(no subject)

[camwyn]

Was poking around on RationalWiki today. Clicked on the article about the Illuminati. First line mentions the society being founded by Adam Weishaupt.

*wheels turn in head*
*tiny clicking noises can be heard*

One wonders just whether the folks at Bioware named the Grey Warden home fortress 'Weisshaupt' and then proceeded to dot the Dragon Age setting with people who distrusted the Grey Wardens and their secrets and their weird powers as a nod to the man.

Comments

[silveraspen]

... oh, really. I am fascinated by this!

[camwyn]

It wouldn't be the series' only reference to conspiracy-theory-related stuff, just the biggest one. They've done a number of nods to things like 'the streets of Washington DC / London / insert city name here are laid out in an occult sigil for an occult reason'- see Kirkwall and the various codex entries you can find around the city that strongly imply Kirkwall's irrational layout and supernatural weirdness were created on purpose- and they've got a whole minor sidequest in DA: Inquisition's Avvar Basin DLC where you find 'Secrets of Thedas' stuff that starts off sounding perfectly reasonable within the rules of a magical setting, only to veer sharply into the weird, most notably a claim involving secret shapeshifting lizard-men or snake-men promulgated by 'Ser Ycke'. Somebody at Bioware knows their conspiracy lore. I'm just curious as to whether Weisshaupt as home of the Society With Weird Secret Mojo That Won't Tell Anybody About Their Initiation Rites Or Why They're The Only Ones Who Can Stop Blights was a deliberate reference to the real-world Illuminati, or a coincidence that someone with Conspiracy Lore pointed out and they decided to run with it.

[autographedcat]

We could ask David Gaider. He's often responsive on Twitter.