#casrien surana

[tokidokifish]

so i saw this personality chart by @dalishious on my dash and you know [at full volume] i’m aLWAYS A SLUT FOR QUANTIFYING MY CHARACTERS

notes: 

casrien “i hate everything except for these six people and i WILL kill you if you harm them” surana

miren’s relationship chart was hard bc BROS BROS BROS, i love everyone in this bar, etc (it’s also understandable that she would have higher relationships with her friends bc she knows them for actual years)

except for sebastian bc i don’t even think he’s canon for her lmao

shout out to cullen for beating out even solas for that coveted “only asshole with a completely empty bar” slot 

the circle tower being annulled is canon in nehn’s game :) she fucking hates him :))

also i know you can’t actually romance cole but nehn did

[tokidokifish]

THANK YOU EVERYONE that asked me dragon age questions for my birthday, i will now start answering them, tho i am always ready for more. [waggles eyebrows]

@audrey-scorne asked for 1, 9, 10 for surana/amell, @falsecargo asked for all ten for casrien, and @zwierzodudle asked for 3 for everyone so imma start with the brat because of course i am.

1. Did Surana/Amell have any memories of their life before the Circle? If so, what of? If not, how did they feel about not knowing where they’re from?

hahaaaa oh yes. i mean casrien was not young when his clan was wiped out, so he has like… the majority of a childhood being the happy son, and then first, of a keeper in a dalish clan. he still remembers the elvish that he was taught by his mother and managed to train himself in a form of magic the circle denies even exists (shapeshifting) because he started learning it before he was brought to the tower. i’m sure there were times, when things were very, very bad, that he wished he didn’t remember a time before, when he was happy and free, but it’s not like he’d actually trade those memories for anything, especially when that’s all that’s left - besides him - of his clan.

as an aside, i’ve integrated the idea that minaeve’s assertion that her clan abandoned her in the woods because they had too many mages wasn’t actually (just) a bullshit retcon to demonize the dalish and was instead propaganda fed to her by the circle until she believed it herself with casrien’s backstory to adopt the headcanon that minaeve was another survivor, and suffice to say he would be fucking HORRIFIED to learn what she thinks happened.

2. What was Surana/Amell’s relationship with Jowan like? What did they think of the revelation of him being a blood mage? and 9. Did Surana/Amell decide to help Jowan and Lily, or did they tell Irving of their plans? Why?

i’ve talked about this before - casrien didn’t particularly like jowan anymore than he liked anyone else, and he doesn’t even think jowan particularly liked HIM all that much in return, but jowan remembered what everyone else had forgotten about casrien: when casrien was first brought to the circle, he actively set things on fire. he escaped every chance he got, and was dragged back screaming, and he only stopped because they had started talking about things like tranquility. jowan didn’t particularly like casrien, but he asked for casrien’s help because casrien had the access jowan needed, and jowan was banking on him agreeing out of sheer, simmering resentment - which is exactly why casrien agreed. that’s why he always agrees, whether or not it’s a universe where duncan is around to bail him out when they get caught. (he also doesn’t particularly care about jowan being a blood mage, either, because as far as he’s concerned there’s no such thing as “evil magic”, simply evil people, and jowan is many things, but he’s not evil.)

as for why: when Irving puts on the disappointed grandfather voice and asks why casrien did it, casrien laughs in his fucking face. “you stole me from my people and trapped me here and you’re asking how i could I betray your trust? i may have learned how to pretend to be meek and submissive, but i am dalish. i do not forget, and i do not forgive.”

3. How prepared was Surana/Amell for their Harrowing?

i’d say as prepared as one could be for a secret test they literally don’t tell anyone anything about. i’ve always said that casrien thinks he’s a better mage than most of the other members of the circle, and in most cases is correct in thinking that, simply because he was brought up not fearing his magic, so it wasn’t like he was ever scared of it.

4. What was Surana’s/Amell’s reaction to first entering the Fade?

considering dragon age 2 shows the dalish have their own ritual that can send people into the fade, i imagine it was actually one of the first things his mother did when she took him on as a first, as an introduction to the nature of spirits and magic. it probably only happened the once, but i imagine his reaction to entering it during the harrowing was probably something to the tune of, “oh, of course this is what they would play up to be so dangerous.”

5. Did Surana/Amell believe in “Mouse?” What did they think of his story?

casrien didn’t believe he was a trapped apprentice, no, but he didn’t think he was a demon, either. apparently since inquisition made it clear that mortal expectations shape how spirits appear, there’s this idea that mouse wasn’t actually a demon but simply appeared that way because that’s what a scared apprentice would expect to face in the fade, and i’m down with that, so i imagine the conversation at the end of the harrowing actually went quite a bit differently, considering casrien wouldn’t have come into the situation with those expectations. probably something to the tune of “so is this the part where you turn out to be the actual demon testing me?” “well, that’s usually how it goes, but it doesn’t really seem worth the effort, if i’m being honest.”

6. How did Surana/Amell feel about living in the Circle?

well, i used to say casrien has mellowed out since i made him, but i recently realized i’ve just been figuring out what he’s actually like as opposed to the personality that formed due to, you know, the whole fucking imprisonment and abuse thing, so suffice to say he wasn’t super happy about the situation.

7. Did Surana/Amell favour a particular Fraternity? What did they think about Circle politics in general?

if he had any stake in the conversation, he would have probably been a resolutionist. fortunately for the chantry, however, casrien considered himself an elf first and a mage second, so he was always more interested in getting out of the circle and preferably back to his people than he was in the freedom for mages cause.

8. How did Surana/Amell feel about working with tranquil mages?

he… avoided it. there was actually a rumor in the circle that they had tried to make him tranquil, but something went wrong, and that’s why they had to keep letting him come to classes, but the fact is he just… numbed himself emotionally so he wouldn’t act out and risk ACTUALLY being made tranquil. there’s literally nothing he hates more than tranquility, nothing about the circle that infuriates or disgusts him more, so he avoids working with tranquil mages because there’s few things that test his carefully constructed facade as much, and he can’t afford that.

10.  How did Surana/Amell feel about returning to the Circle, and seeing it in chaos?

to be fair, there are versions of casrien that might be a little upset about the innocent mages that got killed, but warden casrien? the casrien that escaped the yoke of one organization just to be IMMEDIATELY put in another one? that casrien doesn’t have a fucking lot of sympathy to spare.

FINALLY, @wantedplantlife asked what my wardens thought of the awakening companions, so i’ll be answering that for everybody too.

after considerable thought (and, again, realizing what casrien is actually like, under the defensive misanthropy), i’ve realized anders would... probably have been the closest thing to a friend casrien had in the circle, though i SERIOUSLY doubt they were allowed to spend much time with one another, so i imagine he would have been pleased to see him again AND have the opportunity to make sure anders never had to go back to the circle. 

on the other hand, i bet casrien and nathaniel had a BIG fukkin problem with one another at first, because yeah, nate, he killed your dad, but your dad was a murderous scumbag who was selling elves into slavery so casrien isn’t gonna have a lot of apologies or regret to offer.

it would take a stronger man than casrien to dislike sigrun, and he’s always been more inclined to get along with non-human races, since they never imprisoned him in a tower, so i imagine he’s quite fond of her.

i’ve mentioned before that casrien doesn’t get all... solas about spirits, so i imagine he was just fine with justice, as opposed to like... super close conversation partners, or anything. 

as for velanna, an angry elven first attacking humans? honestly, #mood.

seriously though, casrien would be... so fucking close to velanna. like holy shit. i mean his best friend in origins was morrigan, and this is like morrigan except OH YEAH, casrien and velanna are even more alike. it’s nice to think about.

and oghren is... well, probably the last person from origins that casrien would have wanted to be palling around with again. rip.

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barbaricyip replied to your post “THANK YOU EVERYONE that asked me dragon age questions for my birthday,...”

i'm so here for casrien-velanna friendo theatre holy shit

IT’S SO GOOD TO IMAGINE, especially because like i’ve talked about the fact casrien kind of has a lot of issues with his dalish identity due to how long he was in the tower, so like... actually having a dalish friend to be like “shut the fuck up, of course you’re still dalish, you will always be dalish” would be a++. 

i’ve just never spent a lot of time thinking about it because i don’t spend a lot of time thinking about awakening r i p. (i’ve still never finished it R I P.)

stg-solus replied to your post “THANK YOU EVERYONE that asked me dragon age questions for my birthday,...”

I have somehow never heard about him before but guess what I love him

in pretty much every universe that he isn’t a warden, casrien escapes from the circle by turning into a magpie and leaving with the warden’s party, and then he usually ends up helping slaves escape from tevinter and hooking up with zevran (not in that order). he’s also nehn’s adoptive father.

[tokidokifish]

Emoji: 😍

I feel suuuper bad tonight but I also felt guilty about not working on this meme so I did one!

Obviously I have about a billion Wardens but I decided to go with Cas because it’s been FOREVER since I drew him and he never really emoted a lot so it was a nice change. Plus apparently next week is Zevran appreciation week, so I thought I’d get an early start on appreciating Zevran.

[tokidokifish]

To cheer myself up, I decided to spend today thinking about Miren Hawke, and what is and isn't canon in Inquisition (most of it is just her and Varric spinning a practiced and very elaborate series of lies).

So for the first thing: what happened after Miren and company left Kirkwall. (Some Inquisition spoilers, eventually.)

Aveline is the first one to leave, because as much as she doesn't want to abandon a woman who's practically family, who's been with her since Ferelden, she can't just up and leave the Kirkwall guard, especially with the city in such a mess. Anders is the second to go, disappearing one night, and that's something Miren absolutely torments herself over, because as horrifying as she found what happened with the Chantry (even more horrifying because he tricked her into helping), Anders is family, and she never would have abandoned him, and she blames herself for not being able to reach him for a long, long time. Carver leaves, doing a bad job of pretending it doesn't worry him to do so, because he needs to get back and the last thing they need is the Grey Wardens coming looking for them too. Merrill departs when they run into a Dalish clan, although not before collecting a kiss on the forehead and a promise there will always be an open spot on her ship from Isabela.

It's almost two months into their trip when Miren realizes she's pregnant, but that doesn't actually change her plans (besides being the cause of a lot of hushed, late-night conversations with Fenris) to make for Rivain until it becomes apparent that she's having twins ("of course", she grouses, with one hand on her stomach and her feet in Fenris's lap). By the time they get to Antiva, she's just too big to go anywhere comfortably, let alone make the trip to Rivain, so Zevran (who had come back to help with Meredith and stayed with the group because, well, he was going the same way, wasn't he?) extends the invitation for her and Fenris to stay with him (and the Hero of Ferelden, though they don't know that at the time. Most people don't).

Varric eventually has to go back to Kirkwall and Isabela eventually manages to secure a ship, but Miren and Fenris stay with Zevran and his quiet, cynical lover because it... works, strangely enough. Casrien proves himself, oddly enough, excellent at looking after a pregnant woman (apparently it's something the Keepers in his clan were responsible for) and, when Imogen and Penelope are born, very fond of children. Eventually making the trip to Rivain is always there, in the back of Miren's mind, but the girls are too small and besides, it's comfortable, isn't it?

And then the sky rips open and she gets a letter from Varric.

"You should come with me," she tells Casrien, as she prepares to go to the South for the first time in a decade.

"Why?" he says, with a specific sort of non-expression that means he knows exactly why and simply doesn't want to admit it. 

"There are Wardens involved," she snaps, because she's just had a hell of a fight with Fenris about the whole thing, "and you're the Hero of Ferelden."

"I didn't want to be either of those things," he tells her, with a very different sort of non-expression that she can't actually decipher, "and I think I did a remarkable job anyhow."

"Strange, considering how much of a coward you've become," she tells him, and he does not argue.

(It's not a very happy parting, sticking and stinging with all of them.)

(And what happens in the Fade - sadly enough, Miren offering to sacrifice herself despite being a mother of two (which everyone knows, by that point; the Nightmare didn't just mention Fenris, after all) is woefully in-character, and - once and only once - Cassandra admits she understands why Varric was so desperate to keep her from getting involved.)  

After, she takes the Wardens out of Orlais and then returns to Antiva, and the first thing she does - after seeing to a grumpy but relieved Fenris and the girls - is find Casrien.

"You refused to go because you thought you were hearing your Calling and you didn't want to leave Zevran," she says, when she finds them both, and his face does something complicated and eventually settles on "vague guilt".

"Yes," he says, finally, and Zevran looks... gutted.

"You let me think badly of you," she adds, upset with the situation and herself. Casrien shrugs, looking at his hands because it's easier than looking at Zevran.

"There wasn't a lot of time to discuss it," he murmurs, and then he's quiet for quite a long time until he says, "I... thought I was hearing my Calling?"

"It was fake," she tells him. "Corypheus was using it to manipulate the Wardens."

Casrien unwinds, just a little, and gathers the tattered remains of his usual aloof disinterest. "Of course. Idiots," he adds, without much feeling.

"You're the idiot," Zevran tells him, yanking him into a hug, and then they get into a terrific fight about telling one's significant other when one thinks they're dying, but everyone's safe and no one has to save the world for now, so that's alright.   

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15 Days: Describe the world state for your Inquisitor. Who rules Ferelden, Is The Warden still alive, Is there an Old God Baby, Did Hawke side with the mages or the Templars, etc etc.

It's a pretty average world state, I think. Alistair is king and the Warden is still alive (and in "hiding", meaning that no one has apparently thought to check with his boyfriend yet). Despite being a giant asshole, Casrien did his best by Ferelden almost despite himself and there IS an Old God Baby (the circumstances surrounding its conception remains one of the most horrifyingly embarrassing nights of his life). Miren likewise tried her best when it came to Kirkwall, but that was a fucking losing battle from day one, and since she's not a fucking asshole she sided with the mages.

14 Days: Tell us about The Warden. Race, class, love interest, name gender? How would your Inquisitor feel about them? Do you think they would get along?

Casrien Surana was a Dalish mage and First to his mother, their clan's Keeper, when his entire clan was wiped out after stumbling across an unmapped entrance to the Deep Roads. Casrien himself was only saved via the timely intervention of a group of Grey Wardens, but ended up imprisoned in Ferelden's Circle after he was taken there for healing and accidentally outed himself as a mage. 

Bitter and genuinely unfriendly by the time the Blight rolled around, the only reason he allowed himself to be conscripted by the Wardens was due to his desire to kill Darkspawn, and the fact he didn't care if he died in the process. Somewhat ironically, it was during what he initially viewed as a suicide mission that he actually regained a desire to live, and he mellowed out considerably afterward. Sometime between the Blight ending and the Breach, he went into hiding with Zevran.

Casrien would probably approve of Adit with as much enthusiasm as he's capable of - he was always appalled by the way the Qunari treated their mages, so he'd be automatically inclined to like one that actually escaped.  

13 Days: Now tell us about your Hawke. How would your Inquisitor feel about them? Do you think they would get along?

Miren Hawke is warm, motherly, and extremely tall. Her relationship with Fenris was a hilarious comedy of errors that involved copious amounts of unresolved sexual tension and an ill-advised one night stand before they finally got their shit together. After shit went down in Kirkwall, she decided to flee to Rivain (that's where her father was from), but ended up having to stop in Antiva and crash with Zevran and a surprisingly amenable Casrien after she realized she was pregnant and couldn't make the whole trip. 

Miren would probably adore Adit, considering he'd probably remind her a lot of Bethany in terms of being not exactly the most comfortable with his magic. Besides, Varric is probably gonna like him, and that'll go a ways to getting on her good side (not that it takes much).

[tokidokifish]

that second character meme: casrien

YOU BIG NERD

Full name: Casrien Surana

Age: Assuming elves even keep the same calendar as humans, he literally forgot, living in the Circle Tower. He’s in his early-to-mid 20s when the Blight begins.

Occupation: KILLING DARKSPAWN (I guess as part of this weird organization or whatever)

Family: In addition to his parents, he naturally considered his entire clan his family. They’re all dead now. (ʘ‿ʘ✿)

Best friend: Although actually he’s so close to Morrigan that she’s probably closer to a sister. 

Love interest/Ideal partner: A GIANT DORK.

How they met: Zevran tried to kill him an failed miserably, natch. Truly a love story for the ages. (◡‿◡✿)

Favourite food: When he’s not subsisting on sheer loathing for those around him, he has quite a sweet tooth. He’s like Sten, that way.

Hobby: KILLING EVER INCREASING AMOUNTS OF DARKSPAWN. Actually, it has recently been decided that Casrien can sew. Moreover, he can knit.

Person they look up to: Having lost his clan so early and so traumatically, Casrien views Keepers with something close to reverence, which made that whole business in the Brecilian Forest real awkward.

Biggest wish: Initially, it was that he had died with the rest of his clan. Throughout most of the Blight, dying while taking out the Archdemon was actually his preferred end-game. But then he made some friends and met a big dork and fell in love and decided there might be something worth living for after all. 

[tokidokifish]

Added some dumb flat color to that picture of Casrien's potential vallaslin. :T

[tokidokifish]

Quick and dirty sketch to try and figure out Casrien's eventual sort-of vallaslin, which he gets at some point in the future, when he's more comfortable with his lot in life. Obviously it's pretty traditional (and I think this design is supposed to have something to do with the halla, which he's always been big on), but obviously he's had some... other inspiration, as he accepts he could no longer really be considered entirely Dalish, and maybe that's okay.

[tokidokifish]

I drew a modern AU Casrien!

I don't... I don't really know why!

God, look at him, he'd be such a miserable little hipster.

[tokidokifish]

In which Casrien is a horrible liar, and Zevran probably shouldn't encourage him.

Also, the best thing about drawing Zevran is no matter how off-model you make him, it'll never be as bad as he was in Dragon Age II.

[tokidokifish]

I haven't been drawing very much, but the urge has been returning for the past couple of days, so a couple of dour looking fellows, who are dour for very different reasons.

Zachary Goto is my thief from Guild Wars 2, and Casrien Surana is one of my Wardens from Dragon Age: Origins.