I’ve been fighting through a cold the last couple of days (still, better than being ill at Christmas), and working in Clip Studio Paint.
This is my current wip. Solas from Dragon Age: Inquisition. I’m just in the process of tidying up the line work. Then I’ll move onto his ears and clothes.
I’m glad I got round to trying Clip Studio Paint. It has become my main art programme (overtaking Photoshop which I’ve been using for about 16 years).
A birthday gift to me from @kafka-sai! Love you, dear Т_Т <3
Solas and Frederica are painting, and there are their animal symbols on the background. Solas as The Dread Wolf and Frederica as an owl. And Freda wears this outfit I modded by myself!
Another birthday gift! What we have here? Solas as a manipulator - check. Trevelyan as a marionette - check. Celene as a victim - check. This is amazing.
And yeah, this is a story from my DAI, where Solas takes advantage of Trevelyan (who is unrequitedly in love with him), and Celene dies because of Leliana’s influence.
I’ve journeyed deep into the Fade In ancient ruins and battlefields To see the dreams of lost civilizations. I’ve watched as hosts of spirits clash To re-enact the bloody past In ancient wars both famous and forgotten.
___________________________________
Я много странствовал в Тени, Среди ристалищ и руин, Отыскивая сны цивилизаций, И сонмы духов предо мной Играли сцены древних войн, Прославленных и навсегда забытых.
We few who travel far. Call to me and I will come. Without mercy. Without fear. Cry havoc in the moonlight. Let the fire of vengeance burn. The cause is clear.
So….Tevinter Nights! Still reading it, but you know me and maps. I kind of like them. And while the book’s map is short on details, it had one very interesting image that caught my eye.
Let me zoom in a bit for you.
What an interesting depiction of the Veil! Complete with spikey projections!! Then I thought…we’ve seen those triangles before. Here they are clearly labeled as a visual representation of the Veil. And if they represent the Veil between the Fade and the Mortal World then…
….it is very likely that they mean the same thing here.
So this image may well be meant to show Solas creating the Veil.
Now that alone might not be groundbreaking. I think many of us thought that the triangles could represent magic or the Fade, but it seems to be more specific than that. These triangles are the Veil in Solas’ art.
Taking this as a working theory, then some interesting tin-foil hat analyses of the his other frescos is possible. Here is what I am thinking:
The demon with veil marks on the back could be representing the change it suffered, being a spirit first and becoming a demon when passing through a tear in the veil or for coveting a way to cross the veil (abomination)
How interesting the sentinels fresco, I just noticed the blue lines in the middle (something lyrium/magic related?) Also, look how it is present over the diamond shapes. Perhaps they represent the world without the veil? Like the diamonds are a complete shape, but the veil is a half shape (triangle), since without magic the world is less. And the sentinels here could be representatives of the only ones who saw/remember the world in both states, being ancient Elvhen.
The cloak veil in Fen'Harel’s back could also be a symbol, since he is probably the only mage back then who has a grasp on the kind of magic that can manipulate it.
This is all very interesting and I totally agree that these repeated symbols from art piece to art piece represent some constant thing present in each of them. I’m interested in figuring out the blue lines and the asterisk one, the eyes, the v shape too etc Send more theories :3
I’m so glad you commented, @sassyseeker! Your thoughts about the sentinels fresco were right on par with mine, but I couldn’t get over how much the blue lines looked like stylized water. So are they magic? Lyrium? Water? And then it hit me like a facepalm. Of course it’s magic water! It’s representing the most magical water we’ve encountered thus far! The vir’abelasan! Of course such a momentous choice as the fate of the Well of Sorrows would be represented in Solas’ artwork.
Lyrium, however, we have definitely seen in Solas’ frescos and other art. More on that and other symbols in other posts. ^_^
Thanks for the support! I’ll do my best to post more soon!!
-MM
PS - I found a few more instances of triangles that are very interesting.
First up, it’s ya boi Solas. This is the Dragon Age Keep tile for marking the Inquisitor’s promise to save or stop Solas. Interestingly, the image on the left is far more …saturated with color (If that is what you would call it. I am not an artist!). Solas has turned his back, but still casts a watchful eye over his shoulder. The circle (which Decima theorized represented the Fade, the mortal realm, or the Void depending on how they are depicted) is stark and clear as the Dread Wolf crosses it. This Solas is intent on his purpose, and there is barely a trace of the Veil in the image.
Solas doesn’t appear directly in the image on the right, but his presence is keenly felt there as well. This image is more faded, the circle smaller and more fractured, the Inquisitor moves forward with purpose while the figure of the wolf looks on with an attitude of waiting, watching, and perhaps wanting. This image implies that Solas is far less sure of himself if the Inquisitor is intent on saving him.
These next images are also super interesting and I worried that they were going to undermine my whole theory. And then they made me go “oh!!!” which, typically, is a good thing. ^_^
First up, Valta’s card. The imagery and symbolism in this one is just so damn cool! I have a lot of thoughts, but I am going to save most of them for separate analysis.
So the triangles. Look at their placement compared to any other picture and you’ll see some interesting things. First of all, they point up, not down. Valta towers over the Veil, the visual effect of making her look like she is towering over mountains (perhaps harkening back to Dagna’s experience handling a rune and feeling mountain tall). The presence of the triangles in this image probably symbolizes her connection to the titan of Heidrun Thaig while also showing that Valta has achieved a connection to the Fade that has been blocked from her people by the Veil.
This idea, that some dwarves have transcended the Veil, is repeated in the tarot cards for the male and female dwarf Inquisitor.
The lady dwarf inquisitor’s card has a diamond pattern that is more orderly and solid than the ones in Solas’ mural of the sentinels at Mythal’s temple. The male Inquisitor’s card has upward facing triangles like those in Valta’s card.
So why would the Dwarf Inquisitors have Veil in their tarot cards when no other Inquisitor’s share that symbol? Because, unlike all the other Inquisitors, dwarves are cut off from the Fade, and more and more it is looking like this is not their natural state. They are supposed to be connected to the Fade through lyrium and a bond with the titans.
Dwarven Inquisitors, however, command the Veil and bend it to their will, unlike their brethren. They have the means to overcome the barrier. They can dream. They can enter the Fade itself! Pretty damn impressive!
And ummm…this post script became a whole separate post. Thanks for making me think about this more! It was fun!
So….Tevinter Nights! Still reading it, but you know me and maps. I kind of like them. And while the book’s map is short on details, it had one very interesting image that caught my eye.
Let me zoom in a bit for you.
What an interesting depiction of the Veil! Complete with spikey projections!! Then I thought…we’ve seen those triangles before. Here they are clearly labeled as a visual representation of the Veil. And if they represent the Veil between the Fade and the Mortal World then…
….it is very likely that they mean the same thing here.
So this image may well be meant to show Solas creating the Veil.
Now that alone might not be groundbreaking. I think many of us thought that the triangles could represent magic or the Fade, but it seems to be more specific than that. These triangles are the Veil in Solas’ art.
Taking this as a working theory, then some interesting tin-foil hat analyses of the his other frescos is possible. Here is what I am thinking:
He walked among The People, freeing them of their bonds, cloaked in a proto-Veil (***) that shielded him and his followers from the eyes of the Evanaris.
Fen’Harel summoned all of his strength and cunning to raise the Veil across Thedas.
The Veil sundered the world of mortals from the Fade, but the alternative was worse. More war and more Titans felled for their orbs.
Thus the Veil keeps the Evanuris imprisoned in the Fade. Even now they watch through the mirrors, twisted and vengeful, waiting for a time they can return. And the sickness grows from within.
At least, that is one interpretation. These Veil triangles seem to be a go to symbol in Nick Thornborrow’s Dragon Age art (and if you can’t see these images, check out the beautiful full size versions there!). You can see a faded, failing Veil in the top right corner of the Dread Wolf Rises mural.
(The Veil is stretched too thin and chaos engulfs the world? And that Maker forsaken idol is the key? Yeah, that totally sounds like something that could happen in DA4.)
We already know that Nick Thornborrow uses symbols in a deliberate manner so it stands to reason that these triangles always represent the Veil, whether Solas was the artist or not.
The Veil triangles also appears in some of the tarot cards he created:
A demon with the mark of its Veil crossing fresh on its back.
Here is Corypheus sundering the Veil.
Thus image of the Sentinel Elves is interesting because we see the Veil triangles again, but also the diamond shapes on the right. Makes me wonder if the triangle represents the Veil from the mortal realm while the diamond shape is how it looks from a Faded perspective.
If that is the case, then I need to revise an analysis I did in another post. Sweet! That turns that image in an interesting direction! It still is the Evanuris trapped beyond the Veil, but the central symbol may mean more than I thought initially. I’ll have to update that soon!
When the triangle is the Veil…
So what can we do with this information? Knowing one symbol often makes others more decipherable. This leads to theories about these art works being more grounded in reasonable assumptions. It also shows us that when we see those same symbols used in other artwork, we can reasonably infer that they mean the same thing.
That is exciting because the imagery in Solas’ art shows up in other places that were not created by our favorite hobo apostate with god thighs. It would be a fun project to create a visual dictionary of common iconography used in Dragon Age and their likely meanings. While it will mostly still be guess work, it is a starting place….
Thanks for reading! I hope y’all are staying safe during these crazy times!
-MM
***PS - Those “V” shapes that I said might be a proto-Veil earlier in this post might also represent a mage who is talented at breaking the Veil. Might be part of the reason why Corypheus was so interested in Calpernia.
