#Zevran and Wynne have also been really really fun so far too

[ranger-danger]

Yeah okay fuck it, Alistair is on the favorite character roundtable now. I would not want these characters to interact at all.

[abbeyfangirl]

dragon age: all characters (companions)

I’ve been in this fandom for a hot minute now and I want to update my opinions on characters :)

Origins

Alistair: super sweet dude who literally is not the stereotypicalchantryguyfightme. He’s a great example of healthy masculinity and I totally wish he was bi because I have an entire essay on that— also: he’s a poc! His mum was brown. In game he’s got dark features. if you really want a blond/blue-eyes/white guy, make your warden that. or accept that brown people can be noble and moral. or just draw cailan, idk. just because BioWare whitewashes doesn’t mean you should.

Leliana: someone hug my singing girlfriend before I crush her under with my own hugs. Also: nugs. Yes! Shoes. Yes! She likes how I style my hair? YES!! I honestly think she’s super duper and it pisses me off whenever someone’s like: yeah she enjoys killing people and the Game. ok. and michel de chevin willingly participated in genocidal marches through the alienage he grew up in with his elvhen mum. 

Morrigan: dirty swamp witch that i stan and also have a v big crush on. tiddies. Have a son with a GW so we can raise him with our tiddies out in the forest. she’s also white-passing, as her father was chasind and all people we’ve seen that are chasind are black. therefore, she is biracial. therefore, poc can be goths and don’t shy away from giving morrigan a darker skintone. if the devs had of been thinking, she’d have a darker skintone.

Zevran: Actually is the best romance, I think. Loves consent, therefore I will stan him so hard my skull cracks a little. Also: he is a very brown boy and if he’s white in da4 I’m seriously going to throw all canon out the fucking window. genuinely a good person who needs to be told so. 

Wynne: grandma who only likes my friends who go to church. but also super sweet and I’d rest my head on her bosom (in a platonic way omg ZEVRAN)

Sten: angry quiet boi. the bestest boi. I totally would give him a kitten for a gift and bake him cookies. Thicc softie. I think if I had DA:O and i knew how to use mods i would mod the fuck outta him. sorry.

Sha(y)le: who’s gender? idk her. See also: fuck birds and authority. pound ur ass into the ground you feathery meatbag little shits. fuck songbirds.

Dog: such a good boi. thicc. thinks Alistair is a whiny fuck and is Morrigan’s only friend. love him. he’s the cutest companion. bet.

Ohgren: honestly forgot about him bcc he’s such a shitbag. also: he could’ve been a really cool addiction recovery type but NOPE. probably would have a trump shirt in a modern au and would catcall wlw and hit mlm. no thanks.

Awakening

Anders: he acts like rlly straight but he’s so gay I can smell it. also he’s rlly cute and fun and I love him so much.

Justice: MAYBE i’M selF CONSCious OF THE twitchING. is the friend that genuinely doesn’t get dick jokes but is ur 110% ride or die.

Nathaniel Howe: honestly is sort of a white knight/neck beard a little, but it’s kind of charming with his whole velanna m’lady?? grump boi. annoying soul patch that I’d mod out SO FAST—

Sigrun: would have ROMANCED the FUCK out of her. why she even entertains the idea of fucking with ohgren makes me realize most of the writers are dumbfucks.png. peppy little emo. 12/10 would die if she kissed my cheek teasingly.

Ohgren: why. why. why. I’d have brought Shayle over. Maybe Zev? Definitely Dog.

Velanna: she was written to be an annoying feminist and you can tell but I deadass am a kindred spirit with her bcc I too am deadpan annoyed with Thedas’ general population too. love her. Would’ve loved to romance her. She’d totally be one of those who’d get all tsundere and be like “n-no i hate you” *kisses the fuckin soul out of you then blushes so hard she’s now a tomato*

Dragon Age II

Anders: fuck the cops. i don’t care. fuck the cops. (vine reference). also: do i hate him for blowing up the chantry that would eventually annul a huge collection of his people? no. read dalishious’s meta on Anders. v intriguing. didn’t they retcon the fuck out of the reported deaths too? like there was like eight Templars and Elthinia in there. Templars killed more “abominations” in a day than Anders in the game canon—

Aveline: initially thought she was fine and then realized she’s shit to my lil brother and I will fucking clap her ginger ass. See also: whorephobia isn’t a joke so fuck off with treating Isabela badly, you tit.

Bethany: sunshine. Literal sunshine. I feel my freckles grow in her presence and i love it. she’s my little baby sister and I’d slam that ogre so fuckin hard before it touched either twin.

Carver: there has to be a mod where both twins survive. I love them both to bits. My babies. carver is my bitter, angry little brother and I can relate because I too am very angry and would totally clap my own ass. hes so genuine and I don’t get the competition between Beth and Carver. Like, both are fuckin stellar in different ways. In this essay I will—

Fenris: honestly, I don’t get the general hate between him and Anders. Fenris’ main arc should’ve been a recovery arc, not drunken moping and revenge. he deserves better. give him a soft sweater instead of his spikes and let him love himself as much as I love him for MAKERS SAKE. like when you really think about their relationship, it could’ve been an eye-opener for fenris and finally some legit sympathy for anders. but we all know that if they had of teamed up that Meredith would’ve been dead before the end of Act 1 so.

Isabela: whorephobia is not a joke. oversexualizing your only appearing brown woman is so poorly written. how about we appreciate her and her lovely bosoms but also let people tease her about her heart of gold? her innate understanding of freedom? instead of just a wave of dick? please?? can we give her some pants for when she fights? can we accept that i fall for rogues who hate themselves?? fuck. also whomever draws her x femHawke x Merrill literally is after my own heart.

Merrill: my fucking babygirl MARRY ME. Fenris could’ve been her older brother type, but NO. she and Isabela should’ve been canonical gfs instead of Isabela/Fenris (no shaming the pairing tho!!). I love how she’s written as neurodivergent. V nice. Sometimes I just look her up and cry because she’s fucking everything. Also: she’s in the Dalish origin and she’s far from being white. Why did they make the most innocent/naïve character really white? hmmmm.

Sebastian: whew that boy. Would totally be that annoying Mormon at your door but you still let him in bcc he’s super sweet. Also: huge ass bible thumper and should get his head slap because you said the maker loved all his children why do you defend a complicit old hag you annoying attractive fuck��

Varric: totally is a bard and the devs couldn’t handle the idea of him being one bcc it might make him look less straight. is the only grey morality person I don’t want to fucking bash in with a fry pan. he sees people and I like that, but you totally know he’s siding with mages every time bcc him and Anders are like besties. I’m sorry. I don’t make the rules. “Professional Younger Brother”.

Tallis: I know nothing about her but she seems okay. I think she was an escaped slave and honestly? Fucking props. Spy on a shitting organization, idk what you’re doing, but your VA was that cool lesbian from SPN so I think ur okay?

Inquisition

Blackwall: Redemption Arc 101. Love him to bits. Sad dad bunwall. good man. actually atoned for his sins by actively becoming a good person. his initial design is 80% hotter im so sorry but so not.

Cassandra: was way browner in the last game. would romance the fuck outta her. I love me a butch lady who melts at my dorky recitation of poetry. BioWare is a coward. also is the worst choice for divine. but not a bad person. could use some more guidance or get her ass whipped by a dalish elf about religion or a circle mage kid whos like “yeah bud i didn’t ask for the templars to whip my ass everyday for existing.”

The Iron Bull: I think the Qunari/Vashoth were a little based off black people (the whole anti blackness thing where ppl are scared of them bcc of whatever reason) and it pisses me off that he had a weird ass dubcon thing with Dorian in banter. It doesn’t make sense— he’s an A+++ dom and would not jump straight in role play without at least checking in at first like wtf BioWare.

Cole: his mother was chasind so he’s like not supposed to be that white? or like biracial? albino? idk. love him to bits tho. He’s neurodivergent and I deadass love him. romancing him? idk. I see why ppl think it’s fuckin nasty but also like as a writer I’d age him the fuck up so fast before my inquisitor even THOUGHT about that. like idk. I’m down with him being a sweet little bro character tho. he’s a babe. love him.

Sera: had the worst fucking writer I’ve ever seen and I willingly read the twilight saga twice by a shit ass racist white lady who okay’d pedophilia. like. Fuck you Kristjanson suck your own dick you fuck. had the worst options in regards to speak to her. has a thicc case of internalized racism that literally most of the fandom just loves to use against her. my lesbian neurodivergent queen. Would write a thousand fix it fics for her. Love her to bits. im gay.

Varric: I haven’t played DA2 so i don’t get why everyone wants to romance him but like. a dwarf romance? yes please. Idk he reminds me of my uncle so I only see him as fun uncle material. Deadass should adopt Cole and Merrill and co parent with Blackwall for Sera. dads? fuck yeah. love me some wholesome, present fathers.

Dorian: is a gay stereotype that I love/hate so much. and he’s also just as bad about being a creep bcc he sexualizes qunari men (in banter). I attribute that to shit writing tho. I want to protect him from all the “omg gay best friend!” people. he’d clearly be that tired gay that wouldn’t give a diddly damn about ur het romance. wanna talk about politics? he’s ur guy/gay.

Solas: “me, an intellectual:”. I don’t hate him, but I’m not about him. He comes off as mysterious and suave (which he totally is) but I deadass would not save him from himself because he’s a racist, exclusionist eggshell. idk. not my cup of tea, but I can totally see the appeal. And he’s interesting, I’ll totally say that. “I think the Dalish are garbage but they made you” is not a compliment. it’s so offensive. and such bait for “quirky girls” which I’m no fan of. Would be Achilles and let Patroclus (Lavellan in his case) die before he realized how his pride is literally a waste of time. If he gets a redemption arc I hope Lavellan gets to slap him before getting him to teach all about ancient Arlathan and show that the Evanuris weren’t all total dicknozzles. (Aka I really have a hard time believing that they’d be slavery cult things. especially since they’ve compared elves to indigenous ppl, Jews and the Romani.)

Vivienne: it’s so racist that they’d make a black woman be pro-slavery. That’s such internalized racism. She could’ve been the cool ass “educate yourself first before you speak, fool” ice lady, but NO. the devs could’ve kept the “Templars are a tool that I proudly can mandate” and the “circles are very good education” and we. Could. Have. Romanced. Her. Like. Fuck. Sake. I just wanna give her a hug and say “love yourself omg!!” and not even in a romantic way. Also: she and morrigan should not have been so antagonistic towards each other. I’d expect them to have great respect for each other, as they both moved up in the world through hardwork and very little help. They could learn different magic from each other too and still maintain that rival respect “oh you” mood. Sidenote: probably the cooler option for Divine. if her approval is high enough she’ll love and be loyal to you forever and i can’t see her agenda being bad. she improves the circles exponentially and tells all the antis to suck her pretty painted toes.

Josephine: an actual disney princess. romanced her my first playthrough. I love her so much. she just makes me so happy. And she’s like: “Integrity, Loyalty, peace. That is what it means to be a GREY WARDEN good fucking person.” she’s the person who would let you hold her hand if you got anxious and she’d be that person who shouldered the whole group project with finesse and poise and would probably lie for everyone as to not be mean. i love josie. her and leliana’s relationship is so cute, too. whether it’s romantic or not: women supporting women.

Leliana: if you leave her hardened you must hate her. why. she becomes so against herself. i like how shes feminine and lighthearted because that’s so powerful-- to remain hopeful when the world is hopeless. (its hard to know when to soften her/harden her so i get it but. google it. she deserves to be happy and sweet again.)

Cullen: uwu war criminal with shit ass “redemption arc” that was actually a half-assed (at BEST) recovery arc. Recovery isn’t linear, it isn’t pretty, and even the broken need to be told they are wrong in order to heal right. Like I’m offended by that bullshit. I’ve had to do some mental health recovery in the past and unlearning lots of toxic ideologies— which I’m still unlearning— and it bothers me that he gets an easy pass because he’s hot. It’s one thing if you like Cullen, it’s another thing if you hold him accountable.

[tiadres]

8, 13, 14, 25, 37, 39, 42, 46, 55 and 62 for the DA ask meme!! sorry about so many lol

8. Preferred class overall?

Mage, both for roleplaying and game mechanics reasons. Mages are just so endlessly fascinating to me and fun to play.

13. Favorite mission from DA:O?

Origins has many interesting missions, big and small, but one that comes to mind right now is the Broken Circle. It is very interesting especially if I’m playing as a mage. That is because even if the mage-Warden is happy to be away from the Circle, it still was their home for so many years and they probably have friends there.  

The Fade part is interesting for story reasons but damn it is tiresome to play trough. Always causes me headache.

14. Favorite DA:O party combo?

Alistair, Morrigan, Zevran/Leliana. Ali is usually always with me, for a mage I start with Morrigan, then use Wynne until Morrigan can do all the healing magics mage-grandma can, which is when I usually start taking Morrigan out with me again but both of them get to accompany me a lot. In the final battle it is Morrigan whom I take with me because it makes sense to me that after the dark ritual she’d want to be in close proximity to the Archdemon when it dies, to ensure her spell works. Rogue is a hard choice since I really love both Zev and Leli, so I usually do so that for around the first half of the game I keep Leli with me and later when Zev has actually learned to pick locks I take him lol.

Since I prefer to use Alistair I notice that I have the other warriors with me far less often than I’d like : // they have such interesting banter.

 25. Favorite DA:I place?

There are many but one specific that comes to mind is that one villa in the Hinterlands that you have to take back from bandits; the one where a bard who was a past arl’s lover used to live in. It is such a beautiful place with such a romantic history I would love to make my home there… although it is in that area with millions of bears.

37. Bloodmagic: yes or no?

It’s one of those things that you’d better avoid altogether or if you absolutely have to use it, tread very carefully. It seems like blood magic follows slightly different rules from regular magic, and it’s very easy to make things much, much worse even if you initially had good intentions for what you were trying to do. And you usually can learn it from making a deal with a demon, which is a big no-no.

I gave my Warden Amell blood magic as one of her specs (I hc she learned it from drinking the potion at Soldier’s Peak, she never deals with demons) and it’s a skill that has been useful to her on some occasions, but one that she hates using because she is afraid that one day the temptation for power will become too much, or that things will backfire horribly. So she uses it only when she absolutely has to, and only her own blood. And every time she does so, she is afraid that she might become a monster because of it.

So in short: “no”, it’s better to stay away from bloodmagic.

39. Creepiest moment in the games?

Haven in DA:O; I really love how it looks like a peaceful village but already when speaking with the guards you get the feeling that something is off, and the more you walk around in the village the more you realize some really creepy shit is going on there.

The Deep Roads in DA:O; how you can hear Hespith’s voice tell about the nasty stuff that happened because Branka allowed it, and then you encounter the Broodmother and realize that it used to be a person ;___;

The thing with Hawke’s mother… shit. I really love how the quest builds up: at first you do what looks like a simple sidequest, finding Ninette’s ring and figuring out something bad happened to her and then you forget about it all for a few years until the disappearances start again and then it suddenly becomes pretty fucking personal for you, and oh boy it is creepy and unnerving when you finally find out what’s going on. ;___;

A bonus mention that comes to my mind is a moment from Awakening, that time when you get captured by the Architect and wake up in his dungeon after he has done some experiments on you. It is already creepy as is, but the first time I played it I ran into that glitch that makes you lose your equipment and has you appear in your underwear instead of some common clothes, so I was really disgusted when I woke up half-naked in the cell. I honestly was afraid that my character had been r*ped or something similar. “No way you’re turning me into a Broodmother or some shit!”

42. Who do you wish you could romance that you can’t?

Nathaniel would have been nice, I really understand why some ship their Couslands with him c: Also Krem, and a full romance for Lace Harding, please!

And then there’s Varric… I love his friendship with Hawke but I totally understand why many would want to romance him. There is of course his thing with Bianca, but it looks like it isn’t really fair or good for him, Varric deserves better.

46. A character you’d love to drop in a volcano and forget about?

The first character that comes to mind is Sister Petrice… ^^

55. Your non-Player Character OTPs?

For couples that can happen in-game, I like Krem/Maryden, Aveline/Donnic (there may be others I can’t recall at this time). Many ships can be interesting but OTP is such a big word I’ll have to sit down and think which ships I like so strongly ^^

Oh there’s Anders/Karl of course. Now I’m having the feels… ;___; <3 

62. A character you think deserves more fan love?

Anders… Justice… also Sigrun and Velanna, I feel like the Awakening crew doesn’t get all that much attention (save for Anders and Nathaniel).

Thanks for the questions, hopefully I didn’t miss any uwu 

[a-shakespearean-in-paris]

Love in the Passion Tent

[sulevinblade]

DA Question

Tagged by: nobody, I just wanted to play

Tagging: @gremlinquisitor​ because I haven’t seen you do it yet

01) Favorite game of the series?

Inquisition, hands down. 

02) How did you discover Dragon Age?

Fun story, I first played Origins somewhere between seven and nine years and never got my Brosca out of Orzammar. It was on PC and I just couldn’t get used to the controls. Then I made a friend who is a hardcore Bioware fan. Xe got me invested in Mass Effect first and I marathoned all three games (almost, I haven’t actually finished me3) then got stubborn and refused to play Dragon Age, but xe sent me Origins and I had no reason not to at that point. I still held out till this past summer, but once I started I never looked back.

03) How many times you’ve played the games?

I’m on my second Origins playthough, DA2 only once so far, and uhhhh technically I’ve only finished DAI once but I have three other playthroughs I intend to see through to the end.

04) Favorite race to play as?

I love dwarves, oh my god. There was never a question that my first Warden would be a dwarf, and I only waited as long as I did for a dwarf in Inquisition because I don’t like the Cadash origin. Bring back my Orzammar dwarves!

05) Favorite class?

Warrior, always. I have a couple of mages and enjoy them, but I am a warrior player at heart always, my first protag will always be a warrior, and I tend to love warrior characters too.

06) Do you play through the games differently or do you make the same decisions each time? 

So far in Origins, my choices have been largely the same, though I think I’ll try to save Conner this time. I have a Hawke right now who I’m trying to play as red but it’s SO HARD, I just like being nice to people and making friends! So far many of my Inquisition choices have been the same, except for romances, but Varevas is going to drink from the Well where Ghilanel let Morrigan do it, Astoria’s going to conscript the templars where both of them recruited the mages, Varevas will disband the Inquisition while Ghilanel kept it going, there are a lot of changes coming when I get time to play through stuff.

07) Go-to adventuring group? 

Origins is always Alistair, Zevran, and Wynne, no matter how hard I try to make myself mix it up. I was warned about DA2 so I changed it up for maximum friendship but if I had my way, it would’ve been Jonah, Aveline, Anders, and Fenris or Varric. Three guards and a healer meant leaving a lot of chests unopened so I tried to bring Varric along when I could. Ghilanel’s go to was Solas, Dorian, and Varric, and so far Varevas’ has been Dorian, Sera, and either Bull or Blackwall.

08) Which of your characters did you put the most thought into? 

Ghilanel has the most time and creativity invested in her at this point. I didn’t put much thought into any of them going in beyond appearance and who I wanted to romance (though Ghilanel was originally going to be a Cullen or Blackwall romance, fucking egg ruins everything) but Ghilanel grew and grew as I played and thought about her. Leohta, Jonah, and Varevas all have a lot to offer, but in terms of being developed and able to support a story of their own, it’s definitely Ghil.

09) Favorite romance?

Dorian, oh man. I just swoon, he’s perfect.

10) Have you read any of the comics/books?

I’ve read almost all of the comics (I’m halfway through Knight Errant) and I have many of the books but haven’t actually started any of them yet.

11) If you read them, which was your favorite book?

I enjoyed Magekiller a LOT!

12) Favorite DLCs?

Descent. The Wellspring is possibly the most beautiful environment in any of the games, I almost cried when my party got there, and everything leading up to that was also visually stunning as well as exactly the kind of lore I live for. It also features my beautiful wife Valta and her perfect husband Renn which is just a bonus. I will say, though, Jaws of Hakkon could easily surpass it if they’d like, put out a novelization of Ameridan’s Inquisition. Trespasser was incredible too but sadly I was spoiled and that took a lot of the fun out of the end of it.

13) Things that annoy you.

Little things like not being able to swim and not hearing banter when you’re on a mount. Bigger things like the fact that in order to make an informed decision about Orlais (as a player) you have to have read an entire other novel because the game doesn’t give you the information you need, even if it’s also not necessarily things your character would know. All the sort of stock things, like Cassandra not being bi (among other characters but she’s the one that makes me the most angry), Bioware whitewashing their own characters, no dwarf romances. Not even touching on fandom stuff.

14) Orlais or Ferelden?

Ferelden always.

15) Templars or mages?

Templars, to be contrary (by which I mean I have Opinions about this and while in general I side with mages in all things, I still say Templars).

16) If you have multiple characters, are they in different/parallel universes or in the same one?

I only really have one complete world state right now, with Leohta romancing Alistair and putting Anora alone on the throne, and Jonah romancing Anders and running away with him at the end of the game, but within that Ghilanel is the Inquisitor with Varevas as her clan’s First who survives the Conclave with her; Astoria as a rebel mage who joins up before even considering going to Redcliffe because her nephew is the Inquisitor; and Leohta attending the Conclave undercover as a Carta member and trying to maintain that cover after Haven.

17) What did you name your pets? (mabari, summoned animals, mounts, etc)

Leohta and Jonah both named their mabaris Leon, and Buian named hers Taz.

18) Have you installed any mods?

PS player, no mods here

19) Did your Warden want to become a Grey Warden? 

It beat the alternative. Die in the Deep Roads now, or die in the Deep Roads later. Leohta chose later. 

20) Hawke’s personality? 

Blue as the summer sky over Lothering, Jonah is a pure child.

21) Did you make matching armor for your companions in Inquisition?

Only for their love interests; Ghilanel and Solas were all green and gold until the breakup, then she dyed her armour deep red. Varevas and Dorian are white and red. Leohta’s all warden armour, just like Alistair. Astoria would match Bull if Bull wore more clothing...

22) If your character(s) could go back in time to change one thing, what would they change?

Leohta would’ve been more careful with Zevran’s heart to avoid having to dump him right before the final battle.

Jonah would’ve investigated the alleged serial killings sooner, to possibly save his mother.

Ghilanel would’ve worked harder to make something of herself before the Inquisition knowing she’d need it later.

Varevas would’ve... I dunno. Probably flirted harder with Cullen, he’s hilarious when he’s all out of sorts over it.

23) Do you have any headcanons about your character(s) that go against canon?

I’m sure I do but I can’t think of any just now, which is odd.

24) Who did you leave in the Fade?

JONAH BABY I’M SORRY I DIDN’T KNOW so from now on it’s gonna be Stroud

25) Favorite mount? 

Ghilanel liked the Royal Sixteen and Varevas loves his Dalish All-bred but in general I don’t bother with them, I like the banter more than getting around faster.

[ageofdragon]

DA4 Cameos and Companions

I wanted to address this, since I really liked this post by @quizzy-tielle​ but there are a few more notes that can be added. tdlr at the bottom, under the read more.

Origins

Alistair: Alistair will probably only have a Cameo since he has two different paths (Warden or King), but I could see him being plot relevant. Maybe only a Warden like in DA2, even if it is possible for him to “die” in DA:I. This is because DA:I leaves that open if they want to “retcon” it. The words used in the choice implies you might be leaving Alistair to his death, there is an open end there. Especially since we don’t see his dead body only what looks like him going down. On the other hand, it has been a while since his Joining and unless he is like his mother (or the dragon’s blood theory is true), then he is almost due for his Calling. So if Al is there in DA4, expect him in Grey Warden regalia.

Morrigan: I don’t think Morrigan will ever be a Companion player again, but she will be a major npc no matter where the game takes place. Not only is she headed where we are supposed to be, but she is now carrying some of the last remnants of Mythal whether in her head (depending on who drank the Well) or in her blood.

Leliana: If our game does actually take place in Tevinter, I think she might get a mention at best. Either by reminiscent characters or in the grand scheme of things. I don’t see her playing to much part unless some of the game returns to Orlais, in which case as a Divine she could very well pop up. As well as still being interested/running the Inquisition’s spies against Solas (I believe even as the Divine), so again a peripheral character. That said I’d really be interested to see if Lyrium Ghost Leliana pops up anywhere!

Wynne: Wynne has actually died by Asunder; leaving not a character no one cares about, but one that even if people wanted her she is unable to return. Unless as a spirit of course. That said it is not out of the question to meet her son Rhys and perhaps recruit him as a companion, along with his Templar sweetheart Evangeline.

Oghren: I could have seen Oghren returning when the team consisted of mostly the old writers. But with Weekes in charge and a few new writers around, I agree he is probably too lowbrow and overlooked (even among the writers) to pop up again. At the very most, if at all, it’ll be a quick mention somewhere.

Zevran: I agree that Zevran possibly being dead makes it hard, but honestly if I don’t get to see Zev once in this new engine. I will move to Canada just to stand outside Bioware studios and scream continuously at them till the day I perish. Zevran deserves more and if Leliana can resurrect, why not our favorite elven assassin.

Sten: Sten is actually a pretty popular character, only he doesn’t go by Sten anymore. Well at least not for most people. Which is where the conflict comes in. For anyone who earned Sten’s loyalty, he is Arishok now. Which big Qunari plot means definite appearance by the Arishok. However, I don’t see him being a companion, at best he would be a NPC ally. On the other hand, those who didn’t help Sten left him without the Qun...unless he went back and became Arishok later (after the Warden) which is a very easy work around.

Shale: I could actually see Shale being a companion. I mean they can reuse at least one (even in DA2, Nathaniel was going to be a return companion but they scraped it). Shale was a character a lot of people liked, but being a DLC character was underexplored. She was last seen heading to Tevinter to discover how to be a dwarf again. So golem, dwarven, or a mix of the two, Shale is a huge possibility.

Hero of Ferelden: Bioware has pretty much confirmed the Warden won’t be back in full capacity ever. Mostly because creating a unvoiced major character is very hard, when they once spoke (unable to make canonically mute) and finding a voice is no solution (they wouldn’t be able to appease enough people, no matter the actor). Which pretty much seals it as, if the Warden shows up, it is in a written or spoken about capacity and nothing more.

Dragon Age 2

Carver/Bethany: It would be such a guilt pleasure if they did show up, but I highly doubt they would and certainly not as a companion. They have too many outcomes and possible paths, it’ll probably be like in DA:I where they get a special mention. OR if Bioware was really clever, they’d make an obscure Warden in the background look like them but obscure enough they can handwave it as “no, but maybe”. Either way, might show up in the Weisshaupt storyline as a special mention, but not much more.

Fenris: I agree with the other post, that Fenris is the one person who would be the one most likely to pop up. I still don’t think as a companion, because he can die. But I do think he could be an ally NPC. Fenris either gets sent back to Danarius or has spent the past years hunting down slavers, so he is bound to be in or near Tevinter. I have almost no doubt we’ll see him, physically, at least once. Though I wouldn’t rule out him being a Weisshaupt too, if he romance Hawke and Hawke wasn’t left in the Fade.

Isabela: Isabela has been in every game so far and if they don’t continue this in DA4 I will be upset. Seriously, it’s like an expectation now. Every DA game is like sex, it’s fun, there is depth, and Isabela is there. Maybe as a companion, maybe as an NPC, or a extra to the cause. Don’t care, she just has to be there now. It’s a signature. Which...if we can get her in her sick Captain’s outfit again, more kudos to them.

Merrill: Hmmm, I don’t know about Merrill. She is such a good and well liked character, and I really need her to interact with Solas. BUT she had far more reason to be in DA:I, in a game that most likely will take place in Tevinter and surrounding area...I’m not sure where she’d fit. Not as a companion I don’t think. Maybe a cameo in Weisshaupt or when dealing with Solas stuff, but even then, her investment in those things seems a bit weak. The most likely place for me, would be dealing with the Eluvians or maybe even helping run an elven slave underground...kind of. But it would really depend where the game chooses to focus (on Tevinter, Solas, Weisshaupt, all 3 equally by some miracle).

Anders: I think at this point, everyone who loves Anders wants Anders back and safe, but also doesn’t want him to be touch by Bioware anymore. And anyone who hates Anders has either killed him or hoped that he was dead...so... Mixed feelings and mixed ideas. I don’t think he’ll ever be a companion again, Bioware learned their lesson (kind of considering Sera). But also being the entire world’s [of Thedas’s] scapegoat for the Mage War/Mage Split, I’m 99.9% sure we haven’t heard the last of some saying something bias, pretty much untrue, and absolutely scathing about him.

Aveline: She is helping run Kirkwall, which is where she belongs. If the game reaches out to the Free Marches, a glimpse or mention of her is sure to be heard. After all, she is the biggest badass there at the moment. Her days on the screen are probably over though, she was a good character but not one interesting enough to last past a single game of screen time. That said, I’d love to see her side-story with the Du Lacs actually revisited at some point, give us a deep Investigative story with her.

Varric: I mean I have to agree with quiz tielle, it pains me but his days as a companion are probably over. That said, I absolutely believe he’ll still have a large role to play. For starters, he is still our storyteller. Thedas’ storyteller and I highly doubt he’ll miss a chance to write out all of Thedas’ major historical events into eye-catching adventure novels till the day he dies. He may be a played out companion (can’t relate) but he isn’t dead and he is still an adventurer at heart, no matter how much he complains about the outdoors. All that aside, he is cousin to probably the most important, incredibly attractive magister in Tevinter right now, Maevaris Tilani (Tethras). I can definitely believe he’ll pop in to say hello and maybe scoop up a story or two, during DA4.

Sebastian: I’m not sure, I forget how his War Table mission plays out...but also not to offend any diehard Seb fans or anything...but he is shit and if he returns I’ll want to punch him. I mean he tried to overtake Kirkwall, for no reason than his own pride and probably a political move to strength his own country. It’s a Free Marcher thing, sure. But still, Sebastian Vael can get stuffed. That so awfully said, if he does come back I’ll still have a good time. Which serious for a moment, I don’t know why he would. Unless like I said we return to the Free Marches for whatever reason.

Tallis?: I have no idea if we have seen the last of her or not. I mean according to DA2 we haven’t and she was a War Table in Inquisitiion. So I suppose if there is a Qunari plot in DA4, you’d expect see her there. But I don’t know how there she’ll be...she could even be a companion. It’s a possibility, but I don’t expect it as a strong one.

Hawke: Hawke is definitely coming back, I don’t know when and I don’t know where but they will. I don’t say this as someone who loved their Hawke tho. I say this because Weisshaupt’s storyline seems to weigh on Hawke’s presence (if they escaped, they said that is where they are headed) and again, like I said in Alistair the decision to leave them behind in the Fade wasn’t final. Hell I wouldn’t be surprised in if in the obligatory Fade mission we ran into a Hawke that got left behind, half dead but still trucking along with that Purple Hawke smirk on their face. “You look like wyvern shit, Hawke.”  “You would know.”

Dragon Age Inquisition

Josephine: I think if the Inquisition is there, Josephine is definitely going to be there in some regard. Even if it is a few letters lying around. She’ll be less relevant that she was in Inquisition though, well unless you romanced her. She still has a family to take care of, plus all that new trade and a few diplomatic graces. A lot for her to take on, plus a maybe slave rebellion?

Cullen: Cullen time has come, I don’t think Cullen wants a thing to do with Tevinter cause mages and honestly I’m glad. I mean yeah, he was the white boy version of Isabela’s cameo, but far less entertaining with his anti-mage, but they’re sorta of okay rhetoric. A little salty, yeah. Cause Bioware had 3 chances to get him to a better place (aka make him a great character with growth), but never got there. So as much as I’d love to see them try and fail to make him a better person one more time, it’s time to let him rest. With his slightly changed notions, his lyrium detox facility, and his dog. That rant over, he could be there in the same capacity as Josephine. A few letters and a little something extra for romancers.

Blackwall: A hard one...in theory Blackwall could make a comeback during the Grey Warden plot, Bioware hyped up. He could even be a true Grey Warden companion this time. However, he has a lot of variables and that makes it hard to bring him back as a return character. He could have died, he could have been saved and hidden, or he could have been saved and made a Grey Warden. Not to mention adding romances and whether he got the Grey Warden epilogue or the “prison counselor” epilogue.

Cassandra: I think Cassandra will have the same role/handling as Leliana honestly. She won’t be a companion, but we will see her interacting with the Inquisitor. Divine or not, she is still helping them with Solas. Though we might not actually interact with her, unless Orlais. Again like Leli.

Iron Bull: Another difficult one. On one hand, he could be dead and that is the end of. On the other he could be with Dorian, who I’ll get to in a minute. I think it’ll be a bit easier though, because they can use him like they did Stroud. If he is alive and helping Dorian (or the Inquisitor) then he can show up, be his usual self. Make references to the past game and his Chargers. If he is dead, then he has a blank stand-in that we kind of get to know during the rest of the game, but never to the extent that we know/knew Bull. That said, he is definitely not becoming a companion. Only two characters with a possible death have ever became companions again after said moment, and I think the fact it happens in the same game leaves Carver and Bethany in a completely different category.

Dorian: Alright, if we were ever going to have a returning companion it will probably be Dorian. I have to agree with the assumption. Because Dorian is Tevinter. He’s the good, the bad. The parts that need change, but also the parts that should be praised. He was singled out for this in Inquisition. It was focused on heavily about him being the new Tevinter ambassador. Of him and Mae taking Tevinter by storm. Their reformation of the Magisterium. They even gave him a plot item, that seemed unnecessary and yet provided a link. Which I’m talking about his sending crystal/magic cellphone. It was endearing and also telling. Why need a crystal when letters work too? And I highly doubt it was just to introduce the idea for fun...I’m getting carried away on my favorite boy. What I mean to say, is Dorian, if not a companion, will be a huge player in the next game. Assuming they are still sending us to Tevinter as planned. Not just because he was so loved, which he way. Or because he is an utterly striking, handsome character, which he is. But because Dorian is a major player in Tevinter as is, trying to change his country and you don’t just go to a country and not meet the most influential of them all.

Solas: Oh boy, I have so much to say about this. First off, I don’t agree with the other post. I don’t think Solas will be the biggest villain this game, this time around. Unless Weekes is really enamored with getting that story out of the way, which he might be. I think he’ll be a smaller big bad in the grand scheme of things, whereas he was the big bad in Inquisition (literally all that happened because of him). I think it’d be interesting to see him as a return companion though. Like yes, we all know who he is. But to our new character? Maybe he is just a revolutionist, maybe he was the one who freed them (if they go the slave plot for the PC). Another chance for him to play the PC and we have to watch it happen. But also, we have to figure out why he’d help us with this rebellion (again relies on the slave plot being used) when he has no horses in the race. I don’t know, it is a possibility and a frustrating, but interesting one.

Vivienne: If she is Divine, I don’t see her doing anymore that Cassandra or Leliana in the position. And again, very dependent on if we go to Orlais. Maybe more so, since she wasn’t a founding agent of the Inquisition like Leliana and Cassandra. However, if the Mage College/Circles of Magi issue is more prominent than I think it will be in DA4, then she might show up a bit more than usual. Still don’t think she’ll be a big role or ally to the main character though.

Cole: I don’t agree with Cole not fighting people, but I do agree that he has other things to worry about that the PC in DA4. That said, when it comes to Solas I feel like Cole will be back instantly. Solas and Cole were incredibly close (for a few reasons I can theorize, coughelves=spiritscough), and he was one of the few who actually wanted to save Solas. So if he is there, he is there for his friends and Solas only. Which means no companionship from him.

Sera: I can’t see Sera giving it a try in Tevinter, for so many reasons. Unless the Inky asks her of course. Every thing from the elves, many who just accept their lives. To the magic, to the lack of friends due to brainwashing and fear. It’s just not an environment Sera would enjoy or even want to be it. But if Orlais is still playing a big part in the next game, I’m sure we’ll turn up the Val Royeaux Jenny eventually. Or like I said, if Inky needs her. I doubt she’ll have much to do with the main character though.

Inquisitor: They’ll be there. In some shape or form they’ll show up, that I have no doubt of. How or when will be a mystery. It might be in the form of speaking to Dorian through the sending crystal (removes the need for a CC) or it might be as a Major Ally (i.e. Hawke in Inquisition). I don’t think the story will center around them as much as we think or would like though. Since this isn’t another Inquisitor story, but our new PC’s story.

Tldr: 

As far as I believe, there could be a ton of cameos from almost anybody. Seriously, there are maybe 3 who won’t come back and none of them are the Wardens or Hawkes left in the Fade. 

The only one from DAO I could see being a companion is Shale, but Sten/Arishok deserves a mention if the Qunari War Plot is going to be as important as we’ve been led to think.

From DA2, I can only see Tallis as a companion, again due to the supposed Qunari War plot. But I’m sure we’ll see Fenris, Varric, Hawke, and Isabela again somewhere in DA4. 

Inquisition provides the most likely return companion, Dorian. I could see Solas or Blackwall returning as a companion, but I don’t think they truly beat out Dorian in the amount of importance and content we could get from a returning character by our side. Since Inquisition is the newest game, I especially see most if not all of the characters making some form of cameo.

Some Special Mentions I want to throw out there too. I imagine Calpernia will still be relevant in some way to the story. As she is also someone who wants to redeem Tevinter (in her own way) and could not be killed by the Inquisitor, even being a villain in their game.

Marius, Tessa, and Charter all seem to relevant, recurring characters in the extended media. I wouldn’t be surprised if they roles in the next game. Especially given Marius’s ties to Tevinter and Calpernia

If we don’t have Maevaris Tilani as a companion, after all of this, I will be shocked and scandalized. She has been another character that has both importance in Tevinter and seems to hold importance to the writers (though how this will go now that her main writer, David Gaider has left I don’t know. Weekes still has access to them and he should use it).

We haven’t yet seen the end of Valta...and perhaps Renn. I’m not sure Bioware will approach more dwarven concepts in DA4, but one can hope. Even more so, since I want to see what happened to Valta and just what is happening with the Titans.

[rlainarin]

For the warden + companion questions

Angharad - Zevran 2, Alistair 1, and Shale 2

Bryony - Alistair 3, Wynne 3, Morrigan 3

Arinda - Leliana 5, Sten 4, Shale 2

okie this is a long one so lemme just

ANGHARAD

Zevran 2. Did your Warden match Zevran’s lighthearted attitude or were they more serious? What sort of relationship did they have?

So their attitudes definitely matched, but it’s basically a fencing match of trauma jokes here. Angharad basically immediately decided oh, this guy is where I was before Duncan, I should try to be his therapist friend. Then Zev hits him with the gay awakening and suddenly hit them both with that gay shit like cuddling and talking about feelings

Alistair  1. What sort of attachment did your Warden form with Alistair, if any at all? Were they close due to their shared experiences as Grey Wardens?

Their similar feelings about not-being-good-enough combined with deeply compatible banter habits had them best friends immediately, and the whole Survived Ostagar Together thing just shoved them closer. It takes a long time for the Grey Warden trauma to come out because they both feel unworthy of even expressing it, idolizing the Wardens too damn much.

Shale 2. Did the realization that Shale was once a living dwarf surprise your Warden? How did that change their views on golems?

So... I played it in the wrong order. And I’ve kept that in my fic canon.

By the time Angharad meets Shale, he knows. He’s had the time to sit and let it fester what a golem is, and that changes his views on Shale. Shale is a tragedy, a walking corpse. Shale is the walking embodiment of his trauma. The fact that he’s already equated golems with all his fears about losing personhood makes it harder for him to think Shale is a person.

BRYONY

Alistair  3. Was Alistair reunited with his sister, Goldanna? What did your Warden think of her? Did they relate to Alistair with their own familial struggles?

If there is one thing Bryony wanted throughout the entire span of the game, more than anything else, it was Fergus back. If she couldn’t have that, Alistair was damn well getting Goldanna... but then Goldanna didn’t want Alistair. That fucked Bryony up a lot. How could Goldanna turn down this brother she’d been missing for so long when Bryony still didn’t have Fergus?

Wynne  3. How did your Warden feel about the Spirit of Faith within Wynne? Did they see it as possession?

She definitely still classifies it as possession, and would probably call Wynne an abomination (and not even to piss her off...), but mostly because she’s not too fussed about being precise here. Yeah, whatever, possession can apparently be chill. As long as the spirit doesn’t go all murdery it’s all fine. Since spirit hasn’t done any going crazy and murdering people yet, it’s probably fine? Eh. She won’t pass up magical healing.

Morrigan 3. How close was your Warden to Morrigan? Did your Warden respect her abilities as a witch of the wilds?

Bryony and Morrigan have this weird little friendship underneath all the hissing alleycat “get away from my Alistair” “fuck you and your Alistair” fights. Bryony doesn’t really stress about magic stuff-- it’s not her department, she just thinks it’s cool that Morrigan can turn into a bear. (She’d really like to turn into a bear, honestly.) What Bryony does like is wilds-- she and Morrigan are out here swapping hiking stories and avidly discussing edible plants. Morrigan and Bryony also have a similar attitude in being practical and straight-forward, and I think Morrigan quite appreciates that Bryony is more of a bulldozer.

ARINDA

Leliana  5. How well did your Warden get along with Leliana? What was their relationship like?

So I haven’t gotten Leliana’s personal quest to trigger yet, but so far they quite get along. Arinda is pretty chill with this weird Andrastian priest lady who is totally aligned with her cause and then... oh, gosh, I’d forgotten how much I missed nice things. Those conversations about nice shoes and silly hair are one of the few threads Arinda hangs on by. They’re shopping buddies.

Sten 4. How did your Warden speak to Sten? Did they fight with him often or were they more humorous in their responses?

There’s a fight brewing for them re:mages when I finally get to stop replaying the Provings (I’M SUFFERING), but so far Arinda is pretty respectful and chill towards Sten. The Qunari honestly seem pretty liberal to her in a lot of ways. Their main disagreement is that Arinda doesn’t know shit about magic and has copied most of her opinions off Morrigan.

Shale  2. Did the realization that Shale was once a living dwarf surprise your Warden? How did that change their views on golems?

As you may have gathered from that ‘replaying the Provings’ thing... not there yet! That’s gonna be fun! Arinda has... more chance of being an Anvil-preserver than any of my other Wardens so that could be fun. (You know. If by fun you mean oh fuck.)

[dryad-of-the-dogwood]

Hey, so, uh... It's been almost 2 years and I'm the worst but I finally wrote a thing again. A Thread of Fate chapter 30, all posted on AO3 and everything, in fact. Maybe 2020 really is the apocalypse. Please forgive me and I hope it isn't a major disappointment after so long. 🖤

Chapter 30: Best Laid Plans

By the time Nalissa returned there was no emotion left on her face, and she declined to say where she had gone other than that we would hear news soon. Meanwhile, Zevran had managed to get the letter open both without breaking the seal and without poisoning himself, which was a pretty impressive feat to watch, not that I’d ever tell him that. Inside were only six words.

Clever girl.

But it’s your choice.

Below that, a bloody thumbprint was stamped in place of a signature.

Nalissa hasn’t let her guard slip even a little since then. She refuses to actually talk about Teyrn Cousland, but I’ve caught her more than once gripping her signet ring so hard it leaves an imprint of the crest on her palm. All day she was as tense as a drawn bowstring, and last night she refused to sleep, alternating between pacing the room with her daggers in hand and scribbling madly at something on the writing desk she wouldn’t let me see. Watching her push herself to exhaustion only reminds me of Ilana saying that was what she had done when she was most afraid, and it’s a thought that burns like the Joining mixture down my throat.

So I haven’t told her about the second attempt Zevran thwarted the next day. I can’t make myself deliver more news that will frighten her more than she is already. She’s punishing herself more than enough as it is, and knowing they’ve twice in two days managed to sneak traps for her into the keep would do nothing for her state of mind.

Even Caron has noticed. Today, when Nalissa nearly nodded off on her feet in the dining hall, he ordered her to take a day off from training the Wardens and get some rest. She found it offensive, of course—a sign he thought her weak. I just hoped it would help, because she did finally give up and pass out on the bed about an hour before midnight. But when she jolts awake so hard the bed shifts against the wall, I realize that was probably too much to hope for.

It’s still the middle of the night, so dark I can barely make out her silhouette against the faint light from the window. She’s sitting straight up, her hands behind her for support, and panting like she’s sprinted to get there. I recognize the posture well by now and I know better than to touch and startle her, no matter how much I want to hold her when she’s afraid. To my surprise, it’s her hands that start searching the bed instead until one of them finds my side. Once she’s found me, she presses her palm flat against my chest, and I expect her to push me away. Instead, she pauses for a heartbeat and then lets out a long breath before falling onto her back again.

It was exactly the span of a heartbeat that she waited, I realize as she covers her face with her other hand. That’s what her palm over my heart is about. She’s making sure I still have one.

“It’s okay,” I whisper, covering the hand still clutching my nightshirt with my own.

Nalissa lets her other hand fall from her face and turns her head toward me. I can’t see her expression in the dark with the only light behind her, so I have no idea what she’s thinking until she says softly, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you, I just… needed to make sure you were okay.”

“Of course I am. You know, over a dozen people in my life have told me I’m entirely too oblivious to know when to die anyway.”

She hums softly at that, sounding thoughtful. “On a completely unrelated note, are they all dead already, or…?”

I laugh and squeeze her hand, and she leans up on one elbow toward me. Her hair tickles my face but she doesn’t close the distance completely, just hovers over me as if she can see me in the dark. My eyes adjust a little more slowly, but with her hair blocking the light from the window, I can finally read the worry in the set of her lips and eyebrows.

“You don’t have to be afraid for me,” I tell her quietly for what must be the hundredth time.

“There are assassins, Alistair.”

“Didn’t you say yourself they wouldn’t kill me?”

“They would have if you had opened that letter instead of me, wouldn’t they?” Nalissa asks pointedly, and well, I can’t argue with that. She parts her lips to speak again, then hesitates and places her free hand against the side of my face, running her thumb back and forth on my cheek and the short beard I still haven’t grown used to. Her voice falters a little as she finally says, “My love, there are far worse things they could do to you than kill you.”

I swear my heart swells at the endearment, but the rest of it… well, it just makes me sad. I think of the stories she’s told me that still make me feel sick to consider. I think of the scars across her back, the better healed ones on her forearms that she had to pay that blighted mage with her own suffering to close, of the way she shut down completely in that closet. And I think how all of it is so much worse because it’s her, and I’m helpless to change it, and I think I understand.

“That’s what you were dreaming, wasn’t it?” I ask, and she doesn’t answer but her expression tightens, and I know I’m right. “Hey,” I whisper, wrapping my arms around her waist to pull her closer. She settles onto my chest, but I can still feel the tension in her every muscle. “The only bad thing that’s going to happen to me is all the lectures I’m going to get from Eamon when we get back to Denerim.”

“Very funny.”

“It’s not funny, it’s true,” I counter, raising my eyebrows at her. “Have I been wrong yet? We’re both still here, safe and sound, just like I said. We’ve won every fight we’ve fought together, just like I said. You’ve fallen madly in love with me, just like I said…”

That gets a tiny laugh out of her, the first one I’ve heard since the letter arrived. Her smile isn’t as wide as it usually is, but at least it’s there as she asks, “You said that, did you? To whom, Dante?”

No objection to the madly part, I notice, and even though it was meant to make her smile, I think my plan might have backfired. I’m definitely smiling more. “Oh, yes. He’s my co-conspirator in that confusing, self-deprecating master plan I mentioned. I just didn’t tell you the whole plan.”

“Why, because you hadn’t thought of it all yet?”

“You know me too well,” I admit with a chuckle. She shakes her head and her smile starts to fade, but I’m not about to give up that easily. So I go on, “I think I’ve finally worked out the rest of it, though.”

“Oh?”

“Mhmm,” I say, running my fingers through her hair absent-mindedly. “You see, first we’re going to take care of these Crows.”

“Eviscerate them, naturally,” Nalissa says firmly.

I find myself thinking about whether I would be holding her now if Wynne hadn’t been in Amaranthine. I pull her closer again and agree, “Naturally.” It takes a bit of effort to chase the thought away, but when I do, I keep talking. “Then we’re going back to Denerim, and I’m going to invite back that marquis who said you shouldn’t be queen—”

“This is a terrible plan unless it involves letting me dye all his hairpieces ridiculous colors while he’s distracted.”

“Better. I’m going to tell Isolde he insulted her dress. Just turn her loose and watch the silk and wigs fly.”

Nalissa really laughs this time, and she finally starts to relax against me as she teases, “Your cunning knows no ends! And that sounds like an especially fun way to be rid of both of them. I approve.”

“Good, because after that, we’re getting married before anyone else can try to stop us.” As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I wonder where I got the nerve to say them. Somehow, even after it’s already been announced to all the realm for��Maker’s breath, nearly two months now, it still feels bold to say. A declaration that means more to me than the words, because it would mean she’s mine and I am hers in a way that no one could take away. And because I worry, and because her breath catches in her throat in a way that I hope isn’t fear, I add nervously, “That is, if that’s—if you still want to.”

Her smile softens, and her thumb tightens around my hand in a way that gives me courage. “An angry high dragon couldn’t keep me away.”

She really means it, I think, and the certainty with which she says it makes my face burn. So naturally, I spoil it with another joke because that’s what I do. “Also good, because I’ve promised Dante he can be the ring bearer. It’ll really make the wedding extra Fereldan, drive off all the snobby Orlesians.”

At that, Nalissa smothers her laughter into my shoulder to keep from waking the whole keep. And I kiss her hair and enjoy the moment of peace. I’m not foolish enough to think it will last—even I don’t have enough bad jokes to keep her distracted until this is over—but she’s been wound so tightly ever since she saw the Cousland seal on that letter, it puts me more at ease to watch her let it go for a few minutes.

When she raises her head again, she’s giving me that shy little smile that makes me feel like I’m the only thing in the world she’s thinking about. It makes my heart beat faster, and I’m sure she can feel it.

“I love you, Alistair,” she whispers, and now my heart all but leaps out of my chest and starts doing flips. You’d think by now that might have worn off, but I’m not sure if I’ll ever hear her say it and not feel like it’s the most important thing I’ve ever heard. I don’t think I’ll ever want to.

Before I can do anything more than most likely grin like a fool, the door swings open and I’m half blind. Dante’s claws click on the floor as he rises, presumably as used to surprise attacks as we are by now. Nalissa rolls toward her side of the bed and what is most likely a small armory’s worth of daggers hidden close by, and even though there’s no weapon within reach myself, I place myself firmly between her and the door.

I have just enough time to think that maybe I should have started keeping my shield under my pillow when Zevran’s voice calls out, “Hold your various projectiles, if you please!”

Nalissa lets out a short, frustrated sort of sigh. “Do you possess the capacity to actually announce yourself before you show up uninvited?”

Even with the light from the hall shadowing half his face, I can see Zevran’s smirk. “Am I interrupting? How rude of me! I can of course wait outside. How long would you like? Thirty minutes? Ten?”

I only manage to sputter in outrage, but Nalissa gets to her feet and hisses, “Oh for Andraste’s sake, light the blighted lamp and get out of the hallway before someone sees you!”

Zevran laughs but does as she says and shuts the door, sliding the latch back into place behind him. How he had even opened it without making enough noise to alert either of us is beyond me. Maybe we were too distracted, and that thought is… worrying. Sure, me being too distracted makes sense, but not Nalissa, especially not right now.

“There, happy?” Zevran asks, interrupting my train of thought with raised eyebrows. “Just the three of us. Now, if that was your plan, I must say I don’t object, but we’ll need much longer than thirty minutes…”

His eyes flicker toward Nalissa, pausing with interest where the hem of her tunic ends just above her knees, and I suddenly find that I haven’t wanted to kill him so badly since he ambushed me and Sereda. Okay, maybe not kill, he is still trying to help us. Maybe just lightly maim.

“Zevran,” I warn, and naturally, he laughs at me.

“I jest, I jest! Just when did you get so dour? Why, Alistair, it’s almost as if being king has made you serious.”

Nalissa lets out another, much deeper sigh. This time when I look in her direction, she has her arms crossed and looks just as tired as yesterday. “Can you please just skip the posturing and tell us why you’re burgling into the keep several hours before sunrise?”

“Of course,” Zevran agrees with a nod of his head, but still he pauses to grin at me and add, “See, at least she has manners,” as if he possesses anything of the kind himself.

The next moment, he produces a scroll from a pouch at his side and holds it out toward Nalissa. “I managed to find a copy of the original contract.”

“One of them was carrying it?” Nalissa asks as she takes it from his outstretched hand. “How thick can they get?”

“Of course not! Physical contracts are only held in the Archive and by the client, everyone knows that.”

“So you found out who it is?” I interject hopefully, but Zevran shakes his head.

“Only the original contract owner, I’m afraid. Four and a half years old by now, and as I said, everyone involved is very dead except your lovely friend here.”

The crinkling of parchment interrupts him when Nalissa’s hands close tightly on the edges of the contract. Her voice is dazed, like something has just knocked the wind out of her, as she reads the name aloud.

Zevran speaks, something about, “you gave me the idea,” with whatever follows completely drowned by the ringing in my ears. The signature itself is vague, just initials, but I recognize the spiky R. H. because I’ve seen the scrawl dozens of times, at the foot of every letter my father ever received from Amaranthine.

“Rendon Howe.”

---

Four and a half years, Zevran had said, and I look up at the date frantically, certain he’s wrong, that he just has two different attempts on my life confused. But there it is: 2nd Harvestmere, 9:28 Dragon. A week before the trip to Orlais I had blamed all this time, two solid years before the attack on Highever. I would have been just shy of seventeen, I realize, and that thought makes my head spin. What could I possibly have done that he wanted me dead?

Then it strikes me like a backhand across my face, and I can almost feel the bite of his ring behind it. He had turned my father’s words on me so many times, using them to get into my head more precisely than any physical wound he ever gave me, but the answer to all of this was in the first words he spoke to me in Fort Drakon.

I remember the shackles binding my wrists and ankles to the wall, holding me in place as he struck me. I remember the blood matted in my hair, half of it mine from the head wound that had knocked me unconscious, half of it Roderick’s where I had sobbed into his chest as he lay dying. And I remember the torches casting flickering light onto Rendon Howe’s face, how I had sworn he must be a demon because no mortal man could be just standing there and laughing.

“Bryce’s little spitfire, indeed,” he sneers from the memory, so close I can feel his breath on my face. “Bright, fierce, headstrong, he called you. Let us see how strong you really are.”

And finally, I make the connection I had missed, hear the words in my father’s voice with a laugh at the end, as he always did when he made excuses for me. As he did when I had refused a proposed betrothal to Thomas Howe, sometime in mid-August, four and a half years ago.

“Don’t touch her,” Alistair’s voice orders and I shake my head quickly. The motion is sluggish and my hands are unsteady, but I fill my lungs with as much breath as I can manage and then let it out slowly.

“I’m fine,” slips past my lips before I can think any better of it.

He chuckles, but it sounds nervous. “How is it someone as clever as you hasn’t come up with a better lie by now?”

“Let’s call it a bad habit,” I manage to answer, forcing my right hand to release its death grip on the contract so I no longer have to stare at the blighted thing. I switch my gaze to Alistair instead, and his eyes are dark and worried. Suddenly I feel even more exhausted than I did before I fell asleep, and when I rub my eyes, my hand is still shaking.

“Come sit down,” Alistair says quietly, and I let him lead me to the chair by the writing desk without argument. “Let me see,” he adds, and I realize I’m still clutching the contract in my left fist. When I release it, he takes it without a word. His expression only darkens as he reads.

“I must say, I’m rather surprised you’re so shocked,” Zevran says from where he still stands by the lamp. “Has this same man not tried to kill you more than once?”

I can only stare at him, because I don’t have an answer. I can’t quite explain why it somehow feels like a second betrayal to learn Rendon Howe had paid for my life and still broke bread at my family’s table. That even unknowingly, I had still considered him an uncle after he tried to have me killed just for telling him no makes me feel sick. Finally, I manage to ask, “How does it help? He’s dead. He can’t have been the one to reopen it now.”

“Who can do that?” Alistair chimes in, waving the contract in the air for emphasis. “She’s right, this can’t be useless. It must point to someone.”

Zevran nods. “It should help create a list of suspects shorter than ‘anyone that didn’t want her as queen,’ to be sure. Only someone with knowledge of the original contract could have paid to reopen it. A confidante? A wife? A child?”

Alistair tenses and shoots a look toward the door. “Nathaniel?”

“Where was it?” I interrupt, before he can go off on a witch hunt in the middle of the night.

“There is a trick panel on a display case in a downstairs storage room,” Zevran answers. “Quite well hidden, in fact. I am not at all surprised it was missed by anyone not looking for secrets.”

I grimace. “Let me guess: behind his medal from White River.”

Zevran raises his eyebrows at me and says in surprise, “Beneath it, but yes. In a tidy little compartment with a few other documents of little importance. How did you know?”

With a sigh, I shove myself to my feet. “Because all of this started at White River. We should see what there is to learn there before we start making guesses. Show me.”

Sneaking Zevran downstairs thankfully isn’t difficult, but rifling through the mess of paperwork in Rendon Howe’s secret hiding place is. It makes my stomach uneasy to read his writing, and even more so the contents of the “other documents of little importance.” Whatever Zevran had said, most of them are very relevant, at least to me. They’re a million little pieces of a story I hadn’t understood, still can’t understand, even looking at all the tokens of Howe’s hatred. They range from an official commendation bearing King Maric’s signature that congratulated him but still praised my father and Leonas Bryland for saving his life to an angrily crumpled letter from Lady Eliane to her brother full of pleas for him to make amends with her husband and stay his anger. That it’s here and not in South Reach tells me that it was intercepted before it could ever be sent.

Below that is a diagram of Castle Cousland. My breath catches in my throat as I flatten it out and trace the red X’s where someone has marked the guard posts, drag my fingertips over the lines drawn to indicate patrol routes. Three rooms in the back are circled. My parents’, my brother’s, and mine.

“Are you quite certain this is the best use of our time?” Zevran asks, and I look up to see him tapping his fingers rather impatiently on the cabinet. Even Alistair is frowning down at the commendation letter like it hasn’t given up enough secrets.

I clear my throat and shove the attack plan aside. Zevran is right, it will do me no good to focus on that now. “Perhaps not,” I admit, digging through what remains in the compartment. “I had hoped for some more recent insight, but most of this is…”

A phrase catches my eye, a footnote at the bottom of a report I had barely skimmed. Only the Wardens could save him now.

I unfold the page and read it more carefully. It’s a healer’s report, I realize, and it’s for Thomas Howe. The text confirms what his father had spat at me near the end, that the boy had been injured by darkspawn and the Blight had taken hold inside him. But he hadn’t died immediately.

“How long can someone live, if they’re blighted?” I wonder aloud.

“I’m not sure I would call it ‘living,’” Alistair says slowly, coming to look over my shoulder. “It varies by person, but the body always rots faster than the mind. They might have a few months at most before the corruption turned them mindless.”

“Then Thomas is definitely out,” I say with a sigh, passing the report off to him.

I’m about to admit that this was useless when Alistair realizes aloud, “This is why he drugged Riordan.”

I shake my head slowly. “I don’t follow. Who’s that?”

“The ‘Orlesian Warden sneaking into the city,’ that’s Riordan,” Alistair answers, tapping his finger against the page to indicate the passage he’s reading. “Though they’re wrong, he wasn’t actually Orlesian, just stationed there. He was one of the senior Wardens in the order. He sneaked into Fereldan during the Blight, and Howe tricked him and threw him in the dungeon. He must have thought he could tell him how to stop the corruption.”

“That’s true?” I ask, mostly because no book I’ve ever found on the subject has ever really given a straight answer. “The Wardens can actually save someone that’s been blighted?”

This time, Alistair doesn’t respond right away. His eyes flicker to Zevran before me, and when he finally does look in my direction, he seems to be speaking to someone standing just over my head.

“Whoever wrote this definitely believed so,” he says slowly. “It’s not quite that simple, but in—in a way.”

I had once joked that if Alistair ever tried to actually lie, he would be so bad at it that his face would give him away instantly. In this moment, Maker, I think it is. I feel my eyebrows start to tug lower and force them back to neutrality again, because I… don’t know if I want him to realize I see it.

“So are you saying he could still be alive?” I ask, half a beat too late.

Alistair continues to weigh his words very carefully. “No. The, er, necessary ingredients weren’t exactly available outside of a Warden keep or safehouse, and Riordan wouldn’t have told him anyway.”

I nod slowly, then conclude with a possibly overexaggerated grimace, “Well, I guess this really was all completely useless then. Sorry for dragging you down here again, Zevran.”

“My pleasure, of course,” Zevran answers, but his words sound less honeyed than usual. He’s still looking at Alistair too.

I don’t want to keep looking at this pile of things with Rendon Howe’s handwriting all over them, so I shove them back into a stack and drop them into the compartment they came from. The one that ends up at the top makes me shiver. It’s the contract for one Talverd Wainwright to work as a healer to Fort Drakon and the estate of the Arl of Denerim. Alistair hands over the healer’s report and I add it to the pile, face-down, so I don’t have to look at any of it as I shut the hidden latch. I want to light the whole blighted thing on fire.

I wish I had never suggested coming down here. Nothing we’ve found has made me feel any better, and neither has whatever Alistair isn’t telling me. It’s definitely about the Grey Wardens, and I want to believe that he just isn’t allowed to talk about it—bound by some sort of Warden statute of silence, perhaps. But Zevran isn’t a Warden either, and that look Alistair gave him seemed to say not to speak.

So exactly what is it that he so specifically doesn’t want to tell me?