I don’t normally find Corypheus a hugely engaging villain, but when playing Inquisitor!Essek… their dynamic is surprisingly interesting.
Both of them came from worlds where people can call upon their gods and see direct interventionas a result. When Corypheus begs Dumat for aid in the Legacy DLC of DA2, he expects a response. Dumat wasn’t like the Maker: in the old Imperium, he was present, interventionist. But Dumat has long since been corrupted into an archdemon and slain, so now Corypheus is met with silence.
And being in a world where people call upon gods like the Maker and go unanswered is so horrific to him that he decides the worldneedsan intervening god:him.
In Exandria, gods help out their clerics all the time. Essek might ‘find no use’ for faith himself, but he’s supportive of the religious members of the Nein. But when it comes to the Luxon: ‘I know gods exist because we have proof and there are those who speak to them […] but the Luxons do not speak to anyone. It’s a lot of religion based on assumption.’
It’s an interesting little parallel. Divine silence led both of them deciding they were the one who needed to fix things, by disproving/questioning a religion they saw as baseless/suspect in comparison to their experiences of gods who did speak and act. (Essek’s motivations were of course a lot more complicated than that, but hey, no parallel is perfect.)
Not that Essek sympathises at all. Because Corypheus batting away Essek’s questions by saying that mortals ‘cannot have’ the truth… reminded him all too much of the people back in the Dynasty who ignored his questions, who refused to allow any experimentation on the Beacons. All that knowledge, potentially important, declared to be something he couldn’t have.
Essek’s stuck in a strange world, and the Rift magic’s his best shot at finding a way home. And now this monologuing fashion atrocity is declaring that Essek’s not allowed that magic, because he says so?
Tl;dr: Corypheus has some unexpected parallels with Essek, and at the same time feels strategically targeted to absolutely infuriate him.
[id: Digital painting of Critical Role character Essek Thelyss, a drow, who clutches at his chest where a hot beam of light cuts across his body. He is trying to smile, but his eyes are full of tears. /end id]
(i just realized that i never posted the 2nd version of this piece, two months after finishing the first one i still wasn’t satisfied with various things about the proportions etc, and also i’d ran across a cool “embroidery effect” PS trick that I was itching to try)
(also this was before we had a canon eye color so ofc i gave him sparkly rainbow anime eyes lol)
unfortunately, chess pieces were never on the “do not feed” list
[Image ID: a meme of Essek and Jester from Critical Role. They are drawn playing chess, and Essek is staring at the board in utter confusion. He is labeled “the smart kid, not understanding how he’s losing to me.” Jester is looking over her shoulder at the viewer mischievously. She is labeled “Me, who’s been feeding his pieces to my weasel when he’s not looking.” Sprinkle is sitting on her shoulder, eyes glinting green. End ID.]
