#by claim it's just a blood tie sometimes distant from 8 generations

[randomnameless]

My husband came up with this idea that made me see Ionius in a slightly different way: Edelgard mentions that the Empire "demands many heirs" in her Goddess Tower support w/ Byleth, hence why Ionius had a load of kids by different women. Normally I'd think "wow that's stupid, way to invite a power struggle after you're dead" but what if it's actually an Empire tradition? Like, Ionius maybe is the first Emperor in a while to try to consolidate power but maybe only one of many to have a ton of kids, AND the reason is not only to have a kid with a Crest, but that the Slitherers practice Crest experimentation on each generation of heirs with the hope of creating a two-crested Nemesis clone to help them kill off the Nabateans. Ionius just happened to be the survivor of his batch of siblings. Maybe having 10-11 kids is to make sure that some of them will live long enough to be the next Emperor, and that's why the "Empire demands many heirs."

Oh!

FWIW, the Index of Imperial Nobility mentions how House Vestra is supposed to "coordinate things such as Imperial Consorts", adding to that how House Vestra has been at the Hresevelgs' back since the danw of the Empire, yeah, we can make a pretty good case that Adrestia has a long standing tradition of, uh, imperial consorts and all.

It can be seen as dumb because it invites power struggles, but it avoids the issue that could very well have happened with the Kingdom, aka Dimitri ded = the King's direct line is dead and it's chaos because one of the first duties of a King/Emperor/Leader under those kinds of hereditary systems is, well, to secure a heir - the lineage cannot be broken!

(that's where we usually have sekrit heirs popping up from nowhere in some kinds of stories, or bastard children !)

Having multiple Consorts - thus a large number of heirs - makes it sure that the line will not be broken as easily as, idk, a baby choking on a pretzel or a serious flu.

However, as Hanneman mentions in Hubert's support, having dozens of consorts means creating dozens of families who suddenly have to get some privileges bcs the Emperor is figging their daughters - and depending on how powerful those families are, if the Emperor obviously favors one kid over the others (or pisses on one over the others) one of those families might not be happy and start shit in the Empire - taking more and more consorts means shaving little by little the power of the Emperor in Adrestia!

(and guesses who spearheads the insurrection? Arundel, one of those "consort kin"!)

The topic of Ionius' 11 children is sadly forgotten by the plot - but iirc Word of God said the Ordelias (Lysithea) were experimented upon as a test, and when the Agarthans had, uhhh, conclusive results, they experimented on the Hresvelgs.

Given who was in charge when Ordelia was ran over by Adrestia - even if no character mentions the consequences or make a link because you have tea bags to sell - imo it would totally make sense that Ionius killed two birds with one stone : flexing his underdeveloped muscles at peons who helped people who dared to betray him, and getting guinea pigs for his plans to get the strongest Emperor ever.

Bear in mind that the Ordelia fuckery was done before the Insurrection aka, Ionius had this plan before Ludwig'n'co decided to depose him!

(Was Vestra aware of what was going on? Who were the Agarthans working with Ionius? Is it a situation à la Manfroy'n'Arvis, people disapproving of the Emperor listening at shady people?)

The Ordelia experiments leads me to believe the plan to become "super strong with dual crests" was hatched and developed during the Ionius era, but again, the game is so crappy at lore building that we don't even know if Ionius had 10 (legitimate) sibs, or only 5, and what they are doing when Supreme Leader is running the show, or did when Ionius was defanged.

Granted, we don't know since when Agarthans are slithering in Adrestia - if we believe the "Willy's sekrit history" was tampered with and assume Supreme Leader was telling the truth, that it was passed down in generations, maybe Agarthans were slowly manipulating Adrestian Emperor to get their revenge on Nabateans (in Nopes, a book about the rebellion of the Southern Church mentions how the Emperor wanted to cut ties with the Central Church anyways since a long time, but doesn't explain why).

And so, maybe Agarthans devised several plans, that all failed, to make the Hresvelgs turn against the Church and be strong enough to be flattened in 5 seconds, and it only worked during Ionius' era ?

We will never know, but it's still fun to think and headcanon about!

To bounce back on the "Adrestia demands many heirs" thing, given how I am fond of a certain AU, what if

This came up as a reaction to the entire Lycaon debacle?

Wilhelm 1 picked a heir, his heir died "to a mysterious illness" and instead of assuming rulership or helping another heir to rule - like he did for Lycaon - Wilhelm bailed out of Adrestia.

It could be explained by Lycaon being the golden child and favourite kid of his dad, so if he's not the one ruling, Dad doesn't give a fuck anymore about his Empire... or -

What if Lycaon was Willy's only child, and the subsequent Hresvelgs are "cousins" or members of a branch family?

In that case, it wouldn't be Willy playing favourites, but bailing out because his own son "suddenly fell ill and died" and he wouldn't be as involved as he was in helping his own kid, if now we're talking about helping a great grand-nephew or someone else.

(Rhea would have had to give a transfusion to the subsequent Emperor - i name her by convenience Hildegarde bcs no imagination and it's faster to type than "the female emperor who succeeded Lycaon and dueled against Ferdie's ancestor who wanted the throne" - to make people believe there is a direct continuity between Wilhelm, Lycaon, Hildegarde and her future heirs).

In that "only kid" scenario, it would also justify why House Hresvelg became so obsessed with taking Consorts and having a lot of heirs - Adrestia was nearly left Emperor-less after Lycaon's death because they had no other heirs to pick a successor from...

[chaotic-good-hawke]

About the Muse Meme

Tagged by the wonderful @bisexualryder​! Thank you, deary! 

― your muse’s name: 

Damita Mavis Surana

― one favorite picture / faceclaim of your muse:

Picture is by @star--nymph and Damita’s face claim is Ashley Moore

― two headcanons you have for your muse:

1. Her Magic: Precise, measured, cautious. Her motions and castings are flawless, practiced over and over again, any instructions memorized by heart. She knows magic can be dangerous, but she has never feared it. She just learns to control it, to bend it to her quiet will. A natural healer, she studies medicine at the Circle. While travelling for the Blight, she is fascinated by Morrigan’s abilities, something out of fairytales. In time she learns to shift and change, her first form a songbird. It is after the Archdemon is defeated, at Amaranthine, when she uncovers a text outlining blood magic rites. She studies and experiments, wanting to understand completely, and hoping that the cure for the Taint lies between healing and blood magic. 

2. Her time at Kinloch Circle: Damita was taken to the Circle when she was 4 years old. Her memories of her family are distant, fuzzy, but filled with hope and longing. She dreams of reuniting with them. Those first years, she clung to her fellow apprentices Jowan, Asher Amell, and Felicia and trailed after the robes of older apprentices and mages like Anders and Karl. At the age of 8, she discovered her love of learning and the power that come with new knowledge. She would spent hours upon hours in the library and when she was older, in the labs, testing new theories. Shy by nature, she was sweet, but curious. She was never targeted by the templars, not in any true way, besides the general templarness. But her friends were. So, she learned to be subtle with her magic, to use it to retaliate against those who hurt her friends, never acting rashly, but punishing them all the same. They never suspected her. Not even after she helped Anders escape. She had built her image of the good little obedient mage very well. 

― three things that your muse likes doing in their free time:

Research: Damita loves reading and learning, whether ancient stories or scientific texts. There is power and freedom in knowledge, safety and hope. She journals everything, her experiences, experiments, observations. Anything that might be useful/that she needs to remember. Zevran takes her to Antiva and gets her access to some of the royal libraries. Leliana gets her access to Chantry holdings. She is hungry for answers to her questions and will lose hours or days in her research. She needs someone to remind her to eat and sleep. Leliana has found her more than once asleep at her desk or over a book. 

Playing the Lute: Towards the end of the Blight, Leliana picks up a lute and after seeing Damita’s interest in it, teaches her to play. After that, Damita always carries one with her. When she is separated from her love, she would play, letting the music ease her loneliness and quiet her thoughts. Leliana sometimes calls her her little songbird.  

Practicing Magic: Damita never stops practicing, never wanting to lose her skill. Perhaps it is partially fueled by lingering fears, but she never takes for granted that magic needs to be controlled. She does have fun with it, at times, using it to entertain her friends. But she lives by the motto that practice makes perfect. To the point that Leliana has woken up to Damita mumbling and sleep casting. Damita cringes at the time Leliana woke her up, because their room was covered in flowers. 

― seven people your muse loves/likes:

1. Leliana: She loves Leliana fiercely and openly. It is new for her, something she didn’t even know to hope for. The love she shares with Leli is not like anything she had witnessed before in the Circle. Their relationship builds slowly, Damita taken with the worldliness of Leliana, the trials she has been through, her faith, and Leliana is taken with Damita’s goodness, her quick nature, her inquiring mind. They share music, have long discussions into the night. They are married a few years after the Blight, in a small private ceremony. 

2. Zevran: Damita loves Zev like a brother. Like an annoying, teasing brother. He feels the same, finding family with her that he hadn’t allowed himself to have before. He gives her the nickname Dami. He (attempts) to teach her to flirt. He teaches her about poisons, she teaches him healing potions. They swap stories. She does not judge him for his past, but helps him see a better future, a future of his choosing. He helps her understand the world outside the circle, that she doesn’t have to fear. She is his best friend and he is hers. 

3. Morrigan: Damita and Morrigan are weary of each other at first, unsure of where they stand with each other. But, they find footing with each other, after Damita heals Morrigan from a minor wound, without a word, just doing it reflexively. Damita in turn is fascinated by Morrigan’s knowledge, her skill, her wilder magic. Once they actually start talking and sharing, a bond is struck and while they do not always agree, they are friends, sisters. 

4. Wynne: Wynne is a surrogate mother in many ways for Damita during the Blight. She is older, wiser, she has known the life that is the circle. She loves the older mage. But, she does outgrow her. It starts when Wynne cautions her against pursuing a relationship with Leli. Wynne sees hope for the circles, is fine to live her life with them, even after what they did. Damita learns that there is more, that there is a better way and she cannot and will not go back to the circle. When she hears of Wynne’s death, she mourns an old friend.  

5. Alistair: Damita relies on Alistair, trusts him. He is the warden, was the warden, in her eyes. She treasures their friendship. He makes her laugh and she treats him as an equal, valuing his thoughts and opinions. In another life, they might have been more than friends. Damita hates that she helps trap him in a role he doesn’t want. But, she doesn’t trust Anora to be kind to the elves, to the mages. Damita knows Alistair will and that he will try to help the Ferelden people. She makes it a point to visit him whenever she can, trying to ease the burden thrust onto him.   

6. Sir Barkington: Damita loves her mabari, okay? He is loyal, protective, and yes sometimes smells bad, but just look at his face! She travels with him always, guarding her back. When they are in the city, she has a bow tie for him to wear. He looks very noble in it. 

7. Anders: She has strong feelings about many of her friends from the Circle, but Anders is also her fellow warden. She conscripted him to save him. He was one that tucked her in at night when she had a nightmare. He taught her little tricks to make her laugh. He is like an older brother to her. When she searches for the cure, she tracks him down to go with her.  

(Not mentioned Cathal Tabris, Catheryne Cousland, and Ciembe Mahariel from the multi-warden AU, but she does love them as well - or her two daughters, Beata and Delphine, who are adopted after the exalted council.) 

― a phobia your muse has:

Tranquility: Damita is terrified of being made tranquil. The monotone voice, the emotionless responses, the loss of will and agency, the loss of connection with magic and the fade. Needless to say, when Leliana reports back about what happened in Kirkwall, the needless tranquil, the lives ruined, she was heartbroken (let’s not even get into Karl) and angry.   

I will tag: @ocean-in-my-rebel-soul, @gay-dragon-age, @cutieink, @free-the-mages, @red-wardens, @saltlordofold, @slightly-sad-scribe, @trvelyans, @musically-magic, @dickeybbqpit, @loveydoveypiperwright and anyone else who wants to! No pressure!