Dragon Age fanfic authors rejoice! You no longer have to stop writing that cooking scene to go research what ingredients would plausibly be available in fantasy medieval Europe.

Something I pre-ordered a very long time ago finally arrived today:

And for those of you who have, like me, been wondering whether cooks in Thedas have access to New World ingredients, the answer is yes:

So I'm going to headcanon that Par Vollen is the culinary equivalent of the Americas in Thedas (since we already know from Iron Bull's banter that they also have cocoa) and that there has been sufficient international trade in agricultural products (probably via Rivain) for potatoes and other New World staple crops to be grown in southern Thedas.

All Lore from the Dragon Age: Official Cookbook: Taste of Thedas

This is going to be a long post with all the lore from the cookbook collected in one post. This is only going to be counting the lore in the "blurbs" so to speak as the actual recipes themselves, which are not meant to be set in-world.

Additionally, it should be noted that I am unable to say one way or the other if the props used in the photos or the etching art shown on some recipes are to be taken as reflecting the canon the cookbook narrator is in. For the sake of completeness, I have included the less conclusive elements.

Shoving everything below the cut for length as well as to help people avoid spoilers. Think I got everything... There is a lot in this book honestly.

Gathered some of the stray Alistair-on-the-Chantry dialogue clippings I have and he makes me insane

isabela be real with me did you fuck my sister

Heights Based off Official Model Scales, Dev Words, or Lore specified

Here to ruin everyone's day with this because honestly I find it delightful and fits into the feral and desperate need I have for Thedas to be experiencing mega fauna and flora.

Going from shortest to tallest we have this:

Elaboration (Below the Cut)

Recruiting Belle in Val Royeaux

Belle is a potential Inquisition Agent (under Josephine) who can be recruited during the initial visit to Val Royeaux.

Transcript:

Transcribed from YouTube videos 1, 2:

Belle: “Excuse me, but… is what they’re saying real? The Inquisition’s going to fix the hole in the sky?”

Herald: “That’s what we’re attempting, yes.” or "We're going to give it a try, at least."

Belle: “No one is doing anything. The Chantry’s useless, and the Templars… Andrastre, I never thought they’d abandon us."

Belle: "Listen. Your camp will need food. I have contacts. We’ll have deliveries there in days.”

Cassandra: “You want to help the Inquisition?”

Belle: “Never been part of something this big before, but… if your Inquisition’s going to seal the sky, I want to help.”

Herald: “What do you think, Cassandra?”

Cassandra: “I think the woman is asking you and not me.”

Belle: “Well, [he/she] is…”

Cassandra: “The Herald of Andraste. Yes, I understand.”

Cassandra: “Haven is a mess, but we won’t turn away anyone willing to help. Invite her, if it pleases you.”

Herald: “Head to Haven, then. We need good people.”

Belle: “I don’t know if I’m that, but it’ll be nice to see.”

Belle: “Thank you.”

Map of Val Royeaux (initial entrance on far left) showing the locations of Belle's market stall and where the confrontation with the Templars led by "Lord Seeker Lucias":

Approaching the Chantry Mothers immediately prior to the confrontation with the Templars. On the map above, the POV is from just above of the circular building, looking to the right. Belle at her market stall can be seen in the back left:

"Barter by Belle" market stall

Closeup of Belle:

Belle's outfit:

Dragon Age Checklist

I’m mainly making this for myself because even after years of being thoroughly invested in DA there are some things out there that I hadn’t heard of. I figured if I didn’t know about them I’m sure other people wouldn’t either so here’s the whole list with links where appropriate!

If I missed something please let me know! :)

Main Games and DLC

Dragon Age: Origins

DA2

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Other Games

Videos/Movies/Shows

Novels

Comics

Other Books

Short Stories

Tabletop RPG

Other

Kirkwall - Concept Art Pt 3

Concept Art 1, 2, 4, 5     Comic Art

the city of Nessum, Tevinter [part 2 link]

Bianca Davri does research on red lyrium in Emprise du Lion after the argument she has with Varric.

HAHAHA YES I DID PURPOSELY POST THIS WITH A BIG HUGE HEADLINE BECAUSE I THINK IT’S INTERESTING.  

I was kicking around in Suledin Keep after doing Varric’s loyalty quest, and I found Bianca there working with a Tranquil named Felim. This is just a crappy little clip of part of their conversation; I’ve transcribed the entire thing below.

Keep reading

Don’t mind me, I’m just going to drop this here (at a stupid hour) to tide you all over till I get tumblr to work.

https://dragonage.fandom.com/wiki/Food_and_Ingredients

Transcript access

I gathered the entire Jaws of Hakkon transcript into one google doc for easy browsing (because tumblr search engine is trash).

Google document - link

Also, I finally collected all of the companion remarks and put them on the Dragon Age fandom wiki, they can be found on the individual dialogue pages under the Jaws of Hakkon DLC label. So if you'd like to read through every piece of dialogue that your favourite companion says during JoH, jump right in!

Proof I Am Insane

So I'm pretty sure anyone who follows me here knows I'm a fan of Dragon Age. Specifically Dragon Age: Inquisition. I perpetually start writing fan fiction and then never finish, you know, the usual.

Well, I'm back on my DA:I bullshit again. Except this time, it has manifested into transcribing the entire game. The entire game.

When I started I told myself: focus on the cutscenes. In the naive and vain hope it would be simpler. Omg, is it not. I know there's a couple other blogs out there who have also attempted this project, and I have nothing but respect for them because, like, holy smokes.

Currently I'm sitting at ~200k words written which is hands-down the longest thing I have ever written. It was at this point I thought to myself: "Gee, I should really post this online. But how?" Cause...I did it a little strange? Not really, I just formatted it kinda funny and didn't feel like converting it into a Tumblr friendly format.

Then I realized Scrivener could export HTML files. And then I realized AO3 accepted HTML formatting so...

-vague gestures at gif- So it's on AO3 now, and it reads like a "choose-your-own-adventure". All the little links work, it's...reasonably straightforward. And has convenient table of contents for each section.

Also I'm nearly completely done the Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts section, so if you ever wanted to know what Wrong Answers Only looks like, you're welcome.

But yeah, if you wanted to check it, it's right here. Managed to get the same username there and here so yay consistency.

I'll occasionally be bitching about updates here since I really don't know if it shows up in alerts if I've updated a chapter? Also keeping an update log on each individual chapter seems...exhausting.

tl:dr; I am crazy, because I thought it was a good idea to transcribe Dragon Age: Inquisition for fanfic writers.

PS. I wrote 17k words in two days and gave myself carpal tunnel. Had to buy a wrist brace, so that was fun.

“elfy hurt too much”

Trying something a little different, folks. What I have for you today is some rare dialogue that I found by digging through the game file with a mod maker program. In order to see this dialogue, you have to be a female Lavellan, romance Sera, and break up with her after “What Pride Had Wrought” over your differing religious views.

When you speak to her at the Winter Palace in Trespasser, after you visit the Ruins the first time, you can have the following conversation:

Unofficial Thedas Zodiac:

1. Toth: The Burning Man - Verimensis (Wintermarch) 2. Bellitanus: The Maiden - Pluitanis (Guardian) 3. Draconis: The Serpent - Nubulis (Drakonis) 4. Eluvia: The Dreamer - Eluviesta (Cloudreach) 5. Servani: The Chained Man - Molioris (Bloomingtide) 6. Fervenial: The Oak - Ferventis (Justinian) 7. Solium: The Sun - Solis (Solace) 8. Silentir: The Judge - Matrinalis (August) 9. Equinor: The Stallion - Parvulis (Kingsway) 10. Fenrir: The White Wolf - Frumentum (Harvestmere) 11. Kios: The Spirit - Umbralis (Firstfall) 12. Tenebrium: The Owl - Cassus (Haring)

And here we have it! The results of the big brainstorming post. Now all it needs is for @brennacedria​ to add legitimate zodiac profiles for each of the signs. :D

(Chart best viewed at full size.)

Dragon Age Glossary on Mages and Magic

Per anonymous request, here is a dictionary of in-universe terminology about mages and magic. I can completely understand how so many terms can get confusing when just starting to get into the lore, so I hope that these definitions are helpful. I did my best to make them as plainly put as possible, including example usage!

Keep reading