#Falon'Din

[cumbiazevran]

also okay so these are my interpretations of each of the Pantheon's realm

Elgar'nan — Vengeance, protection and righteous anger. Lord over and under the sun, father of Gods, Magnificent among the rest of them. Lord of War, victory and love which knows no bounds. Bearer of loss. His is the light of the sun and the task of protecting the future of the Elvhen, there where no justice can serve.

Mythal — Justice, protection and wisdom. Lady over and under the moon, who comes and rules the sea, mother of Gods, Magnificent among the rest of them and loved by Elgar'nan. Lady of Strategy, public rejoice and stability. Bearer of growth. Hers is the hope in the night and the task of seeing over all civic life.

Dirthamen — Knowledge, Secrets and Piety*, of the unwavering loyalty and quickest of understandings. Heir to the time of Endless Creation which is to come after the War and, therefore, Heir of Mythal and Elgar'nan. Lord of Serenity and quiet but undying passion, his are the mountains and the stars. Undaunted by Fear and Deceit, all lies and betrayals are abhorrent to him. His is the task to record all history.

*Not to be mistaken with solidarity between peoples.

Falon'din — Time and death. The one untouched by Blight, who cannot be tainted by the Void. Scryer of the futures of Elvhenan because only he knows the weight of time involved in their becoming. Shepard of the Dead. Considered the Eldest in merit of the children of Elgar'nan and Mythal, first of the children to bear a realm. He's the only Creator/Evanuris who can actually understand and feel the passing of time. Because of this, he is owed reverence.

Sylaise — Creativity, diplomacy and peace. Lady of Fire and Home, who reminds of the importance of temperance in one's endeavours. She who gave the Elvhen the gift of creating beauty for beauty's sake. Lady of mourning, as she bears all that for war is lost. Hers are the arts, the gift of gab and of medicine, which she rules over with her brother Dirthamen, Heir of the Elvhen. Her is the task of peaceful resolution of disputes.

June — Resourcefulness, material creation, craftsmanship, commerce and mastery over one's actions. Giver of joy and kindness, pillar of peace as there cannot be peace in lacking, protector of quartermasters and workers alike, to whom nothing is impossible. Husband of Sylaise. His is the task of invention, as he bears the weight of curiosity and love which asks for nothing in return.

Andruil — Fortune, chances, sacrifice, births and rot. Lady of the Hunt and of Survival. Master of swiftness and over-looker of Oaths — to swear on her name and not complete the task is to invite bad luck to the oath-breaker. Lady of resolute action, who is predator and prey. Thematically, she is the most opposed to Sylaise.

Ghilan'nain — Dire circumstances, guidance, overcoming obstacles and navigation. Lady of crossroads and pathways, hers are the river-ways and trails. Protector of trailblazers and patroness of the inevitability of choice. Most beloved by Andruil. Bearer of travelling, and therefore, of yearning, distances, but also of discovery.

Fen'Harel — Deception, lies, illusions, missed opportunities and trickery. The compass to what is Not. Teacher of bitter lessons. Lord of Lost Youth, false hopes and exile. Bearer of Guilt and the cost of Pride. He is an omen of danger and is drawn by fear. Thematically, most opposed to Dirthamen.

#dragon age #dragon age meta #dragon age headcanon #dalish hcs #dalish elf #dragon age elves #the evanuris #worldbuilding.exe #elgar'nan #mythal #dirthamen #falon'din #sylaise #june #andruil #solas #fen'harel

[saintlethanavir]

POV: they’re judging you

#dragon age #dai #dragon age inquisition #falon'din #inquisitor lavellan #calliope lavellan #draws

[thedinanshiral]

Evanuris Who's who

This is just my personal and very intuitive interpretation of the Evanuris signature symbols. I base my take on recent art, general Evanuris lore and previous depictions of them, primarily mosaics from the Temple of Mythal in DAI. I know others have done this with nicer graphics but everything here is homemade and made with love -on my phone- so please bear with me..

First, from the trailer we got the first depiction of all these Evanuris symbols

Andruil and Ghilan'nain are explained here.

Elgar'nan: it's front and center, as he's the top authority among them. Also, shows up in the trailer mural, implied to be one of the future enemies in the story and he's elvhen God of Vengeance so i'd say if anyone's gonna show up to get even with Solas that'd be him.

June and Sylaise: Possibly the Evanuris we know the least about, and if Solas didn't comment on them at the Temple of Mythal in DAI i'd say they were ok-ish? Either siblings or married (or both, because mythology). Most people think the sun-like one is Elgar'nan as he's the sun in the elvhen pantheon but Sylaise is the Hearthkeeper and nothing else remotely references fire or heat. Her mosaic at the Temple of Mythal shows her wearing a crown of leafs, of which this "sun" could easily be a stylized version. As for June, God of the Craft, all i have is ..it looks like a helmet.

Falon'din and Dirthamen: as Guide of the dead Falon'din is represented in the mosaics as holding a shepard's staff so i assigned him the symbol closest to a staff. As for Dirthamen, as Keeper of Secrets he's depicted in mosaics covering his mouth with both hands. On this first picture, simple 2D, neither headpiece can be fully appreciated, but one could say the "staff" one fits in the empty space of the other one, and these two were said to be inseparable, twin souls, with a bond that trascended any labels, shadow and reflection of one another.

Now, onto the vinyl covers. The first one here is Arlathan pre-disaster. We see the city with all its spires watched over by a huge dragon that for completion's sake i assigned as Mythal; while she lived, the world was in order, more or less. There's also a mysterious tiny figure below, hooded and holding a staff that kinda looks like Elgar'nan's symbol; at first i thought it could be Fen'harel but it actually fits as Elgar'nan or one of his people, because it's still possible he's responsible for her death.

And now the best part, the alternative cover presents a much darker scenario, Arlathan falling. With the city crumbling down, a different, visibly aggressive/hostile dragon watching over it with horns that, yet again, resemble Elgar'nan's symbol, and hanging from the edge of its wings we see heads, each wearing an Evanuris headpiece. The mysterious hooded figure is gone here, the floating ground it stood on already gone.

Once i put the names i noticed this placement, where the lovers are across each other, and the twins are directly facing each other (as you would a mirror); i found it a bit curious because this only works if we go with my assigned correspondences.

Speaking of the twins, let's check this concept art for a bit. It depicts the party of heroes fighting off drakspawn while two dragons say hi in the background. But is it really two dragons? I see two heads ..but also only two wings. Could it be a double headed dragon?? Concidentally two Archdemons remain, and people have speculated what better way to fuck up Thedas than with two Blights at once? On top of Solas taking down the Veil and reshaping the fabric of reality, again. No such thing as a boring day in Thedas.

Important to note is the remaining Archdemons correspond to the Old Gods Razikale the dragon of Mystery, and Lusacan, dragon of Night. If you adhere to the theory that says the tevinter Old Gods are actually the Evanuris -i've wrote on this extensively-, one possibility is Razikale corresponds with Dirthamen (dragon of mystery? keeper of secrets? potato potahto, same thing) while Lusacan corresponds with Falon'din (dragon of night? guide of the dead? darkness all around). If we've been right about these equivalences then this piece of art would be showing indeed a two-headed dragon, the Twins. Their bond so strong, so transcendental, so inseparable they return to the world as one, for a recharged Blight.

The only tiny detail against this is that Razikale is referred to as a she, whereas the twins are presumed to be male, however i don't let this take from my fun because ancient elves were very particular and their perception of sex and gender must have been like nothing we can think of today.

#Evanuris #Dragon Age #Dragon Age vinyl #Dragon Age Dreadwolf #Falon'din #Dirthamen

[kirstinetheartist]

FUCK YOU *puts my friends ocs and my oc in slutty little dresses*

Commission Info | Gaelowen (left) belongs to @drag-on-age & Virelan (right) belongs to @rosella-writes

#I personally think they should all make out #also please observe the size of Mellan's thighs <3 #dragon age #lavellan #dragon age inquisition #dai #bioware #arlathan #arlathan au #solavellan #da4 #elf #elves #art #artist #painting #my art #falon'din #evanuris

[tavtiers]

A hypothetical god tier for Falon'Din from Dragon Age: the Prince of Light.

A Prince of Light is among those who alter knowing and perceiving. They are motivated by themselves to destroy awareness. (x) The Prince of Light wants to have control over things and enjoys knowing things others don’t. (x) They are the Promised Scholar, defined by control and awareness. (x) Their opposite is the Bard of Void. Their inverse is the Sylph of Void. They share their personality with the Seer of Blood. The Prince of Light would quest on a planet similar to the Land of Void and Light, reigned over by Hemera (Goddess of Daylight) or Apollo (God of the Sun). They would rise to ascension on the wings of moths. (x)(x)(x)

#falon'din #evanuris #prince of light #dragon age #classpecting #character classpecting #homestuck #my post

[salesart]

wanted to draw Falon'Din in something villain-y with a cape

#falon'din #dragon age #art #fanart #evanuris #salesart #this outfit seems annoying af to wear haha #how would you even construct such a garment? #magic I say

[voiceofghilannain]

Linking the Old God Symbols/Crowns and the Evanuris tldr:

Evanuris and Old Gods linked in my previous post.

Ghilan'nain and Dirthamen Symbols were taken from the mural with the two Evanuris.

Elgar'nan is the Sun.

Sylaise is linked to Urthemiel and the same crown appears in an elven mural with the figure looking feminine.

Andruil's symbol resembles a Hawke and also is liked to the other feminine figure in the murals with a bow structure above the head.

Falon'Din's is based on his vallaslin.

June is the most angular, just like his mural.

#dragonage #ghilan'nain #dirthamen #elgar'nan #andruil #falon'din #sylaise #june #dragon age 4

[transprincecaspian]

ignoring the solas reference, the rest of this is interesting lore. we're made to assume that Tamlen and Mahariel are at least past their apprenticeship, but the Keeper doesn't tell them the name of their gods? I'd assume that Tamlen just forgot but... when you have named interactivity with the Dalish later it just seems... what was so wrong about Falon'Din???? especially because he's described as a friend of the dead and explicitly not an evil god. hmm.

#cas plays dao #oc: nomaris #nomaris mahariel #tamlen #falon'din #codex

[dragon--sage]

Falon’din and Urthemiel

Ok so this is a tiny, insignificant thing probably, but as I was watching Ghil Dirthalen’s analysis on the DA:D cinematic, I was really excited by the discussion of the symbols on the "tambourine" pictured in so much of the marketing, and how they possibly relate to the Evanuris and Old Gods. Click below for poetry and vague speculation and feels(?)!

(The image is a screenshot from Ghil Dirthalen’s video, that shows their suggested lineup of how these symbols correspond with the biggies and baddies of legend!)

Specifically I was struck by the notion of Falon’din and Urthemiel being linked, as hinted at by their statues in DA:O having heads shaped similar to the three-pointed symbol on the tambourine above. It immediately reminded me of this stanza from a Wallace Stevens poem, “Sunday Morning”:

Death is the mother of beauty; hence from her, Alone, shall come fulfillment to our dreams, And our desires. Although she strews the leaves Of sure obliteration on our paths, The path sick sorrow took, the many paths Where triumph rang its brassy phrase, or love Whispered a little out of tenderness, She makes the willow shiver in the sun For maidens who were wont to sit and gaze Upon the grass, relinquished to their feet. She causes boys to pile new plums and pears On disregarded plate. The maidens taste And stray impassioned in the littering leaves.

Death (Falon’Din) is the mother of Beauty (Urthemiel) – you can’t have one without the other. Everything is temporary, and it’s that very fact that gives life meaning and poignance. 

(This logic also makes sense with Elgar’nan being matched up with the Old God of Night – you can’t have day [Elgar’nan, born of the sun] without the night [Lusacan].) 

I’m not sure how this will relate to the wider plot of DA:D, but I love this poem so much and thought maybe one of the writers for Dragon Age: Origins did too. (”Death is the mother of beauty”– what an absolutely METAL line!!!) 

It’s also worth noting (as Ghil Dirthalen does) that Urthemiel’s (and by extension Falon’din’s?) soul can be preserved via Morrigan’s ritual towards the end of Origins. This seems like something that has to have an impact down the line... though knowing Bioware, I definitely won’t see it coming.

(No one but fans of Solas need keep reading... lmao)

"Sunday Morning” is written in iambic pentameter, and posits that worship of a Divine being outside of Nature doesn’t make sense – nature is Divine.

There is not any haunt of prophecy, Nor any old chimera of the grave, Neither the golden underground, nor isle Melodious, where spirits gat them home, Nor visionary south, nor cloudy palm Remote on heaven’s hill, that has endured As April’s green endures; or will endure Like her remembrance of awakened birds, Or her desire for June and evening, tipped By the consummation of the swallow’s wings.

I image Solas reciting this to my Inquisitor, since it fits with his dreamy, lyrical, and grim way of speech... and his seeming distaste for most organized religions, and his deep love and respect for nature. (How did I find a way to turn this Evanuris/Old God speculation into something that gave me the Lost Elf Feels???? I’m not sure but I’m hurting)

#dragon age #dragon age speculation #dragon age: dreadwolf #dragon age spoilers #solas #falon'din #the evanuris #urthemiel #the old gods #hopefully this isn't so far down the rabbit hole that it's not useful or interesting lol

[dinrenan]

I just recently re-started playing Dragon Age to pass time (When I have it, that is) And I noticed something...

This side is fine

This side, is also fine, but I noticed something wrong with the chin...

And I mean THIS.

WHY IS IT SO SHORT, WHAT WAS I THINKING WHILE MAKING HER???

And it's something that happened while making Falon'din (or how I pictured him in my story /more or less/)Too!

Did...did I squash his face? Why does he remind me of an owl??

I will have to spend some time With the Mirror in the Black Emporium...but I wonder why I have so much problems with faces XD

#Dragon Age #dragon age inquisition #not inquisitor #dai #Falon'din #Dirthrenan Lavellan #Inquisitor Lavellan

[reimsdom]

• Будет битва, но я её уже не увижу. Я ухожу туда, где цветут яблони •

#ciaran aep easnillen #the witcher #assassins of kings #falon'din #dragon age #scoia'tael

[saintlethanavir]

Gazing at ocs instead of doom spiraling

#dragon age #inquisitor lavellan #Lavellan #elf #dalish #dai #falon'din #draws #calliope lavellan

[moonlightheretic]

WIP WEDNESDAY:The Heretic

MAJOR SPOILER FOR THE LAST CHAPTER OF THE HERETIC 

TW under the line. 

Body Horror and Death 

Sticky and sweet, it snaked down my throat. Lips parted for another taste and my awareness dissolved with it.

A knobby stick pried open the lid and probed around, the bees’ fury provoked, but I sank my teeth into my reward regardless. A stolen honeycomb from my father’s precious bees. What were a few stings for a forbidden treat?

“Moon’Hwa! That’s not for you!” My Father stormed across the meadow with his fist in the air.

His face just as furious as his bees, but I could only feel sorrow as my eyes welled up, not for the stolen honey, not for the punishment that would ensue, but for the fact that he never reached me. I screamed as he was engulfed in a canopy of flames, smoke shrouding him in a twisting, undulating mass…that seemed to growl more than it burned.

It lashed out at me, coiled around my ankle and dragged me into its quaking depths.

My head slammed into broken tile, and I winced up at something dark and looming, 6 red eyes, unblinking as it perched over a Dawnstone casket. It whined as a shard of ice tore through its black fur, then its throat, and then one of his numerous eyes---“No! I bellowed at the top of my lungs. I scrambled towards it as it's body convulsed, I reached out with my arm to still it, only to find a knife in my hand, drenched in blood. The mass absolved of its shape and chuckled like pride. Light fled my vision as its seething fur extended into leathery wings, and it descended upon me.

Only it wasn’t me, I watched the man below me. His face marred with horror as my foaming teeth chiseled into his flesh and bone. Talek screamed, “Moon’Hwa! Save me!” Before tooth and rage became his fate.

My mouth expanded, canines growing and stretching and I along with them. Fangs contoured into arrows by the wind, lightning shackled sinews split the viscous air, as they pursued their target. Festooning into the figure of a woman remembered only by legend. A thousand arrows, a thousand glinting sharpened teeth, plunged into her body.

I prowled in circles around her, partaking in delight with every howl and wail of pain. She bled profusely, rivers of violet, black and blue, soppy, speckled expressions of blighted void-like creatures poured to the ground. She reeked of fresco paint.

Her flesh, so inundated, so structurally unsound, shattered and cracked liked plaster, and gave way, and these fangs of mine dove inside with a shriek that sounded more bird than dragon.

I was engulfed in raven feathers, the arrows raining upon a figure with nearly floor length hair, just as black as the feathers piling on the floor.

He watched me with a growing sneer, as the arrows morphed into shards of glass, each tiny reflection hinting towards something monstrous. They cut trenches into all foreseeable skin, striping him bloody and torn, their trails illustrating a haemal mirror, as each piece dug in. But he did not thrash and cry like the other one.

“Come, use me. See what you’ve become. Give this glass purpose, Pride.”

I was pulled in, claws dragging, and limbs locking, I didn’t want to see! I heard him cackle and sputter violently as laughter trembled through him.

Blood gurgled up from in between, only it was no longer red, it was a striking gold like an Eluvian’s frame. Solidifying the shards together, linked prisms beckoning me closer.

I peered inside his hollowed flesh unwillingly, six purple eyes glared back.

The figure of an elven man embodied the eyes of the wolf, the vallaslin blinking at me in an unnatural manner.

My ancestor spoke, but the words were guttural, hackled, displaced by vowels that sounded more like growls prolonging their edges.

“We are part of him. We are Keepers of Fen’Harel.”

His figure contorted and twitched, fur swarming his body with the wrath of a thousand bees. His form swelled and lengthened into something gargantuan.

“We are eternal.” It roared from its growing snout, tongue slathering over rapidly enlarging jowls.

Draconic wings ripped from its shoulders, claws extended into talons and horns bloomed from its head. Transformed into a beast that would reshape the world, the purple eyes now gleamed with a protesting red with diaphanous blue, a haze of crimson crackling around it’s wings. 

Golden honey dripped from its snapping jaws, and it tasted sickeningly sweet.  

Wrought with inconceivable terror, I screamed with as much capacity as my lungs would allow.

“Wake up,” The Beast barked, “Wake up!”  

 “Wake up.”

 My eyes yanked open, and I immediately twisted to my side and gagged. I caught the sight of leather boots below and I drew back, flattening myself against the cracked wall. My vision was not trustworthy yet, and I struggled to perceive my surroundings.

Solas was crouched in front of me with a calm expression, a spoonful of honey poised between his fingers.

“Did you have a nice dream?”

I didn’t answer him, or rather I didn’t hear him. I was too wrapped up in the cocoon of my own mind to process anything he said.

My ancestor never died.

#The Heretic #WIP Wednesday #last chapter #epictragedy #darksolas #solasfic #Falon'Din #andruil #evanuris #nightmare #solas is fen'harel #solavellan #darkromance #post trespasser

[vodka-and-ocs]

Falon'Din's Reach

#warden oc #dao warden #thej #thej mahariel #warden mahariel #dragon age #i think he has sorrows of arlathan rn but i like the look of falon'din's reach better tbh (also used that one a lot) #just having fun with movement and watercolor brushes #my art

[salesart]

falon'din waking up from uthenera because his temple flooded or smth I dunno

#falon'din #dragon age #art #fanart #da art #evanuris #salesart #cw water #?? #mostly wanted to do a dramatic water image

[lairofdragonagelore]

Analysis and speculation of Statues: “Humanoid Dirthamen”

Making a small room for speculation, I want to try to analyse who is this? and  why is he bleeding profusely? I also analyses the presence of visual statues that may represent Falon’Din and Dirthamen.

[This post belongs to the series “Analysis and speculation of Statues”]

Where do we find this statue in DAI?

There is no similar statue in DAO or DA2. It belongs exclusively to DAI, appearing in several places: 

In Citadelle du Corbeau we are told in the landmark called The Raven that this statue seems to be related to him. He is also in the entrance of the city.

Another landmark we get with this statue is “The Watcher”, written by Fairbanks himself, so clearly it is not reliable at all. The only information he gives us is that nobody knows who this statue is. In fact, this landmark gives us hints to relate it with the sitting Fen’Harel statue inside the cave, as if it were related to him in some way [in a friendly manner to protect the place where the wolf hides, or in a hostile manner, looking for the hidden wolf in its lair]. However, I think this is a red herring, the author of these lines of thoughts is a man who has no idea about Elven or Elvhenan culture.

It has been found in the Hinterlands: Tyrdda Bright-Axe Path, inside an abandoned Fereldan foothold, triggering Tyrdda’s tale. The only interesting aspect of this is that it triggers the part of the tale where we are introduced to  Thelm, a greedy man who wanted  to force Tyrdda to marry him in order to increase his army and go to the North to the “Golden City”. If anything, we could see that both characters [Thelm and potential Falon’Din] share a power-hunger, greedy aspect [I say Falon’Din because we can’t link Dirthamen to Thelm, since we know next to nothing about this Evanuris, and because Dirthamen and Falon’Din are usually presented as inseparable one another]. 

Another set of these statues can be found at Andruil’s wall, an encampment of the Inquisition surrounded by a ruined wall, over which four of these look down at the tents.

And the last place where we find them is in Harrow, at the entrance to Emerald Grave and the Exalted Plains, where a pair of these statues can see you cross the borders between both regions. 

What we can conclude, seeing all these examples, is that it’s a statue that usually is placed in spots of entrance to places: 

At the entrance to the big elvhen city that must have been the one built in Exalted Plains, 

At he entrance of Watcher’s Reach: an abandoned or forgotten elven ruin where Fen’Harel statue persist without suffering erosion under a waterfall,

At the entrance of the ruin that may have been Andruil’s Wall, 

At the entrance of the city itself that existed once, where we find now Citadelle du Corbeau, and 

Inside the Ferelden Foothold, which seems to have been placed inside by some noble Fereldan for decorative reasons. We don’t know the original place for this statue. 

So, the majority of the cases is a statue related to entrances. Sadly, we can say exactly the same about the other statues of Fen’Harel [howling or sitting version] or Mythal’s. So, the location of these statues provides little for deeper understanding.

Speculation 1: He is Dirthamen.

Design-wise, without any extra context but the few codices we got along the game, this statue in the Fade would speak of Dirthamen because in Citadelle du Corbeau we were told in the landmark called The Raven that this statue seems to be him. Now, the landmark saying this is tremendously unreliable: it’s information given by scholars that cannot recognise that the defence system of the Citadelle du Corbeau is Tevinter-made instead of “elven”. This makes me suspect that they are not so specialised on Elven History as they think so, or their focus is “ancient Dalish” [who are implied in some parts of the game to use Tevinter-made objects] instead of “Elvhenan”. So how much can we trust these people to trust them that this statue is Dirthamen?

On the other hand, there is also little non-dalish knowledge about Dirthamen. The only thing we have is that he disappeared at some point in elvhen history, stopping to communicate with his priests, so they fell in despair [The Lost Temple of Dirthamen]. 

So far I know, there is nothing, lore-wise, reliable or not, about Dirthamen involved with betrayal, murder, sacrifices, or blood magic [all elements that we can associated with what we see in this configuration in the Fade]. They seem to be elements more related to the High One of The Lost Temple of Dirthamen. 

If we read the unreliable Dalish Tales, we can find things hard to consider if they could represent the small grain of truth that they contain or not. For example, Dirthamen’s two ravens are Deceit and Fear. So if this statue appears flanked by two Keepers of Fear, would that mean that Dirthamen used fear as a tool to control his worshippers? [Dirthamen: Keeper of Secrets]. Apparently, the unreliable Dalish knowledge says that the bear is his favoured animal, because it could keep their secret-gift [Bear] and created the Varterral to defend a city in the mountains [Varterral]. None of this gives us much to work with.

The most annoying aspect of understanding Dirthamen for me is that none of these symbols, whether they come from unreliable Dalish tales or from the few codices we obtain from ancient elvhenan temples, are reflected in his own temple: The Lost Temple of Dirthamen - Part 1 / Part 2.  There are no bears, there are few owl statues that could be considered representations of his Ravens[but they are also Andruil’s messengers], and the only detail that we can relate to the Varterral is the red mosaic of Ghilan’nain present in his temple; who seems to be responsible for the creation of chimeras and may have helped him or even gifted the Varterral to him. But all this is speculation, there are no codices or trustworthy information that can confirm or refute any of this. And the lack of any kind of confirmation is what makes this analysis so impossible to give some conclusion with a small degree of certainty.

Speculation 2: He is Falon’Din.

We know that Falon’Din was called Dirthamen’s shadow [Unreliable codex from the Temple of Mythal: Twins in Shadow], and was related to “wings of death” [Song to Falon'Din]. So the landmark called The Raven may mix these elements and represent Falon’Din as a creature of shadow/dark wings. After all, Death can be related to darkness and shadows too. I’ve also been writing in several posts about how Falon’Din’s figure seems to be more present in spaces that are supposed to belong to Dirthamen [The Lost Temple of Dirthamen does not display any mosaic or representation of Dirthamen, instead, we find two mosaics of Falon’Din at the sides of the entrance of the final chamber]. All these details make me suspect that maybe scholars have been mistaking Dirthamen’s figure for Falon’Din’s. So this statue which was perceived as Dirthamen by contemporaneous scholars in The Raven  is, in fact, Falon’Din. But again, mere and absolute speculation.

The last detail that, I think, can relate this nonsensical statue in the Fade with Falon’Din is Solas’ words when he was in Mythal’s Temple and he offers us some bits of unknown lore about this Evanuris:  Mythal rallied the gods when Falon'Din started to [I understand] kill Mythal’s followers. It was almost late [sadly, Solas doesn’t say in what sense it was late]. Falon'Din surrendered only when the other Evanuris bloodied him in his temple [for more detail, check Temple of Mythal, Part 2].  I’m not sure if this whole space of the Fade is a reflection of Falon’Din’s Temple. There are almost no dead around it. So my trust in this interpretation is quite weak too. However, the statue is certainly bleeding a lot, in a place that we can understand that belongs to Mythal/Flemeth. But again, this requires so much speculation, that I’m not explaining this with the Occam’s razor anymore.

Speculation 3: It is Both.

Probably not the most shocking speculation, but it’s the most straightforward and faithful to the lore surrounding these two: we can never separate one from the other. This concept keeps the two previous speculations at the same time, as well as it preserves the idea that Dirthamen may have been consumed or bound to the will of Falon’Din.

When Solas says about Falon’Din that “The blood of those who couldn't bow low filled lakes as wide as oceans”, one can speculate that Dirthamen did not bow, and Falon’Din made him bleed in this brutal way reflected in the Fade [maybe even some kind of bound-blood magic procedure is involved], causing his disappearance later that threw all his priests into despair. Maybe when we understand this statue as Dirthamen, the symbol of betrayal in his back makes a little more sense than when we understand it as Falon’Din. Probably Dirthamen was betrayed and therefore, disappeared without any warning [if we assume that his disappearance in the Lost Temple of Dirthamen happened long time before the creation of the Veil. Sadly, there is no date to understand in the general timeline when he disappeared exactly, so we can’t be sure it was due to the Veil or an event before it.]

Falon’Din was never betrayed, if we take into consideration all the info from non-dalish codices that we have in Ancient Elven codices, Temple of Mythal, and in Ancient Elven codices; Vir Dirthara. In any circumstance, he was seeing it coming. At the same time, Falon’Din was bloodied in his own Temple when Mythal rallied the gods to stop him. But the sword at his back makes little sense, since it’s a strong symbol to represent Betrayal. Solas claims that Falon’Din was out of control in his mass killings, so he had to be stopped [it was not a matter of loyalty or betrayal anymore], but “it was almost late”. Falon’Din did something terrible that could not be fixed later, apparently.

If we keep this idea that Falon’Din and Dirthamen are one, it seems to explain why there are no figures of Humanoid Falon’Din in DAI. It’s true we have The Guide, which is very, very, very unreliable. Its codex basically says that people relate it to Falon’Din because he “guides” [such a weak argument]. But we know the truth: Falon’Din was more a mass killer than a guide, so this statue makes little sense. Specially if we take into account the author, a wanna-be scholar who became “adventurer”. Besides, the style of the statue resembles more an andrastian figure than an elvhen one [the lines of the robe are exactly the same one that the pre-divine statue of Andrastre, or even the Blocky bearded humanoid.

This argument [that there is no statue of Falon’Din], however, is immensely weak, since we can say the same about the other gods: Ghilan’nain, Andruil, Elgar’nan [potentially it could be represented by The Strange Idol]

Speculation 4: It is a reflection of Mythal’s betrayal.

This  option is explained in the post of Flemeth’s Post, part 2.

Conclusion: we are at the same as we started the post. There is no certainty that this figure is one of the Evanuris twins or both. 

What about “Falon’Din” statue in DAO?

We can also argue that DAO has “images” of Falon’Din and Dirthamen, but it’s so hard to trust DAO visuals, since as I’ve shown along the DAO posts, there is a constant reuse of assets to mean completely different things: they use statues that represent Andraste, that we see inside andrastian churches, in Dalish camps and name them after the elvhen pantheon [there are many posts showing this nonsense, but one of the wildest is this one]. Besides, it seems that DAI brings back much better statues and symbols from DA2 than from DAO [example of that is the claws of Dumat].

[Original concept art for the Archdemon, next to the statue asset that made it in game. via DAO Game Extracts and the Bioware 25 Anniversary Book.]

The mysterious statue with big wings that we find in several places of DAO [Tower of the Circle of Magi: Basement, Dalish Camp and Dalish Origin, Denerim: Blood Mage quest, and The Architect’s Labs]  was confirmed long ago to be an Old God/Archdemon which design was more Cthulhu-based, but due to the animation limitations of the engine, the devs ended up picking a dragon figure for the archdemons. 

The statue that Tamnlen recognises in Dalish Origin as Falon’Din [because he apparently saw it in a Keeper’s book] clearly has an intentional resemblance with this Old God. However, it has some crippled wings, only two arms, and lacks of tentacles [to refresh the context, check Dalish Camp and Dalish Origin]. This figure holds a spear, which at this point in DAI triggers a lot of warnings after reading Unreadable Elven Writing from Ancient Elven codices, Temple of Mythal.

In the Architect’s Laboratory we find this configuration where we can see the clear differences and resemblances between the two statues. It seems as if “Falon’Din” is trying to look like this Old God. In this configuration we see “Falon’Din”’s figure “repeated”, so we can suspect that if one of them is Falon’Din, the other has to be Dirthamen. Both look the same because they are “twins”. This would imply that  Dirthamen as well as Falon’Din were interested in looking like the same Old God [which seems to be identified as Urthemiel, making total sense for the Architect to have it in his laboratory, even though it’s a bit strange for him to have this statue since he lost his memory as a magister. Unless it’s a pretence. But we are not going to deepen on this topic here.]

Falon’Din/Dirthamen’s chest displays a mark that sadly, due to the limitations of the engine in DAO, is barely visible. Curiously, the only other statue I saw with a mark on their chest was the strange Female Kossith/ Desire demon /Tevinter Warrior. In her chest we see a fancy skeleton of what looks like a dragon or a bird, while on Falon’Din’s chest the mark looks more like a horned head.

For a long while I’ve been trying to understand this bad-quality symbol on the chest of  “Falon’Din”. I’ve seen this symbol inside DAO as a symbol of a “horned” head, and tried to find it in many other places:

The top of the eluvians,  the Darkspawn decoration, small decorative dwarven gem-based objects.  Sadly, none of them makes much sense to be related to this statue, lore-wise. Once more, it’s hard to determine how to link things in DAO [only by design] when it’s clear that they did not have the resources to make a different design for each racial group, as they did in DAI.

After thinking too much on these symbols on the chest, I speculated another possibility relate to the (Falond’Din’s / Dirthamen’s) Vallaslin in an attempt to understand the truth using Solas’ own words about these tattoos: 

Solas: The Vallaslin. [...] I discovered what those marks mean. Inquisitor: They honour the elven gods. Solas: No. They are slave markings, or at least, they were in the time of ancient Arlathan. Inq: My clan's keeper said they honoured the gods. These are their symbols. Solas: Yes. That's right. A noble would mark his slaves to honour the god he worshipped. After Arlathan fell, the Dalish forgot.  [Solas, romance scene]. 

Solas words’ can be interpreted in two ways: the generic elvhen nobles that supported the Evanuris system and owned many slaves would mark them with the Evanuris’ brand they supported.

Or, the Evanuris were originally the noble ones, who worshipped ancient gods we have no knowledge about, and used those gods’ symbols to brand their own slaves. I’m inclined by the second one because the game made us question in several codices about “the gods that the gods of the elves worshipped”, an example of it we have the codex The Temple of Mythal, or even conversations with Morrigan also trigger this question. I think there is intention of the game to makes us think in that direction. Morrigan is, after all, an excellent questioning thinker, who already suspected that the elvhen pantheon was just a group of powerful rulers. 

So I believe that maybe a mark of the truth and of the Gods that the Evanuris worshipped in the beginning, before claiming godhood for themselves, is through the Vallaslins. If this concept is correct [sadly, no assurances here either], I imagine that the Evanuris took some aspects/ design elements of the ancient gods they worshipped and made them their own when they claimed godhood [typical topic in DA world: continuous and repeated co-opt of symbols and knowledge across the ages and the races]. So, the Vallaslin seems to be a symbol that could give us some clues about the divinity systems and how they co-opted one another as they kept claiming godhood.

If anything, this could be another parallel of what we see with Ancient Tevinter: they took so much from elvhen knowledge and claimed it their own, that I can see the elvhenan doing the same to creatures of ancient times, erasing their existence, as Tevinter did with the presence of elvhenan in their own arcane knowledge when it’s very obvious its influence and almost theft [foci, somniari culture]. There are some clues in the comics that may suggest that the original creators of everything were the great dragons, but this is an hypothesis I will explore when I start the analysis of the comics.

Returning to DAO, there is another appearance of these statues in the Fade: a pair of them are floating in the air when we enter to the Fade of Awakening. They are repeated because, I think, it gives the idea of “Falon’Din and his twin” Dirthamen. In fact, these two statues seem to be doing what all the statues of the hooded figure were doing in DAI: marking the entrance to realms or places that belonged to elvhenan and now are ruins.

But then again, it makes so little sense that Dirthamen and Falon’Din are at the beginning of this place, where the Demon Pride of the Baroness and all the people from the town are trapped here [check The Fade – Awakening: The undying blackmarsh to refresh details].  However, if you check that post, you will see that this Fade shows a lot of tentacles along the land, killing people, hanging dead from the tentacles, etc. The figure of the Old God was the only one with tentacles, so could it be interpreted that this piece of Fade is related to this Old God that the Baroness took over? Hard to tell.

Once more, nothing can be said from these statues, since they were abandoned in DAO and never reincorporated in any other game with additional context. This happens with the majority of the visual content of DAO: it barely holds up to the meaning and detail that DAI shows in terms of using visual elements to give more information. DA2 is a bit better in that sense. I thinks it’s expected, the franchise has suffered a lot of redesigns and retcons during more than a decade to keep up with every detail of its first game.

#Analysis and speculation of Statues #Falon'Din #Dirthamen #High speculation #Humanoid Dirthamen/Falon'Din #vallaslin #Female Kossith/ Desire demon /Tevinter Warrior #Old Gods #urthemiel