With an incredibly exciting video for you all, today I am breakdown down the entirety of 'The Dread Wolf Take You' short story from Tevinter Nights. I'll be plunging into EVERYTHING spoiler-related revolving this tale, so if you haven't already picked up Tevinter Nights, and you'd like to experience this story for yourself, go buy this book and revisit this video later.
As I said in my review for Tevinter Nights, to any Dragon Age fan remotely interested in the future of Dragon Age's narrative. This book is a necessity, and a worthy read, trust me on that, it's all worth it simply for this tale.
However, if you'd rather pass up the book for whatever reason, you're in luck because I am analysing everything in this short story. Enough of that, we've got a lot to talk about, so let's uncover 'The Dread Wolf Take You!'
If you've already read the story and you'd like to skip straight to the breakdown, go to this following timestamp.
This tale began in Hunter Fell, just west of Nevarra City, where a dimly lit and conspicuously quiet building laid, called: The Teahouse. An old, hornless Qunari was stood outside, greeting an elf; that would be known as Charter, who entered the establishment.
She wore travelling clothes with a simple cloak and a few daggers sheathed by her sides. She made her way to the bar and told the Nevarran serving her that she came to meet her friends, a party of five. The bar keep said that the room upstairs was reserved for her guests, and that each of them had already arrived.
Charter ordered an Anderfels, Mint Loose Leaf Tea, and the barman oddly recalled if she'd like two sugars, just like last time, which will have been 10 years ago, and many different aliases. She obliged and made her way upstairs, she entered a very large, dim room with a fireplace surrounding four figures in very over-stuffed chairs.
The first figure was an early-middle aged dwarf with a huge black beard. The Carta Assassin. The second figure was a slender man wearing bright silks and a full faced mask with long blonde locks. The Orlesian Bard. The third figure was a pale woman in dark mage robes with staff resting by her chair. The Mortalitasi. And the final figure was covered head-to-toe in dark Vryantium robes with a thin mesh hood, covered with a stench of the ocean. The Executor.
Each of the figures turned to Charter as she entered the room. The Dwarf Assassin noted that she was late, however, the Mortalitasi chimed in and said that, actually, she's arrived just on time. The Executor, who by the sounds of their voice could be either gender, silenced the room, stating that they are each here because they posses a shared interest in the Wolf.
"The Inquisition's Wolf" - The Dwarf Assassin remarked, as he looked at Charter. The Dwarf continued with is doubt that this Wolf is a God, but merely a very old, very powerful elven mage. The Bard jumped in saying, perhaps he's a very young mage. While the Mortalitasi said that he's a demon impersonating an elf.
Once more, The Executor silenced the room. Whatever he is does not concern them, however, his plan and means of accomplishing it, is something that those beyond the ocean do care for.
This was to be a meeting of the best spies of Thedas in one room to share all information on the Wolf, however, The Tevinter Siccari and The Qunari Ben-Hassrath were missing from this gathering. Charter noted that both groups had declined the invitation. The latter is especially disappointing because they had more knowledge of Solas’s movements than anyone else.
Charter opened the floor by sharing her knowledge on the Wolf. The Inquisition knows little about what Solas intends. Much of his research involves the Veil that separates our world from the world of the spirits. He claimed to have created it, and he asked the Inquisition for help activating artifacts to strengthen the Veil. That seemed a possible place to start.
The Dwarf Assassin spoke up, stating that he's only here because Viscount Tethras called in a few favors, however, he didn’t expect to be the best-informed person in the room. The Assassin began sharing his tale on what he knew about the Wolf.
After Meredith went mad with Red Lyrium in her attempts to destroy all of Kirkwall, and Bianca discovered that the thing had the taint. All operations were shut down, after all, Blight is bad for business. Viscount Tethras kept the quarantine in Kirkwall, where Meredith caused so much damage with her lyrium sword, and turned into a blasted statue. If anyone were to attempt to snag a piece of red lyrium from Meredith's corpse, you'd get quite the beating.
The same beating would happen when a Dalish Elf came around asking if someone can get the lyrium idol out of what’s left of the statue. The Elf believed an old legend of his people which spoke of the idol being in Meredith's statue, and if he gets it out, he can free his gods or something like that.
Before the Carta decided to beat the Elf to death, he pulled up a potion and said it would soften the raw lyrium and weaken its magic for a bit, so they could get to the idol inside safely. The Carta tried the technique on regular lyrium, and it actually worked.
The Elf promised to give the Carta the potion, as it could become quite prosperous, and their own weight in gold if they could recover the idol from Meredith's body. And so the Carta decided to.
They sneaked into the quarantined square where Merry the Mad kept watch forever, A couple of the Carta fell over, shaking and whispering, but most of them kept their heads on straight, as they reached the statue. The song in their heads was getting louder, and one of Carta brothers ran off screaming.
They used the potion on Meredith as she opened up, in the middle of her chest revealed the red lyrium idol. It was not much to look at other than two couples hugging, too thin to be dwarves. As they escaped the area, they made it back to their safe house where rogue Templar guards waited and asked for the idol. The Dalish Elf attacked the guards, but was sent to the floor.
The leader of the former templars said that he wanted the potion that changes lyrium, the Carta said they couldn't give it away because the man who knew how to make the potion was on the floor knocked out. The Templar didn't like that, so he tied up the elf, took the chest, and not long after, another man came by. Tevinter, by his clothes, and something about “House Qintara,” he gave the guards a big bag of gold and took the idol.
The rest of the Templars waited for the downed elf to wake up, so they could learn how to create the potion. They slept for a while, still waiting, until they twitched and mysteriously died. Arrows came through the windows and pinned the remaining guards and Carta, one of the arrows hit the Dalish Elf. He died.
The Dwarf Assassin who was telling the story, hid behind the dead elf's body as figures walked towards him. Elves like he'd never seen before investigated the area, no crap on their faces, fancy armour with one of them having a Ferelden accent. They walked towards the dead Dalish Elf's body as they wished his soul away guided by the Dread Wolf.
The Dwarf Assassin ended his story on the note that The Dread Wolf wants that idol, and he’s not afraid to get his hands bloody to get it. He pitied House Qintara, if Solas finds them, well, he hoped that none of them are deep sleepers.
After the group ordered more beverages, the Executor spoke, saying that House Qintara fell with the city of Ventus. The Qunari may posses the Wolf's idol. Charter chimed in, and said that the Inquisition had agents who were there when Ventus fell, the idol was sold or traded to House Danarius.
The Bard spoke up and said that Solas has his own agents, not to mention, the power to kill those who oppose him as they sleep.
The group argued about the validity of the Dwarf's story, the Mortalitasi believed the Dwarf, and had information that supported where the idol went after it left House Qintara. She began her tale on what she knew about the Wolf.
To her understanding, the Mortalitasi allowed a Tevinter mage to visit and perform a ritual. He came from House Danarius, and spoke of his master who had met some misfortune. He asked for their help, that he might change this world for the better. The Antaam, a splinter faction of the Qunari had enraged across Tevinter, seizing their land for the Qun.
The mage who came had a way to drive back the Antaam: he would perform a ritual with the Mortalitasi, directing the course of the Fade against the Antaam, so that every dream, every demon, every half-interested spirit would urge them back to the north, away from humanity. Their resolve would weaken, their invasion would crumble, and all would go back to the way it should be.
They brought the Vint' mage to one of the ritual chambers, deep in the Grand Necropolis. He had brought slaves with him, and an ancient elven artifact, taken from House Danarius before it fell. When he opened the thick chest marked with the Carta’s protective runes - he revealed an idol crafted from red lyrium, which seemed to show two lovers, or a god mourning her sacrifice, depending upon how it caught your fancy.
Twelve Mortalitasi mages brought forth magic, enhanced it with arcane possessions, and focused it upon the idol the Tevinter mage had placed upon the ground before him. He killed the slaves, withdrawing their blood from the sacrifice.
The Tevinter mage raised the idol before him, and a spike of lyrium sprang from the base of the idol, it was not merely an idol, but a ritual blade. He slashed his own hand, and in a flash, their minds were pulled into the raw chaos of the Fade by the power of his ritual.
The Black City shadowed the sky, and all at once a great booming roar was heard. Before the Tevinter mage could complete his ritual, the Dread Wolf arrived.
It was no elf, no mortal mage. It was a beast unlike any ever seen. Lupine in appearance, but the size of a high dragon, with shaggy spiked hide and six burning eyes like a pride demon, and it came on wings of fire that resolved themselves into a horde of lesser demons as the Dread Wolf landed before them. It spoke:
“YOU MEDDLE PAST YOUR UNDERSTANDING, FOOLISH MORTAL MAGES, AND IN DOING SO, YOU THREATEN ALL CREATION.”
The Wolf snapped open its jaws and took the Tevinter mage in an instant as he screamed in terror. It spoke again:
“YOU USE MY IDOL CARELESSLY TO VANDALIZE THE SEA OF DREAMS. NOW FEEL THE PAIN OF WHAT YOU HAVE CREATED.
At once, the mages were back in the Grand Necropolis caverns, its walls shook and cracked, and then a rift of green light rent the ceiling open above, and the demons that had accompanied the Dread Wolf burst into the world in righteous fury, shining warriors with blades forged from the raw Fade itself, and behind them, dimly visible through the crackling light, the shadow of the beast itself, from whose slavering jaws came the final words, roared not in anger, but with quiet contempt. It spoke one more time:
“FROM THIS MOMENT, SHOULD YOU EVER BIND A SPIRIT, THEN YOUR LIFE IS MINE.”
The mages fought off the demons with their lives, one of the fellow Mortalitasi, a noble’s son, sprinted to the body. He seized the idol— its lyrium blade was gone, retracted or shattered, he flung it into the thick Carta chest that had bound its power before. He ran with it, leaving the rest of the mages to die.
The rift closed and the remaining survivors decided to run too, as they sealed the caravan. They searched for the noble’s son and the stolen idol, but he had fled into Tevinter, and with so much of the Imperium in chaos from the war, it was not safe to give chase.
The Mortalistisi mage ends the story on the note that whether he is truly the Dread Wolf of elven myth, she cannot say—it is not uncommon for powerful spirits to be worshipped as gods, as the Avvar do. But what ever fear the name of the Dread Wolf carries, he has earned.
And as clear as the Dread Wolf’s anger at what we had done— the Mortalitasi binding spirits he considered his own, the Tevinter mage using forbidden blood magic— was the feeling that we had disrupted his own work. He intends something for the Fade, and if he wants the idol, then what ever he intends will be terrible.
The Orlesian Bard continued to stir his tea, the Assassin looks over at the Executor saying that he's been very happy to listen, but hasn't offered anything to this meeting. Before the Executor could answer, the Bard raised his hands saying I believe I know where the mage carrying the lyrium idol went next. The Bard began his tale on what he knew about the Wolf.
During Orlais's civil war a lot of coin was lost, in the Bard's profession, he often spent time searching for Orlesian treasures sold or bartered. He was recently asked to recover such a treasure, a ring that once belonged to Empress Celene herself. He traced this ring across Thedas to the neutral city of Llomerryn where an auction occurred.
As he walked through the crowds, plenty of Thedas's influential were gathered here. An Avvar augur laughed loudly at a Rivaini pirate captain’s dirty joke. A soberly clad noble from Starkhaven glared at an auburn- haired elf whose dagger- knot gave her away as an agent of the Qunari spies, the Ben- Hassrath. A Warden- Commander spoke with a woman who was robed and masked, but as he passed her, he recognized the voice of Divine Victoria herself.
The Bard learned that the auburn-haired elf was not the only Ben-Hassrath agent present. She was giving information to others, and out of curiosity at what the Qunari, so averse to magic, might want at an auction such as this, he listened.
The words were in the Qunari language, which the Bard knew only triflingly, but he heard her mention the Siccari. Curious, he followed the servant, a forgettable human man, as he left the elf. The Bard followed.
Finally, he found the other Ben-Hassrath, deep beneath the castle, in tunnels that the auctioneer himself probably did not know existed. They waited for the musicians upstairs to begin playing, and when they did - the Qunari threw a small blade at the pouch and a great door collapsed as they entered.
In the middle of the room, sitting on a satin pillow that rested upon a stone pedestal wrought with protective runework, was the red lyrium idol. Just as the Qunari entered the room, so did another group.
Tevinter Magisters and a Gollum seized the Qunari, they faced each other, the Qunari shouted that the idol is being searched for by a dangerous mage who styles himself the Dread Wolf. He threatens both our people. Leave, and we will have no quarrel with you to night.
One of the Magisters replied saying he is a mage named Solas, and his ritual has already started to affect the Fade. We cannot risk him acquiring this idol and finishing what he has begun.
As they went to attack, the eluvian sprang to life, and as both sides turned, a figure stepped out. An elf in golden armor with a wolf pelt across his shoulder. He looked at them, and his face was empty of all expression.
As one, the Siccari and the Ben-Hassrath turned to flee, screaming in panic. The elf’s eyes blazed once with glowing light, and every one stopped, petrified by strange and terrible magic. Even the golem was living stone no more, its crystals dead and gray as it froze where it stood.
The elf lifted the red lyrium idol from the pillow where it rested. He whispered something as he picked it up, tracing his gloved fingers gently along the crowned figure who comforted the other, but the Bard could not make out the words, for they were elven. Then he turned back to his mirror and stepped through its shimmering border.
A moment later, it was dead and dark again. The idol’s journey is now complete, and it has found its master. He will destroy anyone in his way without regret or hesitation, and what ever he intends, I do not believe we can stop it.
As his story came to an end, the Dwarf Assassin said that’s a good story, but I’d rather hear the truth. The Bard shrieked, I beg your pardon! The Dwarf said he believed he could knife a spy, but tailing a Ben-Hassrath team, no way.
The Mortalitasi added that the Tevinter Siccari are anything but cowards, they would not yield, nor run from an elf walking through a mirror, they would certainly attack.
Charter sighed and said that there are many liars at this table, some more talented than others. I ask for my life. They began to question each others stories, how did the Templars get to the safe house if it was supposed to be a secret? How did the Mortalitasi not know that a Tevinter mage was going to use blood magic.
Charter was quiet, she took a slow sip of tea, and then she quietly repeated - I ask for my life. She looked at the Bard, explaining how she regretted not seeing Solas for what he was when he served the Inquisition. She will regret it forever, and will never make the same mistake again. She exclaimed.
The Bard asked how can you be certain?
And Charter said by observing several small tells, and three large ones. First, that few Orlesian bards would learn to speak the Qunari tongue but not elven, and fewer of those who do not speak elven would know the elven word eluvian, for the mirrors that let the ancient elves travel from place to place. Second, that the Executor has not moved since you touched his hand while he and the Assassin argued. And third . . . that you never drank your tea.
The Assassin and the Mortalitasi turned.
“I know you hate the taste of tea” Charter said softly. “It was a joke around Skyhold. Why would you order it?”
"Because it was a joke around Skyhold,” the man in the dragon mask. He sounded tired. “I was uncertain this costume would suffice, so I did every thing that the Dread Wolf would not . . . except, it seems, bring myself to drink the tea.”
His Orlesian accent was gone, replaced by the rolling lilt that was almost Dalish. The man in the mask stood, sighed, and took the staff from the Mortalitasi statue’s hand.
He turned back to Charter and removed the mask, she saw his face again, just as she had seen it for all those months at Haven and Skyhold, never suspecting a thing. An elf, bald—the golden locks had been part of the mask. An oval face with full lips, and a tiny scar on his brow. Pointed ears, previously hidden under the mask and wig.
“Excellent work on the Executor,” Charter said. “You petrified him, but not his robes.”
“I would caution you in dealing with those across the sea,” he said. “They are dangerous.”
“More dangerous than the elf who threatens the world?” Charter asked, and was rewarded with a twitch of his lips that acknowledged the point. “Why did you come? Why you personally?”
“I wished to know what you all knew,” he said, gesturing at the table. “
There are many of you, and you are not fools. As for me coming in person, the Inquisition was involved.”
He returned to his seat. “Why did you come?”
She shook her head helplessly. “Because you told the Inquisitor that you were going to destroy this world,” she said.
“Did you expect us not to try to stop you?”
He sighed. “It was a moment of weakness. I told myself that it was because you all deserved to know, to live a few years in peace before my ritual was complete. Before this world ended.”
“Then perhaps we are not the only ones you lied to,” Charter said. “You do not have to do this.”
His look pinned her. “I have no choice. What I am doing will save this world, and those like you— the elves who still remain— may even find it better, when it is done.”
Charter considered lying, but then she thought of Tessa, with her quick smile and strong hands. "There are those I care for who would not.”
He smiled sadly. “I know that feeling well. I am not a god, Charter. I am prideful, hotheaded, and foolish, and I am doing what I must. When you report back to the Inquisitor . . .” His voice faltered. “Say that I am sorry.”
He walked away, and Charter remained still until the curtain closed behind him. Then she drank the rest of her tea, her fingers shaking a little. She looked at the dragon mask on the table. Prideful, hotheaded, foolish. Doing what he must. Sympathetic to elves. Said that he was sorry.
The red lyrium idol was of a crowned figure comforting another. It was not much, but it was more than she had known before, she thought. Pulling a small notebook from one pocket, she began to write her report. After all, the Dread Wolf wasn’t going to stop himself.
Oh my goodness, that was absolutely amazing, in an attempt to gather some final thoughts. I've picked out my hot takes from this entire book, that I'd like to discuss. Following the Dwarf's tale first, we've got quite a few things to breakdown:
Solas has a network of agents working for him, many Dalish Elves believe in his cause, and even the Ancient Elves have been acquired for his schemes.
“And now we know that the Dread Wolf has agents working for him,”
The Dalish Elves following Solas believe that he will free the Elven Gods once he acquires the red lyrium idol, they've created a potion that weaken's lyrium's effects.
"He’s learned it from a dream. Some old legend of his people says the idol is in her body, and if he gets it out, he can free his gods or something like that."
The Ancient Elves appear bare-faced; having no vallaslin, they equip themselves with fine gear. Some of them speak like normal Fereldens, while others have a hint of a Dalish accent.
"No crap on their face like the Dalish, and they don’t have that little hunch a city elf has, hoping you don’t notice them. They’ve got fancy armor and bows out, and they case the room like professionals. One of them says that the idol must have been moved, and his accent is your normal Ferelden, not like the Dalish, who always sound like they’re talking through a mouthful of toffee."
Solas's agents are chasing down every single source until they find the red lyrium idol, the idol is required for Solas's next phase of action in his attempts to destroy the veil.
"The Dread Wolf wants that idol, and he’s not afraid to get his hands bloody to get it."
Solas can, and has the ability to kill his rivals in their sleep. He, or his group of agents killed Carta Dwarves as they slept, which is deemed impossible because they have no connection to the Fade. However, somehow Solas made the Dwarves dream in order to kill them.
“And that he has the power to kill those who oppose him as they sleep.”
The red lyrium idol has been on the wildest goose-chase across Thedas. It was carved out of Meredith's thawed body, sold to Tevinter's House Qintara, then resold to House Danarius, then taken to Nevvara's Mortalitasi for an ultimate ritual, then taken back to Tevinter. It's current whereabouts are unknown if we understand that Solas's tale within the novel was a lie, meaning that he's still looking for it. Perhaps the Qunari have acquired the idol.
"In the middle of the room, sitting on a satin pillow that rested upon a stone pedestal wrought with protective runework, was the red lyrium idol."
The red lyrium idol, still enigmatic as heck, apparently belongs to Solas, or more aptly the Dread Wolf.
“YOU USE MY IDOL CARELESSLY TO VANDALIZE THE SEA OF DREAMS. NOW FEEL THE PAIN OF WHAT YOU HAVE CREATED.”
It means something personal to Solas, more than just an object of power, he cares for it, at least understand what it is. Two couples hugging? A sacrificial en-carving? A crowned figure comforting another?
"He whispered something as he picked it up, tracing his gloved fingers gently along the crowned figure who comforted the other, but I could not make out the words, for I fear they were elven."
Whatever it may be. It belongs to Solas, and he wants it back.
Hence The Dread Wolf Rises teaser title for Dragon Age 4 - Solas has already risen in his Dread Wolf form as malicious and evil as he appears. He is truly haunting, and is ready to wreck havoc on Thedas.
"The words battered us like storm winds, and the Dread Wolf’s jaws closed upon the Tevinter mage, snapping him up in an instant as he screamed in terror. The lesser demons rushed down upon us, crackling with fire and lightning and our."
The Dread Wolf has taken residence in the Fade where spirits and demons serve him willingly. If anyone dare bind a spirit to their own will, the Dread Wolf will haunt and kill you, for this is the new law he has declared.
"As the Avvar do. But whatever fear the name Dread Wolf carries, he has earned. While we might visit the Fade, it is his natural home, and the spirits there serve him gladly. They whisper in my dreams now, accusing me of crimes I never."
Binding Spirits and Blood Mage is forbidden under the Dread Wolf's watch. This magic disturbs the ritual he has set in motion for the Fade.
"And as clear as the Dread Wolf’s anger at what we had done— the Mortalitasi binding spirits he considered his own, the Tevinter mage using forbidden blood magic— was the feeling that we had disrupted his own work."
Solas tells his fake tale of how the Bard had witnessed the Dread Wolf acquire the red lyrium idol, though this may not be true, this is truth in his story. For instance, Solas shares a very useful insight regarding the Qunari invasion, stating that the Antamm will crush and capitalise over everything east of Vryantium, and northern Antiva as well.
"You all know that the Antaam invaded without permission of the other branches of Qunari government? We had assumed this would hobble them, but it appears the priests and workers were a moderating influence. Without them, the Antaam have crushed the Tevinter opposition in the east, and I fear everything east of Vyrantium will be under their control within a year, and northern Antiva as well."
Solas, as the Bard in the story, shares prominent, influential faces throughout all of the Dragon Age games, like Isabella, Amund the Avvar, Sebastian, Tallis, The Divine and a most intriguing Warden Commander. Solas knows about all of our previous characters, he's made himself aware of potential threats which could mean that not many characters will be returning as companions in the next game.
"An Avvar augur laughed loudly at a Rivaini pirate captain’s dirty joke. A soberly clad noble from Starkhaven glared at an auburn- haired elf whose dagger- knot gave her away as an agent of the Qunari spies, the Ben- Hassrath. A Warden- Commander spoke with a woman who was robed and masked, but as I passed her, I recognized the voice of Divine Victoria herself."
When the Bard is revealed to be the Solas, it's made aware that before the Executor could share their knowledge on the Wolf, Solas spoke first, and killed the Executor.
"Before the Executor could answer, the Bard raised his hands. “I believe I know where the mage carrying the lyrium idol went next. S’il vous plaît, allow me to continue its tale."
He later called the Executors "dangerous", meaning that they pose a threat to Solas, out of everyone in the room, Solas killed the Executor. They must know something, or have something that can rival Solas. Therefore they will be a most worthy ally in the future.
“I would caution you in dealing with those across the sea,” he said. “They are dangerous.”
What was mentioned at the start, was that the Qunari Ben-Hassrath know the most about Solas's movements across Thedas, making them a huge rival against the Dread Wolf, and potentially a grand ally for anyone against Solas.
“As did the Ben- Hassrath.” She grimaced. “The latter is especially disappointing. They had more knowledge of Solas’s movements than anyone else.”
And finally, Solas tells Charter to let the Inquisitor know that he's sorry once more, explaining that he is not a God, he's simply a prideful, hotheaded fool who is doing what he must.
"I know that feeling well. I am not a god, Charter. I am prideful, hotheaded, and foolish, and I am doing what I must. When you report back to the Inquisitor . . .” His voice faltered. “Say that I am sorry.”
That's it for this breakdown on 'The Dread Wolf Take You', there's been so much to uncover and this was just one story in Tevinter Nights. I am working on a separate, much smaller video that will look at everything Tevinter Nights tells us about Solas going forward, so don't worry, the Solas speculation has just begun, I've merely just given you all the facts for now. But there's plenty of tinfoil ahead!