#halla keeper

[soloragoldsun]

Completed the first of many fics about Finn Lavellan!

[cityandking]

achievement unlocked: new girlie

gotta go back and fix some of her coloring but whatever it's fine

[whiskeredbats]

my dragon age inquisitor has earned a lil ref sheet from me :)

[crabs-with-sticks]

Got inspired by @telanadasvhenan awesome art of the lavellan verse (basically all the lavellans all hangin out and ensuing shenanigans) and have had the brilliant idea of writing a sitcom style fic. Oops all Lavellas. Just putting the blorbos in our heads into silly circumstances. So if anybody has a lavellan they would like to be in it, lmk! (will of course give character credit n all that jazz)

Am currently considering about setting it either in thedas or in a modern au

[glassarrows]

for all his complex feelings about clans, matthias is very comfortable in his identity as dalish. he feels most at peace when out in the wilds, especially in the emerald graves and close to where he grew up (though with a little apprehension he may run into people he knew). despite his elvish not being the best, his expression will light up if someone starts talking to him in it and he’ll carry on the conversation as best he can. he craves that small knit sense of community that comes from being in a clan and having a defined role with a tangible impact. he still invokes andruil and mythal’s names when going out on missions. matthias would never be fully satisfied living out a life in a city or big settlement, only with a simple life and the feeling of earth under bare foot.

[attractthecrows]

reposting them because

GIRLS!!!!

[deilmo]

Fen'Harel and the Halla

"After his millenia long slumber, Fen'Harel awoke in a world that felt foreign to him: the world of old, the veiled world. In trying to stop the Gods he had doomed the world to an existence devoid of magic. Alone and weakened, he couldn't act alone. That is when he met the lone Halla. It was born of this new foreign land that the wolf despised so, but it possessed unique wisdom and patience. It listened intently to what the wolf told him of worlds gone and forgotten and in turn the halla taught the rebel god about this world and the wolf listened. What the wolf couldn't forsee was to grow fond of the halla. In such a desolate and strange world, it was a beacon of hope and open-mindness. It had taught the God patience and understanding for the wretched world he had created. But Fen'Harel couldn't be driven off his path of duty, every new day that passed was a painful reminder of it. His journey was a dangerous, one that he should take alone. And so, one night he tore off his own heart, leaving a hole in its place, and ran without looking back. The halla wouldn't be deterred, ever so patient and understanding. It trailed him and found the rebel god again, so the wolf in despair chewed off one of its leg and fled where it couldn't follow, hoping it wouldn't. For years he walked the world in search of the wisdom he needed to free all magic but when he thought he did, the slumbering Gods imprisoned him as he had done millenia past. With the wolf locked into the very prison he had made for his ennemies, all hope of freedom had been lost for the People. But true to itself as ever, a three-legged halla persevered. In all the years the lone wolf took stalking the earth in search of wisdom, the halla trailed close behind in search of the god, in search of knowledge to help him. When Fen'Harel was finally freed from his prison, and once he freed all magic and felled his foes, the halla stood there, watching. When the wolf finally approached it, it dropped something at his feet without a word. His heart. All those years it had persevered to give back what the god had torn from himself. And he placed back his heart in the hole its absence had created. And that is the story of the Halla that chased the Wolf in the Veiled world and how it appeased the regret and guilt of a god. Da'len, if you ever see a statue of Fen'Harel somewhere, look close. For you might see a lone halla grazing near it. - Keeper Shirallas of the restored Elvhenan, Lathbora viran - 14:23 Sea.

Close up:

[princehendir]

Marethari: Merrill should be avoided. She plays with dark magic and is infected with the same Blight that took Tamlen. She is dangerous. But also we can't move the clan even though everyone wants to because what if she comes back.

Clan: what?

Marethari: and she will come back. Trust me. I'm going to make her.

Marethari: now if you'll all excuse me I'm going to go into this mountain cave to commune with nothing in particular.

Marethari: No one. I meant. Nothing is happening. Don't worry about it. But tell me if Merrill shows up. But don't be nice to her. Okay.

Clan: Keeper we need new Halla.

Mage who transferred from another clan to replace Merrill: so I'm just now walking into this

[too-many-lavellans]

Venui Lavellan

Halla Keeper Non-Combatant

[felassan]

Codex entry: Ghilan'nain: Mother of the Halla

"They say Ghilan'nain was one of the People, in the days before Arlathan, and the chosen of Andruil the Huntress. She was very beautiful—with hair of snowy white—and as graceful as a gazelle. She kept always to Andruil's Ways, and Andruil favored her above all others. One day, while hunting in the forest, Ghilan'nain came across a hunter she did not know. At his feet lay a hawk, shot through the heart by an arrow. Ghilan'nain was filled with rage, for the hawk—along with the hare—is an animal much beloved of Andruil. Ghilan'nain demanded that the hunter make an offering to Andruil, in exchange for taking the life of one of her creatures. The hunter refused, and Ghilan'nain called upon the goddess to curse him, so that he could never again hunt and kill a living creature. Ghilan'nain's curse took hold, and the hunter found that he was unable to hunt. His prey would dart out of sight and his arrows would fly astray. His friends and family began to mock him for his impotence, for what use is a hunter who cannot hunt? Ashamed, the hunter swore he would find Ghilan'nain and repay her for what she had done to him. He found Ghilan'nain while she was out on a hunt with her sisters, and lured her away from them with lies and false words. He told Ghilan'nain that he had learned his lesson and begged her to come with him, so she could teach him to make a proper offering to Andruil. Moved by his plea, Ghilan'nain followed the hunter, and when they were away from all of her sisters, the hunter turned on Ghilan'nain. He blinded her first, and then bound her as one would bind a kill fresh from the hunt. But because he was cursed, the hunter could not kill her. Instead he left her for dead in the forest. And Ghilan'nain prayed to the gods for help. She prayed to Elgar'nan for vengeance, to Mother Mythal to protect her, but above all she prayed to Andruil. Andruil sent her hares to Ghilan'nain and they chewed through the ropes that bound her, but Ghilan'nain was still wounded and blind, and could not find her way home. So Andruil turned her into a beautiful white deer—the first halla. And Ghilan'nain found her way back to her sisters, and led them to the hunter, who was brought to justice. And since that day, the halla have guided the People, and have never led us astray, for they listen to the voice of Ghilan'nain. — From The Tale of Ghilan'nain, as told by Gisharel, keeper of the Ralaferin clan of the Dalish elves"

[vigilskeep]

is it reasonable to say griffons are probably another of ghilan’nain’s creatures? they are weird hybrids. i was just reading about how they’re always equals and partners, never servants or slaves, and it sounds so like the relationship halla have with their keepers. it feels like it’s going to be plot relevant what with bringing them back for veilguard and giving davrin ghilan’nain’s vallaslin. can’t wait for him and one of her own creatures to take her down <3

[came-out-of-the-coffin-desisted]

not to out of left field dragon age post, but i’m thinking of replaying origins and it made me think about how like. mahariel and tamlen are definitely old enough to be married/bonded by dalish standards, and they’ve been friends for at least a fews years if not their whole lives (and it’s probably their whole lives honestly) so they’ve had time to get bonded.

so the implication is that either a) they haven’t gotten their shit together enough to tell each other how they feel much before like. the week origins begins OR b) the elders wouldn’t allow them to bond, the way they wouldn’t let mahariel’s parents bond, and eventually they relented. and i know a lot of people like the first one and i agree that it is like. nicer to the characters. but the second one makes me go INSANE because it’s like. we think you’re too immature, or maybe just one of you is, you’re too impetuous, you don’t think before you act, and you egg each other on, or one of you is too devoted to hold the other one back. whichever it is, it’s a matter of worrying they won’t be good for each other— they don’t approve of the match.

until someone (probably ashalle or marethari herself) intervenes, and the FIRST thing, the very first thing that happens is they find that cave. no matter how it happened— if tamlen refused to go back to prove that he was worthy, if they egged each other on, if mahariel led tamlen forward— they WERE bad for each other, but not out of malice. out of love. and afterwards, when mahariel is a warden and tamlen is gone from them forever (even if they will, unbeknownst to them, see him again, just in the most horrifying way possible,) i can just imagine them sitting up nights, afraid to sleep because of the horrible dreams, alternatively blaming the elders for not letting them be together sooner and blaming themselves for not going back, for not making him go back.

in the gauntlet, the spirit or demon or whatever it is takes the form of tamlen, taunts them about their failure, about their waking fucking nightmare.

and months later, when there have been so many loses that they’re sort of numb to it all, when they’ve made a new family and maybe fallen in love again, when they’re living every day like it could be their last (because it could be,) they wake up one night in a cold sweat, or they’re in the middle of ~something~ with their new partner, and shrieks ambush their camp. they have to come out and fight, back to back with their new family, with their lover— they finish the fight covered in blood, every inch the warden, every inch the hero of ferelden. and in the aftermath, there he is. the ghost of the one person they never thought they’d lose, their best friend, the soulmate they were /supposed/ to have. and he’s a ghoul, he’s dying, and if they don’t kill him, the blight will force their hand.

and then there’s one fucking line with alistair about it. you can’t follow up on it. …but imagine if you could. imagine if the warden absolutely melts down afterward. imagine if they got to feel, for once, the ENORMITY of what they’ve lost, the enormity of what the blight took from them, which they’ll never get back, even if they have people they love. even if they live through it all, they save the world, now they’re the warden commander and they get to live free of fear—they’ll still never be one half of the happy elder couple who laughs and jokes and says ‘yes’ to every match because they believe in love over all. they’ll never get to see merrill become keeper and tease her about how pompous she was as a kid, they’ll never have children. they’ll never hunt again, never sit with the halla and smile about the beauty of the world.

in a lot of ways i think that the elven wardens lose the least, because they gain power they’d otherwise never have— but they still lose things. there is no easy way to become a warden. the only way that a warden loses nothing by joining is if they had nothing to lose at all.

[scurvgirl]

Learning about my Rook through banter. Just a little self-indulgent writing.

-

Bellara: So...you're Dalish, right?

Rook: Yep.

Bellara: But...you don't have Vallaslin.

Rook: I don't.

Bellara: Did you leave before you could get it?

Rook: No. My father isn't Dalish, and I was born in a city - I joined my mother's clan later. Didn't feel like the Vallaslin would suit me at the time.

Bellara: Oh.

-

Lucanis: Rook, what foods would you like prepared?

Rook: Anything really. Dalish, Free Marches, Tevinter, any kind of sea food.

Lucanis: Good to know.

-

Rook: You know, Taash, you don't have to choose to be Qunari or Rivaini.

Taash: What, you think I don't know that?

Rook: Hold your dragons. I'm saying - I'm Dalish and from a city. I respect the Vhenadahl and the halla. I sang prayers to Andraste and to the creators...before, you know, we knew shit.

Taash: Okay.

Rook: It's all important, and...you're all of it, put together into a unique experience of yourself.

Taash: I'll think about it.

-

Neve: Alright, your accent is not Tevinter, Antivan, Fereldan, or Orlesian. You're a Marcher.

Rook: She's found me out!

Neve: Now to figure out where.

Rook: Do you want me to tell you or is it more fun for you to put the clues together?

Neve: Don't tell me.

-

Rook: Fucking Venatori!

Harding: You really hate them.

Rook: Assholes kill people and use my gods as a fucking excuse.

Harding: You made that one explode.

Rook: Yeah, well, sometimes we deal with personal shit by exploding an evil shithead.

-

Neve: I've got it.

Rook: Oh do tell!

Neve: Kirkwall - Varric recruited you, told you to keep where you're from a secret.

Rook: Good thought but nope. Not from Kirkwall, and thank goodness for that.

Neve: Dammit.

-

Lucanis: You're quite good with that blade Rook. Who taught you?

Rook: My mother. She's a very skilled swordswoman. All of her kids are mages but she insisted we all learn how to defend ourselves with weaponry against Templars.

Lucanis: Smart woman. You have siblings?

Rook: Yeah, two older brothers.

Lucanis: Why am I not surprised you're the baby?

Rook: Because I am baby.

-

Bellara: I don't understand. Why not get the Vallaslin?

Rook: My clan was informed of its true meaning. My keeper started offering everyone a choice.

Bellara: True meaning?

Rook: Slave markings, apparently. Makes sense now with what we know of the gods.

Bellara: That's horrible!

Rook: My brother decided to get his despite that. He said "Whatever they were, they are now how we find each other. How we take pride in who we are." I didn't feel ready. I don't know if I will ever feel ready.

Bellara: That...makes a lot of sense, actually. Thank you.

-

Davrin: You saw the Inquisitor, right?

Rook: Yeah. For someone who has been fighting for so long, she looked great.

Davrin: She's like you - Dalish but no Vallaslin.

Rook: There's a few of us out there.

Davrin: I wonder how she got rid of it.

Rook: Ah. Don't like Ghilan'nain's design upon you?

Davrin: Most days it doesn't bother me, but some days...it makes my skin crawl.

Rook: I'll try to ask her next time I see her.

-

Neve: Alright. You don't have Vallaslin because your clan found out information about them from ancient times. You showed an odd familiarity with the inquisitor. You said you are both Dalish and from a city. You hate the Venatori. You're from Wycome.

Rook: Huzzah! You discovered it!

Neve: You were there when the Venatori tried to take over.

Rook: They poisoned our wells. Blamed the elves in the alienage. They killed so many.

Neve: That means your mother was from clan Lavellan - the same clan the Inquisitor was from.

Rook: That would be my clan.

Neve: No wonder Varric gave you a code name and made it so hard to find anything out about you.

Rook: I was twelve when Miriel, I mean, the Inquisitor, left the clan. We were so proud of her, and so worried for her. When she came back...without her Vallaslin...there was a lot of heartbreak that day.

-

Solas: You knew the Inquisitor.

Rook: I did. And you broke her heart.

Solas: I didn't have a choice.

Rook: From what she's said - you did. You just chose wrong.

[flowersbane]

day 31 of posting random dragon age headcanons until veilguard to cope with the arduous task of waiting

my solavellan inquisitor is a mage, so she’s the apprentice of her clan. she studies a lot about history & folklore but has always had a problem with, well, questions. she’d always ask sort of ridiculous things that made sense to her but could seem like a waste of the keeper’s time. “why don’t more flowers have thorns?” “can animals from two different species communicate with each other?” “how do we know if they can or can’t?” “do wild halla and the clan’s halla speak the same language?” “why do some fruits taste sweet while others taste bitter?” “where did i get this squirrel from?”

but she’s never been good at reading social queues so she never got insecure about how many questions she was asking. it got to the point where the keeper would have to deny her answers just to keep her lessons on track. so, when she met solas and started asking him questions, it was almost instinctual. a part of her wasn’t actually expecting to get answers. but when he did answer all of her questions and so thoroughly and seemed to enjoy being asked them, that was when she really fell in love with him.

more pictures of my inquisitor because why not ヽ(*＾ω＾*)ﾉ

[wolfwhisperertf]

I was tagged by @trickerys-domain to make my OCs this picrew!! Thank you for tagging me, I've honestly been looking for a new OC creator for a while and this one is great!

Merinda Aeducan (she/they): She did their best to embody everything that made a dwarf honorable; strength, cunning, loyalty. She was kind to a fault but made sure no one saw that as a weakness. A powerful duelist that always saw herself walking the path of a general for their family. She never imagined becoming a warden but jumped at the chance since it was the only way they would be able to continue fighting. She fell for Alastair quickly because of their shared humor. She made fast friends with most of the companions... Leliana the sister she never had, Wynn the mother they lost long ago, Alastair the love she thought never to be found again. (she was in love with Gorim) When Merinda learned of the true nature of killing the arch-dragon she was just angry, angry and rescinded. When Morrigan returned with her solution they almost didn't ask Alistair but in the end no one had to die.

Tahoe Hawke (he/him): A mage who only ever wished to protect his family. In the beginning I played Tahoe much more blue, a paragon that tried to save everyone he could. The more he failed at that task however, the more purple he became. He liked Isabela but only truly ever had eyes for Fenris. Their relationship was not all sunshine and rainbows however, if Fenris said something hurtful about mages, Tahoe would openly flirt with Isabela. Eventually they figured their romance out but the more Fenris healed the more Tahoe broke. *trigger warning* His sacrifice in the Fade was just a thinly veiled suicide... Varric knew it, Fenris knew it.

Eirwen Lavellan (she/her): Once a hunter for her clan but always a ranger at heart. Eirwen wore the vallaslin of Gilan'nain because of her hope to one day become the clan's Halla keeper like her grandfather. She loved to explore the forest and like many of her clan she was fast to tolerate humans. She took it one step farther however, she befriended some of the human hunter's that shared the same woods as her clan. It was because of her open heart that the Keeper sent Eirwen to the conclave. Becoming the Inquisitor was hard but somehow through all of it Eirwen enjoyed it, she enjoyed learning about the world, seeing forgotten ruins, making friends in all corners of the nations... strange as it sounds maybe that's why she found it so easy to let go of. For now Eirwen is content living out the rest of her years with her Cully-Wully, helping him with his Templar Sanctuary. Spending nights listing to Dorian complain about magisters or pretending to complain about the last surprise Bull sent him. And on very rare nights she sneaks off in her old armor with a crossbow hidden under her cloak.

No pressure tag to @afamoore, @dovahbee, and anyone else who wants to! (doesn't even have to be dragon age)

[fadedsweater]

WIP Whenever

Thank you for the tag @inquisimer 💛💛

Tagging forward @darethshirl, @broodwolf221, @rosella-writes, and @crackinglamb

I'm slooowly getting out of my writing funk. I tried to pick a wip that has a slighter higher chance of actually getting done. So here's some mid-relationship solavellan 😊

Eira wanted very badly to ask him what his home was like. If he had people he could share his blanket with. If he had a family to hug. If someone was there to rub his shoulders or make him soup when he was sick. 

Instead she asked, “Do you miss home?”

In the scant firelight, Solas looked suddenly wistful, and older—the shadows darkened the lines of his face, the tiredness under his eyes. “I think of it often,” he said at last. 

It was one of his side-steps—the kind of answer he gave when he didn't really want to answer at all. But it was revealing enough, even if he hadn't meant it to be. 

She could hear the grief in that handful of words, and so she decided not to ask him anything else. Eira knew what it was to grieve, even if she did not know what it was to grieve all alone.

“Back home,” she said, watching the fire curl and flicker, “my pae's a halla-keeper. When I was little, he would show me how he took care of them—how he'd check their hooves for rot and brush out their hair in the spring.”

Solas was watching her, listening; he was a good listener, she thought idly. Whenever he listened to her she felt so listened to, like he was taking in every word and placing them somewhere, like he was arranging treasures on a shelf. 

“I was not aware the halla required so much keeping,” he said. 

“They don't, really,” she said. “The keepers make sure they're healthy and harvest their wool and milk, deliver their babies. Halla are too smart for much more than that. They don't do anything they don't want to do.”

Solas's mouth quirked, just a little. “A difficult job, then,” he said, “one imagines.”