#astrarium

[ammocharis]

Astrarium concept art

Can't believe I haven't seen these concept artworks being widely shared in the Dragon Age fandom before. Don't they look awesome? I've stumbled upon concepts for Solas or Sera or Bull plenty of times, but I had to leaf through the artbook myself to marvel at these.

Source: The Art of Dragon Age: Inquisition, p.222-225

#dragon age #dragon age inquisition #the art of dragon age inquisition #astrarium #concept art

[gaming-thoughts-by-an-idiot]

#gaming #funny #relatable gaming thoughts #dragon age Inquisition #astrarium #like fr #please

[lairofdragonagelore]

Through the Crossroads [DLC Trespasser]: The Darvaarad - Part1

The Darvaarad [Qunari term for a magical quarantine site] is a Qunari island fortress controlled by the branch of Ben-Hassrath called "Dangerous Purpose" who are lead by Viddasala. The Qunari in the Darvaarad investigate inner workings of the eluvians and brought in, catalogued and studied various artefacts, including red lyrium, astrariums, ocularum, ancient elven statues and murals. They stockpiled knowledge and power, which allowed them to open several mirrors.

This place is divided in the exterior areas:

Fortress Approach

Courtyard

Research Tower

And the interior areas:

Darvaarad Barracks

Study

Gaatlok Factory

Venom Extraction Chamber

[This is part of the series “Playing DA like an archaeologist”]

[Index page of Dragon Age Lore]

After confirming the presence of Qunari in Val Royeaux and their threat against the South of Thedas, the agents of the Qunari and Fen’Harel are immobilised, while the Inquisitor explores the Crossroads for the last time, reaching the Darvaarad.

Fortress Approach and Courtyard

With the passwords and the key obtained in the Shattered Library; Inverted Ward, we can unlock the  Darvaarad, an isle which is under the control of the Qunari but seems to have been belonged to Elvhen. I'm not sure how to understand it: there are some statues in the distance that imply the isle had some elvhen presence in he past, as we see the Elven hart statue at the peak of a cliff.

Or this big hand that we only saw in the crossroads and in the Exalted Plains: the Dead Hand. These statues do not seem to be placed by these Qunari in the general surroundings for further study, instead they look like original decoration.  In a sense, this whole fortress reminds me of Skyhold, a building that belonged to elvhen long time ago but passed over so many hands that its original shape changed.

This island displays some statues of female and male qunaris, and a lot of broken eluvians. Clearly the Qunari have been studying and collecting an insane amount of magical artefacts.

Close to us we can see a Saarebas working with an Eluvian.

This fortress looks like a generic “Ferelden” architecture. Nothing in it calls to any particular group, though it displays a banner we saw with the Highwaymen of Crestwood. So maybe it is implied that this fortress belonged to this group of bandits a bit before the Qunari took over when this operation started. Now it displays banners of the Qun.

On the top of the fortress we see some stained glasses that we can approach.

This surprised me a lot because they depict a big tree, that may be related to the Vhenadahl, and below it, red triangles that, for me, represent red lyrium. In Skyhold, we can have this glass by picking Dalish decoration. This image is such a curious thing if we think that DA:D has shown already a Vhenadahl infected with red lyrium in the trailer of Dread Wolf.

In the distance we see an Elven hart statue, below which there is an active eluvian that we will reach at the end of the exploration of this place. That Eluvian leads us to the abandoned elvhen ruins where we will meet Solas.

This eluvian is guarded by two Sitting Fen'Harel statues and behind them, a Golden Ring. The disposition of this makes it look like it was in the isle before the Qunari started this operation.

Research Tower

In this area, the Qunari have a tower completely dedicated to store magical artefacts, statues, art, and everything else they find remotely related to elven magic [which, of course, includes Tevinter]. Observing each of these elements we find fascinating things.

The artefacts are kept inside cells, ironically:

Here we find Tevinter artefacts: A molten rock pyramid, an Oculara, a Tevinter books, and a dismantled Astrarium.

Among the Elvhen artefacts or art: we find an Elven Owl statue, a broken Elven Orb, and a Shard 

There are also skulls for study and an Iron maiden we easily recognise as a typical decoration from DA2.

In the next cell we find a Sitting Fen'Harel statue, behind it there are two cells filled with books and this hexagonal Tevinter decoration where two dragons eat each other.

In the next cell, we find a Teviner Thrummer, a Tevinter artefact with spikes, and three things we never saw before in any game:

A Dark Hand connected to gears. The hand has long fingers, and a chain in its thumb. Is this a prototype to some metal golem? A Tevinter metallic golem? I don't know, it's not the same style than the Tevinter golem.

Then, hanging from a corner, a pinkish cocoon, that looks like the Flesh Pods we used to find during Dragon Age Awakening. So far, we didn't find any of this kind in DA2 or DAI. I would love to read the name of this object in the archive files.

And the most disgusting thing I found so far: a metallic circular structure that keeps a glowing ball of something in the middle and pieces of worms or tentacles around.

There are some more minor Tevinter objects we talked about in previous posts.

We also find red lyrium on a table without any safety measure around it, as if it were nothing.

Cole says here that the red lyrium has a different song to the normal lyrium, but they “fit together”.

We also find a statue of Dragon Mythal

and a whole wall that the qunari removed with a Mural paint by Solas. By the type of stone on this wall, it suggests it belonged to a generic Fereldan-like fortress. We have no idea when Solas painted it, or where. 

And another Elven hart statue.

They even found one of these ancient Stone in Razikale-Ceremony-style. Once again this stone gives a hint to solve the puzzle to open up the elvhen box in the paws of Fen'Harel. This keeps confirming that this stone is elvhen.

Inside the box we find Bloody Bargain. Again, the description of the weapon talks about a man called Harlan from the Coterie of Kirkwall, rumoured to be an abomination, or an apostate, or a demon of rage, or even a mere title passed onto the most bloodthirsty member of the Coterie. Nothing of this story seems to be related to the elvhen.

In this place we find the note Eluvian Studies that shows that the Qunari had some people working in understanding them; Logs of a Darvaarad Gatekeeper which shows how careless the Qunari are about the catalogue and the study of these artefacts, and Saarath,  which is a letter to Tallis written by a Saarebas. 

It is implied that this person was a scholar who developed magic as an adult, and then was treated as a Saarebas. He drinks lyrium and says that it has a song he uses to study the Veil which holds magic at its source. But clearly it's costing him his sanity or focus. The many crossing out along the letter show how intruding this song is in his mind.

I find this letter almost a narrative letter to Solas himself, with the allegory of walls and Veils and darkness as creations of the self because one cannot see the truth that no one is alone, the illusion of being so feels too real, though.

Unlike the religion of the Chantry, so based on the Elvhenan history, the Qun and the image of Koslun represent a very different vision in Thedas. What I mean is that it's so original within the History of Thedas, that it's hard to link it as a co-opt of tales and myths from another culture or cult. But that will be for another post about the Qun and potential origins.

#dlc #dai trespasser #Playing DA like an archaeologist #Darvaarad #eluvian #big hands #Qunari #dalish design #Elven hart statue #Sitting Fen'Harel statue #Golden Ring #ocularum #oculara #astrarium #Elven Owl statue #elven orb #shard #iron maiden #thrummer #Tevinter objects #Tevinter artefact with spikes #Dragon Mythal statue #DAI murals #Stone in Razikale-Ceremony-style

[dragonageconfessions]

CONFESSION:

I'm so glad the Astrariums in Inquisition aren't timed, I struggle with some of them enough as it is.

#Dragon Age Confessions #BioWare #Dragon Age Inquisition #Astrariums #Dragon Age Confession

[juniemoe]

i've decided i'm not going to do shards this pt bc solasan is not really that exciting and the rewards for doing it aren't worth the effort ✌️

#god i hate that quest so much lmao #it's so tedious #also not going to do the astrariums because i also hate them #just doing the bare minimum tbh i don't have the patience for the side quests at all #i just did crestwood's main quest and met stroud #physically pains me to leave ismene in the fade instead of him bc i just #don't care about him at all LMAO #🎮 vilna plays games

[nightmarist]

hm... fuck you.

#the only one i have a complaint on. otherwise i actually like astrariums #dragon age #dragon age inquisition

[numbaoneflaya]

I swear to asmodeus if I have to savescum another roll for my 4int 6wis fucking TAV I am chucking her stupid spiny grey ass into the fucking pit

#YOU ARE NOT THIS STUPID COME ON #god. making me play as fucking astrarium for christs sake Iv had enough. put this since cap on rn #bg3 #also super weird to be playing this game and obey me at the same time. like no way asmo is doing all that that’s my baby gurl leave him alo

[hopefulstarfire]

"Your Grandpa loved you more than we did" sounds like a horrible thing to say to a person growing up, but for me and my family this is an absolute joke and we know it.

For context, my Grandpa and I were best friends. We did everything together and he always watched over me like a hawk. And he loved all of us kids and grandkids dearly, tried to do everything he could to help us and provide for us.

He grew up on a homestead in the 40s and 50s in South Dakota. He went to school in a one room school house and, at one point, got snowed in for like either a month or 3 months, something to that effect, as it has been told to me. They lived off of tomato soup and peanut butter during that time and, from that point on, those are the only two foods in the world he would not eat ever again.

This is important to know.

Fast forward several decades. I'm about 4 or 5 years old. Grandpa's babysitting me while Mom and Grandma went out shopping. I, wanting to be a self sufficient and helpful kid, ask him, "Grandpa, are you hungry?"

He said yes, and that was a mistake.

Because, like most 4/5 year olds, my idea of making food was...creative to say the least. And I'm not talking about taking blades of grass and putting it in water to make soup. I'm talking like, I once made my Mom breakfast that consisted of vanilla pudding, frootloops, carrots and something else I don't remember. I was trying to make a smiley face, like how Mushu did on Mulan, and that was what I had I guess.

I was also the kid that was notorious for climbing to get up to anything that should have been out of my reach (good tactics to have, considering I ended up being short as fuck and still have to do so).

So I make him what I can only loosely define as a sandwich, but was actually more like some kind of war crime. Sure, it had bread and turkey and cheese and ham...but it also had froot loops, oreos, candy bars; literally, if it was in the house and I could get my tiny goblin hands on it, it went on that sandwich.

This man ate every last bite of that abomination. And when my rightfully horrified mom and grandma asked "Why?", he just shrugged and said "It all goes down the same place anyways."

Every time we reminiscenced about it, my Mom would tell me "Your Grandpa loved you more than we did." Because none of them would have eaten it and I don't blame them one bit, my Grandpa was just a different breed of man entirely. And Grandma and I still laugh about it because, yeah, no, he really had to have.

#kenz musings #text posts #story time #i have literally so many things i could say about my grandpa but i had to share this one bc its funny #he was literally one of the most amazing people to ever exist i miss him a lot even 8 years #i got so many more stories. about him and his side of the family. #AT SOME POINT I GOTTA TELL YOU ABOUT AUNT SALLY AND THE TEA BW HER AND HER SIL #found the letter in a tub in the closet that were things from my great grandmas house and ohmygod it was insane #i found out so much family tea that day #but nah i got more grandpa stories too #and he was just. the best person. #theres a reason why wayne in astrarium is heavily based off of him

[mrfoox]

Get attacked!! ✨🌈SEND THIS TO OTHER BLOGGERS YOU THINK ARE WONDERFUL. KEEP THE GAME GOING🌈✨

Thank you so much and I'm sending this right back to you too ♥ ♥ ♥

#Ask #Ask game #Astrariums

[flame2ashes]

Just realized I have neither of these achievements on PC for DAI because I had played the game enough times at that point to ignore both the shards and the astrariums fdjklsajfkldsa

#On my next playthrough I might do the astrariums again though #Those were fun to play; I just didn't want to go through them an umpteenth time lol

[spellbooking]

insp. by @astrariums sussur posts

#baldur's gate 3 #baldurs gate 3 #bg3 #bg3 gif #gale of waterdeep #gale dekarios #gamingedit #dailygaming #userlaezels #miyku #videogamemen #i have too much free time #on my days off #help #tay.gif

[lairofdragonagelore]

Hinterlands: Miscellaneous in the region

This post has a purpose to place the miscellaneous details and objects found in the area. There is no much to say about them, this is more for archive purposes.

We find the Banner of Ferelden, with a mabari, of course. Following a style that remind us the art series that shows Andraste’s life

[This is part of the series “Playing DA like an archaeologist”]

Inside of a random Ferelden house.  These items are pretty much reused in many contexts.

The ferelden mabari torches which features two mabaris at the sides of a shield with two crowns;  the symbol of the royal family of Ferelden: the Theirins. Probably this is an old version since the current symbol of the Theirins is:

The torches shows the animals looking at opposite sides, and the shield is currently bigger.

The mercenary symbol

In the Lady Shayna’s valley, we find some red lyrium, and in front of it, a sacrificial table of black wolves in a curious style. Since they are metallic, it’s fair to suspect them as tevinter-made, but we saw these wolves/mabaris in other Ferelden places made out of wood. They certainly are more spiky than the regular Fereldan style but I keep consider them as Ferelden. This table appears in Crestwood with skulls on it. It’s not an item I’ve see too frequent in game.

The Crossroad has a statue of Tyrdda, the legendary alamarri mage-warrior founder of the Avvar,  in the middle of it,

There are also astrariums in the region. These objects are a Tevinter invention that once they are completed, they point out to a secret Tevinter room with special Tevinter devices and loot.  See more in the post of Astrariums.

Lornan’s exile is where the rebel mages are gathering in Hinterlands. The stronghold is ansdrastian in most details. Its courtyard has a typical statue of the warrior-andraste.

The place is filled with Maferath’s statues too.

And at the very bottom of the fortress, there is a breach over five statues of  the Dwarf with long limbs which are surrounding a tree.  Maybe this place had a different significance back in the time of the Alamarri.

Close to Lornan’s exile we find the Grand Forest Villa, another fortress, more modern.

This is the same statue we find in the Crossroads, depicting Tyrdda.

Here, Serna’s tomb, at the heights of the hills of the Hinterlands, showing a statue of a dragon shaped Mythal destroyed.

[Index page of Dragon Age Lore ]

#hinterlands #ferelden design #avvar design #andrastian design #Table of Wolves #Tyrdda statue #Astrarium #Dwarf with long limbs #Playing DA like an archaeologist #Dragon Mythal statue

[dragonageconfessions]

CONFESSION:

I credit the astrariums for inspiring an interest in Astronomy when I was a teen which eventually led me to one of my college majors being astrophysics. I was an over achieving A student and constantly under pressure from parents who wanted me to go to medical school but I had no interest in that. I passed my biology classes but I never felt anything for them. And the way my parents kept pressuring me built up a lot of resentment and depression. I will always be grateful for Dragon Age Inquisition providing an escape for me but it was the astrariums that inspired me to look up at the sky. I won't be the type of doctor my parents want me to be. I'm going to be the doctor I want to be.

#Dragon Age Confessions #Dragon Age Inquisition #BioWare #Astrariums #CONFESSION

[suburbanlegnd]

thanks for the tag @wineonmytshirt @charlesleclerctv @truetaurus !!

shuffle your ‘on repeat’ playlist and list the first 10 songs that play, then tag 10 people.

espresso by sabrina carpenter

1000 blunts by $uicideboy$

fortnight by ts and post malone

prove yourself by radiohead

good luck, babe! by chappell roan

the only thing by sufjan stevens

carolina by ts

it's not ok by this cold night

florida!!! by ts and florence + the machine

i will by radiohead

no pressure tags: @haismie @fortnightthere @candoitwithabrokeheart @godsfavdarling @evermorecatra @anervousmirrorball @arobarbie @chappelroans @weeping-in-the-willows @coffeeisaritual @umbreonwolfy @captainpissofff @animallover4000 @astrariums @osblaineswiftie @evermqres @lonelydncers @timeless-pdf @doesntseeyourbeauty @anixknowsnothin @redwidow616 @abodyhasbeenfound

#tagged

[trazynstolemygender]

my dealer: got some straight gas 🔥😝 this strain is called "astrarium mysterios" 😳 you'll be zonked out of your gourd 💯

me: yeah whatever. i don't feel shit

5 minutes later: dude i swear i just saw the deceiver in the tomb of nepereth the untouched

my hated rival orikan pacing: vishani is lying to us

#has this been done yet #necrons #warhammer 40k #the infinite and the divine #infinite and the divine spoilers #trazyn the infinite #orikan the diviner

[uranium235s]

no astrariums in tevinter, so we make do

#erm #i dont actually know what to say abt this piece tbh #what mitski said (i could stare at your back all day) #dragon age #dragon age inquisition #dragon age inquistor #dragon age fanart #dorian pavus #pavellan #digital art #my art #fanart #rhys's pieces (fanart) #rhys's pieces (oc) #oc -> firuz #ocs -> dragon age