#Caterina dellamorte

[ode-to-fury]

Thinking about post veilguard rookanis like I always am and today I'm mulling over Illario and Caterina's reactions because like... there's been very many discussions about whether Caterina would like/dislike accept/not accept Rook and I don't think it's that simple. I think at first she assumes it's casual like it's always been for Illario because surely Lucanis wouldn't be that stupid? Surely he wouldn't fall in love and give himself that big of a weak spot? And then... Rook sticks. They get engaged, they're planning a wedding, Rook is already helping with First Talon things and it seems like that is actually the one thing making it bearable for Lucanis. And how the fuck is she supposed to handle that? Her poor little boy... is Rook good enough to stay alive for him? Should she kill Rook now to avoid heartbreak in future? Lucanis... what have you done?

And then Illario... man what would Illario think? Here is his cousin who has never shown any interest in the myriad of people Illario has seen show interest in him (because lets face it Lucanis is a handsome man there had to have been some Crows going 👀👀) so of course when Rook happens he probably thinks like oh it's a first love infatuation thing I remember when that happened to me. Three months from now I'll have the old Lucanis back and then... thag doesn't happen? Rook is a Dellamorte now. For so long it's only been the three of them and now... Cousin, you're really in love? I just like thinking about the idea that both of them don't really click how deeply Rookanis care for each other until it's way too late to do something about it

[dellamortethelesser]

my moots are caterina posting so i wanna post. is this a safe space for me to post about caterina dellamorte without having to give a caveat and acknowledge that child abuse is bad. we know child abuse is bad this is a fictional character. the crows all kill people for money let's be so for real.

anyways i love that there tends to be two schools of thought about her: that she treats the boys the way she does because she did the same thing to her kids and they still failed or she was softer on her kids and she won't make the same mistake this time. it's really juicy either way.

she HELD ON to the position of first talon DESPITE that tragedy happening. she's a massively resilient, political, and intelligent woman and can we really say that what she did DIDN'T properly prepare lucanis and illario for the world of assassins? they're both filling valuable niches (lucanis specifically being trained to kill mages, illario being so good with people and politically savvy) that it gives them more worth being alive than dead if they get caught. WHICH LUCANIS DID. AND THEY DIDN'T KILL HIM.

they don't call her 'nonna' but teia does which is also. doing something insane to my head. whatever. im always thinking about her btw you literally cannot remove her from the dynamic about Why Things Are The Way They Are in the Dellamorte household. which is why i get a little frustrated when i see 300 headcanons on keeping my blorbo beebus away from lucanis... like she probably has a reason for that beyond mean old lady. to me.

she can't take responsibility for illario's fate bc she still loves him and makes lucanis do it by making him first talon. oh my poor boy.

[calluna-dekarios-dellamorte]

I feel like you don't get to be a *real* Dellamorte until she chases you with her shoe.

You can't tell me the boys didn't each get a whack when they were dumb teens doing dumb teen things (like, say, wrecking that boat together?).

Okay I get that a lot of Rooks don't get along with Caterina (for good reason) but what about a crow Rook after many years of supporting her favourite grandson, gets to call her nonna

Maybe they made her tea/coffee, set it down without a word, and when Caterina spares a glance from her papers to say "Thank you, Rook," they're so stressed about some Crow business of their own they just go "you're welcome, nonna," and carry on to go do their own work

It's exactly once and once only, but they get away with it and everyone but Rook and Caterina are literally just *surprised pikachu face*

Teia mentions it later and Viago bluescreens. His??? Crow???? Called previous First Talon Caterina Dellamorte GRANDMA??? AND IS STILL ALIVE??? not for long he's about to whoop their ass

[raven-6-10]

Yes, yes, a Rookanis Arranged Marriage AU set pre-canon is deliciously angsty due to both Lucanis' capture and Rook de Riva's exile.

But.

Have you lot considered an AU where Caterina decides that if she's going to make Lucanis the First Talon, she might as well get him a fiancée too, and why not kill several birds with one stone by picking the de Riva girl? A reward for Rook for breaking Lucanis out of the Ossuary, a way to tie Houses de Riva and Cantori to the Dellamortes, a potential way to control Viago's ambitions and a connection to this Veilguard everyone is talking about.

So she just announces the betrothal at the same time she hands over the Crows to her grandson. Who's going to contradict her? Nobody! They can't without insulting several different very powerful people and exposing themselves to retaliation.

If you want to make it extra angsty, you can have Rook and/or Lucanis who are in a relationship with someone else already and now they don't know how to break this new development to their love interest. Or Rook and Lucanis who were interested in each other but not in an actual relationship, so now everything is awkward and they don't know if the other is genuinely interested or just going along with what Caterina said.

[basedonconjecture]

Do I have any textual basis for this headcanon? No. However, I firmly believe Caterina is the type of grandmother who was very particular about how her grandsons presented themselves appearance-wise, specifically of the well-groomed and clean-shaven variety. Hence, peeled clean-shaven (and likely short-haired) Lucanis to Illario’s long hair and very-important-to-his-characterization five o’clock shadow. We talk a lot about Lucanis’ rebellions, but I like to believe that was part of Illario’s, personally. To that end, Lucanis choosing to keep his own beard and/or the mullet to any degree post-VG, especially as First Talon, feels significant to me as small as it is by comparison. Like acting as First Talon while also presenting himself as the person he’s become (as an active choice as opposed to simply letting it continue) rather than who he used to be or how his grandmother would prefer it. Not a rebellion, per se, but an important (if subtle) external reminder from Lucanis to the people around him that he has been changed by his experiences and isn’t going back.

[veilguard-deeznuts]

The Dellamorte family (regarding Illario) as Bojack Horseman Quotes —

Caterina: "It’s not just you, you know… you come by it honestly, the ugliness inside you. You were born broken, that’s your birthright.”

Illario: “One day you’re gonna look around and you’re going to realize everybody loves you but nobody likes you.”

Lucanis: "There are some people you can't save. 'Cause those people will thrash and struggle and try to take you down with them."

[duchessdaisybat]

Oh they do. The other houses have taken guesses and there are rumors. Some swear it's a pale colored lion from Orlais that was a gift from a grateful client. Others are certain it's a massive bear that was raised by Caterina as a pet but now serves as a guard. A fledgling swears they saw a griffon with a crow's head instead of an eagle.

All of these are incorrect though as Rook finds out that the decrepit old beast that is housed at Villa Dellamorte is actually just a really old black street cat that wandered in one day and simply never left. At first Rook doesn't get it, but the cat's cute and likes to cuddle on their lap while they read and loves to nap by the fireplace in their quarters so they're just happy to have some additional company. One night at dinner the cat tags along with Rook to the dining room to eat with Caterina and Lucanis. When dinner is served the cat hops on the table and start yowling at the top of its lungs. Caterina and Lucanis immediately toss their food away and Lucanis grabs Rook like the room is about to explode.

"What's going on?" asks a confused Rook.

"The food was poisoned."

"What?!?!!"

Caterina looks scoldingly at Lucanis and adds "Did you not tell her we have a poison detecting cat?"

The Dellemortes should have some decrepit old beast that is the family pet

[necromosss]

my telenovela heart yearns for crownovela drama

part 1 (HERE) || part 2 || part 3 || part 4 - END

[ode-to-fury]

Ok I see your "Illario should have stubble" and I agree because what man doesn't look better with facial hair BUT what if he started shaving because he was, subconsciously or consciously, mimicking Lucanis just a little bit. I'm the only one of us left but I don't know what to do now that you're gone. I miss you so much the only thing I can think to do is act like you. Maybe if I look more like you Caterina will see you instead of me and finally love me. I'm the only one left and she still loves you more. I miss you. I hate you. I love you. I wish you were here. I wish I was you.

[dellamortethelesser]

Over Tea

Chapters: 1/1 Word Count: 1.3k Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Caterina Dellamorte & Original Character, Illario Dellamorte/Original Character(s) Caterina Dellamorte & Andrea De Riva discuss house politics over a cup of tea. Set post-canon Veilguard. Illario/OC referenced. I have uploaded this fic to AO3 instead. Please follow the link above.

[vampcaprisun]

caterina: i have made the Perfect Assassin

rook: you fucked up a perfectly good househusband is what you did. look at him. he’s got anxiety

[loveisalwayswise]

Average family night at Villa Dellamorte

[mohntilyet]

caterina's datamined character description calling her korean-italian and early lucanis designs having him look east asian . i'll just do everything myself i guess

assorted thoughts: caterina is fully 'korean' or whatever the thedas equivalent would be in this design, and clawed her way to the top of the crow food chain after years of work. their armor is something caterina forcibly incorporated to distinguish house dellamorte from the other crows, and a symbol of their status because they get it custom made or imported. of course race-equivalents do not really exist in thedas or this world but i also will never forget how gaider just implied (east) asian people don't exist in thedas because it just so happens that there are no asians on the continent of thedas (guy who forgot about boats) . explode and die. there's not the same kind of discrimination as exists irl ofc (and the dellamortes are actually treated fine, much better than a mage or elf) but a level of xenophobia against foreigners from a different continent. illario looks the least like her, and passes for being fully antivan, which changes how he is recieved by the other crows.

and sorry if the korean is bad please actually let me know if it's horribly translated i relied on google translate . if you are one of ten asian dragon age fans feel free to talk to me at any given moment.

[jaderavenarts]

Illario pls...

[dalishious]

Guide to Troubled Crows

[flowersforthemachines]

Some facts about Lucanis (and also Spite and the Crows) gathered from the banters

I went through all companion banters on DanaDuchy's channel after playing the game to write down all facts about companions/the world that I haven't seen brought up anywhere in the game as a writing reference (and for funsies).

Note: This list may not be exhaustive. I might have missed some something or didn't write it down because I considered it common knowledge. If you have anything to add, please DM me or send an ask! (do specify what banter the information is coming from, though)

Note 2: Posts from this series (mostly) don't include information from banters specific to quests or between companions and faction members. I plan to do another playthrough to capture more of those and will add any relevant info to the character posts.

Other characters' posts: Bellara, Davrin, Harding, Emmrich, Neve, Taash. I'm also planning a post about just the Lighthouse some time later

About Lucanis: 

Family and the past:

Lucanis learnt to cook while helping the kitchen staff at the villa when he was a little boy. One of his motivations was learning how to make churros

Side note: Lucanis mentions that cioccolata calda was his favourite drink when he was a baby, and he serves churros to a romanced Rook who picks cioccolata calda as their favourite drink. It’s all coming together! 

Lucanis wanted to be a Crow when he was a child (at least most of the time)  

All of Lucanis's relatives were Crows as well, and all of them were killed by a rival Crow house

Lucanis says Caterina would be proud of Illario hiding his plans well, as well as killing her 

Lucanis says that the hard part about setting Illario free would be convincing Caterina 

Lucanis says that nightlife was more of Illario's thing, and he never got out as much

On Crows and Antiva:

Viago still stares daggers at Lucanis for throwing his (Viago's) pet snake out of the window in a dream

Lucanis doesn't like it when people confuse murder and assassination ("Murderers are hobbyists, we are professionals")

Lucanis has taken contracts in Orlais

Lucanis doesn’t know Treviso as well as he once used to 

Heir didn’t train Lucanis

Lucanis says he has never killed an innocent “by his count” (other people may disagree) 

Lucanis doesn’t think of the Crows as a “big organisation” (unlike the Inquisition) because they stab each other too much

Lucanis became a mage-killer at Caterina’s behest (she wanted to tap into new markets)

The nickname “The Demon of Vyrantium” came from Tevinter news-sheets, though Lucanis thinks Viago started it

Lucanis says that there aren't any special tricks to killing mages. Though, if nothing else works, you can try pissing them off, as that could attract a demon that would eat the mage

Lucanis once killed half a dozen venatori while stuck inside an elevator 

Lucanis doesn’t consider himself a gentleman assassin, manners are less important than getting the job done

Lucanis sometimes spares his targets. He mentioned letting go of a servant who killed her master, as well as a 14-year-old boy. He thinks it’s wrong to kill people so young because they still have time to change

Lucanis doesn’t accept contracts without merit, and the merit is decided by the talon of the house

General:

Lucanis can make bread

Lucanis has never been to Ferelden

Lucanis isn’t interested in killing wyverns, just looking at them :)  

Lucanis has a pet snake 

Lucanis stays awake at night by cleaning his gear, exercising, studying Orlesian and knitting ("it’s just another kind of blade work") 

Lucanis doesn’t understand a lot of things people find attractive

(In a conversation with Harding) Thinking about cooking was one of the things that helped Lucanis stay sane in the Ossuary (the other was thinking about killing his enemies) 

(In a conversation with Davrin) Lucanis survived the Ossuary by shutting down and not thinking about anything except escaping

These two points sort of contradict each other. Either an inconsistency or Lucanis describing his experience differently to different people. 

The Wetlands ruined at least one pair of Lucanis’s boots

(If Rook chooses to save Treviso) Lucanis offers to pay for any supplies the Shadow Dragons may need 

Lucanis doesn't get a better bed because he's afraid of accidentally falling asleep 

Lucanis can identify the killer’s weapon and the height difference between them and the target just through the blood splatter left at the scene

Lucanis considers Grey Wardens dangerous 

Lucanis doesn’t like necromancy, because bringing people back to life is a waste of hard work

Lucanis finds the ice coffee from Minrathous offensive (Harding describes it as “snow, but made of coffee, sweet, and with cream and toffee sauce on top”)

Lucanis had never been in a romantic relationship before Rook/Neve

Relationships with other companions: 

Lucanis gets into reading Bellara’s serials (very passionately - they chat about it a bunch)

Lucanis is outraged that the Veil Jumpers don’t get paid for their work and offers Bellara his contract negotiator

Lucanis made biscuits for Assan

Lucanis is sceptical that the griffons will be safe with the Wardens

Lucanis think that Assan shouldn’t go soft (referring to the time he took care of a halla) because he is a predator at heart

(If Emmrich becomes a lich) Lucanis offers to hold a funeral for Manfred

Lucanis and Harding talk a lot about dreams (mostly silly things like showing up naked for the job, getting chased by someone/something etc.)

Lucanis thinks Harding is deadly with her bow

Lucanis offers to pay Harding for being his lookout/aide at the rate of 6000 gold per contract

Lucanis offers the help of his contract negotiator to Neve after he finds out she doesn't have one

Lucanis made deep-fried peppers for Taash

About Spite: 

Emmrich can hear Spite even when he doesn’t take over Lucanis’s body (at least from a close distance)

Spite is impartial to Emmrich, believing him more than Lucanis

Emmrich says it’s impossible to separate Spite and Lucanis without killing them

Emmrich encourages Lucanis to read to Spite to bring them closer. Lucanis agrees to let Spite pick a book

(If Emmrich becomes a lich) Spite asks if he and Lucanis can get rid of their skin too 

(If Manfred is revived at the Necropolis) Spite asks Emmrich to teach him how to use fire magic. Lucanis isn’t thrilled by the idea

Emmrich sets up wards to prevent Spite from leaving the room when Lucanis is asleep

Spite no longer sleepwalks after “Inner Demons” because he apparently understood the concept of space

By the end of the game, Spite has agreed to stop sleepwalking completely

Spite controls the wings (confirmed in banter with Harding) 

Spite wants to try swinging off the astrolabe at the Lighthouse

Spite is very excited about Manfred having hands and feet (Curiosity. Has. Feet!)

Spite finds the wisps in Neve’s room unnerving (as do Lucanis and Neve)

Spite likes to play with whetstones Bellara got for Lucanis (Bellara got them from the Irelin who supposedly got them from somewhere in Arlathan) 

Spite wants to try eating self-lightning candles at Blackthorne Manor

About the Crows: 

Crows frequently visit Nevarra and have received 20 contacts to assassinate the king. The King has been poisoned 7 times

Crows get a lot of contracts for Divine Victoria

Some seers in Rivain are powerful enough that there are contracts on them as well

Caterina once killed a man with a thimble

When Crows kill someone, most of the time they want others to know it was them (rather than presenting the death as an accident) 

The crows buried six different Eight Talons and rarely take contracts in Ferelden after the Zevran fiasco