#house cantori tag.

[hallagold]

house cantori specialized skills

espionage

reconnaissance

misdirection / distraction (to weaken larger targets)

infiltration

politics & networking

house cantori is the most social of the crow houses by design. their crows are sent out to blend into society at all levels and infiltrate. they have members in every major northern stronghold.

they are the intelligence-gathering house. they are the house who knows someone who knows someone. everything and everyone is their business. no one has better trained spies than house cantori.

they have excellent assassins, of course, but with the additional benefits of trading in power and information.

important distinction: seduction isn’t a specialty; and that’s because teia refuses to teach fledglings what caterina taught her.

if an adult member comes to her to be taught, she will teach them, but seduction as a tool / art is never taught to those not of age. this was a subconscious choice on teia’s part, because deep down, she knows how much damage it did to her.

some minor skills taught in house cantori: multilingualism, disguises (accents), reading people (pinpointing “tells”)

[hemerasiae]

how teia recruits for house cantori.

teia was always trying to make the others like [viago]. she grew up on the streets. to her, joining the crows was akin to finding a family. caterina was the mother she never had. giuli had been her jealous sister. emil and bolivar, the rich and drunk uncles respectively. - 'eight little talons,' tevinter nights

the crows are not a family, but maybe they could be—at the very least, that is as far as teia is concerned.

though teia is never one to deny an opportunity for a particularly gifted fledgling regardless of their background, she has a reputation for the children she takes for her house.

children of the streets without any known kin are always first on her list, as she was one herself. while she knows she cannot house and train them all, she does so more than any other house. she looks for children with natural talents but has been known to take in those other crows may deem as too weak to train due to their poor health from the life they've been forced into.

children of abusive families are next, but these are harder to find unless she becomes aware through particular contracts. as she most often ran contracts involving the deaths of deplorable men, it was easy to see when their cruelty fell to their family, as well. when children of noble families go missing, following the death(s) of one or more parent, teia is a likely culprit.

unintentionally (or not, who's to say?), teia's house has a very high queer population. this may be due, in part, to the two previous points, as - unfortunately - lgbtq+ kids in thedas have a higher risk of becoming unhoused or facing abuse.

other than that, she has eyes and ears out, looking for promising candidates. she takes maintenance of house cantori very seriously, despite her carefree demeanor. they are her family, and she feels both responsible for and protective of them.

that being said...

all betrayals end in death. no exceptions. anyone who puts the house in danger will die for it, and teia will do it herself. traitors will be lucky if they're given a quick, clean death. otherwise, they are hunted like prey, psychologically terrorized, and then killed.

[bitethedemon]

Daggers, Poison, and Shiny Things (Lucanis x Reader x Illario): Chapter 4

<-Last Chapter / Next Chapter ->

Link to this fic on AO3

Tags: Slow burn, De Riva Reader, Eventual Smut, Messy Love Triangles

Fic summary: You lost everything in Rivain: your family, your home, and your hopes of ever becoming a seer. Treviso offered you revenge, but you were not prepared for the loneliness you would find amongst the Crows. The busiest assassin in Antiva became your only friend. That is, until he died and left you alone to pick up the pieces of yourself and his devastated cousin.

Imagine then, that your dead old flame shows up after a year, very much alive, with a very loud demon at his side and a hot new boss, while you have to explain that you are now dating his cousin. Don't you just hate it when that happens?

The city had been in complete disarray, and the Cantori Diamond had been much the same when the information came in: a dragon had landed in Treviso. It was all hands on deck. Even you were ordered to go out there and fight, which was saying something about the level of fucked you all were.

Lucanis came too to defend his home. Everything was going completely to shit before Rook swooped in and saved the day.

When she arrived, they miraculously managed to make the dragon retreat. Parts of the city were completely destroyed, but it could have been much worse.

It’s not that you weren’t grateful. You were. Your home had been saved.

You just did not need to see the way Lucanis looked at her once it was over. Now you had to hear from everyone about how great Rook was. Apparently, she had let everything go sideways in Minrathous just to save Treviso.

You could not help wondering: Why?

She was a Mourn Watcher from Nevarra. She had no allegiance to Treviso. There was no other possibility in your mind than she had done it for Lucanis, and that thought was gnawing at your mind.

Between worrying about your partner acting weird and your jealousy towards Rook, there was no more space in your head for any other feelings. You could not let it go. Your mind was constantly buzzing with it.

There really was no sense to any of your worrying. Logically, you knew that worrying about Illario was a lost cause, as it had always been. Logically, you knew that Lucanis wasn’t yours anymore and he should do whatever made him happy. Your mind did not listen to logic though.

It was about two weeks after the attack that you heard a knock on your door.

No one ever visited your home, except Illario and he always used the key you hid in the flowerpot on the windowsill. Viago would not be caught dead in your neighborhood, so he never visited unless someone was dead or dying. No one ever knocked.

You opened the door and were surprised to see Lucanis there. The dark circles around his eyes seemed to only have gotten worse. He looked like he had never slept a day in his life. There was something more than just tiredness too.

“Is…” Lucanis began. “Is Illario here? I don’t want to intrude. Viago said you would be here.”

“No, he’s not,” you answered and opened the door more to let him in. “You’re not intruding. Please, come in.”

He gave a small nod. You led him into the living room and gestured for him to sit down before you went to get a cup of coffee for him. When you handed it to him and he didn’t complain about how thin it was, you knew that something was really wrong.

“What’s going on?”

His eyes flickered to you as if he had almost half-forgotten that you were there while he was seemingly lost in his own mind. Spite was looking around your house, examining the paintings on the walls one by one. He was a complete contradiction to his tired host with the energy he exuded.

“Nothing,” Lucanis said and shook his head. “Rook thought it would be a good idea if I came to see you.”

You forced your facial features not to change. Why would she suggest that?

He was going to tell you that the two of them were together now, or that he couldn’t see you anymore, you were sure of it.

Whatever it was it must have been something horrible.

“Why is that?” you asked a bit too quietly for your own liking.

He sighed and opened his mouth as if he wanted to speak before changing his mind and closing it again.

“Forget it,” he said and got up from his seat. “I shouldn’t be here. It is not fair to Illario, and in this state, with Spite—"

You got up too and stood in his way.

“Wait,” you said. “Please. What is going on?”

He was quiet for a long moment, just looking at you. He looked at you with such a broken expression.

He briefly told you about a mission they had been on in Weisshaupt. You only knew the gist of everything that was going on with the whole ‘elven gods’-situation from pieces of information you had stitched together from Viago and Illario.

“I missed,” he said quietly. “I had a perfect shot at ending a god, and I missed, River. I am no use to anyone, and it is driving me insane. I failed. I cannot even do a simple job.”

“Lucanis…” you said softly. “Killing a god isn’t a simple job.”

He groaned tiredly and ran his hand over his face before sitting down again.

“You sound just like Rook,” he said. “It is simple. I had her. And I still failed.”

“Okay fine,” you said. “But what does beating yourself up over it achieve? It happened. It’s over.”

“He’s not here,” Spite said, now looking directly at you. “Help US!”

You looked from Spite to him. You could not help asking, even though you knew it made Lucanis uncomfortable to talk about it.

“What does he mean by that?”

Lucanis glanced at Spite and then shook his head. He gave you a dismissive wave of his hand. To no surprise, he did not want to talk about it.

“Forgive me for bringing all of this to you, River,” Lucanis said. “I shouldn’t have. Rook insisted it would be good for me to talk to someone from home. I should have told her no.”

You sighed. It was frustrating how he always shut down like that.

“You can talk to me,” you said. “I hope you know that. I might be with Illario, but you and I knew each other first. We’re still friends, aren’t we?”

He looked at you for a moment and gave you a tired smile.

“How are you?” he asked.

You gave a bitter scoff.

“Let’s not.”

“You said the same last time,” he pointed out, his tone slightly lighter now that you were not talking about him. “You always said to me that I should talk more. Now I come here and talk, and you are quiet. You know I am a creature of habit. Don’t do this to me.”

You smiled at his attempt to get you to open up. The world really had gone upside down, because that was usually your job. You couldn’t lie to him. You had never been able to.

“Illario is being impossible,” you admitted. “He is driving me up the wall.”

“I know,” Lucanis said. “He is hard to talk to these days. I’ve tried. How is he?”

“He is losing his mind.”

There was a hint of worry in Lucanis’ eyes.

“How so?”

You couldn’t tell him about the First Talon thing. You had promised Viago. You could tell him about something else, but you really didn’t want to. You shouldn’t have said anything, but now you had to say something.  

“He uh…” you said. “He proposed to me.”

His eyebrows raised at your words. He looked at the floor in front of him for a moment before finding your eyes again and giving you a small smile.

“Congratulations,” he said.

Your eyes narrowed slightly at his reaction.

“I didn’t say yes,” you explained. “Because of the obvious political reasons and given who I am. It can’t happen.”

It took him a second to understand what you were saying. He shrugged slightly.

“That shouldn’t hold you back if you love him,” he said, not quite keeping eye contact with you. “My great aunt married a simple tailor, and eventually got the family’s approval too.”

“There is some distance between tailor and ‘Rivaini witch’,” you said. “Besides, you two are the only Dellarmortes left. That changes things too.”

“The other families would oppose it, yes,” he said. “And Viago would kill both of you in your sleep, but you would have my blessing at least. You should do it if you want to do it.”

You couldn’t believe he was actually trying to talk you into this. You found it frustrating for some reason. Your next words flew right out of your mouth:

“He also almost cheated on me after I told him no.”

His eyes narrowed at that. You heard a low growl of irritation from him.

“Illario, you idiot,” he mumbled and shook his head. “I am so sorry. He doesn’t think with his head.”

“Don’t tell him I’ve told you that though,” you quickly added. “I forgave him, and we’re fine now. He has been through a lot. He was drinking, so…”

“I won’t,” he said with a hint of anger still in his tone. “I should not get involved in you and his relationship like this.”

“No, I know,” you said with a sigh. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything either. It’s not fair to him that we talk about this.”

Lucanis shook his head and made a dismissive hand gesture at your apology.

“It’s my fault. I asked,” he said and got up from his seat. “I should get back.”

Spite suddenly jumped up as if someone had set fire to him.

“NO!” Spite hissed loudly. “No leaving. TALK TO RIVER!”

You jumped at the sound.

“What is his problem?” you asked.

“Everything,” Lucanis answered tiredly. “I cannot get a moments peace from him these days. Ignore him.”

Lucanis suddenly groaned in discomfort and put a hand to his head as if in pain.

“Lucanis?” you said and put a hand on his shoulder.

He pushed you away and the discomfort of whatever he was going through seemed to get worse. He was fighting against Spite for control, you realized. You weren’t sure what to do. Suddenly he stopped struggling.

“…Lucanis?”

He opened his eyes, and they were glowing purple. Spite in Lucanis’ body smiled at you.

“Now. We talk,” Spite said, his voice a mix between his own and Lucanis’.

“Get out,” you warned. “Now, Spite.”

“No,” he said. “Help Lucanis. Make him talk. Make him free us.”

“Free you from where?”

“He is not HERE,” Spite said firmly. “Never left. The prison...”

You didn’t understand. Lucanis was here. You vaguely remembered something from your training back in Rivain: spirits are beings of emotions. Mental and emotional states can be interpreted as very literal by them.

“Help US!”

“I…” you said. “I don’t know how.”

Spite let out a growl of frustration. You saw his body twitch and his eyes turned brown again. He looked at you with so much concern. He looked you over as if he might have hurt you in some way.

“I’m so sorry, River,” he said. “I should never have come here.”

He rushed out the door before you could even react.

Viago came and got you from your laboratory. He explained briefly that someone wanted to talk to you, but he was unsure about what. He led you into a room with Rook and two strangers. You froze a bit. One of the strangers was a Qunari. You frowned slightly when you saw them.

“You’re River, right?” Rook asked in that sugary sweet voice of hers.

“I am,” you answered coldly, still looking at the Qunari.

The Qunari were all over Rivain to the point that some of the societies there took to the Qun as well. Your village had not been one of them. Your village had stuck to the old pantheistic beliefs and shunned the Qunari and their faith. Needless to say, Antaam or not, you were not a fan.

The Qunari smiled at you.

“You’re a seer, right?” the Qunari spoke with genuine excitement. “I’m Rivaini too. Not a seer though, but I like the whole talking-with-spirits-thing. Are you the only Rivaini Crow or are there others? Do you think—"

“Taash…” Rook interrupted.

“Sorry,” they answered.

You blinked at them in slight confusion. It was difficult to maintain your frown with just how eager and interested they seemed.

“It’s…complicated, and yes, currently…” you answered them briefly and then looked at Rook. “What is this about? Is Lucanis alright?”

“That’s what we wanted to talk to you about,” Rook said. “Lucanis has briefly mentioned that you are able to communicate with Spite. Is that true?

You looked at the others and then back to Rook.

“Yes,” you answered curtly.

“Lucanis is…struggling right now,” she began explaining. “I’m not sure what to make of the whole thing and it’s not as if he is eager to share the burden with anyone. If you—”

You put a hand up to stop her.

“I won’t abuse Lucanis’ trust,” you said. “If he wants you to know something, he’ll tell you. I won’t go behind his back.”

Rook sighed softly.

“And I understand that,” Rook continued. “But I’m getting worried. We all are. We can’t help him unless we know what is going on.”

“Then talk to him,” you said a bit more harshly. “Look, I worry about him too and it is hard to get him to talk, but if he learns you went behind his back like this, it’ll only make him shut off more.”

Another sigh from Rook.

“I can’t talk to Spite, except for when he takes over Lucanis,” she said and then pointed to the other stranger behind her: an older man. “Emmrich can hear Spite, but he doesn’t know Lucanis as well as you do, so it’s difficult to make head and tails about what is going on.”

The older man stepped forward. He was a Mourn Watcher too, you guessed from his outfit.

“Spite says that he wants ‘out’,” Emmrich explained in a gentle tone. “He speaks about being trapped, but he claims that Lucanis is trapped too. This makes me believe that it is not actually a splitting of spirit and host that is Spite’s wish. We thought that perhaps you might have a theory to what is then?”

You looked from Emmrich to Rook’s pleading face. You hated this. Of course you wanted to help Lucanis, but you hated that it had to be this way.

“He trusts you,” Rook said. “Please help us help him...”

You groaned.

“Fine…” you said quietly.

You turned to look at Emmrich.

“Spite uses ‘we’ when he speaks about getting out,” you began explaining. “He has mentioned a prison. He says that Lucanis never left, and that they are stuck there, but I don’t think it’s a literal prison. That’s just how Spite sees it because he’s a spirit. He has asked me to help but…I’m not sure how.”

“Never left…” Rook mused. “He’s still stuck in the Ossuary but in his…mind?”

“Something like that,” you said and shrugged.

“Ah,” Emmrich said with a thoughtful expression. “So, Lucanis is stuck in the past, and Spite perceives the past as a literal prison that they need to be freed from. Without solving whatever unfinished business Lucanis has in the past, he will not be able to free both of them.”

Rook looked between you and Emmrich.

“So…killing Zara?” Rook said. “Would that do it?”

“Revenge could certainly be a start, I would imagine,” Emmrich said.

You nodded.

“Then that’s what’s first on the agenda from now on,” Rook said and made a gesture for them to leave.

The others went out of the room. Rook stayed behind for a moment to talk to you in private.

“And thank you for this,” she said. “I care about him.”

You sighed and nodded. You had figured as much…

“Me too,” you said quietly.

Rook gave you a small smile and started heading towards the door. You grabbed her wrist before she could leave. She looked from your grip on her to your face with a puzzled expression.

You weren’t even sure what you wanted to say to her, but something made you do it. Your breath hitched and you felt tears prick at your eyes before you looked up at her.

“I can’t lose him again, Rook,” you said. “Please take care of him for me.”

Rook’s expression softened. She turned around to face you fully and put her hand over yours. She gave you a gentle smile.

“I will. I promise,” she said and squeezed your hand. “Can I ask…? What were you to him? Before the Ossuary and all of that, I mean…”

You bit the inside of your cheek, trying to stop the tears, but one rolled down your cheek anyway. You looked at the floor in front of you. No answer came out, but Rook knew anyway. She smiled.

“I thought so,” she said quietly. “With the way he speaks about you.”

Another tear rolled down before you could stop it. Gods, you hated crying in front of strangers. Especially her. You looked up at her.

“Things change,” you simply said.

She gave you a lighter smile.

“Things do change, yes. People and their feelings? Less so,” she said and squeezed your hand one last time before letting you go. “Thank you for this, River.”

It did not take long before Rook’s plans were set in action. You were in the laboratory when Illario came in. He came over and kissed your cheek.

“I’m leaving,” he said. “I will see you tonight after we are done.”

Your brow furrowed in confusion before setting down the equipment in your hands.

“It’s early,” you noted. “After you’re done with what? I thought you were finishing things up here like you said you would.”

He leaned in with a smile and placed a kiss on your lips.

“Rook and Lucanis are going after Zara Renata,” he explained and looked you in the eyes. “I want to be there.”

You pulled your head back from his close proximity a bit. You did not like the sound of that. Especially if this was Lucanis’ only chance at making peace with whatever was going on with him.

“Why? Why do you want to be there for that?”

Illario pulled his head back in turn, looking as if offended at the ridiculousness of your question.

“Venatori killed my grandmother and imprisoned my cousin,” he said. “Of course, I want to be there.”

You let out a small breath. It took everything to not roll your eyes. It took everything to not say ‘Illario, this isn’t about you.’.  In fact, he was the only Dellamorte that the Venatori hadn’t touched. If the revenge of what happened belonged to anyone, it was Lucanis who had been imprisoned and tortured for a year.

You shook your head slightly. There was no talking him out of it, you knew that much. You hoped that Lucanis would ask him to stay behind. You were worried that Illario might make a bigger mess of things than necessary.

“Just…” you began. “Be careful, yeah?”

“I always am.”

Joke of the century, you thought. He kissed you goodbye and left. The feeling that Illario would fuck something up haunted you after he left the room.

[ofcrowsanddragons]

Tags from @elvhendis:

This is my reading of canon, by the way.

Take a look at how Lucanis let go of his resentment for his grandmother, and Illario never did. This is in the game, but supported by "The Wigmaker Job" in Tevinter Nights.

Compare this to the clear resentment that Rook can show toward Viago when he's introduced. While you could put this entirely down to "being kicked out of Antiva for doing the right thing," my read is that Rook might also have some lingering resentment for him as their mentor.

I believe Teia, and by extension Viago, really are idealists among the Crows. But as the tags above imply, the path toward becoming better is not a straight line.

More to the point, House Cantori is powerful because Teia is an accomplished and ruthless killer (and capitalist)—and because she can make almost everyone adore her. She believes that the Crows are family, and she makes other people believe it, too. She's woven her House into a close alliance with House de Riva, and she has a certain amount of favour with House Dellamorte. Another core belief of hers: family comes together to carve out the hearts of its enemies.

With Rook de Riva admitting that their training was "torture", I don't see a reason to believe that Viago and Teia are any different. There are indications that their Houses are very careful in choosing their recruits, although how voluntary recruitment is remains somewhat nebulous.

From there, Viago and Teia want to keep their recruits alive. My headcanon is that while both of them thoroughly reject outright sadism, they still see what they put the fledglings through as entirely necessary. I also personally think the survival rate of the trainees and young Crows is higher than it used to be.

They torture their recruits. The recruits are family. It's a thoroughly fucked-up family.

(So yes, placing Catarina-but-not-Viago as the villain only makes sense if your issue is entirely with the favouritism.)

I have to say, while I don't begrudge anyone for it and anyone is absolutely free to have their own headcanons...

I am mighty confused by the vitriol people have for Caterina...And not for Viago? (Or Teia, but she's charming enough to get a pass, Caterina and Viago are both the stoic type, which is why I'm confused about the double standard)

Crow!Rook confirms their training was torture as well in banter, and it is understood that you're Viago's protege and were supervised by him, which gives very similar vibes to Illario and Lucanis being trained by Caterina.

And hell, if anything, he'd know and approve of any torture taking place to train you properly. In fact, I think given how much of an overachiever he is and how big the chip on his shoulder is, a potential Crow!Rook, as his "favorite", would be subjected to even worse kinds of training than regular fledglings.

But that's a headcanon, the fact continues to be, Viago is as much a Talon as Caterina is, and does what he thinks is best for his house, which involves torturing their very young recruits to make sure they are ready for the job they must do, which is not an easy one.

So why is Caterina a framed as a child abuser and Viago everyone's dream parental figure for their Rook? I am powerfully confused about this.

(If you hate Caterina because of her obvious favoritism towards Lucanis, please have a fantastic day and ignore this entire post, cuz you do indeed have a point, but this post is not about that.)

[niofo]

Name: Morgan de Riva (formerly: Idris Morgan Aneirin Trevelyan) Nickname: Rook (by Varric) Title: Master Assassin, Master Poisoner

Age: 53 (9:52)

Race: human/city elf Nationality: Free Marcher

Pronouns: he/him, any Sexuality: aroace

Class: mage/rogue Specialization: necromancer, entropist, poisoner

Partner: Viago de Riva, Teia Cantori Party composition: Lucanis, Emmrich

Morgan's tag

[alternative universe version of Idris]

Family

Born in 8:99 in Ostwick as Idris Morgan Aneirin, child of bannora Milena Trevelyan and her elven chamberlain Mirthan. He grew up alongside his older step-siblings Griffith, Morwen and Erin, officially recognized as bann Taliesin's youngest. Neither bann nor his wife had much contact or deeper connection with any of the children, and Idris was never told which one of his mother's servants was his actual father. He received an education in politics, history and spycraft and was intended to one day marry into a rivalling family to serve as a spy there.

At 9 years old his magic manifested causing a snowstorm during Summerday festivities - after which he was sent to the Ostwick Circle of magi. Before even his Harrowing he was targeted by a pair of Antivan Crows from House de Riva, who were scouting for potential candidates for their mage-assassin training. They abducted Idris and smuggled him out of the tower along with his phylactery, and the templars, not wanting to admit to their inattention, claimed he died during the Harrowing.

Antivan Crows

During the scarring and traumatizing ordeal of the assassin training he used his own blood to summon a despair demon - which the then-Talon decided was interesting enough and allowed the possession to progress. He ended up being the only recruit to survive, albeit as an abomination, and soon after House the Riva lost interest in mage-assassin project as the Talon was bloodily replaced by another one. Under the new name Morgan de Riva joined the ranks of the Antivan Crows.

Very soon he presented himself as a very cunning and cautious assassin, preferring the use of poisons, spycraft and well placed entropy spells to eliminate his marks. He picked up necromancy both for his own innate curiosity, but also as a method of extracting information from his marks even after they were disposed of. He was considered a good candidate for undercover missions amongst nobility, due to his knowledge of politics and etiquette, but he proved to be unreliable every time any templars came into picture - forgoing his actual marks to go after the members of the Order. Despite known and serious repercussions of this type of behavior his handler eventually deemed him ineducable in that matter.

In one of the missions he lost his right eye, which made him mostly too conspicuous for most high level undercover work, yet his skills with poisons and necromancy proved to be too useful, and higher ranking Crows accepted his oddities on account of his other utilities. Morgan rose to the position of Master Assassin under the leadership of Viago de Riva and became his right hand due to their both interest in poisons.

Skills

He achieved his position of Master Assassin in House de Riva mostly due to his skills with poison making, but in close combat he is known for a clever use of entropy magic to weaken his enemies and dispose of them easily. He rarely uses magic in more offensive way, due to it bringing more attention and leaving lasting signs that he prefers to avoid as an assassin.

Well versed in politics, religion and history due to early life education. He speaks Trade, Elven (with a bad accent, mostly learned from books) and knows the basics of Qunlat.

Being a despair abomination makes him resistant to a number of mortal wounds, blood loss, freezing and starvation, but doesn't prevent him from receiving permanent injuries.

Appearance.

White, middle aged half-elf, short and of slight built. He has dark red graying hair he usually wears in a braid, and freckles that get more visible in summer. Has dark brown eyes and lost his left one in a fight - sometimes covers it with an eyepatch, sometimes leaving it and the scar visible. His most common expression is frown and is hardly ever seen smiling.

Wears typical Crow light armor leaving the least amount of skin visible, with multiple vials of poisons at hand. His weapon of choice is a dagger, and he never uses a staff for casting spells.

[luzial]

WIP Wednesday

Thank you for the tag @crackinglamb ! Tagging @akisazame , @salesart , @salexectria , @pedlimwen (no pressure!)

Here’s some more from the Viago de Riva/Teia Cantori piece I’m working on. (By “working on” I mean rereading Eight Little Talons twice a week and occasionally shoving words into a doc.)

Finally, he returns to the bed to inspect the dagger and realizes he should have done this first. It requires only a momentary glance to see that the pommel is decorated with the symbol of House Cantori.

Teia.

Viago breathes a sigh of relief. The adrenaline quickly drains from him but is replaced with embarrassment and something else. He rolls his eyes in irritation to think that she must have been just outside the window, and he imagines he can hear the echo of her soft chuckle there. This thought is quickly replaced by another - How long was she watching me?

As intriguing of a question as that is, Viago drags his attention back to the dagger and the slip of paper he finds tightly tied to its hilt. He unrolls it to find an opera ticket - deep red with a gold leaf filigree border - granting him admission to tomorrow night’s performance of Gana of Ayesleigh.

[epacer]

Class Notes

George Alan Fogelman, Class of 1963

Music fans, fellow Jews lay George Fogelman to rest

Fellow Jews and fellow musicians joined forces on Wednesday, Nov. 27, to pay last tribute to George Alan Fogelman, 72, who died of cancer on Nov. 22 while under hospice care, leaving his wife Gail, two children, three grandchildren, nieces and nephews and many friends.

Rabbis Joshua Dorsch and Leonard Rosenthal of Tifereth Israel Synagogue presided over the burial service at El Camino Cemetery, where mourners were greeted by recorded strains of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “Wonderful World.”  Rabbi Rosenthal opened the service by quoting from Don McLean’s “American Pie”:  “A long long time ago/ I can still remember how/ That music used to make me smile/ And I knew if I had the chance/ That I could make those people dance/ And maybe they’d be happy for a while….”

Explained Rosenthal: “There are few people I know whose very lives and essence are so deeply bound with music.  George lived and breathed music, whether he was performing, composing, creating, or simply walking around his house humming.  George loved to entertain, and he considered bringing smiles and joy to his audience his greatest achievement.”

In 2006, a San Diego Jewish World/ jewishsightseeing.com story about Fogelman reported:

   As a high school student, Fogelman played saxophone and accordion for “The Twilighters,” a band inspired by one of the Platters’ best-known hits, “Twilight Time.” The Twilighters performed at service clubs, graduation parties and bar/ bat mitzvah receptions.  While a student at San Diego State University, Fogelman performed in a Sergio Mendez-inspired band called “Sounds of ’68.”  Another band that played for San Diego’s well-known stage hypnotist, Dr. Michael Dean, “was getting ready to retire, and we auditioned and got the job… It was 5-6 nights a week, first at the Catamaran Hotel, and then at the Gaslight Room on Rosecrans Street.  So I was his musical director.”

   During that period, Fogelman also opened a recording studio, which produced approximately 250 jingles for radio and television commercials, “probably none that you would know,” although some for KMart and DHL Express made it to regional broadcast.

   On the Michael Dean show, Fogelman had the opportunity to work with guest artists, among them Cheech and Chong, who were just starting, and singer Roberta Lynn. Additionally, “at one point we got hooked up with KPRI, a rock station, and they had a Friday studio concert and they would come in and record.  We had Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show, and Al Kooper came in.”

   Fogelman wanted to move from control booth to microphone, so he formed a new band, “Peace on Earth��� with  Jeff Dalrymple,  percussion; Doug Kvandal, keyboard, and  Dave Maynard, vocalist, hoping their musical careers would take off. “We were trying to be a band without a guitar but alas and alack we had to have a guitarist.”  Maynard became one, and later, they added guitarist Rafe Lindenberg, “who was very good.”  At one point, the band felt certain it was headed for a recording contract and national exposure, but “it didn’t work out.”

   Disappointed, Fogelman returned to San Diego and earned a  teaching credential so he could substitute teach during the inevitable down times in the music business. One day while running errands with his mother, he stopped by a Home Federal Savings & Loan branch to open a Keogh account.  Normally Gail Schindler, who handled his account that day, worked at a different bank branch, so perhaps their meeting was beshert.  They were married in 1976, and for Fogelman, it was instant fatherhood—daughter Juliana was a child of Gail’s previous marriage. Within a few years, a second daughter, Arianna, arrived. The preschool that Ari attended at the old Jewish Community Center on 54th Street changed the direction of Fogelman’s career.

   A product of  both Tifereth Israel Synagogue and Temple Emanu-El, respectively under Rabbi Monroe Levens and Rabbi Morton Cohn, Fogelman enjoyed Jewish music. With singer Myrna Cohen, he  produced a 33 1/3 RPM album, “Special Days For Children” to raise money for the JCC pre-school.  Later, he and Cohen, who is today the cantorial soloist at Temple Emanu-El, collaborated on such other tapes (and later CDs) as “Lullabies and Quiet Time,” and “Swinging Chai.”

After he married Gail, they and their children Juli and Ari used to sing on recordings made by Fogelman’s company Jewish Family Recordings.  “Around the same time Randee Friedman formed Soundswrite Productions, which ended up distributing Fogelman’s work,” Rosenthal related.  “In turn, George did a lot of music recording and production for Randee, including Debbie Friedman’s early albums.  Randee told George that he was an absolute gem to work with and real mensch in business dealings.”

Fogelman later in life performed with his friends at the Amigo Spot at Hotel Circle in San Diego. “He was in his element singing and playing saxophone and wind board,” said Rosenthal.  “I saw him there several times and I could see that he loved what he was doing and was loved by the patrons, many of whom were regulars.”

A perpetual optimist, Fogelman was a “glass half full” type of fellow, whose spirit was typified by one of his favorite songs “Pure Imagination” from Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.  The lyrics say, in part:  “If you want to view paradise/ Simply look around and view it. Anything you want to, do it./ Wanta change the world?/ there’s nothing/ to it/ There is no/ Life I know/ To compare with/ Pure imagination/ Living there/ You’ll be free/ If you truly wish to be./”

Fogelman regularly performed at Tifereth Israel Synagogue in the Shir Hadash band, which on the third Friday evening of every month leads an upbeat version of the Kabbalat Shabbat service.  Besides Fogelman’s saxophone, the ban included two vocalists, and other musicians on piano, guitar, bass guitar, and clarinet.

For many years Fogelman had battled prostate cancer with such medical treatments as chemo-therapy, radiation, and any other therapies available.  Ever an optimist, he even believed while in hospice that he would beat the cancer.

“The tag line in ‘American Pie’ is ‘the day the music died,’” Rabbi Rosenthal noted.  “Although George is no longer with us, the music he created is, both in the books and recordings he produced, and in our hears and our memories.  George would not have wanted the music to end with him.  He would have wanted us to continue living, laughing and singing.”

George's headstone is now in place at El Camino Mortuary

Following the graveside service, Fogelman’s friends and fans reconvened at the Amigo Spot. *Reposted article from San Diego Jewish World by Donald H. Harrison of November 30, 2017.

[crossdressingdeath]

#your house is your surname right?#so I doubt we'd get to choose#I expect they wouldn't give you a name that was already in some sense taken by a major character#which would rule out dellamorte#de riva#cantori#and arainai#and kortez is a loaded name both in and out of universe#which leaves balazar#valisti#and nero#I'm putting my money on valisti (tags via @kitkaedatidler)

Honestly I lowkey forgot that the Crows take on the name of their house even if they weren't born into it, which feels like a huge stain on my honour as a Zevran lover. But that's a good point, if it's the surname Bioware would have to decide it for us. Also, looking at the wiki there are other houses, those eight are just the current Talons as of 9.44; the wiki mentions House Ferragani (eliminated by House Arainai to take over as Eighth Talon) and Crows with a bunch of other surnames (although most of them are from a long time ago), and if I remember right Eight Little Talons does mention that they're going to have to bring in a new house to take over from House Kortez as Fourth Talon. So technically those three surnames aren't the only options, but I'd definitely agree they're the most likely if Bioware wants a somewhat familiar name to tie Rook to. I know it's not going to happen but Rook being a Dellamorte would kind of delight me (giving orders to your terrifying boss's beloved grandson would be a weird experience). Also it would actually be extremely interesting for Rook to be a Kortez but again that's probably not going to happen, if only because that would likely lower Rook's reputation with the Crows rather than boosting it (assuming raised reputation with your faction is one of the perks for every faction and not just Lords of Fortune, which feels like a safe bet). I also like Valisti, but I guess we'll have to wait and see!

Today's pressing DAV CC questions: we know the Crows are split among different houses, right? And each house has a tattoo basically marking their allegiance, going off what Tevinter Nights says about it. So a few questions are raised by this. First, will Crow Rook's house come up at all in-game as part of their backstory? Second, do we get to pick their house? Related to the second, will the house tattoos (or just the tattoo for Rook's house, if we don't get to pick which one they're part of) be in the CC? Because I'd love it if they were in the CC.

[hallagold]

how teia recruits for house cantori.

teia was always trying to make the others like [viago]. she grew up on the streets. to her, joining the crows was akin to finding a family. caterina was the mother she never had. giuli had been her jealous sister. emil and bolivar, the rich and drunk uncles respectively. - 'eight little talons,' tevinter nights

the crows are not a family, but maybe they could be—

at least as far as teia is concerned.

though teia is never one to deny an opportunity for a particularly gifted fledgling regardless of their background, she has earned a reputation for the children she takes for her house.

children of the streets without any known kin are always first on her list, as she was one herself. while she knows she cannot house and train them all, she does so more than any other house. she looks for children with natural talents but has also been known to take in prospects other crows deem too weak to train due to their poor health.

children of abusive families are next. as teia most often bids for contracts involving the deaths of deplorable men, this frequently allows her to become privy to when her marks’ cruelty falls to their families. when children of noble families go missing, following the death(s) of one or more parents, teia is a likely culprit.

unintentionally (or not, who's to say?), teia's house has a very high queer population. this may be due, in part, to the two previous points, as - unfortunately - lgbtq+ kids in thedas have a higher risk of becoming unhoused or facing abuse.

other than that, she has eyes and ears out, looking for promising candidates. she takes maintenance of house cantori very seriously, despite her outward demeanor. they are her family, and she feels both responsible for and protective of them.

that being said...

all betrayals end in death. no exceptions. anyone who puts the house in danger will die for it, and teia will do it herself. traitors will be lucky if they're given a quick, clean death. otherwise, they are hunted like prey, psychologically terrorized, and then killed.