#inquisitor basalt

[katjapetersart]

[buttsonthebeach]

“Take My Hand”

It’s been 84 years since I wrote anything, largely thanks to Smol Beach, but when @scharoux asked me to do a commission for the 14 Days of DA Lovers event, I couldn’t resist this delicious, angsty prompt.

Thank you as always for trusting me with Rhaella, Sacha, and everyone check out all the lovely art and writing for the event!

*************

Pairing: Rhaella Lavellan x Solas

Rating: G

Rhaella was over the edge of the cliff before she knew what had happened.

One moment - frost at her fingertips as she cast a glyph to freeze the Red Templar barrelling towards her - the next - nothing but iron-grey sky and her stomach hollowing out as she fell. She was too shocked to be afraid, to do anything but fall. Her right side hurt. Why did it hurt so terribly?

She shouldn’t be falling.

She needed to stop falling.

“Rhaella!”

The voice broke through. She reached out blindly, all animal instinct, caught hold of the edge of one of the basalt pillars that marked the Storm Coast, scrabbled to hold onto it. Processed finally that the ache in her side was an arrow. She must have been shot by a different templar as she cast the glyph.

She was slipping.

“Rhaella!”

The ocean roared below her. It would be easy, she thought, to let go. To fall. She knew she needed to hold on though. The Anchor crackled in her hand, pain lancing up her left arm as it did. She needed to hold on.

“Rhaella!”

There was a loud crack on the cliff above her, a concussive wave of force. A spell. The magic from it rushed through her own aura, made her flinch at its power.

She was slipping. She was slipping. She was going to fall. She was going to fall.

And then there was Solas above her, his hand outstretched.

“Rhaella, take my hand!”

She did it without hesitating. He pulled her up. It was as easy as falling had been. Trusting all her weight to him. He had her. He had her. 

Even through their armored gloves she could feel the strength of his hand and his arm. She could feel how he hauled her close to him as she cleared the edge of the cliff, kicking and pulling her way along to help him. She could feel his warmth, how heavily he was breathing.

He had her.

She looked at him - at the raindrops on his cheekbones, his eyelashes - at the way his pupils were blown wide, his full lips parted like he was about to say something. Like he was about to kiss her. She melted against him, willing him to.

And then she remembered.

Crestwood.

The pale blue light that wreathed his hands as he burned her vallaslin away.

Solas stepped away from her then, as he had that night.

“The boss okay?”

Bull was hefting his axe out of the body of the archer who’d shot her. The wet crunch shocked the last of the reverie from Rhaella’s system. Her wet armor clung to her and her lungs burned from screaming or panting or both. She’d nearly fallen and died in the midst of a battle. The Anchor buzzed and flickered. How could she have been so careless? Who would have sealed the rifts and defeated Corypheus if she was gone?

And how did she lose sight of all of that as she fell, as he rescued her? How did her mind circle endlessly back to him when he'd rejected her? Harden your heart, he'd said. She started to -

“I believe so,” Solas called back to Bull.

And then his hand was on her right side, where the arrow was, and Rhaella was lost again.

“I can -” she began, though the words seemed to come from somewhere outside herself as she focused on that point of contact.

“Let me -” he said, his words tripping over hers.

Rhaella let him.

Rhaella let him examine the wound even though she already knew it was more bruising than anything else, something she could easily have tended herself, because it had been only a fortnight since Crestwood (would she ever look at that name on a map again without her heart cracking open?) and that fortnight had felt like falling, freewheeling, untethered, as she replayed the scene over and over again. Standing there, his hand on her side as he examined the wound, felt like solid ground again.

Why? She wanted to ask him, even though she knew it was pointless. He hadn’t given her an answer that night or any night since then. But the terror in his voice as he called her name - as he begged for her to take his hand -

In another world. Why not this world? If you are that afraid to lose me -

“It did not pierce your armor,” he said. “But I would imagine you are quite sore from the impact. I could ease your pain if you...”

He looked away as his words trailed off. Perhaps what she was thinking was written plainly on her face.

Yes. You could ease my pain. You could tell me why.

Harden your heart, Rhaella.

“That won’t be necessary.”

Rhaella wondered if she sounded hollow to anyone who could hear her, or if it was another aftereffect of the fall. If the wind was still rushing in her ears.

Solas moved away from her. Only an inch or so, but it was enough. Boundary lines were redrawn.

"Inquisitor," he said, soft, polite, distant as the moon.

Rhaella did not heal the wound. Not right away. The ache was a reminder to stay focused on her duty, to not be so careless next time. To fix things herself, because she was alone again. Solas had made that perfectly clear.

Except -

That night, as the camp prepared to settle in, the Inquisition soldiers buzzing around them like fireflies as they worked through their last orders of the day -

Rhaella watched as Bull asked Solas if he wanted to play a game of chess with a real board this time. She saw Solas as he hesitated to answer, his own words needing to travel a great distance before he spoke them, the way her own words did (no thank you, Bull. Not tonight). She saw from the corner of her eye how he looked at her just a moment too long - just long enough that she thought she could see cracks around his mask -

And then all she wanted to do was cross the distance between him and say take my hand and pull them both back to shore.

[athenasdragon]

I CANNOT stop thinking about the geologists at the University of Orlais that the Inquisitor completes geological surveys for. Geology is already a pretty buckwild field but imagine doing your thesis on lyrium. Imagine going to do field work in the deep roads and frantically trying to collect samples while your PI fends off the darkspawn. Imagine trying to form a coherent geologic history of a landscape where game developers keep dropping columnar basalt every five feet because it looks cool lmao

[blackoutace]

✨ Dragon Age Questionnaire ✨

@cutieink following in your footsteps again :P

01) favorite game of the series?

Dragon age Inquisition, but I loved the original.

02) how did you discover Dragon Age?

I played DAO when I was a kid. When I grew up I played DA:I and loved it to pieces. Imagine my surprise when I found out/remembered there were 2 other games. 

03) how many times you’ve played the games?

I- don’t- really remember to be honest.... I think I’ve done 4 full playthroughs of DA:I, 2 of DA:O, and 1 DA:2 (only because I sold my system that had it...) Oh but I made like 20 characters and got half way through with each. 

04) favorite race to play as?

Qunari. The intimidation options were always so surprising even though I played gentle character. 

05) favorite class?

Warrior/Mage. They’re both pretty equal. Nothing quite like beating down an enemy and keeping them down or zapping the entire area. 

06) do you play through the games differently or do you make the same decisions each time?

I make decisions based on the character I made or the Keep options yet to be unlocked. Although, in the initial play through I play as myself. I stay in character, but make choices based on how I would defuse or escalate a situation. 

07) go-to adventuring group?

Origins: Leliana, Shale, Zevran // Da2: Anders, Isabella, Varric  // DAI: Dorian, Iron Bull, Cole.

08) which of your characters did you put the most thought into?

Either my outcaste, hardcore, Dwarf Warrior, Poppy who took no crap and didn’t let stupid crap stand in her way. Or my Qunari Mage Nye, a gentle giant with an appreciation for the arcane. 

10) have you read any of the comics/books?

Currently reading Hard in Hightown. Got it for Christmas and though I have trough getting into some books, it and Dragon Age: Asunder have kept my attention well enough to continue now and again. 

12) favorite DLCs?

The Descent and Jaws of Hakkon. Both are rather beautiful. The descent answered some questions I was having and still makes me want to give it another play through. Witch Hunt was good, I found it to be a soft hearted ending... I mean... when I didn’t stab Morrigan 

13) things that annoy you.

No threesomes?? No group sex?? NO ZEVRAN????? Not even a jealous love scene? Seriously, would it have killed Bioware to have Zevran show up ONCE?? I missed him. I missed the drama. I missed couples being comfortable with themselves, each other, and their sex lives. 

Oh- And I guess I didn’t like how, out of place, AND NOT GAY/BI Cullen felt or how scruffy Blackwall was. 

14) Orlais or Ferelden?

Scenery- Ferelden. I loved the Hinterland mountains, the Storm coast Basalt shores, and the weather too much. 

Arcitecture- Orlais. Need I say more? 

15) templars or mages?

Mages.

17) what did you name your pets? (mabari, summoned animals, mounts, etc)

Dogmeat (I just finished Fallout). I didn’t name any other pets I don’t think. 

18) have you installed any mods?

I played playstation. No Mods beyond the story changing- DA: Keep

19) did your Warden want to become a Grey Warden?

Eh- by happenstance. I think she needed to prove herself and got noticed in the process. From there she just took the lemons life gave her and launched them into orbit. 

20) hawke’s personality?

Lol Sass master Hawke.

21) did you make matching armor for your companions in Inquisition?

Not if I didn’t have the materials. I liked the Warden sets until I went to the deep roads, now all playthroughs start with sucking the Hinterlands and Haven dry of all Iron and Nug skins. 

22) if your character(s) could go back in time to change one thing, what would they change?  

Hawke would have liked to smack Anders, before or afterward, that stunt was too wild a play.  Maybe romance Fenris. 

23) do you have any headcanons about your character(s) that go against canon?

I had a DA:I character who I head cannoned as the Warden. Poppy had somehow ended up at the rift, lost select memories, and slowly regained them like the rest. She sided heavily with Wardens, would make snide remarks under her breath at the mention of “the hero” or Warden stuff, and Leliana just didn’t recognize her. When she got her memories back she just kept up her cover but would still glare at people talking about The Hero as if they knew her, what she thought, or what she would do. As if they’d recognize The Hero if she was standing in front of them.  

Cullen is bi. (seriously donno why this wasn’t a thing.)

Cullen has the hots for Dorian and vise versa. 

Hawke did smack Anders after that stunt he pulled. 

Sandal is a God (less cannon, more headcannon tbh)

Sandal is half elf (less headcannon, more cannon tbh)

If Cole is told to leave, he doesn’t really, he just remains forgotten. 

The Inquisitor has the Players memories and through the course of the game would regale Dorian with tales long past or yet to come. Both flip Solas the bird any time he mentions the fade/past, just on principle. 

24) are any of your character(s) based on someone?

Nye was based on a DnD character I had. Gentle and reserved dragonborn.

25) who did you leave in the Fade?

Stroud at first.Then I actually played DAO & DA2 using my Keep choices. The second time was harder as it was Alistair and Hawke and I just couldn’t hurt Alistair and my Hawke would have leapt at the “I’m the sacrifice” option. 3rd time around was with Loghain and FUCK LOGHAIN.

26) favorite mount?

The drakes. The Blue one was kool. 

[katjapetersart]

Working steadily on the gals. Shading has begun! On this picture, the gaunt's body has been shaded, except the hooves, teeth and gun.

Also a Basalt cooldown. It's been a while.

[katjapetersart]

Did some gun studies.

Here's Basalts semi-auto pistol, Pax. A custom handgun of an Ursa type. It was commissioned specifically for her by H'med when she became an inquisitor. One of the Mechanicus' finest and sleekest.

[katjapetersart]

Woops not me starting a comic at 10 pm

Inquisitor Basalt hears about a blast from the past, now risen to power in her area of concern. Leave it to the Ship-Mistress of the Soul to get the juiciest news. An old interrogated subject, now a Rogue Trader. Like they didn't have enough on their plates yet. Let's hope they won't meet her for a long while.

[katjapetersart]

Decided the starship Basalt employs is named Alacritous Soul, and that made me think of the saying "with heart and soul". Bensi (short hair) used to be the ship-captain before passing their Warrant of Trade over to their daughter. Bensi now works for the Inquisition in Basalt's crew - but they live to check in with their beloveds up in space!

[katjapetersart]

Basalt has a moment to herself. While not a devout woman, there is comfort in the rituals of the Emperor. Even when the candles are lit with psyk-pyromancy.

A6 ballpoint doodle for my original inquistorial warband, featuring Inquisitor Basalt.

[katjapetersart]

Adorkastock ref study.

[katjapetersart]

"Salt" a scribble comic. Inquisitor Basalt practices her telepathy with Gilded the psyker.

[katjapetersart]

Basalt explains a bit about her full name.

[katjapetersart]

A scribble comic.

Also, what's your favourite drink?

[katjapetersart]

Gil joins Dust in speaking on her name. Cooldown from commission work today.

[katjapetersart]

Played with some pencils today. A portrait of Basalt.

[katjapetersart]

Basalt and Gil in formal attire. Warm-up from the the last few days.