#micah brosca

[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.

[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]

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.