Well of Sorrows

What Pride Had Wrought

The Well of Sorrows, or vir'abelasan, is an ancient nexus of ley energies located within the Temple of Mythal.

Background

---

This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Inquisition.

---

According to Abelas and Flemeth, Mythal was betrayed and murdered. The pool is a reminder of what was lost, a path to be walked by those who toiled in Mythal's favor. Abelas reveals that every servant of Mythal near the end of their life would pass their knowledge on through the Well of Sorrows, thus it contains all the collective knowledge and way of life of the ancient elves.

Involvement

---

This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Inquisition.

---

Corypheus began searching the Arbor Wilds for elven artifacts. Morrigan assumes that he was searching for an eluvian to physically enter the Fade, but when she and the Inquisitor overhear him talk about the Well of Sorrows, it makes them doubt that the eluvian is the darkspawn's true goal.

Corypheus' general, either Samson or Calpernia, has been prepared to be "The Vessel" of the Well's power.

The leader of the temple's guardians, Abelas, attempts to destroy the Well to prevent it from being desecrated by outsiders. If the Inquisitor had allied with Abelas earlier, he can be convinced to relent and allow access to the Well, though he warns that doing so will come with a price: whoever drinks from the Well will gain the knowledge of the previous servants of Mythal, but be bound to the will of the elven goddess.

Morrigan identifies the Well as the "key" to the resident eluvian and partaking from it will render it useless to Corypheus. She makes no secret of her desire to drink from it, believing that she is the most qualified to preserve its knowledge. Either Morrigan or the Inquisitor can drink from the Well. Soon after, Corypheus forces his way into the Temple and glides to attack. The Inquisitor's party retreats through the eluvian back to Skyhold as the water from the Well rises up with an unknown feminine figure inside it, blocking Corypheus' way. As soon as the Inquisitor makes it through the mirror, the figure crashes into the eluvian, which is destroyed upon being touched by Corypheus.

Whoever drank from the Well begins to hear the voices of Mythal's servants, who reveal that Corypheus' Red Lyrium Dragon is the key to defeating him; by killing the dragon, it will disrupt Corypheus' ability to leap into other bodies, rendering him vulnerable.

When the Inquisitor and Morrigan later encounter Flemeth, the voices from the Well reveal that she is the vessel of Mythal and whoever drank from the Well can be controlled at her whim.

---

This section contains spoilers for:
Trespasser.

---

The Well of Sorrows knows the secret greeting from those Fen'Harel trusted. If the Inquisitor drank from the well, they can use it in a conversation with elven spirits in a refuge created by him to pass safely.

Trivia

---

This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Origins.

---

Ancient elven ritual depicted on a tablet in the Brecilian Ruins and performed before an elder entered uthenera involved an elf in robes who was standing waist-deep in a "pool of water" and pouring water into it. The Warden can replicate the ritual using a small fountain instead.

---

This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Inquisition.

---

• Patrick Weekes has jokingly stated that the Well tastes like honeysuckle and cinnamon.
• According to Erasthenes, he believes that the power of the Well is similar to Urthemiel's based on his own knowledge of the old gods and the nature of the binding and Calpernia's training.

A magister who studied the Fade claimed that as he walked its paths, spirits showed him "vast oceans, containing not water, but memories, drawn from the minds of dreamers." A revered mother speculated that the Fade began as an "ocean of dreams" and "was reduced to a well — bottomless but limited in scope" after creation of the Veil.

Codex entries

Codex entry: Old Elven Writing