#basreth thorne

[ell-vellan]

All My Children Rooks

(thus far)

With reference screenshots and backstories, mostly for my own use for fic purposes.

My first baby girl! and first Rook to finish the game.

Personality: Happy-go-lucky, big-hearted, snarky, (over-)confident, elf nerd, unserious, full of youthful idealism and unflagging (to the point of annoying) optimism. Very much believes she's the gal who's got what it takes to save the world. Goes with her gut, doesn't waste too much time intellectualizing. Unsurprisingly, she and Bellara get along like a house on fire.

Background: Born a slave in Minrathous, as a child served as housekeeper to a minor magister arcanist/professor who taught her to read and know enough to assist in cataloging her scrolls. When Lailani's magic manifested, the scholar sponsored her to join a Circle for her education, intending for her to return as research assistant when her magic was trained. But Lailani, now a young teen and with her first taste of freedom at the Circle, heard about strange rumblings happening in nearby Arlathan, and, having consumed stories and legends of the Dalish all her life (and having always admired Inquisitor Lavellan), saw her chance for adventure and ran away to join a Dalish clan in Arlathan. There, she turns her interest in elven ruins and Imperium training to good use for the fledgling Veil Jumpers. She throws herself headlong into all things ancient elven, exploring ruins and studying artifacts. Like a lot of young Dalish coming of age at this time, she chose an atheistic vallaslin design based on some early maps the first Veil Jumpers had begun finding and creating as they uncovered more ancient relics - rejecting what they know new to be marks of subservience to long-ago tyrants. Met Varric and Harding when they worked with Strife, and, still hungry for adventure, offered to help if they ever needed it again.

View on Solas: Has a complicated relationship with elven culture in general. The Fade and all that ancient elves accomplished with magic is both exciting and fascinating; she wants to be proud of her people and see the good in ancient elves, wants to believe there was something good in the Evanuris, once. She gives Solas the benefit of the doubt because she respects what he was trying to do, but comes across to him like a defiant child who doesn't understand what they are up against.

Inquisitor: Ellawyn Lavellan (romanced Iron Bull)

World state: HoF Mahariel, King Alistair, Leliana is Divine, Celene + Briala rule Orlais, Cole is a spirit, Hawke is alive.

Romance: Davrin

Swashbuckling pirate hero.

Personality: "He a little confused, but he got the spirit" meme personified. Here for the vibes. Severan is a big softie, a chill surfer dude, and a terrible liar (his every emotion shows on his face) . More competent than he might appear. Doesn't take life too seriously, but is seriously good at what he does. Can't ever pass a dog or cat without giving it a pet, and can't ever let a serious moment pass without making a joke to ease the tension. Flirty and adventurous, he's here for a good time, not a long time. Doesn't really know what's going on with all this elvish stuff, but doesn't want the world to end, and he's got this dagger, so...

Background: A swashbuckling treasure hunter, as cliche as they come. He was born on the sea, climbing the rigging as second nature. He knows, and wants, no other life, even though he spent the first half of it enslaved by Tevinter. A chance run-in with Isabela gave him a chance for freedom in the form of his own ship and crew, and once he proved competent and trustworthy, he began treasure runs and artifact hunting with the Lords. It was a good life for a while, living it up with plenty of coin, sea air and white sand beaches - until some Venatori started trouble in a port tavern where Severan was drinking on a break between jobs. He thought they were there for him - the Venatori were always looking for relics lately and causing trouble for the Lords - and inadvertently came to Varric and Harding's rescue.

View on Solas: Fascinated respect. Sort of knows he's out of his league, sort of falls for Solas's lies, but thinks outside the box in ways Solas does not expect.

Inquisitor: Atish'anera Lavellan (romanced Solas)

World state: King Alistair + Queen Cousland, Leliana is Divine, Cole is a spirit, Inquisition disbanded

Romance: TBD

Older brother to the Inquisitor. Solas broke his sister's heart, and he's here for some personal revenge.

Personality: Quietly clever, crafty, and cunning Rasim (banal'ras + him "become shadow") thinks more than he speaks, analyzing situations quickly before jumping into the best course of action. Wise, but also a wise-ass. My personal reincarnation of Felassan. On the surface, he puts you at ease by seeming glib, relaxed, and sarcastic, but he has a deep, dark ruthless streak. Inherently mistrustful of strangers, he wants to believe in the good of his companions, and trusts those that Varric and Lace trust. He comes across effortlessly charming and likeable at first meeting. That is, until you cross him - but you wouldn't even notice the moment he's decided your life needs to end, because he'll keep smirking the whole time. Fast, agile, he could throw knives on targets in his sleep and shoot bullseyes blindfolded. The Crows trained out any hesitance to kill, as well as any lingering instinct for mercy, but he lives by his own set of ethics, and does not follow instructions from the Crows, or anyone, blindly. Despite being a Crow longer than he was Dalish, if push came to shove, his first loyalty is to the elves (but don't tell Viago). He's accepted Antiva as his home and choose not to return to his clan when he had the chance - he believes himself too changed to return to the Dalish way of life.

Background: Rasim was on a ritual hunting trip with other youths of his clan, seeking their first kill to earn their vallaslin, when they were attacked in the night. Those who fought back were killed, and the rest captured and taken north on a slaver's ship. On the journey they were kept overnight in a warehouse in Antiva. Rasim figured out how to open the cage they were in and waited for the right moment to strike back at the men holding him, but just before he could, the Crows executed a contract they had on the slaver. Rasim was free to go - but he was a bare-faced elf in Antiva, far from home, with no money or contacts and no way to get back to his clan. Viago was impressed by Rasim's "scrappiness" and his ingenuity in lockpicking his own shackles, so when Rasim asked to be trained as a Crow, he accepted him, despite him being much older than the usual fledglings. Though he had only joined the Crows for protection and to learn how to defend himself, his charm, his experience as a hunter, knowledge of Dalish uses for poison plants, and his agility helped make him a standout. But the Mage-Templar war soon broke out, and the chaos leading up to the Inquisition prevented him from finding his clan, as by now they could be anywhere. Years later, when he became a full-fledged Crow and had earned money and independence, he was able to make contact with the Dalish again through a nearby travelling clan, and finally get the vallaslin he had earned all those years ago. That clan put him in touch with his own former clan, and Rasim was able to reach out again to let them know he was still alive. And that's when he learned his younger sister Anera had, in his absence, become the First of the clan, and then, to his great surprise, the Herald of Andraste. Brother and sister finally reconnected again after the Inquisition, and it was Anera who recommended her brother to Varric, as someone already on the inside of things going on in the north.

View on Solas: The bastard elven god who slept with his sister, offered to take her vallaslin, and then broke up with her. His ex-almost-brother-in-law. Rasim has the urge to get a little revenge for his sister, but for her sake, he tries to keep an open mind about the guy she (apparently still?) loves. Rasim works the angles on Solas as much as Solas does to him, his sharp mind and insight from Anera on his psyche giving him a bit of an unexpected advantage that sets Solas aback. Rasim tries to see what Anera saw in Solas, he really does, and while he hopes to bring him to heel for her, he wouldn't mind roughing him up a bit in the process.

Inquisitor: Atish'anera Lavellan (romanced Solas)

World State: same as Severan

Love Interest: Either Bellara or Lucanis.

Based on Vessel from Sleep Token (in terms of visual design, at least)

Personality: A bastard-coated bastard with bastard filling. Doesn't see the point in sparing anyone's feelings and doesn't mince his words. Smart, independent, stubborn, doesn't listen to anyone who tells him to cool it.

In actual reality, has a deep sense of justice that is constantly being betrayed, leading to him being angry at the world, 24/7. He's angry, always angry, at the inequality he sees all around him, and the incompetence and corruption of everyone who he believes should be doing something about it and would rather ignore it. A problem solver who's used to only relying on himself and trusts no one else to do what needs done. Will cut to the chase and tell you - rudely - to get to the point. He thinks the world and most of the people in it suck, and that's why he's working to rid the world of those people, in the most efficient way possible. His esteem is hard-earned, but he has no trouble offering it where it's deserved, and he treats those few who he deems worthy with the respect of an equal. There is another side of him, but the only ones who ever see it - and only briefly - are the slaves he helps smuggle out of Minrathous, and the genuinely innocent victims, forgotten by the powerful of Tevinter.

Background: He hates his adoptive father with a cold passion. He was never going to fight for the side of Tevinter, so they were always at odds. He learned to sneak out of the house at an early age, where he was mostly surviving on his own - it's where he learned to be sneaky, and learned to navigate the underbelly and dark alleys of Minrathrous. He doesn't use the given name from his adoptive family but goes by a codename, Vessel, as he prefers thinking of himself only as a vessel for justice (and sometimes, vengeance.) Learned how to blend in easily with other groups and factions; a one-man spy operation, working mostly independently so as to be untraceable, with occasional trusted contacts in the Shadow Dragons. Keeps his face and identity secret as much as possible, so that his doings don't get reported back to Mercar or that connection used against him. He only uses his surname when the weight of the title could be useful. He's a loner who isn't used to working with a team, and struggles with how to trust and connect to others, as he's worked hard to never need anyone.

Antaam-turned-Warden, my interpretation of a "What happened if Sten from Origins went the way of Iron Bull from Inquisition?"

Personality: Still...developing. His personality for most of his life was reduced to "kill things for the Qun" and he was heavily disincentivized in thinking about anything else. He's innately curious, and learning it's okay to ask questions, but he still has the instinct to hit first, ask later. Surprises himself with random moments of wanting to do things the Qun wouldn't have wanted him to think, care about, or do. Things that have no purpose, like the urge to admire the view, pet a cat, or save an innocent civilian. He means well, most of the time, but tends to stick his foot in his mouth, as he's still learning how the bas talk to each other. He's not used to talking, in general.

Background: Among the earlier waves of Antaam that broke from the Qun to invade on their own, Basreth was just a cog in the Qunari war machine, not an individual who had been allowed to develop many of his own interests or opinions about much. His squad of fairly new young soldiers were sent to investigate a report of rogue darkspawn, and they were caught by surprise and overwhelmed. Basreth was the sole survivor, though left infected by the Blight. he had accepted death, as he was no longer pure in the Qun - when the Grey Wardens showed up to investigate the same darkspawn. Impressed that Basreth had finished them off alone and survived, they offered for him to join the Grey Wardens, convincing him that dedicating his life to killing darkspawn was a better use of his body than letting it rot to bones that served no one, and therefore a more honorable choice in the eyes of the Qun. He accepted, and became Basreth, "thing that protects." He is not Tal-Vasoth, but neither is he truly Qunari anymore. Instead, he's thrown his entire fledgling identity into that of a Grey Warden, channeling all the single-minded loyalty that used to go to the Qun into his masters.

Created solely to romance Emmrich, lol

Personality: A scientific, creative open mind paired with bull-headed stubbornness when she knows she's right. Studious, rational, curious, who loves intellectual debate and schooling others she sees as less well-read. A bad-ass mage who likes showing off. Dry wit. Reads obscure high-brow literature and offers to discuss it, acts surprised when others have heard of her favorite scholarly papers.