh, you felt that one.


 * Solas: What color is the sky, Sera?
 * Sera: Hang off.
 * Solas: It is an earnest question. What color is the sky when you look at it?
 * Sera: You know. Blue, mostly.  Except for the Breachy bits.
 * Solas: And when you looked past the Breach? As perhaps you were drawn to do?
 * Sera: Greenish? Then clear a long ways, and kind of... felt like falling.
 * Sera: Ugh! Makes my head hurt.  You make my head hurt.
 * Solas: We are not so far apart, you and I.
 * Sera: We will be.


 * Solas: Sera, I notice that in a recent fight, you killed someone I was already dealing with.
 * Sera: You were doing it too slow.
 * Solas: Just to be clear. You wish me to manipulate the delicate balance of the primordial energy of the Fade... faster.
 * Sera: You're not making it worse. It's bad enough you people do that at all!

When your enemies pursue, you vanish. When they become complacent, you harass them. When they are weak, you strike in earnest.
 * Solas: I heard about your organization, Sera. I am impressed.
 * Sera: Is this a trick?
 * Solas: Hardly. But it is an opportunity. You have already divided your group's membership. That is wise. No one cell can betray all your secrets. The next step is to establish a rhythm.
 * Sera: Where d'you get all this, then?
 * Solas: Do you wish to be unnerved by another tale of my explorations of the Fade? Or do you wish to learn something?
 * Sera: I don't know. Neither?


 * Solas: Once you have the aristocracy weakened, Sera, you will have to redirect your lieutenants.
 * Sera: Oh, this again. All right, what am I doing?
 * Solas: Some of your forces, valuable until now, have no interests beyond creating disruption. Chaos for its own sake. They must be repositioned where they can do no harm, or removed if necessary. You replace them with organizers willing to build a new system and carry out the ugly work that must be done.
 * Sera: What? Why? What ugly work?
 * Solas: That is up to you. Do you wish to disrupt the nobility, secure a title? Or change the political structure entirely?
 * Sera: None of it! I don't want any of that!

(If Inquisitor is in a relationship with Solas) Or
 * Solas: I do not understand you, Sera. You do not have an end goal for your organization.
 * Sera: Nobles get rattled, and people get payback. I play in the middle.
 * Solas: Why not go all the way? You see injustice. And you have organized a group to fight it. Don't you want to replace it with something better?
 * Sera: What, just lop off the top? What does that do, except make a new top to frig it all up?
 * Solas: I...forgive me. You are right. You are fine as you are.
 * Sera: You hurt my head sometimes, Solas.
 * Solas: Yes, I have been known to do that.
 * Sera: So, you and the Lady Inquisitor. Interesting.
 * Solas: Your interest is not my concern.
 * Sera: That's all right, because I meant boring. The elf always takes the elf so that banging bits will mean something.
 * Solas: It is not a topic for discussion.
 * Sera: Oh, come on. Drop 'em and rebuild the empire. Phwoar!
 * Inquisitor: Sera! No more!
 * Sera: Hmph! Fine. Whatever.
 * Solas: Don't concern yourself, vhenan. She is… apart from herself.
 * Inquisitor: (Laughter) You're ridiculous.
 * Sera: Not me. It's him! And you.
 * Solas: Only one of us is looking sad and foolish, Sera.
 * Sera: Oh, go twam your ears!

Solas and Varric

 * Solas: Varric, you joined the inquisition when seeker Pentaghast questioned you?
 * Varric: She was very insistent that I help.
 * Solas: Interesting.
 * Varric: What's Interesting?
 * Solas: It surprised me that an elven apostate is the one who joined the inquisition voluntarily.


 * Solas: By the end of Hard in Hightown, almost every character is revealed as a spy or a traitor.
 * Varric: Wait, you read my book?
 * Solas: It was in the Inquisition library. Everyone but Donnen turned out to be in disguise. Is that common?
 * Varric: Are we still talking about books or are you asking if everyone I know is a secret agent?
 * Solas: Are there many tricksters in dwarven literature?
 * Varric: A handful, but they're the exception. Mostly they're just honoring the ancestors. It's very dull stuff. Human literature? Now there's where you'll find the tricky, clever, really deceptive types.
 * Solas: Curious.
 * Varric: Not really. Dwarves write how they want things to be. Humans write to figure out how things are.


 * Solas: Varric, you fought Corypheus once before?
 * Varric: Not my fondest memory, but yes, I did.
 * Solas: And you killed him. You were certain of his death?
 * Varric: Yes. What's on your mind, Chuckles?
 * Solas: He survived the explosion that destroyed the Conclave.
 * Solas: If he can live through a blast that levels a mountaintop, we would do well to determine how.
 * Varric: Even if we knew, would that help us?
 * Varric: The Wardens couldn't kill him, and they had a thousand years to figure it out.


 * Varric: You really spend most of your time in the Fade?
 * Solas: As much as possible. The Fade contains a wealth of knowledge for those who know where to look.
 * Varric: Sure, but I don't how you dream, let alone wander around in there.
 * Varric: Especially when the shit that comes out of the Fade generally seems pretty cranky.
 * Solas: So are humans, but we continue to interact with them... when we must.


 * Varric: You know what I like about you, Chuckles? Your boundless optimism.
 * Solas: It's comforting that whatever qualities I lack, you'll invent for me, Varric.
 * Varric: No, really. Why else would an elven apostate help crazy Chantry folk close a hole in the sky?
 * Solas: When you put it like that, I must concede your point.


 * Solas: Is it true that the entire dwarven economy relies upon lyrium?
 * Varric: Mostly. We've got the nug market cornered as well.
 * Solas: And the dwarves of Orzammar have never studied lyrium?
 * Varric: If they have, they certainly haven't shared anything up here. Why?
 * Solas: It is the source of all magic, save that which mages bring themselves.
 * Solas: Dwarves alone have the ability to mine it safely. I wondered if they had sought to learn more.
 * Varric: The folks back in Orzammar don't care much about anything but tradition.

─────── ───────
 * Solas: Do you ever miss life beneath the earth? The call of the Stone?
 * Varric: Nah. Whatever the Stone - capital S - is, it was gone by the time my parents had me.
 * Solas: But... do you miss it?
 * Varric: How could I miss what I never had?
 * Varric: But say I did have that sense, that connection to the Stone. What would it cost me?
 * Varric: Would I lose my friends up here? Would I stop telling stories?
 * Varric: I like who I am. If I want to hear songs, I'll go to a tavern.
 * Solas: You are wiser than most.
 * Solas: I find the fall of the dwarven lands confusing.
 * Varric: What's so confusing about endless darkspawn?
 * Solas: A great deal, although that is a different matter. Dwarves control the flow of lyrium. They could tighten their grip on it.
 * Varric: It's hard to get the attention of the humans when the darkspawn aren't up here messing with their stuff.
 * Solas: You're active in the carta. You know your people could tug the purse strings.
 * Varric: You're not saying anything I haven't said myself. Orzammar is what it is.
 * Solas: Is there at least a movement to reunite Orzammar and Kal-Sharok?
 * Varric: What is it with you, Chuckles? Why do you care so much about the dwarves?
 * Solas: Once, in the Fade, I saw the of a man who lived alone on an island. Most of his tribe had fallen to beasts or disease. His wife had died in childbirth. He was the only one left. He could have struck out on his own to find a new land, new people. But he stayed. He spent every day catching fish in a little boat, every night drinking fermented fruit juice and watching the stars.
 * Varric: I can think of worse lives.
 * Solas: How can you be happy surrendering, knowing it will all end with you?
 * Varric: I suppose it depends on the quality of the fermented fruit juice.
 * Solas: So it seems.


 * Varric: What's with you and the doom stuff? Are you always this cheery or is the hole in the sky getting to you?
 * Solas: I've no idea what you mean.
 * Varric: All the "fallen empire" crap you go on about. What's so great about empires anyway?
 * Varric: So we lost the Deep Roads, and Orzammar's too proud to ask for help. So what? We're not Orzammar and we're not our empire.
 * Varric: There are tens of thousands of us living up here in the sunlight now, and it's not that bad.
 * Varric: Life goes on. It's just different than it used to be.
 * Solas: And you have no concept of what that difference cost you.
 * Varric: Oh I know what it didn't cost me. I'm still here, even after all those thaigs fell.
 * Solas: You truly are content to sit in the sun, never wondering what you could've been, never fighting back?
 * Varric: Ha, you've got it all wrong, Chuckles. This is fighting back.
 * Solas: How does passively accepting your fate constitute a fight?
 * Varric: In that story of yours--the fisherman watching the stars, dying alone--you thought he gave up right?
 * Solas: Yes.
 * Varric: But we went on living. he lost everyone, but he still got up every morning. He made a life, even if it was alone.
 * Varric: That's the world. Everything you build, it tears down. Everything you've got, it takes--and it's gone forever.
 * Varric: The only choices you get are to lie down and die or keep going. He kept going. That's as close to beating the world as anyone gets.
 * Solas: Well said. Perhaps I was mistaken.


 * Solas: That crossbow is remarkable, Varric. I am surprised the dwarves have not made more of them.
 * Varric: The woman who made Bianca would rather that not happen. Wars are bloody enough as it is.
 * Varric: A crossbow that fires this far and this quickly with so little training? Every battle would be a massacre.
 * Solas: Indeed. I am surprised, not disappointed.

Solas and Vivienne

 * Vivienne: So, an apostate?
 * Solas: That is correct, Enchanter. I did not train in your Circle.
 * Vivienne: Well, dear, I hope you can take care of yourself, should we encounter anything outside your experience.
 * Solas: I will try, in my own fumbling way, to learn from how you helped seal the rifts at Haven.
 * Solas: Ah, wait. My memory misleads me. You were not there.


 * Vivienne: You know, Solas, you do an excellent job of spellcasting without any concrete knowledge of technique.
 * Solas: Your rigorous training lays a solid foundation, true. It also creates boundaries, limits, where none need exist.
 * Vivienne: I do prefer to have boundaries between myself and the demons, my dear.
 * Solas: Of course. You endured the Harrowing, where your Circle teaches you that all demons attempt to possess you.
 * Vivienne: Not at all! Many of them simply want to kill you. I suppose you would claim otherwise.
 * Solas: Why should I? You would not believe me. You have learned your lessons all too well.
 * Vivienne: Solas dear, do you find your magic affected at all by the fluctuations in the Fade?
 * Solas: Nothing unexpected, given the energies emanating from the rift. And you, Enchanter?
 * Vivienne: The same.

Solas, Cassandra, and Varric

 * Varric: So, who do you think is the toughest: Josephine, Leliana, or Cassandra?
 * Cassandra: I'm right here, you know.
 * Varric: That doesn't rule you out, Seeker.
 * Solas: Cullen's not up for consideration?
 * Varric: Curly? They just keep him around to look pretty.


 * Varric: So here we are, elf, cleaning up another human mess.
 * Sera: (if in party) Who you calling elfy, jackhole?
 * Varric: Not you, other elf.
 * Solas: What would the Inquisition do without our stabilizing influence, Master Tethras?
 * Varric: I'd assume they'd just start burning things
 * Solas: That does sound like most humans I know.
 * Cassandra: If you gentlemen are quite finished?
 * Varric: Now, now, don't get touchy. We're just here to lend you simple humans our help.
 * Solas: Before you cause everything to explode.
 * Varric: Again.