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Swept aside by nothing.</poem>|[[Chant of Light#Canticle of Silence|Silence]] 2:9<ref>{{Cite wot2|58}}</ref>}} |
Swept aside by nothing.</poem>|[[Chant of Light#Canticle of Silence|Silence]] 2:9<ref>{{Cite wot2|58}}</ref>}} |
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| − | The '''Black City''', |
+ | The '''Black City''', once known as the '''Golden City''' and the heart of heaven, is a city in the [[Fade]], said to be the former seat of the [[Maker]] or the realm of the [[Old Gods]], depending on the religious perspective.<ref>{{cite wot|177, 179}}</ref> |
| − | == Early |
+ | == Early history == |
Paintings indicate that it was within mankind's history that once the city was Golden and not Black.<ref name=Prima>''[[Dragon Age: Origins: Prima Official Game Guide#Collector's Edition|Dragon Age: Origins Collector's Edition: Prima Official Game Guide]]''</ref> |
Paintings indicate that it was within mankind's history that once the city was Golden and not Black.<ref name=Prima>''[[Dragon Age: Origins: Prima Official Game Guide#Collector's Edition|Dragon Age: Origins Collector's Edition: Prima Official Game Guide]]''</ref> |
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| − | The |
+ | The Chantry teaches that after the Maker created His [[spirit|firstborn]], He "called forth a city with towers of gold, streets with music for cobblestones, and banners which flew without wind".<ref name="Thr5">[[Chant_of_Light_verses#Canticle_of_Threnodies|Canticle of Threnodies 5:1-8]]</ref> It was a perfect, holy citadel<ref name="FB">[[Codex entry: The First Blight: Chapter 1]]</ref> where He dwelled on His golden throne,<ref name="Thr5" /> and spirits populated its many spires.<ref name="Prima" /><ref name="FC">[[Codex entry: The Maker's First Children]]</ref> The Maker's [[soul|mortal children]] entered the city when they died, returning to His side.<ref name="PPG3M">Dragon Age RPG, Set 3 - Game Master's Guide, p. 12</ref> When His secondborn started to worship the [[Old Gods]] and thus committed the [[Original Sin]], the Maker abandoned the Golden City and His ungrateful creations<ref name="FB" /><ref name="DG">{{BWF|author=[[David Gaider]]|date=2010|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117090303/http://forum.bioware.com/topic/40364-the-chantry-the-maker-the-old-gods-questions/page-3|title=The Chantry, The Maker, The Old Gods: questions|access=March 23, 2015}}</ref>, and it sat locked and empty.<ref name="Prima" /><ref name="FB" /> |
Dissatisfied with spirits, the Maker expelled them from the Golden City, but there are conflicting accounts on the timing of this event: before the creation of men<ref name=Prima/><ref name=FC/>, directly after that ("sealed the gates")<ref name=Thr5/> or when He left the city.<ref name=Prima/> |
Dissatisfied with spirits, the Maker expelled them from the Golden City, but there are conflicting accounts on the timing of this event: before the creation of men<ref name=Prima/><ref name=FC/>, directly after that ("sealed the gates")<ref name=Thr5/> or when He left the city.<ref name=Prima/> |
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{{Main|Second Sin}} |
{{Main|Second Sin}} |
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| − | In -395 [[Ancient Age|Ancient]] (800 TE) seven Magisters Sidereal, each a High Priest to one of the [[Old Gods]]<ref>{{Cite wot2|54}}</ref> |
+ | In -395 [[Ancient Age|Ancient]] (800 TE) seven [[Magisters Sidereal]], each a High Priest to one of the [[Old Gods]],<ref>{{Cite wot2|54}}</ref> opened a gate into the Golden City with [[blood magic]] and entered it physically. The city turned black as soon as they arrived, and the mages were cast back to Thedas as the first [[darkspawn]], triggering the [[First Blight]].<ref>{{Cite wot|27, 155}}</ref> |
| − | [[Avernus]] stated that the Black City holds "an answer to what the taint is."<ref>[[Codex entry: Avernus's Notes]]</ref> |
+ | [[Avernus]] stated that the Black City holds "an answer to what the [[taint]] is."<ref>[[Codex entry: Avernus's Notes]]</ref> |
| + | Of note is that [[Corypheus]], one of the Magisters that allegedly turned the Golden City black, mentions in [[Legacy (quest)|his encounter]] with [[Hawke]] that the city was already blackened when he and his compatriots entered it, directly contradicting one of the most central pillars of Chantry canon. The veracity of this claim is unknown. |
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| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | Today the Black City is a home of darkness and nightmares<ref name=FB/> with cold and twisted spires<ref>[[Codex entry: Quillback]]</ref>, "its towers forever stained, its gates forever shut".<ref>[[Chant_of_Light_verses#Canticle_of_Andraste|Canticle of Andraste 1:11]]</ref> An island<ref>''[[Dragon Age: Asunder]]'', Chapter 12</ref> with the |
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| ⚫ | |||
| − | According to the [[Chantry]], there is no more heaven for souls to pass into after death. Those who worship the Maker are gathered to His side while those who do not must wander endlessly in the [[Void]]. This is not a form of punishment, but a consequence of human corruption. |
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| + | {{Quote|The Black City is at the realm's heart and serves as a sort of corrupted sun. It is unmoored from time.<ref>[[The Art of Dragon Age: Inquisition]], p. 171</ref>}} |
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| ⚫ | Today the Black City is a home of darkness and nightmares<ref name=FB/> with cold and twisted spires<ref>[[Codex entry: Quillback]]</ref>, "its towers forever stained, its gates forever shut".<ref>[[Chant_of_Light_verses#Canticle_of_Andraste|Canticle of Andraste 1:11]]</ref> An island<ref>''[[Dragon Age: Asunder]]'', Chapter 12</ref> with the city is the one constant geographical feature within the Fade. At any time, one can look up and see it in the sky, always in the distance.<ref>{{BWF|author=Gaider, David|date=April 8, 2011|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151104230750/http://forum.bioware.com/topic/205243-where-is-the-black-city/?bioware=1|title=Where is the Black City?|access=February 28, 2014}}</ref> Actually traveling to the Black City from elsewhere in the Fade is impossible. Even the most powerful [[spirit]]s and [[demon]]s seem to avoid the place<ref>[[Codex entry: The Black City]]</ref><ref>{{Cite wot|141}}</ref> lest they become [[taint]]ed.<ref name=Prima/> |
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| − | The Chantry believes that when the [[Chant of Light]] is sung from the four corners of the world, He will return, remove the sin in the Black City and thereby destroy the [[darkspawn]] forever<ref name=Prima/>, and make the mortal world a paradise. |
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| + | |||
| + | The [[Chantry]] says there is no more heaven for [[soul]]s to pass into after death. The faithful are gathered to the Maker's side while the rest are left to wander endlessly in the [[Void]].<ref name=PPG3M/> This is not a form of punishment, but a consequence of human corruption. When the [[Chant of Light]] is sung from the four corners of the world, the Maker will return, restore the Golden City, destroy the [[darkspawn]] and make the mortal world a paradise.<ref name=Prima/><ref name=PPG3M/> |
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| + | |||
| + | According to the [[Chant of Light]]'s [[Chant of Light verses#Canticle of Exaltations|Canticle of Exaltations]], the Black City has seven gates, which [[Kordillus Drakon I]] prophesied will someday shatter and cover both the mortal and spirit realms in darkness. |
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== Involvement == |
== Involvement == |
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| − | {{ |
+ | {{SpoilerDAO|The Black City is visible in the sky when [[the Warden]] travels into the Fade during [[Broken Circle]], and during the [[Magi Origin]].}} |
| + | {{SpoilerDAI|The Black City is visible in the background when the Inquisitor is [[Here Lies the Abyss|drawn]] into the [[Fade]]. If present, [[Solas]] comments that he has never seen the Black City so close before, while [[Cole]] delivers a cryptic line "They still remember when they were higher, before it woke up and everything fell."}} |
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| − | [[File:Doom Upon All the World Location.jpg|thumb|left|Corypheus' recreation of the Black City]] |
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| − | [[Corypheus]]'s ultimate goal in creating the [[Breach]] is to return to the Black City and rule from it as the new, living god of Thedas. When Corypheus [[Doom Upon All the World|confronts]] the Inquisitor at the ruins of the Temple of Sacred Ashes, he lifts several huge chunks of the ground into the sky to cut off the Inquisitor's allies. He uses his magic to reshape these fragments into an imitation of the Black City, hovering beneath the Breach.}} |
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== Trivia == |
== Trivia == |
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| − | *It is claimed that an elf named Temolai created a helm that allowed him to gaze upon the Black City. The craftsman was lost forever.<ref>[[The Long Sight]]</ref> |
+ | * It is claimed that an elf named Temolai created a helm that allowed him to gaze upon the Black City. The craftsman was lost forever.<ref>[[The Long Sight]]</ref> |
== Gallery == |
== Gallery == |
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== References == |
== References == |
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| + | {{Scroll box| |
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| − | <references/> |
+ | <references /> |
| − | |||
| + | }} |
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{{Chantry}} |
{{Chantry}} |
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[[Category:Chantry]] |
[[Category:Chantry]] |
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Revision as of 09:43, 8 January 2019
At a touch, the gate swung wide,
And the Light parted before them like a curtain
Swept aside by nothing.
The Black City, once known as the Golden City and the heart of heaven, is a city in the Fade, said to be the former seat of the Maker or the realm of the Old Gods, depending on the religious perspective.[2]
Early history
Paintings indicate that it was within mankind's history that once the city was Golden and not Black.[3]
The Chantry teaches that after the Maker created His firstborn, He "called forth a city with towers of gold, streets with music for cobblestones, and banners which flew without wind".[4] It was a perfect, holy citadel[5] where He dwelled on His golden throne,[4] and spirits populated its many spires.[3][6] The Maker's mortal children entered the city when they died, returning to His side.[7] When His secondborn started to worship the Old Gods and thus committed the Original Sin, the Maker abandoned the Golden City and His ungrateful creations[5][8], and it sat locked and empty.[3][5]
Dissatisfied with spirits, the Maker expelled them from the Golden City, but there are conflicting accounts on the timing of this event: before the creation of men[3][6], directly after that ("sealed the gates")[4] or when He left the city.[3]
Some accounts suggest that the Old Gods began whispering to humanity from the Golden City in -2800 Ancient, three hundred years after the arrival of humans in Thedas.[9] People of ancient Tevinter believed the Creator had abandoned the city long before that and they were adrift, rescued by the Old Gods.[8]
Elves believe that their gods have been trapped in the Eternal City at the heart of the Beyond[10] and that Fen'Harel still roams the Beyond, keeping watch over the gods lest they escape from their prisons.[11]
Blackening
- Main article: Second Sin
In -395 Ancient (800 TE) seven Magisters Sidereal, each a High Priest to one of the Old Gods,[12] opened a gate into the Golden City with blood magic and entered it physically. The city turned black as soon as they arrived, and the mages were cast back to Thedas as the first darkspawn, triggering the First Blight.[13]
Avernus stated that the Black City holds "an answer to what the taint is."[14]
Of note is that Corypheus, one of the Magisters that allegedly turned the Golden City black, mentions in his encounter with Hawke that the city was already blackened when he and his compatriots entered it, directly contradicting one of the most central pillars of Chantry canon. The veracity of this claim is unknown.
Current state
“The Black City is at the realm's heart and serves as a sort of corrupted sun. It is unmoored from time.[15]”
Today the Black City is a home of darkness and nightmares[5] with cold and twisted spires[16], "its towers forever stained, its gates forever shut".[17] An island[18] with the city is the one constant geographical feature within the Fade. At any time, one can look up and see it in the sky, always in the distance.[19] Actually traveling to the Black City from elsewhere in the Fade is impossible. Even the most powerful spirits and demons seem to avoid the place[20][21] lest they become tainted.[3]
The Chantry says there is no more heaven for souls to pass into after death. The faithful are gathered to the Maker's side while the rest are left to wander endlessly in the Void.[7] This is not a form of punishment, but a consequence of human corruption. When the Chant of Light is sung from the four corners of the world, the Maker will return, restore the Golden City, destroy the darkspawn and make the mortal world a paradise.[3][7]
According to the Chant of Light's Canticle of Exaltations, the Black City has seven gates, which Kordillus Drakon I prophesied will someday shatter and cover both the mortal and spirit realms in darkness.
Involvement
Trivia
- It is claimed that an elf named Temolai created a helm that allowed him to gaze upon the Black City. The craftsman was lost forever.[22]
Gallery
.jpg "The Black City (Full).jpg (7 KB)")
See also
References
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