Where are all the elven baddies at??? We finally got a title for the upcoming Dragon Age game!!! That’s Dreadwolf to you.
Oh, wow. How long has it been, Dragon Age fans? We’ve seen this project go through so many ups and downs, many of us had long resigned ourselves to never even getting a finished project. But now, it appears that we’ve not only got a title: we’ll probably get more news (and even some gameplay) this summer, too. Why else would they post on Twitter? Bioware, of all companies, knows the price of unfulfilled expectations.
But before anything happens, we ought to get caught up on the details. Be prepared and all that. Here’s everything we know, and will be necessary to know, in preparation for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf.
Who/What is the Dread Wolf?
In the world of Thedas, elves aren’t the Tolkienesque high beings that we’ve come to expect them to be. They are, instead, an oppressed group of peoples, with most living either in squalid ghettos called Alienages, or enslaved in the Tevinter Imperium. Those who defy living amongst humans instead live nomadic lives as Dalish Elves: the “last of the free elves,” who travel in clans, searching for fragments of lost elven history.
The Dalish are self-proclaimed keepers of the old lore, those who try to remember and hold onto their lost history. In Thedas, elves used to be the dominant peoples, living in a world that co-existed with magic instead of fearing it. But a series of events that are largely enigmatic caused the elven empire to fall, resulting in the elves’ current state as a larger group of people.
Dalish elves still try to honor their old pantheon of gods, which includes the Dread Wolf: the trickster god who was said to have locked the pantheon away out of jealousy. But as we learn in Dragon Age: Inquisition, the truth isn’t as simple as that.
One of Inquisition’s companions is an apostate elf named Solas, who appeared seemingly out of nowhere with an uncanny amount of knowledge about the Fade: that realm of magic and demons that remains separate from reality. By the end of the game, it’s revealed to us that Solas was the Dread Wolf all along, and that the Dalish’s version of history has been wrong from the start.
Whereas the Dalish believe that the Dread Wolf was one of the key factors in the elves losing their glory, Solas reveals that he was one of the only forces actively trying to protect his people. The elven pantheon was in fact dominated by megalomaniacs who employed slavery even back then, and were only concerned with their own selfish ploys for power. When they murdered Mythal, another important elven god and one of Solas’ dearest friends, he decided that enough was enough, and he created the Veil to separate magic from the world and, therefore, lock away these gods forever.
Over time, history became warped, and Solas’ image as a rebel freedom-fighter became that of a jealous Loki-type. And as the elves continued to become more and more separate from their origins, so too did Solas sleep, for centuries, until finally awakening a year prior to the events of Inquisition.
The whole Corypheus thing was a botched attempt for him to bring down the Veil for good. Now, he’s plotting more thoroughly. His goal: to bring magic back to the world, and in doing so, commit an act of genocide towards all non-elven peoples that would restore elves back to their former glory.
Rather dreadful, no?
All Possible Threads
Confronting Solas will obviously be one of the biggest plot points of Dreadwolf, because if he’s left to his own devices, Thedas as we know it will cease to exist. But the Dragon Age team has been hard at work these past few years, and at this point, there are multiple ways for this to play out.
To begin with, Trespasser (the last, and most crucial DLC for Inquisition) ends with the Inquisitor marking Tevinter as their next focal point. And since the last major novel was called Tevinter Nights, it’s pretty obvious that Tevinter will be a HUGE point of origin for the next game’s story. Whether or not we’ll begin there is up for debate, but there’s a lot going on in Tevinter even without Solas’ interference.
For one thing, the Qunari—those horned autocrats from across the sea—have finally invaded Tevinter after years of fighting on the island of Seheron. A mainland invasion could have all kinds of ramifications for other nations on Thedas, if only because Tevinter is finally being met with a force that could put them down for good. This isn’t even taking into account that Nevarra, the other Northern nation worth noting, has been at war with Tevinter for years, and could now have an upper hand.
But speaking of Nevarra, the book deals quite a bit with this mysterious nation, and it seems like we’ll finally get a chance to visit it as well. It’s about time, I say: a nation with a dynasty of dragon hunters, a nation who uses necromancy casually and constantly, the very same nation that gave us It Girl Cassandra Pentaghast? Um, hell yes, let’s see it Bioware.
As for other nations that could finally get their introduction, it’s looking like Antiva will be a likely candidate, since the book has a couple stories revolving around the Antivan Crows: that shadowy group of assassins who gave us our sweet stabby boi, Zevran Aranai. Again, very much looking forward to it, Antiva seems like a great time. The Brazil of Thedas, muito legal.
Then there are the dwarves, who might have a rude awakening in the form of a literal awakening, via Titans. The Descent showed us Titans are indeed alive, and whose blood is where we get lyrium from. Even more is the fact that apparently, they can help dwarves channel magic: we last see the DLC’s deuteragonist Valta remaining near the Titan’s heart, having recently discovered she can cast force magic spells. And if Solas can manage to tear down the Veil, who’s the say what more dwarves will be capable of—if they can survive the Titans?
But as far as past stories go, the only continuing narrative I see taking place is that of the Inquisitor. The Inquisition is pretty much gelded by the end of Trespasser, either becoming a peacekeeping organization or dissolving entirely, with the sole commonality being that the Inquisitor is now seeking Solas. Indeed, the Dragon Age Keep—an online tool for editing and uploading world states—has a very important option moving forward of whether or not your Inquisitor wants to save and redeem Solas, or crack his little egg head in two. I imagine that, just like with Hawke in Inquisition, we’ll be able to recreate our Inquisitor and interact with them as an NPC in Dreadwolf, with various player decisions from the previous game influencing their actions. In particular, I think whether or not the Inquisitor drank from the Well of Sorrows will play a big role in their fate.
And on that note, of course, one of the most intriguing aspects of this game is the very large chance that we’ll go head-to-head with some elven gods. In tearing down the Veil, Solas will inevitably be freeing his prisoners, and most likely leaving it to us to deal with them. Now, these gods are called gods for a reason: they’re powerful mages, with magic the likes of which cannot be replicated in current times. I’m especially interested in meeting Ghilanain, who was somewhat of a mad scientist and responsible for the creation of all kinds of horrific beasts. While I wouldn’t say Tevinter Nights is a “great” read as a whole, I would recommend the short story The Horror of Hormak, where her lore is expanded upon greatly.
Possible Companions
A behind-the-scenes video from forever ago revealed the names of two characters: Bellara, which sounds like an elven name, and Davrin, who seems to be a Grey Warden. It’ll be interesting to see where an elven companion’s allegiances will lie, all things considered, and it wouldn’t be a Dragon Age game without at least one Warden companion. Even if Blackwall was, you know. LARPing.
As far as the others in this image, let’s go from left to right.
The leftmost character has been featured in other official art, with crows and daggers. I’m going to wager she’s an assassin of some sort, probably an Antivan Crow (although we’re probably getting another canon-established Crow as a companion—I’ll get to him in a bit).
The Qunari lady next to her is particularly interesting to me, as we haven’t had a lady Qunari companion…ever. Whether or not she’s part of the Qun, or a Tal-Vashoth, is still up for grabs. I just hope she’s bi, personally.
The next guy could be anyone, although I’m putting my money on him being Davrin, since the Warden’s voice actor is Black and this man’s complexion seems to be darker. His breastplate also seems to be Wardeny on closer inspection.
The tall man in the middle has elvish-seeming ears, and something about his design makes me think he might be Strife—a character from Tevinter Nights who’s lived in both an Alienage and a Dalish clan. His various knowledge of elven cultures could definitely be useful in the world of Dreadwolf.
Now, GunBoy? I’m the most intrigued about them. Gender-indeterminate, wielding what could be a distant relative of Varric Tethras’ crossbow Bianca…perhaps they could be Bellara, who had a cheeky line of dialogue to her name, or they could be Vaea, an elven character in the comics who worked closely with Varric.
The next two characters, I’m afraid I’ve got nothing. One of them is probably Lucanis Dellamorte, a very intriguing Antivan Crow from the book, who has Romance Character written all over him. But that’s all I’ve got, unfortunately.
The last one, though, I’m 99% certain is Audric Felhausen: a young man who discovers he’s a recently undead corpse, resurrected through the powers of necromancy. At the very least, I HOPE he’s Audric, as his character was incredibly endearing and cheeky for an undead, and if we’re gonna have any walking boneman in our party, I’d rather it be someone we already know.
Now, I’m relying on this image primarily because it’s referenced as THE companion image in the Behind The Scenes video, but a lot can change from then to release. Fingers crossed, they’re just as memorable as past companions.
Possible Supporting Characters
Regarding those who could be major players who aren’t in our party, there are two that I’d absolutely put money on: Maevaris Tilani, and Dorian Pavus. The former has been heavily referenced in past comics and books, and considering she’s a rising power in Inquisition as a Tevinter reformist, it’d be criminal if we didn’t get to see her make a cameo in Dreadwolf. As for the latter, he’s trying to be a “Good Vint,” and after his tenure as a member of the Inquisition, he’ll no doubt have a more emboldened presence in the Imperium. In any case, both are queer icons who deserve a spot in the limelight.
Another returning character we’ll probably see is Varric Tethras, since he provided the voiceover in our last teaser trailer. He’s also just become one of the series mascots and writers’ darlings, so I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t want to incorporate him somehow. Same goes for Zevran, who’s appeared in this piece of concept art, and who deserves to have another cameo (because he’s best boy):
Regarding characters from the books and comics, we’ll likely get even MORE crows in the form of Teia and Viago, who have an on-again-off-again relationship that’s wonderfully juxtaposed with their assassin-ing. They’re incredibly fun characters who could add a lot of charm to Dreadwolf’s plot. The same can be said for Antoine and Evka, two Wardens who become lovers as they travel together. Their romance is incredibly sweet and I’d love to see them become friends of sorts with the player character, if only because we need more Elf x Dwarf scenarios!
Now, I’d also put money on Hollix being in the game, if only because we have full concept art of a Lord of Fortune here, and they’re one of the only Lords of Fortune named in the series:
Hollix is also just a very fun person and I’d love to hang out with them. So maybe I’m biased.
Then there’s Neve, a private investigator out of Minrathous who’s just an all-around badass. I wouldn’t be surprised if Neve was one of the companions I couldn’t place, since it’d be a shame if such a cool character didn’t end up working with us in some capacity.
Lastly, you didn’t think I forgot about Fenris, did you? We meet our favorite broody elf in Dragon Age 2, and as he has a vendetta against Tevinter for his life as a slave, it’s likely we’ll see him around. Especially with so many elven uprisings in the works, from Briala in Orlais, to of course Solas’ efforts.
A Return to Origins?
To cap it off, a very promising aspect of Dreadwolf could be a return to unique player origins. Varric states in the teaser that the new protagonist has to be someone the enemy would never suspect, and that leaves a lot to the imagination.
Off the bat, I can think of quite a few scenarios. We could have a Qunari defector, not quite a Vashoth yet not quite abiding by the rules of the Qun. We could have an escaped slave, seeking to free their people for good. We could have a dwarf who’s in touch with the reawakened Titans. A Nevarran Mortalitasi, a Tevinter Magister, an Avvar…there are a lot of possibilities, and that alone has me excited to see what comes next.
As for petty wants…well, I just want to see what Anders is up to, I want a Merrill cameo, I want to see Vivienne school some fools, I want a lot! But what about you? What are you hoping for in DA4, and what are some questions you need answered? Let us know below!
(Featured Image: EA/Bioware)
