#micah brosca

[sapphim]

"Have you ever fought darkspawn before?" the head Warden, Duncan, asks—which Micah supposes must be what passes for small talk among Grey Wardens. He's watching her with those dark eyes of his and the thoughtfully serious look Micah is coming to realize is his typical expression.

"Mmm. A couple. Not supposed to hunt in the tunnels but, you know." She shrugs pointedly. "And sometimes you find a vein of something nice the miners haven't quite cleaned out yet, if you're looking. 'Course, you see eyes looking at you in the dark about yea high—" she gestures with her hand around head high (her head, anyway) "—and that means you run like the ceiling's caving in on your sorry ass, 'cause there's usually more where that came from."

"I've never seen anything crawling around in the Deep Roads that looks even a little bit edible," says another Warden. Ronald? Randall? One of the clean-shaven ones. She has got to get their names down. From where she's standing the humans may as well all be "the very tall guy" and "that other also very tall guy," which isn't even a little bit helpful for keeping them straight.

"Doesn't matter how edible it looks, you're hungry enough," she says. "Vermin, you know? Rats, nugs, deepstalkers..."

"Bet those taste foul."

"I'll eat a deepstalker. I'm not a coward," says another Warden (the extra big one nearly swallowed up by his own bushy beard), like it's a competition. For all she knows, maybe it is.

"You'll eat anything, Gregor." A few wardens chuckle at that. A shared joke she's not privy to.

"When the nobles go out on their expeditions, you know, they'll only be graced by the presence of the great warrior caste. But when it's just the warriors—not the miners, they don't want you to know where the good stuff is hiding—sometimes they'll hire on dusters as extra bodies. The pay's not awful, if you don't mind the maybe not coming home part." Micah kicks at a rock, and it skitters between their feet and out ahead of them. It aches, she thinks. Her face, for sure, as well as every other part of her body—but mostly her heart. She puts that thought away again.

"I tried to hire on one, once. I can swing a pick and shift rocks around or whatever they want done, right? And I'm mean with a knife. But they were real weird about it. Like they thought I was gonna hike up my skirts—skirts which, I don't think I have to tell you, I wasn't wearing, by the way—and proposition them to put a baby in me while we were down there."

She lets out a short, sharp humorless laugh. "Can you imagine? 'Course, I was younger then but, believe me, just as ugly. But they got weird ideas about brands, you know. Some of 'em they look at you and all they see is a cunt."

No smart response to that, she notes. One of the Wardens—the young one, she thinks, bringing up the rear—clears his throat awkwardly, and she can hear him wince as the sound echoes around the tunnel.

"Even after your exceptional showing in the proving?" Duncan asks, and she looks up from her feet to find him watching her with that same steady gaze, unperturbed. "What do you think it was that they saw in you then?"

Micah coughs, reaches up to rub at her nose—still busted all to fuck and hurts like it too—better to rub at the back of her neck instead. "Dunno," she says, looking away. "Been busy with, you know. Haven't had time to think yet." She wonders if he saw the swell of pride she felt when their eyes had met. Exceptional, he'd said—damn right she was.

"You're, uh..." That's young Warden again. "You—yes, you're a very impressive fighter. We were all impressed... obviously. But also you're. Not ugly."

Surprised, she laughs again, a much nicer sounding sound than before. "You're real sweet, kid, but I know what I look like. Well, actually—" She feels the swollen lump of her nose again, more gingerly this time. "I haven't had a chance to check out the new damage yet, but I know I look like I've been kicked in the face repeatedly, 'cause that's exactly what happened."

Micah aims a grin over her shoulder at him, and hopes whatever that does to her busted up face looks more friendly than frightful. The kids—she can't help but think of them as kids, the young Warden and the other new recruit, the elven mage—have been trailing behind at the rear of the group since they left Orzammar. She hasn't seen enough humans and elves to feel confident guessing the age of any of the others but these two don't look like they could possibly be much older than the girls—and thinking about her nieces twists painfully in her chest in a way that makes it hard to breathe and almost impossible to keep walking forward. Away. So she's been taking one step at a time and trying not to think about. Well.

"Nothin' wrong with being ugly, anyway. Some people just are. And I'd hate to be pretty." She runs a hand through her short shorn hair, then down to feel the at this point probably week-old bristle growing on her jaw. Never was fond of dealing with a headful of hair. "Those girls got their own problems to worry about."

"How do you cook a deepstalker, anyway?" asks the Warden from earlier. "They've gotta be nothing but skin and bones. And, you know, the teeth."

"Still hung up on that, Rondall?" chides another.

"I'm just curious."

"Dunno," Micah says. "Rica—my niece—won't let me do the cooking anymore." One foot in front of the other. "So consider that your warning, if you're expecting to get a hot meal outta me."

"We'll find out if you're as bad as Alistair when it's your turn in the rotation, then." ("Hey!" the young one—must be Alistair—interjects at that.)

"Hey, new kid, can you cook?" asks the big bushy one. Greg? Greg something.

Micah glances back at the new kid, his bright eyes wide with alarm at having been abruptly singled out. They glitter like gems in the dark. "Uh," he says. "I've never tried?"

"Oh boy," says one.

"We're really in for it," says another.

"Do you think they just magic it up out of thin air or what?" muses a third.

"Would you all remember that we presently have a job to do?" Duncan reproves, but he sounds amused.

"What job? Tarimel's on point. Hey, Tarimel, any darkspawn up there?"

"No darkspawn," the elven Warden confirms. Not the recruit, mage kid, but the scout with the bow. Easier to keep track of when there's only two of them. Neither all that chatty, either. Unlike the humans.

"See? No darkspawn yet. Job covered."

"That's strange though, yeah? Should have met resistance by now."

"What, this close to Orzammar?"

"Exactly this close to Orzammar. They're always trying to raid it. Isn't that right, Duncan?"

Micah lets the Wardens talk—Duncan saying something about the Legion of the Dead, now—and lags behind to walk with the youngsters.

"—any darkspawn, just stick close with me," the kid (Alasdair?) is saying quietly to the young mage, who nods glumly. He winces in pain with every step, Micah can see now that she's looking, leaning on that staff of his for support.

The young Warden (oh, that's right, it's Alistair) perks up when he notices her approach. "Sorry I called you pretty back there," he says with a cheeky grin, clearly having found his footing. "Won't happen again." Oh, she does like him.

"You know, I don't think that you did call me pretty."

"Oh, I guess I didn't. Well you look like you got trampled by a rabid bronto, so there's that."

"Stone," she groans, "feels like it too."

"I could do something for that," the mage says, "uh, when we rest."

You should look to yourself first, she wants to say. Instead she says, "Uh, thanks, maybe. Like... magic stuff, right?" She's not clear about the magic stuff.

"I was training as a spirit healer, in the Circle," the kid says. "Before..." He trails off.

Yeah. Before.

"Those... aren't new boots you've got there?" she asks, to change the subject. They're thoroughly worn, but he's grimacing with every step.

"Well, they're Tarimel's boots, is the problem," Alistair tells her.

"Got it," she says. "Do mages uh." She's vastly out of her depth here. "Do they... not wear shoes?" She heard something like that once, she thinks. Or was it... elves? Probably not.

"We're not allowed to go anywhere," the kid says, which isn't exactly an answer.

"And now you're in the Deep Roads," Alistair chips in, sardonically. "Yay."

"Yay," the mage sighs, with even less feeling. "I liked Orzammar better."

"Yeah, kid, me too," Micah says quietly.

"Sorry."

She sighs. "Don't be. Not your fault."

"Micaaaaah," Alistair drawls. "Do you keep calling us kid because you don't remember our names?"

Stone, Micah thinks. It was Alistair, right? "I remember one of your names," she says. Probably.

"Ooh, which one? Prove it. Say one of our names right now."

"My name's Rafael," says Rafael.

"Dammit, Raf," says Alistair.

"Thank you, Rafael," Micah says, pointedly polite. "My name's Micah. It's good to meet you." And then, because she is feeling quite a bit more cheerful than she was just a few minutes ago, she adds, "And don't be a shit, Alistair."

[deeplord]

some sketches of mi wardens

[bumblerhizal]

Hello! For the OC ask: 18. What languages can they speak? Where did they learn these languages? 25. What is their biggest flaw? 89. What is their D&D alignment? (And why?) For the OC of your choice? (Or all three!) :D

Thank you so much for asking!!

18. What languages can they speak? Where did they learn these languages?

I have Many Thoughts on language in Dragon Age but haven't developed languages for Micah's verse yet. A bit of canon divergence

Novhen would speak the trade tongue and Fereldan, naturally. He would've been taught these very young. As his first language, he would speak Aflish, the language of the city elves in Ferelden and parts of the Free Marches. It's mutually intelligible with Fereldan with some more influences from elven languages

There's also a Rivaini elven language I still need to name. It would be one of- if not the- most northern elven language(s), shared between the northern Dalish and what city elves live in Rivain. He would've learned it from Adaia (her first language) and acquired it around the same time as Alfish. He hasn't had much reason to speak it in recent years, so he's lost some of his fluency, but he can still understand it

Radka can only fluently understand the trade tongue (basically Creole Dwarven). It is the primary language spoken in Orzammar, and she never had any reason to learn any other language. She picked up on a few elven words and phrases from watching Rica learn elven poetry, but it's very obvious when she repeats them that she doesn't actually know any elven languages. (The poems would have probably been in the Dalish language spoken before the March on the Dales, so it's not even an extant dialect.) Once she arrives on the surface, she starts learning Fereldan, primarily from the rest of the party, but it's slow goings

25. What is their biggest flaw?

For Novhen, the flaw that causes the most actual problems is his preoccupation with duty. Of the course of the game, he spreads himself far too thin for his own health and barely takes a second to care for himself. This emphasis on duty also led to a few severe hits to his personal relationships from the Landsmeet to Witch Hunt. (But if we're talking stuff that would get listed in the "flaws" section of an early 2010s deviantart oc template: he holds grudges)

Radka is too rash. She does what she wants and doesn't give half a thought to the negative consequences of her actions

And Micah's too trusting. He had a sheltered upbringing in the middle of nowhere and struggles with the concept of someone deliberately deceiving and hurting someone else

89. What is their D&D alignment? (And why?)

Novhen: Lawful Chaotic. Neutral Good. Very firm on the topic of duty as I went into above but zero regard for the law. His primary concern is always the wellbeing of those around him

Radka: Chaotic Good. If a rule hurts someone, it's a bad rule that needs struck, but she's not going to wait on politicians doing anything about it

Micah: Chaotic Good. For a good while, he just doesn't get that laws are a thing. Even once he's made aware of them, he doesn't respect any attempt to codify and restrict what people may and may not do

[micahbhunter]

Drawings of my Warden, Rowan “Rowa” Brosca (top left) and my Hawke, Jasper (top right) from the Dragon Age series. The bottom is of my tielfling bard, Teal’o Hopefield, that is currently my highest level character.

I actually drew these to show examples of fully colored busts that I’m I’m going to be open as commissions today. So keep an eye out if you’d guys like me to draw your DA or D&D characters or OCs ;)

[sapphim]

Since everyone's been so nice about the other snippet I posted 👉👈 here are the good bits from sth else with the warden squad I wrote last year (since I might never get around to sprucing up the long and boring bits). Right after Lothering before anyone involved knows how to get along with each other so they're all kind of just standing around being assholes 🩷

—

"Not to catastrophize," Alistair says, to nobody in particular, "but when they find their way back and inform us with deep regret that they have no idea where we are or where we're going and we all die in the woods after wandering in circles for weeks, I'm going to say 'I told you so'."

"That's not going to happen."

Alistair twists around to gawk at Sten. The Qunari soldier has been standing at the outskirts of the group, stone-faced and completely unmoving—as far as Alistair can tell—since they paused their slow march through the woods.

"I think that's the first thing I've heard you say all day," he says incredulously. "Humor me. Why won't it?"

"Because in this scenario you've crafted in your mind, you'll be too dead to say 'I told you so'."

"They'll be my dying words," Alistair insists. "As I lay dying in the underbrush I'll croak, 'I told you this is exactly how it would happen, Sten,' and then I'll perish on the spot. See if I don't."

"I look forward to it," Sten says. "At least then you'll be quiet."

"It'll be a touching moment," Alistair says, settling back down into his seat at the base of a tree and staring up into the canopy, "and you'll miss me when I'm gone. You'll see."

"If it will make you feel any better," Zevran pipes up from his seat on low branch a short distance away, "if the end does come—which I very much doubt, mind, given what a capable group you have assembled here—I can swear that I will ensure you a swift and dignified death."

"Absolutely not," Alistair growls.

"My apologies," Zevran says mildly, as he has found himself doing not infrequently over the last few days since his initial ill-fated encounter with the wardens. "The offer was meant with no ill intent."

"Do not stab me."

—

"What's that?" Micah asks, pointing upward. Alistair and Rafael crane their heads to look at the rustling tree branch she's indicated.

"That, my dear, is another squirrel," Zevran says.

"Squirrel," she repeats under her breath.

"Don't have squirrels in Orzammar?" Alistair says, conversationally.

"We've got nugs," Micah says. "And moles. Mice. Deepstalkers. No squirrels."

"I guess everywhere has mice," Rafael muses.

"The one thing that unites us despite all our differences," Alistair agrees. "Mice in the larder. Hey, Sten, do Qunari have–"

"They're returning," Sten interrupts, nodding curtly in the direction of more rustling brush, where glimpses of Leliana's pale skin and vivid red hair can be caught through the trees.

The mabari crashes out of the underbrush first, panting and wiggling with an excess of excitement. A few moments later, the rest of the wayward scouts rejoin the waiting party.

"We have determined the proper course to reach our destination, and located a camp site for the night," Morrigan announces. "No need to thank us."

"And we saw the fattest squirrel I've ever seen in my life," Leliana adds cheerfully. The dog barks in agreement.

Morrigan sighs. "Yes. And—more importantly—a sight which has never before been witnessed by man nor beast. A fat squirrel. Again, no need to–"

—

"Could you tell if something is possessed by a spirit?" she asks.

The young mage twists the cuffs of his sleeves between his fingers, chewing on his lip. "I– I should be able to," he says. "Yes. I– Yes, I can do that."

"Spoken with remarkable confidence," Morrigan says dryly, earning her a reproachful glare from Alistair.

"Not all that many haunted trees in the middle of the lake, I'd think," he says.

"There was a cat, once," Rafael says, "that got possessed by a demon and went on a rampage through the tower. It killed three templars before they brought it down."

"Ah, 'tis a heartwarming tale that would bring a smile to anyone's face, would it not?"

The mabari huffs and snorts in response.

"Aw, I bet a nasty demon cat would be no match for you," Alistair says, crouching to scratch the pleased mabari vigorously behind the ears. "Isn't that right, Barkspawn? Because you're a good boy! Yes you are!"

"We weren't allowed to have cats in the tower after that," Rafael mutters in conclusion.

"Not allowed," Morrigan repeats derisively. "'Tis a wonder that anything would be allowed to begin with."

"For the mice," Rafael says glumly.

Alistair extricates himself with some effort from the wet, sloppy kisses the mabari is determined to plant all over his face. "Did you get demon mice after that?" he asks, with the gleeful tone of someone who has only just considered the possibility of demon mice and finds it funnier than they probably should.

—

As they fall into line behind the Dalish elf, Micah muses aloud to no one in particular, "So, I'm not entirely sure what a cat is."

Eydis snorts derisively. "It's a surface animal with four legs and a tail. I've been here as long as you have. How do you not know that?"

"Excuse me?" Micah snaps. "You just described every surface animal. They all have four legs and a tail. Or they're birds."

"It's got fur."

"They've all got fur. You're just describing the dog."

The dog in question barks.

"Smaller than the dog. And with a fluffy tail."

"That's squirrels."

"Bigger than squirrels," Eydis huffs. "They were all over the human settlements. Pay more attention next time, brand."

"Watch it, salroka," Micah growls.

"Perhaps I could draw some pictures tonight," Leliana says appeasingly.

"Perhaps you should write a song in memory of the princess, in case I finally kill her tonight."

"Don't be so sensitive," Eydis chastises.

"I've been lead to understand that we are all strictly forbidden from killing each other here," Zevran interrupts cheerfully, "or is that just me?"

"Do not stab me," Alistair repeats.

"I swear on my life," Zevran says, "I will make no attempt to harm you unless I am paid a great deal more coin and I have reason to understand that forsaking your company would be to my overall benefit. Neither of which I forsee happening in the middle of a haunted forest. Perhaps that may set your mind at ease?"

"That doesn't set my mind at ease! Why would that make me feel better?"

"Because I am being extremely honest right now," Zevran says. "Unless you would prefer I lie?"

"I would not."

"Nobody is killing anybody," Leliana says.

"Only a fool would do the work of his enemy for him," Sten says.

"Oh! That's very wise, Sten."

"It is not. It's common sense."

[sapphim]

Another multiwarden worldstate post. Previously on! Duncan conscripted Rafael at Kinloch Hold and the two of them made for Orzammar where the other wardens, Alistair included, await Duncan's arrival.

It's about a (here I take some time to squint wearily at my old-ass travel time spreadsheets before giving up) fuck it, I dunno, it's about a ~several days~ trip from the shores of Lake Calenhad up through Gherlen's Pass to the gates of Orzammar, and since Rafael was up all night in the escape attempt and since Duncan had to drag him out of the Tower in the wee hours of the morning, and since he does not sleep well out on the road in the elements, he's absolutely dead on his feet for a few days.

They finally arrive (and Rafael is able to collapse in a bed in their spacious Diamond Quarter accommodations, thank the Maker) and find that Orzammar is making a big deal of their arrival, with a week's worth of Provings and other festivities on the docket before a joint venture into the Deep Roads. Several concurrent ventures, to be more precise, one of which will be lead by the ruling family's second child and only daughter.

Raf'll have his tits blown clean off with culture shock once he wakes up.

Proving Loyalties

Micah [Brosca], in her late 40s or early 50s, is Kalah's elder sister and Rica's aunt. She's been working for the Carta her whole life (while taking care of first her and Kalah's ailing parents and then, after that, her nieces). Her role in the Carta is as something of a fixer. She's smart, experienced, and can be trusted to operate under her own agency. She'd be on a level akin to Jarvia, if Beraht and Jarvia didn't kind of fucking hate her (and the dislike is entirely mutual).

With Rica beginning to work as a noble hunter and her youngest niece of a teenaged age where she too is looking into picking up Carta work, Micah is starting to worry for them. The girls are good and bright and want to contribute to the household and take some of the weight off of Micah's shoulders, but Micah doesn't want them to feel pressured into the sort of life that she's had to lead.

Her latest ongoing job has put her in charge of rigging the Provings for the Carta. In the process, she's been investing her own earnings, with an eye toward building a nest egg which would allow her to retire and still see the girls provided for. Jarvia catches wind of this and, taking offense and feeling threatened, sabotages her operation, forcing Micah into fighting in the provings herself to maintain the grift.

Quite dangerously for her, the Princess Aeducan has quite a penchant for battling in the Provings herself, and the bracket pits Micah against her. Micah DOES knock her flat on her ass. This might actually have saved her, in the end. When Micah's identity is revealed a few fights down the line, the powers that be see it prudent to sweep her under the rug rather than see her publically executed and draw further attention to the ignomious spectacle of a duster defeating a royal in combat, and so she is instead turned over to the Carta to quietly dispose of.

She, of course, refuses to go down quietly, and in the aftermath of her escape, Duncan steps in to recruit her. This is reluctantly allowed under the condition that the Wardens take her and leave the city IMMEDIATELY and not return.

The Wardens' preparations have all been made and Duncan wasn't too hot on the idea of wasting more time than necessary when a literal Blight is starting so he's like, okay, see ya, and they go ahead and head into the Deep Roads ahead of schedule. Damn. Sorry Raf in particular. The Deep Roads are definitely the wrong kind of culture shock for a baby mage fresh out of the Circle who just discovered the concept of parties.

So they go to make contact with the Legion of the Dead. But right before they go they send word ahead to Highever to update them on their timeline because, guess who also wants to host a Tournament in honor of the Wardens~~ A literal Blight is starting and everyone wants to throw parties, goddamn.

My first playthrough with an (intentional) Alistair romance, I happened to trigger Alistair's love confession with the rose when the party was standing around in the Deep Roads absolutely caked in darkspawn blood, and it was so funny that I'll never, ever let him live it down. So Alistair speedruns his bisexual awakening by falling head over heels in infatuation with Rafael immediately after meeting him while they're all fighting desperately for their lives in dank tunnels underground. Really, Alistair? Really. That's my son and he's a fucking mess, god bless.

A Noble Expedition

The festivities continue unabated but now they're all for the glory of Royal House Aeducan yay~~ Eydis Aeducan (late 20s) is, a huge bitch! High on her own farts, and absolutely fuming after the Proving situation. Let's just say that if Bhelen hadn't beat her to Trian and framed her for his death, she might very well have killed him herself. She strongly considered it, anyway. She's pompous and ruthless and very well acclimated to the bloodthirsty game of Orzammar politics.

Aeducan Thaig is, I don't want to pull up the spreadsheet again, it's not far, it's a couple days round trip, especially since they already sent the shitkickers in ahead of time to clear the way, and her triumphant return will kick off the final evening of glorious festivities. She's not about it. She doesn't want ~parties~, she wants to show up her shitheel brothers, secure her place as future Queen of Orzammar, and engage in w4w (warrior4warrior) fingering in the hot springs, in that order.

When she's exiled into the Deep Roads, she knows her only remote chances for survival are to either find and join the Legion of the Dead or find an exit to the surface, so she makes for the latter, based on her memory of the maps she studied prior to her expedition. This sets her on a converging path with the Wardens, who have wrapped up their business in the Deep Roads (Blight's started!) and are making their own way out, and she begrudgingly presents herself for recruitment. She's not hot on the idea but she's also not going to tag along in their wake for safety like some charity case, and she certainly can't go back to Orzammar. It's not like any of her other options on the (blech!) surface will be any better. And besides, she's a real catch.

When they do reach the surface it does take a gentle amount of time to coax the dwarves out under the open sky (it will be another week at the very least before a still seething Eydis even deigns to so much as look at Micah). Meanwhile Alistair and Rafael immediately collapse in the grass in open relief that they're not in some awful fucking darkspawn infested tunnels anymore. They're crying a little bit but in a very adult and manly way, it's fine.

Next up! A tourney at Highever, a wedding in Denerim, and a mystery in the Brecilian.

[sapphim]

at some point while the wardens are on the road, eydis is GOING to demand a rematch with micah, as she can only simmer in open resentment about micah kicking her ass in the provings for so long before she will decide to try to make her dead, and that is certainly going to be explosive

[sapphim]

the thing about micah brosca is that she is so fat and old and butch and gay, and that is something that can truly be so sexy

[sapphim]

character directory ☆

↳ see also: Characters (out of date)

☆ tags

#oc blab

#worldstate writeup

☆ origins

↳ canon wardens

Eydis Aeducan ← Queen of Orzammar

Micah Brosca

Sulina Mahariel ← Warden-Commander

Rafael [Surana]

Zoraida Tabris

↳ canon non-wardens

Spiro Amell

Gwendolen Cousland ← Queen of Ferelden

Rowan [Surana]

↳ non-canon wardens

Rozi Brosca

☆ exodus

↳ canon hawke

Tabitha Hawke ← Champion of Kirkwall

↳ non-canon hawke

Juniper Hawke

☆ inquisition

Kataara Adaar ← Inquisitor

Vaati Adaar

Rumour Cadash

Shirae Lavellan

Alden Trevelyan ← Herald of Andraste

Amelia Trevelyan

Nola Trevelyan

Ellaran Andrale

☆ mass effect

Casper Ryder ← Pathfinder

Polaris Ryder

Roxene Shepard ← Spectre

☆ tabletop

#ttrpgposting

Aurynn ← DnD5e, bladesinger

Gene Hecklinger ← Lancer, biohacker, callsign Echo

Jannike Rakankrak ← DnD5e, cleric of Umberlee

Vaughan van Shellsing ← PF2e, crabby old man yells at clouds

Verity ← DnD5e, tiefling con artist

[sapphim]

Previously on multiwarden worldstate! The call was sent out across Ferelden to prepare for battle in Ostagar. Duncan returned to Ostagar with two more warden recruits in tow, then immediately wandered off into the forest and returned with a third. That’s six total! Great job, man. He’s now run out of excuses to avoid getting dragged into arguments with Loghain and Cailan.

Somewhere in the Bannorn are a weary and wounded Gwendolen Cousland, Eleanor, Oren, and their mabari Dane, having just escaped Howe’s coup.

Tainted Blood

Alistair, Rafael, Micah, and Eydis have been traveling together for some time now (I’m not digging out the spreadsheets again. I’m not. I’m not.) and have gotten to know each other well enough. Eydis Aeducan is, well, she’s rude, entitled, overbearing, and not here to make friends. Micah [Brosca] is more even keeled, though not by any means a pushover. She and Eydis have been circling each other, testing the waters without really getting into it about their mutual distaste for each other. Raf and Alistair are of a similar age to Micah's nieces, and it's possible that she is now their butch aunt as well. Rafael [Surana], while homesick and grieving the betrayal of a life he can never return to, has also experienced far more of life in the last few weeks than he ever expected to, and has kind of been having a blast despite himself (Deep Roads excluded). Alistair’s nursing a stupid gay little crush on him, and they’re developing a good, if shy, rapport.

Jory and Daveth were on the road with the group about a week, from Denerim to Ostagar. Haven’t fought together for their lives in the Deep Roads or anything, but they’ve got a handle on them. Sulina Mahariel is a complete unknown. Duncan just appeared out of nowhere one day with the Dalish elf, and she’s quiet, sullen, and withdrawn, typically rebuffing any efforts to connect with a blank stare or shake of the head. They’re not all 100% sure at first she’s fluent in the trade tongue? (She is, although her particular dialect *is* more distant from the standard Orzammar and Fereldan dialects than they are from each other.)

Alistair only has to lead Jory, Daveth, and Sulina into the Wilds to collect darkspawn blood, since the other recruits have been hazed thoroughly enough in the Deep Roads already.

We’re gonna speedrun thru some sections I don’t particularly have a lot to say about. Alistair and Sulina meet Morrigan in the Wilds; the recruits undergo the Joining, and are assigned to light the beacon at the Tower of Ishal; the army is routed; Flemeth swoops in and yoinks five whole wardens back to her hut, which must have been a pretty impressive feat; Morrigan joins the party and they head to Lothering, where they also meet Leliana and Sten, and Bodahn and Sandal. On the way, they find a dog!

(The mabari never ends up being given a proper name, per se. Everyone just calls him whatever they want and expect him to figure out when he is being addressed which, to be fair, he does admirably. Dog, That Damn Dog, Good Boy, Goodest Boy, Smelly Bastard, Hey You!, etc. Alistair elects to call him Barkspawn. Sulina usually opts for Fen (wolf) or, more often, Da'fen (wolf (diminutive (affectionate))).)

Lothering and the Imperial Highway

Once they actually have to start making decisions, what will become very clear is that Eydis and Sulina are far more forcefully opinionated than Alistair or Rafael, and the two will quickly take the lead in attempting to dictate the party’s course of action, with Micah acting almost as referee. Eydis and Sulina do not remotely get along at first. Eydis is a bully and does not handle pushback gracefully. Sulina will start to open up more to the others as they work and travel together, but her primary mode of behavior remains to silently watch and observe a situation until she’s made up her mind, and then immediately begin to act upon it. She’s not one for mincing words or explaining herself, particularly early on. Micah will find herself at her wits end trying to wrangle the younger wardens into behaving more cooperatively. They'll ease into it... eventually.

From Lothering they can choose to go to Redcliffe (at Alistair’s suggestion), to Orzammar, to Kinloch Hold, or to the Dalish. This first decision is easy enough. Eydis, Micah, and Rafael aren’t terribly eager to return to their old homes from which they were just emphatically evicted on pain of vicious reprisal (Eydis WILL want to return to Orzammar to kick Bhelen’s shit in eventually, but she’s holding no cards at the moment and she’s willing to bide her time and gather power where she can), and Sulina, knowing that Clan Sabrae has already packed up and left to avoid the Blight, and knowing that there is another Dalish clan somewhere in the Brecilian farther north and east of where they were camped, presses the party to attempt to make contact before they too decide to pick up and move.

Recovering at Flemeth’s Hut and making their way through the Wilds to Lothering was not immediate. There was plenty of time for people to begin to settle in at Lothering and for news and rumors to spread. Gwendolen and family arrived at Lothering at around the same time as the very first early deserters from Ostagar, though it took some time to gather a clearer picture of what transpired. They picked up and left to petition Eamon for shelter at Redcliffe early on, fearing that Lothering would not be a secure place to avoid detection from Howe’s men. They’re long gone by the time the wardens arrive in Lothering.

Howe himself was proactive in placing a hit on any Wardens who may have survived the battle. The Crows, heading south along the Imperial Highway from Denerim, track the wandering Warden party to where they are heading north along the same road, along the edge of the Brecilian Forest.

[sapphim]

updated to reflect the current worldstate with micah brosca and zoraida tabris uwu

Multiwarden worldstate returns. Previously on! Orzammar tried to host the Wardens for a party and instead Duncan scooped up the two most infamous dwarves in the city and bounced. So, Duncan’s week has been pretty mixed. On the one hand, the Blight has definitely started, so that’s not great. On the other hand, potential warden recruits in extreme duress keep falling directly into his lap, so that’s fun. Rafael and Eydis are hands-down having the worst week of their lives so far, and it certainly ranks high for Micah as well.

But now they’re going to be honored guests at a tournament hosted in Highever so, that will be better, probably. Assuming Duncan doesn’t get them escorted out early like he did last time.

Howe Treachery

Gwendolen Elethea Cousland (mid-late 20s) is the only daughter of Teyrn Bryce and Eleanor Cousland, although in a lot of ways she’s more like their second son. She’s also been training as a warrior alongside her brother and the Teyrnir’s knights since she was old enough to swing a wooden sword around. (These two thoughts are not as related as they might seem—the Ferelden Rebellion only enhanced the already egalitarian tendencies of Fereldan people, and the Mac Enraigs breed em particularly tough. Hitting young knights with swords would be accepted as perfectly girlish behavior.)

The rest of the Wardens’ travels are fairly uneventful. Fergus and Gwen Cousland put on a very strong showing in the tournament, as does Ser Roland Gilmore. Duncan is obviously not going to recruit an important member of the household of his noble hosts (so long as they remain in good standing, anyway; Eydis was free real estate), and after a brief but pleasant stay they make leave for Denerim, now with new recruit Ser Jory in tow.

On their way out of the city the morning after the tournament, they encounter an elven wedding party perparing to make their own way to Denerim, and the Wardens offer to travel with them as an escort for safety on the road. Their offer is accepted enthusiastically, as it is Extremely Cool.

While the Wardens are on the road, King Cailan sends out the call for his nobles to muster their forces and join him in Ostagar to prepare for battle. Duncan will receive word of this in a few days once they arrive in Denerim.

(We know how this ends, right? It’s in the section title. Fergus Cousland leads their people south to Ostagar and then Rendon Howe’s people begin systematically slaughtering everyone remaining in the estate.

(Gwen and Eleanor manage to intervene to save Oren in the nick of time, but not Oriana or Bryce. Eleanor’s not about to abandon her child and grandchild to certain death, and the pair manage to sneak a particularly traumatized Oren out to safety. They make haste for Ostagar to bring the terrible news to Fergus and the King, but they won’t arrive before the army is routed. They’ll instead find refuge at Castle Redcliffe while they plan their next move.)

A Day For Celebration

Zoraida [Tabris] is in her 60s. She and her wife, Anneth, now deceased, had a child together, Adaia. (Zora transitioned as an adult, after her marriage.) She's a seasoned archer and a veteran of the Ferelden rebellion against the Orlesian occupation, having fought in the Night Elves under the command of Loghain Mac Tir while in her 30s.

Later in life, after the death of her wife, Zora moved to Denerim to live with Adaia and her son-in-law Cyrion. Adaia and Cyrion had been unable to conceive, but raised Soris and Shianni from a young age after the deaths of their parents. Zoraida is a valued member of the community, being an excellent hunter (and willful enough to break the law to do so) and having picked up many medical first aid skills during the rebellion.

Upon arrival in Denerim, Duncan gives the wardens and recruits the rest of the day to do as they please while he visits the alienage to touch base with old friends Valdendrian and Zoraida. Unfortunately, he can't stay long, as the Wardens must head out early the next morning to respond to the King's call to arms.

Duncan’s final recruit is Daveth, who gets dragged along by his sticky fingers as the now quite large traveling party makes haste back to Ostagar. It’s not a bad haul! A mage, a carta duster, a dwarven princess, a knight, and a cutpurse. Better still, Rafael, Micah, and Eydis have already completed their initiation by collecting their vials of darkspawn blood in the Deep Roads.

(Not long after Duncan's departure, an incident in the alienage drives Zoraida Tabris and several young elves in the alienage to blows with Vaughan Kendells in defense of their peers, and she kills the man. In an effort to spare the younger elves from harsh reprisal for their actions, she smuggles some of them out of the alienage and into the woods south of Denerim. They find and take refuge with a Dalish clan, but what was meant to be only a temporary stay grows long as their departure is prevented by werewolves harrying the clan.)

Back in Ostagar, Duncan leaves the recruits to settle in while he gets himself up to speed on everything he’s missed during his lengthy trip. Warden scouts have made note of unusual activity that seems to originate near the edge of the Brecilian Forest where it meets the Korcari Wastes. While the Fereldan armies gather and make preparations for battle, Duncan decides to investigate this himself. (He’s only just returned and he’s already tired of arguments with Loghain and Cailan.)

The Lost Mysteries of the Ancients

Sulina Mahariel Sabrae and Tamlen (early-mid 20s) are two halves of the same person, and that person is, let’s be honest, a menace. Young Dalish hunters are supposed to sneak off into the woods to, like, do normal stuff, like get high or have sex (tbf they, along with Merrill and Fenarel, do those things too.) They’re not supposed to go touching things in ancient ruins unsupervised. Don’t ask why they were touching things in ancient ruins. The Hahrens are tired of asking why they do things.

Eluvian goes boom and from that point things play out as they do in game, Duncan destroying the tainted eluvian and escorting a rapidly deteriorating Sulina back to Ostagar to save her life by putting her through the Joining, while the rest of the Clan mournfully packs up and flees the oncoming Blight.

Next up! The Joining and the rout at Ostagar, and the aftermath in which the party will actually have to figure out how to function as a group.

[sapphim]

I've started rewriting my writeups to reflect the recent changes to my multiwarden worldstate (replacing rozi brosca with micah and introducing zora tabris). first up! this post has now been rewritten to reflect micah's recruitment

Another multiwarden worldstate post. Previously on! Duncan conscripted Rafael at Kinloch Hold and the two of them made for Orzammar where the other wardens, Alistair included, await Duncan's arrival.

It's about a (here I take some time to squint wearily at my old-ass travel time spreadsheets before giving up) fuck it, I dunno, it's about a ~several days~ trip from the shores of Lake Calenhad up through Gherlen's Pass to the gates of Orzammar, and since Rafael was up all night in the escape attempt and since Duncan had to drag him out of the Tower in the wee hours of the morning, and since he does not sleep well out on the road in the elements, he's absolutely dead on his feet for a few days.

They finally arrive (and Rafael is able to collapse in a bed in their spacious Diamond Quarter accommodations, thank the Maker) and find that Orzammar is making a big deal of their arrival, with a week's worth of Provings and other festivities on the docket before a joint venture into the Deep Roads. Several concurrent ventures, to be more precise, one of which will be lead by the ruling family's second child and only daughter.

Raf'll have his tits blown clean off with culture shock once he wakes up.

Proving Loyalties

Micah [Brosca], in her late 40s or early 50s, is Kalah's elder sister and Rica's aunt. She's been working for the Carta her whole life (while taking care of first her and Kalah's ailing parents and then, after that, her nieces). Her role in the Carta is as something of a fixer. She's smart, experienced, and can be trusted to operate under her own agency. She'd be on a level akin to Jarvia, if Beraht and Jarvia didn't kind of fucking hate her (and the dislike is entirely mutual).

With Rica beginning to work as a noble hunter and her youngest niece of a teenaged age where she too is looking into picking up Carta work, Micah is starting to worry for them. The girls are good and bright and want to contribute to the household and take some of the weight off of Micah's shoulders, but Micah doesn't want them to feel pressured into the sort of life that she's had to lead.

Her latest ongoing job has put her in charge of rigging the Provings for the Carta. In the process, she's been investing her own earnings, with an eye toward building a nest egg which would allow her to retire and still see the girls provided for. Jarvia catches wind of this and, taking offense and feeling threatened, sabotages her operation, forcing Micah into fighting in the provings herself to maintain the grift.

Quite dangerously for her, the Princess Aeducan has quite a penchant for battling in the Provings herself, and the bracket pits Micah against her. Micah DOES knock her flat on her ass. This might actually have saved her, in the end. When Micah's identity is revealed a few fights down the line, the powers that be see it prudent to sweep her under the rug rather than see her publically executed and draw further attention to the ignomious spectacle of a duster defeating a royal in combat, and so she is instead turned over to the Carta to quietly dispose of.

She, of course, refuses to go down quietly, and in the aftermath of her escape, Duncan steps in to recruit her. This is reluctantly allowed under the condition that the Wardens take her and leave the city IMMEDIATELY and not return.

The Wardens' preparations have all been made and Duncan wasn't too hot on the idea of wasting more time than necessary when a literal Blight is starting so he's like, okay, see ya, and they go ahead and head into the Deep Roads ahead of schedule. Damn. Sorry Raf in particular. The Deep Roads are definitely the wrong kind of culture shock for a baby mage fresh out of the Circle who just discovered the concept of parties.

So they go to make contact with the Legion of the Dead. But right before they go they send word ahead to Highever to update them on their timeline because, guess who also wants to host a Tournament in honor of the Wardens~~ A literal Blight is starting and everyone wants to throw parties, goddamn.

My first playthrough with an (intentional) Alistair romance, I happened to trigger Alistair's love confession with the rose when the party was standing around in the Deep Roads absolutely caked in darkspawn blood, and it was so funny that I'll never, ever let him live it down. So Alistair speedruns his bisexual awakening by falling head over heels in infatuation with Rafael immediately after meeting him while they're all fighting desperately for their lives in dank tunnels underground. Really, Alistair? Really. That's my son and he's a fucking mess, god bless.

A Noble Expedition

The festivities continue unabated but now they're all for the glory of Royal House Aeducan yay~~ Eydis Aeducan (late 20s) is, a huge bitch! High on her own farts, and absolutely fuming after the Proving situation. Let's just say that if Bhelen hadn't beat her to Trian and framed her for his death, she might very well have killed him herself. She strongly considered it, anyway. She's pompous and ruthless and very well acclimated to the bloodthirsty game of Orzammar politics.

Aeducan Thaig is, I don't want to pull up the spreadsheet again, it's not far, it's a couple days round trip, especially since they already sent the shitkickers in ahead of time to clear the way, and her triumphant return will kick off the final evening of glorious festivities. She's not about it. She doesn't want ~parties~, she wants to show up her shitheel brothers, secure her place as future Queen of Orzammar, and engage in w4w (warrior4warrior) fingering in the hot springs, in that order.

When she's exiled into the Deep Roads, she knows her only remote chances for survival are to either find and join the Legion of the Dead or find an exit to the surface, so she makes for the latter, based on her memory of the maps she studied prior to her expedition. This sets her on a converging path with the Wardens, who have wrapped up their business in the Deep Roads (Blight's started!) and are making their own way out, and she begrudgingly presents herself for recruitment. She's not hot on the idea but she's also not going to tag along in their wake for safety like some charity case, and she certainly can't go back to Orzammar. It's not like any of her other options on the (blech!) surface will be any better. And besides, she's a real catch.

When they do reach the surface it does take a gentle amount of time to coax the dwarves out under the open sky (it will be another week at the very least before a still seething Eydis even deigns to so much as look at Micah). Meanwhile Alistair and Rafael immediately collapse in the grass in open relief that they're not in some awful fucking darkspawn infested tunnels anymore. They're crying a little bit but in a very adult and manly way, it's fine.

Next up! A tourney at Highever and a mystery in the Brecilian.