hallagold

[hallagold]

Seventh Talon 🐦‍⬛

[hallagold]

i recognize that this is funny to me and only me, and i accept that, however—

[hallagold]

Sleep is a luxury these days. She spends much of her time at the Diamond, allocating resources and designating tasks. These are the responsibilities she enjoys least of all—particularly now, when Treviso and her people suffer. She wants to go to them, to give them the blood from her body and the sweat from her brow. Instead, she is posted here, more often than not, penning letters and calling on favors. She rests only when her body gives her no other option, when her blade wavers in her hand, and she becomes a liability; or, rarely, when Viago insists.

Rook’s presence is felt before she sees or hears him. The atmosphere in the rafters shifts, becoming stark and cold. She does not break from the conversation she is engaged in, but her eyes flit imperceptibly to the source of the chill. Her demeanor is unchanged.

“Porta questa al Quartiere degli Annegati,” she tells the de Riva fledgling in front of her, who looks eager to leave. Then, with an almost somber affection, she dismisses the young girl with, “Stammi bene, Alessia.”

Teia watches her go with an unreadable look on her face, her arms folded behind her back, and then turns to appraise Rook.

“It is dire, Rook,” she does not lie to him. That serves no purpose. “but we are a strong-willed people. Stubborn, some would say,” there is a ghost of a smile on her lips, buoyed by the hope she refuses to let go of.

“How is Minrathous?” she asks, her concern genuine. “I am told the city had not yet recovered from Solas’ ritual—a dangerous position to be in to counter a second incursion.”

Starter for @hallagold

To lead is to make hard choices. There are people who understand that and people who don’t. Usually, the latter are the ones whose fates are decided by the former. His father had taught him that lesson, back when he was a kid. Felix understands it now, and wonders if he’d be proud. It’s not like they talk much, anyway, but does he know that it was his call that saved their city? That it was his call that doomed Treviso?

It doesn’t matter. Not now. Not as he steps into the Cantori Diamond, quiet and broken and filled with survivors, much like the city around it. Filled with Crows who look at him like he’s the enemy. He wants to snarl at them, put them in his place and see what they would do in his stead. Funny how everyone seems to have the right answers after the test has ended.

He walks above a world he won’t interact with, but does not look down. He hears Teia before he sees her, giving orders in a way that he admires. He’s never seen her quiver, always holding everyone’s gaze. He tries that too, but right now, as he steps closer to her, he has to fight the urge to look elsewhere. So Felix squares his shoulders, like his father would tell him to, and finds her dark eyes. “Teia. How…” he hates the way his voice falters. He clears his throat. “How’s the situation? Can I help with anything?”

[hallagold]

riding habits should not be as sexy as they are. maybe the horse girls were on to something…

likeeeeeee

[hallagold]

good morning … i know in my heart if teia wasn’t so disgustingly and irrevocably intertwined with viago, she would be winding around neve like an alley cat and yowling outside her window.

[hallagold]

❥     𝐁𝐎𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐒    [   𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙳 𝙿𝚁𝙾𝙼𝙿𝚃𝚂    ]   .

headcanon prompts with questions based on plants   &   what they represent in flower language .  happy roleplaying !!  ♡

abatina :   is there anything in life your muse has changed their mind about over time   (   due to becoming more educated on the topic ,   certain experiences  ,   etc .   ) ,    or that they   would   change their mind about under certain circumstances ?  

acanthus :   is your muse deceptive ,   or willing to lie or deceive to achieve certain means ?   why or why not ?   

aloe :   how does your muse handle grief ?

amaryllis :   what is something or someone that your muse takes pride in ?   how do they express that pride ?   

anemone :   how does your muse view the world ;   as a cruel   &   unforgiving place ,   a land full of wonders ,   or something in - between ?  where does that world view come from   (   what experiences ,   life lessons ,   etc .   ) ?  

angelica :   where does your muse draw inspiration in life ?   what motivates them ?

apple blossom :   how does your muse go about expressing or not expressing their sexuality ?  

bachelor’s button :   does your muse actively seek romantic companionship ,   or cherish the liberties of being single ? 

basil :   does your muse have a love - hate relationship with anyone or anything ?

bay tree :   does your muse seek glory   &   accolades ,   or do they favour a simpler ,   more personal life ?  

begonia :   how cautious is your muse ?   are they prone to noticing red flags ,   or paranoid to the point of untrusting most everyone ?   why or why not ?  

belladonna :   how does your muse respond to silence ?   do they take comfort in soundlessness ,   or seek to fill the void with noise ?   

bluebell :   does your muse learn from their past ,   or are they prone to repeating the same mistakes ?  

carnation :   what is your muse’s relationship with their gender ?   how do they express or not express this relationship ?  

chamomile :   what is your muse likely to take away from a painful experience ?   are they one to be haunted by adversity ,   or to use what they’ve gone through to become stronger ?  

chrysanthemum :   how does your muse express romantic love ?  how do they feel about love as a concept ?  

daffodil :   is your muse one to be loyal in relationships ,   or are they likely to quickly move from one bond to another ?

daisy :   did your muse ever feel as though their innocence had been lost ?   what moment in their life could be described as the end of their innocence ?  

edelweiss :   what was the bravest moment in your muse’s life ?  are they known to be courageous from then on ?  

fern :   does your muse believe in magic or cosmic forces ,   or are they more likely to think their life is ultimately a matter of their own control ?  

forget - me - not :   has your muse ever forgotten something that is or was important to them ?   are they afraid of forgetting things like that ?  

gardenia :   is your muse one to confess romantic feelings early on ,   or to conceal them for long periods of time ?  

gladiolus :   describe a moment from your muse’s life that they will never forget .

goldenrod :   does your muse believe in luck or fortune ?  why or why not ?   where do they believe these things come from ?  

heliotrope :   does your muse believe in soulmates ?

hibiscus :   how does your muse view the gentler ,   daintier things in life ?   as things worth preserving   &   caring for ,   or things only bound to wither   &   disappear ?  

holly :   how strong is your muse’s sense of intuition ?  are they aware of it ?   do they ever fear that it is only paranoia ?  

hollyhock :   how strong is your muse’s sense of ambition ?  what’s something they strive for in life ?  

hyacinth :   is your muse athletic ?   does it come naturally to them ,   or have they had to work for their physique and/or skill ?  

hydrangea :   how much does your muse value communication in their relationships with others ?  are they prone to being misunderstood ?

iris :   if your muse could convey one last message to someone they have lost or left behind ,   what would it be ?  

ivy :   what are your muse’s views on marriage ?   do they believe it is something strictly for love ,   or an institution rooted in business   &   social benefits ?   do they desire or have they desired to be married ?

lavender :   how easy is it to gain your muse’s trust ?  once their trust is broken ,   how might one go about mending it ?  

lilac :   what was your muse’s childhood like ?   how has their upbringing affected them as they’ve aged ? 

lily :   how does your muse view their mother ?  

lotus :   has your muse ever felt as though they’ve been reborn ?  have they ever desired the feeling of a fresh start ,   or a better understanding of themself and/or the world around them ?  

magnolia :   describe your muse’s relationship with nature   &   the natural world .  

marigold :   is your muse prone to jealousy ?  how might they handle envious feelings ?  

mint :   does your muse view themself as virtuous   &   moral ?  what do these words mean to them ?

nasturtium :   describe your muse’s relationship with their birthplace ,   or homeland .  

oak :   who would your muse consider the strongest person they know ?  

pansy :   does your muse often reflect on their own actions ?   do they ever think a lot about the past ,   and what they could have done differently ?

parsley :   describe a holiday your muse enjoys ,   and why they enjoy it .

peony :   what would a   ‘  happy life  ’   look like in your muse’s eyes ?

poppy :   what comforts your muse ?

rhododendron :   is your muse receptive to warnings   &   advice given by others ?

rose :   how much does your muse value other people ?   do they wish to have many friends ,   lovers ,   and/or associates ?   are they an easy person to love ?

sage :   what is your muse’s legacy ?   what do they want to be remembered for   &   what might they actually be remembered for ?  

salvia :   is your muse possessive over people or things that matter a lot to them ?  how do they express that possessiveness ,   or lack thereof ? 

snapdragon :   is your muse merciful ?  why or why not ?

southernwood :   how seriously does your muse take themself ?   do they prefer a solemn   &   intellectual atmosphere or do they delight in jokes   &   banter ?  

sunflower :   what brings your muse the most joy in life ?  

tulip :   how does your muse view people in general ?  

violet :   how does your muse respond to betrayal ?

willow :   how does your muse handle sadness   &   depression ?

zinnia :   how has the loss of fallen comrades and/or loved ones affected your muse ?   has it taught them anything or given them any new perspectives ?

[hallagold]

house cantori specialized skills

espionage

reconnaissance

misdirection / distraction (to weaken larger targets)

infiltration

politics & networking

house cantori is the most social of the crow houses by design. their crows are sent out to blend into society at all levels and infiltrate. they have members in every major northern stronghold.

they are the intelligence-gathering house. they are the house who knows someone who knows someone. everything and everyone is their business. no one has better trained spies than house cantori.

they have excellent assassins, of course, but with the additional benefits of trading in power and information.

important distinction: seduction isn’t a specialty; and that’s because teia refuses to teach fledglings what caterina taught her.

if an adult member comes to her to be taught, she will teach them, but seduction as a tool / art is never taught to those not of age. this was a subconscious choice on teia’s part, because deep down, she knows how much damage it did to her.

some minor skills taught in house cantori: multilingualism, disguises (accents), reading people (pinpointing “tells”)

[hallagold]

how teia recruits for house cantori.

teia was always trying to make the others like [viago]. she grew up on the streets. to her, joining the crows was akin to finding a family. caterina was the mother she never had. giuli had been her jealous sister. emil and bolivar, the rich and drunk uncles respectively. - 'eight little talons,' tevinter nights

the crows are not a family, but maybe they could be—

at least as far as teia is concerned.

though teia is never one to deny an opportunity for a particularly gifted fledgling regardless of their background, she has earned a reputation for the children she takes for her house.

children of the streets without any known kin are always first on her list, as she was one herself. while she knows she cannot house and train them all, she does so more than any other house. she looks for children with natural talents but has also been known to take in prospects other crows deem too weak to train due to their poor health.

children of abusive families are next. as teia most often bids for contracts involving the deaths of deplorable men, this frequently allows her to become privy to when her marks’ cruelty falls to their families. when children of noble families go missing, following the death(s) of one or more parents, teia is a likely culprit.

unintentionally (or not, who's to say?), teia's house has a very high queer population. this may be due, in part, to the two previous points, as - unfortunately - lgbtq+ kids in thedas have a higher risk of becoming unhoused or facing abuse.

other than that, she has eyes and ears out, looking for promising candidates. she takes maintenance of house cantori very seriously, despite her outward demeanor. they are her family, and she feels both responsible for and protective of them.

that being said...

all betrayals end in death. no exceptions. anyone who puts the house in danger will die for it, and teia will do it herself. traitors will be lucky if they're given a quick, clean death. otherwise, they are hunted like prey, psychologically terrorized, and then killed.

[hallagold]

teia & viago watching illario get his ass handed to him in a failed coup attempt acting like they haven’t been planning one for second and third talon for years at that point but crow!rook or de riva protégé’s stunt pushed the timeline back:

[hallagold]

Oh maaan I colored something for funsies and there’s a background?? You know it’s serious :’3 Anyway, I’ve said it many times now but Teia and Viago are adorable.

[hallagold]

@adderblack says, "We need to investigate. Figure out what we're dealing with before we rush in and make things worse."

They have not been back from Vyrantium for five minutes, and she is already calling for war. 

Her fury cuts hard lines in her face which seats a heavily furrowed brow.  She stalks the length of her dining room with the gait of an apex predator, tail lashing and hackles raised.  Her blood is running hot, and she can see nothing but red at the end of her knives.  Teia violently wrenches her brown leather gloves from her hands and slams them on the rosewood table.

“We need to investigate nothing,” she snaps, showing teeth, as she begins to hastily unbutton her riding coat.  A member of her staff retrieves it before it meets the same fate as her gloves. “They have taken Treviso,” each word is punctuated by a furious gesticulation until she whirls around to glower at him—eyes of fire melting gold. “Viago,” his name is a weapon as good as any knife she could spear into her dining table right now. “We rally the houses, and we put an end to it now.” Her expression dares him to deny her the pound of flesh that is rightfully theirs.

“Our home, our city,” she reminds him, her voice raised.  When she sees more of her staff pour into the room, she must take a steadying breath before she says, “Leave us.  Please.  Now.” She is never short with them and would, inevitably, apologize once her temper has cooled; however, for the time being, she can think of nothing else but the capture of Treviso.

“While we were not even here, Viago,” Teia clasps her hands together to mitigate the urge to express her anger on something inanimate.  She can think of nothing but retaliation.  How many people did the Antaam harm or kill during the incursion?  For every Antivan life stolen, she will demand five of her enemies’. “How did they know?  How did they know?” Without even realizing it, her incessant pacing has taken her back to him—close enough, anyway.  Though her anger does not diffuse, his proximity is enough to get her to loosen her hands.

“An informant,” a realization spoken in a cold, flat affect as she kisses her teeth.  She looks to Viago, shaking her head slowly. “That is how they knew.  There is no other explanation.”

[hallagold]

DRAGON AGE: THE VEILGUARD PROMPTS PT 1 *  assorted dialogue from the first hour of the video game

somebody's gotta stop him... and that's where you come in.

so... where were we?

our story begins where all great stories begin: with the seediest bar in town and a missing contact.

let's try this again.

you think you can come into my bar and make demands?

i'm not leaving until i know where she is.

be ready to talk by the time i get to you.

darling... you're adorable.

for the record, there was probably an easier way to do that than fighting an entire bar.

what'd i have to worry about? you were there watching my back.

break's over.

something must have gotten them riled up.

should we be in more of a hurry to get out of here?

i have to talk him down.

are they after us?

we don't have time to get arrested.

you're safe now. get inside and bar the doors.

there are a lot of scared people out here.

what about you two? are you okay?

have you got my gear?

can you get us there, [name]?

this is nowhere near my neighborhood.

eyes up! we've got company!

used to fight these assholes every day.

i'm back on the job.

isn't that a coincidence?

you said you had a lead?

that's where your man is hiding.

you told me he was working alone.

i'll take it from here.

take care of the team for me.

hope i'm not interrupting.

let's buy him some time.

i have taken precautions to minimize the damage.

people are dying right now.

you need to listen. please.

people are always dying. it is what they do.

shit. we need a better plan.

what if we disrupt the ritual?

the storm could tear you apart.

you came a long way and made a valiant effort.

this story does not end in my downfall.

you have no idea what you have done.

i know what i did.

i was not destroying the world.

why am i here?

had i the power to control you, i would have already used it.

get out of my head!

i do not want to be here any more than you do.

what are you talking about?

thanks to you, though, i am now trapped.

you were innocently doing nothing when we came along.

[name] always said you'd have a big explanation for why none of this was your fault.

i am certain you will be fine.

you don't get to sit back and look smug!

what else could i possibly do?

you will soon see what i was trying to prevent.

this is your responsibility now.

look who's still with us!

trust me. i've had worse. gonna take more than a flesh wound to stop me.

turns out, you were right.

the plan did go a little wrong.

i should have come up with a better plan.

you worked with what you had. and you succeeded, by the way.

[name]. you've got this. i've seen your work.

there's a reason i dragged you into this whole mess.

you're clever. adaptable. and you don't know when to quit.

sorry, i didn't mean to barge in.

i really need to look around.

we should talk about things.

i'll work with it. you know me.

maybe our paths haven't crossed, but i know our work has.

we've just got to start somewhere.

this is a dangerous job. everyone knew that signing on.

you don't slow down for much, do you?

let's stop worrying about me and go do that.

come get me when you're ready to go.

you're sure that wasn't just a dream?

i'm not certain of anything.

we're not out of danger.

we need to get out there and stop them.

we can't just sit here and do nothing.

we need to investigate. figure out what we're dealing with before we rush in and make things worse.

this time, if we see a shot, we take it.

you sure you're up for this?

it's not working! i can't contain it!

you all were supposed to stop him.

it didn't go as cleanly as we hoped.

things just got a whole lot worse.

let's just say they weren't known for their kindness.

you're in no condition to fight.

[hallagold]

i was talking to the gang about how teia is very much a shadow ophelia—essentially, a reframing of ophelia’s narrative if she was given the agency to exact vengeance against the men who hurt her.

femininity not as a weapon but a lure. they were always going to flock to her, anyway. sometimes justice is violence.

ophelia’s madness was never madness at all but pain that outgrew her.

so, what if ophelia had the means, the tools, and the time to act with surgical precision. these men she is hired to kill are the overgrowth, and in their absence, the wound they leave allows the pain to stabilize and begin to heal. flowers through the cracks of stone, you know?

mostly she just kills people because she gets paid for it, though, and because she likes it.

but sometimes.

[hallagold]

The seventh talon, Andarateia Cantori

[hallagold]

[insert header image i don't hate]

a private, highly selective, and mutually exclusive rp blog for ANDARATEIA CANTORI ( head of house cantori & seventh talon of the antivan crows ) of the dragon age franchise. dash-only. written by vae. 21+

heavily affiliated with @adderblack, @dracaeons, @regardsent, & @chanticle.

biography (wip) | rules (temp) | house cantori