@Lethal blade00 Yes the Lord Seeker was working with Cory. Fiona I just think is an idiot/overly paranoid.
Human Mage: Representive of a neutral Circle that is not part of the conflict.
Human Non-Mage: Family has connections to both the Templar Order and Circles of Magi and Chantry while being Nobility. You're a Third Party Peace Delegate.
Vashoth: You're a Third Party Mercenary Band hired by the Chantry to keep the peace. You were the one in charge of security so it really IS your fault for things going boom.
Dwarf: Part of the Carta the Dwarven Mafia that supplies Lyrium to the Templars and Mages...You were there to both spy and make contacts and deals.
Dalish Elf: You were there to spy on the Conclave to see how the war will affect the Dalish Clans as many of them harbor Mages.
The Divine was able to move and knock the Orb away because Corypheus lost focus when the Herald to be entered the room.
How he snuck in? There are many underground passages in the mountains and we even use some in-game. He could've possessed a Warden then popped into form when near the Divine. While the Wardens could've been invited or allowed in as a Neutral Third Party for peace delegations.
@Lethal blade00 Given the Magic usage and not outright purging the Mages from existence Andrastians can't be Catholics.
Magic and Witchcraft...They're kinda really hostile to those things. Like Radical Templar levels of hostile.
Like the Bible itself literally states to Exile from your lands any magic users. Unless they're a witch or sorceress they have to die.
So Female Mages...Executed, Male Mages...Forced into Isolation far away from civilized lands would be the Catholic policy in Thedas.
I myself agree the term Andrastianism is incorrect given the God the Higher Power the Central Figure of Worship is The Maker.
But they named it after Andraste...Both Southerners and Northerners and even Neutral Unaffiliated parties call them that as well simply marking the difference with White and Black or North and South so literally most third parties consider them as the Same.
It is what it is.
@Thehumaneldar The Official word of the States are people must follow the Chant of Light. However that doesn't mean they always enforce that policy. Practical and Pragmatic and Secular decisions are still made time and again on all sides.
@HeWhomForgetsPasswords Can't help that the followers of the faith misnamed it themselves and Tevinter themselves calls it Andrastianism.
@Thehumaneldar Those Qunari in Rivain the Andrastian Forces tried to purge them from existence...It's a miracle it didn't restart the Qunari Wars because the Qun Leadership in Rivain decided not to report the war crimes and atrocities to Par Vollen. Qunari get sick of endless fighting too.
Tevinter ARE Andrastians...They just have a different Church with a different Interpretation of the Chant of Light. The Orlesians word is NOT absolute law. Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism all have different Sects and Churches who've gone to war against one another over and over...Yet believe in the exact same God/Higher Power.
The Mortalitasi are also Andrastians once again simply given special cultural considerations of which they don't overstep.
Venatori and Old God Cultists are Social Outcasts considered Criminals and Heathens by every single Official Government in the world. The sentence is immediate execution. The Andrastians all forms of them are literally trying to purge them from the face of existence.
The Dwarves are their own nation that humanity has no influence over in fact the Dwarves valuable and rare resource makes them the influencers. Despite that the Divine has considered multiple times to commit an Exalted March (War and Forced Conversion) against the Dwarves of Orzammar.
@HeWhomForgetsPasswords Can't even kill the idea. You can counter it. You can provide facts and evidence. Doesn't matter because if someone believes in it fundamentally or are delusional they will not accept it.
Nothing kills either Chantry besides the actual end of either A. Humanity. B. The World.
Guys we still have the Catholic Church, Orthodox Church, Islam in multiple forms, Judaism in multiple forms, Confucianism etc. All of our traditional religions that have had multiple crisis and controversies still around and kicking even when Science is valued and Atheism is on the rise.
There will NEVER be a world without Organized Religion and Faith in existence as long as Humans are Humans there will always be believers, there will always be a belief in something higher, there will always be those that flock together creating a system for said beliefs, there will always be leaders within those ranks having power and influence over the others.
Done both. Done neither.
Main Guys: My Warden is Atheist, Hawke is canonically Andrastian by one means or another, The Inquisitor is Agonistic Theist.
Both depending on circumstance and individual.
If factions are the thing then Grey Warden Mages were always free. Mortalitassi always had greater influence and autonomy, Same with Rivaini Seers...As Nevarra and Rivain are only barely Andrastian nations. Antivan Crows have always hired Mages...It's Antiva the Crows are the Real De Facto power and authority as the Monarchy are puppets and they directly tie into the Merchant Princes (the other De Facto who also hire Mages). Lords of Fortune are literally Treasure Hunters composed of anyone they have both Apostates and Circle Mages and Tevinter Mages in their not really an organization.
So yeah Mages just have freedom and protection within their ranks. Regardless of the political landscape.
Families have always come into play...Just in different roles. It's Tevinter we're going to where Genes and Bloodlines matter more than anywhere else in existence (besides maybe the Qun). Familial connections will 100% come into play.
I hope we're a Northerner. I hate Orlesians and I'm tired of the South. We've even already been able to be an Orlesian Warden-Commander too. Let us be Tevinter and Qunari...Let us be from the "worst places on Thedas". Let us care about the peoples and settings from there on a personal level and directly see if the Southern Propaganda was BS or Truth or Sorta kinda true but also way more nuanced than they're willing to admit.
Provide us with the option to directly support the Imperium or Qun. Or to be a Rebel. Or to be an Southern Sympathizer/Northern Traitor. Or utterly Neutral uncaring of politics and race and nationality.
What I want...
Human Non-Mage: Imperial Templar a hired thug/trained soldier tasked with slaying the weak and forgettable. Until they hunt/slay the wrong mage turning into the hunted.
Human Mage: The new Chosen Successor of the "Black" Divine (if Female a radically unorthodox move that casts a negative light on you), Family related to the Archon as Tevinter Altus's, Your cousins having ties with the Venatori and Red Templars. You're caught in the middle of the internal politics of Tevinter between the progressives (Imperial Chantry), conservatives (Magisterium Pro-Archon), liberals (Lucerni), moderates (Magisterium Anti-Archon) and radicals (Venatori) with personal ties to ALL of them...Perhaps sympathies for ALL of them.
Elvhen Non-Mage: Slave of Tevinter turned into a Mage Hunter/Gladiator or Viddathari Spy or Seheron Fog Warrior.
Elvhen Mage: Tevinter Liberati an Ex-Slave Second Class citizen with limited rights that can only serve in lower fields of work. Exactly the kind of Mage that would be left to abominate or be slain by Imperial Templars if they get into trouble. Skill level utterly self taught.
Dwarf: Kal-Sharok Rock-Knocker.
Qunari Non-Mage: Ben-Hassrath just like Bull.
Qunari Mage: Saarebas that breaks free of their Arvaarad during the fighting between the Antaam and Tevinter forces. Becomes a Tal-Vashoth Merc. Could still have Qun sympathies but wants to survive and gains a respect for liberty.
@Zehnwaters16 I accept it in the Witcher given it was built from the ground up to be a mix between Sci-Fi and Medieval Fantasy but that's about it. Dragon Age and The Elder Scrolls shouldn't have multiple versions.
Funny enough that Star Wars is like the one product they don't wanna canonize a Multiverse for and yet is the one that could desperately benefit from it.
@Zehnwaters16 Me I had no problem with it I like Time Travel/Multiverse stories. I just don't think every single last story in existence needs to be one. A Medieval Fantasy doesn't need it. I also did prefer the more grounded Templar questline more as well.
@Chaos9059763 No not everything needs to be a Multiverse. We need to keep grounded single universe single world storylines in play. Introducing Limited Time Travel was already a step too far for some fans.
@Zehnwaters16 If Blood of the Titans is to be taken literally then yes. "Blood is always the Key" - Avernus, Malcolm.
Do you truly expect generations of racial hatred and fear, thousands of years of racial conflict...To just stop because you saved a single nation?! You must remember that no one outside Ferelden and the Wardens believes that the Fifth Blight was a Real Blight. Because we're so good at stopping it from spreading and beating it early everyone thinks it's impossible.
You do realize the Fourth Blight was beaten by a City Elf. Nobody cares. The Second Blight was beaten by a couple one of them a Mage. Nobody cares. Ameridan existed...Nobody cares and specifically everyone covered up the truth. Andraste and Drakon NEVER hated the existence of Magic or Mages or Elves...Doesn't matter their descendants do.
Thedas will NOT care what they're but instead what they do (not even always that) and they're more than willing to cover up inconvenient truths that contradict their narratives of Anti-Elf, Anti-Magic, Anti-Different. That's how Propaganda and Organized Religion with Unlimited Power work.
The Qun and Chantry will never admit to their hypocrisy towards Magic and Elves and Slavery. The Imperium will never admit to their radicalization of Magic and Socio-Political warfare. They will NEVER willingly admit that the opposing forces make valid and logical arguments. They will only crackdown on dissention and enforce more extreme methods for control if they're directly proven wrong.
Multiple options are possible...
Lyrium can hold the souls of people within it. We know souls are confirmed to canonically exist. We know souls can resurrect the dead by entering a new host...Lyrium can be the host.
Lyrium can create a mental construct of the dead of any of it's users. We know it can store memories in the Shaperate...Why not the entire memory of a person reconstructed?
It's not Meredith at all she's just a Name, Face, Title to use. It could be an Illusion an deception. The Real Force in charge being the Blight/Taint or Titans or Old Gods or Forgotten Ones.
We know that Lyrium is the "Blood" of "Gods" the Titans that created one of the four major races. Their "Blood" grants mystical powers from Anti-Magic to Empowering Magic to Increased Strength and Speed to Body/Mass Manipulation to creating Golems etc.
Lyrium can already do incredible things...Why not make a Copy of someone or Resurrection?
@Anon42311862011411 Good point on objectively it's harmful to the Veil and the Veil's destruction would lead to greater suffering if not the end of everything. Though it must be noted that ANY form of Mass Death causes the Veil to weaken...So any form of conflict that results in massive amounts of casualties. So Thedas needs to become utterly pacifistic to prevent the destruction of the Veil...Which let's be honest is impossible as long as people have free will and wants.
Also given that the Veil is Elf-Made it's an Unnatural construct. We do have to ask if it really should exist in the first place? If it's destruction actually would end all of life or most of it...Because the Elves and Dwarves at least did exist Pre-Veil though they were quite different. Then if Magic being the problem could also be the solution if it can counter the more destructive results...If not save everyone save some.
The extreme application isn't the only application. You do NOT need to kill anyone to use Blood Magic. You just need to shed Blood, You just need to have Pain. You can simply slit a wound into your own body not even a fatal one. Granted for the weaker spells. More powerful ones are what require more intense methods...However an ethical person won't go down that route.
There is nothing stating they don't have a choice. That is what the Blight Magic and Red Lyrium is. But Blood Magic and Necromancy are a choice based system. You go as far as you're willing to go, You do good or evil based solely on your own will. Which is no different from the other forms of Magic that are legal and any form of weapon.
Here's the truth of the matter...Blood Magic isn't a problem at all. Humanity's (and the other races) Free Will and compulsion to Regulate/Control everything are the problems. You aren't afraid of Magic or Blood Magic you're terrified of People being and acting like People when they have any form of power you can't counter.