Jaws Of Hakkon - Tumblr Posts

New trailer tomorrowwww       

http://bit.ly/1bovGch.

JAWS!! wolf jaws??

Damn it

killed Hakkon, had conversation with Harding, I couldn’t choose a dialogue and the game stuck. Do I really have to kill it again? Nooooooooooooooooo!!

Avvar lore resources

I might be a little bit invested in a certain part of Dragon Age lore...

Jaws of Hakkon DLC transcript - a transcript of all dialogue lines from JoH DLC, including variations dependent on the Inquisitor's race, previous choices, and quest order.

Avvar history reconstruction - a 7-part series delineating the history of the Avvar tribe

Avvar first names spreadsheet - a thorough list of Avvar first names that appear in canon sources, organized by their real-life origin if possible

Avvar name structure - a detailed analysis of how Avvar names are constructed, including first names, surnames, legend-marks, and clan names

Avvar symbolism - collages of visual symbols related to the Lady of the Skies, Hakkon Wintersbreath, Korth the Mountain-Father

Parallels between Korth and the Titans

Elven roots of the word "Avvar"

Random bits of Avvar lore

i think it's interesting that avvar mages from the stone bear hold seem to dress exactly like all the rest of the avvar, don't seem to be carrying staves etc - at least the two mages we know, the augur and sigrid don't. i think that would be nice if it was just a confirmed thing that the avvar do, and how pissed off the chantry people would be, knowing that literally any avvar they're interacting with might be a mage, they just have no idea.

(i know that in the heroes of dragon age both sigrid and the augur have staves, but i don't really like focusing on the models from there, they can be... very alternative)

i just like to imagine avvar practicing a lot of staffless magic, bcos their magic is just different and works fine like that. like i also hc that bcos they have such a close connection to the spirits they have way more spirit healers than amongst circle mages, where it's said to be a rare talent.

What Avvar mage training tells us

Not enough people talk about the Avvar, which is a shame because they have some amazing history and practices. I find the way they handle mages to be especially enlightening and based as fuck.

So I made this post to summarise it!

In the above video, I captured two conversations with the Augur of Stone-Bear Hold, and Sigrid - the mage-in-training who went into a self-imposed exile. I'll summarise what mage training looks like for the Avvar, and then delve into the implications.

Augurs are the spiritual leaders of the Hold, but are not necessarily mages - though they often are.

Spirits are called 'gods' by the Avvar. The Avvar do also have named gods, and these appear to be particularly powerful spirits.

Mages among the Avvar bind themselves to a spirit in order to be trained - i.e., they become 'abominations' in the eyes of the chantry, which Dorian confirms in the video. This occurs at a young age, in Sigrid's case when she was a child.

The spirit becomes the mage's trainer. Years later, when the training is done, the mage releases the spirit in a ritual which requires only a small sacrifice (like a bird) and a vial of lyrium.

If a mage cannot release the spirit, then the situation is handled carefully. In Sigrid's case, she just didn't want to say goodbye to a good friend. She goes to the Augur after this, and he confirms that they are working on helping her overcome her loneliness.

If the reason is they are truly incapable of releasing the spirit (they are 'weak', though it's unclear what this means), then the Hold and spirits watches over them to prevent them from growing 'sick'. The Augur implies that if the mage does sicken and endangers themselves or the Hold, they are euthanised and pass away peacefully in their sleep. He says it is a very sad event.

What are the implications of this, then?

Reversing 'possession' can actually be really easy. We knew it was possible from DAO, but now we see that it need not require a massive amount of lyrium or blood magic. If the 'possession' does not happen in a state of extreme desperation/distress (which the Circle and Templars love to put mages in), then reversal is simple.

Mages who cannot release the spirit might 'sicken' - and I suspect that's what they tried to show with Anders. What 'sicken' means is not clarified by the Augur, but from our Anders experience we can piece together that the Augur means they grow mentally and physically unwell. But even this can be prevented or mitigated with proper care.

It appears to be very, very rare that mages among the Avvar turn into the types of abominations we fight in the games, because the Augur never even mentions it happening.

So, in conclusion: The Avvar treat their mages with the most humanity and compassion of everyone, resulting in very few instances of violent abominations.

(Note: tbh I have no idea wtf the Dalish mage training is like because the games contradict themselves even within the same clan, so I can't really draw comparisons to the Dalish, unfortunately.)

finally got the chance to play Jaws of Hakkon but. I am so confused at the world building.

So the Avvar are heavily based on Nordic cultures (ie. the naming customs, the beliefs, and the society in general) and they generally wear a lot of heavy furs and hoods and such, right?????

But the whole Frostback Basin is almost tropical? Like we got these tropical birds and plants all over the place, and then we got the Avvar dressed like it’s the dead of winter??

Am i missing smth or did they just not. think about it. genuinely asking for clarification here