Frankly, I'm more annoyed of the state of disrepair of Skyhold after all the "repairs" are done than those outfits. I'd have liked to have more casual outfits, yes, but at least as somebody has already pointed out, they're minimally historically theme-accurate.
I agree.
The explanations by Solas and Morrigan did a decent job of filling in a little of the backhistory of Skyhold (and how it it came to be ruined, abandoned and largely forgotten), but even after all the player upgrades are done the keep still has a somewhat unfinished look and feel ... one example of which is the door to the inquisitor's loft left of the throne, which opens into the interior of an unfinished tower with a lower level and doorsways that cannot be accessed. The inquisitor's loft is on the next floor up, but everything below is unfinished.
BTW, a few more real world logistical tidbits (I was fascinated with castles as a teen and did a fair amount of reading on them at the time) ...
The chief problem with building fortresses on highly defensible rocky outcrops or mountain ridges is that it usually involves heavy sacrifices in suppliability (read: access to local resources). In other words, water & food, and commerce, are increasingly hard to maintain, usually in direct proportion to how inaccessible the location is, which increases vulnerability to siege tactics. From a real world standpoint, a place like skyhold would probably have the benefit of glacial runoff, but food, animal forage, and fuel would be a major logistical issue in direct proportion to the size of the resident population (and refugees multiply the problem), and it would actually necessitate far far FAR more effort to defend the lone supply roadway than it would the walls. Also, as someone who's spent some time backpacking above permanent snowline, waste disposal is another logistic they'd need to deal with ... not impossible, but also not easy or pleasant, especially for numerous soldiers and animals. The lack of heating and locally foraged fuel would also necessitate the use of dung fires for cooking, and people would need to co-habit with their food animals for increased warmth and efficient use of space. Also, in the winter months at high altitude, the air is incredibly dry, so everyone would need to slather their hands, feet, faces and lips with rendered animal fat on a regular basis to combat cracking, and people would need to constantly drink things like weak teas all day long to stay hydrated. The cuisine would revolve heavily around foods that were dried, salted, picked or fermented, and the occasional raw treat from freshly slaughtered animals ... rarest and most highly prized of all would be fresh perishable produce from lower elevations. Many authors of fantasy often overlook such gritty strategic concerns, in order to keep their subjects fairly light, simple, cheery and moderately familiar to the readers.
However, this is the fantasy genre where magic works, so we can conveniently handwave most of these sort of concerns aside, and do things like have a pair of rotating duty rosters of mages on cookfire/washwater heating detail, and flash freezing or waste incinerating detail. In fact, I think that would have been cool to see mages in Skyhold earning their keep, and some much needed humility, by helping non-mages with such mundane tasks. I can easily see Solas wandering during one of his protracted monologs on the fade, and occasionally pausing to heat someone's cookpot (or wash water for the camp doctor) in exchange for a brief nod of gratitude. 😉
Ok, sorry for the extended digressive aside ... I was bored.
All historical and theme accuracies aside I hate the casual pijamas. As I had read in a forum post somewhere, the pijamas of command make my male elven Inquisitor look like a stickbug.
@pyrocloud7 wrote:make my male elven Inquisitor look like a stickbug.
That image in my mind is so accurate. The comment just made my day.
@151Society wrote:I agree.
The explanations by Solas and Morrigan did a decent job of filling in a little of the backhistory of Skyhold (and how it it came to be ruined, abandoned and largely forgotten), but even after all the player upgrades are done the keep still has a somewhat unfinished look and feel ... one example of which is the door to the inquisitor's loft left of the throne, which opens into the interior of an unfinished tower with a lower level and doorsways that cannot be accessed. The inquisitor's loft is on the next floor up, but everything below is unfinished.
BTW, a few more real world logistical tidbits (I was fascinated with castles as a teen and did a fair amount of reading on them at the time) ...
The chief problem with building fortresses on highly defensible rocky outcrops or mountain ridges is that it usually involves heavy sacrifices in suppliability (read: access to local resources). In other words, water & food, and commerce, are increasingly hard to maintain, usually in direct proportion to how inaccessible the location is, which increases vulnerability to siege tactics. From a real world standpoint, a place like skyhold would probably have the benefit of glacial runoff, but food, animal forage, and fuel would be a major logistical issue in direct proportion to the size of the resident population (and refugees multiply the problem), and it would actually necessitate far far FAR more effort to defend the lone supply roadway than it would the walls. Also, as someone who's spent some time backpacking above permanent snowline, waste disposal is another logistic they'd need to deal with ... not impossible, but also not easy or pleasant, especially for numerous soldiers and animals. The lack of heating and locally foraged fuel would also necessitate the use of dung fires for cooking, and people would need to co-habit with their food animals for increased warmth and efficient use of space. Also, in the winter months at high altitude, the air is incredibly dry, so everyone would need to slather their hands, feet, faces and lips with rendered animal fat on a regular basis to combat cracking, and people would need to constantly drink things like weak teas all day long to stay hydrated. The cuisine would revolve heavily around foods that were dried, salted, picked or fermented, and the occasional raw treat from freshly slaughtered animals ... rarest and most highly prized of all would be fresh perishable produce from lower elevations. Many authors of fantasy often overlook such gritty strategic concerns, in order to keep their subjects fairly light, simple, cheery and moderately familiar to the readers.
However, this is the fantasy genre where magic works, so we can wave some of these concerns aside, and do things like have a pair of rotating duty rosters of mages on cookfire/washwater heating detail, and flash freezing or waste incinerating detail. In fact, I think that would have been cool to see mages in Skyhold earning their keep, and some much needed humility, by helping non-mages with such mundane tasks. I can easily see Solas wandering during one of his protracted monologs on the fade, and occasionally pausing to heat someone's cookpot (or wash water for the camp doctor) in exchange for a brief nod of gratitude. 😉
Ok, sorry for the extended digressive aside ... I was bored.
Wow...I wasn't expecting Bioware to give us a scientifically/historically accurate Middle Ages-castle...I'd be just glad there wouldn't be a big freakin' hole in the passageway between two of the most important rooms of the castle (Main and War rooms).
What I'm surprised is the amount of damage that remains in Skyhold after the reparation, which was a very big letdown. I mean, you get an amazing cutscene with Solas when you discover it, you begin the reconstruction with all the illusion of the world, and then...."hey, the rebuilding is done! Oh, you say there are still at least two towers with holes in them, half a wall still destroyed, and scaffoldings and disrepair in the acces to your private room? Not my problem!".
Way to break the momentum, guys :P
😕mileyvery-happy:
