Hey! :) Popping by again because I had a question! Do you happen to have screenshots of the Black City in Inquisition? Solas says it’s really close in Here Lies the Abyss but I wasn’t able to make it out. And it’s not visible when you’re with Morrigan in the Fade. Thanks so much!!
Your “requestions” are always welcome, @inukagome15! I always find something fascinating when I am working on your asks. And this one was no exception. :)
Months ago, I flycammed over to what appears to be the Black City in both Here Lies the Abyss and in The Final Piece. I was disappointed with how little there was to see and how little the Black City resembled what we could see of it in Origins. I grabbed a couple of pics for the post I was working on (whichever one that was!), closed the cam, and didn’t think much more about it…until now.
Now I think I’ve got some pics and info that is worth sharing.
First, here are the best of the screenshots I have.
Solas is looking at the pillars on the right side of this image, but if you zoom in on this area with the flycam, there is nothing in that direction of any size or seeming importance. Certainly not the Black City “almost close enough to touch”.
Slightly to the left, however, is a towering structure that is usually identified as the Black City. What we can see in Inquisition is a shell of appears to be a large complex, a tower reaching to the heavens of even the Fade. But why does it look so different than it does in Origins? I asked myself this question several times and dismissed it as another Redcliffe situation, i.e. the developers wanted to update the look of the Black City.
Today, I thought of a much more satisfying explanation.
The Black City doesn’t look like the Black City because we are exactly what Solas says, “almost close enough to touch it.” In the mage origin and the DA comics, the Black City looks like the image above. A large floating island, visible from any point of the Fade. That is not what it looks like in DAI because we are actually on the island! Not inside the Black City, but as close as any one has come since the Magisters invaded the Fade.
One last bit of interesting information, you can actually see this Black City in The Last Piece, but only if you have enough height (i.e. the flycam) to see over the statue of Dirthamen’s left shoulder.
We are literally seeing the Black City from either ends of its floating island. And both seem to be very connected to Dirthamen. An interesting idea to pursue in the future.
Thanks for the ask!
-MM