#helena mercar

[feykiller]

Portrait of a Magister- artist unknown, circa 9:51

[blackjackkent]

All right, we also have the option to set up a little bit of past history for the Inquisition!

I am setting Helena's adventures in the worldstate of Dominic Trevelyan!

(And Elliot Hawke and Daniel Cousland, but they don't take a role in this, I am given to understand.)

Ah, Dom, my boy, I have missed you.

Dom was (is) the son of the Bann of Ostwick, youngest son of a large family, a devout Andrastean who was in training to be a templar before the breach happened and shoved him into the role of the Inquisitor. His story ended up being a lot about him struggling in (and eventually succeeding in) holding onto his faith while learning to see a much broader perspective on the world at large.

He romanced Cassandra, who became the Divine; the Inquisition under his leadership became a part of the southern Thedosian Chantry, serving as Cassandra's personal honor guard. (As part of this arrangement, I decided that he and Cassandra continued their relationship more or less in secret; they never married or made much of an ostentatious show of their love, but have been there for each other behind the scenes and relatively happy in spite of their public responsibilities).

I'm legitimately unsure about the question of whether Dom "vowed to stop Solas" or "vowed to save Solas from himself". My old liveblog did not make the decision 100% clear and it's been a decade and I forgor. XD

I think that I am going with "vowed to save Solas from himself," though. Above all else, even his faith, Dom's golden-retriever friendliness was his defining characteristic. And I do have some writing at the end of his liveblog about how that aspect of him affected Solas's certainty even during Inqusition:

All of a sudden that weird conversation on the battlements from several years ago makes sense. Dom, with his laughing eyes and fierce loyalty and sense of the absurd, was the first to bring home to Solas that he was in a world of people, and not just a dead echo of the place that was once his.

So I think Dom wants to believe that he can still convince Solas to stand down without having to kill him. He was definitely very angry and hurt to learn of Solas's plans and if it comes down to it he won't hesitate to do what's necessary to protect the world from him. But... he still has hope that it won't be necessary.

(Per Dom's end cards in DAI, he also ended up doing a bunch of work with Sera as a member of the Red Jennies, also under the radar. Hard to say if that took the entire ten years of interim; unsure if the game is going to give further sense of what he has been up to in this time.)

And after considerable effort... here is how he looks in Veilguard!

He definitely looks somewhat more depressed than he looked in Inquisition. Then again, maybe that's apropos, given that it's been ten years and a lot has (presumably) happened in that time. XD Frankly, no rendition of him that I could do in Veilguard would match his face in Inquisition, which still stands as one of the crowning achievements of my long career of Making Hot People In Video Games.

But this is not bad, all things considered. He at least doesn't look like the guy playing him in Veilguard is horribly miscast. XD

And with that, all of the CC work is done! Time to dive into the game!

[shewolfofvilnius]

If you've seen my Rook - the daughter of Ser Jory (from Dragon Age Origins) & his wife Helena & wondered "How did Helena get to Tevinter" - the wait's OVER. 5500 words, 8 months pregnant. It's time for Rook's Dragon Age Origin.

(warning: graphic. Rated M for depictions of violence, and implications of potential/threatened non-con [Howe's soldiers]. Additional content warning for death in/shortly after childbirth)

[rambles-on-dragon-age]

character place holder post

Place holder post for my character tags.

Will probably be deleted when I scrounge up photos/gifs/videos I like of everyone.

lotta work ahead is all.

[shewolfofvilnius]

it is SURREAL to see your Reddit post having become just as popular on Tumblr and no one told me. Also Jordana says hi!

And yes. After my most recent playthrough I def think Jory is lying. I do NOT think he’s lying about Helena or the baby (his tone changes the same way Blackwall’s does in his early tomance lines) but something is absolutely rotten.

I got into it in the comments and wound up agreeing with the person who suggested Jory was a merc about to be strung up. Duncan saved him and offered him a place but Jory didn’t get the whole ‘for life’ bit

Also I went back one more time for Jordanan’s compilation bid and caught one last think I hadn’t noticed before: Jory has a fear of darkspawn. Has since he was a kid when his parents used them and their stories as a threat. Poor guy.

Anyway thanks to everyone here who has also cared about my daft little idea or that my Rook is his daughter. (I hc that Helena fled, wound up on a boat to Tevinter, and the Qunari ran the ship aground right as Helena went into labor. The baby survived (found by the later-Legatus Mercar when he was a junior officer) but Helena did not.

(i edited the OP to say ‘Hi Tumblr’)

kind of obsessed with this Reddit theory

[mallsthemyth]

Good things do not happen when Magisters randomly visit Soporati schools.

Helena would say it that it was lucky that it was too late for her to have any students left in the school if she didn’t know Magister Tilani planned it. Magister Tilani honored Helena’s request of a moment to get them both tea in the hopes of settling her nerves. Helena is not any calmer but she has tea to sip at now. Things could be worse.

“I hope you like orange blossom,” Helena says. “I don’t have any honey, sorry.”

“Orange is lovely,” Magister Tilani says. “My father bought me Poison Stings as treats when I would do well at school. Do you like school, Miss Mercar? Do you like teaching?”

“I don’t have any mage students,” Helena says, watching Magister Tilani warily. “If one of my students came into their power, they would be transferred to a Circle preparatory school, as is proper for any Laetan. I know the law.”

Magister Tilani smiles at Helena, her angular face made soft and warm. When she sips her tea her red lipstick kiss is left on the cup.

“I know, Miss Mercar,” Magister Tilani says. “I’m not here because of any complaints from the Magisterium. I’ve recently been to the Imperial Circle in Ventus, to meet with Catechist Petrarchius. She’s—”

“A scholar,” Helena says. “A friend of my father’s. She let me sit in on some of her lectures, when there was space in the room. I didn’t take any seats from Altus students. I didn’t ask any questions or take class resources from Altus students. I just listened and filled out the homework. Iustina—sorry, Catechist Petrarchius said she’d grade them during her off hours.”

“Miss Mercar,” Magister Tilani says. “Iustina is a friend of mine. We went to school together. I visited the Imperial Circle because a friend of mine needs a Barrister to assist him in the Magisterium. She gave me Altus names, but said if I wanted someone with real talent I should talk to you.”

This gives Helena pause.

“There are no Soporati Barristers.” She says. “Barristers serve directly under Magisters. It’s not allowed.”

“There’s nothing in the law to explicitly bar Soporati Barristers,” Magister Tilani says. “I’ve checked. Now tell me, Miss Mercar, do you like working in a school or would you like to help me change Tevinter for the better?”

[sage-nebula]

the empress and justice for the ask game!

I'm sorry this has taken me so long to answer! I wanted to give it proper answers, and that required being on my PC, and I've been away from my PC for a hot minute. But I'm here now!

The Empress: What does family mean for Rook?

Hoo boy. The subject of "family" is a loaded topic for Thalia. She was raised as an only child by her adoptive parents, Charon and Helena Mercar. Both Charon and Helena are human, while Thalia is an elf; Charon found her abandoned as a baby on a battlefield where he was stationed near Ventus, and when he saw the magical barriers she had subconsciously raised to keep herself safe, he took her in. Yes, she was an elf, but she was a mage. Being a mage canceled out being an elf, in their eyes.

But it didn't cancel it out in the eyes of the Tevinter Imperium. Thalia wasn't permitted to attend academies meant for other mages, because she was an elf, but rather had to be homeschooled. When she went out with her parents, other Tevene mistook her for the family slave, and her parents never saw fit to correct because "we know they're wrong" and they didn't want to cause a scene. As she grew older, this meant her parents kept her home more and more—because Thalia was hurt by the way they wouldn't stand up for her, and her parents grew tired of having the fight.

Thalia's parents did love her. And she did (does) love them. But the growing hurt over how they would keep her out of the public eye and not correct those who called her slave festered like an infected wound. The fact that Charon was a Legatus, yet was doing nothing to publicly stand against the institution of slavery, hurt Thalia even more. She ran away when she was eighteen, for though it made her as homeless as she was friendless, she figured that if no one else was going to make a stand, then she had to. And she couldn't do it while living in that house.

She was found shortly after when she inadvertently crashed a Shadow Dragon operation to free slaves—slaves that she was also trying to free, with no plan other than "get in, open slave cages, lead slaves out." The Shadow Dragons who found her had two decades on her, but saw this spirited young teenager as a worthy potential member of their ranks and brought her onboard. Thalia was only too eager to join.

She was a Shadow Dragon, then, for nine years before she met Varric. And in that time, she came to consider her fellow Shadows her family, because of the sense of belonging and acceptance (and in that, love) that they brought her. She hasn't spoken to her parents at all since she left, feeling they probably wouldn't want to speak to her anyway; she thinks she disowned herself from that family, even if she still bears the last name. The Shadow Dragons are her family, now — and later, the Lighthouse crew becomes her immediate family, her best friends.

But if asked about her parents, she'll get tense before making jokes to distract and change the subject. It is an extremely touchy subject, and one she really doesn't like talking about.

Justice: How does Rook feel about the circumstances that led to them leaving their faction? What does returning feel like?

Much like her family feelings, it's complicated!

On a couple of fingers, she does understand; she took a huge risk, and Wanted posters went up all over the city for her. She has a distinctive look (she used magic to dye her hair purple when she was eighteen, but the spell went a bit awry and she's never been able to change her hair color again no matter what she tried), so it's not as if hiding would be particularly easy for her. The Shadow Dragons are Shadow Dragons for a reason, and drawing that much attention to them could put everyone in danger. It was best not only for her, but for the organization as a whole if she stayed away for awhile.

But on all the rest of her fingers, she feels immensely frustrated by it. Yes, there was a target on her back — but there has always been, because she is a Shadow Dragon and because she won't stop being a blade in the side of every Venatori for as long as she draws breath. Her risk worked, by the way, the slaves ended up going free, which might not have happened had she not taken the risk she did. And the fact that the Viper—who, she would like to add, has just as much of a target on his distinctive outfit as she does on her distinctive hair—sends her away instead of standing up for her to those who would come after her . . . it brings up old bitter feelings that were formerly reserved for her parents. Even if she gets why, in this case, it still rankles.

With that said, though, the Shadow Dragons are still those she considers family, and Minrathous is still her home. (Even though she was raised in Midtown, rather than Dock Town.) And by the time she returns, a lot of the hurt and anger has simmered away. She forgives the Viper, especially since she understand why, and she's able to give Tarquin's shit talk right back to him with no hard feelings.

"You know I didn't want to send you away," the Viper says quietly, when they have a moment alone together in the Shop.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Thalia says, and she throws him a cheeky wink as she picks up her bottle of Tevene lager. "You can't keep me away, anyway. You're stuck with me."

"For that," the Viper says, as Thalia takes a swig, "we are all grateful."

(Feel free to send more in!)

[seigephoenix]

Original Character Compliation

Figured it was about time to condense and consolidate all my OCs into one post. Each has their own page dedicated to them. I'll also be making a ship post for all my fandoms too.

Dragon Age

Finn Aldwir Senna Thorn Odette Ingellvar Cal Mercar

Alissa Trevelyan Bronwen Lavellan Adelaide Trevelyan Nirya Cadash Roisin Lavellan Roscar Bonebreaker

Garrett Hawke Marian Hawke

Serena Tabris Elaina Cousland Briar Amell Maximillian Amell

Mass Effect

Cerise Ryder Colin Ryder

Marlowe Shepard Rhys Shepard

Baldur's Gate 3

Jareth Elaina Elfie Dawnstone Thalia Lysette

Cyberpunk

Evie "V" Veronique "V"

Demon Slayer

Ayane Mochizuki

Destiny 1 & 2

Siobhan Jareth Annalise Yvette Tevriks

Skyrim

Aurelia Tullius Roscar Bone-breaker Helena Nightshade Nyx Sylvana Valenwood

Fallout 4

Georgia Alyssa

[blackjackkent]

OK, here's the latest arrival to the global stage of Thedas:

Helena Mercar of the Shadow Dragons of Minrathous. A dwarven rogue with the Saboteur subclass.

Here's the backstory information that we're given from selecting the Shadow Dragons faction:

Awesome.

I've been told that Veilguard is a little shaky in terms of leaving a ton of room for unique backstory headcanoning, so we'll see how much of this sticks. But here's what I'm thinking off the bat:

Helena doesn't know who her actual family is but has reason to believe they were slaves themselves. She doesn't know how she came to be separated from them, just that she was adopted by her current family when she was quite young.

She was trained from a young age in physical combat with knives and fists, but it wasn't until she joined the Shadow Dragons that she found her twin true loves: a) talking back to power and b) making things go boom.

She is a prodigy with explosive weaponry and takes pride in being able to rig sabotage plans that do very precise damage to the target and no more.

She's hotheaded and likes to speak before she thinks, and has very little care for her own personal safety when the safety of others is on the line (or when she can make an exciting show ;) ). This has made the Shadow Dragons' interest in keeping her "out of sight" a little bit complicated. XD

She believes strongly that there are a lot of good people in Minrathous and Tevinter, and views the job of the Shadow Dragons to be to save them and bring their voices up.

While she has some romantic history, she largely thinks that 'true love' is a fable, or at best, something that happens to 'other people who have free time on their hands.'

Excited to see how her story goes! :D Next up - setting up the Inquisition history!

[blackjackkent]

First combat went fairly easy peasy. Light attack mechanics, a sort of parry or deflect key, and access to three health potions (which I am able to refill by Legend-of-Zelda-ing a nearby pot). Helena is loaded up with two daggers with which she cut up the demons; so far I'm button mashing a bit, but it feels pretty smooth overall.

Onward to Dumat Plaza!

Shoutout to this pack of rats scurrying along the street into a nearby hole, which is kind of a nice touch.

"I don't get it," Helena says as they continue on. "If Solas tears down the Veil, doesn't that destroy everything?"

(A/N: I know we're having this conversation for exposition reasons but it is funny to me that Helena never thought to ask this question at any point previously in her association with Varric.)

"Solas always talked about how beautiful the ancient world was," Harding says sadly.

"That world existed before the Veil," Varric says flatly, "and he wants to bring it back."

"Even if his ritual kills us all in the process," says Harding.

-----

There are massive explosions happening further down in the city.

"YOU ARE IN VIOLATION OF IMPERIAL ORDER!" bellows the amplified voice from the Ring. Privately, Helena reflects that this is probably not going to cause anyone involved in the situation to change their mind about anything.

"Oh, no," Harding whispers. "I think that's Dumat Plaza."

Was, Helena thinks.

(A/N: It is a little funny coming to this having only played as a Southern Thedosian previously; wasn't Dumat the first archdemon? :P )

-----

Highlights of the trip to Dumat Plaza:

The Venatori of course show up, and are displeased with Helena for having "made trouble at the bar." Look, don't kidnap people if you're not willing for people to come looking for them.

We have to smash a bunch of crystals down in order to break down a forcefield the Venatori erected. A smidge unclear why they are blocking routes through the city; presumably they're not supporting Solas's plot? Maybe they're just trying to take advantage of the chaos.

Varric: "Friendly bunch of cultists, aren't they?" Helena: "We used to fight these assholes every day in the Shadow Dragons." Varric: "Glad you kept up practice!"

Whee!

"They're allies of Neve Gallus!" one of the Venatori shouts as we approach the giant magical dome protecting the entrance to Dumat Plaza. "Kill them all!" Still VERY unclear what the Venatori game is here, but they're clearly not happy with Neve or us.

We gain a new ability, "Static Strikes"; Rook builds up a class resource in combat ("Momentum" for Rogues) which then can be spent to execute abilities, such as this one which shoots lightning through Helena's daggers. This is absolutely something that she is super proud of and thinks looks badass, and she's disappointed Varric and Harding aren't paying enough attention to comment on it.

The prompt to press Tab to open the abilities wheel gets stuck on the screen so that I have to reload.

"Varric Tethras!" one of the Venatori shouts. "The Venatori own these streets!" So maybe this is just a pissing contest that the Venatori have decided to have in the middle of the apocalypse. :P Certainly a choice, if so. I'm guessing Helena is pretty incensed hearing this; like hell they do.

Once the last crop of Venatori are dead, we can take a look at this magical dome, which turns out to be made of ice. Harding says it is probably Neve's work, which seems promising.

It collapses open as Helena puts a hand to it, and she peers past the opening to see...

Several frozen and very dead Venatori, and one alive and deeply unruffled looking woman with a prosthetic leg and a mortarboard hat, tapping the ash off of a long, thin pipe.

"Varric. Harding," the woman says in a sardonic contralto. "Not the worst timing."

(A/N: 👀👀👀👀👀👀 )

"Neve!" Harding breaks into a wide smile as they cross the fallen barrier. "It's so good to see you! We thought the Venatori had kidnapped you.

"They thought the same thing." Neve smirks, pulling her dagger (scepter?) out of the back of one of the dead men sprawled on the ground. "A lot of Venatori in this city have reason to hate me. Figured I'd play along, find out who wanted to settle the score this time.

Her prosthetic makes a heavy metallic clink-clink on the iced-over dampness of the stone as she turns to lead them through the ruins of the Plaza and into the buildings on the other side. "Then the sky started raining demons," she goes on acerbically. "So I'm back on the job."

(A/N: I like her. :P I suspect she and Helena are gonna be buddies.)

"Appreciate it. Rook, this is Neve Gallus," Varric says with a nod back over his shoulder at Helena. "Our local expert. She's gonna help us find Solas. Neve, meet Rook - both of you have done some work for the Shadow Dragons."

"Isn't that a coincidence?" Neve grins over her shoulder at Helena, and Helena gets the distinct sense that the detective knows more about her than she knows about herself.

"Some old friends said if I was working in Tevinter, the Shadow Dragons are worth trusting," says Varric.

Helena is wracking her brains trying to remember if she ever heard anything about this woman working with the Dragons. But nothing comes to mind; clearly it was business Helena wasn't privy to. But any friend of the Dragons is a friend of hers, particularly if that friend kills the blood mages infesting her city.

"Nice to meet you!" she says cheerfully. "Based on the Venatori, you've got excellent taste in enemies."

Neve quirks an eyebrow over her shoulder. "I do my best." Her tone is still a low drawl, like she's always just on the edge of a barked, sardonic laugh without quite voicing it.

"You said you had a lead?" Harding asks.

"I haven't seen Solas in person," Neve says crisply. "But I did find hints of old magic, similar to what you get in elven ruins. I traced it to a building beneath Our Lady of Victory."

She comes to a halt, gesturing at the enormous stone statue rising up into view ahead of them.

"That's where your man is hiding."

"Then let's go," Varric says grimly. "Before this ritual he's doing gets any worse."

Neve shoots him a sideways look. "Worse?" she quips. "This ritual is already drawing more power than I'd expect from a dozen mages. You told me he was working alone." There's a subtle rebuke in her voice now.

"I also told you he was an ancient elven god," Varric says dryly.

Neve grunts thoughtfully. "An elven god." She considers a moment, then grips the hilt of her staff. "Well, whatever he is, he's causing trouble in my city," she says, striding forward. "Let's go."

Helena grins. Oh, I like you, she thinks, breaking into a trot to catch up.

[blackjackkent]

All right! Helena's story begins... with more Varric narration:

"So. Where were we? Oh, right. Him. Our best plan is to stop the Dread Wolf before he can perform his ritual."

"After following his trail across half the known world, we've finally tracked him to Minrathous, capital of the Tevinter Imperium. But to find the Dread Wolf in a city this big, we need a local expert."

"So naturally, our story begins where all great stories begin - with the seediest bar in town and a missing contact."

We then transition to our first shot of our intrepid hero, hurling someone bodily out the door of a bar into a night outside full of pouring rain. XD

"Let's try this again," Helena quips, dusting off her hands and looking around with a cheerful grin at her audience. "Where's Neve Gallus?"

The locals inside are not too happy with Helena's approach to opening diplomatic negotiations.

"You think you can come into my bar and make demands?" the bartender asks coldly. She's perched on top of the bar in a relaxed position and seems relatively unconcerned about Helena as a potential threat, which leads me to believe she probably doesn't know Helena.

We have two options here; hovering over them gives the descriptions "Beat down the entire room to get the information" and "Try to convince the bar owner to give the information".

I've already established that Helena is a bit of a hothead, but I think that a full on bar brawl isn't her style. There are plenty of meathead types among the Dragons who would see clearing a room like this as a bit of fun that would get the job done, but she sees that sort of thing as a blunt instrument.

She likes getting in people's faces and telling them what she thinks, and she doesn't suffer fools or cruel bastards, but she doesn't pick a fight unless someone truly needs killing. And if actual combat is required, she's more likely to be planting a carefully tuned bomb or sticking a knife in someone from the shadows.

This would be a lot easier in her own familiar corners of the city, where she knows everyone and everyone knows her. But then again, in those corners of the city, they wouldn't be having this conversation in the first place. They're seeking someone kidnapped by the Venatori, and the Venatori tend to find it... unhealthy to hang out in Dragon territory.

"It's not a demand," she says, casually ambling forward a few steps as the guards watch her warily from beneath their masks. "It's an offer." Her grin hasn't wavered; she looks for all the world like she's ready to order a drink. "Telling me what I need to know, it's... it's the smart play here."

The bartender considers her for a moment, then gestures her forward a few steps. "How do you figure, sweet talker?" she sneers.

"Neve Gallus is my only shot at finding the Dread Wolf," Helena says, peering up at the woman, utterly unintimidated. "I need to know where she is. We were supposed to meet here in your bar, but you let Venatori cultists drag her away."

"I didn't 'let' them," the bartender says dryly. "They paid me."

"So answer my questions," Helena answers instantly, "and walk away with the coin. Or spend it cleaning up the place when I'm through." Her voice takes on the slightest edge as she looks around. In her experience, when it comes to people who will sell out other people for coin, a little threat is usually all it takes - but she also has little patience, herself, for such people, and she doesn't bother to hide her distaste. "Your choice."

The bartender frowns. "You're adorable," she growls without a shred of amusement, jumping off the bartop. "Dumat Plaza. That's where you'll find Neve Gallus."

"Thank you," Helena says, exaggeratedly polite.

The bartender rolls her eyes, disappearing into the shadows. "You want to get yourself killed fighting the Venatori, it's your ass."

Helena grins, levering herself away from the bar. Her ass, as well as the rest of her, is no stranger to fighting Venatori when the need arises. She glances at the dark-robed guards who are still watching her, raises an eyebrow slowly. "That offer's good for all of you, too," she says.

(A/N: I'm running on the assumption, based on how the bartender is talking, that these robed creepy folk are NOT Venatori, but are other robed creepy folk of a nondescript variety, but I could be wrong about that.)

None of them answer, but begin to close ranks around her with an air that could reasonably be described as 'menacing,' even though Helena is for the moment refusing to be menaced. "No?" she says, quirking an eyebrow.

Subtly she rests one hand on the dagger on her hip. She's starting to think that maybe this is going to come to blows after all when another voice cuts across the room.

"If they won't listen to you, they can always listen to Bianca..."

Varric is standing framed in the doorway, and as he speaks, he cocks his beloved crossbow and squeezes the trigger.

THUT-THUT-THUT. A wave of bolts wedge into the stone floor at the guards' feet.

An awkward silence ensues - and then the robed men begin, still silent, to shuffle towards the door after their boss.

(A/N: One of the guards trips and knocks over one of the arrows on his way out, which is a nice touch. :P )

Helena grins again as Varric, looking pleased with himself, ambles over to stand next to her at the bar.

"Your friend Neve Gallus is at Dumat Plaza," she says casually.

"I heard." Varric pulls a flask out of his pocket, using it to fill two mugs on the bartop, then picks one up and raises it in Helena's direction in a mock-toast. "That's why you're my second in command." He chuckles. "Although, for the record, you might be too charming for your own good."

Helena snorts. "See, you say that - but we do have Neve's location now, so..."

"Don't get cocky," Varric says dryly.

(A/N: Sorry, Varric, but just in the course of writing this I've definitely decided that "cocky" is a better term than "hothead" for the vibe Helena is giving off for me. :P )

"Come on," she says. Grabbing the other mug from the bartop, she slams back a mouthful of the liquor Varric poured into it before setting it back down. "Harding will be worried."

Varric gives an exaggerated sigh and swallows the last of his drink as well. "All right," he agrees. "Break's over."

Helena turns to fall into step with him, walking up the stairs out of the dingy bar. "I hope Neve's as good at finding people as you claim," she says conversationally, shouldering the door open.

"She's the best damn detective I've ever met. If she says she's got a lead on Solas, I believe her," Varric answers tersely.

They step out into the rainy night beyond, and Helena pulls in a lungful of cold, damp air, squinting into the ever-moving searchlights of the palace hanging high in the air above her city.

Right, she thinks, pulling up her collar against the driving weather. Time to get to work.

[blackjackkent]

The city is really starting to look pretty rough. Bodies, blood, and debris litter the streets, and the air echoes with the shrieks of demons and the screams of the dying. Helena is finding it harder and harder to keep a grim expression off her face, in spite of her usual determined good humor; part of her is wondering what the hell is going on back in her usual neighborhood, and if her friends are okay. But there's no time to focus on that now.

"So if we do catch Solas," she says, talking automatically to cover the worry (not fear, not fear) and muffle the sound of her city shaking apart. "Or the Dread Wolf, or whatever he calls himself... what's the plan?"

"He wants to bring down the Veil," Varric says. "Hopefully that ritual takes his full attention."

"So we catch him while he's doing his ritual, so he can't fight us?" Helena asks, a tad skeptically.

"That's the hope," Varric says. "If it comes to a straight-up fight, we're dead."

Lovely.

The route Our Lady of Victory starts with a zipline down into the canals.

Wheee!

("I'm getting too old for this," grouses Varric from behind her. Hee.)

"There," says Neve, pointing at an enormous structure with a lot of bodies littered around it. "That's the building I tracked Solas to."

"Looks like the Venatori also found it," puts in Harding. "And then demons found them."

More combat! Ranged weaponry tutorial this time; Helena can shoot quickfire or hold for an aimed shot. And no ammo to track, thankfully!

Neve, because she is a badass, clears the magical barrier blocking us from inside the building.

Inside is rising ground of damp, battered stone and abandoned stairs, a few lit torches leaning against the wall.

"So this is the Dread Wolf's hideout?" Helena says thoughtfully.

"One of them, at least," Varric says. "Not sure how long he's been here."

Helena scuffs her boot one the stone stairs that are worn almost to a smooth ramp. "Some of this looks ancient."

"Solas has been around longer than Minrathous itself," Varric says dryly.

"Broken chains," Neve comments as they enter a larger room past a series of stone tunnels. "Solas was freeing slaves."

Varric grunts. "Solas hates slavery. One of the few things we actually agreed on."

"He said the other elven gods were tyrants who oppressed his people," says Harding. "He was trying to help them."

Complicated fellow, this Solas, Helena thinks. A distaste for slavery is one of the common themes of the Shadow Dragons as well - but she supposes it doesn't absolve him of the whole "trying to end the world" thing. We all contain multitudes, don't we.

-----

Further on, a window opening onto a wide atrium ahead shows a glimmer of almost blinding bright blue magic.

Further down the corridor is a mural painted in discordantly bright colors on the stone wall:

"Ancient elves doing something to... a dragon, I think?" she asks. She's never been much of one for art.

"Yeah. Trying to control it, maybe?" says Neve.

"Solas said the other elven gods were evil," Varric says. "If they were binding dragons, he was right about that much at least."

(A/N: Mildly odd sentiment given that Dom killed quite a number of dragons in DAI, but sure. XD )

And hey, look what's a little further down!

I always really liked this statue and wanted to get it 3D printed as a decoration. Did Solas bring it down here, or was it already here? Interesting.

More candidates for 3D printing are in the next room over behind a locked door:

At the center of this room is an ornate desk with a statue of a tree behind it. Nearby, various magical devices and a lute. The desk is subtly floating in midair. Also interesting.

-----

The room at the lowest point of the catacombs is very, very cold. The floor is covered in water up to Helena's ankles, soaking the chill through her boots.

"This the big glowing window you saw earlier, Rook?" Neve asks.

Helena nods, taking a few cautious steps towards the thing. She's a dwarf, so she has no innate magical talent, but she's lived in a city of mages long enough to know when something is powerful. And this thing... the air around it is almost vibrating, drawn tight like a bowstring.

It's beautiful.

"It's called an eluvian," Harding says. Her voice is a little hushed - although Helena can't tell if it's in reverence or fear. "They're elven, and very old."

"It acts like a doorway from one place to another. Solas uses them to get around quickly," says Varric.

"He must have gone through it," says Harding.

Helena comes to a halt in front of the enormous thing, peering through its ever-shifting surface. She thinks she can almost make out shapes behind it. Grass. Trees? A landscape very unlike the urban milieu of Minrathous.

For a moment she hovers on the threshold. Anticipation sings in every nerve. She suspects there's no going back once she steps forward - but there's nothing else for it. Not if she's going to save her city. Not if they're going to save the world.

She closes her eyes and leaps forward, letting the eluvian swallow her up.

[blackjackkent]

Wellp, that settles it. Definitely buying a bigger SSD to use for games, bc as soon as I moved Veilguard to my lil one everything started working like clockwork. XD

#technology

While reloading, I realized that earlier Helena had the opportunity to give some coin to a beggar on the sidewalk, which is nice:

@springagainafter also informed me that there is a codex entry available to us that explains how Helena ended up working with Varric, so let's check that out:

OK, so Helena is on official assignment from the Shadow Dragons - presumably tying into the thing in her backstory about the Dragons trying to keep her "out of sight." Unclear exactly how long she's been working with Varric, but long enough that I guess she's been out of the city for a while.

So this is a bit of a homecoming as well, I would imagine, which is severely dampened by the fact that there are DEMONS APPEARING OUT OF THIN AIR:

Exciting.

"Is Solas summoning demons on purpose?" Helena gasps out as she and Varric break into a dead run, their boots splashing in the deep puddles lining the causeway.

"My guess is the Veil is weakening," Varric calls back. "And they're slipping through the cracks."

"And when the Veil comes down completely?" Helena asks, and before Varric can answer, the road in front of them explodes, knocking her back onto her rear.

"Then the whole world is going to look a lot like this!" Varric yanks her out of the way as the enormous pride demon's fist comes crashing down next to Helena's head.

Bolts of magic from the Ring blast downwards; one knocking the Pride demon away, the other almost taking Helena off her feet again.

Typical, she thinks, hitting her shoulder rolling and coming back up on her feet.

"Come on! This way!" Varric barks, disappearing up a side path. "It should get us to Harding!"

-----

Harding is crouched in another side alleyway, sighting down on a screeching despair demon which is closing with her and the two frightened civilians behind her. Helena has her daggers half out of their sheathes again - but she doesn't need to; Harding lands an arrow straight through the demon's chest, and it screeches and collapses onto the wet stone.

(A/N: THERE SHE IIIIIIIS. <3 Missed you, Harding. :D She and Dom were buddies in DAI. (I mean Dom was buddies with everyone really, but he liked Harding a lot.) Also I love that the first chunk of this game is just dwarf central right now. XD )

"You're safe now," she says tersely to the two frightened women behind her. "Get inside and bar the doors, quick as you can, okay?"

"Harding!" Varric calls. "You all right?"

"I've been doing what I can to help," Harding says with a frown.

Helena notes that this is not actually an answer to Varric's question - and she likes what it says about Harding's priorities. She hasn't spent nearly as much time with Harding as she has with Varric, but what she's seen so far has been positive.

"The ritual must be weakening the Veil," Harding goes on. "There are a lot of scared people out here."

"And a lot of demons," Varric agrees grimly. "Haven't seen this many come through the Fade in years."

Helena follows his eyes up towards the Ring. More of those weird rips and tears in reality have started emerging. The Archon's heavy magical artillery is blasting away at them, but it doesn't seem to be making much difference, if any.

"What about you two?" Harding asks. "Are you okay?"

Helena has to take a moment to figure out the answer to that question. The truth is she feels a little like her feet have gone out from under her. Up until this moment, Varric's stories about the coming end of the world didn't feel, well... real. It's not that she didn't believe him, it just all felt like words, mostly.

Now... now it feels real. And there are demons in the city. Her city.

She's not scared. Not scared.

But she's mad.

"We're good. But we need to move," she says curtly.

"Agreed," Varric says. "Solas isn't waiting. Neither can we."

"Have you got my gear?" Helena asks.

Harding jerks her head to the far wall of the alley. "Right over there."

"Where's Neve Gallus?" she asks Varric as Helena goes to strap on the battered pack and bow. "Wasn't she at the meeting point

"The Venatori got to her first," Helena explains before Varric can answer. "They grabbed her before we arrived and paid off the bar owner to keep it quiet."

"I'm not surprised our detective did something to piss off a cult of murderous blood mages," Varric says dryly, "but their timing stinks." He rubs his thumb against Bianca's stock and squints at Harding. "The bar owner said the Venatori took Neve to Dumat Plaza. Can you get us there, Harding?"

Harding glances at Helena questioningly. "Rook, you're with the Shadow Dragons. I figured you'd know Minrathous better than I do."

Helena grins crookedly. It's nice when her expertise is acknowledged; it took enough work to build it up. "Sure," she says with a shrug, "but Minrathous is huge, and this is nowhere near my neighborhood." She squints. "I can try..."

(A/N: Love that this pretty much fits with how I was headcanoning her attitude. Her city but not her neighborhood so the details are a bit scantier.)

"Don't worry," Harding says firmly. "Scouting's my specialty. Follow me--"

But before she can lead them on, the air next to them splits, again sending that shivery feeling along Helena's skin. Three despair demons sizzle into existence, and the already damp and cold air goes about ten degrees colder.

"Eyes up!" Varric shouts. "We've got company!"

[blackjackkent]

OK! Resuming our entry into the world of DAV, Helena Mercar edition:

So far I am finding it a rather different experience liveblogging DAV compared to BG3. I got very used to BG3 having a dialogue history to refer back to, and not having it definitely makes this all a lot more complex. DAV also seems to have more dialogue in walk-and-talk, which is a little more complicated to get good screenshots of and keep track of all the dialogue.

There also doesn't appear to be a quicksave/quickload? Which is... bizarre and I'm not a fan.

However, DAV has a photo mode out of the box and it seems pretty robust, so that's nice. :D

Anyway, welcome to Minrathous!

It's a cold, damp, drizzly night. Nothing unusual for Tevinter, or for Helena who is used to walking the dark alleyways of this city almost every night.

The searchlights from the Ring(*) are a bit of a surprise, though.

"The Archon's palace," Varric says, sounding unimpressed. "Something must've gotten them riled up."

Helena shrugs, falling into step with him. The folks up top are always pissed off about something, and it probably doesn't have anything to do with her threatening to rough up a random bartender all the way down here.

All the same, though, it makes her a bit uneasy. Not scared, mind you. Just... uneasy.

"Should we be in more of a hurry to get out of here?" she asks Varric casually.

"We don't want to look conspicuous," he answers, equally cool. "Just get out of here nice and casual, find Neve Gallus, and stop Solas."

(A/N: I'm not yet clear on exactly how Rook ended up helping Varric with this hunt. Varric calls her his 'second-in-command' but that could very well be a joke. Until the game contradicts it, I'm running on the assumption that Varric hired her as a local who knew the city, to help him track Neve down.)

"You still think you can talk him down before he starts his big ritual?" she asks curiously. Her tone is bantering, belying the seriousness of the subject matter.

She likes Varric, from what she's seen of him so far. He's less in-your-face than she is, but comfortably talkative - and a whiz with that crossbow. She suspects that under less apocalyptic circumstances, he might be fun to hang out with.

But... from what he's told her, these circumstances are pretty damn apocalyptic.

"That ritual is going to tear down the Veil," he says now, grimly. "The only thing separating us from the Fade and an endless number of demons. I *have* to talk him down."

As her face passes through the shadow of a nearby alleyway, Helena grimaces.

Again, it's not so much that she's scared. Course not. Scared is pointless; you either do things or you don't. You either live or you die, and there's no point in worrying about it ahead of time.

But it sure sounds like a hell of a shitty way to go.

Before she can make a sardonic comment about this, though, a siren sound splits the air, and one of the searchlights from the Ring comes to an abrupt halt near Helena's boots.

The light has fixed on one of the locals walking along the mud-drenched streets.

"YOU THERE! HALT!" barks a magically amplified voice.

"Wait! But I didn't do anything!" the woman sputters fearfully, as the other locals around her scatter away in terror.

"Get down!" Varric hisses, shoving Helena back against the alley wall behind her. They're still out of sight, just barely, watching as several guards sweep out of the darkness.

Shit, Helena thinks. "Are they after us? Is it because of the bar?" Why would the Archon give a shit about that?

"Word travels fast in Minrathous," Varric says tightly.

Helena flexes her fingers against her daggers, takes a step forward. "We've gotta help her," she says. Not the first time she's seen someone probably-innocent get swept up by the guards - or the first time she's stepped in.

But Varric shakes his head, pushes her backwards.

"We don't have time to get arrested," he mutters. "Especially if--"

He's cut off by a low, rumbling whirrrrrrr that resonates through the air strongly enough to prickle up goosebumps on Helena's skin. She looks up, and watches with astonishment as the air within the Ring... splits.

An unearthly pale green light floods the street, melding with the bright white of the searchlights.

"Ah, crap," Varric growls.

"We're too late--" Helena says faintly. Still not scared. Still not scared. But definitely... definitely starting to be concerned.

"The ritual's started. But if we hurry, we can still stop Solas before it finishes," Varric says curtly. He breaks into a jog, darting out from the alleyway back into the drizzling rain. "Let's go. Harding's up ahead. She'll get us to Dumat Plaza - then Neve will get us to Solas."

-----

(*) IDK if the locals have an in-game nickname for this thing but I am making the executive decision that Helena does. :D

[feykiller]

4 and 6 for get to know rook! 🥰

Based on this questionnaire

Thank you Skip!! ❤️🩵❤️🩵❤️

Now this is all heavily headcanoned (since I planned Helena back when DAI was released) but I think it plays out quite well

4. Where were they born? Where did they grow up?

Helena was born in a Sorporati family in Minrathous, so she's lived there her whole life. There are a few members of her family that serve as templars, but majority are of average class and work in tradecrafts.

6. What was their childhood like?

Lol buckle in. Helena was discovered to have magic at a young age of 6. She had hurt herself and in the fear of getting caught, she heard a whisper instructing her to use her blood to heal her skin. It tingled and cured, but her feat was witnessed by a few people and she was promptly noted by the Circle of magi and assigned her to a magister for training.

Her mentor was good to hear, albeit very tough, and trained her in many aspects of magi (definitelygonna have to choose a specialization here, but if based on previous games, shes definitely an entropy and spirit girlie).

A large part of her childhood was hanging around with the servants' children. As she was from a lower rank she didnt get along well with most of the other apprentices. It was how she got strongly into rebellion and in time grew to be at conflict with her mentor because of this. An alteration lead to the death of her mentor and Helena went in hiding, eventually discovered and joined with the Shadow Dragons to continue their rebellion.

[feykiller]

Hiiiii Faye :) 23 and 28 for get to know Rook, mayhap? 🥰

Based on this questionnaire

Hiii Bee!!!!! 💕

23. What excites them?

Oh my WELL, she has researched a lot on the Fade,articularly trying to learn more about the Fear demon that plagues her, so anything involving the Fade excites her in a way that’s more.. determined? If can say so. It’s an opportunity for her to gain more insight and hopefully eliminate that demon from tormenting her.

Also pissing off authority. The surefire way to get her involved in something.

28. Are they religious?

Helena is ambivalent with the Imperial Chantry that she grew up with, fundamentally she does agree with the “magic exists to serve man, not rule over him” but doesn’t agree with the tyranny that inevitably comes with this thought process.

This belief of hers gets challeneged when she begins to deal directly with the magisters once joining the Shadow Dragons. Seeing the tyranny firsthand again after her childhood experiences, Helena began to believe that sometimes turanny can only be answered with a similar force. She began to be more ruthless to her opponents, believing that she is in the right and thus true to the Chant, and greatly opposes the Orlesian version of the Chantry herself because of all the mage-hate that comes along with it.