Thora & Solas
Following the events of Here Lies the Abyss
Solas: You have been quiet since we made camp.
Thora: Just… thinking.
Solas: About the Warden?
Thora: I don’t know how I’m going to look her husband in the eye and tell him what happened.
Solas: It will not be easy, but I believe he will be understanding. She was a Warden, and a warrior before that, death is so much a part of their life that it is written in their motto.
Thora: Knowing it’s a possibility doesn’t make facing it any easier.
Solas: No, it does not. The world is less without her in it, let us hope the Wardens follow by her example.
Solas: What dwarven funerary rites are there?
Thora: I only know what I’ve read, but they can get extravagant, grand ceremonies where bodies are committed to the earth, that sort of thing. Though they can be simple as just a few words spoken over the body.
Solas: What words are they?
Thora:Atrast tunsha. Totarnia amgetol tavash aeduc. (sighs heavily) But it doesn’t matter, dwarves that die on the Surface never return to the Stone, no matter how many words you speak over them. I imagine it’s no different in the Fade.
Solas: I see.
Thora: Maybe the Maker will step in. Maybe… I… I don’t know.
Solas: Neither do I, but it is comforting to consider.
During the events of Wicked Eyes & Wicked Hearts
Thora: None of this seems right.
Solas: It is difficult, adjusting to court life.
Thora: I more mean what we’re doing. Seems no matter what, people are gonna get hurt.
Solas: Do you regret promising Empress Celene our aid?
Thora: No, I– it’s just like picking if I want to get hit by a hammer or a sword. Either way, it’ll hurt.
Solas: At times, it’s simply about choosing whichever you will survive.
Following the events of Jaws of Hakkon
Solas: You have accomplished in a few short weeks what some Avvar strive for their whole lives. Though you were but one to earn a legend-mark for the raid on Hakkon’s fortress, I overheard several boasting about their own newly-earned names.
Thora: They deserve a little boasting. We couldn’t have done it without them.
Solas: I suspect not. Shall I refer to you now as “Inquisitor First-Thraw”?
Thora: Only when I need to seem impressive.
During the events of the Descent
Solas: You believe in the Stone, Thora, do you not?
Thora: Yeah. I mean, the Stone speaks to us– or, not me, but people like Valta. That’s more than most people have.
Solas: Then what is your opinion of these Titans?
Thora: I– I mean, it’s not so different, is it? It’s something bigger than us, something my people can hear. Maybe we didn’t remember it exactly right. It just sounds like we forgot their name, which is a bit embarrassing.
Thora: But there’s so much we can learn. I wonder if the Shapers will listen to us, when this is over. This is earth-shaking stuff. Literally.
Thora & Vivienne
After the events of Jaws of Hakkon
Vivienne: I would perhaps not have Josephine add “First-Thaw” to your official titles, darling. It sounds… moist.
Thora: I like it. Sounds like… a force of nature, like the first warm spring wind after a long winter.
Thora: Besides, I’m not sure you have much of a leg to stand on, Iron Lady.
Vivienne: (tuts) I suppose it is better to own it now so that it cannot be used against you later.
(after recruiting Sigrid Guldsdotten into the Inquisition)
Vivienne: An abomination? Do you really think this is prudent, Inquisitor?
Thora: Prudence had nothing to do with it, but now that you mention it I think there’ll be people interested in what she’ll have to say.
Vivienne: That is assuming she doesn’t tear their tongues out, first.
Thora: We could use that, too.
Thora & Cole
During the events of Wicked Eyes & Wicked Hearts
Cole: You’re not wearing a mask.
Thora: Josephine and I talked about it, we thought it’d send a greater message than if we all showed up in dresses and masks.
Cole: I didn’t mean one you put on your face.
Thora: Oh, you were– sorry.
Cole: She is small against the sun, but it lifts your heart to see her. Belief floods your veins, drowning doubt. Whatever we were before, we are now the Inquisition.
Cole: (after a pause) But, you’re also not wearing the other kind of mask.
Thora: (laughs)
During the events of Jaws of Hakkon
Thora: So Ameridan had a spirit friend, too.
Cole: It waits, patient. Watching from behind the curtain. The dwarf can’t see, hear, or touch it, but it loves her, too.
Thora: I suppose the two of us might be a first. I guess I’d never thought about it that way.
Cole: Most dwarves are tied to something else. Spirits can see them, but it’s… harder. Like looking through fogged glass.
Cole: I’m glad we’re friends.
Thora: (laughs) Me too, Cole.
Cole: Can we go back to the Augur’s house?
Thora: You can go now, if you like.
Cole: No, I’m needed here. My daggers don’t swing themselves, but I’d like to go back later, if we could.
Thora: Of course. Next time we’re in the hold we’ll go together.
Cole: Thank you. He understood me. I can be me, and he knows. No explanation, just me. It was nice.
Cole: The stone chips, pointed tips fall to the earth. Sandpaper smooths away the jagged edges. They forgot Ameridan. Everything but his name, gone.
Cole: When spirits forget, it’s to keep themselves clean. The Chantry forgets to make themselves bigger. Like the Fear at Adamant.
Thora: Did you just compare the Chantry to the Nightmare?
Cole: (unconvincingly) No…
Thora & Dorian
During the events of Wicked Eyes & Wicked Hearts
Thora: You know what I keep wondering?
Dorian: What’s that?
Thora: They have a whole table of hors d'oeuvres, but half the people here are wearing masks over their mouths. Who’s eating them?
Dorian: Maybe it’s a trap. Only we can eat them, so they can see what pigs we are.
Thora: Do you think we could take some home?
Thora & Valta
During the events of the Descent
Thora: What’s the Shaperate like?
Valta: It’s the sort of place you could get lost in forever. There’s so much in it, I don’t think there’s anyone alive who could know it all.
Thora: It sounds amazing.
Valta: It is, but it has problems. Every so often you get a noble who wants to erase some embarrassing family history, or worse, sometimes the Shapers themselves.
Thora: Does it happen often?
Valta: If it happens at all, it’s too often.
Valta: Are dwarves respected on the Surface? We have so much about Orzammar, and the lost thaigs, but almost nothing about you Surfacers. I’ve always been curious.
Thora: Depends on what kind of dwarf you are. People like Varric, the merchants guild, they might be unpopular with some, but they give people stuff they need– or want. The Carta are about as well-loved here as I hear they are in Orzammar.
Thora: Mostly, we do okay. It’s not like the elves, or the mages, but… it seems everywhere I turned growing up, there were always people telling me what I can or can’t be.
Valta: And here you are.
Thora: Yeah, but I never wanted to be Herald of Andraste growing up. I would’ve settled for a Chantry Sister.
