Grim Anatomy

Grim Anatomy is a book written by an unknown author. Images and details about the manuscript appear on several pages of Dragon Age: The World of Thedas Volume 2.

Background

The manuscript was unearthed in 9:16 Dragon during an expedition into an uncharted area of the Western Approach organized by the University of Orlais. The author of the book is unknown. It appears to be written in an invented script, and its main subject seems to be a study of animal physiology. The book was dubbed "Grim Anatomy" by those who recovered it. The manuscript contains numerous detailed illustrations of dissected creatures, such as nugs, giants, and wyverns. The author is said to have been using "unorthodox methods" of dissection. One of the pages showcases an examination of nug's eyes. The drawings and the text, which could only be partially deciphered, suggest that the author was extremely interested in learning the manner in which animal vision works and how it may "differ from our own perception of reality". In the later pages, the author examines a giant's eye, which they removed from its socket. The accompanying commentary could be deciphered as "If the eye is the window through which it crawls, then where in the skull does is it hide?", "it" likely referring to a demon attempting to possess the creature. It's widely believed that Grim Anatomy focuses on demonic possession, specifically the method of entering the host. In the section covering the study of wyverns, the author analyzes motor skills of a possessed wyvern: "It's not wearing the creature's skin. It has become the creature: its mind, its senses... its blood." The last pages of the manuscript are largely unreadable - it appears that someone tried to destroy it by setting it on fire. The accompanying diagrams no longer depict physiology of any known animals, instead, they display seemingly disorganized geometric figures that overlap and interconnect with one another.

Trivia

• Grim Anatomy is possibly inspired by the real-life Voynich manuscript - an illustrated codex written in an unknown (likely invented) script by an unknown author.
• One of the diagrams featured on the singed pages is copied from the Dunhuang Star Chart- an ancient Chinese star atlas.

Gallery

Unknown script

Study of animal anatomy and physiology

Unorthodox methods of dissection

Dissection of a nug's eye

Dissection of a giant's eye

Dissection of a wyvern

Study of the wyvern's motor skills

Torn and singed page

Bizarre geometric shapes