Highlights
- Dragon Age: Dreadwolf will finally take players to the long-awaited Tevinter Imperium, a setting that has been explored in various books, comics, and shows.
- Key locations in the Tevinter Imperium include the capital city of Minrathous, the seat of the Imperial Chantry known as the Argent Spire, and the prestigious Minrathous Circle of Maji.
- Other notable places in the game include the coastal city of Marnas Pell, the Valarian Fields where a significant battle took place, and the mysterious Arlathan Forest, which is said to be haunted by ancient elven magic and monsters.
Dragon Age: Dreadwolf has been a long time coming, and players have been waiting to see the Tevinter Imperium since the first game. The post-credits scene of Dragon Age: Inquisition's Trespasser DLC revealed Dragon Age: Dreadwolf's Tevinter setting, which has been fleshed out in things like Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights and Dragon Age: Absolution.
The books, comics, and show all give fans some ideas of what to expect from the Tevinter Imperium in Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. Meanwhile, the games contain multiple references to major locations and landmarks across the Imperium. These include major cities, important institutions, historical sites, and natural wonders of the Tevinter landscape.
Minrathous
Minrathous is the capital of Dragon Age's Tevinter Imperium, making it the seat of its most important institutions; it has never fallen to an outside invader. The city stands on a rocky island with only a single bridge connecting it to the mainland. A pair of giant golems guard its walls, and the city's catacombs contain enough stockpiled food to feed its population for a year.
It was once the wealthiest city in the world, home to towering spires, a sprawling harbor, and vast shipyards. However, the Imperium's decline and wars with the Qunari have eroded the ancient city. Its once-great towers are crumbling, and its streets are crowded with impoverished refugees from other parts of the Imperium.
The Argent Spire
The Argent Spire is the seat of Dragon Age's Imperial Chantry, which separated from the previous games' Orlesian Chantry hundreds of years before the games take place. As a result, the two organizations drifted apart to the point that they are in many ways, opposites. While the Orlesian Chantry is exclusively led by a female Divine, the Imperial Divine is always male. While the Orlesian Chantry oppresses mages, they dominate the Imperial Chantry.
The Minrathous Circle of Maji
While the Circles outside Tevinter are as much a prison as a school, the Tevinter Circles are prestigious academies. Housed in the former temple of Razikale, the Old God of Mystery, the Minrathous Circle is the oldest Circle of Maji in Thedas. It houses the Arcanist Hall, the largest library of magical knowledge in Thedas, and the College of Antiquities, whose responsibilities include the study of ancient scrolls and possibly other artifacts. Some fans believe the circular building floating above Minrathous in Dragon Age: Dreadwolf's 2020 Game Awards trailer is the Circle of Maji. However, this was never officially confirmed.
Marnas Pell
Tevinter's coastal city of Marnas Pell, sometimes written as "Marnus Pell," has seen no shortage of bloodshed. Its history includes a famine, a slave revolt, two Blights, and occupation during the first Qunari invasion. When Chantry and Tevinter forces finally expelled the Qunari decades later, they massacred local Qunari converts and buried them in unmarked mass graves. So many people died in Marnas Pell during the Qunari Wars that the Veil was permanently damaged, and undead still stalk parts of the city.
Valarian Fields
The Valarian Fields are a plain directly west of Minrathos. Its most significant historical event was the ancient Battle of Valarian Fields, fought by Andraste's followers and their elven allies against the armies of Ancient Tevinter. It was the largest battle of the war and the first time that Andraste and her followers faced severe opposition. Nevertheless, it was a victory for the Andrastians, who overcame the largest army Tevinter ever assembled.
The Hundred Pillars
The Hundred Pillars are a unique geological formation along the Imperium's eastern border with Antiva. These natural pillars are made up of dust that's been fused together into natural vertical pillars. Known as "hard dust," Dragon Age: Inquisition's dwarven mason Gatsi describes the stone as resembling mortar, a type of cement. In ancient Tevinter, hard dust was mined and used to create mosaics, such as the ones the players can collect in Dragon Age: Inquisition.
Arlathan Forest
East of the Tevinter city of Ventus stands the mysterious Arlathan Forest. Long ago, the forest was home to the lost city of Arlathan, the capital of the ancient elven empire of Elvhenan. As Elvhenan crumbled, ancient Tevinter seized on the opportunity to siege the elven capital and enslave the population. According to legend, Tevinter Magisters sunk the city beneath the earth. Long believed to be haunted, the forest has become more active recently, with ancient elven magic and monsters waking from a long slumber.
Vyrantium
Known as Minrathous' "sharp-dressed sister," Vyrantium is a major city in Eastern Tevinter known for its fashion and textile industries. It is also home to a Circle of Maji. According to legend, it is also where a priestess of the Old God Dumat named Calpurnia found the orphaned Tevinter Prince Darinius floating in a basket. The city has come under siege by the Qunari during the events of the comic Dragon Age: The Missing, and that is likely still the case in Dragon Age: Dreadwolf.
Ventus
Formerly known as Qarinus, Ventus is a major city along the northeastern coast of the Tevinter Imperium. Just west of the Arlathan Forest, it was once the capital of the ancient human kingdom of Qarinus, predating the Imperium by 1,700 years. About 2,000 years before the events of Dragon Age, the King Darinius of Tevinter and Neromenian married Queen Rathana of Qarinus, uniting northern Thedas into the Tevinter Imperium.
Ventus is strategically important because of its proximity to the disputed island of Seheron. As seen in the book Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights, the city recently fell under Qunari occupation. The Qunari then forced Ventus' mages to consume large doses of a drug called Qamek, functionally lobotomizing them.
Neromenian
Like Ventus, Neromenian was once the seat of its own kingdom. It was the first throne the future Archon Darinius would take, assuming the kingship after his predecessor died without an heir. The city is known for its foul weather, being perpetually overcast and subject to storms from the nearby Nocen Sea. According to the Comic Dragon Age: Dark Fortress, Qunari captured Neromenian a few years after the events of Dragon Age: Inquisition and killed every adult in the city.
Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is in development.