#and then like three years later this young mage comes up to him at ostagar

[crossdressingdeath]

Loghain: Yes, what is it? Ah, you are Duncan's new Grey Warden, I assume. Tahel: I'm not a Grey Warden yet. Loghain: You impressed his majesty, nonetheless. He could not contain his excitement over your meeting. Loghain: Cailan's fascination with the Wardens goes beyond the ordinary. Are you aware his father brought your order back to Ferelden? Tahel: A fascination you don't share. Loghain: The Wardens are impressive, but not as relevant as Cailan thinks. Loghain: I hear you're from the Circle of Magi. The First Enchanter spoke highly of you—a great achievement, for one so young. Loghain: I don't suppose you'll be riding into the thick of battle with the rest of your fellows, will you? Tahel: I don't know. Loghain: If Cailan has his way, you will. Loghain: Now I must return to my task. Pray that our king proves amenable to wisdom, if you're the praying sort. Tahel: And if he doesn't? Loghain: Then simply pray.

Obsessed with this conversation. To start with you do get this meeting with Loghain under false pretenses; the guard assumes you have a message to pass on, and you don't correct him. But Loghain doesn't get angry at all! He doesn't even tell you to fuck off, he takes the time to speak to this young recruit on the eve of battle despite being extremely busy! Like, that does say something about him!

And then first off he recognizes you, which... okay, he probably heard about you from Cailan, but at the very least he did remember, assuming he didn't specifically ask Cailan what the new Warden recruit looked like. And he makes a point of telling you that you impressed the king. I don't know if that's unique to the "I'm not a Grey Warden yet" dialogue option, but using that option it really does feel like his attempt at offering some... comfort? Encouragement? Like, "You might not be a Grey Warden yet, but you've already impressed the king as a recruit".

Also he spoke to Irving? He spoke to Irving about Surana/Amell? First off when did that happen, but also either he specifically asked about them or Irving started talking about them completely unasked, and I'm not sure which is more fun. I love anything that suggests Irving gushes over Surana/Amell like a proud grandpa, but also the concept of Loghain specifically asking about them is also very good! ...Wait. Best option: Loghain asked about Irving's apprentices to be polite the last time they met for whatever reason and was subjected to an hours-long talk about Irving's special baby apprentice and Loghain has never forgotten. The First Enchanter spoke very highly of them. At length.

But also I love how he shares his concerns with this random recruit with zero hesitation? Cailan doesn't know what he's doing, he's not listening to his strategist, his obsession with the Grey Wardens has made him overconfident and the army is in deep shit if he doesn't start listening to reason, and Loghain just... tells the Warden about it. That seems like a lot of sensitive information to give a Grey Warden recruit! But he just does. I think he's just a little stressed out, which makes sense under the circumstances.

If memory serves this conversation comes up again at the Landsmeet, and Loghain mentions how at this time neither of them have any idea of what's going to happen, and... yeah, it's really true. This conversation is so much more in hindsight, knowing where things are going! I always wonder if some small part of Loghain is glad that the young recruit he spoke to the morning before the battle survived Ostagar, even if he is then attempting to kill them. He's clearly not too broken up about failing to kill them.

[invinciblerodent]

Where was Tristan during the events of Inquisition? Did he ever see the Breach? Did the smaller rifts effect him in anyway?

Ooh, fun! Love this! Storytime! (man, I'd love to have the cc so I could put a header with his actual face here to break up the wall of text. I'll just put in his BG3 mockup, lol.)

(i hope in veilguard we'll get a wheel for the eye color selection because man, this is way too red. he looks far too much like a vampire.)

I don't know if the game is gonna contradict me on any of this and there are some kinks to work out still lol, but I don't think he saw the Breach- definitely not in person at least.

I like to think that, around the time of the divine conclave, he was somewhere in the north of Orlais, just about a day's travel south of Perendale. (Near the Nevarran border, not terribly far from Weisshaupt or Kal-Sharok.)

I haven't gone that far into this thought yet, but my little idea so far is that he had been traveling as a recruiter and sort of a quasi-assistant to his mentor/friend, Warden-Lieutenant Iselva (an Orlesian city-born elf mage and spirit healer). It was around the time they were about to reach the border that they both started hearing the false Calling, but it was only she who chose to heed it.

I imagine Tristan to be kind of caught at that weird halfway-point between having a death wish, and clinging with white-knuckled fists to life, which makes him kind of reckless and prone to making stupid decisions (which is why he even chose to take up arms at Ostagar to begin with), but he's also scrappy, and very much driven to survive by any means necessary (which was the reason he could cheat death in the first place).

He's not the type to bow his head and submit to the Taint, possibly not even once his time truly does come. If he is to hear his Calling (which, with how close he already is to death and how the whole undeath of everything might affect the progression of the Taint, could take days or decades, there's no knowing), he would still want to drag it out for as long as possible, stave it off while he still feels he has a Purpose, whatever that may be. On top of that, he was at that point never told what the Calling would do beyond being an annoyance, why he'd head to the Deep Roads when it starts, and, at the time, he was also barely in his thirties- though nothing about him is entirely normal, he still felt it unusual, suspicious for someone so young to be hearing it.

But Iselva was an older woman by then, a respected and high-ranking acolyte well past her 30th year in the Order. She knew all too well what would happen if they delayed too long, and was adamant that while the both of them starting to hear it at roughly the same time was odd, it was not unheard of (they had spent most of the last decade very close after all, sleeping in the same tent, sometimes in the same bedroll for warmth), and that they should pivot, head towards Kal-Sharok, both head into the Deep Roads at the first opportunity, and die with dignity, as a Warden should.

They got into a horrible fight one night, their worst ever. She insisted, he refused-- she pulled rank, he took offense, and the whole exchange ended with her calling him a stubborn fool, and the two of them parting ways: with him continuing towards Weisshaupt, and her towards Kal-Sharok.

That was the last he's ever heard from her, and though the circumstances of her leaving did tarnish her memory somewhat, he's mourned her as she deserved: as a comrade in arms, a leader, a teacher, and a trusted, beloved friend.

The road to Weisshaupt was slow going without her guidance, and he got lost on the way multiple times, so even though the fake Calling had stopped only about two or three weeks later (iirc! I'll need to check the timeline on this), word of what happened in the Western Approach reached Weisshaupt shortly before he did. Until then, he had assumed that its end marked Iselva's death- now he knows the truth, and knows that she was just another victim in this whole mess.

I like to imagine that somewhere in the Anderfels, there is still a small rock with her name, and the date "9:41" carved crudely into it, nestled between the protruding roots of a tree.

...... and as i'm proofreading myself, it seems that I totally forgot the smaller rifts lol- I don't think he ever was close enough to one to actually feel it, but had he gotten close to one, I think he would have felt an uncomfortable pull of the Fade. And, if he happened to be, say, close to death or unconscious near one, I suspect he could have gotten possessed.

I don't really think of Purpose as a fully realized presence like Justice, it doesn't live in him, but it more just kinda hovers at the edges of his consciousness. Its influence is subtle and unfocused, and if Tristan does wind up dying or losing consciousness in an unfortunate spot where the Veil is thin, it might be able to reach through.

I like to imagine that this is the reason why Tristan suffers from insomnia, and once asleep, has troubles staying that way: being too close to the Fade just... makes him feel like there are ants in his eyes, lol.

[thethirdamell]

Have you written anywhere how you'd change inquisition?

Cause I'm really curious

It is entirely possible I have written something like this before because I have the memory of a goldfish but here are some rambling thoughts for you. 

We open with an origin story that follows your character and how their particular origin would fare in the Mage/Templar war. The Mage/Templar spans across Thedas and impacts everyone, and remnants of it are felt throughout the rest of the game. (Not just in a handful of throwaway fetch quests to STEAL BLANKETS FROM HOMELESS MAGES). Each origin has ties to a larger part of the story encouraging replayability and pushing some origins to favor some roles over others. 

An underlying current throughout each origin (told in rumors, ambient dialogue, and throw-away codexes) is the belief that there is currently a Blight. While no one has seen darkspawn, they have seen an Archdemon and the mobilizations of Grey Wardens. Either this the Sixth Blight or the Fifth Blight never really ended. (It only lasted a year - the shortest in history. Tensions run high between Ferelden and other countries who believe reports of the Archdemon’s defeat were fabricated.)

Dwarf (Any Class): A member of the Carta, you have close ties to the templars as a result of generations of lyrium smuggling. Since the war, things have never been better. Business is booming and you don't have to work in the shadows anymore, but greed is an insatiable mistress. Your operations take you to Valammar, where you've heard tales of a different kind of lyrium.

*This origin encourages you to side with the templars from a narrative perspective. You’re introduced to Barris.

Elf (Any Class): A member of the Dalish, your clan is visited by Mihris, First of your sister clan, Virnehn. Her clan was massacred by a demon unleashed by Michael Chevin, a Chevalier in service to Empress Celene. She comes to ask your clan to help aid the elves of Halamshiral, seeking refuge in the aftermath of Celene’s massacre. In exchange, she promises ancient knowledge of the Eluvians. 

*This origin provides the background of the Masked Empire that was hidden in the books. It encourages you to side with Briala. 

Human (Non-Mage): You are a templar. Your family gave you to the Chantry at a young age, and it's all you've ever known. You've never had much of a choice about anything in your life. Even your break from the Chantry is forced, your Knight-Captain having killed your Knight-Commander in a bid for power. Your first real choice comes when they hand you the red vial: drink or die.

*This origin encourages you to side with the templars from a narrative perspective. You’re introduced to Samson.  

Human (Mage): You are a mage. When your Circle called for the right of Annulment, you ran, and you've been running ever since. The First Enchanter is dead. Most of the Senior Enchanters are too. The Venatori come down from Tevinter are the first friendly faces you’ve seen in months. Then they start killing the Tranquil. 

*This origin encourages you to side with the mages from a narrative perspective. You’re introduced to Calpernia. 

Tal-Vashoth (Non-Mage): You're Tal-Vashoth. You and your brothers were separated from the antaam during the siege of Kirkwall, and have been branded as deserters. You've made a living for yourselves working for Gaspard de Chalons as mercenaries, though some of you still hope to find your way back to the Qun. He gives you a new contract to protect a Revered Mother on her way to the Conclave. 

*This origin encourages you to side with Gaspard and possibly the Qun from a narrative perspective. 

Tal-Vashoth (Mage): You were saarebas. You’re not sure what you are now. You were separated or escaped from your avaard during the siege of Kirkwall, and you’ve been on your own ever since. A retinue of templars finds you, but you’re saved at the last minute by a group of Grey Wardens. They tell you they’re on their way to their Calling, but offer to take you to the Conclave before they go, where you might find a place for yourself among the mages. 

*This origin encourages you to side with the Grey Wardens and possibly the mages or the Qun from a narrative perspective. 

The Conclave is called and serves as the ‘Ostagar’ of Inquisition. You spend time in Haven and meet the larger than life characters. You also have the option of encouraging or discouraging some of your companions from your origin to accompany you up to the Template of Sacred Ashes. (Anyone who accompanies you will die.) Demons swarm the Conclave. You fight towards the heart of the conflict. Then you get the Anchor and everyone with you dies. 

Back in Haven, you wake as a prisoner. Varric is in the cell beside you, and provides you with a quick overview of what you missed while you were unconscious. You can attempt to convince Varric to help you escape, but he will decline. You are given the option of attempting to escape on your own or attempting to plead your case

1. Escape - You can theoretically make it out of Haven but it is almost impossible to do so without being caught. If you successfully escape, you can continue as normal to help close the breach, or leave. If you leave the game ends with a bad ending circa early 90’s games. 

2. Plead Your Case - You fail miserably. You are kept a prisoner and used to close the breach and then taken to trial before the Chantry. If you’re successful in pleading your case then you’re released into the Inquisition’s service. If you’re not successful Leliana will save you and recruit you into the Inquisition’s service. 

Unsuccessful Plea - You are given less choices on the order of your next few quests. (Impacts what you have available when Corpheus attacks Haven)

Successful Plea - You are given complete choice on the order of your next few quests.  (Impacts what you have available when Corpheus attacks Haven)

Escaped and Closed the Breach - You are still made to plead your case before the Chantry but it is extremely unlikely you will be unsuccessful. All companions except Casandra are extremely impressed and receive a boost to approval. 

From here the game focuses on the formation of the Inquisition. You can make a case for Varric to be granted freedom or be left a prisoner. If left a prisoner you can come visit him and he will not begrudge you any. He can be freed at a time by speaking with Casandra with at least a modicum of approval, or by speaking with Leliana with high approval. 

You are more or less an indentured agent of the Inquisition. Your incentive as a player for completing your quests is the promise of freedom if you help close the Breach. The type of Inquisition you form is up to you in terms of who you recruit, the message you put out, and the army you create. You are not necessarily labeled the Herald of Andraste, just the Herald. What you are the Herald of depends upon your backstory and choices and can change over the course of the game. 

I.E. : Herald of the Qun, Herald of Mythal, Herald of Andraste, Herald of the Stone, Herald of Death, Herald of Freedom, etc. 

When the Inquisition is relatively stable, you are given a choice of who is the Inquisitor among your companions / advisors. You do not have to be the Inquisitor. You can also reject the idea of an Inquisitor altogether. 

After completing your choice of a few main quests, Haven will be attacked by Corphyeus. ANYONE can die on the attack on Haven (companions, advisors, etc.), and your army will also take losses that can be mitigated by mounting a solid defense. The individuals you save exist as recurring minor characters and don’t just evaporate when you get to Skyhold. 

*If Varric is still a prisoner at this time he will die. 

When dealing with Skyhold, you actually have to repair it and build up defenses by recruiting troops and companions for a final ‘lead them or fall’ suicide fight with Corphyeus akin to ME2 which many other folk have written much better than I ever could so I’ll skip that. 

For the main quests, the Templar/Mage War is the main priority as you attempt to restore stability to Thedas. Unfortunately no one believes you about Corypheus. They also find their own matters to be more pressing, and will not help you until you help them. The consensus is it is just another Blight, and that you should consult the Grey Wardens about it. 

You’re presented with four options for the mage/templar war: Mages, Templars, Broker Peace, or Ignore the Conflict.

1. Recruiting the mages can result in having Fiona, Calpernia, or both as allies. 

2. Recruiting the templars can result in both Samson, Barris, or both as allies

3. It is not possible to broker peace if all four leaders live. Some leaders will refuse to work with others. Some leaders will refuse certain conditions. This is where you get a choice of conscription versus recruitment and what the new framework of the Circle looks like, if you’re not pursuing pure independence for one side or the other.

4. Ignoring the conflict will give you more time to focus on the rest of the world. The war will continue to ravage the countryside without you, and depending upon other choices one side will win and offer to assist you later. 

Beyond the war, the game focuses on convincing the countries surrounding the Breach to focus on it as the real threat. World leaders are more concerned with the Mage/Templar War and with the possibility of a new Blight than they are concerned with the Breach. The general consensus is that it is a side-effect of the Mage/Templar War brought about by the mages. There are (possible) civil wars taking place in the Free Marches, Ferelden, and Orlais. The game primarily spans these three locations. 

Orlais - The civil war is as seen in the game between Celene, Briala, and Gaspard. How quickly you stop the civil war determines how many forces are alive in the final fight against Corphyeus. How you choose to fight in the civil war swings the outcome in favor of one leader or another. Winter Palace will not trigger until one side is ready to capitulate. The choices you’ve made during the war will strongly influence your score in the Winter Palace and your ability to sway the nobility to your side. (Similar to Landsmeet)

Ferelden - The civil war in Ferelden is conditional to your world state. If Anora is made Queen without Alistair, a civil war is started in his name whether or not he is alive, though it is much weaker if Alistair is dead or if Cousland is King. How quickly you stop the civil war determines how many forces are alive in the final fight against Corphyeus. (Arl Eamon leads the civil war and can be persuaded to end it immediately if Alistair is recruited as a Grey Warden). If Anora is removed from the throne and NOT replaced with Alistair, Ferelden is significantly weakened and not able to provide aid in the final battle. 

If the Warden was a mage and requested freedom for the Circles, this has been granted in Ferelden. Any leader will automatically provide shelter to the mages, and in the event you ignore the mage/templar conflict, this strongly pushes victory in favor of the mages. This also makes it easier to recruit both Calpernia and Fiona if Fiona knows the mages have somewhere safe to turn that isn’t Tevinter. 

If the Ferelden Circle was destroyed and you ignore the mage/templar conflict, this strongly pushes victory in favor of the templars. This also makes it easier to recruit both Samson and Barris if they know the templars will have the support of the Ferelden Crown after the war is over. 

Free Marches - If Anders was spared, a civil war takes place between Starkhaven and Kirkwall. How quickly you stop the civil war determines how many forces are alive in the final fight against Corphyeus. 

If Hawke sided with the mages, and in the event you ignore the mage/templar conflict, this strongly pushes victory in favor of the mages. If Hawke sided with the templars, and you ignore the mage/templar conflict, this strongly pushes victory in favor of the templars.

If Hawke sided with the templars, and spared Anders, this greatly increases Kirkwall’s chance of victory in the civil war with Hawke as Viscount. 

If Sebastian was rivalled and encouraged to reclaim his throne, this greatly increases Starkhaven’s chance of victory in the civil war. If Sebastian is not rivalled, this decreases Starkhaven’s chance of victory in the civil war, but increases Templar/Chantry support of Sebastian. In the event you ignore the mage/templar conflict, this slightly pushes victory in favor of the templars.

*Some templars will not side with an Inquisitor who supports a Hawke who spared Anders. 

*If Anders was killed, he is seen as a martyr by southern mages. Some mages will not side with an Inquisitor who supports a Hawke who killed Anders. 

At any point in time you can seek out the Grey Wardens for help who actually know what they are doing and have an excellent plan to use demons to defeat the Archdemons before they all go to their Calling that has nothing to do with Venatori influence and is just a solid plan. They have done nothing wrong ever in their lives and everyone loves them. Upon being informed that the Calling is fake, they agree to help you against Corphyeus, because YOU ARE NOT A MONARCH AND HAVE NO AUTHORITY TO EXILE THEM.

That’s all I got for right now but I could add to it / clean it up if you thought it was a fun read.

[visenyatargaryn]

Despite being a Teryn’s daughter, Ophelia Cousland dreams of a grander life. One that is filled with sword fights and adventure, but is instead forced to play the noble lady and entertain the wives of dignitaries. However, all of that comes crashing down when tragedy strikes, forcing her out of her very own home and losing everything she loved in the process. Darkness and light are two sides of the same coin, but will Ophelia strive more towards the light? Or will darkness overcome her in her need for vengeance and the will to survive?

With the impending darkspawn invasion, and a civil war threatening to break out across Ferelden… will she be able to put a stop to it all and save her homeland? Or will it all be too late to stop the inevitable?

CHAPTER THREE || Goodbye, Brother || G || 4000 words || ao3

Ophelia finds herself in a difficult situation when she hears the reasoning behind the Greywarden’s arrival at Castle Cousland. Meanwhile, it is finally time for her to do the thing she dreaded for so long—to wish her brother farewell before he heads off to Ostagar to battle darkspawn, but not before coming face to face with familiar and new faces. 

Ophelia and Ser Gilmore walked through the halls of the castle with Amadis padding at their heels. Her mind was swirling with thoughts—many of which were none too pleasant. The strangeness of Arl Howe's behavior from earlier still unnerved her greatly. She had never been too fond of her father’s old friend, as she always sensed something about the man was… off. Almost as if he were hiding something…

“Is everything okay, Ophelia?” Ser Gilmore asked as they walked. She had nearly forgotten the Knight was currently present as she had been lost in thought.

“Yeah, everything is fine. I just have a lot on my mind is all,” she answered, half-truthfully, shaking her head as if to rid herself of such thoughts.

“You know, I have been told that I’m an excellent listener,” Roderick said, offering a smile that reached his bright, blue eyes.

Ophelia returned a small smile. “I’m just worried about the upcoming battle is all, with my father and brother away, I’m to be the one in charge. I don’t know if I’m even qualified enough for such a task.”

It wasn’t the entire truth, but she did not wish to bring up their previous conversation She knew there was no point in trying to convince the Knight of her speculations on the Arl, no matter how persuasive she could be. Besides, it wasn’t entirely a lie either since the thought of the battle did not sit well with her.

“You have nothing to fear, Ophelia. There are to be at least 50,000 men and women at Ostagar, and that’s including the mages,” Ser Gilmore said, in an attempt to comfort her. “Your father would never have appointed you as the one in charge if he didn’t think you were fit for it. Besides, the Teryna will be there to counsel you, and I will be at your side, as always.”

Her smile faltered while fighting the tears that were threatening to come. “Except that’s only half true, Roderick. You won’t be here by my side, or ever again for that matter. The Grey Warden—Duncan, he’s planning to recruit you.”

“What? You can’t be serious?”

“You know I wouldn’t lie to you about such things…”

“But—Who will protect you once I’m gone? Surely there must be a better candidate than myself?”

Ophelia wanted to hug him. Out of all the reasons he could have said for not wanting to join the Grey Wardens, it was her that he thought of first. It was never his own self that he worried about most, it was always her and her alone.

“Roderick, you know there’s nothing that can be done,” she said, wishing it were somehow untrue. “Someone new will be assigned or perhaps no one at all. After all, I’m not the defenseless damsel I was all those years ago. You will be off to join a legendary group of warriors—which might I add, you would make an excellent candidate for.”

After a long, never-ending silence, Ophelia looked up at her friend. The look on his face tore at the seams of her heart. It was as if a million battles were happening inside his head, and he didn’t know how he could possibly win either of them. Not wanting to endure this any longer, she grabbed hold of his calloused hand, causing him to halt his steps and look down at the Teryn’s daughter.

“You are my dearest friend, Roderick, and as much as it pains me to say this, please, don’t fight it. There is no outcome in which you would win in this situation,” Ophelia said, offering him her best smile. “Besides, after everything is over, I could come and visit you. Would you like that?”

A small smile appeared at the corner of the Knight’s lips. “Yes… I would like that quite a lot.”

“Good. Now, let us not waste any more time. I would like to wish my brother farewell while I still have the chance.”

Rounding the corner, they found the Teryna speaking with some guests, two of which Ophelia recognized as Lady Landra, and her son, Dairen. The third, however, was one she did not know. An elven woman with a slender build, with hair the color of honey stood between Lady Landra and her son. Ophelia thought she was quite pretty. They approached, and Eleanor Cousland greeted her daughter, while Ser Gilmore bowed politely.

“Ah, here is my lovely daughter. I take it by the presence of that troublesome hound of yours that the situation in the kitchens has been dealt with?”

Amadis barked at the mention of her name, startling the young elf. Ophelia gave her an apologetic smile before turning her attention back toward the Teryna.

“Yes, Mother. Nan is back to work as we speak,” Ophelia answered, avoiding to bring up the reason why Amadis was causing trouble in the first place, as there were guests present.

“That’s good to hear,” the Teryna answered. “You remember Lady Landra, Bann Loren’s wife?”

Lady Landra stepped forward to greet her. “I believe we last met at your mother’s spring salon. It was quite a lovely occasion.”

“Of course. It is good to see you once more, my lady,” Ophelia agreed, offering the Bann’s wife a warm smile. She remembered Lady Landra getting quite drunk on wine after her mother had told the servants to bring it up from the cellar. It resulted in even more brazen, but unsuccessful attempts to get Ophelia to agree to a marriage proposal with her son.

“You are too polite, dear girl. I do remember spending the evening trying to persuade you to marry my son. However, like you, he is still yet to be married.”

“And you’re still making a feeble case for it, I might add,” Dairren interjected, turning towards Ophelia with a bright smile. “Don’t listen to her. I can assure you that I came here, not as a suitor, but to assist your father.”

She furrowed her brows. “My father?”

“I’m to accompany him when we ride out tomorrow as his second. It is quite the honor, I might add,” he said, giving her a pleasant smile.

“Then, I trust you will make sure that you will keep my father safe and, most importantly, alive?” Ophelia asked, folding her arms across her chest.

“I will do whatever it takes to make sure the Teryn is safely returned to his family.”

She opened her mouth as if to say something but was cut off by Lady Landra before she could muster a word.

“Anyway, this is my lady-in-waiting, Iona,” Lady Landra said, interrupting the two as she motioned to the woman beside her. “Do say something, my dear.”

“It is quite the pleasure to make your acquaintance, my lady,” the elf—Iona said with such shyness. “The rumors of your beauty were not falsehoods, it seems.”

Ophelia blushed at her words. Although, she might have said the same about Iona. From afar, the elf looked merely pretty, but up close… it was an entirely different matter. Her honey-colored hair was long and worn in a beautiful crown plait as elven ears peeked out from the sides. Her large eyes were stunningly blue, like cornflowers, that sparkled when the light hit them. Ophelia smiled in thanks to the compliment.

“And yet that doesn’t seem to make it any easier to find a suitable match for her,” added the Teryna.

“I would say that you should be proud to have a daughter who’s most skilled, my lady,” Dairren interjects, offering Ophelia a smile.

“But alas, pride doesn’t get me any more grandchildren,” Eleanor sighed, looking to her daughter.

“Mother!” Ophelia groaned, not wanting to hear no more talk of marriage or even grandchildren.

“Well, I suppose we shall retire until the evening. We will see you all at dinner,” Lady Landra said, before taking her leave.

As she and Iona dismiss themselves and head back towards the castle, Dairren reaches for Ophelia's delicate hand and pressing his lips against it in a tender kiss, before peering up at her. “It was a pleasure to see you once more, my lady. Shall I see you later?”

At the corner of her eye, she saw Ser Gilmore tense slightly at the gesture.

“I—of course, Dairren,” Ophelia said sweetly, offering him a smile. Watching the young man leave, she felt her face burn from the flirtation.

“What a charming young man,” the Teryna mused.

“Mother, no,” Ophelia warned, not wanting to hear more of this.

Eleanor raised a brow. “No, what?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

The Teryna sighed. “You must marry at some point, Ophelia, and he’s a polite, handsome young man from a good family…”

“Yes, I know. I’m just… not ready is all. I do wish to enjoy my youth while I can, which I hope is something you can understand, mother.”

“Of course, my dear,” Eleanor said, finally defeated as she reaches to caress her daughter’s cheek. “By the Maker, how you have grown so quickly! I still remember when we used to walk around the gardens when you were little. Do you remember?”

Ophelia smiles fondly at the memory. “I do, actually. We would walk around, and you would continuously point out the different types of flowers as we passed. Afterward, we would sit below our favorite tree, the slightly crooked one, and you would read to me.”

“Yes,” the Teryna chuckled, as her hand fell back to her side once more. “You were always fond of stories about heroes and princesses…”

“Ser Gilmore, Fergus, and I used to play ‘princess in the tower’ numerous times when we were children,” Ophelia said with a laugh as she glanced over the Knight. “And sometimes we added a dragon… or two.”

“That too,” Eleanor said, with a slight sadness appearing in her eyes. “I love you, my sweet girl.”

“I love you too, mother.”

Reaching to tuck a stray strand behind Ophelia’s ear, the Ternya sighed. “Oh, how I wish you and Fergus didn’t grow up so quickly! Soon, you will be running the castle with your father gone while your brother leaves tonight. Have you said your goodbyes yet?”

Ophelia shook her head. “Not yet. We were actually on our way there before running into you.”

“Then I won’t keep you any longer. We can speak later if you like,” Eleanor offered, before embracing her daughter. When she finally pulled away, the Teryna looked over Ophelia and smiled, before taking her leave. She watched as her mother walked away, before making her way to the bedroom chambers with both Ser Gilmore and Amadis following behind.

As they grew nearer, Ophelia could hear her nephew through the open doorway. His tiny voice bringing a smile to her face.

“Will you bring me back a sward?” Oren asked, his eyes widening as he looked up at his father.

Fergus chuckled, kneeling before his son. “It’s sword, Owen, and I will find you the mightiest one that I can find.”

“Promise, papa?” Oren asked in that small voice that Ophelia loved so much.

“I promise,” Fergus agreed, while gently grasping his son’s shoulders. “And here is my sweet sister, coming to see me off.” He grinned, as Fergus noticed Ophelia entering the room from the corner of his eye. “With Roderick at her side, no less!”

Ser Gilmore bowed in greeting to the young lord while offering a smile. “I am duty-bound to protect your sister, my lord, even if she doesn’t need it no more.”

The words pierced through Ophelia’s heart as she reflects back to their previous conversation. It is quite apparent that he was hurt by the news… something she now regrets ever bringing to light with him.

“Sister?” Oren asked, confused. “But that’s Auntie Ophelia!”

Ophelia chuckled as she mussed his hair. “I am both actually.”

“Hey!” her nephew cried out.

“Mother and Father had insisted that I come to say goodbye since it could be quite some time before I will see you again…” she said, coming to stand near her brother.

Before Fergus can speak, his wife, Oriana, interrupted whatever it is that he was about to say. “Ophelia! Don’t speak like that in front of Oren!”

Her brother frowned. “She didn’t mean anything by it, love.”

“Of course not!” Ophelia said, immediately trying to fix her poor choice of words. “I only meant that the journey to Ostagar is quite long, and depending on the weather, it could be months until he returns.”

Oriana’s solemn expression remained, as it appeared that she was not convinced. However, she said nothing more of the matter.

“Besides," Ophelia grinned, placing a delicate hand on his armored shoulder. "Nothing could ever harm Fergus. He's one of our best warriors—well second best.”

"Ha! It seems not even I can surpass my little sister’s prowess with a sword and shield!” Fergus laughed. "It is a shame you aren't coming with me, though. It's going to be quite tiresome killing all those darkspawn by myself."

"A woman fighting in battle?" Oriana asked, slightly surprised. "In Antiva, the very idea of that would be... unthinkable!”

"Really?" Fergus's mouth contorted into a grin. "I always heard that Antivian women were dangerous."

Oriana cracked a smile. "Only with kindness and poison, my sweet husband."

Fergus's eyes widen before he lets out a round of laughter. Turning to Ophelia, he motioned back towards his wife. "You hear that? And this is from the woman who serves me my tea!"

"Honestly, for putting up with you so much, I'm actually surprised she hasn't yet." Ophelia chuckled, earning a laugh from both.

"Poison papa?" Oren gaped, with eyes wide. "Don't do that!"

Oriana knelt beside him, smoothing down his coppery hair, gently quieting him. "We're only joking Oren," his mother reassured him in a soothing voice.

"Besides," Ophelia continued from before. "Father isn’t so keen on sending me off into battle, just yet.”

“Which would be best, might I add. You would be much safer here within the castle walls than taking arms against… darkspawn.” Fergus remarked, frowning at the thought.

Ophelia arched a brow in response to her brother’s words, all while folding her arms across her chest. “You know well enough that I could handle myself in battle, dear brother. Simply ask Roderick!”

She looked over towards the Knight, who had been silently standing off to the side during the entirety of their conversation. Ophelia saw that he wore a smile upon his face, one that matched his bright, blue eyes.

“I’m not typically one who takes sides between the two of you, but she does speak the truth,” Roderick agreed, his eyes meeting hers. “I pity any poor fool who meets your sister in battle.”

Ophelia smiled as she felt a rush of pride coarse through her body at hearing the words.

"Even so, I'm not looking forward to the journey since we're quite short on men," Fergus said, shaking his head. "I still can't believe that Arl Howe's men are delayed again! You would think they were marching backward or something."

Her smile faltered, remembering the conversation her father had with the Arl of Amaranthine. The periodic glances towards the doors and the disappointment with finding out that a Grey Warden was here at the castle. Ophelia felt deep within her bones that something was off about the entire thing. However, there was nothing to be done about it. It wasn’t as if she could accuse the Arl of treachery with no proof…

"It's a shame Duncan won't be riding out with you though,” Ophelia said, bringing her thoughts back to the present. “Being a Grey Warden, I imagine he would be of great use against the darkspawn."

"A grey warden?" Oren exclaimed, his eyes widening with excitement. "Did he ride here on a griffin?"

"Shush, Oren." His mother chided. "Griffins only appear in stories now."

Fergus turned toward his sister. "I heard about there being a grey warden here, but I was never told why. Do you know?"

Ophelia nodded, her stomach knotting up as she glances over at Ser Gilmore. "Duncan has come here because he’s looking for recruits." She said, meeting her brother’s gaze. "Apparently, he has his eyes set upon Roderick."

Although she dared not to let it show, Fergus knew what to look for when something was amiss with his little sister. Even now, he saw as her demeanor changed in front of him. Although the two of them grew up together with Ser Gilmore. It was Ophelia who held the closest relationship with the Knight—as they spent countless days around each other.

She watched as her brother’s gaze shifted toward her friend. "Roderick is a good man and capable of holding his own in a fight," Fergus said, with a sad smile. "It is no surprise that Duncan would consider having him within his ranks."

“I appreciate the kind words, my lord,” Ser Gilmore said with a smile that no longer reached his eyes. “If I am to join the ranks of the Wardens, then let it be known that it has been an honor to be in the service of such a noble family.”

With a tight smile, Ophelia nodded in agreement. An unbearable silence has fallen upon them before the sound of Fergus clearing his throat echoing throughout the room. "Anyways," He continued, offering her a grin. "If it's any consolation, I'm sure I'll freeze my arse off in the southern rains. I will be quite jealous of you being here at the castle, little sister, all warm and safe."

"Don’t forget there’s better food here as well,” Ophelia remarked, cracking a smile.

Oriana let out a breath. "I'm so glad to hear you will be so miserable, my love."

Fergus chuckled. "I was only kidding." Letting out a deep breath, he looks over at the four of them. "Well, I should probably head out then. The darkspawn aren't going to kill themselves—although I wouldn’t lose sleep if they did.”

Oriana wrinkled her petite nose. "Fergus!"

Her brother opened his mouth but was instead interrupted by a voice coming from the doorway. "Good, you haven't left yet!"

They all turned to look where the voice had come from as both, Teyrn and Teyrna stride in together. "Actually, I was just about to,” Fergus said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Eleanor Cousland frowned as she pulled her son into an embrace. "Be well, my son." She said with such gentleness. "I will pray to the Maker for your safety, every day that you are gone."

"Thank you, Mother." He responded, the octane of his voice so low that Ophelia could barely hear his words. "You know well enough that no darkspawn can best me."

Stepping away from Fergus, she wiped away the treacherous tear that had escaped and made its way down her cheek. Afterward, Bryce Cousland stepped forward, embracing his son in his arms.

"Stay safe out there, my boy," The Teryn said, clasping his son's shoulder with a solemn smile spread across his face. "Both Howe, and I will see you in Ostagar.”

"The Maker sustain and preserve us all," Oriana spoke in prayer. "Watch over our sons, husbands, and fathers and bring them safely back to us."

"And bring us some ale and wenches while you're at it!" Fergus bellowed with a laugh.

Ophelia remembered how he never was one to like overly serious or ominous moments like these. It was something that she was thankful that stayed with him even after spending years preparing to become the next Teryn.

"Fergus!" Oriana scolded, shooting him a glare. "You would really say that in front of your mother?"

Fergus offered his wife a sheepish smile. "Err... for the other soldiers, I mean. I don't need any wenches since I have you, my love."

"What's a wench?" Oren asked, innocently. "Is that what you pull on to get the bucket out of the well?"

"No, my dear boy," Bryce chuckled, as he knelt beside the child. "A wench is a woman who pours the ale in a tavern." He then lowered his voice. "Or a woman who drinks a lot of ale."

"Bryce!" Eleanor exclaimed while stifling a laugh. "Maker's breath! It's like living with a pair of small boys. Thankfully I have a daughter who actually acts with decency."

A knowing look is exchanged between the two siblings, as Fergus is trying his best to suppress a laugh. “I will miss you, Mother, dear,” he managed after clearing his throat. “I’m sure Ophelia will take good care of you while father and I are gone. Isn’t that right, little sister?”

Ophelia resisted the urge to roll her eyes, not wanting to risk a scolding from their parents due to such childlike behavior. "Maker knows that Mother can handle herself. Always has.”

"That's true," Fergus said, with a smile upon his face. "Perhaps they should be sending her to Ostagar instead of me. She would scold those darkspawn back into the deep roads.”

"Well, I'm glad you find this so funny." Eleanor retorted.

"Enough, enough," Bryce chuckled, touching his wife's shoulder before glancing over to Ophelia. "If you haven't already, say your goodbyes, pup. You’ll want to get an early night’s rest since there will be much to do on the morrow.”

Ophelia nodded before walking over to Fergus and throwing her arms around him in an embrace. "Goodbye, dear brother." She said, trying to restrain the tears that threaten to come. "Fight well, and I will see you on your return.”

"Goodbye, little sister." He said, returning the gesture. “Do stay out of trouble, won’t you?”

Ophelia cracked a smile. “Anything for you, dear brother.”

Wishing the others good night, she turned on her heel with Ser Gilmore and Amadis following behind. Ophelia could hear her father strike up a conversation once more with her brother, as she began to head down the corridor toward her bed-chamber.

“Are you okay, Ophelia?” Roderick asked while he kept pace beside her. “Saying goodbye couldn’t be easy for you, especially since your brother had just returned.”

She quickly wiped a stray tear from her cheek. “No, but I will be. The upcoming months will be enduring, but it will keep my mind preoccupied. However, I must face them as a Teryn’s daughter and not as some weakminded child.”

“Just because you fear for their safety, doesn’t make you weak,” Ser Gilmore reminded her. “It makes you human, Ophelia. They are your family, after all.”

Ophelia let out a breath. “You’re right, of course, but you must remember that I am also a woman—some will already think I am not fit simply because of that fact. I must prove them wrong, Roderick. I must.”

“Of course, I’m sure you will do what you think is best for your people and for Highever,” Ser Gilmore said. “I have the utmost faith in you.”

Reaching her chambers, Ophelia looked up at the Knight—who was also her dearest friend and smiled. “Thank you, Roderick. It will make the couple months all the more bearable, after hearing those words. Goodnight, Roderick.”

“Goodnight, Ophelia,” he answered. “I will see you come morning.”

Ser Gilmore watched as Ophelia disappeared inside her room, along with her mabari hound. Taking his leave, he finally felt as his heart steadied its pace as it had quickened while being near the Teryn’s daughter as it often did. The Knight didn’t like to think much of it, but deep down, he knew his feelings towards her grew with every passing day to the point that it was almost unbearable. Not to mention the thought of being recruited into the Grey Warden ranks didn’t sit well with him either. He couldn’t comprehend the possibility of going a day without seeing her beauty. Perhaps tomorrow he will finally speak to her of the matter? Because the truth was… he loved her.

[123dragonage]

Shizuka Cousland.

Full Name:

Shizuka Cousland.

Nickname/Alias:

Lady, Lady Cousland, Lady Shizuka, Ice lady,  Yukion'na, Shirayuki-hime.

Meaning:

Shizuka:

Quiet, Summer, Fragrance.

Yukion'na:

Snow Woman.

Shirayuki-Hime:

Snow White.

Title:

Lady, Warden, Lady Warden, Shirayuki, Shirayuki-Hime, Shizu.

Pet Name:

Pup, Ice Lady, Hime.

Gender Role:

More lady-like than anything. But, she has her moments.

Class:

Enchanted Warrior

Sheild and sword.

Orientation:

Straight.

Real Age:

Depends on the place and time.

Age Appearance:

17-20.

Birthday:

August, 24th.

Birthplace:

High Ever.

Zodiac Sign:

Virgo.

Immediate Family:

Father:

Bryce Cousland.

Mother: Eleanor Mac Eanraig.

Brother: Fergus Cousland

Sister in law: Oriana.

Nephew: Oren Cousland.

Ethnicity:

Alamarri and a Fereldan.

Eye Colour:

Crystal blue.

Hair Colour:

White-Silver, with a blue Tint in it.

Hairstyle:  

You would think her hair was easy to tame, but it wasn't. She has thick hair and while it was still straight and seemed to look neat, Shizuka always had a hard to taming it into the usaul hairstyle. It was down, never tied up so what could be hard about that. Right? you would be surprised to know how many tugs is there.  Brushing it into a neat place and leaving it was the hard part mostly, unlike most nobles who move there hair into buns or braids. She preferred it down and long, at least to her hips. Her bangs were combed to both ends, right and left. Leaving the centre of her forehead and face to be seen.

Makeup:

Her lips are painted red or pink, depending on her mood or how they got up. There was no need to put anything on her face really, she was perfect the way she is and her mother believed that woman should wear less than more when it comes to make up. She did, have some silver eye shadow as well. It was barely seen though.

Appearance:

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Body Type:

Athletic, but looks fragile from the first glance.

Build:

Petite looking, but well built for a women.

Birthmarks/scars:

There was a birth mark, of two eagles on her right shoulder, her twin has it as well.

Distinguishing Features:

Her pure white hair, pale skin and blue eyes.

Posture:

Lady-like.

Scent:

No one can place her scene, but apparently it's a flower called Andraste's Grace.

Heroes:

Mother and Father, Though recently it was the Grey Wardens.

Pets/Familiars:

A wolf, Though for this it is going to be like a normal dog, able to withstand the Taint.

Wardrobe examples:

F-o-r-m-a-l. O-u-t-f-i-t-s. B-a-l-l-r-o-o-m. O-u-t-f-i-t-s. F-i-g-h-t-i-n-g. O-u-t-f-i-t-s. C-a-s-u-a-l O-u-t-f-i-t-s. D-a-n-c-i-n-g. O-u-t-f-i-t-s. N-i-g-h-t w-e-a-r.

Equipment:

-Family sword.

-Sword level one.

-Sword level two.

-Sword level three.

-Cousland Shield.

-Shield level one.

-Shield level two.

-Shield level three.

Accessories:

-Locket.

-Family Ring with the crest on it.

-Magic book

-Journal/Diary.

-The crest of the Cousland family.

Element:

Water.

Biggest Failure:

Letting the people she loved die alone, even at all.  Her life was always about them and how she would bring her people up as a heir. At least, they told her as much. If she didn't then her brother would. Even then, they would have found someone willing to marry her anyway.

Secrets:

As a young girl she wished to be free, never to hold herself back. Her family always knew she wanted to be free and wander like her brother did. However, due to her class he was forced to ignore that and grow up. But, in there group she fears that her secret love for freedom might come out. A witch who has been free since a child, A sister who choose her path and lived with it, Even there Assassin friend made her wonder.  No one like her should even be thinking of that, but she did.

Hobbies/Interests:

Writing in her journal and diary, by herself, Walking in the forest alone or with someone, Watching the night sky, singing, Dancing, writing poems, horse riding.

Skills/Talents:

-There is a small part of magic in her, but not enough to call it dangerous. I'm trying something new with this, so I hope you will accept this part- She is NOT a full blood mage. -Casting without her hands. -Making her magic flow into her weapons. -Knowing different herbs, poisons. -Cooking. -Flower Arranging. -Can work with a shield, but she choose a smaller one than most.

Likes:

Singing, Dancing, Children, Animals, her brother, Alistair, morrigan, Writing poems, Cooking, Night walks.

Dislikes:

People treating Elves, Servants or anyone of low class bad, Her title coming up, talking about the past,  howe.

Pet Peeves:

-The Servants being treated badly. -Someone giving up with not say in the matter. -Pointless talk. -Bringing up the past. -Judging someone for no reason.

Personality Detailed:

Personality:

Intelligent

The Virgo are an intelligent lot, who would love to know about various subjects and increase their general knowledge.

Practical They don't believe in living in the fantasy world and will be very much in touch with the reality. Their practical approach is one of their biggest strength.

Analytical The Virgo possess an analytical mind and see things in black and white. They are capable of producing a clear analysis and thereby a solution of even the most complicated problems.

Reliable You can trust a Virgo for following the instructions and trying his best to do the job well. Besides, he is a rational person and would not let emotions affect his decisions.

Modest Since they are goal-oriented, perfectionists, rational and reliable, it is very likely that they are great achievers too. But you will rarely see them boasting about their accomplishments. Overcritical They have such a clear picture in their minds as to how things should be, the Virgo tend to be overcritical and lose the plot in the process. Fussy The Virgo-born often get lost in details and they will not have a peace of mind till they resolve all the issues. Besides, their strong likes and dislikes make them quiet fussy. Fastidious Pleasing or impressing a Virgo is tough job, as anything less perfect (in their eyes) does not make the cut. Harsh They call a spade a spade and they don't sugar-coat their opinions before putting them across. Their harshness does not always go down well with the people around them.

Conservative The Virgo are conservative and won't readily accept modern ideas. Maybe it has to do with their need to test the waters and be sure of the outcome.

Judgemental

The Virgo-born are criticised for being judgemental. They cannot ignore faults and mistakes as anything less than perfect is not good enough for them.

Symbol:

Cousland Crest.

Vice:

Chastity.

Virtue:

envy.

Background.

The outpost of Highever was originally a bannorn and was held by the Elstan family, who was a secondary branch of the then-freeholder family of Howes. During the Towers Age, Bann Conobar Elstan was murdered by his wife, Flemeth, thus ending the bloodline. Sarim Cousland, the captain of Conobar's guard, took the lands and title. The Couslands declared their independence from Amaranthine, starting a war that lasted thirty years. When the war ended, Highever won its independence and possession of half the land that had once been southwestern Amaranthine. Highever became a teyrnir during the Black Age. Previously, the Couslands held only the minor title of Bann. During the lycanthrope plague, Bann Haelia Cousland[1] or Mather Cousland[2] according to other sources, gathered the lords together under the Cousland banner to drive the werewolves out of their lands, thus earning the title of Teyrn. Calenhad Theirin was born in Highever in 5:10 Exalted as the third son of a poor merchant. He left at a young age to become a squire, but returned during the Unification of Ferelden as a Teyrn. The contemporary ruler of Highever was Teyrna Elethea Cousland; She fought the soon-to-be-King Calenhad in an attempt to maintain Highever's independence, and so when Calenhad's army reached Highever, Teyrna Elethea led the local banns against him, but lost against the future king. After Elethea's men were defeated, Calenhad asked her to swear fealty. She did, thus allowing the Couslands to retain the teyrnir in Calenhad's new kingdom.[2] In the beginning of the Storm Age, the Couslands conspired with Warden-Commander Sophia Dryden in the Grey Wardens' attempted rebellion. The rebellion was betrayed to King Arland by politicians before it began, and the king's guard ambushed their meeting place, with the rebels barely managing to escape. The Couslands were not so lucky, however. King Arland executed the Cousland Teyrn and a number of others, and then sent soldiers to Soldier's Peak to stamp out the remainder of the rebellion. During the rebellion against Orlais, the Couslands opposed the Orlesian rule. However, Arl Tarleton Howe of Amaranthine supported the Orlesians and this resulted in several bitter battles between Amaranthine and Highever. Eventually, the Couslands manage to capture Harper's Ford and hang Tarleton Howe for his treachery. Unlike his father, Rendon Howe was part of the rebellion like his uncle Arl Byron Howe. Rendon and Bryce Cousland fought beside each other at the battle of White River, becoming two of the fifty rebels who survived the defeat. Thereafter, Arl Rendon Howe was a great friend of the Couslands. Arl Howe later betrayed the Couslands, using the chaos of the Fifth Blight as his route to power. Teyrn Cousland had called together the forces of Highever and Amaranthine, intending to ride with Howe to support King Cailan against the darkspawn. However, upon arriving at Highever, Arl Howe told Teyrn Cousland that the Amaranthine forces would be delayed for a few of days. Not one to keep the King waiting, Teyrn Cousland sent the bulk of Highever's forces ahead to Ostagar under the command of his eldest son Fergus Cousland, intending to leave with Howe's Amaranthine men once they arrived. After Fergus left the castle, Howe's forces took advantage of the Couslands' weakened defense and made a surprise attack during the night, killing the teyrn, his wife Teyrna Eleanor Cousland, and Fergus' wife Oriana and son Oren, as well as most of the other inhabitants of the castle. Though Fergus was left as the rightful heir to the Teyrnir of Highever, Howe then declared himself the new teyrn. Eventually, however, Duncan will rescue the human noble from the surprise attack on Castle Cousland in exchange for joining the Grey Wardens. Following the end of the Fifth Blight, Fergus Cousland will inherit Highever and become the next Teyrn. Fergus will also be given control of Amaranthine, which he presents to the Grey Wardens.

Theme song:

[worldevoured]

miscellany on katheryn hawke  ( a collection of older text posts )

re: religion —

katheryn is an atheist – at least in theory? in her view, if there is a maker, and he abandoned his own people, then she doesn’t want a damned thing from him anyway. and sometimes she thinks that there is a maker and he has turned their back on them and she’d like very much to march into the golden city and give him hell. she stops believing when she’s fairly young – around the first time she hears a templar refer to magic as evil, and looks at bethany and thinks that nothing she does could ever be evil – and losing carver only makes it that much worse. [ original post ]

re: her siblings —

1. there are a few things that can really drain katheryn of any self-control she has. bethany being taken hostage is one of them.

# (someone remind me to yell abt this later bc kat goes a little bananas any time bethany is threatened) # (she has to be physically held back from striking meredith when meredith threatens her) # ('you have a sister in the circle' says meredith) # ('stop it' say anders and aveline in unison as they each grab one of kat's arms and restrain her) [ original post ] 

2. hi here’s your daily reminder that katheryn hawke misses carver every single day and that the day she lost him was the absolute worst day of her life and that she would do anything to have her little brother back

# (carver was kat's favorite and k&c were close and kat would have gone to ostagar with carver whether or not leandra asked) # (kat thinks about carver all the time and she misses him constantly !!!) [ original post ]

3. the first and only time that kat goes into a chantry to pray in her adult life, it’s when they arrive at kirkwall, and kat goes to try and pray for carver because she’s desperate to believe that there’s some kind of loving god who took her brother to his side. it’s the one time that kat, as an atheist, wants so badly to believe in something. she sits in the chantry and she stares ahead of her and she tries to pray but she can’t find anything to say that doesn’t come down to how could you take him away from me and why the fuck wasn’t it me instead and when she finally does manage to make a sound it’s just to weep, legs bent and close to her chest and face buried in her knees. 

# (and she hates that they don't have anything of carver's !!! it makes her fucking miserable !!! she wishes so much she had anything of his) [ original post ]

re: gamlen —

after leandra’s death, kat visits her uncle on a weekly basis, at the very least. she invites him, regularly, to move in with her – they have plenty of room at the house, and it seems silly to leave it all empty. gamlen is always too proud to accept it, but it doesn’t stop her from asking. she also meets him at the hanged man semi-regularly for cards and to buy him a drink. when she visits at the beginning of act three, and he says that malcolm produced an incredible daughter, and that she’s the only family he has left, she flings her arms around him and hugs him as tightly as she can.

    when she goes on the run, she stops to say goodbye to him – it’s dangerous, but she can’t leave without telling him that she loves him, and she’s sorry to go, and that she’s so grateful to have had these years to get to know him. and before she leaves, she shoves the key to the mansion into his hand, and insists that someone needs to keep the house in order while she’s gone.

    the visits are much fewer and farther between after that, but she writes regularly. and when she can, she comes by – always disguised, always grateful for whatever little time she has with him.

# (kat does love gamlen a lot and i wish i wish i wish we got to explore more of the gamlen & hawke dynamic in-game) # (she also eventually names a dog after him – and bc she's fereldan to her core he accepts that as the compliment it is) [ original post ]

re: happy endings —

the happy ending kat deserves is for her to settle into a little cottage in the brecilian forest with anders and bethany and a whole slew of cats, where she tries to grow a garden and the only plants she’s allowed to be in charge of are the tomatoes, because no one really cares for the tomatoes that much. so it doesn’t matter that kat is not skilled at growing things. she does, however, refuse to quit, and eventually anders, feeling bad for how hard she’s working just to get tiny little withered plants, starts sneaking out at night to give the plants a little nudge.

    kat never figures it out. it makes her ridiculously happy to think she can at least grow tomatoes. but she’s mostly in charge of the hunting.

# (listen there's not a doubt in my mind that kat and co end up leading camps of rebel mages and taking care of people post-rebellion) # (but she also deserves to retire to a little cottage in a dangerous forest that's haunted as fuck) [ original post ]

re: legacy —

remember how i said kat regrets bringing anders? i wasn’t kidding !! when justice breaks loose, she tries to calm him down - by addressing justice himself, not anders - and she refuses to fight him. she’ll kill the shades he summons, but she will not lift a hand against him. bethany has to freeze him, and fenris knocks him out. kat’s pretty useless against him lol. she mostly walks holding his hand and worrying about him. she has a lot of nightmares after this related specifically to hearing anders in that much pain. she’s never heard that before and it really, really fucks with her.

     the first time kat hears malcolm’s voice, she cries. she actually stops, and she just weeps. bethany is able to calm her, but despite everything, hearing her father again is the best thing she’s felt in a long, long time. she’s worried at first that learning what happened is going to change her perception of malcolm, but it just makes her admire him more. bethany telling kat that she’s a lot like malcolm is also the best compliment she’s ever heard. it makes her lonelier - she misses bethany so much, and she’d do anything to have her sister back.

     kat uses hawke’s key from there on out. she never leaves home without it. this also marks the moment when she starts introducing more ‘hawke’ into the mansion - it’s the amell estate, and there’s barely a sign of the hawke line there. she emphasizes that, and she really throws it into everyone’s face: she’s the daughter of an apostate. she has magic in her blood, even if she isn’t a mage herself. she is a hawke, not an amell. [ original post ]

[cosmiciaria]

In defense of Dragon Age 2 (review - no spoilers - long post!)

It seems I'm only allowed to play games in disorder, because I played this one after Inquisition, and guess what I'm almost at the end of now (yes, you guessed it, Origins). But it's not a problem for me, because after I *checks notes* ejem, played, uhm, like nine playthroughs of Inquisition, cof, cof, I've learned all the tiny details and branches and possible endings of each installment. So this game's story wasn't a surprise in many aspects – although there were still things I didn't know or I didn't expect.

So DA2 is the black sheep of the family, and somehow I can see why. It differs greatly from the origin prologue you get to play in the first one, and the silent protagonist is gone, replaced by an already created and established character, Hawke. Hawke can be male or female, mage, rogue or warrior – but they are only human. We are ripped off of the option of choosing between races.

And that's not the only thing the game takes away from us – we are used to travel around Ferelden, searching for allies, to fight the Archdemon, because the End is Nigh and we Must Save the World united with friends and so on – here, it's just a city. We only get to know Kirkwall, a Free Marches city that used to be owned by the Imperium and now rejoices in its so-called freedom. Kirkwall consists in some neighborhoods and some notorious buildings, but that's it. It's just the city. And I daresay, it's another protagonist of the game.

Yes, you get to go outside a few times – you even go through the ( I don't know WHY) still mandatory Deep Roads quest and whatnot – but the main storyline will still happen inside the city walls.

And that's… not so bad. But I'll get there in a moment.

So you play as Hawke, the older sibling of the Hawke family. You're escaping from Lothering, which you may remember from Origins – yes, it's the same town you visit right after Ostagar. Lothering has been overrun by darkspawn and so you take your mother and your two younger twin siblings with you: Carver, a warrior, and Bethany, an apostate mage.

In your way to the port, you come across Aveline, a well seasoned captain, and her husband Wesley, a templar. Wesley isn't in a very good condition but you still allowed them both to join your escape.

It isn't so long before the darkspawn reach you, and you make your last stand here.

Now, in this part of the prologue, what matters the most is the class you chose for Hawke. If Hawke is a mage, Bethany, the other mage, will perish at the hands of the ogre that is leading this barricade of darkspawn. If Hawke is a warrior/rogue, it will be Carver the one who makes the ultimate sacrifice so his family would survive. As I have stated in my Inquisition review, I love mages, so of course I created a mage Hawke, and so I watched Bethany, so young and rebellious, die in front of my eyes (Wesley, Avelin's husband, dies as well but we don't care much for him sorry not sorry).

Choosing a class isn't a minor or just a gameplay thing here, because it leads to two very different stories. Carver is resentful with you, he blames you for the death of his twin, and he can't get over the idea that you (and him, as well) are being hunted by templars. He can even become a templar if you choose the required options – so ironic, you a mage and your own brother a templar! His inferiority complex makes it really hard to get on well with him. Bethany, on the other hand, seems to care more for her older sibling, and bears a great admiration for their father, who was a mage and the one who taught her everything. She's guilty over the fact her family is doing everything they can to protect her from the templars and the Circle, and her attitude towards Hawke always follow that line. Her destiny has more options than Carver, though, so it makes me think that maybe Bethany was the "canon" sibling who survived – Still, I always play as a mage so I'm used to Carver by now and it feels kind of contradictory to see Bethany alive and well.

Amidst the chaos, a dragon appears, stretching its wings – it destroys the rest of the darkspawn, and soon we see that it's not just a beast. It transfigures into a human, quite known for us DA's fans: Flemeth, the Witch of the Wilds, Morrigan's mother. She's saved us, but of course she wants a little favor in return, nothing too problematic. For those who are wondering "but HEY I killed Flemeth in Origins", well this encounter happens before you do that. And if you know anything about Flemeth is that she always comes back.

Finally, you reach destination, the almighty Kirkwall, with its columns that seems to go on forever into the sky. Here, you'll start over. Here, you'll pave your way to your future. And the plot begins!

The story is divided into three well marked acts: the first Act you'll be saving money to go on an expedition to the Deep Roads to gain enough coin and reclaim the Hawke estate in Kirkwall; the second Act has you going around playing the diplomatic link between the Viscount and the Qunari who have made the city their headquarters; and the third Act, well, everything blows up. Literally, I might add.

Between the prologue and Act 1, one years passes. Between Act 1 and 2, three more years go by; and finally, Act 3 happens three years later as well. The whole story takes up like 8 years or more inside the same city. This… wasn't a good decision on the developers, in my opinion, but I'll say it after I talk a little about the characters.

First we have Hawke, our Champion. Their personality varies between diplomatic – sarcastic – upfront and direct. And this time is easier to know because gone are the days with the many responses available and now we have the wheel which shows you an icon displaying the "tone" of your reply. If there's something common across all the Hawkes you can create, is that they care for their family, they want to recover what's theirs, and there's no stopping them. They are loved by those around them and seen as a leader. Loyalty is a powerful word here, which will play a big part in the final act, because only those who are truly loyal to you will remain by your side. And it's endearing, really, to see the support of those characters that accompanied you the whole game. Oh, and they have voices. I say this because in Origins we have a silent protagonist (which took me aback considering I played Inquisition and 2 prior), and they are so well portrayed it makes them more human and approachable.

Now that we are on that topic, voice acting here is just FLAWLESS. I can't get over Gideon's voice for that stupid elf damn it.

Alright so, just like in the other games, you can recruit companions. I already spoke a little about Carver and Bethany, who are playable… for a time, at least. 

This is the first time we come across Varric, our favorite storyteller. Varric isn't only just your best bud for life here, but he's also the one telling Hawke's story: he'd been abducted by Cassandra Pentaghast (yes, the one from Inquisition) who wants to interrogate him about the Champion. Varric is like your north in the game, he's always there for you, he's always supporting you, he doesn't take sides, he's funny, he's welcoming and he cares so much that I want to hug him. Goodest best friend forever.

Aside from him, you'll be crossing paths with Aveline again, now a soldier in the guard. Aveline is the correct type of person: she takes pride in her job, she wants things to get done well, following the rules. She respects honor, dignity and justice, and she doesn't approve of taking advantage of "illegal" situations and underground activities. If she's on your good side, you'll get a great supporter and a great friend, who will got your back, always.

Fenris is an elf who comes from the Tevinter Imperium – if we know anything of Tevinter apart from its blood mages, it's that they are slavers. Fenris used to be a slave who managed, somehow, to escape from his master. He bears a burning hatred towards the Vints, mages and every slaver out there. He always remarks he's a free man and he will disapprove of your support for the mages or any kind of sympathy towards slavery. So much so, that I started my relationship with him in -10 because I was a mage.

Merril is a dalish elf whom you'll be recruiting after finishing Flemeth's little favor. Merril is a blood mage, and she doesn't see the demons as enemies, but rather friends. She intends to leave her clan and go live in the city, because she's sure she can help her kin from outside instead of remaining cloistered and secluded inside. This will grant her the dislike of all her clan's members, but that doesn't stop her. She's naïve, she doesn't seem to understand most of human customs, and she's quite direct because she can't see through sarcasm or white lies. She's the purest of the team, although her abilities may tell you otherwise.

Isabela isn't new for us, if you come from Origins. Here she'll be joining us again after losing her ship. Her intentions remain a mystery most of the game, but let's just say she's quite involved with the plot of the second act. She's a forced to be reckoned with: she doesn't mess around when things need to be done and she gets them done in her own way. I'm still a bit spiteful about her because she abandoned my team after the second act, although I thought I was doing everything right!

Sebastian is only available through the Exiled Prince DLC – he's a chantry brother whose family was brutally murdered and his estate back in Starkhaven lies headless. He's conflicted about whether to remain in the chantry or go back to reclaim his land. He's righteous, he doesn't accept any rule breaking and, to be honest, he's pretty dull – specially if you're trying to romance him only because of those shiny blue eyes. The fact that he only joins you after Act 1 supports this allegation, in the way that he's not available through the first part for party banter, which always adds a lot of more depth to the characters you're playing with.

And at last… we have Anders. For those of you who played Origins' expansion, Awakening, Anders isn't a new character either. This time, though, it's not just Anders: he's possessed by a spirit of Justice, the same Justice we meet in Awakening. Anders remains in control most of the time, but when he loses it or when he enters the Fade, it's Justice the one who takes over. Anders serves as a healer in Kirkwall, helping refugees for free. He wants to move on from his past as a Grey Warden and he fights for the rights of the mages who are being hunted by the templars. Oh, man, of course I would fall for the subversive mage! Boy was I deceived… He plays a large role in the final battle, which, depending on your choices and your principles, will change your view of him forever. Let's just say that he's a pretty hated character in the franchise.

In this game you'll have choices as well, and your comments and actions will bear points of friendship or rivalry with your companions. This doesn't mean that if you get 100 rivalry points with one of them they'll abandon you, no, it doesn't work like in Origins or in Inquisition. Here you have to see the bar in both directions: the closer it is to one of the extremes, the better. The danger zone is the central one: if you have little points of friendship or of rivalry, the companion is likely to abandon you. This is what happened to me with Isabela: I had a good chunk of friendship points with her, but it seems I needed to max them out, which I didn't, and thus she flew away, goodbye. You can even romance characters with high rivalry points, and their romance plays a little different because of it. As it says, it's "rivalry" and not "deep hatred with death wishes", so maybe it spices some things up in your relationship.

Each companion will have their own questline that stretches across all three acts, and if you want to have all your team available by the end of the game, I recommend you do them. Although… well, you won't have the whole team, but I won't spoil it for you.

So I mentioned before I would talk about why the eight year story decision wasn't a good take for me after speaking a little about the characters – well, it's simple. In those three year gaps, the story acts as if nothing happens. Yes, sometimes the characters say "hey, I haven't seen you in a while" or "that thing happened three years ago" or whatever, but it doesn't work well. For instance, if you romance Fenris, you'll sleep with him in the second act, and then he goes away, seemingly not wanting to continue with the relationship. Three year pass, and then you resume your romancing with him, and he's like "yes, idk why I left that night I so regret it lol" DUDE, you're like just two meters away from Hawke's house, are you truly telling me you didn't talk to them after what happened in these three years? 

The story plays as if there are no gaps in time. In fact, if you take away Varric's narration, which states that x amount of time happens between act and act, you won't even notice it! And that's the thing: I don't know why they chose to do this. I mean, I guess I understand the point, they wanted Hawke to make their own name, to be known and loved by the citizens as years went by, they wanted them to start in rags and rise to fortune, I get it. But something similar was accomplished with the Inquisitor in the third game: time passes, I believe almost a year, and you feel the love and respect you've earned from your companions. It didn't take my Inquisitor eight years for that. It didn't even take her half a month to get Cullen in love with her ok sorry. What I mean is, the eight years thing isn't well developed, and characters act as if no such time had passed, and the story is planned as well like that. It's almost as though they wanted to stray as far as possible from Origins in terms of design and choices, which is a great idea, but some things just don't add up.

For example, in Inquistion's expansion, Trespasser, two years have passed. And here you see, you feel that your characters have been away for long. They've all been following their own paths and when they finally reunite they catch up and speak about their futures and what they want for themselves. It truly feels like two years have passed. There's a huge impasse between the ending and the expansion, which marks a milestone, and you can understand why all these characters haven't seen each other for a while. Whereas between Act 1 and 2… it's like… yeah we went to the Deep Roads and yeah… hmm… Varric really three years and you still didn't hear of your brother or… wait is this letter by Carver just sent? I mean he's been away too long now but he could always send me letters why wait three years…. and so on. It breaks the continuity. In fact, it doesn't only do that, but it also makes your characters stupid. Are you telling me Anders has been in love with me for three years and he still hadn't done anything?? What are you, fifteen?

But apart from that, I believe this game is really good. I enjoyed it from beginning to end. I enjoyed the mechanic regarding your siblings: their appearance changes depending of what preset for the face and skintone you choose for Hawke. I like the idea that only one of the twins is available throughout the game. I like that the gameplay has been improved from Origins, I love that as a mage you feel so destructive with all those spells, I love that it's fast paced and more colorful. I got also really involved with some of the companions, specially Anders, Fenris and Aveline. I love that, even though they may disagree with you on some topics, they still remain by your side if you were a good friend, because that's what friendship's about. Friendship/rivalry here feels like a human thing, something quite relatable, instead of just shoving gifts onto your companion so they'd like you better. I like that somehow all of your companions are entangled with what happens in the city, and this leads me to my final point about why DA2 is still a good game.

Kirkwall. Our vedette. Our goddess. Kirkwall is the scenario for 90% of the events of the game. We're not saving the world here. We just want the peace for the city. Who should rule? Whose forces should Hawke support? Is Hawke good enough to be Viscount? Are the templars doing a good job? Or is Knight-Captain Meredith going too far?

Political intrigue. And just one city. Not all of Ferelden. Just one bad person trying to control the strings in this small portion of land, not an army of zombies or a dragon ready to consume the world. I love that the plot is just restrained to this small thing, because it lets you go deeper into everyone's stories, and it doesn't mean that it gets less epic, on the contrary. I enjoyed the final boss here way more than I did with Corpypheus in Inquisition. Here Meredith has an actual goal and she's acting upon what she thinks it's right, and at some point and to some extent, she's right! But her methods are questionable, in the least. She's not just a bad guy for the sake of being a bad guy, like it happens with Corypheus. She's bad, but she has her reasons.

You don't get to know a lot of people, because you just know those who live in Kirkwall. The familiarity, the warmth of its streets, it's like you've been living there as well, sharing with these characters and learning about their pasts. Instead of allowing you to see a huge picture with hundreds of characters involved, you just focus on those you care about, explore them more in depth. Sometimes covering everything doesn't lead you anywhere, so it might be better with just a handful of well written plot points and characters.

I'm not saying that Origins is the worst because of this, because it seems like I'm hating on it. In fact, I can't still speak much of it because I haven't finished my route yet (although I know how it ends). I'm just saying that Origins is good, that Inquisition is good, and that DA2 is also good. It's different, but still a good game. Sometimes you're tired of playing as the chosen one hero who must save the world, and maybe saving one city is enough for your heroic career.

I loved the game. I loved that it pushed my beliefs of helping the mages to the limit, to the point of questioning myself. I loved that it played tricks on me like that with the romance option. I loved the sarcastic Hawke, such a well written script. Also, Cullen is here so of course I'd love it.

Just… don't hate it that much. And if you still haven't played it, give it a shot. You might be surprised.

[paperiahma]

Inquisitor Surana - a brief summary

After seeing the positive response in dragonageconfessions, I decided to make this quick summary how my headcanon for my Inquisitor Surana works. Mostly it’s to clarify the events in Origins and how they tie into Inquisition. There are also a few points I make about the events in Inquisition. In short, here is an AU where a human mage Iren Amell becomes the Warden while his friend, an elven mage Feralsha Surana, ends up as the Inquisitor. 

If someone is curios about details - any details - feel free to message me. Seriously, you can ask me about her spell preferences or what she looks like or hell, what her favourite food is. I guarantee you, I will be overjoyed to reply. 

Thank you again, for all you lovely people who responded so well this little AU^^

*Was born to two elven servants and taken away when her magical abilities awaken at the age of five. Two of the three templars were quite rough and cold, but the third one spoke to her kindly and comforted her all the way from Highever to the Circle.

 *A shy child, she kept mostly to herself and studied magic with enthusiasm and deep fascination. However, it was soon made clear how closely she was being watched and she was terrified of making mistakes. Once she was practicing a fire spell on her own and burnt her hands. Too scared to tell anyone, she hid in the library until an older mage found her and healed the burns. That was her first proper talk with Irving who took her to his office to talk about magic and balance and how one must sometimes fail before seeing how to do things right.

 *As a quiet, brilliant child, Feralsha was easy to walk over so she had a hard time making any friends and she was picked on by some bullies. However, another apprentice, a couple of years her senior, defended her and took her under his wing. This apprentice was Iren Amell, another child genius.

 *Soon after, the dynamic duo became the three magical musketeers as they met and befriended Jowan.

 *The three of them were inseparable, even when both Feralsha and Iren became apprentices to the First Enchanter himself. The boys, especially Iren, would often come up with all sorts of wild ideas and pranks and Feralsha was dragged along. She did always laugh with them about it all afterwards, but she also reined them in every now and then, keeping them from crossing the line. As a mastermind behind most of the plan, Iren always came up with a lie or another trick to keep the softer Feralsha out of trouble.

 *Iren was always confident, charismatic and incredibly witty. Quite a few apprentices, including Feralsha, had a crush on him at one point or another. Feralsha’s teenage crush lasted only a little while before those feelings changed into sister’s love.

 *After getting used to the templars, Feralsha often made an effort to talk with them and learned who would return her friendliness and who wouldn’t. She always made a point to at least politely greet them as she walked by. Soon she befriended one of the younger recruits, Cullen.

 *Feralsha’s Harrowing was merely hours apart from Iren’s. Like him, she met a Pride demon in her test. It might seem quite odd for many who knew her as a humble and sweet young woman who never bragged. But there was always hidden pride within her and Feralsha was often (perhaps needlessly) worried she’d let it take over and do something foolish.

 *She and Iren helped Jowan to destroy his phylactery but when they were caught by the templars, Iren pushed her away from him and Jowan and yelled at her for “slowing them down by trying to stop them”, hoping his lie would save her from the fall. Struck numb by this, she never found the words to protest before everything escalated. As Jowan attacked, she was devastated, as she was losing both of her brothers. Jowan ran, Iren was taken away by the Grey Warden Duncan and she was left alone.

 (Trivia worth mentioning: my friend headcanons Iren as Duncan’s son. Duncan knows about this but he never gets the chance to talk to Iren about it. Iren, however, later figures it out on his own. This whole idea sparked when my friend noticed how she had accidentally made Iren look a lot like Duncan.)

 *Feralsha did tell Irving the truth about her involvement later but he knew of it already. However, he understood her reasons and even though he was disappointed, he never told anyone else about the truth. When Wynne returned to the Circle with news of Ostagar, Feralsha’s heart was shattered. She spent most of the following weeks in isolation, eating little and only talking with Irving or Cullen and not much to them either. When she wasn’t mourning, she was distracting herself with studies.

 *When the Circle was attacked, Feralsha’s every instinct told her to run and find safety. She was not a great brave fighter and had no stomach for violence. However, knowing that both Irving (her mentor and only parental figure) and Cullen (her last dear friend) were exactly where all the abominations were coming from, she couldn’t make herself to leave. So she fought her way forward, saving a couple of injured templars and mages in the process, though refusing to flee with them. Eventually she encountered the Sloth demon standing over Niall and was pulled into the Fade.

 *Feralsha’s Fade trap was once again created by a Pride. She saw a dream of a reformed Circle with her as its First Enchanter. The Circle was independent, safe environment for all. Iren was there in a shimmering silver and blue uniform of the Wardens, happy and healthy. Jowan was there free and smiling with Lily, who was pregnant. Cullen was the new knight-commander of the templars who remained in the Circle with lesser authority and worked together with mages instead above them. She escaped the trap, found Niall and began exploring the Fade islands.

 *Around the same time in the waking world, Iren encountered the Sloth demon and ended up in the Fade, too.

 *Though terrified to the core, Feralsha did manage to find two new shapes before Iren found her. He wasn’t in a shimmering uniform, he didn’t come with good news and he looked quite weary and thin. But he was alive and ready to fight and Feralsha was overwhelmingly relieved to see him. Just Iren’s presence was enough to convince her all was going to turn out fine, somehow. Together they found their ways through the Fade, rescued Iren’s companions and escaped the Fade with Nial’s dying wish.

 *Meeting Cullen was shocking on many levels. Seeing him so utterly pained and broken was already enough to make Feralsha kneel in front of the magical cage in an effort to comfort him. But his pained confession of his affection for her and the new hate towards mages cut like poisoned daggers. In the end, Feralsha didn’t say much at the time. Too tired from fighting and hurting too much for his sake, she didn’t know if she could in any way make things better. She had loved Cullen as a very dear friend for a long time but knew it was unlikely she’d ever get him back like that.

 *In the final battle against Uldred, Feralsha stood with Iren and managed to save First Enchanter Irving and the rest of the mages, much to their relief. Afterwards, as the dust settled and Wynne requested a leave to travel with Iren, Feralsha did the same. Part of her wanted to stay to rebuild her home and make sure Irving and Cullen would recover. But at the same time she knew Iren would be in far greater danger and she didn’t want to lose her brother a second time. So she left the Tower with him and followed him all the way to the Archdemon.

 *(As a side note, my friend hasn’t had the chance to play the Awakening, but I’m personally convinced Feralsha remained with Iren during that)

 *During the years after the Blight and its aftermath, Feralsha returned to the Circle. It had gained far more independence, thanks to Iren and King Alistair and as one of the few remaining mages in Ferelden, she wished to give her all to use this opportunity. By this time Cullen had already been sent to Kirkwall before she could have the chance to properly talk to him. She sent a couple of letters but never got a reply.

 *Feralsha traveled Ferelden on small expeditions to study magical sites or old ruins. She made contact with a few dalish clans (including the clan Lavellan) and traded information with their keepers. She climbed the Circle ranks and taught some classes, even tutoring Dagna. During this time her spirit grew stronger and she gained confidence, eventually becoming ready to accept the leading position with an open heart.

 *Soon Irving began training Feralsha to become the First Enchanter after him so she threw herself into her studies once more. Though she was already an expert on many arcane fields of study and adept at history, she began to deepen that knowledge while also studying politics, economics and culture. She did rise to the position just a couple of years before the mage-templar conflict finally reached its breaking point.

 *Despite the war, she looked after her own Circle and its people the best she could. Feralsha wanted the Circles back, but not in the same way as they had been before. She wanted a safe environment for the mages to study where they could also have the main authority and would be allowed the freedom to see their families. She found templars necessary as well, but as guardians, not prison guards. She felt that the concept was sound but the system needed to be thoroughly rebuilt for both sides.

 *When the Conclave was announced, she took part as Ferelden’s First Enchanter. And was the only one to survive.

 *Though a fairly devout Andrastian, Feralsha never claimed to be Andraste’s Herald or “the chosen one”. However, secretly she  wanted to believe some of it. Not that she was Andraste’s equal or that she had the right to speak for Her... but she did want to believe the Maker had chosen her for this. But for the fear of pride and arrogance, she didn’t dare to truly believe so for a time. But when Haven was attacked, her faith that she was chosen for this finally strengthened, because she needed it to. She needed to believe she was chosen. Maybe not a Herald, maybe not a prophet… but a guardian of some sort. Chosen in a way she believed Iren was chosen to be the Hero of Ferelden.

 *Meeting Cullen again was quite jarring, especially considering the long years after their previous encounter. To avoid unnecessary awkwardness, neither of them showed any sign of knowing each other when they were first introduced. Later, when Feralsha went to talk to him, they first remained professional and distant, until finally she admitted she had wondered what had happened to him. They talked for some time, mostly telling about the past years, reassuring there were no hard feelings and both agreed to start again. They had not met in almost ten years and people change a lot in that time, so in truth they barely knew each other. Yet both were glad to see the other healthy and were looking forward to getting to know each other again.

 *Feralsha’s feelings for Cullen slowly grew as she got to know him better. She found small private moments to talk with him more and more often, feeling safe in his presence while also being treated as an equal. By Skyhold the feelings had deepened and the romance finally bloomed on both sides.

[nedsseveredhead2]

Really Rough Time/Plot Line

Heres a super quick rough plot line on what the frick is going on with my dragon age ocs cause ive basically rewritten dragon age asdfg my city now

Just a note: Maxie Lavellan belongs to erhybread and Laven Surana belongs to exventospes

Ancient Times:

- Falon is sold from his former master to Sylaise to be a spy/assassin. Hes trained in being a dreamer mage and was in a sleep state when Solas caused the veil, getting trapped on the wrong side. Hes been sealed away in a tomb, still just... snoozin.

Pre-Games:

Keeper Esme Mahariel begins getting cryptic dreams that appear to tell the future. They first appear as warnings to natural disasters or other such things and they are never wrong. One night she is told exactly how she is going to die: in childbirth, her son is going to be the one to kill an archdemon and end the blight. She accepts this as fate. She eventually gets another dream in which her best friend and lover Faunus Mahariel is tortured to death by shem’len. Fearing for him, she drugs him, then moves the clan on without him- hoping that distancing herself from him will keep him safe from her prophecies. She had no way of knowing that Faunus was eventually picked up by Clan Lavellan, and after his daughter, Fae, was born, he and his wife Vix succumbed to their foretold fate. Esme eventually meets a hunter from the Sabrae Clan. Finally ready to settle down, she puts her First in charge of Clan Mahariel and marries into the Sabrae Clan. She dies giving birth to Orion Mahariel, leaving him her own necklace and the wish that he keep her last name as her gifts to him.

Andreas Surana is the oldest sibling born to a war hero elf and a former orlesian maid, raised on stories of Loghain’s Night Elves, a faction in which his father had been a part of. His childhood comes crashing down when his father is killed by guards in an attempted uprising. Every move plagued with fear, Andreas does his best to keep his family safe, which becomes increasingly hard after his sister, Nedine, begins showing signs of magic. When his little brother Maxie comes crying to him about templars taking their baby sister away, Andreas does nothing, believing this to be for the best, causing tension between he and his family. This reaches a breaking point when a vacationing young human man stays in the alienage. While the man himself does nothing wrong, Andreas and a few friends get angry at the ease of which he lives, and break into his hotel room in what was supposed to be a simple robbery. Things take a turn though when the man catches them and a struggle ensues, causing Andreas to kill the man. He was caught, quite literally, red handed by guards and sentenced to death- only 18 years old. Luckily Warden Riordan had been passing through and heard of the boy, saving him from his sentence and recruiting Andreas into the wardens alongside the Orlesian bastard, Mathieu. Initially against the wardens and his recruitment, Andreas grew close to the two, beginning a relationship with Mathieu. All of this was cut tragically short however when a darkspawn ambush killed Mathieu and left Andreas short an eye and extremely scarred. While recovering in Weisshaupt, he took the open position to be the Chamberlain’s apprentice, and eventually himself became Chamberlain of the Grey.

Falon is..... still snoozing. Incase anyone was wondering.

Origins:

Orions father remarries and has Tamlen a year later. Orion is beloved by his clan, but they tend to tiptoe around the topic of his mother, which leaves him feeling a bit ostracized. Still, he cares deeply for his Clan, for his brother Tamlen, and his friends Fenarel and Merril. Orion agrees to check out the mirror with Tamlen after they hear it from three shem hunters they kill. Of course, that goes not well, attacked by a blighted bear, Tamlen sucked into the eluvian, and leaving Orion with blight sickness. Orion wakes in camp, but insists on going back to look for Tamlen- Merril and Fenarel tagging along to help. He searches until he passes out again, but not before he watches the warden Duncan shatter the eluvian. Back in camp, Duncan sits down with the Keeper and Orion, explains what Orion has, and requests he joins the wardens. Orion refuses, and Duncan uses his right of conscription. His Keeper accepts this, and a dumbfounded Orion is ‘banished’ from the Clan. 

Orion reawakens in a camp hes not familiar with. Duncan is there, and tells him he passed out again and had been out for awhile. During that time, Duncan had gone to the Circle of Kinloch Hold and brought back two mages- Nedine Surana, now going mainly by Ned, and Laven Surana. No relation, Suranas just... a common last name??? Who Knows. Things are very tense between them- especially Ned and Orion- Ned who sees the Wardens as heroes who shes honored to join, a chance at freedom, and Orion who views this as a prison, a shemlen whos taken him away from his home. While brooding in Ostagar, Orion meets Lumos, a mabari suffering the same affliction as him, and he tentatively agrees to help.

So then game stuff happens, you know the drill. Most of the changes from here on out are minor things. Orion has an emotional meeting with the werewolf elves, them being the first ones to talk openly about his mom. Ned finds Jowan, her childhood friend and crush, and while he was the one to save Connor personally, he was still sentenced to Tranquility. Orion did the dark ritual with Morrigan, and was the one to strike the killing blow to the Archdemon. While hes technically the Hero of Ferelden, he resigned from the Wardens, allowing Ned to take the mantle of Warden Commander. She immediately took the tranquil Jowan in, trying to find ways to fix that. Andreas learned about all of this like. a month later and screamed. Also? Laven and Orion are married. Amazing. Queen Anora gifts Orion Ostagar to use as an ‘elven homeland’. No one comes tho hes just livin there with Laven. fOR NOW.

Awakening:

Orion returns at Ned’s request, there have been crazy amounts of darkspawn sightings and shes worried about another archdemon. Orion agrees to help her out for old times sake and uncovers the Architect. Bringing the info back to Ned, they make a plan to kill both the Archiect and the Mother. However in the final battle, Ned stays behind to protect the Keep while Orion does the field work. He spares the Architect, agreeing to let him experiment on him on ways to cure the Taint and stop the Calling. He does kill The Mother though. He tells Ned both are dead, but Orion keeps tabs on the Architect and works with him.

DA2:

My Hawke is named Kitty Hawke and shes a wonderful lesbian who i love and thats all thats really original here DA2 was a masterpiece.

Ned eventually finds the work around to Jowan’s tranquility. She cures him, they get married. Andreas probably screams again.

Mathieu’s dead washed up body had been experimented on by necromancers, and Suprise! Hes not as dead as we may have thought! But thats a tale for another day.

Pre-Inquisition:

Budgie is taken in by the Adaars of the Tal-Vashoth. A while later, they rescue Archer, another young qunari. The two are raised as siblings by the qunari merc group hired by the Divine to guard the conclave.

Warden Commander Ned Surana agrees to investigate a section of the Wardens that have ceased communicating with Weisshaupt. She isn’t heard from again.

A slight ripple in the fade finally causes Falon to wake up, covered in dust, no longer in his own time. We’re not in Ancient Arlathan anymore, toto!

Inquisition(this is where it gets wild):

Dalish ambassador and First to the Keeper Fae Lavellan is being escorted by Maxie Lavellan to the conclave when suddenly the god damn ground opens up and Falon drags himself out of an old elven ruin. 

Falon accompanies the two to the conclave, but eventually parts when he senses ancient elven magic. He follows the lead.

Archer gets spooked and runs out of the conclave, Budgie pursues.

Falon interrupts Corypheus, picks up the orb, and all hell breaks loose. Fae uses magic to protect her and Maxie, Budgie and Archer are far away enough from the blast that they end up fine, but Budgie loses an arm. The two are picked up by the remainder of their merc group.

Falon, Fae, and Maxie are all arrested, but Fae manages to talk Cassandra down. Falon has the anchor. The magic feels familiar but dangerous. He doesnt know why Solas makes him uneasy.

Budgie and Archer join the Inquisition as companions. Budgie wants to “find the bastard that took her arm”. Archer just doesnt like being too far from her. 

Orion joins the Inquisition as a companion after hearing Morrigan is there. He is unaware that he had a child with Morrigan, she had not told him about the ritual the night before the archdemon battle, and thus he did not know she was pregnant when she disappeared. He doesnt know Kieran is his until he overhears Morrigan and Falon talking about it later.

Andreas joins as an advisor when its revealed Wardens are involved. He reveals that Maxie Lavellan is his brother Maxie Surana who had ran away shortly after Andreas’ conscription. Maxie is heartbroken to learn that their baby sister, Ned, is still missing.

Kitty Hawke and Falon uncover that a brainwashed Ned is being kept by Erimond as a ‘guard dog.’ 

Ned Surana joins the Inquisition after being snapped out of it. Kitty Hawke is stuck in the fade. its probably temporary. We hope. The Surana siblings have a heart warming reunion.

Somewhere in this mess, Falon gets involved with Imshael. Falon views Imshael as a tangible piece of his past, Imshael exploits Falons loving and trusting nature and his need for a sense of normalcy. Its not a healthy relationship. But still.. Imshael does feel a slight sense of love towards Falon too, and watches out for him.

Clan Lavellan is completely destroyed. Fae Loses It briefly and learns necromancy to try and resurrect her whole clan. Falon convinces her this is a bad idea. She does resurect her Halla tho.

Fae eventually takes a dip in the Well of Sorrows and becomes a vessel for Mythal, should she need it.

Corypheus is eventually defeated, unleashing Falons fucking thousands of years of pent up rage by repeatedly calling him a slave and such. FALONS BEEN THRU A LOT CORY U SHOULD PROBABLY STOP WHILE UR AHEAD.. 

Falon breaks Solas’ orb, and Solas flees, leaving Falon confused.

Solas kills Flemeth and Mythal merges to Fae, a sort of Anders/Justice situation going on.

Fae now knows what Solas is, due to the soul merger, and uses Orion’s Ostagar as a base to start building an elven resistance. 

Orion has started getting cryptic dreams, a ghostly elven woman visiting him, claiming to be his mother. Shortly thereafter he begins showing signs of magic. He does not like this one bit. However, he joins Fae’s army. For something to do.

Trespasser:

Budgie has broken off from her merc group to form her own, the Rose Lions. Archer has joined with her, along with ‘a living dead man’, Mathieu. (Andreas is, again, screaming?)

Falon finally is adjusting to this new life, however the anchor is killing him slowly. Its like. Not great. The magic is unlocking a good many of his old memories, things he would have preferred stayed buried in the past. Whats more, the Dread Wolf sends his agents to help trigger these memories. Remind Falon of the past.... how things once were.

I havnt actually finished this dlc yet so I dont know the canon plot details asdfg but eventually...

Memories of Imshael in the past cause a fall out between the two, Falon ends their relationship. Imshael however decides to continue keeping an eye on him, finding his choices interesting.

Eventually Falon and Solas meet face to face, and Solas reveals that he is the dreadwolf and what his plan with the veil is. Solas takes the anchor, but the damage is already done to Falon and his arm has to be amputated before infection reaches his heart. 

Falon reviews all that hes learned and decides to join Fae and Orion to fight Solas, deciding they cant be stuck in the past and they have to keep moving forward.