Orzammar in Dragon Age

It's mentioned that their ale is made from lichens instead of grain. I assume they eat a lot of fungi, seeing as it is probably the most space-efficient foodstuff they could hope to grow. It's also mentioned they have mines, so maybe they re-purpose old mine shafts for cultivation?

They trade lyrium, which goes for megabucks.

heavily armored soldiers to hold the line and berserkers to unleash on the hordes when necessary

Heavy pikemen would make the most sense.

Shame the Qunari aren't about sharing that gunpowder. Pike and shit dwarfs would be pretty savage.

the qunari are only use it on their ships as far as I know they want to keep it under wraps but people have started to independently develop gunpowder without the aid of the qunari I think a dwarf is one of those people

Several dwarfs have tried but it's never really started how close they've gotten.

I think only one has come close and they disappeared, the implication being the Qunari abducted him.

Still the Qunari have cannons. It's a really simple step to turn that into a gun. Which is probably why they keep it under wraps.

Does this have any effect on Inquisition?

They actually clarify in the games that Orzammar actually trades a LOT with the surface using Casteless surface dwarves as intermediaries even as they trade Lyrium for lots and lots of food.

It just shits all over the Casteless socially as they do it.

It requires Dragon Venom doesn't it? So I don't really see how anyone could have gotten that close without a source of that.

I think one of my favorite tidbits of lore about the Qunari is that they have fairly significantly longer lives than most of Thedas, but contrary to what you might think it's actually just because they have the best hygiene.

I like to think the reason the Qunari never develop firearms, even primitive ones, on their own is because they would inevitably make it out into the general populace and their entire culture/religion will fall apart in a manner of months.

The Qun doesn't really sit well even with the Qunari themselves, and it actively chafes and grinds away at the other races it's forced on; even if they are born into it and know of nothing else.

the qunari go after people who tried to steal the formula for gun powder but they cant stop some inventor who secludes themselves in their workshop and keeps it hidden
doubt it considering how rare they are

The Dragon Venom thing is probably just a red herring.

Y'know, like telling someone the process to creating nitroglycerin requires large amounts of crab chitin.

>The Qun doesn't really sit well even with the Qunari themselves, and it actively chafes and grinds away at the other races it's forced on; even if they are born into it and know of nothing else.
You think that because
1. You rarely get anything but the view of the outsider looking in or those who have left.
2. Bioware writers have an irritating habit of letting their personal politics interfere with their universe.
There are plenty of people who flee to the Qun looking for a sense of purpose.

Pretty sure the dwarf from Awakening gets forced into hiding by the Qunari but I can't recall if it was because he tried to steal the gunpowder or if he was simply too close to replicating it.

also it would be easy for non qunari to get their hands on them

In fact, many Qunari within it say that they simply could not exist without it. Like, they go crazy without the structure it brings.

Probably something to do with being dragon-hybrids.

There's another reason that fits with the Qun; guns make killing MUCH easier when you have the ability to produce in large numbers, and the Qunari are OBSESSED with control and the Antaam in particular are highly disciplined and thus the priests likely think it would dangerously promote independence and make their warriors lazier.
Admittedly even when guns were first invented cheaply mass-producing then actually wasn't a problem for around 300 years and they were expensive and not very effective until better and more reliable powder with heavier musket balls were used, but the Qunari are frighteningly efficient at things so maybe they know just how fast their "gaatlok" would spin out of their ability to easily control it.

Also, guns would ruin the stereotypical fantasy stuff for plebeians who think that Guns immediately ended all armor usage, and we all know that ultimately this is the real reason why they Qunari don't have them.

he tried to steal it but there are others who are getting their I think anders did which Is how he blew up the chantry

Plus ship combat in medieval times is viewed as pretty dull. So they had to throw in canons to spice it up.

Sorta like China / Japan if the whole "Face" social ordeal falls apart?

>2. Bioware writers have an irritating habit of letting their personal politics interfere with their universe.
My brother who played 3 told me that the Qunari basically refute everything you learn about them in 1 and 2.

They could have just included Sea Monsters.

No, like actual violent insanity. If Iron Bulls description of the Vashoth are any indication.

Plus, I really see no reason why anyone would want to leave the Qun. It doesn't seem that restrictive, at least not for the average person.

Partly, but a lot of it comes from Iron Bull.

And the only real big thing is the trans-people being treated as their preferred gender bullshit. Otherwise it all works fine as expansion of previously established stuff.

I thought the Qun was more or less a social-religion where everyone only has one set role to play in society and any deviation from that role is punished heavily?

It did, very much so

Is the Qun all that different from Mankind's Serfdom?

Yes, but the role is chosen in a pretty streamlined fashion. It seems like you're pretty unlikely to get something you hate or you're bad at, and you still have off time and work time like anyone else. To use an example from the game, a baker in Par Vollen worries about the same things as a baker in Val Royeaux. Will the bread rise right? Will the flour shipment arrive in time? The only difference is that the one in Par Vollen doesn't have to worry about money.

Your average Thedas peasant doesn't choose their life as much as your average Qunari doesn't choose theirs.

No, not really.

Basically. Sten takes issue with female player characters, explicitly telling them that they must not be female because they are clearly a warrior, then in 3 you have Krem.

Nugs aren't the only source of meat, though. Broncos are herder as well.

Bull's explanation of Tal-Vashoth makes sense when you realize that most are likely Antaam (who have the most outside autonomy) and thus have exactly ONE skill they ever learned; killing.
So they get their freedom and what do they do with it? They just keep killing. It's like if you gave a shark free will and expect it to stop swimming and killing shit even though that's kind of a fundamental part of what it IS.

In Awakening the Tal-Vashoth merchant you meet is far more reasonable and less hostile, though he also seems to have a little trouble grasping the concept of goods exchange for currency.

Yes in that its closer to utopian communism.

You have x amount of sectors that have y amount of jobs that need filling. You are then given the job that is closest to your ability. This is maintained through communication between the leaders of the sectors.

Serfdom is more of, I'll let you live on my land but you'll have to pay me/gave me what you make. Also you'll have to fight for me if I need you too.
And if you don't I'll send one of my armoured stooges to fuck you up and kick you off my land.

With the Ariqun (religious caste also assassins/inquisition) being male and females, and me playing a rogue elf female, that accusation felt strange.

Tallis was a mistake.

indeed

Bioware was a mistake.

Lucky, I never played that particular DLC.

Some parts were fun, but I wouldn't recommend it.

The ingredients he asks you to help him find are the ingredients for black powder with a few letters changed.

actually it was for poison gas

>EA acquiring Bioware and driving away the old writing team was a mistake.
FTFY, unless the issues are much more deep-seated.

He has you find him sulfur, charcoal and salt peter, yes? That's gun powder.

I was talking about the dwarf merchant

Ah, I was referring to Anders, which that post also mentioned.

It's a Bioware game, what do you think?
No

The answer you're looking for is no

Not every decision is gonna have earth shattering consequences.

Bull is named Hissran/Hissrad. Which means "liar".

so he's the qunari equivalent of a shitposter

Similarly, I head canon that he's only making stuff up for Krem's benefit. He is effective as a commander, and he can't just be a dick to him if he's going to continue to lead the chargers.

Kinda.

don't see why that's a problem. Qunari gender roles are based on gender and not biologic sex.

>grills can't be warriors
>ergo any and all warriors are not grills

culture warriors are "huurrr hurr trans pandering" about something thats more akin act of ritually changing gender thats been prevalent in some societies for centuries

I agree with that.

Why would Qunari society, which doesn't really get why someone in one profession would prefer working in another job, accept a similar situation but with gender/sex?

Doesn't make much sense.

I thought that was why they had them to begin with

I think you've got it the wrong way around.

Males are warriors, because they're stronger. Females are caretakers and priests, because they're better at being empathetic. You can claim to be man and demand to be referred to as such, which they'll probably just say fine to, but if you want to do something you're not built to do? That's when Qunari get confused.

Especially considering the fact that, no matter what Bioware and their fans tell themselves, transsexuals are stupidly uncommon, and are an extreme abnormality.

The Qun probably wouldn't give half a damn about homosexuals, their beliefs and strict structures and shit would support it because it cuts into population growth which can cause issues when supply of people outstrips the demand for roles.

Iron Bull comments on gays.

They are obligated to mate, but they also have sex therapy clinics were anyone can go and get their rocks off however they life so they don't get too unhappy. So yes, the homo still has to have sex with a woman at least once, but they can go fuck guys on their off time whenever they like if it keeps them happy.

I head canon it kind of the opposite way: Bull is telling the truth that the Qunari have a way to change your gender identity. But the truth is that its never actually your choice: If you are a big strong girl whose good with weapons but lack the cunning/intellect to become Ben Hassrath, you become "male" and join the Antaam. But not because you decided that "I'm really a man" but because the Taamasrans handed you a sword and told you "From now on you are a male". The needs of the Qun decides your gender, not your biology or your personal choice.

It actually makes sense with the Qunari hard-on of efficiency in all things: If you get a female who would best function in a male position you just force her to become a male instead of putting her in a less optimal female post

Makes sense.

I imagine it's basically a mix of what you say here and what is said Just whatever is most efficient, but also the least cause for friction in society.

This guy gets it. Bioware has gone full on left wing mode. There are people (Not a majority, perhaps 1/5 to 1/4) who were untouched by the purges and violence that actively miss Communism because it gave them a sense of purpose, always a job, they didnt have to think. This is all some people want, to be told waht to do and know they can do, others like the freedom to do what they want in the world.

But yes, they are rabidly anti-gun in DA:I. The Qun have gone from absolutist, mono-cultured and hard-bred to all welcoming, socialist untopia.

it just seems kind of stupid the way they do that why go with the whole gender changing junk when you can just say I'm a woman and a good fighter if this is true?

Because that does not sell as many copies or generate as much sensationalist journalism. DA:I was little more than a generic fantasy setting with LOOK HOW LIBERAL AND GENDER NEUTRAL WE ARE.

It's nothing like the Anglo/Saxon/Celtic badassery that was in Dragon Age: Origins.

>Absolutist, mono-cultured and hard-bred to all welcoming, socialist untopia.

You state these things as if they're mutually exclusive.

The Qunari try to blow up the entire government of the rest of the world, and Iron Bull betrays you because the Inquisition isn't part of the Qun.

I would think dogma essentially

Qunari probably have a view of what "Men are good at" and what "Women are good at"

But they also hyper-efficient and have a desire to optimize everything.

Thankfully for them they are ultra-collectivist and individuality is meaningless to them. They have their idealized notions of what men and women can do and when faced with an outlier they can a) put that outlier in a less optimal position appropriate to their gender b) sully their "ideal" by letting the person serve in the best possible position while of the wrong gender or c) force that person to adopt the other gender and serve optimally. A and B violate the tenants of gender ideals and efficiency, while C preserves both by simply trampling on the individual's choices and biology, which are irrelevant to the Qun anyway

they just seem like the types to scoff at gender identity stuff though

Exactly. I'm not really seeing them caring that much about what crap you've got in your pants, besides for the purposes of breeding.

If you're good at fighting, you fight. If you're good at talking, you talk. If you're not really good at either of those, you're probably a weaver or something.

I viewed them as they were. Gradually they have moved and twisted and turned the Qun in to something that people would talk about and be more pallatable to the SJW crowd.

If you aren't good at ANYTHING, then hard physical labor.

If you aren't good at THAT, then you are a corpse and are recycled into fertilizer or dissected for medical knowledge and then recycled into fertilizer.

Or become a test subject for whatever the Qun has as scientists, magic or otherwise.

I'm not gonna deny that. I think its a holdover from before they really pinned Qunari culture down. Strict gender roles don't really mesh well with a society that sees its citizens as replaceable uniform cogs in a machine. But I think Bioware tried to write their way out of a corner and fucked up. But hey if at least the idea is suitably Orwellian and fucks with both trans lovers and social conservatives because its the state giving the finger to both personal choice and natural biology and assigning you the gender *it* wants

Plump Helmets and whatever they decided to grow that season.

Agreed.

I feel like the strict gender roles thing was kind of a weird idea from the start, given the rest of their society.

As a tangential question, has anyone played the Dragon Age TTRPG?

Too much bread baked from milled stone?

That was one of those dwarven cities with lots of magmaducts right? I supose some kind of lichen which extracted energy and nutrients from heat and ashes, plus stale cave water, could be the basis for underground crops.

Hard Mode:

youtube.com/watch?v=GVrXW0WVXYw

In-Universe, How could this battle not be as retarded as a inbred brick?

Remember when they were just tall dark skinned people?

>Regarding the army, I'd say about 20k, given a large chunk of the population lives in the sprawl.
Likely more
IIRC there were 6 Castes, plus the Casteless. Both Warrior Caste and Noble Cast fought, so somewhere around 2/7 of the 100k or about ~30k people could fight

They didn't really utilize any of their defenses, such as the pike wall. Some shields up front with spears would do nicely as defense. Keep the hounds in reserve, use them as the Calvary unity that blindsides the enemy. Hard to fight off a huge mastiff while fighting some human.

The king already fucked up by talking about glory and stories too much, why his dick ass general thought it was a good idea to make a power play on the young king.

Whiiiile not debating they certainly lean left....

Reeeee detected.

>Not every decision is gonna have earth shattering consequences.
Or any decision for that matter. They've become almost as bad as Bethesda games but even Todd rarely says anything positive about the story.

They also have Brontos which are essentially dinosaur cows.

>gender politics
>in quasi-medieval "dark" (by their description anyway) fantasy
I fucking despise what Bioware has become.

I really liked it. On another note, their new design produced one of my favorite porn pieces ever. Leliana sandwiched by two Quanari dickgirls.

Now this I can get behind since it's actually decent justification and meshes well with how they initially built up Qunari society. Bioware are a bunch of hacks though so I doubt they would ever handle something like gender politics with nuance like this.

Poofter.

I agree the art is well-made, but dickgirls/futa aren't really my thing. I just wish there were more regular porn of female qunari.

I'm fond of the horns. Plus, it explains why ogres have horns.

On a side note, I really like the redesigns of DarkSpawn post DA2.

What the fuck!? When the hell does that happen? Is it dlc?

>Making power plays when at the worst time
It's the time the reigning Monarch is most distracted and weakened, with his armies away from the city and his guard watching for external threats instead of internal. War is always unpopular with the masses and so anybody who can stop it will have the love of the small people.

Or you could be honorable and wait until the kings supporters return from war, until his guard has no external enemy to focus on, when trade resumes and puts coins in to the smallfolks pockets.

>All this gender politics in Bioware games
>Not one single mention of corrective rape which is one of the top motivations in South Africa.

>Natural Biology
It's not natural biology anymore more than anorexia is or a number of other mental illnesses. People just think it's less damaging to accept it. There's a reason no trans person lives past 60, suicide at their fucked up life or poisoning through the build up of chemicals and hormones they have to take to stop their body from attacking itself.

>Is it dlc?

Yep. The only reason the Inky becomes aware of the plot is due to Solas' spy network informs them. yes, Solas as spies inside the spy network. He's the master ruseman

Isn't he also like Fen'Harel or some shit? But really? They couldn't have that in the actual game? Fucking Christ.

Spoilers for that dude, it was still a passable game with a few enjoyable characters, even if it didn't make sense.