( July 2015 )
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( October 2015 )
( November 2015 )
( December 2015 )
( January 2016 )
( February 2016 )
March 2016

Day 210
Seasons. | Goodbye, Riley.

Day 213
Team Post: Bonfire, and shard twenty five.

[If you've chosen to visit Daisy, you'll find her practicing her magic in Season's realm. There's a huge old-style Japanese high school courtyard with walkways, ponds, trees, and benches. Nearby is a vintage style house that looks small but cozy. There's also a small but noticeable patch of scorched earth, a clear victim of a Fireball cast astray.

Daisy can be typically found wandering around the park, occasionally casting spells on different parts of the flora and fauna. (No major damage seems to have occurred except for the fireball pit.) She'll be inside if it's very cold/dark out.

Put what day/time you're visiting in the header!]

( Dialogue with Anders, act 2. )

LEARNED
+ Anders is still kind of a pompous douche with a huge chip on his shoulder, but he's usually not deliberately cruel towards Merrill.
+ Looks like that has changed! Dick.
+ Unless they're on the topic of cats. Cats are the neutral ground.
+ Still, Merrill feels pity for Anders because he's clearly trying very hard to do something right and it just keeps blowing up in his face.

( THIS IS JUST THE DALISH ELF ORIGIN, THAT'S IT )

LEARNED
+ It isn't in this memory specifically, but for those who have seen other memories of Daisy's, the tainted Eluvian in the Ancient Ruins IS the same Eluvian that she attempted to restore after exiling herself from the clan in Dragon Age II.
+ I could have just linked youtube vids of the Dalish Elf Origin, but the voice acting is kind of terrible by modern standards and also because Merrill's characterization was almost entirely retconned by DA2, so you get a write-up.
+ Mahariel, the Grey Warden recruit in this memory, was the same elf on Ratatoskr, known as Warden.
+ Tamlen :(((((((
+ sure did try to fix the evil mirror that probably killed my buddy, huh

( Dialogue with Fenris, act 2. )

LEARNED
+ fenris is a mega ultra jerk
+ who is cranky and mean and just ugh.
+ i wish we could be friends, if only he wasn't so utterly set on seeing me as a stupid little girl
+ or a monster
+ "you aren't helping" "good" PL E A SE
+ ENJOY YOUR HIGHTOWN MANSION FULL OF WINE AND CORPSES

( Dialogue with Varric, act 2. )

LEARNED
+ Further interaction with Varric, which means coming by The Hanged Man a lot and enduring tavern smells, but he revels in it. This is also technically the first good look that her teammates will have of Varric, who is a crossbow-wielding smartass dwarf who wears his shirt open to show off his magnificent chest hair. He's a perpetual liar, but a fun guy, and despite his rogueish persona, actually cares deeply about his friends. He's the one who gave Merrill her ball of twine.
+ Daisy likes casually breaking into rich peoples' homes and admiring their gardens and topiary. Who wouldn't, really.
+ Varric's crossbow is named Bianca, and despite his penchant for telling stories, he will never tell anyone how his crossbow came to be named that, and who she is named for. Or if he does, he always lies and tells some made-up bullshit that's always different to the listener.
+ Varric and Bianca have a Special Relationship.
+ Eventually, after the whole debacle in the Deep Roads, Varric tracks down his traitorous brother. The results are... nnnnot good. Bartrand apparently was driven mad by his hoarding of the red lyrium idol, to the horror and distress of everyone. Varric feels bad about wanting to kill him, but even worse that his brother's now lost his mind.
+ Varric also spends a great deal of time checking in on Merrill while she's cooped up in her room working on the Eluvian, because ancient elven artifacts are great, but ancient elven artifacts that may be haunted/possessed are less so. '-'

This is a collection of links from the Dragon Age wiki on the major elements (people, places, events) that make up the lore of the Dragon Age games, and which are relevant to Merrill's pool of knowledge.

People	Places	Things
Humans	Thedas	Templar Order
Elves	Kirkwall	The Circle of Magi
Dwarves	Ferelden	The Blight
Qunari	Orzammar	The Chantry
Dalish	The Fade
Mages	Tevinter Imperium
Darkspawn
Grey Wardens

( Dialogue with Sebastian, act 2. )

LEARNED
+ Sebastian is the rightful prince to the neighboring city-state of Starkhaven, and he ends up in Kirkwall looking for mercenaries to hire to avenge his family, who were all brutally murdered.
+ He ends up recruiting Hawke and co. in this endeavor, and we all get together to track down these bad folks. Later, Sebastian decides to stick around Kirkwall as he organizes his campaign to retake Starkhaven under his family's name.
+ Sebastian is very much a righteous justice-y type, especially since he's actually a Brother of the Chantry (meaning he's something like a lay priest). He's extremely religious and dedicated to spreading the Light of the Maker.
+ Everything about this guy seems like Merrill should find him annoying and insufferable, but it turns out that Sebastian is actually a pretty chill dude.
+ He's not so pig-headed that he can't appreciate others' point of view, and he's remarkably non-condescending when it comes to discussing religion and faith.
+ He drives Varric up the wall, though.

( Main Quest: The Deep Roads Expedition; finding the Lyrium Idol; Bethany becomes a Grey Warden. )

LEARNED
+ Info on the Deep Roads, lyrium, dwarves, darkspawn, and the Grey Wardens.
+ This is the first memory where Merrill will actually remember using blood magic, when she weakened the demon.
+ Hawke :( Bethany :(
+ Hopefully... things... turn out... alright...???

( Dialogue with Bethany, act 1. )

LEARNED
+ Bethany is Hawke's younger sister, who is a mage.
+ Humans imprison their mages in a "Circle", where they are kept away from the rest of the world and taught to control their magic. Any mage who escapes Templar scrutiny and lives in hiding is an apostate.
+ The Dalish don't share the philosophy of sequestering their mages, so they often avoid human settlements for this and other reasons.
+ I'm a blood mage :'D whatever that means
+ I'm also First to Keeper Marethari, which means I'm her apprentice, basically.
+ But this means that I was not born to my clan, I was gifted to the clan because they had need of one with magical ability.
+ Thus, I don't really have any connection to my family. That's a bit sad.
+ GRIFFONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111