Dragons might be more intelligent than they are currently thought to be, although we can't even be certain that the old gods ever existed. If they did exist and the archdemons really are the corrupted old gods, archdemons are still far more intelligent than other dragons so I'm not sure that we could necessarily determine how intelligent dragons are by looking at archdemons/old gods, although it would be an indication that they are probably more intelligent than a lot of other animals. If the Dragon really has a level of intelligence that is compatible with those kinds of plans, I would say that trying to get people to start a religion around herself makes her kind of a megalomaniac. Going on a rampage in order to strengthen her religion isn't helping her case with me. (Although maybe she's trying to make things better for dragons in which case I'd think she's pretty cool :D. I doubt that they'd take the game in that direction, but you never know.) Anyways, my wardens thought that she'd be fairly likely to go on a rampage eventually and weren't going to give her extra power, they didn't believe that she had plans to start a religion. Personally, I saw making her more powerful as more of a threat to others, but other people could see it differently. OK, that makes sense. I agree that a large amount of lyrium alone wouldn't create a weak spot in the veil. If it went along with a lot of blood and death in the area it might contribute though. A lot of killing/spilled blood in a lyrium rich area might also be more likely to create a weak spot in the fade, although Orzammar has seen plenty of fighting. Maybe the lack of a weak spot in the fade has to do with the dwarves being magic resistant/not magical, the blood spilled there might be more magic resistant and might not have the same effect even in a lyrium rich area. If tears in the veil are caused by spirits crossing into the fade when people die, it might take dwarve's spirits longer to travel there and not have the same kind of sudden effect that a blood mage would wish for. Dwarves don't enter the fade as easily as others.They might also be less likely to enter the fade all at once and put enough strain on the veil to tear it. Still, I think the most likely option for the Guardian's existence is that the Guardian's life is prolonged by the ashes. I don't see this as a "bad guy" thing to do, since he spends his entire life protecting them in loyalty to Andraste's memory. He could've done more productive things with his time and even used them to cure some non-nobles (I think Andraste would've been down with that), but c'est la vie. I'm terrible at sports so I'm lucky we're doing this instead!