Dragon Age Legends is here! This new Facebook game from BioWare and EA2D puts you in charge of a hero of the Free Marches – a powerful warrior, rogue or mage recruited by local icon Viscount Ravi to eradicate the darkspawn threat and save the city-state of Kaiten. The game world is recognizable to anyone who’s set foot in Thedas before, and although the scenery is no longer the brown hills of Ferelden, the characters, lore and monsters will be familiar.

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They’re some of the toughest players in Kirkwall, but unless you’re in their inner circle, you probably have no idea how powerful they really are. From the shadows of Darktown to the painted pavilions in the Hightown market, the thieves and gangsters of the Carta, Coterie and Raiders of the Waking Sea are some of Kirkwall’s most dangerous players, and they’re made all the more deadly because unlike Meredith, Orsino or the Arishok, they strike from the shadows. These princes of Kirkwall’s underground may have a profound effect on the political landscape as the conflicts in central Thedas come to a head at the end of Dragon Age 2. Read the rest of this entry

The storylines of Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2 violently collide this summer, as BioWare announces a new DLC for Dragon Age 2. Trapped in a Grey Warden prison, lured by Wardens seeking an answer to a long-lost prophecy of darkness, Hawke comes face to face with one of the most powerful darkspawn since the Archdemon itself. Join us as we speculate on the whos, whats, whens and wheres of the Legacy DLC, and take a look at what could be one of the darkest chapters in Hawke’s story.

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The dwarves have their ancestors and paragons. The Dalish worship the Creators. But if you’re born in any of the human nations of Thedas, the Andrastian Chantry is your religion of choice. While kings and viscounts play with politics and the templars guard the mages, the Chantry is both spiritual shepherd and moral authority to Thedas’ people. The Chantry influences nearly every aspect of life in Thedas from art and culture to war and foreign relations. And with religious authority over mages, templars and the average citizen in Orlais, Ferelden, the Free Marches and beyond, Chantry law dictates the lives of thousands every day.

In Dragon Age II, Kirkwall’s chantry is the third party in the furious conflict between the city’s mages and templars. But while Orsino and Meredith are baring their teeth, while the city templars crack down on the mages, and the mages resort to blood magic and demonic possession in attempts to break free, Grand Cleric Elthina remains neutral, repeatedly refusing to side with either faction. Read the rest of this entry

If “magic exists to serve man,” then by their very nature so too do the templars. As the first line of defense against the ravages of demons and blood mages, the templars of Thedas are guardians and protectors, charged with safeguarding the innocent from the dangers of magic. Traditionally, templars are politically neutral – as the sword-arm of the Chantry, they follow the orders of the Divine and her officers. But the templars we meet in Dragon Age II follow a very different set of rules, as Knight-Commander Meredith makes a power play unlike anything Kirkwall, and possibly the rest of Thedas, has ever seen. Join us we we explore the changing role of the templars within Dragon Age II.

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Back before Dragon Age II launched, I remember my glee when it was finally announced that the Dalish elf Merrill would be joining Hawke’s party in the Free Marches. The glimpse I had gotten of Dalish society in Dragon Age: Origins made me curious to see this wise and unique people further developed in DA2, and so, shortly after my Hawke arrived in Kirkwall I was hiking to the base of Sundermount to meet Merrill and her clan. I wasn’t disappointed. Merrill’s curiosity and unique outlook on Kirkwall’s geography, politics and religion gave both me and my character food for thought, while her gentle sense of humor helped to lighten the mood during many of Hawke’s broodier quest chains.

But after finishing Merrill’s companion questline, I began wondering about the future of the Dalish in Thedas. Assuming your Warden finds a peaceful resolution to the werewolf problem in Dragon Age: Origins, the Dalish in Ferelden seem to be pretty well off, with a diplomatic Keeper in Lanaya and, if your Warden was Dalish, land near Ostagar on which to build a permanent home. But in Dragon Age II the Dalish we encounter are facing a much more tenuous future, as they try to overcome a series of tragic events which bring the clan ever closer to the point of no return. *N.B. Be warned – spoilers abound in this article.

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