Codex entry: Here Lies the Abyss

Here Lies the Abyss
Dragon Age: Inquisition
Number	83 (+3JoH, +5TD, +11T)
Section	History
Location	Obtained after the events at Adamant Fortress in the story mission Here Lies the Abyss
Appearances	Dragon Age: Inquisition

See also: Chant of Light, Chant of Light verses

Codex text

Here lies the abyss, the well of all souls.
From these emerald waters doth life begin anew.
Come to me, child, and I shall embrace you.
In my arms lies Eternity.

—Canticle of Andraste, 14:11

Chantry sisters have long debated this section of the Chant of Light. It is tempting to assume that the "well of all souls" is a literal well, but such imagery appears nowhere in Andraste's other works. An examination from Threnodies 1:4 yields clues:

From the waters of the Fade you made the world. As the Fade had been fluid, so was the world fixed.

It is possible—even likely—that the "emerald waters" Andraste refers to are the substance of the Fade, which began as an "ocean of dreams" (Threnodies 1:1) and was reduced to a well—bottomless but limited in scope—by the Maker's creation of our world.

Is Andraste urging the listener to come to the Fade? Should we take "From these emerald waters doth life begin anew," as literal evidence of reincarnation—or even of life after death, as the Cult of Spirits suggests—or as a figurative benediction indicating that the Maker is the source of all life, and in finding His embrace for Eternity, we will only be returning our souls from whence they came?

—An excerpt from Reflections on Divinity, by Revered Mother Juliette

Trivia

In Dragon Age: The Calling Maric Theirin explains this fragment of the Chant to Fiona as follows:

"It’s where Andraste goes to speak to the Maker for the first time. It’s where she convinces him to forgive mankind. It was supposed to be this beautiful temple deep under the earth surrounded by emerald waters."