Dragon Age: Inquisition's Winter Palace offers a haven where nobles ignore chaos

Civil war ravages the countryside, but inside the city walls of Halamshiral's Winter Palace, Dragon Age: Inquisition's nobles gather, apparently unperturbed by the chaos.

The role-playing game's Inquisition will arrive at the Palace in the midst of peace talks and a masquerade.

"The civil war is now at an impasse," level designer Chris Corfe explained in a post on the series' official site. "The faction leaders are at a peace talk at the Winter Palace in Halamshiral, a magnificent Orlesian structure built on ancient elven grounds. The Inquisition is here to find and stop an assassin."

"We are about to attend a costume party," said senior environment artist Ryan Love. "Get your mask on and your dancing shoes ready, but don't let your guard down. There's more to this party than meets the eye."

Grid View

As you can see in the gallery above, Orlesian lore and the area's elves inspired the Winter Palace's architecture, and developers also borrowed from French palaces like Versailles and Buckingham Palace.

Dragon Age: Inquisition is set for an Oct. 7 release on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and Windows PC. Press play below to see a trailer from last E3.