Taash (short for Evataash) is a dragon hunter affiliated with the Lords of Fortune and a companion in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
Background
Raised in Rivain,[1] Taash lives for adventure and does not mind taking risks.[2] They are a thrill-seeking, headstrong, blunt,[3] and straightforward dragon hunter who wields dual-axes, and breathes out flames.[2] Taash is deeply knowledgeable about many topics,[2] well-connected, and knows someone for everything.[4]
At some point, Taash became associated with Nadia Carcosa and went on a few adventures with her, including committing a jailbreak in Dairsmuid and fighting undead in the tombs beneath Clagan's Hollow.[5]
Involvement
Dragon Age: Vows & Vengeance
Taash became a guide to Orlesian noble Lord Tristan Mondraine and fellow Lord of Fortune Declan in their quest to obtain the Bloodfire Stones from an ancient Qunari ruin. Taash returns from a scouting mission to overhear Mondraine reviling them and rebuked him for his rudeness and weakness as they cleared a path to the treasure. After reaching the summoning altar, Taash recited a Qunlat incantation which unveiled the Temple of the Lost Dragon. Lord Mondraine rashly entered the temple and triggered its traps, which consequently killed him. Taash reveals to Declan that the Orlesian Imperial Court desired for Lord Mondraine to be unable to return to court and paid them to let him die. Declan reveals that if he had known they were planning on betraying Mondraine and keeping the Bloodfire Stones for themselves, he wouldn't have had to alert the Qunari of the heist. The Qunari, who has paid Declan to entrap Taash for the Qunari crime of trespassing on the Temple of the Lost Dragon, arrest Taash and send them to Par Vollen to answer for them crimes against the Qun.
Taash is taken to a Qunari prison where they happen to share the same cell as Nadia Carcosa, a friend and former associate, and their companion Drayden Kiel. Suddenly, a dragon attacks the Qunari city and causes some rubble to trap Taash. Drayden and Nadia free Taash and escape the prison. Taash notices the attacking dragon is a Gamordan Stormrider and goes to harass it away; meanwhile, Nadia notices a Qunari child was in the path of the dragon's rampage and goes to help the kid. Nadia rescued the Qunari child; when a Kithshock was made aware of Nadia's noble deed, he decides to let them and Drayden leave in peace but demands that Taash pay for their crimes. Nadia tells the Kithshock that Taash is a great dragon hunter and offers to kill the dragon in exchange for all of their freedom. Kithshock agrees to their terms and tells them they will assist the Karassaad on a dreadnought to slay the beast.
The group sails with the Qunari soldiers to the dragon's lair and while the mother dragon was asleep, her Gamordan Stormrider progeny were alerted to the attacking party's presence. Taash ordered the Qunari to unleash a gaatlok barrage to defend against aerial attacks while the trio fought those who managed to land on their ship. The gaatlok barrage defeated a majority of the dragons, with one survivor fleeing. The battle awakens the mother Gamordan Stormrider and Taash orders the soldiers to aim the cannons above it to bring it in striking distance. Taash equips themselves with a satchel of 100 pounds of gaatlok and moves to slay it. Once the dragon is brought low, Taash jumps on it and detonates the gaatlok explosives, thus killing the dragon. The dragon and Taash crash into the sea, and the Qunari and Nadia sail to rescue them. Once Taash is safe, everyone celebrates the death of the dragon.[5]
Nadia, Drayden, and Taash sail to Rivain where they are attacked by bounty hunters seeking Nadia's bounty. The trio defeat the bounty hunters; to discourage further pursuit of Nadia, Taash breaks one of the bounty hunter's hands. Taash offers to aid Nadia in her quest, but Nadia insists that Taash stays in Rivain since they don't want to endanger them any further. Taash begrudgingly accepts to remain in Rivain and wishes Nadia and Drayden luck in their journey.[6]
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
After encountering one of the blighted dragons in either Treviso or Dock Town, Rook's team decide they need the assistance of a professional dragon hunter to deal with them. They meet with Taash in Rivain as they are on a mission for the Lords of Fortune to lure out a dragon from its hoard. It becomes clear that Taash respects the dragons they hunt as a part of nature and does not want to harm them unless it is necessary, instead preferring to use a sleeping potion to subdue the dragon while plundering. When the group discovers that the rogue Antaam plan to use this opportunity to kill the dragon for themselves, Taash becomes enraged and rushes in to confront them. Taash attempts to use the Qun in order to claim the dragon as theirs by right, but the Antaam reject both their claim and the Qun as a whole. As a last resort, Taash instead shocks Rook by breathing fire at the Antaam and launches an attack, ultimately defeating them and freeing the dragon.
Back with their mother and Isabela, the leader of the Lords of Fortune, they are scolded for using their fire breath in front of Antaam who now know of their unique gift. For this, they are ordered to join Rook as a way to stay safe from any potential fallout. Though they initially seemed uninterested in joining the Veilguard and reacted negatively to being told to do so, Taash does express that they did in fact wish to join them, just that they wanted it to be their decision and not anyone else's.
As an Adaari, Taash's in-game skill is Fire Breath, which can use their fire breath to burn away meltable objects for the party.
Quests
The Dragon Slayer- Fire on the Sands
- A Little Dragon Hatches
- Slaying the Fangscorcher
- Fit for a Dragon Hunter
- Dragon Class
- Lair of the Dragon King
- Words of Fire
Approval
- Main article: Taash/Approval
This is a preparatory section for Taash's romance content.
Romance
This is a preparatory section for Taash's romance content.
Statistics
This is a preparatory section for Taash's starting statistics.
Quotes
- Main article: Taash/Dialogue
This is a preparatory section for select Taash quotes.
Codex entries
- Codex entry: Sharksmouth Fort II: The Eruption
- Codex entry: Taash Talks: Dragon-Crossroads Revenant
- Codex entry: On Beetles
- Codex entry: Taash Talks: Necropolis Demon (Not a Dragon!)
- Codex entry: Taash Talks: Those Guys with the Sickles
- Codex entry: Taash's Daily Adaari Health List
- Codex entry: Taash Notes: Meeting Shadow Dragons to Talk Gender Stuff
- Codex entry: Letter from Shathann to Taash
- Codex entry: Trap Plans
- Codex entry: Script for Shathann
- Codex entry: Things Shathann Said about the Crows
- Codex entry: Flynn from the Wardens
- Codex entry: Taarlok Itwari (Remembering the Fallen)
- Codex entry: Ancient Tablet: Questions My Mother Would Have Asked
- Codex entry: Antaam vs. Qunari (with notes from Shathann), by Taash, age 14
- Codex entry: Rivaini Seers and Spirits
- Codex entry: Isabela and the Lords
- Codex entry: Taash Talks: Dragon—Vinsomer
- Codex entry: Taash Talks: Dragon—Fangscorcher
- Codex entry: Taash Talks: Dragon—Kaltenzahn
- Codex entry: Information on the Dragon King
- Codex entry: Letter from Taash to Local Rivaini Guards about Karash
- Codex entry: Warning Against Desertion
- Codex entry: Taash Talks: Puzzles
- Codex entry: Taash Talks: Dragon - Kataranda
- Codex entry: Taash's Horn
- Codex entry: Taash's New Tablet
- Codex entry: Waterlogged Notes on the Lighthouse
Trivia
- Taash was written by Trick Weekes.[7]
- Taash is the youngest of the companions in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, being in their early twenties, close to Sera's age.[8]
- They are described as a gym bro[9] and a jock.[4]
- They have an interest in sparkling treasures and hitting things with an axe.[2]
- According to Corinne Busche, Taash has the "steamiest" romance of Veilguard.[10]
- BioWare polled the Dragon Age game developers with the question "If our companions worked at the studio what would their jobs be?", Taash's top vote was testing with runner-up votes being in IT and audio. The included commentary stated:[11]
- "Testing, and Taash would send all the bugs right back at us with a grin."
- "If Taash worked in IT, you’d try to get your things working before asking for help."
- "Taash could appreciate the bombastic yet subtle nature of Audio."
- Taash never uses commas.[12]
- On the Winding Shoreline of the Rivain Coast, Taash will remark, "Wanna check behind the waterfall? Sometimes there's treasure." which is a fourth-wall breaking reference to the trope of things, particularly in games, being hidden behind waterfalls. This trope is also referenced in their puzzles codex entry.
Gallery
References
- ↑ Dragon Age. "Finally we have Taash, a Qunari dragon hunter raised in Rivain..." Twitter.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 BioWare. "Myths and Legends" EA.
- ↑ Dragon Age (August 28, 2024). "Companion Blurbs" . Instagram. Retrieved on September 1, 2024.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 doggiesnores. "Graphic of companion details from the BioWare Youtube" Twitter.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Dragon Age: Vows & Vengeance, Episode 5: The Scales of Justice
- ↑ Dragon Age: Vows & Vengeance, Episode 6: The Bride Wears Armor
- ↑ Trick Weekes (June 9, 2024). "I love all of them, but I was the writer for Taash, so I have some personal investment in my lil’ dragon hunter." . Bluesky.
- ↑ Ghil'Dirthalen. "BioWare August 30, 2024 Q&A" YouTube.
- ↑ Carly. "Since Taash isn't getting any love next week (as far as I know)..." Twitter.
- ↑ Matthew Schomer (September 29, 2024). "Dragon Age: The Veilguard Teases the Game's 'Steamiest' Romance" Game Rant.
- ↑ BioWare (August 30, 2024). "We asked the game team what jobs our DragonAge companions would have if they worked at the studio." . Threads. Retrieved on September 1, 2024.
- ↑ Trick Weekes (December 4, 2024). "Three character writing notes for Dragon Age Day: 1) Taash never uses commas. (In dialogue or in codex entries that they've written, unless quoting someone else.) 2) In Veilguard, Solas never gives direct orders. (Barring maybe "think" or "remember".) 3) Elgar'nan never asks questions." . Bluesky. Retrieved on December 4, 2024.
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