If Black Lyrium were EVER to exist, how would it behave and what would it do? Go.
If Black Lyrium were EVER to exist, how would it behave and what would it do? Go.
@Silver Warden I am aware of what the Veil is, what it does and who created it. I was referring to an earlier theory that the way that lyrium appears both in the world and in the Fade is what makes the Veil possible.
I have no doubt that those "artifacts of my people" serve more than one purpose. And from what Solas says at the end of Trespasser, he will not bring the Veil down gradually. He's pretty much going to tear the whole thing down at once. He refers to the world burning and tells the Inquisitor that it will mean the deaths of everyone they know.
It's all very disturbing.
I don't doubt its devastation, but I cannot help but feel there is some element of hyperbole to what Solas says, as if he is trying to spur the Inquisitor to stop him; especially if he considers them a friend.
Exactly. I should have specified I’m one of those people who also does not believe Solas was speaking literally. One reason being that I can’t make sense of ‘veil coming down’ automatically equaling ‘world on fire.’ Unless the veil itself is, like, highly flammable... I could OFC be completely wrong lol, but that’s perfectly fine as we are only theorizing here. I thought of it more like “the world will never be the same, possibly not even recognizable to some, and neither will you or I if we do survive what’s to come. It will be unlike anything that’s ever come to pass before.” Because as I mentioned above, there will be catastrophic changes in the way the world works with nothing to divide the two. They would need to survive these changes and the Fade forcing entirely new meanings of magic, time, spirits, possibly increased occurrences of possession as many spirits will likely be thrown for a loop by this as well (something Solas will want to minimize), and both mages and non-mages alike will have no grasp of these complexities as they were in ancient Arlathan. For example: “The city's outskirts are wrapped in lakes of mist, and figures stroll along the pearly, glowing strips as if they walked on solid ground. Groves of trees woven into enormous parks shelter elves in quiet hollows, while other elves walk below a river churning along an invisible shoal in the air.” - codex: Vir Dirthara: Homecoming. And “on an island floating in a void. In the distance, haloed by a blizzard of light, thousands of elves are maintaining an elaborate magical ritual that pulls raw essence from the Fade, funneled into a sphere in the air. Through the lens of the sphere can be seen a world of indigo waterfalls and rust-red jungles, and a temple palace so frescoed and cleverly carved, it is a masterpiece in itself.” - codex Vir Dirthara: Raising the Sonallium. I can’t even begin to comprehend what changes the world and its population might need to go through in order for the Fade to reshape it into what it was so that people can achieve something as wild as walking ‘below a river churning along an invisible shoal in the air.’ But I also can’t figure out how it would, beyond a shadow of a doubt, need to be completely and utterly obliterated in order to do so.
@Jannifer
"I was referring to an earlier theory that the way that lyrium appears both in the world and in the Fade is what makes the Veil possible."
That is that is the theory that I was referring to as well. I'm the person who first brought it up in this thread.
You said: "the idea that lyrium kind of stitches together the physical world and the Fade" - this is the exact opposite of what I was suggesting. So either you misunderstood the theory or you inaccurately described it.
I thought that perhaps you momentarily forgot that the Veil was a construct. Since you did not, I'm totally confused as to why you would say that lyrium stitches the Fade and the physical world together and then claim that lyrium makes the Veil possible.
The Veil separates the two worlds; if lyrium is part of its construction, how could it possibly stitch them together? That's like claiming that a dam brings two bodies of water together. It makes no sense. The simplest explanation for saying that would be that that person doesn't know what a dam is.
But you are aware of what the Veil is - you even were when you wrote that lyrium (as a hypothetical compotent of the Veil) brings the worlds together. So, just what did you mean?
Perhaps the Veil was less like a dam and more like a screen door? It separated the magical from the mundane but the lyrium keeps the two worlds in contact. I seem to recall that Morrigan mentioned in the Crossroads that not all the mirrors lead to places in Thedas. The lyrium could be used to keep the Fade in contact with its other half via the lyrium found in both places. This would stitch together two places that have been separated and possibly prevent everyone from truly becoming tranquil since they could no longer dream at all.
What I meant when I referred to the theory that lyrium stitches together the Fade and the mundane world is that the lyrium found in both places allows some people access to the Fade for power, such as mages, and allows people to dream. If the worlds do not connect in some way, these two things would not be possible.
Perhaps comparing lyrium to something like columns would make more sense. Columns keep two surfaces separate, but they can also provide a means of travel between the two surfaces by way of stairs or an elevator or even climbing (if you're much more nimble than I am).
Since my metaphor was not clear, you misunderstood what I was trying to say. :)
Also, I do not think that Solas is speaking in hyperbole. He knew that creating the Veil would cause damage to his world. So much of what was built was based on the way the Fade flowed through the world that I find it hard to believe he didn't know what would happen.
I don't think he expected the Veil to have as much effect on the elves as it did. I don't think he expected that new generations would be born mortal, for example. But if every other option was worse, it makes me wonder what the Evanuris were planning.
^Solas said that the Evanuris were going to destroy the world in their folly (or something to that affect). So, that would be worse. But he said "every other option", which implies that there were more options than do nothing (and let the Evanuris destroy the world) or make the Veil. Other completely destroying the world, what could be worse than what creating the Veil did?
Yes, Silver Warden, he did. So taking the drastic, catastrophic (for the elves) route of raising the Veil sounds like being caught between Scylla and Charybdis. Both options have catastrophic effects, so it seems that it was a matter of choosing the lesser of the two evils.
^Right. But he seemed to imply that there were more than two options. If it was just make the Veil or let them destroy the world, wouldn't he have said "the other option" rather than "every other option"?
Oh, I'm sure Solas thought very carefully about his decision. We don't know what all the other options were, although they had to be dreadful for Solas to go to the extent of raising the Veil. My simile simply meant that he'd come down to those two choices -- let the Evanuris destroy everything or raise the Veil.