BioWare's Art Director reveals eight pieces from the earliest version Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

Matt Rhodes, BioWare's art director, has shared the first concept art for Dragon Age The Veilguard with X: "The Every App." The eight pieces date from 2014, long before Dragon Age: Inquisition even hit the shelves.

Rhodes wrote: "I started sketching cool things that could come next in 2014, even before Dragon Age: Inquisition shipped." These quick mockups explored the potential of some unfinished story lines.

The first four pieces Rhodes published show scenes of conflict in Thedas. My favorite shows what appears to be the Chantry Divine commanding a battle from a ship's deck. A Qunari with a beard (maybe an older Iron Bull?) In another, a group of Tevinter-looking creatures plots over a map. In a third, nobles bow before the Inquisitor. The fourth image shows casteless dwarfs stepping out of the tent city into the sun, with their eyes covered and their gaze aimed upwards in fear. This could be their first time on land.

Solas has taken refuge with the Dailish Elves. One of the images shows the bald jerk bringing an Elven god out of the Fade as it happens in the final match.

In a third posting, Rhodes shared his "first piece of real concept art" that would eventually become The Veilguard. Rhodes said, "We knew that we were going to Tevinter so this was our first real attempt to flesh out the concept." This early mock-up shows a lot about the final game's Minrathous.

I love these pieces and I'm happy with Dragon Age 4 that we got. But I was heartbroken when Rhodes said "we had momentum" about the early development of what would become The Veilguard. Could BioWare's decade have been less fraught if this momentum hadn't somehow been lost or stymied along the way? I appreciate this kind of behind-the-scenes look.