Dragon Age Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Dragon Age Wiki

“I am different. But I am still a Shaper.”


Shaper Valta is a field researcher from the Shaperate in Orzammar. She is a temporary companion during The Descent DLC.

Background[]


This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Inquisition.


Valta comes from a highly respected smith caste family[1] and she was born with a keen Stone sense required of the Shapers. But it was her passion for history that earned her the title. As a little girl, Valta would drag her father to the Shaperate just to look at the books.

As a Shaper, Valta used to record the Memories in lyrium. Three years ago she refused to remove an official record despite the order from her superiors. If Bhelen was crowned king, the record in question tied his childhood friend to the Carta; if Harrowmont was crowned instead, the record was of his cousin's Carta connections. This refusal cost her dearly, as she was demoted and sent to do field work in the Deep Roads instead. Her security was entrusted to the Legion of the Dead's lieutenant, Renn. Valta parted with her father on bad terms. She hasn't visited Orzammar since then, although she receives updates.

In hindsight, she views the detail that got her demoted as trivial, and that the abuse of the Memories for political gain is a common occurrence. Despite this, she still believes that only the people in charge are corrupt, not the institutions themselves such as the Shaperate.

Last year Valta found a text about the Titans that predates the First Blight. Eager to solve the mystery behind the earthquakes, she joins the Inquisitor's effort to stop them during The Descent quest.

Valta deeply cares about Renn. When the food riots started in Orzammar, she made sure his family would be safe.


Involvement[]


This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Inquisition.


Guided by her Stone sense, Valta shows the Inquisitor and their team the way through the Deep Roads and natural caves to the source of the insistent rhythm she can hear in the earth tremors. When Renn is killed by the Sha-Brytol, Valta is notably shaken.

Valta HoDA

Shaper Valta in the Heroes of Dragon Age

Finally, during the battle with the Guardian she is hit with raw lyrium. She says the song got too loud and pleads it to stop, then strikes the Inquisitor with a force that the latter deems to be magical if the Arcane Knowledge perk is unlocked. Regaining her senses, Valta assures the Inquisitor that she is in control and the rhythm has faded, leaving only the soft song. She reveals that the titan recognized her as a child and connected with her, making her "pure". Valta insists on staying in the Wellspring. Varric strongly dislikes the idea, Dorian and Blackwall see no wrong with it, while Cole says that "she's singing, sighing, slipping through the silence" and that she can heal there. Before parting, Valta asks the Inquisitor to tell the Shaperate the truth: they don't know what truly happened with Valta.

Three pages from Valta's personal journal are subsequently found in Skyhold, although how they got there remains a mystery. She writes that upon being struck down she "fell into a warm light's embrace", as if returning to the Stone. Now the blood of the titan flows through her, and its song tells of the times before titans fell and "the dwarven race broke in two". She doesn't sleep any more. Valta feels empowered by the gift of shaping stone and notices that the Sha-Brytol love and fear her, lost and misguided as they are. They even attempted to make an offering of their armor to her, but she recalled Renn and rejected the gift.

A lonely cry is heard above the titan caverns, but the team sent to investigate the matter reports that Valta is nowhere to be found and Renn's body has also gone missing. What is more, the very entrance to the Wellspring is now concealed and attempts to dig into the rock result only in broken tools.


Quests[]

The Descent The Descent
A Cry in the Dark A Cry in the Dark (expedition table)

Codex entries[]

Codex entry: The Eternal Battle: Darkspawn Codex entry: The Eternal Battle: Darkspawn
Codex entry: The Guardian Codex entry: The Guardian
Codex entry: A Note on Orzammar Codex entry: A Note on Orzammar
Codex entry: Sha-Brytol Codex entry: Sha-Brytol
Codex entry: Shaper Valta Codex entry: Shaper Valta
Codex entry: Titans Codex entry: Titans

Trivia[]

Shaper Valta reading ancient Dwarven

Valta reading ancient Dwarven

  • A dwarf Inquisitor can ask Valta details of House Cadash's exile.
  • She reveals that she carries tomes from the Shaperate during her field research which have been damaged and her superior, Czibor, will not be very pleased about it.
  • Valta is nicknamed "Scribbles" by Varric. BioWare may have named her such in reference to the fan nickname for Josephine Montilyet prior to the reveal of the ambassador's name.
  • Although she expresses interest in studying leftover gears and earthshaker weapons when the mission is over with, there is no way to give them to her even if the Inquisitor recovered more of the gears and/or weapons than they used.

References[]

Advertisement