Dragon Age is a series that is completely reliant upon its setting, history, and lore. This dependency is not a crutch, it is the primary factor for keeping the fan base as immersed as they are. Gamers have taken to reading official literature like Asunder, The Calling, and Tevinter Nights to get their fix of the Dragon Age universe. With the announcement that another project in this setting is in the works, now is the best time to do some more exploring.

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The codex of Dragon Age is the most unique in all of gaming. Unlike other BioWare franchises like Mass Effect and Anthem, the lore of the game is not a statement of facts. Instead, players are treated to the words of historians, storytellers, and religious scholars. Gamers are never divulged any raw, singular version of events; they are given the testimony of several witnesses and tasked to decipher what they believe the truth is. With the help of deep study and discussion with the community, here is a list of lore secrets (and spoilers) that even the most hardcore fans miss out on.

10 Vallaslin Tattoo Function

Dragon Age Inquisition Vallaslin On Female Elf

The Dalish teach their followers that the Vallaslin, their ceremonial tattoos, identify them as free elvhen, separating them from the city elves who are kept around as slaves and vagrants. The reality of these tattoos is more tragic than their initial account.

Of the many things to learn about Fenris, this is not one piece of information that he'd desire to become public. A very specific kind of romance with Solas reveals to players that the tattoos were actually means for early elvhen masters to mark their slaves.

9 Chantry Adjustments

Dragon Age 2 Chantry Interior

If not for the Chantry, it's hard to tell exactly how many of Dragon Age's incredible female protagonists would have found their way in the world. Not that they needed the Chantry, in fact, the series of events within the games shows that the Chantry needed them just as much.

Much like Orzammar's Shaperate, the Chantry is very open to adjusting the Chant of Light based on new information and perceptions. Codex from older Chantry leadership reveals that they've frequently changed to words of the Chantry to match the generations they lived in.

8 Elf Superiority

Dragon Age Dalish Camp Left Abandoned

Every player, even if they try to avoid the conversation at all costs, will end up hearing about the fall of Arlathan. This elvhen city was the center of many of Dragon Age's greatest moments of history.

The elves prove that they are still providing some of the greatest BioWare moments even without Arlathan. It takes some leafing through the history books to learn that Arlathan was not just the biggest elvhen city; it was the biggest city of the biggest empire. The elves were the undisputed powerhouse of the world at one time.

7 Avvar And Tevinter Parallels

Dragon Age Inquisition Tevinter Ruins

The Avvar and the Tevinter Imperium are long gone by the time players ever enter the world of Dragon Age: Origins. However, understanding the climate of the game means deep analysis of understanding what happened between the two empires.

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Through music, frescos, and fabulous artwork, players discover that these two warring factions weren't all that different. They both recognized the sacred nature of Lake Calenhad and a religious hero called the Augar. They would never have admitted it, but both religions actually appear to be the same faith with different names for the characters.

6 Motivation Behind Golden City Invasion

Dragon Age Origins Tevinter Mages In Golden City

The Dragon Age franchise puts world-altering choices into the hands of the players. Yet important as these choices are, nothing can go back in time and stop the Tevinter mages from invading (and destroying) the Golden City.

One can look at the blood of over three-hundred slaves and rampant backstabbing as proof that the powerful mages were purely evil. Background information about Corypheus discloses another story; that this was done out of fear, not power. The Tevinter mages were fighting a losing fight and tried to physically invade heaven out of desperation, not consolidation.

5 Fen'Harel Is Not A God

Dragon Age 4 Trailer Dread Wolf Artistry

From the first time meeting him, something is immediately fascinating about Solas. It takes the entire game and some after-the-game credits to realize that he is none other than an ancient elvhen "god" named Fen'Harel.

The Dread Wolf, as it is translated, is not actually a god. Though Solas is obviously living a greatly lengthened, perhaps even unending, lifetime, he was actually born as a mortal elf. He did tell a great many lies, but the story of his childhood as a normal elf is synchronized with various codex entries from others who knew him as a child.

4 Old Gods Are Not Gods

Dragon Age Origins Fake Andraste Dragon

Weapon hunters in Dragon Age: Inquisition will meet a "old god" or two in their exploits; they not only sit upon voluminous stacks of coins, their very scales are home to items and crafting materials needed for the best gear in the game.

Killing a dragon alone does not disprove its godhood; Dragon Age players are not strangers to making immortal enemies mortal. History, however, teaches that these old gods did not predate the planet or even the titans, they were newcomers to creation, but not the creators themselves.

3 Organic Lyrium

Dragon Age Inquisition Red Lyrium

There are three groups of people that regularly use lyrium: mages, templar, and drug addicts. Vivienne, in all her shrouded glory, falls into the former group, though players get the chance to meet individuals from all three categories.

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None of them seem to understand what lyrium truly is, though. Even the dwarven suppliers aren't sure, especially since these rocks and crystals can effect them negatively. Conclusions drawn from a little investigation and talking to the right people instruct gamers that lyrium is actually the blood of the prehistoric titans.

2 Dwarven Origins

Dragon Age Origins Orzammar

The Shaparate is open about removing people from the memories. Their Paragons are venerated for all time, but any trecharous younger sibling would be deleted from the record. So it's not really a surprise for players to learn about dwarven villains that are no longer recognized as ever existing by their own people.

What is not known without extensive research, even to the Shaparate, is that the early dwarves lied about their origins. Finding out that they had been created by the titans, the dwarves of ancient times thought it better to craft another story rather than overturn their cultural and religious traditions.

1 God Of Beauty

Dragon Age Origins Urthemiel Breathing Fire

Urthemiel is not a name widely used, though every Dragon Age: Origins players will immediately recognize this dragon as the primary villain of the first game. As a horrible monstrosity, this old god has become a corrupted monstrosity bent on the total annihilation of Ferelden.

Heartbreakingly, Urthemiel was the god of beauty before the corruption. His metamorphosis from god into a destructive force of unnatural evil is an accident out of his control. Gamers, with the help of Morrigan and Flemeth, have a chance to keep him alive or kill him. It is unknown if the darkspawn taint is linked to his soul and it is a question that will hopefully be answered in the upcoming game.

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