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Excerpts from The Herald's popular "Finals Frenzy" podcast:
The Herald: Welcome to yet another round of our ever popular, ever relevant Finals Frenzy series hosted by the one, and only, Diana Semper.
Adaar: Woo! *Muffled applause*
The Herald: Why thank you, Salitaa. Now for the initiates, Finals Frenzy is a space for senior SU students to commiserate and vent about their final projects, while offering solid advice, for all you wee lumps fretting about things like letter grades and the nebulous "future". We also demystify any misconceptions, like--that horrid urban legend that the Art school has it easier then the Arts and Sciences school, or that running three laps around the bronze Nuggalope counter-clockwise in the quad will help freshman pass Writing the Essay. Also, as a cheerful reminder: we've got three weeks of crunch time before doomsday is upon us--especially for the poor sods in Thaumaturgy 101, Maker have mercy.
So now that we've got that blabber out of the way, I am here to introduce today's guest--the lovely, Salitaa Adaar! She's a rising senior over at the Art school, majoring in Illustration with a minor in Suffering for having a pretty bad procrastinating habit.
Adaar: Ouch. But accurate...
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The Herald: ... So now that we know a bit about why you're far behind, I just wanted to ask: how did you find the inspiration for this project on so short a time frame? Beyond having to hand something in ASAP.
Adaar: Ha, well, there's the obvious: all kossith kids play pretend and cast themselves as Reginn Adaar. And there's so many stories about her to choose from, too; you could play out the scenes of the Inquisitor besting the schemers at Halamshiral, or the Inquisitor's triumphant march on Adamant Fortress... But most importantly--or well, to me anyway--there are stories of the Inquisitor, sat upon her throne and passing judgment, with a babe clutched in her arms. According to historical record, she had one child with her lover, and it's just... it just gets to me that amidst all these stories about the Inquisitor and all the fantastic, martial things that she did, there's also that image of this powerful person basically taking her daughter "to work", sparing a brief moment of tenderness in the midst of such history-making decisions, and I couldn't let go of that image.
And then it hit me: okay so we all gush about the ballads where the Inquisitor punches a bear in the face, but what about those moments when she wasn't doing the impossible? When the greatest victory would be like, I don't know, lounging in bed, or just sharing a smile with a loved one? And that was the inspiration for this entire set of just, the mundane moments in their full glory...
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The Herald: If I may, Salitaa, I need you to know that this piece, with the Iron Bull and the Inquisitor? It's linked on the bottom for you guys to see--but seriously, this is my absolute favorite. There's so much affection in so small a gesture, and I cannot believe you when you say you kind of whipped this up together in a fit of desperation over the course of a few hours but seriously -- this is gorgeous Salitaa! Simply stunning!
Adaar: Oh... It's my favorite too, but don't tell my Mum that...
The Herald: Oh? Why?
Adaar: Go ahead and laugh but: She's absolutely appalled that I dared to draw the Inquisitor with armpit hair.
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The Herald: So, one last question before we wrap up our little interview here: I noticed that you only have two representations of Signy Adaar--one as a babe facing the viewers, but the other one, where she's older and in the field of yellow flowers she's facing away. Now I'd like to believe there's a reason behind that and not to compensate?
Adaar: To be painfully honest, it's a bit of both. First the sketch just worked with her facing away but then I thought about it a bit more... And you know, there are plenty of Adaars.
The Herald: And you're an Adaar.
Adaar: Right, but I do not think I am related by blood to the Inquisitor. She only ever had the one child, and the stories around Signy Adaar do not have the same plethora of primary sources to back up any claims, so we can only imagine what she ultimately did with herself. But you know, I think Signy was ahead of her time in keeping well off the radar of the public eye; either that or the missing historical record is divine intervention.
The Herald: Ahead of her time? How so? And how does this relate at all to my question?
Adaar: Patience! The Dragon Age was an era of surprisingly widespread literacy; there's so many records of the Age's heroes but nothing on their children? I call bullshit. And any historian who tries to use Lord Varric Thetras as a primary source is off their rocker; he deliberately skewed the truth. So yes, there's some shenanigans there, and there's whole history and archaeology teams intent on unearthing why there's a blank--but that space has also left ample opportunity. I mean think about it: there's a couple of burly humans out in Ostwick who claim Signy as a long-lost grandmother, plenty of Adaars who are sure they have long-lost artifacts of theirs... There's actually an elvhen family that claims to be direct descendents of the Adaars, too, and it's all just brilliant: the Chantry wanted to unify the people and hundreds of years later, they got it--the Inquisitor is not the Chantry's symbol, but our Inquisitor, however wrong or right we are about it.
So that's how I wanted to end the series, not with a bang--with Signy Adaar performing some grand feat of magic in the same way as her mother--but with that quiet gentleness of the everyday...