#I know what they mean but I just always remember the codex entry on vashoth from dai when something like this happens

[proffbon]

That's cool and all but I'm not even technically Qunari.

[kaaras-adaar-a]

Kaaras + The Noble Life

// Okie dokie, because this is something that I feel is really important to how Kaaras has come to present himself, and because as a poor child, there’s just some things Kaaras never would have learned during a sheltered life--and these are the reasons why. 

If you’ve been following Kaaras long enough, you’d know some things. Kaaras was born in Starkhaven, but his mother was having NONE of being in the Marches, it was too close to Par Vollen for her, and she was terrified of being hunted. So even after giving birth, she and Anaan literally continued their journey the next day to Ferelden. This is why I say Kaaras is Fereldan, because he wasn’t even one years old, couldn’t even talk, was literally a newborn baby when they made the travel and crossed the sea to settle in the middle of nowhere (Southron Hills) in Ferelden.

Aban, Kaaras’ mum, is the person Kaaras has learned most mannerism from. Being a Tamassran under the Qun, and a teacher, she is VERY strict. Things like medicines, hygiene and general mannerism are absolutely thing Kaaras was brought up with because of her. As much as the South likes to think that Qunari and their ways of life are horrible, mean, and whatever else, there’s actually Codex entries that prove most Qunari lead REALLY peaceful and happy lives. Kaaras’ parents were no different (until Anaan lost his way and didn’t like re-educating people anymore, and then Aban fell pregnant and everything was a massive clusterfuck for them so they needed to leave). 

I’m going to go into tangent headcanonville there, so I’ll stop immediately with his childhood and Aban and Anaan’s story (WHICH I LOVE omg it’s so precious). BUT basics, Kaaras’ mum is very strict and she taught him ALWAYS to say thank you and please and manners from birth.

In saying that, I think it’s pretty obvious that Kaaras’ mannerism sometimes exceeds that, and that’s because Kaaras worked with nobles for a number of years. 

I want it to be known that for a Vashoth mercenary, life wouldn’t have been easy, but not everyone in Thedas is an ignorant, racist piece of crap towards them. And considering Kaaras was invited to the peace talks with the DIVINE, that’s something that says that “Damn, this guy was REALLY good at his job if he got invited” considering his roots and his race. This is the Conclave, The Temple of Sacred Ashes, and the CHANTRY. He’s a qunari, a Vashoth, really... a fucking nobody.

But that’s the thing, Kaaras WASN’T a nobody! And THAT’S why he got offered the job. 

When Kaaras left the Ralshokra (who already had a pretty good rep in the Marches), he moved to Starkhaven. He absolutely put that on his ‘resume’ because the name was well known, but Kaaras made a real living for himself in Starkhaven. It only takes ONE noble, one nice enough person, to give him a chance, and that really changed his life.

Kaaras’ work as a mercenary in Starkhaven was less “this dude hasn’t payed his taxes so rough him up” and more “we’re having a party at this estate and I want protection and for you to watch this person” etc. He and his men became more of a helpful cause than unethical like the Ralshokra did. 

Kaaras strived on making the Beres-taar better than the company he was previously in--considering the reasons he LEFT were very personal. Bad orders were made and followed, innocent people were injured and killed, including his trainer, Saarebas, who had been training him since he was around 5 years old. :/ So, no, he didn’t take to that lightly, and that’s also the reason why he and Kaariss broke up. 

But this did become a way of life for him. He dressed proper, he acted proper, he stood proper, and this is really where his personality started shining. Kaaras was always very ethical and polite, but living in Starkhaven around nobles and going from estate to estate, he made friends, he made impressions and he LEARNED. Kaaras wasn’t known as the Vashoth mercenary who was just some guard dog, he actually got on the really good side of the people there, being helpful. They didn’t expect him to act like an Orlesian noble, no, and he absolutely fumbles in Orlais BECAUSE it’s a different way of life there, but he learned a great deal, and that’s why Kaaras can really come off as overly proper sometimes. 

Leading his own company was a really happy time for Kaaras, because he started learning more about himself, getting the CHANCE to learn more about himself as a person, as a captain and as a LEADER. While Kaaras is a natural born leader, this was where that started to really shine in him, and that’s why, in the end, he was chosen to be Inquisitor. He already had the leading experience, and that showed. 

Kaaras has changed and grown a lot in his life. And this is why he always holds his roots very close to him. He’s lived a life of being around nobles, and it wasn’t a bad one either, it was very nice for him, but he’s also lived a life as a very poor individual with little to nothing but his family, and he was terribly picked on in Ferelden and made an outcast because of what he was. 

Kaaras is proud and stubborn at times, but also this is why he’s still so insecure and not always confident. He’s honestly a very big mess when it comes to his internal feelings. It’s why sometimes he reacts one way with a situation and then does a 180 in another. He’s lived this life of complete polar opposites and sometimes that gets all mixed up in the middle and he doesn’t know how to react. I mean, he’s always been on the moody and stubborn side (thank his mum for the stubbornness), that’s just who Kaaras is XD. It wasn’t a sudden daily change, Kaaras worked his ARSE off and got one step higher every year, but it’s understandable why it can sometimes clash and there’s habits that Kaaras has picked up over the years (aka bit of a glutton). 

I think Kaaras will always be a humble person deep down, and he’ll always remember where he’s come from, because that gives him a lot of strength. While he has a good eye for clothes and things, he knows that it’s not something he NEEDS and he could give it up if he had to. But there are days where he’s very happy that he’d made it so far and can help to encourage others. But this is also why Kaaras gets REALLY fed up with people who don’t actually try to better themselves and their situations, because he’s been there. He was nothing, and now he’s not. And that didn’t happen in a day, or a week, or a month... it happened over YEARS. 

I think it’s important to know that Kaaras didn’t get the job offer at the Conclave for no reason, he was well known, and recommended. And that in itself speaks volumes in my opinion. :)