Solas

Solas is an elven apostate hedge mage and an expert on the Fade. He is a companion and a romance option for a female elven Inquisitor in Dragon Age: Inquisition.
== Background ==
Solas grew up in a small village. Before the events that led to the formation of the Inquisition, he spent most of his life wandering the wilderness, and although his pointed ears mark him as one of the Elvhen, he does not recognize himself as a Dalish or a city elf.
Despite having no contact with the Circle of Magi or any Dalish tutors (though he has had contact with clans during his travels), Solas taught himself how to master his magical abilities. Solas' prime interest is in the Fade, happily spending his time dreaming in ancient ruins and learning all there is to learn about what dwells beyond the Veil rather than joining the current Mage-Templar War.
When not on the field with the Inquisitor, he prefers the quiet solace of his own company. Though he may be considered a "Hedge mage" by the Circle of Magi, Solas has some unique magical tricks of his own, such as a form of lucid dreaming to experience the hidden history of areas where the Veil is thin and how to manipulate the rifts in the Veil in unique ways via his knowledge of the Fade. As such, he is more open minded about the Fade and its denizens than most Thedosians, who in contrast have been taught by the Chantry to fear anything related to spirits. 
Fundamentally, Solas believes in cause and effect, wisdom as its own reward and the inherent right of all free willed people to exist. Solas concludes that the many current conflicts in Thedas—mages against Templars, elves against humans, spirits against demons—are little more than the black-and-white reductionist dichotomies which have led to the many tragedies of history. Though he has made attempts to reach out to others—notably Dalish elves, towards whom he is skeptical—to teach them what he has learned of the Fade, he has frequently been derided by both enemies and allies as a liar and a madman. This adds to the impression others sometimes have that Solas does not care about other elves, when in fact he merely fears there is no way to help them in their current state and has grown weary of not being heeded.Noted when confronting Solas about his commitment to the elves, as a Dalish elf on the "disapproval" relationship path.
Indeed, Solas harbors a moderate view of the plight of the elves, and pities those in the Alienage just as he pities those of any race who need help. He sees a world in which people cling to the little they remember and have left because they lack the power to restore it.Per Solas' comments on Abelas and the ancient Sentinel elves.
Solas is known throughout Skyhold as a polite and worldly man whose direction to the mysterious fortress seemed literally miraculous. He provided exactly the information and tools the Inquisition required when they required it most, and his magical knowledge is both unusual and extremely useful. As an elf, Solas neither speaks like nor sounds like Dalish or City elves. Kitchen staff at Skyhold note he eats little but has peculiar requirements about tea. He is also extremely good at Wicked Grace, DiamondbackAccording to Blackwall and chess.According to the serial "Immortal Game" banters between Solas and Iron Bull.
== Involvement ==
=== Dragon Age: Inquisition ===
==== Trespasser ====
=== Dragon Age: Deception ===
=== Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights ===
=== Dragon Age: Dark Fortress ===
=== Dragon Age: The Missing ===
=== Dragon Age: Vows and Vengeance ===
Solas has an agent hire Olen to arrange for the theft of the Eye of Kethisca; knowing Olen will recruit Nadia Carcosa for the theft, who in turn will also rope in her lover, Magister Elio Andante. To entice Nadia, Solas ensured that she would have a lucrative down payment that would triple upon delivery of the Eye to him. Neve Gallus also suspects that Solas alerted the Imperial Templars of the heist and thus orchestrated Nadia and Elio becoming Tevinter fugitives. 
As expected, Nadia and Elio met with Solas at the Silent Plains, where Solas grants Nadia her reward. Nadia in turn fulfills her end of the deal and instructs Elio to give Solas the Eye, but the relic is still magically reacting to Elio, which makes Elio and Nadia nervous. Solas calms everyone down and casts a spell that stabilizes the Eye. Solas explains that the Eye of Kethisca is a powerful artifact connected to the Fade and is tied to Elio's bloodline. Solas says that he was preventing the Eye from falling into the Venatori's hands and that the Eye can amplify Elio's power, since he has established a bond with it. With that in mind, Solas entices Elio by telling him he is a powerful Rift Mage that can use the Eye's power to create the reform he wants. Although Elio was warned that the Eye would destroy the world, Solas corrects him by telling him that some confuse a reckoning with an ending, and what he seeks to accomplish for the world is regeneration. 
Solas takes Nadia and Elio to a cave leading to an ancient chamber where the Veil is fragile. Solas tells them that there are things in motion that require his guidance in order to produce the best possible outcome, but in order to achieve that, he requires Elio's help. The ancient chamber they are taken to was home to many deplorable blood sacrifices that weakened the Veil. When Elio asks if the Eye will help remedy the situation, Solas responds with "More or less." Solas and Elio use the Eye to perform a magical ritual that eventually goes awry. Elio could feel something wrong mid-ritual and wants to stop but Solas presses him to continue and warns him if he stops, the Eye could explode. Elio was seemingly banished to the Fade while the chaotic magic engulfed the chamber. Solas ushered Nadia to flee the danger, apologizing to Nadia for her loss as they do so. Nadia passes out as they escape and wakes up in the middle of nowhere, with Solas having disappeared.Dragon Age: Vows & Vengeance, Episode 1: Once a Thief...
It is later revealed that Solas went to the Anderfels and hired a mining crew to dig something up in the Deep Roads beneath Ramshackle. However, the mining crew was attacked by darkspawn, with Ollie being the lone survivor of Solas' miners.Dragon Age: Vows & Vengeance, Episode 3: A Deadly Descent & Episode 8: All Roads Lead Home
=== Dragon Age: The Veilguard ===
== Quests ==
=== Dragon Age: Inquisition ===
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: (war table)
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=== Dragon Age: The Veilguard ===
== Approval ==
== Romance ==
Solas is a potential love interest for female elven Inquisitors. 
=== Trespasser ===
== Statistics ==
=== Initial talents ===
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Ability trees 	Initially selected abilities
 	
 	
 	
 	
(specialization)	
=== Initial equipment ===
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Weapons	
Armor 	
=== Restricted accessories ===
: (2)
== Quotes ==
*(To the elven mage Lysas in Redcliffe Village) "Sometimes to achieve the world one desires, one must take regrettable measures."
*(To the Inquisitor) "Every great war has its heroes. I'm just curious what kind you'll be."
*(About the Elder One) "No real god need prove himself. Anyone who tries is mad or lying."
* "Spirits wish to join the living, and a demon is that wish gone wrong."
* "Imagine if spirits were not a rarity but a part of our natural world like... a fast-flowing river. Yes, it can drown careless children, but it can also carry a merchant's goods or grind a miller's flour. That is what the world could be if the Veil were not present. For better or worse."
* (To the Inquisitor) "There are few regrets sharper than watching fools squander what you sacrificed to achieve."
* "I saw a young Qunari working in a simple kitchen, baking bread as she was ordered every morning. In every loaf she broke the rules. She’d take a pinch of sugar and fold it into the center, like a secret, and this act of small rebellion brought a shining smile to her face."
* "You would risk everything you have in the hope that the future is better? What if it isn't? What if you wake up to find that the future you shaped is worse than what was?"
* "War breeds fear. Fear breeds a desire for simplicity. Good and evil. Right or wrong. Chains of command."
=== Dialogue ===
* Solas: "Some of my fondest memories were found in crumbling cities long picked dry by treasure seekers. The best are the battlefields. Spirits press so tightly on the Veil that you can slip across with but a thought." 
* Inquisitor: "Any place in particular?"
* Solas: "I dreamt at Ostagar. I witnessed the brutality of the darkspawn and the valor of the Fereldan warriors. I saw Alistair and the Hero of Ferelden light the signal fire...and Loghain's infamous betrayal of Cailan's forces."
* Inquisitor: I've heard the stories. It would be interesting to hear what it was really like."
* Solas: "That's just it. In the Fade, I see reflections created by spirits who react to the emotions of the warriors. One moment, I see heroic Grey Wardens lighting the fire and a power-mad villain sneering as he lets King Cailan fall. The next, I see an army overwhelmed and a veteran commander refusing to let more soldiers die in a lost cause."
== Codex entries ==
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:
== Note texts ==
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== Notes ==
* Solas was written by Trick Weekes, with heavy input from lead writer David Gaider. According to Weekes, writing a character with hidden depths like Solas provided a great deal of both difficulty and opportunity. Earlier drafts of Solas posited him as a much weaker character, and much more prone to lying and deception. He also originally spoke much more frequently about elves.
* Originally, Solas wasn't a romance option for Dragon Age: Inquisition, but according to Mike Laidlaw, Bioware changed his role as a Love Interest when they extended the game's development by a year. This was also an opportunity to increase the basic sadness of Solas' character.
== Trivia ==
* In Elvish, Solas means "pride; to stand tall." According to David Gaider, Pride—in terms of Fade demonology—would be created from a corrupted spirit of Faith. According to Solas, spirits of Wisdom can also be corrupted into demons of Pride.
* Solas' necklace is of a wolf's jawbone.
* There is a city called Solas in the Tevinter Imperium north of the Silent Plains.Codex entry: The Box of Screaming
* Mary Kirby describes him as Scotch bonnet candies.
* Solas is referred to in promotional images as "The Mind."
* Patrick Weekes considers Solas to be in his early to mid-forties.
* Solas is described as knowledgeable, logical and refusing to believe in evil and good.
* Solas is the first romance option to be available only to elven playable characters in the Dragon Age series.
* Solas is referred to by Varric as "Chuckles." This is the same nickname Varric can give a sarcastic Hawke if prompted during Mark of the Assassin DLC in Dragon Age II. 
* Solas' greatest fear is dying alone.According to the tombstone found in the Fade during the quest Here Lies the Abyss.
* Solas disdains tea, particularly caffeinated tea, as it is a stimulant and helps prevent crossing into the Fade during sleep. His dislike of tea also reflects writer Patrick Weekes' hatred of tea. His distaste for tea is known around Skyhold.Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights, The Dread Wolf Take You
* Despite his largely peaceful and thoughtful demeanor, Solas was hot-blooded and cocky as a young man.According to banter between Solas and Blackwall.
* According to Devon, Solas' head was once compared to an egg, as his baldness renders it similarly shiny and round in appearance.Dragon Age: The Official Cookbook: Tastes of Thedas, p. 11
* Solas sometimes speaks in iambic pentameter, and the Inquisitor will always gain approval when replying in kind.
* There is cut dialogue between Solas and Blackwall that is triggered erroniously after being patched. It was removed for contradicting canonStated on the old BSN forum. Transcription by 
**Blackwall: I've just realized I've never seen an elf with a beard.
**Solas: [laughs] You haven't seen many elves then.
* The 2018 Game Awards teaser features Solas in a voice-over, saying, "So, you have found me at last. I suspect you have questions," echoing his words to the Inquisitor in Trespasser. Solas has been speculated to be either or both of the figures in the mural showed at the end of the trailer.
* A Behind the Scenes trailer was debuted on August 27, 2020, and included new concept art and models of various characters and locations, including Solas. In the video, Solas, once again voiced by Gareth David-Lloyd, says "They call me the Dread Wolf. What will they call you when this is over?" As the Inquisitor already knows his identity as Fen'Harel, it seems likely this is addressed to the next protagonist.
* In Gamers for Groceries, Patrick Weekes stated that Solas likes spicy foods and that his favorite Orlesian frilly cake has an Anderfels chocolate interior, with apricot filling, with either ganache or buttercream on top. John Epler jokes that Solas overcomplicates things when he truly just likes vanilla.
== Gallery ==
Solas HODA.PNG|Concept art of Solas for Heroes of Dragon Age
Solas Art of Inquisition.png|Solas concept art
Solas concept art.png|Concept art from Dragon Age: The World of Thedas Volume 2
SolasSpell.png
SolasPromotionalArt.jpg|Promotional CG
Solas profile.jpg|Solas's profile on the official Dragon Age: Inquisition website
Solas.PNG|Solas Romance tile in Dragon Age Keep
Solasattacking.jpg|Solas in combat
InquisitorCassandraSolas.jpg|Solas with Cassandra Pentaghast
Solas going to Skyhold.png|Solas shortly before discovering Skyhold.
Solas in hushed whispers.png|Solas during In Hushed Whispers
Promotional Apostate Solas.jpg|Artwork of Solas as an apostate in Heroes of Dragon Age
Concept art da4 7.png|Solas concept art for the next Dragon Age game
Concept art da4 8.png|Solas concept art
Solas DA4 12-10-20.png|thumb|right|150px|Solas from the DA4 trailer at the 2020 Game Awards
File:Dav solas hair.png|A much younger Solas from Dragon Age: Veilguard
== References ==
Category:Characters
Category:Heroes of Dragon Age characters
Category:Dragon Age: The Masked Empire characters
Category:Dragon Age: Inquisition characters
Category:Trespasser characters
Category:Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights characters
Category:Dragon Age: Dark Fortress characters
Category:Dragon Age: Vows & Vengeance characters
Category:Dragon Age: The Veilguard characters
Category:Elves
Category:Magi
Category:Apostates
Category:Dreamers
Category:Inquisition members
Category:Companions
Category:Dragon Age: Inquisition companions
Category:Love interests
Category:Elven pantheon
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