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I love Nevarra. They have a whole mini-city just to store their dead, where the aesthetic is to cover everything in skeleton motifs and then say ‘hm, not enough bones.’ Need to make a magic bridge? It’s bones, for absolutely no reason other than the vibes. They’ve got mummification down to an art form. Their best known king reportedly lived to be 127, sparred with his grandson on the day of his death, kicked his grandson’s ass, then went to take a nap and died. And you know they mummified him and gave him the fanciest room in the whole Necropolis, as you do.
They historically go ham about dragons, to the point they have winter balls to celebrate dragon hunts and would display dragon parts at the party (they used to use real dragon bits, but rotting dragon smells awful, so now they do replicas of dragon heads and hearts and stuff.) They have fast paced regional dances inspired by how fucking cool dragons are.
They’ve got the biggest and most important mage school that runs the whole dang Circle of Magi (suck it, Orlais.) They have a whole annual event where people just get together to argue philosophy and drink tea. They’re big on historical reenactments. They like ice skating. They’re a bunch of foodies who thinks aesthetics are as important as taste. They invented flatbread (possibly their most important historical contribution.) They love beetles and consider them good luck, and sometimes keep them as pets.
I just think it’s neat!!
From the Dragon Age fan who brought you Wines of Thedas, I now have some cheeses that you can pair them with! I love love love the cultures and climates of Thedas and dreamed up these cheeses to make the world feel a little richer, so feel free to use them in your writing and worldbuilding.
In parentheses, I included the Real World cheese the Thedas head canon was inspired by, when applicable.
Enjoy!
Gwaren chumlavi (norwegian brunost) - This semi-hard cheese is mild, a little tangy, and a little sweet. It is made on the island off the coast of Gwaren in southern Ferelden. Local cheese-mongers boil a mixture of milk, cream and whey until the milk sugars into caramel, giving the cheese its characteristic brown color. Local legend claims it was a favorite of the dwarves who traded with the outpost during the Divine Age. In recent history, it is a favorite staple in the diets of fishermen and sailors who traverse the Frozen Sea, as it travels well and can be sliced easily to add to bread or hardtack.
Ceodre (cheddar) - A hard, off-white cheese, named after the small village it originates from in the Highever region, where a number of caves maintain the humidity and temperature needed for maturing the cheese. Delightfully sharp in flavor, its popularity has let to its spread across the southern countryside and has become a favorite on Ferelden farmsteads. In Orlais, the cheese is similarly loved, but not wanting to be associated with the palate of dog-lords, the Orlesians claim the cultures originated in the caves outside Montsimmard and call it “grottes fromage” or simply “grottes” which translates as “cave cheese.”
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