#alistair headcanon: {in peace vigilance}

[darkstarkiller]

Alistair Headcanons:

He uses his sense of humour to cover up the fact that he is actually very anxious, this has improved since the blight with increased confidence. He also uses it to hide his feelings of depression as he doesn’t want anyone else to feel what he feels

It’s possible he may have once been seen by 70 mages and 30 templars in his underwear….

Alistar is a very traditional Ferelden, he loves their food and will try Orlesian and other food but it won’t be the same to him, he is proud of his home

He talks a lot to mages since he has an interest in magic, he’s actually borrowed a few tomes from Wynne, he finds it fascinating 

[darkfeanix]

Thedas Tuesday

Since I am a coward who doesn't want to create any more character information that could be contradicted by the game (at least, not until I've played the game), I've decided that for the foreseeable future I'm gonna use Thedas Tuesday to develop the worldstate for my first playthrough with Hissera. Most of it will probably end up headcanon, as I doubt the character creator will be as thorough as the Keep, which itself only factored in decisions potentially relevant to Inquisition (?). Even so, it's "established" headcanon, as all of it will be based on what was possible in the games.

Today we'll be going very broad, looking at some of the biggest choices in each of the three games. Since all of my PCs will be women, I'm gonna tag it as the "Girls Get It Done" worldstate. IYKYK.

Heroes

Petronella Aeducan (Reaver)

Ariel Hawke (Duelist)

Rhona Lavellan (Knight-Enchanter)

Worldstate information below the cut.

Dragon Age: Origins

Petronella Aeducan

My very first Warden, long lost to the annals of time and cyberspace, was a dwarf noble who used the default name Sereda, so it feels fitting that this worldstate be inspired by the default dwarf noble-focused worldstate that players can choose at the beginning of Dragon Age II: "No Compromise". In this worldstate, her name is Petronella, and she was very much forced into the role of leadership against her will. She didn't want the throne, even as Bhelan tried to unsubtly nudge her toward making a powerplay against Trian, and she certainly didn't want to be in charge of the Wardens' entire campaign against the Blight in Ferelden, but Alistair deferred to her pretty much from the start.

First, the most important decision: Petronella cured the Mabari, of course. She named him Wolf, inspired by the blighted surface wolves she had encountered during the expedition to Aeducan Thaig; they had been the first surface creatures she had ever seen up close.

Petronella did not romance anybody.

In The Arl of Redcliffe, she stayed and fought alongside the villagers, then in the castle she was persuaded to spare Connor and go to the Circle of Magi for help. Connor's life was ultimately saved by Wynne being sent into the Fade to fight the desire demon.

In Broken Circle, she saved the mages, including First Enchanter Irving.

In the Urn of Sacred Ashes, she desecrated the ashes in exchange for the knowledge of how to become a reaver. Leliana died trying to kill her, and Wynne abandoned the party when she learned what had happened.

In Nature of the Beast, she brokered peace between the elves and the werewolves.

In A Paragon of Her Kind, she destroyed the Anvil of the Void and crowned Bhelan (after supporting Harrowmont early on).

In The Landsmeet, she allied with Anora and recruited Loghain, which cost her Alistair as an ally. She convinced Anora to not execute him.

When she was told about the Dark Ritual, she rejected Morrigan's offer, and Morrigan left as well.

In The Battle of Denerim, Loghain sacrificed himself and killed Archdemon.

Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening

In the Depths of Depravity, the Architect was killed.

In The Assault on Amaranthine, the city of Amaranthine burned while Petronella returned to Vigil's Keep to repel the darkspawn attack.

Dragon Age: Origins – Witch Hunt

In the Search of Morrigan, an incredibly embittered Petronella stabbed Morrigan.

Dragon Age II

Ariel Hawke

My first Hawke was a man. I don't remember his name, but I'm pretty sure he was a Diplomatic/Blue Hawke, and I do remember that he romanced Isabela. Since this is the Girls Get It Done worldstate, some changes will obviously need to be made. Ariel Hawke is a devout Andrastian, though like her friend Varric, she doesn't have a very high opinion of the Chantry as an institution. She believes strongly in the need for Circle reforms, in greater freedoms for mages, though not the outright eradication of the Circles.

Ariel ended up in a rivalry romance with Sebastian Vael.

At the end of the Prologue, Ariel joined the smugglers because she thought they could get more work for Bethany.

When the time came for The Deep Roads Expedition, Ariel was convinced by their mother to leave Bethany behind, leading to Bethany being taken to the Circle of Magi.

In Following the Qun, Ariel did not side with Mother Petrice.

In Legacy, Ariel ultimately sided with Janeka after learning that Larius threatened her father.

In Demands of the Qun, Isabela returned with the Tome of Koslun, and Ariel fought and killed the Arishok to protect her.

In Best Served Cold, Ariel handed the conspirators over to Orsino.

In The Last Straw, Ariel executed Anders, and sided with the mages.

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Rhona Lavellan

My first Inquisitor was Lavellan, pretty sure with the default name Ellana. Of my three heroes, Inquisitor Rhona Lavellan is closest to her actually played equivalent. She is the Second of Keeper Deshanna Istimaethoriel, and in the course of her time serving as Inquisitor, she learned the way of the Knight-Enchanter due to the similarities to the arcane warriors of her clan's histories.

With the help of all three of her advisors, Clan Lavellan survived the machinations of the Elder One, and Keeper Deshanna was installed as an elven representative on the new Wycome City Council.

Rhona romanced Sera, though their relationship ultimately fell apart due to differences in opinion over the existence of the elven gods.

In The Wrath of Heaven, and in fact throughout her time as the Inquisitor, Rhona resolutely denied being the Herald of Andraste.

During the events of In Hushed Whispers, Rhona allied with the mages.

In Here Lies the Abyss, Warden Stroud made a noble sacrifice in the Fade to distract Nightmare, and Rhona encouraged the Grey Wardens to rebuild.

In Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts, Empress Celene was assassinated, Grand Duchess Florianne was killed, and Gaspard was installed as a puppet for Briala to rule through

In What Pride Had Wrought, Rhona respected the templar traditions, allied with the sentinels, and was ultimately the one who drank from the Well of Sorrows.

After averting Doom Upon All the World, Rhona's influence led to Leliana being elected as Divine Victoria.

Dragon Age: Inquisition – The Descent

In The Descent, Rhona travelled into the Deep Roads to uncover the source of earthquakes, and discovered the Titan.

Dragon Age: Inquisition – Jaws of Haakon

In Ameridan's End, Rhona met the last Inquisitor, and revealed the truth about his elven heritage to the world.

Dragon Age: Inquisition – Trespasser

In Trespasser, Rhona told Solas she would find a way to change his mind, and disbanded the Inquisition.

[inquisitor-julia]

So! not exactly sure how I want to format this but here I am to babble about my OCs starting with the original love of my life: Elsanna Cousland

Putting this giant post under the cut so I don't clog up anyone's dash!

So to start off, just the basics:

Status: Alive and well, Queen of Ferelden

Name Meaning: “Powerful Sparrow”

Full Name: Elsanna Norette Cousland [Theirin]

Gender: Female

Pronouns: She/Her

Date of Birth: 15th of Firstfall 9:12 Dragon

Age: 18 (at the start of Origins)

Class: Rogue (Dual-Wielder)

Specializations: Duelist, Assassin, Shadow

Romance: Alistair

Shares World-State With: Serafina Hawke and Nayeli Trevelyan

Height: 5'8"

Family: Eleanor (Mother)(Dead), Bryce (Father)(Dead), Fergus (Older Brother), Oriana (Sister-In-Law)(Dead), Oren (Nephew)(Dead), Cassia (Sister-In-Law), Eleanora (Niece), Bryson (Nephew), Vilaida (Mabari)

Children: Alessandra (Daughter)

MBTI: ENFJ

Astrology: Scorpio [3rd Decan]

Pinterest Board

Playlist

Romance Playlist (for sure needs updating)

Her in game decisions:

she recruits and keeps all of the available companions

she’s friends with all of her companions

her mabari is named Vilaida

sided with the mages

protected redcliffe

helped connor with the help of the circle of magi and isolde and connor lived

did not defile the sacred ashes

made peace between the elves and werewolves

Avernus allowed to live and continue experiments humanely

did not drink Avernus’ potion and did not destroy it

destroyed the anvil and sided with cairidin

Bhelen rules Orzammar

“killed” flemeth (by which i mean she absolutely fought flemeth but obviously flemeth isn’t actually dead so…)

Loghain was executed by Alistair

Alistair rules Ferelden with Elsanna as his Queen

The dark ritual was done by Alistair

Elsanna killed the archdemon and lived

Elsanna became warden commander and arlessa of amaranthine

recruited all awakening companions

friends with all awakening companions

protected both vigil’s keep and amaranthine

killed the architect

let morrigan leave through the eluvian

Some posts I've made about her previously

Aesthetic Post

Infodump Post

Short Fic

Elsanna and Four Colors

16 Factors Test

Wedding Dress

Warden or Queen Ask

Sad Cousland Headcanon

Elsi and Alistair Gifset

Feelings About Loghain

Excuse You I Am Your Queen

Feelings About Wardens

Hogwarts Aesthetic (no i don't engage with HP anymore but i still like this post)

Eamon vs. Alessandra

In Five Gifs

Leliana and Shale

Happy Ending

Kiss, Marry, Get Drinks With

Dog and Ser Pounce

How Deeply She Feels

Elsanna's Theme

Dollmakers 1 2 3 4 5

Art of her:

by changelingsandothernonsense

by paranoidfactors

by junie-junette

by mirandemia

by me

by deeplord

I know this post is really just links but this is just to start me off talking about her! I have more info written down (somewhere) that I'm going to post and I'm open to any questions! :)

[mxanigel]

21. Free ramble card wee for NERI MY BELOVED

ahahaha I HOPE YOU'RE READY FOR THIS 💜💜💜 (thank you for asking about Neri~)

Neri originated as my first-ever DAO OC over 10 years ago (!). I'd never played a Bioware game before and had no idea what I was doing in so many ways. A cis female mage, that version of Neri accidentally flirted with and then rejected Alistair, declined Morrigan's offer, and made the ultimate sacrifice against the Archdemon.

Early during the pandemic, I picked up DAO again and decided to try an OC I headcanoned as agender. It, uh, didn't work. Gendering is everywhere in that game. And it helped me realize just how damned uncomfortable it was, how much I personally hated being gendered all the time. Somewhere in there, I also first played DA2, which prompted me to try Awakening for the first time. (No idea how I managed to have Awakening all these years without playing it.)

On a whim, I decided to use updated agender Neri as my Awakening Warden since even a Warden who died at the end can still be loaded into Awakening. I'm so glad I did. Neri felt more sure of themself after surviving the Fifth Blight, an outcome only made possible by Loghain's sacrifice (since they still rejected Morrigan's ritual). Their post-Circle experience ensured they had a foundation from which to function as a noble and a Warden. And they found a family among the new Wardens and other inhabitants of Vigil's Keep, family they grew to trust more than their Blight companions.

Plus, with DA2 Anders fresh in my head, Awakening Anders threw me for a loop. As did his interactions with Neri. I started to think that perhaps he was someone who could accept Neri for themself, as themself, in part because he intimately knew what Circle life was like and what it could do to a person.

Because that kind of acceptance, something Neri never had in the Circle and barely found before the Archdemon fell, is what they needed to begin embracing who they are. Their Harrowing was delayed which fed into their insecurities, they were thrust into the role of Warden with little information or training, they fumbled through diplomatic tasks with the weight of nations on their shoulders. Yet, despite the horrors in Amaranthine, they also found peace and belonging and friendship. A place they could call home. A place to safely navigate their own identity, their strengths and weaknesses, their loves and fears.

All that rambling and I didn't really talk about Neri's queer labels. 😅 They're agender (they/them pronouns), pansexual, demiromantic, and struggle with gender dysphoria. Their title is "arlen" rather than "arl" or "arlessa." If they could change one thing about their body, they'd be flat-chested. Their queerness is an essential part of who they are. Neri has pushed me so far out of my comfort zone writing-wise and helped me discover my own labels along the way. 💜

Original list of Pride OC asks!

[braincoins]

“But Socks!” you, as the convenient strawperson, exclaim, “as much as I’d love to read your Dragon Age stuff, I’ve never played Origins and/or Awakening! I don’t really know anything about Grey Wardens or the events of those games!”

Well all you had to do was ask, Convenient Strawperson-chan! ^_^ I know Grey Wardens play some small part in DA:I, which seems to be the game most people have played, but I’ll just start from the beginning. I’ll also be including personal headcanons that come up in Dragon Age: Schism, though I will mark them as such.

Under a cut for the sake of people’s dashes. Consider this a first post in a series. (I’ll answer questions that non-strawpeople want to ask, too!)

So, really now, what is a Grey Warden? Well, that depends on who you ask. To most people outside the order, the Grey Wardens are a glorious order of noble heroes! And why is that? Well, they’re immune to the darkspawn taint (which usually kills people) and so they can safely slay darkspawn! They’re also the only ones who can stop Blights!! ...though this last bit of information is often forgotten, given that Blights happen once every few centuries. 

If you ask me, the Grey Wardens are the biggest dick move in Thedas, which is actually part of why I love them. Here’s all the downsides to joining this “glorious order”: 

First of all, the Right of Conscription. Ferelden has it; not sure if other nations in Thedas do? Anyway, it means that Grey Wardens can recruit anyone at any time. In practice, they have to be careful how they wield this tool (especially in Ferelden), but the RoC has been used to save people from hangings or other deadly fates... on the condition that they become a Warden Recruit. So... didn’t want to be Warden Recruit? TOO BAD, YOU ARE NOW. And no, you don’t get a say in the RoC. 

Second of all, there’s the Joining. It turns out that, in order to become a Grey Warden, you have to drink darkspawn blood. And a bunch of other stuff in there, but really now, DRINKING DARKSPAWN BLOOD. You might recognize this as a stupidly dangerous thing to do, given that darkspawn blood KILLS THINGS. But your options are drink it or die, because the Grey Wardens present at the Joining will kill you if you try to back out after learning about this. If you drink from the Joining chalice, you also might die, but your name will be remembered as a Grey Warden at least? Even though you’re dead. And hey, if you live, you... become “immune” to the darkspawn taint, which is to say you’re already fucking tainted so it’s not like it can get worse. Want to know why the Grey Wardens don’t tell people they’re gonna make them drink darkspawn blood? Well, if they did that, people wouldn’t want to join, and we need Grey Wardens. 

Supposing you survive the Joining, there’s the shortened lifespan (10-30 years depending on your sources; my headcanon is just straight up 10-ish years) and the nightmares (that maybe you can learn to tune out). Again, they don’t tell you this until afterwards. Why? Because then people might not want to become Grey Wardens... yadda yadda.

Oh, and forget about having kids! It’s very difficult if not impossible to have children as a Grey Warden! 

At some point, even if you were able to tune the nightmares out, they’ll come back and there’ll be nothing you can do about it. That’s the first sign of The Calling. Because it turns out that the Joining is really just turning you into a ghoul, except very, very slowly. You’re getting close to Ghoul-dom now. Most Grey Wardens choose to die in battle against the darkspawn rather than waiting to be turned. It’s tradition. 

And if there’s a Blight going on? Oh, well, it turns out that the only way to kill an Archdemon is to sacrifice a Grey Warden. Why didn’t they tell you? DO YOU EVEN HAVE TO ASK NOW?!

The motto of the Grey Wardens is “In war, victory. In peace, vigilance. In death, sacrifice.” 

So what I’m saying is that Grey Wardens are SUPER TRAGIC BADASSES. They also wind up pretty cut off from their former lives, so the Wardens become their family. So, basically, SUPER TRAGIC BADASS FOUND FAMILY. I really don’t see how I was not supposed to love them immediately. 

They still have this reputation of “glory” and all that, but so many of their recruits were thieves or ne’er-do-wells saved from the gallows by the RoC. If you look at just the Wardens we have at the end of Awakening (and this is my list, i.e., the Wardens we have in Dragon Age: Schism):

The Warden (aka the Player Character): the Hero of Ferelden, but may have come from questionable backgrounds, depending on the origin you picked. Duncan might even have had to RoC you. If nothing else, much of Ferelden believed Loghain’s lies that the Wardens were traitors and murderers of beloved King Cailan, and that’s a hard thing to come out from under. In the case of Kivral, she’s a Dalish elf, and elves are... not exactly much beloved, the Dalish even less so, as they’re often painted as “savages.” 

Alistair: King Cailan’s half-brother, thanks to their father, King Maric, getting a little something in on the side (”You’re not just a bastard, you’re a royal bastard?”). Kivral didn’t put him on the throne, but you can if you want in your game. In any case, despite being the most experienced Warden in the group (he Joined six months before the PC), he prefers to follow and let the PC lead. Also in love with Kivral (again: my choice; you can romance someone else in your game), who’s head over heels for him. His mere existence is a threat to the throne. 

Nathaniel Howe: Son of Arl Rendon Howe, who backed Loghain and was, in pretty much all ways, a motherfucking asshole. Nate shows up trying to steal shit from the keep Queen Anora granted the Wardens, even though he insists he wasn’t stealing because it’s his stuff. The seneschal at the time wants to hang him. Kivral decided he’d undergo the Joining instead. Along the way, Nate learns about his father’s actions, comes to accept that, yes, his father was a sonuvabitch, and even pays special attention to non-noble/non-human companions, learning about the privilege he’s had most of his life.

Anders: When you first meet Anders, he’s surrounded by dead Templars and dead darkspawn. He swears forwards and backwards that the darkspawn killed the Templars and then he killed the darkspawn. REALLY. Even though he had run away from the Circle and was being hauled back there by those same Templars. In fact, a Templar shows up and wants to drag him off, but you can call RoC and recruit him instead. And also give him a kitten. 

Velanna: Dalish mage exiled from her clan, even though she was the Keeper’s first - i.e., in line to be the next Keeper. She’s trying to find her sister, and that’s the only reason she signs on with you. HATES HUMANS. HAAAAAAAATES HUMANS. SO FUCKING MUCH. HATES THEM. Not exactly a “people person.” Like, at all.

Sigrun: Casteless dwarf who joined THE LEGION OF THE DEAD. In other words, a fucking badass already. But she’s also this adorable ray of sunshine? Like... her life sucked so she made the choice to consider herself already dead and then you can get her to join the Wardens who are basically Dead People Walking, just on the surface. 

Oghren: One of your companions from Origins. A drunken, lecherous pervert of a dwarf, but he also unlocks the Berserker specialization for warriors in DA:O. He basically just shows up near the beginning of Awakening and is like, “Hey, I had fun killing shit with you and I wanna do more of it.”

Justice: Not in Schism, but mentioned in the notes: Justice is literally the Spirit of Justice who has taken over the corpse of a Grey Warden named Kristoff. In regular Dragon Age canon, Justice eventually leaves Kristoff’s corpse and hitches a ride with Anders, whose anger at the Chantry and the general treatment of mages turns him into VENGEANCE. In Schism, Justice departs back to the spirit world.

But I give you this list for a reason: thieves, exiles, casteless, apostates. These are the Great and Glorious Grey Wardens we’re dealing with here. Even Duncan, Maker watch over him, was a rogue and a thief before he became a Grey Warden and eventually rose to Warden-Commander of Ferelden. 

In the time period of Dragon Age: Schism, the people of Ferelden are still recovering from the Blight, from the death of their king, from Loghain’s claims of Grey Warden treachery, etc. Many generations before, there was a Grey Warden rebellion against the then-king, Arland, for his tyrannical ways. The Wardens were slaughtered - either by the king’s troops or by the demons that the Warden mage Avernus summoned in desperation - and the Warden Order was cast out of Ferelden until King Maric assumed the throne and allowed them back in. He even reinstated their Right of Conscription (though, again, you can’t just RoC anyone and everyone all the time; that’s a good way to get it - and possibly the Order again - revoked real quick).

So the Wardens are on shaky ground in Ferelden, where our story is set and centered (just as in Origins/Awakening). There aren’t many of them (see list above because - again, aside from Justice - that’s literally all of them in the entire country) and people are still sort of side-eyeing them. They have Queen Anora’s support, but even that’s shaky, especially while Alistair - who could have taken the throne in her place - is still alive and kicking. The leader of the Wardens of Ferelden may also be the Hero of Ferelden, but, in the case of Schism-verse, is also a “knife-ear” (as the slur goes), and not Andrastian (she’s not Fantasy Christian, basically).  

[i-will-be-your-krantt]

The First of the Grey

I read @dragonageconfessions post about The Joining and it reminded me that I have a headcanon about how it first began if anyone’s interested:

The first Blight lasted for centuries, it ravaged the land and created the first ever Grey Wardens. But, they say that it took 100 years from the start of the order for the Old God to be slain. So how did they know how to become Grey Wardens? To use the blood of an Archdemon? Well, here’s a thought: What if they weren’t actually proper Grey Wardens at the time? What if they were soldiers tainted by the blight and sustained by magic to keep going?

“Join us, brothers and sisters. Join us in the shadows where we stand vigilant. Join us as we carry the duty that can not be forsworn. And should you perish, know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten. And that one day we shall join you.” - The Joining.

The quote Alistair recites for you on your joining has such a sombre tone to it that it doesn’t sound like something you say during the FIRST ever ceremony, despite what Duncan claims. It sounds like the second, or the third, where you know the stakes and isn’t just mindlessly chugging what is essentially disease-ridden blood in the hopes that it will somehow help.

The Joining, with the ceremony around it and the chalice filled with the concoction of Darkspawn and Archdemon blood carefully prepared with magic - It all sounds rather advanced doesn’t it? Like it’s already been researched and perfected? What if the first Grey Wardens came to be more like this?:

They’re marching into no-mans land. Everything is dead or dying from the Blight, nothing but the sound of their stomping feet and the clank of armor to be heard for miles. Wading through burned down towns and seeing rotting half-eaten corpses propped up like displays. With the black veins of taint in their flesh being the only thing masking their presence. Later they’re hacking away at the dragon, using the ferocity singing in their minds to fight even as they start choking on the blood that rains down as they attack. Waves and waves of wretched souls with nothing left to lose except this small hope that they can keep the Old God from overwhelming the rest of the world.

Even using magic to sustain their bodies for one more push, just one more battle in the hopes that this time it will be enough. That this time they won’t all be cut down prematurely, or watch in despair as the Archdemon rises again from the bodies of the Darkspawn that tried to defend it.

What if a combination of a Blighted soldier, with the taste of a Old God’s blood still coating their tongue, and the strongest of magics trying to hold back the taint long enough for them to fight - plunges their sword into the beasts eye and explodes in light?

The survivors then had years to create the joining ritual, to perfect it so that the recruits would have a chance of surviving beyond the first mouthful. They then passed it on to the next generation, and the next, all carefully adjusting the potency with magic and alchemy so that by the time the next Blight dawned - they would be ready.

‘’In War, Victory. In Peace, Vigilance. In Death, Sacrifice.’’

[darkstarkiller]

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