Kitchen And Craft Wix Corner (Exciteable Bird, Enter At Own Risk)

>:D

 

(Also. Ivy. What's a turnip in german...)

Though if i can't find one: might do with potato

 

Steckrübe!!!!! The most german of vegetables. Also source of endless harvest moon memes.
oh boy! My turnips have reached the third level of their growth cycle!

 

Steckrübe oder Kohlrübe is ja eh alles eine soße

 

OH I ACTUALLY REALLY LIKE THOSE
No idea where to fucking get one but i love them

 

i mean it's winter so like. shit's in season. aldi. lidl. edeka. rewe. Farmer's markets. The bog next door if you bury a wish and pay tribute.

 

Time to check the large local rewe for one *rubs hands*

 

Alright because there's been some interest, never doubt my willingness to just loudly talk about my special interest for hours on end

The Dread Wolf Rises But I Haven't A Single Clue What The Fuck Any Of This Means
Aka a likely not-so-short beginner's guide to Dragon Age Lore in Honor of the Recent DA4 Teaser.
By Someone Who Cannot Shut Up To Save Their Life
​

Part 1: The Basics



This is Thedas, the Continent all this fuckery takes place on. Note I very deliberately say Continent. We have no given name for the Planet, but we do have confirmation that there's other stuff outside the bounds of this map, just y'know. Deadly Things. Deadly things that traumatize you into insanity. No modern attempts to colonize/explore beyond this map have succeeded, but there is historical knowledge that both Humans and Qunari come from Elsewhere (tm), and that there may be civilizations that Thedas lost contact with.

Thedas (adj.: Thedosian) is on the southern hemisphere of its planet. That means stuff in the north is warm, stuff in the south is cold. Like really cold. A lot of the countries here are based on vague approximations of European countries during various historical periods. I'll go more into the details for each country.

The planet has two moons, which is a fun fact that has until now basically never been relevant, ever. The second moon is called Satina. The only relevance this has is that there's a holiday named after it.

A vast majority of the population in Thedas is human (despite them being an invasive species, lol) and most people speak Trade Tongue, King's Tongue, or Common, a language first invented and used by Dwarves to trade with distant thaigs, then adopted for usage in trade with Surfacers. It spread further from there and this is the language that will be represented by whatever language you set the game to. There are several more languages, but a good few are not spoken anymore today.

Time keeping is a bit of an inexact science, there are dwarven clocks and some (rich, influential, powerful) people on the surface have them and there are candle clocks according to the Pen and Paper RPG rulebook, but the vast majority of people will just kind of... refer to approximate times of day.
HOWEVER, there is actually a very sophisticated and precise calendar! There are 12 months of 30 days each, and most of Thedas celebrates 5 high holidays, related to the change of seasons and the beginning of a new year. Here's a list of months/holidays and what they involve generally, this is not necessarily super important, just, yknow it's a thing.
As far as written history goes, events are marked by the number of the age (century) they take place in, and then the precise year, followed by the name of the Age. For example, the first game, Dragon Age: Origins, begins in 9:30 Dragon, so the 30th year of the ninth age, which is the Dragon Age.
Ages are named in the 99th year of the previous Age, by the Divine (more on that later), according to portents or signs heralding what the age will be marked by.
The first Age, the Divine Age, begins with the founding of the Chantry. Anything before that is referred to in negative numbers counting backwards from the founding, and is considered part of the "Ancient Age". The Chantry Calendar does not have a year 0, it begins immediately with 1:1 Divine, the year before that is -1 Ancient.
There are 2 more calendars (Tevene/Imperial, and Elven) but these are not generally in use for anything but majorly fiddly bits of the Timeline, and can also be looked up easily on the wiki for those interested)
I will go over what every single Age is named for and what happened during them in a future post once I've gone over a few more major factions and stuff.
Next up! Races and dominant cultural identities, Religion. Because that's all bound up in eachother lol

 

The Dread Wolf Rises But I Haven't A Single Clue What The Fuck Any Of This Means
Aka a likely not-so-short beginner's guide to Dragon Age Lore in Honor of the Recent DA4 Teaser.
By Someone Who Cannot Shut Up To Save Their Life​

Part 2.1: Races, Religions, Cultures (Elves and Dwarves)

Alright, this one may get a bit confusing, mostly because I uh. Won't cover countries and their dominant cultural markers in this post, because then the human section would get unwieldy as fuck. So it gets its own post later on! Fun!

Thedas is home to four sentient races. Elves and dwarves are native to the continent, although it is questionable and changeable how you would count the deeproads seeing as they could very well be considered far enough removed from the surface to not count as part of the Continent anymore. Either way, these two races have historically always been on/under Thedas, and did not arrive there in any way. Humans and Qunari arrived to Thedas later, meanwhile.

There were two different periods in which Elves had sovereign kingdoms/empires, The era of Arlathan, referring to the capital of the Elvhenan Empire, the ancient long lost period long before human contact during which the Evanuris (the elven pantheon) reigned and Elves were immortal, and the Kingdom of the Dales, after the death of human Prophetess Andraste and her Disciple the elf Shartan, gifted to the elves by the new sovereign human nations of Andresteans in thanks for the contributions elves made to the slave rebellion.

Spoiler: elves, probably will go deeper in a later post

Nowadays there are two main elven cultures, Dalish Clans and City Elves, neither of which technically have lands of their own, or even sovereign governments. Elves are, in modern day Thedas, horrifyingly oppressed, largely have little to no rights, and subject to the whims of human nobility. There are slow developements to better this situation, (Sometimes depending on player choices), but largely, being an elf in Thedas is not an easy lot.
(Modern) Elves tend to be slightly shorter than humans (around 5ft), with elongated slender limbs, long pointed ears and flat faces (especially nose and forehead) with large eyes. Their facial bone structure from Dragon Age 2 onwards is almost reminiscent of felines. Elven birthrates and ability to raise children to adulthood is not particularly great, as such there is a big cultural value to children, and some amount of match-making is common in both City Elves and Dalish to avoid in-breeding.
Elven-Human hybrid children are referred to as Elfblooded and canonically appear almost indistinguishable from humans, with a single exception that has been word-of-god-retconned.
Almost all of the original language and culture of elves is lost due to centuries of enslavement and brutal cultural genocide. The Dalish do their best to maintain and rediscover as much as possible, but the original tongue of elves, Elvhen is only available in snippets and fragments. With a few exceptions, no one can fluently speak the language anymore. In lieu of written history, the Dalish keep what they retain of their history alive by way of legends and stories which are shared and re-affirmed in the so-called Arlathvhen, a gathering of all nomadic Clans to reconvene and redistribute artifacts, and disseminate any new found knowledge.
Most city-elves have no remaining cultural identity in common with the Dalish, and many of them are Andrastean. All Elves speak Common or the language of the country they live in, Dalish make more of aa point of using as much Elvhen as they possibly can. It is believed that only Dalish Keepers know the secret of how to read and write Elvhen.

Dwarves were once a very powerful race with a vast network of Thaigs (Settlements) underground, many of their structures built to last so well that ruins can be found all over Thedas to this day, most in very well preserved conditions.

Spoiler: dwarves, this may also be continued later, where relevant, especially wrt Surfacers

Before their fall, the Dwarven Kingdom consisted of Twelve Great Thaigs, as well as numerous smaller ones, spanning the entirety of Thedas' underground. However, with the first Blight and its aftermath, Darkspawn began swarming the Deep Roads (the underground network of caverns and tunnels connecting Thaigs and Mines) Most Thaigs were entirely lost and abandoned.
The main belief among Dwarves is that they are Children of the Stone, an entity likely referring to the earth itself, that has been venerated in dwarven culture for at least 2000 years. The Stone is referred to as she and is considered the source of shelter, support, ores, gems and most importantly lyrium. Dwarves also possess an ability called Stone Sense, which is believed to originate from their connection to the Stone, granting them talents in subterranean navigation, and other boons, such as Mining Caste Dwarves being able to find lyrium veins by ear. This sense is often described as being auditory, as the Stone sings to her children.
Stone Sense likely is bound to proximity to the Stone herself, as surface dwarves are not presumed to have it.

The dwarves living in the thaigs underground live under a strict caste system. There are seven castes one can be born into, and they both dictate one's standing and one's choice of occupation:

• Noble Caste
• Warrior Caste
• Artisan Caste
• Smith Caste
• Mining Caste
• Merchant Caste
• Servant Caste

According to legend this is dictated by which of the seven brothers to found the Dwarven Empire one descends from. A dwarf inherits the caste of their same-sex parent. It is common for married partners to live with the house of the one who is of a higher caste, however, children will still remain bound to the caste of their same-sex parent. Due to this and dwindling birthrates, The phenomenon of so called Noble-Hunters, dwarves of lower caste offering themselves as lovers to Noble-Caste Dwarves in the hopes of children of the same-sex as the noble dwarf being sired, are not uncommon, and noble-hunters are looked upon favorably by dwarven society.
There are only two ways to otherwise advance in caste: Occassionally, if a member of a higher caste joins a lower house, or organization and then accomplishes great deeds, the entire organization or house may be raised to the caste of this member.
Otherwise, any member of any caste, may, if sufficiently accomplished and recognized, be raised to the status of Paragon, which raises them above the caste system entirely, and then empowers them to found a Noble House of their own name and raise any family they wish to be part of this house to the Noble Caste. Paragons are revered as the most accomplished and successful dwarves of all recorded history, and there are statues in the entrance hall of Orzammar to honor every single dwarf raised to Paragon Status within the Great Thaig.
Casteless exist. They are believed to be descendants of criminals and other undesirables and thus considered non-people without rights by Orzammar, many have to beg, sweep the streets and perform other menial tasks, or are part of the Carta (ancient organized crime syndicate), or make a living as Noble Hunters. Being stripped of one's caste is one of the worst punishments possible under the law of Orzammar, and if it should befall someone of the noble caste, often involves being erased from the memories, aka Orzammar's historical records. Casteless are easily identifiable by a large facial tattoo or brand applied soon after birth, and they may also be referred to as dusters, after the Ghetto in Orzammar they are forced to live in, Dust Town.
Technically all Surface Dwarves are considered casteless by Orzammar as well, due to them being believed to have turned their back on The Stone. This is largely irrelevant unless they should return to Orzammar in which case they are considered even worse than Dusters, due to lacking a Stone Sense entirely.
The only exceptions to losing your caste as a Surfacer are Grey Wardens and the Ambassadoria. Grey Wardens originally from Orzammar retain their caste despite operating on the Surface, as fighting Darkspawn is considered a service to the Stone herself. The dwarven Ambassadors to the Tevinter Imperium meanwhile are allowed to retain their Caste due to the fact that the Embassies all over the Imperium are underground and trade agreements are made there. As such they are considered foreign dignitaries and are able to retain their status as citizens of Orzammar.

Dwarves, nowadays, only have Three Thaigs left, one being Orzammar, under the Frostback Mountains between Ferelden and Orlais, which is the Great Thaig most every Surfacer would think of.
Kal-Sharok was the former Capital of the Empire, in the Hunterhorns between Orlais and the Anderfels. Kal-Sharok was considered lost for more than 9 centuries, has not been in contact with Orzammar until 9:12 Dragon, and remains rather reclusive. The dwarves hailing from there are said to be odd, seeming somehow corrupted. Not much is known about the Great Thaig, but from what little information we have, they seem to not value the caste system nearly as much as their cousins in Orzammar do.
The Great Thaig of Kal'Hirol has been slowly rebuilt and repopulated after it was reclaimed in 9:31 Dragon thanks to the help of the Warden-Commander of Ferelden (Player Character of Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening). It is underneath the Fereldan Arling Of Amaranthine, and was in ancient times considered the center of power and knowledge for the Smithing Caste.
In the present day, the original dwarven language is more or less entirely lost, and only a few phrases and words remain in common usage. Orzammar and Kal'Hirol speak Common. Kal-Sharok, likely does so as well, owning to the fact that they likely were in contact with select trustable surfacers during the period of being "lost".

Surface Dwarves can be anything from assimilated into human culture to acting just the same as they did back in Orzammar. Despite their bad social standing, Surfacer merchants are nowadays entirely necessary to the survival of Orzammar and Kal'Hirol due to the constant war against Darkspawn and loss of ground and population making the maintenance of food production a very unreliable thing.
Dwarves tend to be vastly shorter than both humans and elves, and both men and women can have strong beard growth, though it seems common for women to appear mostly clean shaven. From what we can tell, with relatively little in the way of examples, Dwarf-Human hybrids seem to work much the same as elfblooded humans do, in that they appear indistinguishable from humans. Dwarves are entirely disconnected from the Fade, which lets them safely mine lyrium, and makes them more resistant to magic, however makes it impossible (ish) to be mages. More on this later.
Due to their constant war with the Darkspawn, Orzammar maintains a so-called Legion of the Dead, which is one of the few ways to shield one's family from dishonor and stripping of caste, should one commit a crime grievous enough for that. These, too, are branded, albeit considered a Minor Noblehouse nowadays, and induction into the Legion is celebrated by way of Funeral Rites.

Next: Humans

 

The Dread Wolf Rises But I Haven't A Single Clue What The Fuck Any Of This Means
Aka a likely not-so-short beginner's guide to Dragon Age Lore in Honor of the Recent DA4 Teaser.
By Someone Who Cannot Shut Up To Save Their Life​

Part 2.2: Races, Religions, Cultures (Humans)


Humans, in the form of the Neromenians first landed in Thedas -3100 Ancient. Where they come from, and why they left there is a complete mystery, though a certain special egg has alluded to the possibility of a spirit driving them from their original homeland by way of a cataclysm of natural disasters. The Neromenians coming into contact with the elves is generally in Legend referred to as "The Quickening" and widely held to be the reason for Elves losing their immortality, which caused them to withdraw from human contact. This is now known to be false, but it's still useful context.

Spoiler: so much goddamn human history and there's still more to come this is just the very basics

The Neromenians quickly split into several different tribes that spread out over Thedas and became the progenitors of most of the modern nations, however most importantly for the early history are those who settled along the shores of the Nocen Sea, splitting into the Kingdoms of Quarinus, Tevinter, Neromenian and Barindur. Originally humans were not capable of magic, but various legends are offered as explanations as to why they are now, and between this capability for magic and burgeoning trade with Kal-Shirok, the The Tevinter Imperium, a united front of those four Kingdoms of the Nocen Sea, emerged, first united under Darinius the Ferry-man, the first Archon, in -1195 Ancient (0 TE by the Imperial calendar).
Elves remained contentious of these tribes and this finally escalated to a war (declared in 214 TE / -981 Ancient) that would utterly crush the entirety of the Elvhenan Empire and lead to the complete destruction of Arlathan, likely by way of blood magic, which was supposedly granted to Tevinter Magisters by the Dragon God Dumat. Elves were then enslaved by the Tevinter Imperium, and their original culture brutally suppressed.
The Tevinter Imperium continued slowly engulfing almost all of Thedas, though the tribes of modern day Southern Ferelden remained stoically resistant and rebellious, staging various bloody incursions into the Imperial territory, though this remained largely without consequence to the continued power and influence of the Imperium.
There were several civil wars that threatened to split the empire, however, nothing actually succeeded to herald the decline of the Tevinter Imperium until the First Blight in 800 TE / -395 Ancient was caused by a group of Dragon Priests and Magisters attempting to become Gods by entering the magical realm of the Fade and claiming the mythical Golden City on behalf of the Dragon of Silence, Dumat, an act that caused the corruption of said Dragon into the First Archdemon and led to the corruption of Darkspawn spreading rapidly. This hoarde with Dumat at its head ravaged the Tevinter Imperium for nearly 200 years, utterly shattering its hold on most of Thedas in the resulting chaos, until the Grey Wardens formed and succeeded in slaying Dumat. The Imperium managed to recover, but their weaknesses were laid bare by this calamity and thus numerous civil wars broke out, and over the next few centuries, most of the Imperium would break away and form independant nations.
The most important of these rebellions would be that of The escaped slave Andraste and her disciples between 1020 and 1035 TE or -175 to -160 Ancient. She was born in Ferelden, raised as a slave in the Imperium, managed to flee it and return to her homelands, became a renown chieftain's wife, and finally led a divinely inspired rebellion against the Imperium ending in her Betrayal, Death, and the subsequent formation of numerous cults dedicated to her Teachings which finally became the Chantry in Year 1:1 Divine.
Andrasteanism, or the Chantry, aka belief in Andraste's teachings and the Chant of Light is the dominant religion in Thedas, and comes in two main flavors, the Southern Chantry, based out of Val Royeaux in Orlais, which is the one most nations in Thedas consider themselves belonging to, and the Imperial Chantry of the Tevinter Imperium. I will go further into the Chant of Light and the different Chantries as well as Andrastean Cults in a different post.
The most important things to remember for now are that Andrastianism is aggressively evangelical and monotheistic, and this quote from the Chant of Light that is being used as the basis for most human behavior with regards to magic:

Of the none-Andrastean human cultures there are 3 important ones. The most relevant would be the country of Rivain which, while maintaining ties to Andrastean countries and their royalty being nominally Andrastean, largely are pantheists believing in the Natural Order. Magic is not considered fearful in Rivain, in fact it is quite the opposite. Rivaini Seeresses, considered hedge-mages by the chantry, are extremely influential wise women and millenia of tradition afford them a great deal of power and prestige. They freely interact with spirits and even practice consensual possession. The circle of Dairsmuind and others in Rivain mainly exist as a formality, and Rivaini mages can freely visit their families whenever they wish to, women are trained in the traditional art of becoming Seers, and as long as they assist Templars when requested, Mages in Rivain benefit from the biggest freedom anywhere aside from the Tevinter Imperium. Or used to benefit from this, I should say, as the Circle of Dairsmuind was annulled in 9:40 Dragon, meaning the entire population of the Circle was put to the blade for suspected apostasy, blood magic and/or demon pactitioning. Rivain also peacefully coexists with several large Qunari settlements, and a good chunk of the population has converted non-violently to the Qun. According to David Gaider, the Dalish of Rivain have a semi-permanent settlement in Llomeryn, however some party-banter between Isabela and Merrill indicates they may not have reached it yet, or did not the last time Isabela was there.

Two other non-Andrastean Cultures would be The Chasind and The Avvar of Ferelden. These two loose tribal coalitions are descended from the Alamarri, just like the rest of Ferelden's population, however where The Clayne adopted Chantry beliefs and lost a large part of their cultural identities to this in the eyes of their brothers and sisters, The Chasind Wilders and the Avvar Highlanders remain stoically resistant to any attempts to convert them.
Both groups pantheist and shamanistic in a relatively similar fashion to the Rivaini, and at least the Avvar also practice consensual possession, although not in the same way. Where Rivaini Seeresses are said to engage in these practices 'for the benefit of their communities', Avvar belief is that the best way to be taught magic is to be taught it by a God, as they refer to all spirits this way.
The main gods revered by the Avvar of the Frostbacks (though not necessarily worshipped), are Korth the Mountain Father, Hakkon Wintersbreath and the Lady of the Skies, though they worship many other minor gods responsible for other places or phenomena. Their gods live in all things, from wind from an unexpectant direction, to birds flying in an unusual flock. Their pantheon is highly complex and consists of nature spirits, fade denizens, as well as mortals who did worthy deeds. However their gods are considered capricious and ill-tempered, and considered the source of any bit of ill luck to occur. As such much of their religious practice lies in appeasing various gods. Shamans, often extraordinarily powerful mages, are highly valued for this responsibility, and for their looking out for signs of unrest from among their gods, and to advise a Hold's Thane in matters of the spiritual, though this duty is chiefly that of the Hold's Augur, the highest ranking Shaman and the one to teach new apprentices and pair them with a God/spirit to be their possessing guide. Once the period of teaching is done, the apprentice mage is expected to release their guide through a complex ritual.
Avvar also freely invoke spirits in battle for added strength, or counsel, or to judge contests of various talents. Templars are not welcome in the Frostbacks, but the Avvar maintain good trade relations with the dwarves of Orzammar, as well as occassional loose contact with Orlais. Andraste's mortal husband Maferath was Avvar, and as such that was her religion as well before she began having visions of the Maker.

The Chasind Wilders of the Korcari Wilds are nowadays largely peaceful, living on the margins of "civilized" Ferelden, in the Swamps and Tundras in the far South of the land. Accounts of their culture vary, but what is known is that they value magic, and are eyed with some suspicion by Fereldans to this day, due to their incursions against the North in the Tower Age, led by Flemeth, the Witch of the Wild, and her daughters. But of course this is only legend. Or is it? :)
Witches still remain something of a corner stone of Chasind culture, and many f their Shaman's talents are believed to have been tuaght by them. Especially Flemeth is still revered by all villages and tribes of the Wilds, even if it is unclear if she ever existed.
From what we know, facial paints are common among Wilders, and communities in the swamps are generally led by Shamans. Due to their refusal to convert, their continued valueing of magic practitioners, and the many instances in which the Wilders led raids against both the Tevinter Imperium and their northern Alamarri neighbors, they suffer frequent templar raids. The biggest cornerstone of Chasind culture is Survival, as the Wilds are a very harsh place known to be cruel.
Not much else is known to outsiders, beyond animistic beliefs, and that they personify the seasons as female warriors, bearing both the typical attributes of death and renewal. Winter is especially noted for her brutality. Old statues depict these warrior women with animal heads.

Next: The Qunari

 

The Dread Wolf Rises But I Haven't A Single Clue What The Fuck Any Of This Means​

Aka a likely not-so-short beginner's guide to Dragon Age Lore in Honor of the Recent DA4 Teaser.
By Someone Who Cannot Shut Up To Save Their Life​

​

Part 2.3: Races, Religions, Cultures (The Qunari)

The Qunari (lit. "People of the Qun") is both the term for a specific religious/philosophical community, an evangelizing empire, and commonly used as the umbrella term for the tall, metallic-skinned, white haired and horned people who landed en mass in Thedas in 6:30 Steel. They are believed to originate from an unknown landmass to the east, and have been embroiled in war with various Thedosian nations since their arrival.

Spoiler: Qunari, Tal-Vashoth, Vashoth, to the best of my abilities

To specify they are talking of the "horned giants" most of the fandom uses the term Kossith. This is not 100% lore compliant as this term technically refers to the pre-cursor species, which had contact with Thedas only once, in -410 Ancient with a small colony in the Korcari Wilds. It was overrun by Darkspawn. Since then, nothing is known of the originator race, nor is it clear what the relationship between Kossith and Qunari really is.
The Qunari once threatened to conquer all of the known world during an almost century long period known as the Qunari Wars, but after several Exalted Marches (think crusades essentially), have been beaten back to a small number of Territories: The Island of Par Vollen, where they first landed, Kont-Aar in norther Rivain, Qundalon in the Anderfels, and the formerly Tevene Seheron which is a constant site of conflict with the Imperium.
The language spoken by all Qunari, all Tal-Vashoth and many Vashoth is called Qunlat. Fluency in Common is only widespread amongst those who have frequent contact with human societies, or are tasked with teaching Qunlat to Viddathari (converts).

The Qun is a philosophy based on the teachings of Ashkaari Koslun, one of the few Kossith we know of by name, as well as a set of laws for general society. It is considered to define the role and purpose of every member of the Qun, and dictates every bit of society, whether religious or mundane.
The Qun is lead by The Triumvirate, or Salasari, three Qunari considered representative of the three pillars of the Qun:
Representing the body or antaam, The Arishok leads the Military. He is always male.
Representing the mind, Arigena leads the artisanal, mercantile and agricultural spheres. She is always female.
Representing the soul, Ariqun leads the priesthood, both Tamassrans (Those Who Speak) and the Ben-Hassrath (Heart Of The Many). They can be male or female.
Under the Qun, individuals do not have conventional names. They are instead referred to by their position, as individual identity is largely divalued in favor of forming one's identity around what one is in society. For administrative matters, individuals are assigned a unique string of signs translating to genealogical information by the Tamassrans in order to trace their lineage, and use them in the Qun's selective breeding program. However, in society at large, the practice of call-names is decently common, nicknames given to people due to various potential traits to differentiate between fifteen different Tallises or this Sten as opposed to another.
Qunari are not raised by their parents nor are they allowed to choose their own partners or live among family. Romantic relationships cannot be conducted without secrecy as no bond is allowed to be greater than the bond between an individual and the Qun. All Qunari are raised and given their first primary education by the Tamassrans and they assign each individual Qunari a position according to talent and skill at age 12.
Gender under the Qun is considered secondary-but-tied to one's position. For example all Tamassrans are treated and considered female, no matter what sex they were assigned at birth, while all soldiers are considered male. Transgender Qunari are referred to as Aqun-Athlok (from "Balance" and "Laborer") and according to The Iron Bull it is not uncommon for folks under the Qun to live as another gender than the one they were assigned at birth. It's a weird blend of super restrictive and really liberal I guess?
The concept of personal property or currency does not exist under the Qun. Rather, within Qunari society, the administrative aparatus will provide for any and all Qunari equally. This, coupled with a general lack of fluency in common amongst a vast majority of Qunari, is a big hurdle of interaction between Qunari and the rest of Thedas as there is lack of understanding on both sides.
There has been statements towards the fact that the Qun is not an atheist society, but we have no knowledge as to how or what they worship in the ways of deities. They are however known to hold Dragons sacred, referring to them as Ataashi (glorious ones), if in a rather unintuitive way. Dragons are considered the epitome of untamed and savage nature, and hunting and killing dragons is thus considered a mastering of something wild and brutal, the ultimate application of the Qun's central tennet of Mastery of the Self.
Also interesting is that the soul of a Qunari is believed to be held within whichever tool they use to accomplish their role. This tool or weapon is referred to as Asala, or soul, and is the only thing of interest to retrieve from a dead Qunari. Their corpse is considered an insignifcant husk that is to be disposed of in whatever manner is most practical.
There are some rumors that Qunari may be somehow descended from or related to Dragons as well, and that this is part of both the reverence and the, ah, sexually connotated excitement about dragons. This is hinted to be the source of many Qunari's Reaver-like talents (more on this laterrrr, sorry), as well as their accompanying nigh-uncontrollable bloodrages that are often cited as a reason for why Qunari require the Qun to remain civilized.
Physically, the races most often referred to as Qunari, tends to be taller and more robust than humans, their skin is usually a metallic shade ranging from grey over bronze or gold to dark steel tones, their hair is generally white, ears are pointed, albeit not as long as those of elves, and they have vividly colored eyes in tones such as red, silver, violet or gold. Most Qunari have one or more pairs of horns, though it is entirely unclear what determines shape and number of these. The horns themselves have no nerve-endings and can be painlessly removed, may however become irritated or inflamed, something for which Qunari have developed a special balm. Hornlessness is a rare genetic trait and those born without horns are considered special, often given greatly prestigious roles, such as being envoys to other races. This trait is culturally associated with being imposing or scary by many Qunari.
Mages, or Saarebas (lit. "A Dangerous Thing") take a rather peculiar role under the Qun. They are considered too wild to master themselves and are thus entrusted to those called Arvaarad ("One Who Holds Back Evil") to control their magic and shield the rest of Qunari society from their corrupting influences via tools known as Control Rods. However, they are not per se blamed for their "defective" nature, rather most Qunari honor and pity their sacrifice, and regard them as something of a cautionary tale. Still, they are often treated no better than attack dogs, collared, bound, leashed, masked and their mouths sewn shut. Their horns also tend to be sawed off, to warn others of their danger. Should they be found to practice magic outside that which is permitted by their Arvaarad, their tongues are cut out so as to prevent them from spreading their "corruption". The penalty for leaving their Karataam (platoon, more or less), is immediate death as they are assumed to be corrupted by demons, either carried out by the Arvaarad or in ritualized suicide. This selflessness and devoted service, however involuntary, is considered highly virtuous under the Qun.
By and large Saarebas are far less trained and educated than Circle mages, but their style is still highly effective if extremely volatile. Most seem much more powerful than human or elven mages. They are usually assigned to the Antaam/Military, as they are considered weapons and are thus only trained in destructive application of their gift, but may or may not fall under the governance of The Viddasala, one of the three leaders of the Ben-Hassrath and the head of the Dangerous Purpose branch.
The Qun is the only society in Thedas harsher on Mages than the Chantry. In fact they consider Templars or Basvaarads, too lenient and ineffective.

Proper Qunari are rarely seen in mainland Thedas outside of Rivain. Most who are familiar with the horned giants falsely refer to dissidants and deserters as Qunari, despite them being technically referred to as Tal-Vashoth ("true grey ones") or those born outside the Qun entirely, the Vashoth ("grey ones"). Tal-Vashoth is notably also not a racially exclusive term, as such, elves, dwarves or humans who convert and then leave the Qun again would still correctly be referred to as Tal-Vashoth. In practice only Vashoth is really used to only refer to Kossith-descended individuals outside the Qun, though technically we do not have confirmation on if this is 100% true in-universe.
There is no unified Tal-Vashoth culture, as there are as many reasons to desert as there are individual Tal-Vashoth. It is also hard to expect just how much of the teachings of the Qun any individual Tal-Vashoth has abandoned. In practice many will have retained attitudes and ideas towards foreigners and be unwilling or unable to completely assimilate with society, which is why, alongside the aforementioned rumored inclination for bloodrages, many either join roving bandit groups, or join one of several Vashoth mercenary companies, such as the "Word of Kadan-Fe" in Ferelden, or the "Valo-kas Mercenaries" in the Free Marches (This is where a Qunari Inquisitor Player Character comes from). Especially former members of the Antaam will join mercenary companies due to lack of any other useful skill.
Mercenaries are regarded by the Qun as even more lowly than other Tal-Vashoth, as they are considered to sell what remains of their soul for coin. As such, even some Tal-Vashoth and Vashoth look down heavily upon mercenaries as "Sell-souls".
Tal-Vashoth, unlike their Qunari siblings, carry personal names. In practice this may be anything from a pleasant sound, to their former call-name, to any Qunlat word or concept they like or identifiy with. Some may even stick with their former position names, or adopt a new position name according to what they are within whatever form of society they have joined. For example the leader of the Valo-Kas Mercenaries is called Shokrakar ("Rebel"), but the company also has two people referred to as Ashaad and Ashaad Two (Scout).
Many Tal-Vashoth saw off and cap their own horns to appear tougher and more dangerous, as well as in open defiance of Qunari norm. Generally mages are more accepted by Tal-Vashoth, but they may still be at least collared and masked in mercenary companies, and may be viewed with fear and suspicion.

Vashoth are rare, but do exist, and this is what the only current Qunari Player Character is. Seeing as most are raised entirely outside the Qun, by those who have deserted deliberately, many are socialized almost indistinguishably from their dominant culture and know little of the Qun. It is unclear if they adopt a last-name system by and large, or if only Adaar does this for game-engine reasons and it is generally an uncommon practice. It is also unclear if this last-name was given by their parents, or adopted upon joining a Mercenary company, the latter of which is more likely due to Adaar translating to Weapon.
Vashoth tend to be raised and named by their parents and thus likely much the same principles as for Tal-Vashoth names apply, with maybe a small emphasis on pleasant sounds, call-name-like constructions and nice-words. A canonical Vashoth goat-herder from Nevarra, for example, is called Issala (dust), and I personally have used Asaaranda (Thunderstorm), Taashath (calm) and Kari (from Imekari, 'child') for vashoth characters.
There is some amount of fanon for Vashoth and tal-vashoth culture which you may encounter out in the wild in fanfic and such. This is largely not really supported by canon, but as of Dragon Age: Inquisition we also haven't been told there absolutely definitively are no Vashoth communities anywhere.

There are no known crossbreeds between Qunari and other races and as such there is no knowledge of how these would actually work in canon.

Next: Major Organizations

 

Thank u for the dragon age info

 

NO PROBLEM, I am actually having a lot of fun as evidence by the fact that I wrote the above three posts as one initially and had to break it up in three chunks! I enjoy this, and it's a really good way to refresh my memory on some things!

 

also just gonna
put my lad here too

Tis Elouan Aurèle du Noix, the frenchest of douchebags. Also hands are complete nonsense

 

Technically his hair isn't supposed to be like quite that slicked back, I imagined more the look when you messily shove back something akin to a bob?
Kinda... He's supposed to have Leonardo di Caprio in Titanic vibes for his hair, a lil

 

Hands Are nonsense

 

Please expect things from my vent thread to be moved here (before this post??? I think??? Bc chronological order?)

I yell about dragon age the most right now, and I sometimes draw
I'm still vaguely working on a longfic featuring a ridiculous number of OCs for DA:I
I do makeup, I do random crafts, I am super into fashion, I occassionally make jewelry!

 

Wait dangit I'll need to find a way to make sure I still have an OP that's decent once the mod team (thanks a bunch btw guys) has moved my shit over

 

Yeah no I know, this was mostly me going 'I FORGOT TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS' bc I am a weird nerd xP