#granted I prepared for my Relic Terminators

[eric-coldfire]

Finding out it's incredibly likely that Relic Terminators and the Contemptor Dreadnought are getting removed from the codex and added to Legends

[captainderyn]

Tucdela as a Companion

A follow up to the Tucdela Banter I did yesterday (Should I do this for Ru just for the hell of it?)

Inquisitor’s Name: Tucdela Lavellan

Alternate Name?: (name they have as Companion, if different from Inquisitor name) (Same)

Race, Class, & Specialization: Dalish elf, rogue, archer

Varric’s Nickname for them: Arrow/Dalish (prior to Bull’s chargers coming into the picture)

Default Tarot Card: It shows the silhouette of Tucdela shooting her bow, from the back of one of the Dalish horses, surrounded by green/foliage. 

How they are recruited: If the Inquisitor is Dalish: The Inquisitor will receive a war table operation letter from Tucdela Lavellan, expressing concern over their wellbeing and the wish to meet in the Hinterlands. 

If the Inquisitor isn’t Dalish there will be an alert from Leliana stating that there is an elf searching around the Hinterlands for the Herald of Andraste, asking about their cause and that they should probably check her out. 

Should the Inquisitor choose to meet her they will find her fending off some of the rogue bandits playing on travelers. The Inquisitor will be given the option to stay out of it or join the fight. 

If the Inquisitor joins: They will fight alongside Tucdela, which will transition to a cutscene where she jumps from the tree she had taken the higher ground in to shoot from and she greets the Inquisitor either with a Lavellan specific greeting (”Aneth ara, it’s wonderful to see your face again! You have much to explain.”) or another greeting; (”Thanks for the help, I assume your the one they call the Herald of Andraste?”). She’ll go over to her fallen mount, taken down by the bandits and mutter a brief farewell before returning to the Inquisitor and explaining that:

a) The Clan has been worried about Lavellan’s well being and sent her to at least see how s/he is, not trusting the letters entirely. She then explains that she wishes to join the Inquisition to help because since the rifts opened she’s already lost her best friend and many friends to demons and raiders.

b) She’s heard whispers of a force able to stop the Rift and wants to join the Inquisition to help bring the rifts and demons to an end for the above reasons. 

The Inquisitor can choose to accept or reject her offer--should she be rejected she’s visibly displeased and asks if she can at least return with them to get another mount, or else the journey is going to be long on foot. The Inquisitor can either amend their decision and let her join, agree to let her find a mount, or turn her away again. 

If the Inquisitor stays out of the fight:

Much the same as above, with differing opening dialogues. 

(Should the Inquisitor be Lavellan): “Fenhendris have my skills awed you so much that you can’t raise a hand to help? You’ve seen me shoot a bow before, no need to let me struggle.”

(If not Lavellan): “Fenhendris, thanks for the help (sarcastically). I’d think the Herald of Andraste would be a little free-er with their aid.”

Where they are in Skyhold: Tucdela can be found outside the stables, standing by one of the stalls with a big, black stallion (Spook!) in it or wandering around the stable area. 

Things they Generally Approve of: Helping people, inquiring about her history/the Dalish, sarcastic comments directed towards enemies, justice for those who have committed wrongs. 

Things they Generally Disapprove of: Derogatory comments towards elves, killing innocents, agreeing with slavery/subjugation of individuals, allowing those who have committed awful crimes (like that guy from Adamant idk his name) to walk free. 

Mages, Templars, Other?: (do they side with templars, mages, or don’t give a shit? maybe a mix? explain if you want)

While there is no big drop in approval if the PC sides with the Templars a dialogue tree will open up where Tucdela demands to know the  PC’s reasoning for punishing the mages by choosing the Templars and why they chose them. Should the PC choose an option that suggests mages are lesser beings there will be a small approval drop, though some approval can be regained if the PC chooses an option that states the Templars were the more tactically sound choice. 

Friends in the Inquisition: Tucdela becomes close with Dorian, Varric, and Sera and have some pretty funny banter should they all be in the party at the same time. Tucdela also becomes close with Josephine and Cullen, with mentions being made in the ambient comments of the War Room. 

Romanceable?: Tucdela can be romanced by any race/gender, though initiating her as a human is harder. Special dialogue options open up if a human Inquisitor inquires about the Dalish and some negative options result in a large approval drop. Her romance is sweet and sincere with the attack on Clan Lavellan causing her personal conflict. Her romance will not be locked in until her approval is high enough. 

Should the Inquisitor choose not to initiate a romance with her she grows closer with Cullen (as long as Cullen isn’t romanced) and there is some banter if she’s in the party with Varric or Sera and some comments at the war table that suggest she and Cullen get together. 

Small side mission: Buried History

Tucdela will ask the Inquisitor if they can travel to the Exalted Plains to find some lost texts and artifacts from the last Exalted March on the Dalish to send back to her clan since she has the means and resources to search for these things through the Inquisition. 

This activates a two-part war table mission--Fact Checking (verifying the legitimacy of the history before sending false artifacts/documents to the Dalish) and History for Clan Lavellan (sending the information off to her clan.)

Having Tucdela in the party when finding these relics triggers unique comments on her history and grants large approval gains. Simply returning them to her gives a smaller approval gain. 

Companion quest: Journies for the Departed

Should the Inquisitor’s approval be high enough for Tucdela’s personal quest to trigger they will find her outside the stables, clutching a letter in hand. She informs the Inquisitor that she ’s received word that her brother was killed in the latest attack on Clan Lavellan. She says she wants to travel to Var Bellanaris to give her brother and best friend that she lost to perform the ancient burial rites (exactly what I wrote about in Telanadas) and wants the Inquisitor to accompany her (as a friend, love interest, or as protection depending on the approval rating/dialogue options taken.).

The Inquisitor can put up a stink about going or refuse, resulting in a loss in approval. Should the Inquisitor agree a cutscene will trigger that puts them riding into Val Bellanaris. The Inquisitor and Tucdela will go through the rites, with options to inquire further and help her (giving small approval boosts), or to stand by and watch, or actively be an ass (resulting in approval losses). There’s a flirt option that allows the Inquisitor to put an arm around her and pull her close when the rite is finished. 

As they prepare to leave some Freemen Raiders, seeing action in the burial grounds and looking for more valuable loot from any new or disturbed graves come in, prepared to take. Tucdela throws herself in front of them, standing between them and the sites, with their freshly planted trees and valuable, hand-carved staves buried beneath the dirt and pleads with the Inquisitor to help her defend it. 

If the Inquisitor Helps: Tucdela greatly approves. Together they fight off the bandits, with the fight breaking into a supplementary cutscene where she takes down the lead Raider and then pivots to go make sure the sites remained unscathed. The Inquisitor is given the option to ask why she was so concerned with preserving them and she just shakes her head and answers, trembling that losing this would be like losing them all over again, like everything she did, every honor she laid there would be stripped away for only the sake of some coin. 

Back at Skyhold if the Inquisitor speaks to her again they will find themselves in the gardens, where Tucdela will thank the Inquisitor for helping her in this matter and that she can’t think of any way to repay them. Three options are a kindly acknowledgment, a scathing remark that sure, no problem but she better not ask something like that again, or a flirt reminding her that s/he’d always be there for her. 

If the Inquisitor Refuses: Tucdela greatly disproves. She’ll attack the bandits on her own with a vicious intensity until she’s pushed aside, the Raiders moving to ransack what they can, throwing aside the saplings planted and causing destruction. The Inquisitor is given the choice to either pull Tucdela--who’s struggling to escape their firm grip and shouting for the attackers to stop--away and retreat or stay and remind Tucdela that that is what the Dalish culture is worth, resulting in an even greater approval loss. (there’s always got to be that one asshole. Don’t hurt my elf bby please). 

If approval is low enough  Tucdela will automatically leave the Inquisition upon returning to Skyhold on the grounds that she has no reason to be there under a liar and tyrant. If approval is high enough she remains, though she’s furious and cold towards the Inquisitor for the remainder of the game (consider her hardened, like what you can do to the dao crew.). A very small amount of approval can be regained if the Inquisitor chooses the option to lie and say that it was too dangerous to stay, though overall the gain is insignificant. If the Inquisitor is locked into a romance with her and tries to choose a flirt option saying that they had no choice and that she should forgive them for doing their job they’ll be rebuffed and pushed away. She’ll terminate the romance there without a way to reopen the route. 

Tarot card change

If the sites at Var Bellanaris were protected: 

Tucdela’s card shows her standing, bathed in golden+green dapples light holding her bow in one hand and two saplings with their branches stretching upwards towards the light source. 

If the sites at Var Bellanaris were destroyed:

Tucdela’s card turns to a red-scheme, with her bent on her knees, clutching broken saplings to her chest with one hand while the other rests over her broken bow. 

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