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sotwk · 3 months

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Historical Event in the SotWK AU:

The (Non)Involvement of Thranduil in the Sack of Erebor

Could Thranduil have helped kill Smaug and save Erebor?

Disclaimer: The content in this post is mostly headcanon created for the SotWK AU, founded on canon details from the books and movies.

Context: Timeline of Thranduil's History in the Third Age

c. TA 1000-2000 - Thranduil, his family, and their people spend one thousand years fighting and enduring against the rise of Dol Guldur and the darkness and evil creatures that have infested and overrun the southern regions of Greenwood the Great.

Alas, by TA 2000:

Nearly all the woodlands south of the Old Forest Road had been abandoned.

The Woodland Realm's population had been reduced to nearly half of the great number it reached during the Golden Age of Thranduil's rule.

Many Silvans were killed by the onslaught of spiders, orcs, and other dark creatures or poisoned by the sick forest itself (air, water, food). A few even faded from grief and despair, which never before happened to the resilient Silvans.

The Silvans' famously high birthing rate dropped to nearly zero, leading to a "lost generation" and fears of gradual extinction.

TA 2063 - Crown Prince Mirion dies in direct combat against the Necromancer, resulting in Thranduil's vengeful razing of the fortress (SotWK HC), and the Council of the Wise's investigation (through Gandalf), all of which forces Sauron to abandon Dol Guldur. This begins the period known as the Watchful Peace.

During the 400 years of the Watchful Peace, the Silvans regain hope and courage, and with that, their ability and desire to have children again.

TA 2210 - Thorin I abandons Erebor to join his kin in the Grey Mountains in TA 2210. The Lonely Mountain is abandoned for three-hundred and eighty years.

TA 2460 - The Watchful Peace ends. Sauron returns with increased strength to Dol Guldur.

TA 2509 - Princess Itarildë’s mother, Nimeithel (oc), dies trying to defend her cousin Celebrían from the Orcs. Lady Celebrían sails to the Undying Lands the following year, and Queen Maereth is devastated by the loss of her two dearest friends.

TA 2589 - When their halls in the Grey Mountains come under attack by Cold-drakes, Prince Arvellas dies attempting to aid the Dwarves (defying his father's orders for the only time in his life). Dáin I and younger brother Frór are both slain, and Thrór inherits the kingship.

TA 2590 - King Thrór returns to Erebor with the Arkenstone to re-establish the Kingdom under the Mountain. Thrór's younger brother Grór leads others to the Iron Hills.

TA 2601 - Prince Turhir leaves Mirkwood, unable to cope with the trauma and guilt over his brothers' deaths. (Further details withheld to avoid fic spoilers.) His departure strains Thranduil and Maereth's marriage in a way it has never suffered before.

TA 2746 - Thorin (Oakenshield) is born in Erebor. Maereth sends gifts to honor the birth of the new prince, in an attempt to heal the friendship with the House of Durin that was broken after Arvellas's death. The gifts are accepted, but the rekindled friendship remains tenuous, especially since Thranduil has lost his desire to remain allies with the Dwarves he holds responsible for Arvellas's death.

TA 2760 - The continuing strain on their marriage forces Maereth and Thranduil to agree they need time apart. Maereth leaves Mirkwood to reside in Imladris for several years. (This is the only separation they have in the 2,900 years of their marriage.)

TA 2765 - Thranduil (trying to prove to his willingness for peace with the Dwarves again, as Maereth wants of him) commissions the jewel-smiths of Erebor to make a necklace from the White Gems of Lasgalen. However, when he comes to claim the finished necklace, he is turned away by Thrór, who (under the influence of dragon-sickness) claims that the gems were ill-begotten treasure from Khazad-dûm, and belonged to the Durins by birthright. Thranduil holds in his anger at the insult and does not press the matter, not wishing to completely sever the alliance that means so much to his wife.

TA 2770 - Smaug lays waste to the town of Dale and captures Erebor with all of its treasure.

tldr: Thranduil was not at his best when Smaug came to attack Erebor. He had many problems of his own, and he had very legitimate grievances against Thrór and his kin.

Unfortunately, Thrór was never forthcoming with his grandson, Thorin, about the deep history between the Durins and Thranduil's family, so as far as Thorin and his people believed, the Elvenking and his family just "lacked all honor". Nothing could have been further from the truth.

How did Thranduil react upon hearing of the attack?

The Elvenqueen was still in Imladris during the attack, and was therefore not present to give Thranduil council. Because of their separation, Maereth's mind was closed off to Thranduil's, and so she could not be reached through ósanwe. The younger princes, Gelir and Legolas, lacked the ability to telepathically communicate across that great a distance.

It was Gelir and Legolas who pushed their father to ride out with their army to help the Dwarves. Even though the bitterness of Arvellas's death still remained, Thranduil heeded his sons.

They had a solid plan to kill Smaug.

Thranduil had fought against fire-breathing dragons during the War of Wrath, and he knew what it would take to kill one: nothing short of a hero's self-sacrifice.

There was one weapon in Mirkwood that was surely powerful enough to pierce dragon hide and flesh: the great broadsword (or claymore) of the late Crown Prince Mirion.

Mirion's sword was forged by the prince himself (he was the best bladesmith in the realm), and was made from a special steel sourced from Khazad-dûm centuries before its fall. (Thranduil's sword was made from this same steel, which was also crafted by Mirion and given to his father as a gift.)

The sword was so large and heavy, only three people were known to be able to wield it: Mirion, Thranduil, and Turhir. Only Mirion had the strength and sufficient practice to wield it single-handed when needed.

Therefore, any attack using the sword would have to be carried out by the Elvenking himself.

For reference, Mirion's broadsword is about as massive as "Ice", Ned Stark's Valyrian sword from Game of Thrones.

In order to defeat Smaug, Thranduil's strategy would have been to attack the dragon himself with the sword. Gelir, Legolas, and the rest of his army would provide enough diversion to allow the Elvenking to get close without being burned by dragonfire.

What actually happened during the attack?

Thranduil was gripped by indecision and did not act as soon as he received the news of Smaug's descent. He already knew that any action they take against the dragon would mean loss of life for his people, and that made him hesitate, which caused some delay.

But he DID gather his army, his last two sons (who refused to be left behind), and marched out with the intention of engaging.

However, once Thranduil saw with his own eyes he fiery wrath of Smaug and the destruction he was capable of, and sensed the dragon's greed and evilness, the reality of the situation and the weight of old memories crashed down on him full force.

He remembered how he almost died from dragonfire, how painful those burns were, and how long it took him to recover from the physical and emotional scars. (And he only survived due to Valinor-level healing!) Did he want his soldiers to suffer the same, even if they survived?

He remembered that he had already lost one son (Arvellas) to dragons, who gave his life to help these same Dwarves, and received little gratitude for it in return. Was he ready to risk his last two sons?

And lastly, Thranduil realized, with almost full certainly, that killing Smaug would cost him his life. Was he ready to leave his wife a widow, his sons fatherless, and grandson saddled with the burden of kingship in such dark times?

The answer to all those questions was NO. So he made the difficult decision to turn back.

Thranduil's real mistake (that you can fault him for. Maybe.)

An argument could be made that even if Thranduil didn't want to directly engage with Smaug, he could still have sent his army to shield the Dwarves of Erebor and the people of Dale and help them get to safety. Less civilian lives could have been lost.

They didn't have to completely turn around and go home. They could have still tried to to something--as his sons (especially Gelir) would argue later on.

However, at that point, Thranduil choked on his reluctance to risk anything any further, after everything his family and kingdom had already been through. His sons were especially chomping at the bit to slay the dragon, and things could have easily gotten out of hand if they stepped into the same field as Smaug.

By retreating completely, Thranduil eliminated all risk.

And yes, the bitterness of Thrór's treatment (those damn jewels), and the way Arvellas's death was handled (the Durins never properly honored the prince's sacrifice) still lingered. It certainly factored in the decision to (selfishly?) leave the Dwarves to their fate.

Thranduil HAD warned Thrór "of what his greed would summon", especially after the fatal attack of the cold-drakes on the Grey Mountains. And Thrór certainly did not listen.

What was fair, then? How much responsibility still fell on Thranduil to help the Durins, given all these facts?

Aid was delivered in the aftermath; but the Dwarves considered it "too little, too late".

When Smaug had finally locked himself up in Erebor with his precious treasure, Thranduil did send out aid to the refugees of both Erebor and Dale. When Elvenqueen Maereth finally returned from Imladris, she spearheaded this effort.

Mind you, it's not like Mirkwood was swimming in excess resources at this time. But they still gave whatever they could to the thousands displaced, including medical aid, food and clothing, and even temporary shelter.

The men of Dale accepted the aid and help in finding new dwellings, including resettling in Esgaroth.

The Dwarves accepted the Elves' aid, but only to some extent.

Thrór wanted Thranduil to prove his allegiance by helping them to force Smaug out of the mountain, which of course Thranduil flatly refused to do.

The proud and angry Durins therefore declared him and his people faithless, and chose to move south to Dunland, instead of accepting Maereth's offer to help them rebuild near Mirkwood.

The Elvenqueen's final attempt to reconcile her family and people with the House of Durin would be during the War of the Dwarves and Orcs (TA 2793). However, her tragic death only worsened the divide between Thranduil and the House of Durin; we see this in Thorin's anger during his capture in the events of The Hobbit.

It all ends happily.

Healing and reconciliation would finally be achieved a century and a half later, during the Battle of Five Armies (TA 2941), where the Elves of Mirkwood play a role in saving the lives of King Thorin and his nephews. Once Erebor is reclaimed by the Durins, the two kingdoms become fierce allies and remain so for the rest of their histories.

(Yes, the SotWK AU is proud to be a Durins Live AU. <3 )

This HC post was written in response to an Anonymous request for a "Family Historical Event" submitted back in July 2023.

For more Thranduil/Mirkwood headcanons: SotWK HC Masterlist

Tag List: @a-world-of-whimsy-5 @achromaticerebus @acornsandoaktrees @aduialel @asianbutnotjapanese @auttumnsayshi @blueberryrock @conversacomsmaug @elan-ho-detto-elan-15 @entishramblings @fizzyxcustard @friendofthefellowshipsnerdblog @glassgulls @heilith @heranintomyknife23times @ladyweaslette @laneynoir @lathalea @lemonivall @quickslvxrr @spacecluster @stormchaser819 @talkdifferently6 @tamryniel @tamurilofrivendell

Other useful links:

Introduction to SotWK

Fanfiction Masterlist

Fanfiction Request Guidelines

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felassan · 1 year

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Thoughts/wonderings on Dragon Age: The Missing #2, under a cut due to spoilers for The Missing (not just #2) and for the recent leaks:

Overall I think issue 2 was more interesting and more exciting than issue 1. I don't mean this in a bad way about issue 1; it's just that issue 1 had a lot of catching up to do ('here's what's happened since you were last in Thedas') and setup both for Varric&Harding (they should open a detective agency together)'s current quest and for future issues in this series. that was quite a lot of setup and the comic issues only have a few pages. now in Issue 2, the story is properly starting off and the plot thickens etc.

continuing the theme of issue 1 (which is: Varric Is Having A Very Bad And Terrible Time), this issue opens with Varric groaning and cursing. it really is like this huh.. "shit", he says, while.. stepping in shit.. it's eponymous. eponymous suffering.

change in art style and artist from issue 1. if memory serves, Fernando Heinz Furukawa is the artist who worked on some previous DA comics such as Dark Fortress and Blue Wraith. here's Varric portrayed by Fernando in Knight Errant:

and here's Varric now in The Missing #2

it's day and night! he looks Older and more tired, and also maybe redesigned (outfit, scar etc). if this comic is set around 9:52 or shortly beforehand, he's over 50 years old now since he was born in 9:1. according to this tweet of Fernando's, it wasn't Fernando who did a redesign, BioWare had sent along the reference for Varric for this comic. are we looking at Varric's DA:D Era (Dad Era..) Redesign? is this how he'll look in DA:D? if so why did he look the same as usual in issue 1 - was it a recent decision of BioWare's that happened after issue 1 had been illustrated but before 2 was drawn? or is it just differing art styles between issues - I notice that each of the 4 issues of this comic has a different artist. it will be someone else again in issue 3, so I'll guess we'll find out based on what he looks like in issue 3 :) also, a different artist for each issue is an interesting choice - is it to showcase as many different peoples' talents as possible?

We don't see much of Vyrantium in this issue but from what we do see I think it looks cool

Harding's hair is definitely red/orange here. in one leak the person wrote that there was a rogue lady dwarf party member. in another the person implied via emoji codes (hh) that one of the companions that they saw is a lady with red hair. with these in mind plus Harding's presence and appearance in this DA:D lead-in comic, I wanna speculate that Harding is a companion in DA:D. if Harding is and Varric isn't, I'd be down with that! I'd rather he isn't a companion again, and this setup would provide a lady dwarf companion, an ascended extra (see: Cole, Merrill etc), and the familiar returning face/Inquisition representative on the team without filling up a slot with someone who has already had a turn at being a companion. maybe, like Charter says in issue 1, Varric builds the team, but instead of joining it in person himself, it's Harding who joins the DA:D roster and he's around doing some stuff in the background like giving quests or advising or something. Varnick Fury...

last time we checked in on the Qunari invasion of Tevinter, they had invaded Neromenian (Dark Fortress). before that they invaded Carastes (Blue Wraith) and Ventus/Qarinus (Deception). now the Antaam have progressed towards Vyrantium and are laying siege to it. this shows the passage of time between our looks at Thedas and that that the world isn't static, and it keeps building the backdrop in Tevinter of the Antaam invasion as a potential background plotpoint for DA:D (reminds me of the mage-templar war in the background of DA:I). the Tevinters don't seem to be having much luck in this war, losing city after city to the Antaam.

looking at this progress map below, I'm reminded of this line from Dread Wolf Take You in Tevinter Nights: "I fear everything east of Vyrantium will be under their control inside a year, and northern Antiva as well", said by the Mortalitasi at the meeting Charter attended. we're seeing this come to pass now, and if it roughly followed that projected timescale it gives us a bit of insight into when Charter's meeting with Solas in TN took place relative to the effective prologue to DA:D (this comic). if the Antaam keep this up, I guess the next settlement is Marnas Pell and then onto Asariel. Minrathous has famously never fallen to siege or invasion. I guess you could still effectively choke a country by capturing all of its other cities besides the main one though. maybe the plan is to take the rest and Minrathous would be the last hold out? its food supplies in the Catacombs will only last a year

"You think Solas would have crawled through a city's worth of shit to get here?" felt like a bookend to Varric's comment in the previous issue, "It fits, though. A refuge in the ass end of nowhere is exactly Solas’s style". at this point varric sounds like he's talking about an ex who jilted him lmao. and probably not, Varric, he's probably fast-travelling around as it suits him via the eluvian network. I thought the highlighting of sense of timing, how long it took them to get there, how rough the road there was and the obstacles they went through to reach their destination was interesting. maybe it's a precursor (for the sake of creating contrast) to the possible upcoming 'travelling around via eluvians' stuff from the recent leak? to the possible plotpoint of 'here's how the Inquisition remnants have eluvian access now'? it's taken them weeks to walk from Marnas Pell to Vyrantium, which gives a sense of the scale of Thedas and emphasizes travel time outside of in-game 'fast travel' mechanics. Solas is basically leading them on a wild goose chase in this comic series all over Tevinter. given his effective teleportation relative to their having to walk for weeks to get between cities, he has them at a massive disadvantage.

new locations in the lore: Armael Hills, Wava River/Wava River crossing. given that they have travelled from Marnas Pell to Vyrantium, these must be places in Tevinter.

"food poisoning" ye sure okay bud. at the end of issue 1, Varric was after a stiff drink. this panel is a smart bit of continuity from that, and also, BioWare must have fully known what they were doing with this panel lmao.. on a serious note though I hope Varric is doing okay like, and this was just a hangover after a celebration like he says, rather than part of his recent tired/sad/kinda strugglin vibe. otherwise coupled with his older tireder more haggard look it reminds me a bit of Ser Aaron which is sad to think about :( (RIP)

lmao the valet was really like "You? The noble famous Viscount of Kirkwall? but you're so scrungly, stinky and oldlooking.. No. It can't be so. Bye"

if Lady Crysanthus has been 'indisposed' for months it means Solas was here months ago. that's confirmed when they mention about how the bedroom hasn't been used in months. they're so many steps behind him and would continue to be - the walking distance between Vyrantium and Arlathan Forest is even further than that between Marnas Pell and Vyrantium.

I enjoyed how their cover story was "Hi I'm Varric", they walked straight up to the front door, showed themselves and told him who they were, and then broke in talking about how they're supposed to be being subtle lmao. (also that setup for the house going up in flames at the end and condemning the lady's husband to death so dramatically, LOL subtle indeed. I guess it was them being ironic). so knocking on the door was Harding's suggested approach, Varric had initially suggested breaking in and they decided to try Harding's way first. that's nice, it contrasts them as characters and carries on that idea from their discussion in issue 1 about their two different suggested ways for approaching/dealing with stuff/Solas if they found him

so about Varric's redesign, he has speed stripes now/salt and pepper hair, and where/when did he get that big serious scar? also would you take Varric's hand and trust him, even though he's like, a pathological liar? after that panel i would ok

their dynamic is cute

Tevinter architecture is cool (red glass windows) and I like those lil Tevinter wind chime looking things. inside the bedroom there are serpents coiling around the bed posts.

Harding was right after all, and had the smarts to check under the sheet. she looks shook when they discover Crysanthus. and no wonder, of course the only person they know who can turn people to stone is Solas. from the lady's outstretched 'Stop!' arm and scared facial expression, it doesn't look like she and Solas were having a pleasant conversation when he did this.

that wall mural... lmao. the dog looks kind of like a mabari, which I guess I could see since they originated in Tevinter. my random obscure headcanon is that this ~Decadence~ mural is supposed to, by in-universe artists, depict the golden age of the Imperium when it ruled most of Thedas and before the mabari defected to the 'barbarians' of the south hh

shoutout again to Harding's cool looking cape

Teia and Viago!!!! as the front cover prophecy foretold!! man we knew it was coming but i still went OOOOOO at them appearing. their entrance and they in general was/are so cool. they look amazing!!

wing-like motif on their outfits, fitting for Crows :) hh, Harding knows immediately that they are Crows. also "subtle".. :)

lmao he's so done

I enjoyed the banter back and forth at this point, it was fun :)

Harding's freckles 🥺

The question is, who put out this contract on Crysanthus to the Crows and why? it must have been a pretty big deal (the person who took out the contract and/or the reason for taking it out), otherwise what are two Talons from two different Houses doing on a job in Tevinter when the Antaam is currently invading Antiva and we know from TN that the Crows including Teia and Viago (Eight Little Talons) were going to be taking the defense of Antiva seriously?

So the Inquisition remnants are still basically "The Inquisition" when it comes to name-dropping, and Varric 'my cover is hi I'm Varric also I'm gonna break in now' Tethras has no qualms about telling a pair of Crows they've just met that they're working with the Inquisition. whereas he omits mentioning Solas specifically by name. I guess "Inquisition" is an easier sell than "The Dread Wolf"

also interesting, why are the Crows concerned about a Tevinter mage possibly working with the Venatori, or about the Venatori planning a possible concerted move against the Imperium, or about stopping that? I'm reminded of TN where we learned that a mysterious patron had contracted the Crows to kill a bunch of prominent Venatori (Lucanis' story). some of the Venatori were scared about that, particularly of the aforementioned notorious Crow, "The Demon", who had been doing a lot of these contracts. the Venatori said that they wouldn't cower to foreign mercs like the Crows. and it was implied that the anonymous hirer was elfy, as they gave Lucanis assistance/info about a magic secret passage inside a statue of a vhenadahl, the passage of which was lit with veilfire and guarded by an elf, Athima, who was sent by their patron. then Lucanis died or "died" and we saw his wake, which Teia and Viago were at. and now here are Teia and Viago in Tevinter on a contract job to take out yet another Venatori/Venatori collaborator. are they continuing where Lucanis left off? Crows, the Venatori, and Solas... curiouser and curiouser

the fight scenes in this comic were cool. Varric at one point doesn't even draw Bianca, he just socks someone in the face like POW

Viago with his poisoned rapier/poisons again, ice cold but also like, what a nerd

when the secret door opens Harding is like > :) hhh

when the valet says "You've killed us all just by being here", is it Lady Crysanthus' husband that he's thinking about or someone else? the Venatori? the person who turned the lady to stone?

so Lady Crysanthus was a spymaster who had records and notes on many known Venatori agents, as well as maps and papers relating to their plans to get a magical artifact/magical weapon called the Crucious Stone out of Arlathan Forest. she was also helping Venatori operate in Tevinter. given this, why would she invite Solas to come and talk to her? their mutual interest in the Stone? was the invitation even for Solas, or did he or whoever was using the room in the Deep Roads get it from the person it was actually supposed to be for after he/they got wind of this scheme?

the Stone can bring the Imperium to its knees. that would explain why the Venatori, who are apparently plotting a move against the Imperium (to.. make it great again? I guess they have to take it down or take it over before they can make it great again?), would want it. Solas isn't a fan of the Imperium - is he interested in this Stone because he'd also like to impact Tevinter, or because he needs to use the Stone's powers for his plans relating to the Veil or similar? (I'd think more the latter than the former) Any relation to, or how does it tie in to, the Orb or the idol?

Also I wonder about the specifics of the stone's powers. to bring the whole Imperium to its knees.. we must be talking blood magic? I'd guess? plus some Veil wibbly-wobbly Fadey stuff too, if the last page of the comic is anything to go by. also, the shape of the stone reminds me of the sarcophagus from Dark Fortress. that artifact was of unknown origin but built to fit an elf and there were some possibly elfy aspects to its design..

"Monologue about it, who knows?" // "Is this a contract or an old flame?" // "Well..." killed me hhhh

Viago asking the Important Questions

Stone Fist

Teia is badass

nice group takedown, again a party with majority dwarves and elves :)

Varric's one liner while the guy stabbed through the wrist crushed by a broken statue of his beloved departed wife while he burns to death is. stone cold.

this time around there's a reason why they didn't gather up a bunch of papers/books from the Secret Den, it was going up in flames and they had to escape. makes sense. I still wonder why they didn't take those books with them from the Deep Roads room in issue 1 hh.

in the panel where they are back outside on the streets of Vyrantium, the column of smoke from the burning house can be seen in the background going up into the sky, and off to the right in green is the figure that Teia clocks in the next panels.

Cat

presumably the possible Venatori assassin is the Venatori we saw tailing Varric&Harding at the end of issue 1.

Varric and Harding leave Teia and Viago on a positive note which is nice. I hope we meet them for a bit in DA:D :)

also since it was confirmed that the characters in this comic are Teia and Viago, I think again about the 'this comic is introducing us/re-introducing us to various factions/groups who are players on the chess-board or otherwise of note in DA:D' idea. Issue 1 had Wardens, 2 the Crows, 3 looks to be the Veil Jumpers. also since it was Teia and Viago, I'm also once again wondering if the two Veil Jumpers will be Strife and Irelin, who we know are in a Dalish clan that lives in/near Arlathan Forest. (also I enjoyed the confirmation in this comic that a few/multiple Dalish clans live in Arlathan Forest. those clans, like Morlyn, sound super interesting due to the magical/ancient nature of the Forest)

About the last page of the comic, the tree branches give an elfy vibe, and that structure in the distance being upside down gives a Fadey and/or Arlathan Forest's current time/space topsyturvyness vibe. could the archway in the structure be an eluvian? is this how they get eluvian travel? is this what's in the heart of Arlathan Forest, or is it somewhere in there where the Veil is thin and the time/space reality warping has influenced things? did Dalish elves build those walkways?

the synopsis for Issue 3 is as follows:

Following their adventure in Vyrantium, Varric, and Harding travel to Arlathan Forest in search of the crucious stone. When the duo finds themselves face-to-face with a pair of Veil Jumpers, they decide to team up. Finding what they seek will have them up against puzzling obstacles, and their success could depend on the allies they can gather.

this is the issue in this comic that I'm most excited about. I'm so hyped to meet the Veil Jumpers AAAAAA!! [cat.yodeling.png]

#dragon age: dreadwolf #dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #da4 #dragon age #dragon age: the missing #dragon age: the missing spoilers #bioware #video games #long post #longpost #dragon age: dreadwolf spoilers #solas #alcohol cw #lul #strife

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apocalypticavolition · 11 days

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Let's (re)Read The Dragon Reborn! Prologue: Fortress of the Light

Well I took a much longer break than I expected and now winter's over (hopefully; I do live in Alaska) so it's time to get into the book with a longer break than expected between it and its prequel, but that gets going now that winter's over. Everything else is of course spoilers, and this post is going to have spoilers for the whole damn series so... don't keep reading if that's a problem.

Pedron Niall’s aged gaze wandered about his private audience chamber, but dark eyes hazed with thought saw nothing.

We start out this book with the Whitecloak icon because we're in Whitecloak town. And as is usual in Whitecloak town, every person in the place is looking around wildly and still completely blind to what's in front of them.

Still, he was suddenly aware of the tendon-ridged back of the hand holding the drawing, aware of the need for haste. Time was growing short. His time was growing short. It had to be enough. He had to make it enough.

We do see evidence here and there that despite being a Whitecloak, Niall isn't a completely contemptible person but... He is of course still completely wrong. He's not going to make it to the Last Battl and it won't be old age that takes him. He's in audience with a guy who could be warning him about the threat that will destroy his country but is focused on something else entirely.

It is a worse madness than any false Dragon I’ve ever heard of. Thousands have declared for him already. Tarabon and Arad Doman are in civil war, as well as at war with each other. There is fighting all across Almoth Plain and Toman Head, Taraboner against Domani against Darkfriends crying for the Dragon—or there was fighting until winter chilled most of it. I’ve never seen it spread so quickly, my Lord Captain Commander. Like throwing a lantern into a hay barn.

Considering how in-depth the series gets later on, it's a bit surprising we don't get much of a taste of this initial conflict. This all-consuming war, IIRC, continues to run on and off for pretty much the rest of the series, though the Seanchan do quiet it down and reframe it a great deal in the latter half.

“Lord Captain Bornhald said they called themselves Seanchan, my Lord Captain Commander,” Byar said stolidly. “He said they were Darkfriends. And his charge broke them, even if they killed him.”

Even when Byar touches on the Seanchan it's only in ways that actually misinform Niall. No wonder the LCC is so frustrated with this conversation.

“By this one Darkfriend you spoke of, Child Byar?” He could not keep an edge out of his own voice. A year’s planning lay in ruins amid the corpses of a thousand of the Children, and Byar wanted to talk only of this one man. “This young blacksmith you’ve only seen twice, this Perrin from the Two Rivers?”

Dude is so Perrin-obsessed that I feel that Perrin's ta'veren must be working against them both under these circumstances. Just like how Rand's causes both good and bad things to happen at random, so too does Perrin attract allies and enemies.

Perhaps these wars meant nothing in themselves—men fought wars—but they usually came one at a time. And aside from the false Dragon somewhere on Almoth Plain, another tore at Saldaea, and a third plagued Tear. Three at once.

Consider how different from Europe the setting of this story is, that wars come "one at a time". They don't have the population to sustain Renaissance war rates, even if they do still have the technology.

The Atha’an Miere, the Sea Folk, were said to be ignoring trade to seek signs and portents—of what, exactly, they did not say—sailing with ships half full or even empty.

I believe this is the first mention of them acting weird, so... that's an additional complication to look forward to.

But Tar Valon had apparently sent other Aes Sedai to support the other false Dragon at Falme. Nothing else fit the facts.

Props to Niall here for coming to a somewhat correct conclusion from a variety of incorrect data.

Carridin was tall, well into his middle years, with a touch of gray in his hair, yet fit and hard. His dark, deep-set eyes had a knowing look about them, as always. And he did not blink under the silent study of the Lord Captain Commander. Few men had consciences so clear or nerves so steady.

It's pretty easy to have a clear conscience when you don't have any conscience at all. Shame Niall's not a good enough judge of character to see that.

To serve the Light. Not to serve the Children of the Light. All the Children served the Light, but Pedron Niall often wondered if the Questioners really considered themselves part of the Children at all.

Maybe instead of setting up plans to conquer the continent you could have dealt with the Questioners, Niall? No? Just gonna let that shit heap fester in the sun? Great choice. Absolutely no knives in the back are coming your way... His eyes really aren't seeing anything in this chapter.

The Shadow’s plots are murky, and often seem mad to those who walk in the Light.

Sad thing is, Carridan is probably perfectly accurate in this particular sentence. The Dark spends a lot of its time acting in ways to maximize the paranoia of the common folk, to keep the Light too divided to properly purge it before the end of the Age.

Few ships have tried to cross the Aryth Ocean, and most never returned. Those that did, turned back before they ran out of food and water. Even the Sea Folk will not cross the Aryth, and they sail wherever there is trade, even to the lands beyond the Aiel Waste. My Lord Captain Commander, if there are any lands across the ocean, they are too far to reach, the ocean too wide. To carry an army across it would be as impossible as flying.

1. The Seanchan also do fly, naturally.

2. As Niall points out, this isn't a proof, it's only a (logical) guess.

3. The Sea Folk actually have made it across a few times, though they refer to the far end as the Isles of the Dead or something similar. Carridin probably isn't pointing this out either because he doesn't know or if he does because he doesn't want to make reaching the Seanchan continent seem plausible.

“Most people think Trollocs are only travelers’ tales and lies, and most of the rest think they were all killed in the Trolloc Wars. What other name would they put to a Trolloc but monster?”

This... also isn't proof. Shame the Whitecloaks don't like logic as much as the White Aes Sedai do.

“Even a false Dragon,” Niall said dryly, “is not enough to make them forget four hundred years of squabbling over possession of Almoth Plain. As if either of them ever had the strength to hold it.”

Even the real Dragon only manages to unite them through his second-order unification, as they lie across the Seanchan/West divide otherwise.

“At first they were only rumors, my Lord Captain Commander. Rumors so wild, no one could believe. By the time I learned the truth, Bornhald had joined battle. He was dead, and the Darkfriends scattered. Besides, my task was to bring the Light to Almoth Plain. I could not disobey my orders to chase after rumors.”

Bro doesn't even have a good excuse. If Niall wasn't busy scheming for his own agenda, he could have ended Carridan here and now and saved everyone a lot of trouble.

He would never put forward one of his own, but I doubt he’d quibble if I named you. A few days under the question, and you would confess to anything. Name yourself Darkfriend, even. You would go under the headsman’s axe inside a week.

Actually perhaps I'm overoptimistic here. Perhaps the High Inquisitor - or just the Darkfriends amid the Whitecloaks - would ferry Carridin away or arrange for an early demise before he could give away any information at all. Replace him with the next dude, same as the first.

Loose a lion—a rabid lion—in the streets. And when panic grips the people, once it has turned their bowels to water, calmly tell them you will deal with it. Then you kill it, and order them to hang the carcass up where everyone can see. Before they have time to think, you give another order, and it will be obeyed. And if you continue to give orders, they will continue to obey, for you will be the one who saved them, and who better to lead?

Niall of course foreshadows Perrin's rise to power, though the boy does it kicking and screaming.

Niall rubbed his hands together. He felt cold. The dice were spinning, with no way of telling what pips would show when they stopped.

In a way, Niall inadvertently views himself as a dark mirror to all three ta'veren. Perrin, by means of creating an enemy to unite people; Mat, as a Great General with a focus on gambling, and Rand...

But he, Pedron Niall, would unite humankind behind the banners of the Children of the Light. There would be new legends, to tell how Pedron Niall had fought Tarmon Gai’don, and won.

Rand like this.

A month before, in the dead of winter, the gangly little man had arrived in Amadicia, ragged and half-frozen, and somehow managed to talk his way through all the layers of guards to Pedron Niall himself. He seemed to know things about events on Toman Head that were not in Carridin’s voluminous if obscure reports, or in Byar’s tale, or in any other report or rumor that had come to Niall. His name was a lie, of course. In the Old Tongue, Ordeith meant “wormwood.”

"Wormwood" is a Book of Revelation reference: "The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many died from the water, because it was made bitter."

But also, poor, poor Niall. He sees himself as a man of cold logic (steel, cuendillar, etc.) but with Ordeith around whatever virtues he had are assuredly doomed.

The Two Rivers,” Niall mused. “Someone else mentioned another Darkfriend from there, another youth. Strange to think of Darkfriends coming from a place like that. But truly they are everywhere.”

Niall is almost, ALMOST clever enough to realize how stupid this claim is... But Ordeith's a fast talker.

Much of the drawing was only a smudge, and a rip ran across the young man’s breast, but miraculously the face was untouched.

Fain can tear Rand up physically, as can most of the Shadow, but despite everything, the boy remains.

“Perhaps I must make plans for the Two Rivers. When the snows clear. Perhaps.” “As the Great Lord wishes,” Ordeith said blandly.

And so we set up... next book's plot. Seems a little premature for this book's prologue but sure! Also note that Ordeith calls Niall the same thing all the Darkfriends call the Dark One. You'd think a real servant of the light would notice and object...

It was a man in form, no larger than most, but there the resemblance ended. Dead black clothes and cloak, hardly seeming to stir as it moved, made its maggot-white skin appear ever paler. And it had no eyes. That eyeless gaze filled Carridin with fear, as it had filled thousands before.

Oddly, the wiki says that this is the first appearance of Shaidar Haran and that it was only described as a "very tall Myrddraal" at this stage but as you can see, this Myrddraal is actually... a little short for a storm trooper. I'm going to make the executive decision that no, this Fade is not even an early SH variant and that if Jordan wanted me to think so he should have put it in the text where it belonged instead of interviews after the fact.

The Halfman’s bloodless lips quirked in a smile. “Where there is shadow, there may I go.”

There really must be some other limit to the Myrddraal's shadow-stepping technique because otherwise one of them should have just stepped in Rand's shadow and killed him if they wanted him dead so bad.

The Myrddraal grated, “Your Lord Captain Commander’s words are dung! You were commanded to find the human called Rand al’Thor and kill him. That before all else. Above all else! Why are you not obeying?”

And so we see the trap that Carridin is in, an interesting trap indeed considering that in later books Rand will be off the kill list. It's a good thing Ba'alsy is mad enough for the inconsistency to just seem to be his illness and nothing more. Though perhaps this Fade works for one of the other Forsaken (Sammael? Rahvin?) It certainly isn't the DO deciding this (another thing that makes it hard to believe it's SH), because his orders are even clearer: let the Lord of Chaos rule.

“Hear me, human. You will find this youth and kill him as quickly as possible. Do not think you can dissemble. There are others of your children who will tell me if you turn aside in your purpose. But I will give you this to encourage you. If this Rand al’Thor is not dead in a month, I will take one of your blood. A son, a daughter, a sister, an uncle. You will not know who until the chosen has died screaming. If he lives another month, I will take another. And then another, and another. And when there is no one of your blood living except yourself, if he still lives, I will take you to Shayol Ghul itself.”

Frankly Mr. not-Haran, I don't think that's a great threat for Carridin until you invoked his suffering. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who cares about his family at all...

With his good hand Carridin struck the basket from Sharbon’s hands, sending withered winter apples rolling across the carpets, and backhanded the man across the face.

The hierarchy of evil is so pathetic, isn't it? Ah well.

So ends the third book's prologue. The first book's prologue was an Age before the main story and sets up the conflict of the book and the series clearly. The second book's prologue was at least a little before the chapters of the second book and set up the conflict of the book and the series clearly. This prologue doesn't bother with that and instead sets the tone for the vast majority of the prologues to come: checking in on the plot threads that aren't doing anything this book. Probably one of my least favorite structural choices in these books, but it's a minor quibble.

Next time: Rampant abuse of innocent corvids.

#let's read #wheel of time #wot #robert jordan #wheel of time spoilers #wot spoilers #pedron niall #jaret byar #jaichim carridin #padan fain #not shaidar haran i don't care what jordan said or the origins book or the wiki

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deadlymaelstrom · 1 year

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Dragon Age: Dreadwolf Gameplay Leaked, Inspired by God of War

SPOILERS: GAMEPLAY

Combat is completely in real-time and similar to a hack and slash. I'm told the guiding reference point was the God of War (2018), and that shows.

Player has their regular combo attack and then their abilities as well as a special bar which generates allowing you to pull off a special move. I don't really understand the comparison to FF15's wheel. It's standard Dragon Age ability wheel.

There was no party control demonstrated. I think it's a safe bet to say you will not be able to directly control your party members in the game. That said, you likely will be able to tell them to execute certain abilities. But apparently that was locked off in the Alpha.

The most immediate thing you noticed is that animation quality has DRASTICALLY improved. Like, for any other AAA title it's probably not that big a deal. But we've never seen animation quality this good in any BioWare game. I didn't actually play it, but I can tell it probably feels really good to control your character. No more stiff animations, it's all very fluid and seems also very responsive.

Jumping has also been retained. So, rejoice if you enjoyed jumping a lot in DAI.

As the character was a sword and shield dude, he was able to parry attacks from enemies and follow up with counters. It's hard to tell their exact abilities, they only had two on hotkeys along with a special. But one appears to basically be a drop kick and the other a charged sword attack. I'm not sure exactly what the special attack does.

The UI is similar to DAI, but this is also Alpha and UI is the last thing finalized in any game. Character has a chest slot, a helmet slot, a primary weapon slot, and a shield (secondary weapon?) slot. For accessories, one amulet slot, one belt slot, and two ring slots.

Oh and the player character's hair looked glorious. I mean, it was clipping right through their helmet. But it was flowing and bouncing as they moved. Finally, no more stiff ass hair. Now, let's hope we have more than just two black hairstyles.

Enemies were pretty much just variations of darkspawn, except the dragon, but again they seemed to have Red Lyrium powers.

SPOILERS: DESCRIPTION OF GAMEPLAY

The entire gameplay is set within the Grey Warden fortress HQ of Weisshaupt. That's what the location text literally says. Now again, the gameplay is alpha so there isn't a whole lot of detail and there are missing textures for a lot of elements. Basically, buildings and whatnot are all modeled and textured but the skybox itself is very dark and makes it seem as though the entire fortress is underground, although it is clearly not. I suspect the skybox could contain some giant world event, similar to the Breach, they hadn't finished. The player character is an Elvish "Knight" Class (the character screen actually says they are a mid-level Grey Warden), they've got a sword and a shield. They also have two party members, another knight dude and a female dwarf rogue. I suspect both models are placeholders and they won't actually look like they do in the final game. Darkspawn are currently attacking Weisshaupt and there are roots all over the place alongside Red Lyrium popping up here and there. Oddly, the darkspawn also apparently are infused with Red Lyrium and have Red Lyrium attacks and some have red eyes. The objective is to fight through the Darkspawn to get to the library, but as you are doing so there is also a big ass dragon attacking from above. Because, you know, it is Dragon Age. And the dragon creates occasional environmental and traversal hazards. It ends once you reach the library, close the gates, and then come face to face with the dragon. It appears you are then supposed to try and chain the dragon up, but it ends before the player completes that. There is no audio and while there are subtitles, they are mostly glitched and frozen so you can't tell what people are saying during cutscenes or combat.

#dragon age #bioware #queue #dragon age dreadwolf #picspam #queued post #spoilers #dragon age 4

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nenyabusiness · 1 year

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TOLKIEN TLDR: What the hell happened between Finrod and Sauron?

Wanna know how Galadriel’s brother Finrod actually died? Here, have a silly, simplified version of his death according to The Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin and Beren and Lúthien.

The story does, of course, start with Finrod, son of Finarfin, also known as Finrod Felagund. For a Noldorin Elf, he was a really good guy (that bar is pretty low though tbh). He befriended pretty much everyone he met, including Men and Dwarves. Solid dude, through and through.

Okay, time for some backstory. During the First Age, Morgoth was hiding in a northern fortress known as Angband, and for about 400 years, the Noldor had the place surrounded. They called it a siege, which is a bit of an exaggeration. They weren’t able to actually assault the place so they were mostly maintaining status quo, killing the occasional Orc here and there. Things were fine. They had things under control.

(Spoilers: No, they didn’t.)

After centuries of plotting and planning and preparing, Morgoth breaks through the “siege” and unleashes all the dark shit he’s been brewing in Angband. He burns down the entire area around his fortress and sends out myriads of Orcs, Balrogs, and a dragon. Lots of Elves and Men die that day, and even more become refugees. The peace that was never really a peace is over. This battle would forever be known as Dagor Bragollach, the Battle of Sudden Flame.

The House of Finarfin takes a heavy hit. Two of Finrod and Galadriel’s brothers die in the battle. Finrod would have been killed too, if it hadn’t been for a Man called Barahin. Barahin’s men manage to protect Finrod but suffer heavy losses because of it. Because of their bravery, Finrod decides to swear an oath, which is never, ever, a good idea in the Tolkien universe. He swears that if Barahir or any of his kin ever find themselves in need of aid, he will help them.

Alright, time skip. We’re now in the story of Beren and Lúthien, a couple of years later. Beren, Barahir’s son, comes to Finrod’s stronghold Nargothrond because he needs help with a quest. Lúthien, the love of his life, happens to be the daughter of a very overprotective king who won’t let Beren marry her unless he brings him a Silmaril (one of those three fancy stones that cause so much murder) from Morgoth’s crown.

Remember how I said that swearing an oath never ends well in the Tolkien universe? Well, things are about to go to shit here because there’s not only one oath at play here but four.

1. Lúthien’s father swore an oath not to kill Beren on the spot. Instead, he came up with the most lethal quest he could think of—retrieving a Silmaril.

2. Beren swore an oath to bring the king a Silmaril, because he really, really wants to marry Lúthien.

3. Finrod swore an oath to aid Barahir’s kin, no questions asked.

4. Fëanor and his sons (Finrod and Galadriel’s uncle and cousins) swore an oath to never let a Silmaril belong to anyone but them.

The two sons of Fëanor that happen to be in Norgothrond at the time throw a fit. The oath they swore is by far the most destructive one, but it had been lying fairly dormant during the “siege”. Morgoth has the Silmarils and they can’t really do anything about it. The oath accepts that. The idea of some random bloke retrieving it and then handing it off to some other king, though? The oath says no. They go on and on and on about how much they dislike the idea until Finrod, who has also sworn an oath, actually abdicates so he can follow Beren on his suicide mission.

Just… don’t swear oaths.

Finrod and a handful of Elves join Beren on his quest. He disguises them as Orcs, and they travel safely until they reach Sauron’s domain. Sauron notices that the “Orcs” are acting weird, so he brings them to him. That’s when the famous battle between Sauron and Finrod Felagund begins. Their weapon of choice? Singing. Yeah. It’s a singing duel. Sauron ends up defeating Finrod (I mean, he used to be a part of the angelic Ainur choir so I guess that checks out), and then throws the company into a deep pit. He has no idea who they are or why they were trying to sneak through his territory, but he intends to find out. He tells them that until someone starts talking, he’s going to slowly kill them off one by one.

Yeaaaah, Sauron is not a good guy in The Silmarillion.

Since no one talks, he sends down one of his werewolves (beasts with dreadful spirits trapped inside them, not the man/wolf kind) who devours some poor, nameless dude from the company. This happens again, and again, and again, until it’s Beren’s turn. This is when Finrod performs his final act of heroism. He uses all the strength he has left to free himself from his bonds and kills the werewolf with his bare hands. He gets fatally wounded in the fight, though, and dies in that dark pit. Beren is later rescued by Lúthien (who is honestly a lot better at this Silmaril quest thing than Beren is), and Finrod is buried on the hilltop of Nargothrond.

TLDR of the TLDR: Finrod was a really good guy, oaths are bad, and Sauron can sing.

Aaaanyway, there it is, the Silmarillion version of Finrod’s death. The Rings of Power has its own version, sort of insinuating that Finrod went after Sauron after the fall of Morgoth, but they did keep some elements. He was, indeed, killed by a servant of Sauron in a dark place.

#TOLKIEN TLDR #tolkien #lore #the rings of power #trop #rings of power #lotr #lord of the rings #the silmarillion #finrod #finrod felagund #beren and luthien

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thedinanshiral · 2 years

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Dragon Age and side media.

Yes, this is about the Netflix animated series and why I think it'll be worth it.

Dragon Age lore is in large measure about patterns. I've explored this many, many times. So this is no different. And Dragon Age has plenty material to work with.

Often times people see side media (comics, books and anything not officially aligned with the main story) to be its own separate thing and not, well, canon. But that's not always the case with Dragon Age.

While not strictly necessary to follow through, DA's side media is not entirely inconsequential. Far from it, the novels, comics and series either give insight into known characters and conflicts, or introduces future companions and relevant NPCs, simultaneously setting the stage for future developments.

With the exception of DAO as it was the first installment of the series, the following games always had side media in between to prepare us for what was coming next. Let's see (mild spoilers ahead)

DAO got two prequel novels, The Stolen Throne and The Calling, with the former exploring Maric and Loghain's past and the latter introducing Duncan and, in a way, Alistair.

A bit after DA2 we got the Alistair comics (with Isabella and Varric as King Alistair's companions on a quest to find the truth about King Maric's fate), and Dragon Age Redemption, a sort of officially approved fanmade? low budget web series, with Felicia Day playing as Tallis, a character that would later appear in the DA2 Mark of the Assassin's DLC.

Then in preparation for DAI we got Asunder, The Masked Empire, Last Flight (novels) and Dawn of The Seeker (the Cassandra cgi movie i haven't seen yet). These novels introduced just about everything: new companions (Cole, Cassandra), relevant NPCs and bosses (Michel de Chevin, Gaspar, Briala, Felassan, Imshael and even Fen'Harel), and conflicts we'd have to deal with in DAI (the Orlesian civil war, the fall of the Seekers, demons). Curiously enough, the only pre-DAI side media that had no repercussion in the game was Last Flight, arguably one of the best DA novels (shh, I'm biased); it takes place in the Anders at the Grey Wardens HQ, and jumps between the past during the Fourth Blight and the present shortly after the Mage Rebellion. Is in Last Flight where we learn what happened to the griffons, and there's a revelation that i think will play out in DAD. The DA4 trailer and BTS video with concept art gave me some hopes for this as some of the scenery was clearly set in the Anders and Weishaupt.

So far DAD has had 5 comics to prepare us all: Mage Killer, Knight Errant, Deception, Blue Wraith and Dark Fortress, introducing new and recurring characters with strong in-game companions potential, and setting the quest for the red lyrium idol and the hunt for Solas. There's also the amazing Tevinter Nights anthology introducing new characters, taking us on a tour around the yet unexplored regions of Thedas like Tevinter, Nevarra and Antiva. Some of these new characters would later be appearing in several short stories published on the BW site, and also have tons of companion potential.

And now, we have Absolution. Or will have, soon enough. A Netflix animated series. The trailer tells me this is where some of the DA4 concept art ended up in. Now I've seen and heard enough about this: that it's generic Netflix anime, that it has nothing that says "Dragon Age" and oh what's that? Me taking you to the optometrist for new glasses. Granted, the general public won't be pausing on every frame, but I have issues so i kinda did.

From what I gather we'll be following an elven rogue and their friends/associates on a quest to stop an (drumroll please)...evil Tevinter mage set on unleashing something terrible using magic and a mysterious magical artifact.

What are their personal motivations, their sad backstories? What will be at stake? I mean, Solas is about to set the world on fire, what could be worse than that? This new artifact looks like a bracelet with two serpents eating each other's tail, and is that red detail something like a ruby...or is it red lyrium? If this is Tevinter, there's dragons and serpents everywhere, Old Gods stuff, and two serpents made one reminds me of the twins Falon'din and Dirthamen... Is the evil mage summoning something terrible or restraining it with a barrier?

What cities will we be seeing for the first time?

And most importantly, what's my new wife's name?

Yes, it seems the Netflix series writers are not the DAD writers. But neither are the 5 comics' and nobody's questioning the canonical value or lack thereof of, say, Blue Wraith.

I think Absolution is part of the side media meant to prepare the terrain for DAD, and not some random executive's whim, so even if Weekes themselves aren't holding the pen, it'll be fine. I imagine Absolution has at least two goals: 1) to gather new fans of the series and hype for the next game, and 2) to add something (companions, lore, foreshadowing) to the next game.

Redemption is a fine example of why not to underestimate side media, no matter how low budget and lore unfriendly it seems because this is the side media that introduced the Mask of Fen'Harel, an artifact that is activated via blood magic and used to open portals into the Veil to cross over to the Fade. Yeah, as simple and unofficial as it may look Redemption foretold Fen'Harel's relation to the Veil and it's manipulation. It wouldn't be until DAI (and for many, until Trespasser) that Fen'Harel would be revealed as the creator of the Veil and the dots began connecting that he's the OG rift mage for that reason.

So yeah, I'm excited, and I'll watch it and dissect it. I'm equal parts starved and excited for DA lore/content, it's been A VERY LONG TIME.

A VERY LONG TIME

#Dragon Age #Dragon Age: Dreadwolf #Dreadwolf #DAD #Dragon Age Absolution #DAA #this post has been brought to you by my twitter drafts at 2am

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sebeth · 1 year

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The World Of Ice And Fire: The Pre-Conquest State of Westeros

Warning, Spoilers Ahead…

I’ve mentioned that I have gone back and forth between “The World Of Ice And Fire” and “Fire & Blood” to cover the Targaryen sections. I grabbed “Rise of the Dragons” off my bookshelf – mainly to describe the beautiful artwork and discovered it has new information not seen in the previous two books. “Rise of the Dragons” came out during the busiest part of my work year, so I quickly glanced at the pretty artwork and put it on my bookshelf, assuming it was simply a re-telling of “Fire & Blood” with no new text, which is not the case.

Here we go, the state of pre-Conquered Westeros, using all three sources for information:

“The Rise of the Dragons” opens with a two-page painting of Aegon, Visenya, Rhaenys, Orys, and Targaryen soldiers standing around the Painted Table at Dragonstone.

The next page is an illustration of Blackfyre, Dark Sister, four Targaryen crowns, and three dragon eggs.

The next illustration is an angry dragon head. The Illustration for the Preface is Valyria after the Doom followed by a two-page painting of the Field of Fire.

The Seven Kingdoms section has illustrations of a Westeros map, Argilac the Arrogant, the Lannister and the Westerlands army pre-Field of Fire, Torrhen Stark, and Meria Martell.

On to the Seven Kingdoms:

The Stormlands –

· Centered around the rainwood and bordered by the Blackwater River, the Dornish Marches, and the Reach

· First monarchs of the Stormlands were Durran Godsgrief and Eleni, a daughter of the gods

· Bran the Builder built Storm’s End

· House Durrandon has ruled for thousands of years

· 400 years before the Conquest, Arlan III Durrandon expanded the Stormlands by conquering the Riverlands

· 100 years before the Conquest, the Storm Kings lose the Riverlands after Harwyn Hoare, a king of the iron Islands, conquers the Riverlands

· An attempt to regain the Riverlands resulted in King Arlan V Durrandon’s death

· Argilac the Arrogant, son of Arlan V, becomes King of the Stormlands

· Argilac the Arrogant’s reputation as a warrior grew when he threw back a Dornish invasion

· Argilac joined an alliance with the Free Cities against Volantis

· He also killed King Garse VII at the Battle of Summerhall

· Argilac’s only heir is his daughter – Argella

The Kingdom of the Isles and the Rivers –

· The histories of Westeros state the Iron Islands were settled by First Men

· The priests of the Drowned God insist the Ironborn were created in the image of their god

· Long history or maritime activity – fishing, trading tin and iron ore, reaving and pillaging other kingdoms

· The Iron Islands consist of thirty-one islands, including seven major inhabited ones

· The Grey King ruled in the Age of Heroes, but no details remain of his reign

· Each isle had a salt king and a rock king, each elected to their offices until the Drowned God priest Galon Whitestaff unifed the Iron Islands by electing a High King at the first kingsmoot

· The era of the High Kings lasted centuries and was the apex of Ironborn power

· The High Kings were referred to as the Driftwood Kings due to their wooden crowns

· The reign of Qhored the Cruel saw the Ironborn controlling most of the western shore of Westeros

· Urron Greyiron slaughtered his rivals at the last kingswood, establishing hereditary kingship

· Centuries later House Hoare succeeded the Greyirons as Kings

· King Harwyn “Hardhand” Hoare launched an invasion of the riverlands and drove out the Storm Kings

· Harren “the Black” Hoare rules the united Kingdom of the Isles and the Rivers at the time of the conquest but had beggared his realm by building Harrenhal, an enormous castle fortress by the God’s Eye

The Reach –

· The second largest but most fertile and populous of the Seven Kingdoms

· Bordered by the Westerlands, the Red Mountains of Dorne, and the Stormland Marches

· Claims a connection to Garth Greenhand, the first “High King of all the First Men”

· All the Reach house claim descent from a child of Garth

· House Gardener established Highgarden as their seat

· The Gardener Kings ruled their “Green Realm” for millenia

· Weathered the Andal invasion by adopting their customs and making the Reach the place of chivalry and knighthood in Westeros

· Mern IV Gardener was the King of the reach at the time of Aegon’s Conquest

· Mern IV commands the greatest army in Westeros

The Westerlands –

· The Casterlys were ancient lords of the Westerlands until Lann the Clever gained control of Casterly Rock

· Lann the Clever had a plentiful number of descendants but the most famous were the Lannisters, “who would carve out a kingdom from their seat at Casterly Rock”

· The Lannisters first warred against the invading Andals but then used them as mercenaries to expand their realm – resulting in the Lannisters in control of the entirety of the Westerlands

· “Many wars wracked the Seven Kingdoms before the Conquest and the Kings of the Rock were frequently at the center of these conflicts”

· Lannisters starting wars? Shocking!

· The Riverlands, the Iron Islands, and the Reach were their main rivals in war

· Loren I Lannister was King of the Westerlands at the time of Aegon’s Conquest

The Vale –

· The Vale has been ruled by the Arryn Kings since the Andal Invasion of Westeros

· Ser Artys Arryn defeated Robart II Royce at the Battle of the Seven Stars to become the High King of the Mountain and the Vale

· The First Men who survived the Battle of the Seven Stars and refused to submit fled into the mountains, founding the mountain clans

· House Arryn is the oldest and most pure of the Andal bloodlines

· The Vale battled the North for centuries over control of the Three Sisters

The North –

· Largest but least populous kingdom in Westeros

· Harsh climate, deadly winters

· The Starks, Kings of Winterfell, united the petty kingdoms of the North through conquest and alliances

· A list of the vanquished include: the Barrow Kings in the Thousands Years War, the Warg King, the Marsh Kings, and the Red Kings of House Bolton

· The First Men of the North repelled the Andal invasion due to the leadership of the legendary King Theon Stark

· The Starks were known as the Kings in the North and the Kings of Winter

· Chief Enemies were the Ironborn, wilding raiders, and the Vale

· The Vale conflict resulted in The War Across the Water

· Torrhen Stark was the King in the North at the time of the Conquest

Dorne –

· A harsh land of wide deserts, dangerous coasts, and high mountains and three main rivers: Greenblood, Vaith, and Scourge

· The First Men came over the land bridge that connected Essos to Westeros

· The Andals made excursions into Dorne but never gained dominion

· Dorne was an array of petty kingdoms for thousands of years

· The strangest petty kingdom formed along the Greenblood where a dozen noble houses would elect a High King

· Nymeria arrived in Dorne seven hundred years before the Conquest – she, along with Mors Martell, would unify Dorne into one kingdom

· Women have equal status to men in inheritance laws

· Frequently warred with the Reach and the Stormlands

· Meria “the Yellow Toad” Martell is the ruler of Dorne at the time of the Conquest

We end with more details on Dragonstone:

· The Freehold of Valyria sent an expedition to seize Dragonstone two hundred years before the Doom

· Dragonstone became the westernmost outpost of the Valyrian Freehold

· The citadel of Dragonstone was raised by Valyrian magic

The section ends with illustrations of Dragonstone and Balerion burning the Volantene fleet.

Up next: Aegon’s justifications for the conquest of Westeros.

#asoiaf #game of thrones #Westeros #Seven Kingdoms #Fire & Blood #Rise of the Dragons #Dragonstone #A Song Of Ice And Fire #The World Of Ice And Fire #twoiaf #Iron Islands #Westerlands #North #Reach #Riverlands #Stormlands #Vale #Dorne

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starshucker · 10 months

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not to be like I'VE SOLVED THE ZELDA TIMELINE but i think i solved the zelda timeline. it always bothered me that the timeline split has two modes (link dies in the ganon boss fight and the downfall timeline happens OR link wins and the child/adult timelines happen simultaneously. if link dies, child/adult cannot happen and if he wins, downfall cannot happen) but i was thinking about totk and its implications for the timeline. spoilers for tears of the kingdom's main story and dragon tears (also ocarina of time, and mild spoilers for wind waker, majora's mask, twilight princess, and link to the past i suppose) under the cut!

okay so skyward sword to pre-ocarina of time happens as we know, on a path towards what we know as the downfall timeline. link, after gathering the spiritual stones, pulls the master sword, which sends him down a new branch of the timeline (what we know as the adult timeline) seven years in the future where ganondorf has taken over. link gathers and awakens the sages and seals ganondorf, and zelda sends link back to his original timeline. zelda's branch of the timeline leads to the rest of the adult timeline*. back in the downfall timeline, link wakes up in the temple of time, and navi flies away. narratively i assume this is some loss of innocence symbolism or something but lore-wise i have no idea why she does this. anyway. link wants to warn the royal family of ganondorf's plans to take over, but goes to find navi first (because she speaks for him? because he has no authority or credibility without a fairy? because he just wants to find his friend before doing anything else?) so he heads out to look for her in the lost woods. he runs into skull kid, loses his horse, and falls to termina. he spends three days trying exploring clock town, before confronting skull kid atop the clock tower and using the song of time and skipping back three days; however, the timeline he leaves behind is still the downfall timeline!!** link then runs through between three and infinity more three-day loops in termina. on his last loop, he has everything he needs to defeat majora, leave termina, and return to hyrule. finally, this leads into the child timeline.***

*adult timeline: OoT link is sent away, leaving zelda behind in the new timeline created by his pulling of the master sword. ganondorf breaks free from his seal, and there's no hero to stop him, leaving the people of hyrule to pray to the gods and invoke the flood to seal hyrule beneath the great sea. ganondorf frees himself from hyrule (maybe he uses sheikah tech?? the tower of the gods is DEFINITELY a sheikah shrine right??), sets up in the forsaken fortress, and then wind waker/phantom hourglass/spirit tracks happen

**downfall timeline: MM link leaves the downfall timeline. the moon falls, termina is wiped out, and link never returns to hyrule to warn the royal family about ganondorf. instead, zelda arrives from the era of TotK, the dragon tear memories happen (note that in tear 6, rauru hasn't heard of link!) and ganondorf rises to power. zelda (TotK) and the king gather the sages to confront him, rauru seals ganondorf, and banishes SOMETHING that i'm calling ganon**** away in the sacred realm, where it secures and uses the triforce to twist it into the dark world. aghanim attempts to free ganon and link to the past happens, and the rest of the downfall timeline happens, eventually leading up to breath of the wild and then totk (with a fun little offshoot for age of calamity)

***child timeline: link returns to the royal family and warns them of ganondorf's plans. ganondorf is sentenced to execution, the triforce of power saves him, and he's exiled to the twilight realm instead. years pass, link dies and becomes the hero's shade, and twilight princess happens.

****"hey what the fuck is ganon?" i guess like how calamity ganon (BotW) is an extension of ganondorf's power and hatred, or like how phantom ganon (TotK) is able to harass link in hyrule castle despite ganondorf remaining deep below, the pig ganons we see in downfall timeline games (link to the past, link between worlds, oracle linked game, zelda 1 and 2) is some sort of separate entity that is an extension of ganondorf's will, able to carry out his plans (albeit often in a somewhat unintelligent manner, pig ganon is usually somewhat mindless and hyperviolent) while ganondorf's true body remains sealed

i do acknowledge the irony of trying to Solve the Zelda Timeline while also just Deciding TotK's past is the same period as OoT despite major differences! i am aware that there's probably some pretty damning evidence against that timeline placement, but i subscribe to that Storyteller theory where the reason some things completely and inexplicably change between games is bc each game is an interpretation of a legend being told by a different person. yes it's handwavey but that's not what this post is about. what this post is about is Man the Two Modes timeline really annoyed me and i think making it so the OoT ganondorf fight isn't the Singular Crux of the timeline split (instead making it the consequences of a number multiple instances of time travel) is a solid way to iron that out

#i technically had this theory before totk came out bc it relies less on totk lore and more on considering mm's time loops #but the mentions of the imprisoning war in totk reminded me and made me want to write this whole thing out #loz #totk spoilers/#jabbermikey #legend of zelda #zelda timeline

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