#and yeah he accidentally ended up looking kinda like felassan because of the hairstyle 😭 woopsie

[zaahvi]

first concept of my rook!! his name is faolan and he's a dalish crow :))

backstory and lore tidbits under the cut bc it's alot 👇

fal was part of a dalish clan roaming northeastern thedas, and had been first to the keeper since his magic manifested (around 8 yrs old). he was quite troublesome, impatient, and had a temper. one day when he was 15, he stormed off in a fit of anger mid-lesson with the keeper, disappearing into the forest on his own for several hours until he'd calmed down. when he came back, his clan were all dead, and whoever was responsible was long gone.

after pulling himself together, he packed his things and left in search of another clan. there was one nearby, he knew, but when he reached them, they refused to take him in; they already had too many mages, they said. faolan knew this wasn't true, and instead suspected that his well-known poor character was the reason he was turned away, but for once he said nothing and just turned away. it was time for a different path, it seemed.

his journey took him to the nearby city of treviso, where upon learning of the antivan crows he practically begged to be let in. after all that happened, all he wanted was to kill, and to find whoever murdered his clan, and kill them too. after some time and trials, he was accepted in, and his training began.

after officially killing his first mark at 18, he paid another visit to the nearby dalish clan, for nothing else but to ask for his vallaslin. he wasn't a first anymore, but he had become a hunter, in a way, and thought he'd earned his markings. the clan's keeper begrudgingly agreed, and faolan got his vallaslin: the twisted branches which symbolised elgar'nan, the god of vengeance, for that is the path he'd taken when they'd turned him away.

over the next few years, the antivan crows began to receive more and more contracts on members of the venatori. during this time, faolan discovered that they were behind the murder of his clan: they had been searching for information on elven lore, and had chosen the violent path with his clan. fal was lucky enough to swipe a few contracts on the specific members that were involved and kill them personally; but when it was all over, he felt nothing. it seemed that getting vengeance wasn't as gratifying as he thought it'd be. in the end, his clan were still dead, they weren't coming back, nothing was going to be like it used to be... he had a new life now, one filled with plots and murder, and he really hadn't been in the headspace to process how permanent that'd be.

so that's faolan and where he is now. he's about 25 now and he feels kinda stuck in life, his past is still weighing on him and he's constantly just trying to distract himself with work. i think the solas job & then the forming of the veilguard is the first time that things start to feel a little different for him? like he's actually doing something important for once... and he finally gets friends yay :)

some tidbits:

as a kid he got into fights all the time. ALL the time. this continued on until he got into the crows and started losing

^^ he never used magic while fighting btw. that's cheating.

personality wise nowadays he's more guarded and doesn't really like to socialise, it's not that he's "socially awkward" it's just that he'd rather keep to himself. i think the veilguard is the first time he kinda comes out of his shell so to speak

that being said he will still absolutely kick your ass if provoked.

he's the kind of guy you see at the bar sitting at a solo table in the corner staring at everybody who comes in

his eyes both used to be that goldenish colour; his left eye turned silver when his magic manifested

doesn't know any healing magic. he hasn't bothered to use it since his clan died, and has forgotten how to do it

the tips of his ears get hot when someone casts magic nearby

takes shots at veilguard team meetings

hates any and all weather, honestly how he managed to survive 15 years in a dalish clan is beyond me

can be very charming and really good at flirting when he wants to be, but is an absolute disaster when it comes to showing genuine affection

has whatever the deity equivalent of daddy issues is with elgar'nan

okay i'm all done but on a related note for that last point here's a lazy meme as a gift for scrolling this far: