Theology of Dragon Age- Part One: Dwarves!

Theology of...

Yeah, that's right! I'm finally getting around to exploring the religions of Dragon Age. Yeah I know, I took my sweet time. So let's get to it. The religions in Dragon Age are generally tied to the various races that occupy the continent of Thedas and beyond. That's not to say that folks don't change religion from time to time, but the general feel is that the religion you follow is tied to your race. Heck, one race is named after their religion.

Dwarven History.

The dwarves used to be a really big deal in Thedas, even though they lived underground. Their empire spread across the world in vast underground tunnels called the Deep Roads, connected to hubs called Thaigs and eventually great cities or wealth and culture and general beardy awesomeness.

Everything was going great until the arrival of the Darkspawn, beings that were once human or elf or dwarf but corrupted into a nightmare army led by a corrupted dragon. Their goal seemed to be to murder everything in sight, and they started off in the Deep Roads. The dwarves fought bravely but the horde kept coming and eventually the great empire was lost. The two great cities, Orzammar and Kal Sharok seperated by murderous beasties.

This great horde, who spilled out upon the surface in what became known as Blights, were defeated by an order called the Grey Wardens. The Dwarves however, saw no respite from them like the surface races and holed themselves in their great cities and kept he Darkspawn at bay.

Dwarvern Religion

The beardy folk of the Deep Roads have not had it easy, and this is reflected in their culture and religion. They are a very traditional and practical folk and living underground mining lyrium, a mineral source of magic, has rendered them unable to dream or use magic in any way. This is reflected in their belief system.

Dwarves do not believe in any sort of god or gods, but instead revere their ancestors, praying to them for aid and wisdom. They believe that they were born from the stone of Thedas and will return to it one day, but evidently believe that the soul of the departed continues on to watch over their decendants. Most revered amongst the Dwarven ancestors are the Paragons, dwarves who through their deeds are declared by the Dwarven government to be 'Living Ancestors'.

This brings with it many privilages, including being able to form their own noble house. These great men and women are looked up to by all, and when they die they will have statues made of them to whom pilgrims will visit to pray for help in their particular field, such as smithing or mining or whatever. During the events of Dragon Age: Origins, you will meet one of these Paragons. Let's just say they're respected for their deeds and not their charming personality.

Comparisons

The nearest parallell we have to this is the ancestor veneration we see associated with Chinese and Japanese cultures, although it happens all over the world. The system used by the dwarves is much simpler however, as it does not incorporate any other spirits or deities into their practices. Demons and Spirits exist in Thedas and Dwarves know this, but as they tend to target the other races due to their ability to use magic, the Dwarves do not tend to regard them highly.

So there we go, a brief description of Dwarven Religion. As always, some links below for further reading. See you soon!


See also-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancestor_worship
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Age:_Origins
http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Paragons
http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Dwarf

In The News: The Obligitory E3 post.

E3!

Another year, another Electronic Entertainment Expo. Since it's the big thing in games right now, it would be daft not to mention it, especially as this year featured the launch of two brand new consoles.

Yep, 8 years after Microsoft launced it's XBox 360, and 7 since the release of thePlaystation 3, the two console giants have announced that they will both be releasing new consoles this year. Yep, we're into Generation 8 of videogaming consoles, featuring the Wii U, the XBox One and the Playstation 4. So let's have a quick look.

Nintendo: The Wii U

Ninty may have lost favour with a few 'Hardcore' gamers, but that touchpad thingy is a cool idea.

The Wii U was the first gen 8 console to launch, hitting stores last year. It's main feature being the large gamepad with a display and touchpad, much like a tablet device. It features online connectivity, and bacwards compatibility with all your old Wii games.

Since Nintendo already had a new console, they didn't realy have much to bring to E3, and the buzz is that their stint at the conference was a short and sweet affair. New Mario Kart, New Super Mario, New Donkey Kong, and an HD re-release of Legend of Zelda: Windwaker. Here's some games, see you later. Short and sweet.

Microsoft: The XBox One

People are already nicknaming this thing the Xbone. Hah, smutty gamers.

The first of the new consoles at E3 was the XBox One, Microsoft's gen 8 offering. Expected to be out November 2013 sometime, it's the third foray into games consoles for Microsoft. It's an all singing, all dancing machine with voice control via it's Kinect device. It will have acess to streaming services and you'll be able to do a spot of multitasking  with it, such as Skyping a friend while shooting aliens in the eye. You'll also be able to upload clips of cool stuff you get up to.

However, the XBox One has recieved a fair few raised eyebrows since it's launch. Many thought it was odd that the announcement for the console spoke mostly about it's connections with TV and sports than with the thing people would buy a games console for- games. Many thought they'd save the games until E3, and they were right. Microsoft announced a ton of games for their console, including a Metal Gear game, which until recently had been a Playstation exclusive franchise.

However, other concerns about Microsoft's new console were confirmed. It appeared to have some really strict controls on how people used the games for XBox One, and these were confirmed. Games essentially are locked to your account, and lending them or selling them was either difficult (lending is possible but carries with it a lot of stipulations) or impossible.

There were also concerns about the Kinect always being on, especially with the recent news in the USA that the government had been monitoring it's citizens in an almost Big Brothery way without them knowing. It was confirmed that the console would not work without a Kinect attached, but it would not be spying, just waiting for a voice command.

A final concern that was clarified were rumours that the XBox One needed to be connected to the internet at all times. The company stated that it did not need to be on all the time, but would check in with Microsoft once every 24 hours. Failure to do so would result in the console shutting down or something.

Naturally, console owners were a bit skeptical about the new gen 8 consoles, especially since Sony had been very cryptic about their new console.

Sony Entertainment: The Playstation 4

It looks like a Playstation alright. Or is it that thing from 2001?

Sony were the first to announce a new console for 2013 back in February. After Microsoft's console with it's restrictions on used games and whatnot, everyone was keen to see what Sony had up it's sleeve, especially as this year they patented software that would also make used game discs unsellable. Everyone thought it a bit weird that they didn't actually show the console at it's announcement.

Many said that Sony 'won' E3 this year, and for one reason- they showed a ton of games, then said that the PS4 was 'business as usual' for Playstation customers. They had entered the 8th gen with a machine that had no lending or sale restrictions on its games, no online check ins, no peripherals that had to be connected or it wouldn't work. Then they announced it would be $100 cheaper than the XBox One. The only change to the way Playstation worked from the PS3 era would be that they would now charge for multiplayer in games via their PS Plus service, which many felt was a fair compromise, since PS Plus subscribers get free games and discounts. Like the XBox One, it was not backwards compatible (which suprised nobody- the PS3's innards are very differnt to the PS4's)

So there's a brief E3 post for you. Nothing really theologically, but two new consoles will hit the market at the end of the year. So some interesting times ahead! Will Sony regain it's old PS2 glories? Will XBox owners stay loyal and pick up Microsoft's offering warts and all? Will Mario ever get over his new suit that turns him into a cat? Only time will tell. Well, I'm out of here. See you soon!

How the mighty have fallen. Or something.

Some links 'n' junk.

 Playstaion 4
Xbox_One
 Wii_U
E3
Coverage of E3 by thesixthaxis
Coverage of E3 by the Penny Arcade Report

The Future

Hi all! It's me, and I'm back with an update. I've had a bit of a think about the direction I want this blog to go, and I'm here to tell you how it's all going down. First off, I'm going to update this thing from it's current schedule of 'pretty much never' to at least once a month, pehaps more if some interesting stuff comes my way. I've decided that the long winded stuff I've been doing before has been what put me off in the first place, so I'm going to give the 'little and often' approach a try.

To this end, Mirrorgazing will become a slightly different sort of beast. I'm going to expand the things I cover, and group them into four different categories, which will be as follows.

Theology Of...

Yep, I'm still gonna do this when I can, but instead of the 2000 word essays I'm going to keep it short and sweet, or if it's a particularly juicy one, split it up into a multi part thing. And yes, I'm gonna do Dragon Age. Doing my resarch on it now.

Feature

This is where I'll either rant or rave about something. Or just point it out. Could be Calvinism, or the history of games, or whatever.

In the News

Sometimes you come across some interesting stuff in the news. So I'll point it out.

Spotlight on...

This feature will be where I rave about something or someone, or a game that is particularly theologically interesting. Expect Youtube vids and articles and stuff.

So there you have it. With E3 coming up next week, expect some ramblings. See you soon!

What the.. 8 MONTHS!!??

Hello dudes and dudettes! Yep, that's right, it's me with an explanation of just what the heck happened to this interesting idea of a blog. Well, as with many projects I set out on, it's a labour of love which means that when work stuff happens, my projects suffer. As well as this blog, I'd also started a webcomic over at http://zackandgrig.blogspot.co.uk/ ands had intended to run both at the same time, with the cartoon as a weekly update and a monthly post here.

Well, that was the intention anyway. During the time of my last post however, I took a new job which I thought would be good for me all round but instead turned out to be a bad move. Needless to say my projects suffered. Finally, the dust from having to change job twice in a short time has just about settled. I think.

So, if you're still reading this thing or if you stumbled here or Googled or whatever, then pop back, as I'm hoping to return to the wonderful world of blogging and so on fairly soon. I'll be sitting down sometime this week to jot down a vision for this thing and start it up again, especially as I've had a few ideas on the direction I'd like this blog to go. Who knows, might actually be worth reading! Stay tuned, see you soon.

Resident Dogma

Nope, not talking about the Kevin Smith movie. In this post, I'm talking about Capcom's latest foray into the Role Playing genre, Dragon's Dogma. Apart from being the game that's consumed my gaming time for a month or so, Capcom's new title has raised a few curious eyebrows simply for it's interesting concept. You see, Dragon's Dogma is not your average Japanese Role Playing Game, or JRPG. What makes it different? Well gone are the sweeping storylines, myriad main characters and crazy hair of your average JRPG's like Final Fantasy. No, riding on the sucess of games like Skyrim and Dragon Age, Capcom have had a go at making a Western Style role playing game. But guess what? They don't quite manage it. But not for the reason you'd think.

 Now for the most part, Capcom have done a pretty good job of it. Instead of the team focus of many Japanese role players, your character is the main character. The game is about YOUR struggle against the dragon of the game's title. There's no turn based combat here, you hit a button, you whack a beastie. Like Skyrim, you have a large open world to explore, and a ton of quests to do, which can be done for the most part in any order, making it a non linear experience. The landscape of Gransys, the country in which the game takes place, evidently takes it's cue from medieval europe with it's knights and castles. The beasties are not your usual made up baddies, but have been taken from european mythology. Which leads to many a great battle against harpies, griffons and even chimera. All the people you meet speak like they've just spent the day at Warwick Castle.

Gran Soren, the beating heart of all.. hang on, no I'm in England.

 At first glance, you would be fooled into thinking that Dragon's Dogma was made in the West rather than the East. I mean the plot sounds like a lot of the monster myths I read as a kid. Dragon shows up wrecks the place, nicks your heart, you have to kill him to get it back. Heck, stick a damsel in distress in there somewhere and I'm playing the role of England's patron saint. So where does it go wrong? What betrays it's Eastern roots? Well, to do that, I have to go into a bit of depth into the plot. Because the game has only been out a month or so, I have to make a certain announcement.

THE REST OF THIS BLOG POST CONTAINS MASSIVE SPOILERS.

Thinking about it, I should have used a Biohazard sign.

 Ok, so if you're reading this far then you've either finished the game or don't paticulary care about it. Or, you might not play games and just be reading this because you hit the "Next Blog" tab at the top of the screen and carried on reading because you were curious where this was going. Right. Here goes then.

Try as we might, what we think and do is influenced by our culture. Religion has played a role in shaping cultures across the world, influencing architecture, holidays, heck, even swearwords. This comes through in our works of art, movies, literature and even games. The country of Gransys has a major religon, The Faith, who's adherants follow The Maker. So far so western. This faith displaced the worship ofindigenous polytheistic nature gods, much like in europe. So far so good then. But it's the main plot that betrays the game's Japanese roots.

According to game lore, a Dragon shows up, wrecks some stuff, nicks someone's heart. This person is The Arisen, and they are drawn to the dragon to slay it. But later, could be years, decades, or generations, another one will show up, nick someone's heart...you get the idea.

However, there's more to it than that. The Dragon even hints at it during your encounters with him, when he says, "Surpass me, if you would truly be the one to take up the endless chain..." It's only at the end of the game that the Japanese influence comes through. When The Dragon dies, it turns out things are not quite as simple as you thought. All hell breaks loose (literally) and a new challenge awaits you, even though you have your heart back. A great portal has opened to the unknown.Venturing into it your followers, the pawns, who come from a mysterious netherworld called The Rift, will mention that this is a gateway between worlds. One pawn in particular reveals there is a way to acess this gateway, and when you open this portal, the truth about The Dragon and your role as the Arisen is revealed.

So off you pop. You open the portal, dive right in and go to get your answers. You find yourself in a mysterious place, where you meet a bizzare person known as the Senechal, who promises answers to your questions if you can defeat them. Upon defeat, you get to question them.

The Senechal is the keeper of the world, a steward who watches over it. The Senechal was once an Arisen like you. They too defeated the Dragon, they too had to travel through the portal, they too had to defeat the Senechal to get their answers. It is the Senechal that sends the Dragon into the world, to temper the will of an Arisen so that they can take the Senechals place, in a loop that will never end. This is not the only world  this happens in either- there are many worlds, all with a Senechal who sends a Dragon. And who is the Dragon? The Dragon is any Arisen who fails to prove their will to the Senechal.

So, we have multiple worlds, people dying and coming back as something else, and a cylce that goes on forever. This sounds very familiar...

Yep, a lot of the concepts in Dragon's Dogma are Bhuddist. For all it's Western gameplay trappings, it's still a very Eastern game in it's philosophy. It's still an excellent game, (I finished it twice and got all the trophies) but it's Western only in gamepay style. With excellent sales it looks like we may be seeing more of the world of Dragon's Dogma. If you're a fan of RPG's like Monster Hunter, Demon's Souls, Skyrim et al, I'd give it a go. Be prepared to be a little confused by some of the concepts though, as they hail from a different shore.


Linkage

Video of the Last Battle


Dragon's Dogma Wiki on the Senechal


Dragon's Dogma official site

Dragon's Dogma Wiki entry on The Dragon