Rivain - Tumblr Posts
Thedas in textures
You know, in terms of mage companions I feel like on we haven't had yet is a rivaini seer or an avvar mage. So on one hand, I'll love to see both of them as a companion but then Bioware would find a way to villanize or both-sides the them. Instead of just presenting them as they are and letting us come to our own conclusions they employ these manipulative writing techniques to steer you away from having TOO much sympathy for mages, so I'd rather Rivain just remained in the background. Much safer
It would be so cool to have a Rivaini seer or Avvar mage companion. Bonus points if they were benignly possessed by a Spirit (two-in-one deal! 😆) and it would shed so much light on the lore on Spirit possession.
On the topic of Spirit possession: Jaws of Hakkon kind of gave us a glimpse into what benign Spirit possession among the Avvar looks like; it might be likely the next game will take us to Rivain and we'll get to see practices among the seers there, too. I think it also might be likely we'll get to visit Nevarra, and might either get to play as a Mortalitasi or have a Mortalitasi companion, which might also shed more light on Spirits inhabiting (dead) bodies.
But you do have point about BioWare's disappointing track record when it comes to portraying mages. The next game will bring us to Tevinter; I'm just dreading they'll try to convince players "magic bad, mages evil!" 😐 I'm not keeping my hopes up.
Thanks for the ask! 😃
i dont think im done talking abt this, actually. i'm going to try and explain how stupid this whole thing is because there's always SOMEONE going on about how if it wasn't for the circles, and the parallels of the circles to real-life atrocities, "the mage-templar debate" would be a two-sided issue.
actually, it's not.
the "mage-templar debate" is not an issue of ethics even before addressing the conditions of the circle, because you have other options.
the basic premise of the argument is "mages are inherently a danger to themselves and everyone around them. is locking them up to reduce the harm they pose to the general population the correct ethical decision?" but the entire concept is already bullshit even before you address the conditions of the circle, which is where most people claim the civil rights movement comparisons come from.
because. CANONICALLY. you have other options. you have options within the context of the games to reduce the "threat" or "danger" of magic. there's no cases of mass abominations in rivain. there's no cases of mass abominations (as we know understand & abominations anyway) amongst the avvar. there's no cases of mass abominations in tevinter. from the get-go the idea that "mages have to be locked up for their and everyone's safety" is already bullshit, before you even touch the issue of the circles. even before you get to the conditions of the circle, the very existence of mages in rivain and nevarra and the avvar and tevinter already renders the argument null and void.
from it's very inception, the entire premise -- mages are inherently a danger to themselves and everyone around them -- is proven to be a belief, not a fact.
Did a quick sketch of one of my two future dav protagonists. Lord of fortune, city elf from Rivain, mage, will romance Davrin, they're non-binary and use they/them pronouns