Dorian Pavus, the Charming Moustache

of couse, IF we manage to get to da4. i think we will but i hope they finally answer more questions about lore!

Are you referring to what he says in the "getting to know you" dialogue? -- "They wanted a son who could become archon, instead they got me," -- or is there some other reference? (I miss out on most banter as I only take a small crew.)

OH I understand your meaning now. I don't take his initial remarks as humorous because of their tone (he is so very jaded about all this), and the fact that it's actually true.


At any rate, the archon appoints his own successor (not necessarily a blood relative). So even if he was assassinated, his appointed heir would assume his place. If there is no appointed heir, the Magisterium can vote on the matter. However, I doubt Dorian is well-liked, not only because of his personality and outspokenness against Tevinter's problems, but because he served with the Inquisition. Tevinter sees/saw the Inquisition as a threat. I'd imagine that dislike would be even worse if he were known to be the romantic partner of the former Inquisitor. The odds are so stacked against him for becoming archon, that the writers would really have to put a decent effort into making it halfway plausible if that's their goal.

This isn't the Assembly in Orzammar, where some random person lifting up a crown supposedly forged by a Paragon and taking that person at their word is a thing that will happen. These people care about power and self-interest, which is why Tevinter is in such a sorry state. Alexius had to stand on the Senate floor and practically beg for funds for the decaying Circles -- the Circles, in a country where magic is everything! That should tell everything about their mentality.

completely random-i wish rhey did some other specialization instead of necromany. i feel it doesnt suite dorian at all!

i think force mage would have been a great fit. i'm sure there are some other specializations that i have no idea about but i think his bashful and cocky style evoke something dealing with the damage, maybe manipulating matter, such as telekinesis, or temporal (he studied with alexius on this, maye that's why they crammed haste into necromantic tree), but never really raising dead and posession.

 i mean, dorian doesn't express any interest towards manipulating the dead or any kind of morbidly occult focus. it's weird and very nevarran, yes. and it's true what you say, but vivienne speaks of being knight enchanter with pride, solas as rift mage is kind of appropriate but necromancer dorian came out of left field for me.

In the post-WEWH talk, if the Inquisitor picks the and says "I'll remember our dance," Dorian replies something along the lines of how there could have been more corpses about. The Inquisitor says, "You're a strange young man, Dorian," and he response with, "Nonsense, I just enjoy the drama." He also has dialogue with Cassandra of being interested in the Grand Necropolis and how he wanted to visit when he traveled to Nevarra with his parents. He seems disappointed to learn from her that it's not quite as he imagined it as a kid.

So I do indeed think it suits him!

However, I do wish entropy as a school were more developed in DAI, as I think that does fit him well. It's my headcanon that, while he was training in the Circle, he started with entropy, and that just naturally slid over into necromancy.

Also, it is a disappointment that Dorian doesn't have any dialogue about his spec at all. We get more about it from Cole than Dorian himself if the mage Inquisitor takes the spec. It's one way of showing the different Tevinter mentality with regard to spirits, as Cole says that he's bothered by it, they way they're pulled apart and manipulated.



It was actually developed by a Tevinter! He served on the court of the Nevarran king. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that a lot of magic and ideas seep between the borders, since the nations are neighbors. However, the key difference is that the Tevinter necromancer wouldn't have the same reverence and ceremony attached to it, as a mortalitasi from Nevarra does.

But this misunderstands why Dorian (and Halward) are against blood magic in the first place. They're not against it because of ethical reasons (mostly, at any rate), they're against it because to resort -- Dorian's personal quest is "The Last Resort" -- to its use is a sign of weakness, it's cheating because it's an "easy" way to get a lot of power.

You have to consider Dorian's words about it: "The blood of yourself or a willing participant? What's the harm? But what if you need more? You always need more." This is where "temptation" comes into play, that desire for "more." When you succumb to that desire, when you give in to that temptation for more power, that is when you start draining slaves.

The goodness in Dorian is that he knows and understand this, and even fears it, which is why he doesn't use blood magic at all.

This is a Dorian song.

I mean, yeah, that's kind of my thing with Merrill. lol She doesn't know wtf she is doing, but nobody in DA2 knows wtf they're doing. I was thinking more on the line of a well trained Tevinter mage that is competent and didn't learn blood magic from a random demon that happened by the magic mirror they keep around without knowing wtf it is. Merrill is kind of more of a what not to do, tbh.