Ocularum

An Ocularum in the Hinterlands

An ocularum (Plural: oculara) is a magical object that appears as a skull with a crystal placed in the right eye socket through the back of the skull.

They are found throughout the world, usually placed at high elevations upon pedestals. Their purpose seems to be to reveal the locations of magical shards that were previously hidden until the Breach somehow disrupted the magic that had been hiding them from view.

Looking through the crystal in the skull reveals the glow of the shards, pinpointing their location. To find the shards, scroll around the view until a white circle surrounds the shard and a tone is heard. Complete this for however many shards are linked to the ocularum in question, which will be between three and eight shards. Each ocularum provides an approximately 180 degree view of the region forward from the position of the ocularum. It is almost always the case that the shards are evenly distributed in the field of view, so if there are four shards to find, one can expect to find them at every 45 degrees or so of yaw, though at varying pitches. Shards are never found in trees or at the 0 degree or 180 degrees of yaw.

Involvement

Finding the first shard, regardless of which ocularum you use, will trigger the war table operation Investigate the Shards. Enchanter Renaud finds a scroll that makes mention of the shards, and after doing some research discovers that they may be able to unlock an elven temple in the Forbidden Oasis called Solasan. Collecting the shards enables the completion of several side quests (see Collections for more details), and once all shards have been collected the final door in the very heart of the temple can be opened.

{{SpoilerDAI|

The gruesome source of the Ocularum

The origins of the oculara are discovered when a large number of skulls are found in the locked house near the docks while exploring Redcliffe Village. Vivienne concludes that the oculara are made by the Venatori from the skulls of tranquil in order to look for something and Cassandra says that she had noticed the disappearance of the tranquil.

Locations

Oculara can be found in the following world locations:
Emerald Graves
Emprise du Lion
Exalted Plains
Forbidden Oasis
Frostback Basin
Hinterlands
Hissing Wastes
Storm Coast
Western Approach

See also

Codex entry: Ocularum

Codex entry: Oculara

Codex entry: A Worn Diary

Codex entry: Leather-Bound Hakkonite Journal