As I've just finished playing Dragon Age Inquisition (and just bought the DLC last night so I'll be running through the game with them) I have an interest in talking about Lore for the series... This is sort of a base level discussionn for those interested, not purely aimed at discussing big topics, or little topics, just whatever catches people's fancy.

SPOILERS FOR ALL DRAGON AGE CONTENT BELOW

Lets do this! I propose that we start by discussing the lore around "Asschabs" :P

I'm glad you asked.

Honestly it's a throw away line that the writers put in as an in joke, that has ammused me ever since I read about it. From Oghren's wiki page:

Oghren's "Asschabs" was added as a joke between the writers of Dragon Age: Origins. David Gaider would, "[a]t least once or twice a week, [...] come in [their offices] groaning about having "chair butt", which is essentially when your butt goes numb from sitting in your chair for too long". Someone then coined the name "Association of Chair Butt Sufferers"; its abbreviation, ASSCHABS, was then written on their whiteboard. At that time, Jay Turner was writing Oghren, and the word "would be staring at him. So since it sounds like something Oghren would say, he decided to make Oghren say it, to make sure ASSCHABS was never forgotten."

As for actual serious real lore; inspired by a recent discussion about necromancy, how about Blood Magic and whether it on its own is evil or whether it is the people who use it?

[blockquote][b][url=/profile/GoldenFool]Golden Fool[/url] said:[/b]

As for actual serious real lore; inspired by a recent discussion about necromancy, how about Blood Magic and whether it on its own is evil or whether it is the people who use it?

[/blockquote]

I'd say magic itself is neutral, even Blood magic. But the things that can be done with it are more often evil. And the main way to learn it is from demons or evil people. Which means that if one uses Blood magic, even if that one isn't necessarily evil oneself, is willing to tolerate and communicate with evil and is most likely somewhat reckless or ignorant. Merril is a good example here.

I was going to approach it with a similar stance, the magic itself is neither good or bad, it's the people who use it with all the human (and other race) sacrifices that are evil. There is also a tendency for those who use it to seek greater power which leads them to the sacrifices, however whether that is an effect of the magic or just that people who are like that tend to turn to it more often is hard to say.

The Wardens for example allow its use when fighting Darkspawn and any Warden blood mage is left alone by the Chantry on the condition that the Wardens deal with them if they get out of hand. The Warden's reasoning for this is that they are very much an organisation that believes the outcome justifies the means, and if the outcome is dead darkspawn then do whatever you want. This makes them a very Grey... group, but also I believe the most pragmatic group in Thedas when it comes to Blood Magic. The Chantry would have you believe that it is pure evil, while much of Tevinter would deny this while also pretending that they do not use it. The Wardens however see it as a tool which like all tools can serve a purpose, while still potentially being dangerous.

As for the nature of learning the skill, demons are certainly the main source (however whether demons are evil or they simply present that way because mortals expect that of them is another discussion) so like you have said there is at least a level of tolerance for "evil" present in any mage who practices it.

[blockquote][b][url=/profile/Dragonborn1721]Dragonborn2021[/url] said:[/b] Damn you've got a great starting topic...and I won't be able to answer it any detail (can't get decent internet at the moment) for at least a day... :([/blockquote]

We can try and hold off on "Are Demons evil or are they just spirits like any other who are taking that form because the mortal they are interacting with expects that?" topic until then if that helps. Honestly I'm now regretting not starting with that topic since I think there's more for us to delve into then blood magic. 

I've already got more topics swirling around in my head. Like how did the Feralden Circle manage to get Mouse to participate in the Harrowing? He just lets you go at the end. Although that one ties into the whole "Are Demons Evil?" topic. 

Isn't it a bit... reckless to call Blood magic just a tool? The normal magic is already pretty dangerous, and Blood magic is like 100 times more so. Idk, it's like saying that a nuclear bomb is just a weapon. It may be not evil by itself, but it still threatens the user's sanity and shouldn't be used by weak-willed or ignorant individuals, because it's like giving the control of a nuclear bomb to a three-years-old.

And the topic of demons is interesting too, well, besides the fact that they are ewwww.