#not hero of kirkwall hawkes but hawke cousins

[thornaelle]

Half-brothers Bryn Hawke-Sabrae and Darius Hawke commissioned by @factorykat as a gift for a friend they RP with!

[vigilskeep]

I know Anders is already romanceable in 2 but I feel like it's extra funny to consider the possibility of him having a Thing with a warden-commander Amell and then moving to kirkwall and subsequently being swept off his feet by Hawke only to realize later that Hawke and Amell are, in fact, related

hawke: so long story short we’re breaking into the amell estate later are you coming

anders internal sighing already knowing he is going to say yes to whatever nonsense hawke asks him to do because he is apparently this easy: ye—wait. the WHAT estate

hawke: the amell estate? it was my grandfather’s

anders: amell? like... the hero of ferelden, amell?

hawke: oh! yeah they’re my second cousin

anders: ...

hawke: um are you—

justice: anders is taking a leave of absence can i help you

[bloodycyrano]

So.. In most videogames, you have the "journal" where you keep codices, quests, character details.. Etc. So here are some of my personal journal-keeping troupes for various videogame MCs!

Dark urge, BG3-

Memory issues. They want to keep a record of everything while it's still fresh in their head.. As someone who struggles with a lot of short term memory loss, and has blocked out a lot of my childhood due to various traumas, I understand a lot of the fear and panic that comes with not remembering things. Not to mention the severe head trauma Orin caused to Durge, they'd probably continue to have memory problems throughout the rest of their life, even after the whole ordeal with the netherbrain.

The Warden, Dragon age: Origins-

I feel like someone gave the Warden an empty journal before they left with Duncan.. For my personal playthrough, I believe it was Hahren Paivel, elder of clan Sabrae. He was far from a mentor, but he was there when my Warden was born. He watched her learn and grow among her cousins, Merrill and Tamlen. He watched them play, and fight. He watched her rival with her best friend, and he watched her get hurt, and leave. Judged her actions no more than he praised her victories.. She had always been so invested in their stories, and learning about their culture. And while Paivel had never had such a respectful child, willing to listen and learn.. He also had never seen one so stuck in a past that they had barely lived themselves. I feel like Paivel wanted her to focus on making new stories of the dalish, and record her own adventures, rather than simply mourning being away from home.

Rhen, Aveyond 1-

I feel like she always kept a journal, but wanted to record everything even more after she was kidnapped. After all, it all started with her trying to find a way home, rather than anything else. I feel like she wanted to record a diary, in case she died, so that her parents would know what happened. Or perhaps, as an optimist, she wanted to keep it so she could show everyone back at Clearwater when she finally returned home. To tell stories of her adventures.

Hawke, da2-

Firm belief that Hawke didn't keep a journal. Ever. Their bestie Varric wrote his book about the hero of kirkwall, and Hawke wrote sassy commentary in the margins.

The inquisitor, DAI-

I feel like the inquisitor is just a massive fucking nerd at heart, and would definitely go on a lecture style rant every half hour if they weren't so goddamn stressed and tired all the time. I headcannon that my personal inquisitor used to work at the Black emporium, acquiring various old relics and shit for the job because they genuinely just loved learning about things, so they record and catalog everything.

Darc and Kharg, Arc the lad: twilight of the spirits-

Darc doesn't keep a journal, he's too much for that. Always in a rush for the next step, hot blooded and ambitious. Plus, he's traumatized and doesn't want to remember shit.- I feel like if anyone in his group kept a journal, it would probably be Volk- But not just any journal. He would probably use one that his wife or children kept before they had died. One that smells like his family. Maybe he feels like he's carrying on a pass time they enjoyed, and puts aside his desire for revenge for the night just to feel close to his family again before bed.

Kharg on the other hand is such a flamboyant little princess who thinks everything he does is important that I wholeheartedly believe he would keep a journal just because he thinks people are going to care enough to read it in a library one day. Bro is so full of himself that it's actually insane. Fuck you, Kharg.

[jibberjibbsart]

Could you tell us more about Duncan?

Bestie I apologize for only getting to your ask now, but I am happy to talk about Duncan! (For those unfamiliar with Duncan, he is my Warden Velta and Alistair Theirin's son from Dragon Age!)

I imagine Velta was pregnant soon after defeating Urthemiel and before the events of Awakening (I am aware the DLC takes place six months after the end of DAO but for my Worldstate it's a year after!). Duncan and Kieran did not grow up together, but they know of each other's existence and that they're half-brothers. Anytime they interacted as kids, they didn't get along.

Duncan grew up in Dererim with Alistair since Velta was traveling around Thedas, reestablishing the Grey Wardens. Those close to Alistair know Duncan is his son but to the public, Velta is his mother and his father is "unknown" (Although most had their suspicions). Anora was pregnant with Cailen's child during the events of Origins, and Celia is born before Duncan. While she and Duncan are cousins, she treats him like her feisty younger brother. Celia does not know about Kieran.

When Duncan turns ten, his mother mysteriously vanishes and the mage and templar war begins. At this time his magical abilities manifest and Alistair fears for his son's life. When Alistair is invited to Skyhold to discuss the issue with the Wardens at Adamant, he brings Duncan along, hoping he will be protected from the war.

While at Skyhold, Duncan meets Hawke (second cousin) and Inquisitor Pana'thal (second cousin). Everyone in Skyhold dotes on Duncan and he loves spending time with his extended relatives. Hawke tells Duncan stories about Velta when the two of them were younger, and Pana'thal teaches him about his Dalish heritage. After the events of Adamant, Alistair is called back to Denerim for his kingly duties. With the revelation at Adamant and the threat of Corypheus, Alistair asks Hawke to take Duncan to Weisshaupt. Duncan protests but Alistair tells him he'll be safe and that Hawke can teach him more about magic than he ever could. Hawke agrees and he takes Duncan to Weisshaupt.

After the events of Inquisition, Hawke takes Duncan to Kirkwall. They meet up with Varric and while Kirkwall used to be a hell hole for mages, things are gradually getting better. Duncan trains with Hawke and learns to be a battle mage. He also learns how to use a sword thanks to Fenris ("He shouldn't always rely on magic you know").

I don't have all the details leading up to Veilguard honed out yet because I'm not sure of the background available for Rook, but roughly Duncan ends up going to Fenris to Tevinter to help out some elven slaves and there he learns about the Shadow Dragons. He's inspired and this leads him to join the faction.

Sorry this post is so long, but I'm very excited for Veilguard and I've been thinking a lot about Duncan! I still haven't decided his personality, but being the son of The King and the Hero of Ferelden, and cousin to the Champion of Kirkwall and the Inquisitor, I imagine he's incredibly arrogant but it's a mask for his insecurity. I mean, how do you live up to the literal heroes of Thedas???

[cybershock24601]

Rook's personality is definitely reminiscent of Hawke's which is probably why Varric picked them but my personal Crypt Baby Rook lore is that Rook is in fact Hawke's second cousin once removed that was left in the Necropolis by Amell's sister who was on the run from the Templars after fleeing the circle when she found out she was pregnant in hopes of being able to raise her child in a place that didn't inherently fear magic only to be caught and cornered with her only solace being she managed to get her baby somewhere that they wouldn't be reviled for being a mage. Though the dead were certainly confused about why there was a newborn baby chilling in the Necropolis.

Rook will never know who her mother was or what happened to her but also an incredibly funny cosmic coincidence that Amell women (almost) always happen to be at the scene of the crime when Thedas is in trouble considering Rook is the Hero of Ferelden's niece and the Champion of Kirkwall's second cousin (once removed).

It's also my headcanon on why Morrigan was so sure Rook was going to be the hero the world needed because she took one look at Rook, went "that's an Amell alright" (because Rook is almost the spitting image of the HoF) and Morrigan knew the world was going to be in good, if irreverent, hands.

[thetapirsarehyperfixating]

hi! first time making an original post in like years. anyways

this is my canon timeline for dragon age, written out in prep for veilguard's release :> larger versions of the busts, plus assorted rambling, below the cut.

eventually, i am probably going to cave and post some stuff about these bastards on ao3 - if you are interested, this is where to look: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tapir_boy/works

SARRELAN TABRIS: as im writing this post my partner looked over, saw sarrelan, and went "thats my fuckign WIFE". so shes highly reviewed

Sarrelan is the Warden-Commander and Hero of Ferelden, the woman who killed the Archdemon, ended the Fifth Blight, Arlessa of Amaranthine, and winner of Vigil's Keep's Biggest Bitch award twenty-two years and counting. she is full to the brim with autism, which is part of the reason she looks so. mad. all of the time. she doesn't mean to, she just does not Emote well and so comes off as being more aggressive than she actually is. now don't get her wrong, she is also full of rage and kind of jumps to violence as a first resort, but she is capable of listening to people and generally does like people, like she thinks good people deserve things and wants to give them good things. she just never looks like she does.

she's got kind of an immediate bond with Alistair, something to be said about him being basically the first human man who's ever treated her with respect and actually listened to her when she takes control of a situation. ive seen interesting commentary out there about how alistair immediately turns control of the situation over to the HoF and how that can be really disorienting/frustrating/upsetting for some characters, but its kind of the opposite for sarrelan. shes had almost two decades of experience getting into shit with her cousins, shes used to taking charge and she likes having that control, and its a relief that alistair doesn't try to fight her on it.

zevran is a little more rough-going to start as they're both very different people - zevran is used to reading more into people's body language, and sarrelan's body language is very disassociated from her actual emotions, so he does spend a good while thinking he's in like Imminent Danger while sarrelan's in the corner trying to figure out if she actually Likes this guy flirting with her. (she does).

zevran semi-accidentially insinuates himself in alistair and sarrelan's relationship right after it starts, half-jokingly offering to have a threesome to help them both get over their nerves of losing their virginity, and then oops oh no they all caught feelings and no one knows how to deal with it. they only figure their shit out a few days before the battle of denerim and it's as sarrelan is On Top of the archdemon, getting ready to kill it, still unsure if Morrigan's ritual will work and if she'll even survive this, that she's able to tell them she loves them.

zevran's earring is the only piercing she has, and she treasures it greatly. she's a two handed warrior and has a sword bigger than herself. shes also gone 1v1 with an orge alpha and survived. canonically. id say i have video proof but i dont. just trust me bro

(TW FOR SA, NOT GRAPHICALLY DESCRIBED)

CONNOR HAWKE: local man made of 20 different types of trauma in a cool chestplate

connor is actually adopted into the hawke family! long story short, he was born in kirkwall and was taken to the circle there, and only left because his enchanters conspired to smuggle him out after one of the templars assaulted him. he fled to ferelden where he came across the hawke family, who took him and his daughter in and helped him fake a new identity with them. he's not happy to be back in kirkwall, but the city is a part of him whether he likes it or not - it's eating him alive but without it, he doesn't feel like himself. he's a very dedicated and loyal person, usually to his detriment, but he feels like he can't keep running from the threat of the templars anymore, he has to do something to fix this makerdamned city now.

(TW IS OVER)

he's got Something going on with the whole kirkwall crew, it just never really expands into anything for years because he's basically married to the job. but his life has been intertwined with these people's since he met them, and at a certain point all of those feelings mesh together and he's sitting there at wicked grace night and realizes he might be In Love with all of them, and then he has to make a hasty exit before he has a complete and total breakdown over it. during the timespan of DA2, anders is really the only person he has a romantic relationship with, because justice is getting tired of anders holding himself back from maybe the one other man in kirkwall who would support him no matter what, and kisses connor like the day before he has to leave on a longer quest to the sundermount. connor makes them discuss their feelings afterwards and they end up figuring it out, although the rest of the kirkcule are like. still fucking each other and are by no means exclusive at this point. the rest of them just never talk about it, because things go downhill in act 2 FAST. like, within a month he loses his mother, almost gets dragged back to the circle, has to fake his daughter's death, completely destroys his relationship with carver, and almost dies fighting the arishok.

the connor hawke of reality and the Champion of Kirkwall that gets immortalized by varric are two very different people - basically by the time that connor gets the name of Champion, he's already been working on maintaining a public persona that he just calls Hawke, and after everything with his daughter being sent away, he never lets that mask down again. he really considers Hawke to be a completely different person to Connor, and varric tries to help cement that difference in the Tale of the Champion. Hawke's story is that he was always Ferelden, his daughter was adopted and really did die, and he had no idea anders was getting so radical until the moment the chantry exploded - connor's story is that from the moment he sent Lila away, he was planning to find some way to take down Meredith.

he and anders spend a lot of time inbetween acts 2-3 trying to figure out more peaceful ways to address the chantry and bring some - any - oversight to the circles, but when all of that fails, they finally resort to plan dynamite. when all is said and done, they go to amaranthine to be reunited with lila, and then go on the run trying to help the mages break out of the circles and evade the templars. when he hears that varric was kidnapped by cassandra and that she's looking for him to speak at the conclave, he sees it as an opportunity to make a case for the rebel mages, and goes despite all the warnings not to. he survives in the fade up until the questline where the Herald goes into the fade, finds him alive, and drags him back home to see his daughter again. then he stays in skyhold to basically act as an advisor to her, and when the rest of the kirkcule get their hands on him, it kind of spurs him on to finally address his relationship to the rest of them.

connor is a force mage by default, but given how long he spent in Ferelden living on the run from the templars, he mastered both casting without a staff and fighting without magic. he's both tall and strong, but he manages to avoid scaring people off through sheer Dad energy.

LILA HAWKE: hey look theres that daughter we've been talking about

Lila is very much her father's daughter, but she doesn't have his same talent for acting calm or friendly, if she doesn't like you she Will tell you to your face and she will not work with you. (cullen.) after hawke's "death" at the conclave, she kind of becomes the defacto leader of the rebel mages, which is definitely a normal amount of responsibility for a twenty-one year old struggling with ongoing mental health issues and overwhelming grief to handle. shes doing great

(slight detour: to address some of the weirdness with DAI's timelines im having there be basically 3 factions of mages in the rebellion: the Circle mages, who want to remain under the circles with the exact same setup as before; the College mages, who like the idea of having their own spaces and want some oversight, but also some oversight of the oversight to address the rampant abuses of powers; and the Hawkes, the rebel mages who want no circles and no templars and the ability to live their lives in the same communities as non-mages. the Circle mages mostly look to Vivienne for leadership, the College mages are rallied behind Fiona, and the Hawkes were roaming the continent with Connor, now working loosely with the Inquisition with Lila.)

she's got some health issues - she's shorter than varric by a few inches despite being a human, she has moderate asthma, and semi-regular psychotic episodes, mostly auditory/visual hallucinations and paranoid episodes. bubba, the family mabari, acts as a service dog for her when he isn't doing the same for connor, and i imagine at some point between inquisition and veilguard, she has her own mabari who works full-time as her service dog.

she is one of the co-inquisitors for DAI, but she is not the herald of Andraste; she wasn't actually at the conclave when it exploded, she was down in haven with varric and anders, but she kind of gets roped into everything because cassandra says "youre a hawke, you're going to get involved anyways" and lila... can't really argue with that, she's just mad that cassandra was right. arisas is the diplomatic one, she's the more experienced one, and they honestly balance each other out really well. it frustrates her to no end that arisas is almost literally twice her height.

lila kind of regards her time in amaranthine as the best of a really, really shitty situation - she hates that she lost so much time with her father, that her teenage years were so tumultuous and that she had so many milestones of her life and she couldn't talk to her father about them, she never got to introduce her first girlfriend to him, she had to come out to him over letters, and while she has a lot of respect for the wardens in amaranthine and appreciates them for taking her in with no questions asked, she hates that she lives in a world where that had to happen in the first place. sarrelan is the person who made her realize she might be kind of butch, and zevran taught her how to actually fight instead of just using her magic for experimentation. connor never kept a grimoire after fleeing kirkwall (too obvious and too much evidence, especially if it got lost or stolen), but she does, and it's filled to the brim with notes and homebrewed spells.

ARISAS ADAAR: please help him he is too young for this

arisas is by far the youngest person to get involved in a major political conflict in my canon - he turns 16 during the events of DAI - and he is trying so hard to keep people from learning that information. he grew up in tevinter, taken there from par vollen as a very young child, and doesn't have the greatest grasp of southern mage/templar politics and is very confused by everything happening at the start of the game. he joined with a mercenary company as his first job, and was only with them for a few weeks before they got hired for the conclave, and he was Not getting paid enough to get a crash course in the differences between southern mages and tevinter mages.

ari is a lot more hesitant / cautious than lila is, partially because he has an anxiety disorder, and partially because he just knows a lot less about the south than she does. if it were up to him, he would not be in charge of this mess, but he's the one with the Anchor so he kind of has to be. he takes to the diplomacy pretty well, and he at least always finishes the paperwork that josephine sets in front of him (unlike liia, who will get distracted and go do something else halfway through). it does mean that he is constantly sleep deprived

inquisition is probably his first big exposure to a lot of queer people in very close proximity to him - between lila, leliana, dorian, and bull, it's the first time that he's really considered that people could be queer, much less trans, and it starts to make him question some things that he really doesn't have time to question. and, as the game continues, it doesnt really seem like questioning it will do him any good, as the inquisition continues to erase him and fill in the blanks with the Herald of Andraste, so he basically goes "even if i am queer, looking into it now will do me no good, because no one here is going to listen or respect that" and continues on like normal. (post canon he does figure some shit out, although he still uses he/him pronouns).

ari looks up to bull a lot, at first because he's a qunari who actually follows the qun, and ari is very curious and kind of wants bull to take him under his wing and become a father figure to him; but when bull becomes tal-vashoth and leaves the qun, ari tries to reassure him that he's the same man regardless of the identity he ties himself to, and that there's no shame in acting outside of the qun if it means protecting the people he cares about. bull in turn tries to help ari come out of his shell and maintain his sense of self in the midst of everything that comes with being the herald.

he struggles a LOT with having his identity erased by the inquisition, being both revered and reviled and rewritten with every step he takes. it makes him feel just thorougly inhuman and alone, and causes a mental breakdown after trespasser. he tries to stay in politics for a few years post canon, tries to help dorian with reforming tevinter with all this newfound influence he has, but being in the spotlight so much is detrimental to his heath, and he ends up having an early retirement in his mid-20s. he moves to kirkwall and raises nugs. this is the greatest his life has ever been.

[servantofclio]

Dragon Age OCs: Valencia Hawke

Warrior

I debated about doing another of these posts, since I haven’t finished the game with this character. But I still think I would like to, so here she is, albeit somewhat unfinished.

Valencia Hawke is Nim Amell’s cousin, and a warrior. She and her sister probably never even heard about the Hero of Ferelden until they got to Kirkwall. She’s very attached to her sister, who survived the Deep Roads thanks to some Grey Warden intervention, and she has a thing for Isabela. She’s blunt and a little awkward and trying to make the best of the situation she keeps finding herself in. I’m close to the end of Act 2 with her, can’t remember exactly where I left off.

This fic is about her.

[stormlit]

sofie amell, younger sister of the hero of ferelden (and also winfred @tragedia), companion for the veilguard. mage, a spirit healer and potions maker. can be recruited in nevarra, where she owns a potions shop and has a backroom clinic where she treats people (under the radar so the templars don't find her), as she's trying to protect people from the effects of the Everything. i think she had a young child who'd just been showing signs of magic, making sofie think about her mother's position, who she lost in the recent upheaval and focusing on making it all right helps her deal with that.

becomes the team doctor and the place to get all your potions restocked; her room is a kind of lab/herbalist's haven located off the infirmary. calm, gentle, but will take no shit (especially when it comes to people being heroic about their injuries), and absolutely resolute in her beliefs. shows that she cares by making people specific potions or poultices or items with a low grade healing enchantment and just generally caring for them. you need soup? she's got soup. will always protect children and innocents like the tranquil.

fourth of the five amell children, all of whom were mages and separated when their magic manifested. sofie was sent first to starkhaven circle, and then relocated to the gallows in kirkwall when starkhaven's circle burnt down. by this time, she had no contact with any of her family; her mother left when she was still a toddler, she'd been taken from her father, who'd escaped to ferelden to try and keep his kids safe from the chantry, her siblings were in circles (or assumed to be so) across southern thedas.

meeting her cousin bethany in the circle was the first contact she'd had with any family in years. her sibling the warden is both someone she loves and misses but also someone she barely knows. she was a child for most of the events of da2, and 14 or 15 when the kirkwall rebellion took place.

she was in arguably the worst circle in present day thedas; let's just go with it was not a fun time and it has absolutely impacted her and her views on the chantry/templars thank you!

when the right of annulment was invoked, the mage underground which had been smuggling mages out of the gallows for years really sprung into action to get as many mages out of there as they could, especially the apprentices who were too young to be useful in a fight. sofie was one of them, staying back as long as she could to ensure the younger children were all safe, and acting as protector for them.

has been an apostate since then, carrying on the amell-hawke family legacy. nobody was ever getting her back in another circle. officially a rebel mage in the rebellion, but she mostly focused on healing rather than frontline fighting. and then as the dust settled, especially with the reformation of circles, she just disappeared.

i don't think she feels connected to her family at all, and that really hurts.

[fiadhaisteach]

31 Days of Dragon Age

Oct 13 - Introduce your Hawke

Praxis Hawke

Switch Rogue. ((in my head she’s also a mage but doesn’t carry around a call sign on her back like her sibling. She just uses it to enhance her rogue abilities))

Age: 26-31 (during Kirkwall years)

Praxis was friends with everyone, though she did not care for Aveline, her diplomatic skills and Aveline’s obtuseness meant they stayed on friendly terms.

The sisters worked with Athenril for a year, upon arriving in Kirkwall, and remained on friendly terms when their service concluded, though Praxis is a wee bit too ethical, she’s willing to lie to a smuggler to get someone on their way to a new life.

Whenever the option was given, Praxis protected mages by redirecting watchful eyes, or killing, if needed, but did not blackmail the honorable Ser Thrask.

The crew “rescued” Seamus and returned him to his father.

They also defended any who Praxis thought had need and killed any and all slavers they came across.

Feynriel went to the Dalish & then on to Tevinter to learn to control his special brand of magic.

Praxis worried for Bethany’s safety and left her behind for the Deep Roads expedition, coming home to find her being taken to the Circle.

After one fabulous night, Fenris thought it better if he and Praxis were just friends and she respected his choice.

She helped Varric with his brother and convinced him to try to help Bartrand. Praxis and Varric also discovered the source of the haunting and, of course, Varric did not keep the idol.

Praxis would never hand Isabela over to the Qunari. She handily defeated the Arishok and the Qunari left Kirkwall.

After some Carta dwarves started hunting Praxis, Bethany was given leave to help track down why. They track them down to an old Grey Warden prison in the Vimmarks where they end up finding their father’s will, siding with Larius and defeating Corypheus to escape from the prison.

Some of the Hero of Ferelden’s old companions were delighted to talk to Praxis; Zevran after she explained Nuncio’s bullshit and Nathaniel after recovering him from the Deep Roads.

Fenris rethought things and asked to resume the relationship. Praxis jumped at the offer.

She also discovered she had another cousin and reunited Charade with her father, Uncle Gamlen.

Merrill partially repaired the eluvian and did not destroy it later. The crew away from Merrill’s clan rather than fight them.

Praxis sided with mages after Anders exploded the Chantry and made sure Bethany survived the final battle. In fact, everyone but Meredith was alive and well at the end of the final battle ((justice for Orsino!)), though Sebastian was no longer as friendly as she approved of Anders’ actions and let him go free.

She’s a little gaunt by 9:41, because… ya know… on the run with Fenris for the last few years. ((I wonder if she still owns the deed to the Bone Pit. Varric?))

[crossdressingdeath]

Still thinking about Surana, by the way.

I mean... Surana, more than arguably any other PC across the whole series, has nothing. The only people we see or hear from who actually know them are Jowan, Irving and Greagoir (other people are familiar with them, and some like Anders were aware of them, but those three are the only ones we see them really talk to). Considering Greagoir is their jailer and Irving is their teacher (and throws them under the bus to spite the Chantry with no hesitation), it's possible Jowan is all they've got (and you can easily view Jowan as a hanger-on or friend of convenience rather than a true friend). And that's true of Amell too, but DA2 reveals that Amell has siblings in other Circles and cousins in Kirkwall; Surana has nothing of the sort. You can say they're from Lothering or the Denerim alienage, but when you go to those places no one so much as thinks they're familiar or asks if they've met you before.

The thing with Surana is that they don't really... exist in any meaningful way outside of the Circle prior to becoming a Warden. No family, no loved ones, no history, no nothing. They're an elf mage in the Circle; they're basically as low as you can get in southern Thedas. And from there they can become one of the most important people of the age! But it fits really well with the way the Warden sort of haunts the narrative after DAO as either the martyr who died killing the Archdemon or the living legend who ended the Blight and stopped the Mother and then quietly vanished from the public eye but remains in the backdrop of the story as this larger than life figure for Hawke and Quiz (and presumably later protagonists as well) to compare themselves to? The other Wardens all have histories, families, old friends that get in the way of that status; Surana... really doesn't. Just Jowan, really, and no matter how his part in DAO ends he's pretty thoroughly out of the story afterwards. Surana in a way could almost have been brought into being solely to be the hero, because they have zero personal history outside of their prison! It's also interesting to me because that lack of personal history outside of the Circle leads to me thinking of them almost entirely in terms of the Circle; they more than any other character in the series are a "Circle mage", someone entirely of the Circle with no ties to the outside world, and there are some fun ways to take their character with that.

[a-driftamongopenstars]

Hello I would like to ask abt your dragon age OCs !! I don’t know that much abt dragon age or the specifics of the games but I’d love to hear abt your guys generally (are they from a particular game like your warden inquisitor etc also are they in any particular faction and are they all friends with each other or do they not all exist in the same playthrough) ?

ahhh thank you for the question, this gives me an option to talk about my oldest Dragon Age OCs which I miss :D

so most of my other guys either don't know each other or are just aware of each other by extension of legends and history. BUT! My Warden Rallen Amell and Leah Hawke absolutely know each other.

Since Amells and Hawke family are related and are second ish cousins, I thought it would be cool they'd know each other. I even made their characters look a little similar (they definitely have the same nose and chin shape and dark hair).

Anyway, when Leah was learning more about her Amell heritage, she found out about the cousin who was sent to the Circle and traced down information that it's none other than the Hero of Ferelden. So they reconnected, it was all very emotional, especially for Rallen who grew up in the Circle and didn't know he had living family anymore.

after events of Origins he stayed at the court to serve on Anora's council, so he and Leah kept up correspondence. I think it's possible Rallen even visited Kirkwall at some point as part of Anora's entourage, and he and Leah finally met in person.

At this point also Leah started working on establishing her own spy network with Varric and having a bit of a competition with Leliana. Sooo Rallen had to step in and reign them in like children and make them get along lol. Rallen is the quiet broody thoughtful type and can be a bit menacing when he gets tired. He's also a battlemage, so that tracks.

I imagine that post-DAI events he and Leah reconnect somewhere on the way to Weisshaupt and travel together to deal with the Wardens and the Blight research. They definitely found actual family in each other! Their boyfriends also better get along lol, as Rallen romances Zevran and Leah is with Fenris. fun times :D

I hope this makes sense, it's been so long since I developed anything for these guys, but I miss them sooo much. Rallen was my first proper warden and I loved putting together his character and backstory!

[inquisimer]

MER MER MER POLITICAL MARRIAGE! POLITICAL MARRIAGE! Siobhan x Sebastian + ❛ it’s not for you. it’s not a favor. it’s the cruelest thing i could do. ❜ from the hero x villain prompts? 👀👀👀

POLITICAL MARRIAGE yeah I knew I would get you with that one hehehe

so like, they're rivals but they're friends? because I like to add a bit of nuance to the da2 companion approval mechanics lol

also this went a bit somfter than I intended whoops ;-;

for @dadrunkwriting and an honorary mention to @melisusthewee who sent me the same prompt for the same ship uwu

~~~

“If we do this—“ Siobhan began, and then stopped. She wasn’t sure where the sentence would end, and she didn’t care to continue like that.

“If?” Sebastian echoed. “You seemed quite certain a few days ago.”

“I am certain, it’s just” —she pursed her lips and pulled aside the curtains to gaze out at Hightown— “are you?”

His armor rasped a familiar cadence as he came to stand beside her. “And why would I not be?”

“Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Act like I’m not clearly getting the better end of this deal.” Siobhan scowled. Her breath fogged against the glass, obscuring the servants and couriers in the square below. “The most valuable part of Kirkwall is her port. And Starkhaven hardly needs marine access.”

“The most valuable part of Kirkwall is her leader. And there is nothing more precious than one who cares for her entirety."

He leaned sideways, one shoulder against the glass, and regarded her with those damnable eyes that always pierced her soul. “As you do.”

“I’m not even guaranteed the throne,” she countered.

“Oh please, Champion.” Sebastian chuckled. “It’s only a matter of time before Elthina sees reason and restrains the Knight-Commander. Who else do you suppose the nobility will turn to when that happens?”

“You never know who’s lurking in the shadows.”

The prince sobered. “True enough. Although, in all fairness, I’m hardly guaranteed Starkhaven either. That makes us rather even, no?”

“Starkhaven is your birthright!” Her armor smacked against his as one arm snapped out to whack his chest. “The only thing standing between you and it is your damn self.”

“While I would gladly leave Kirkwall in your very capable hands” —he cupped them as he spoke, rubbing comforting circles over callouses and scars— “I would not abandon you in this hour of need.”

“Starkhaven—“

“—has not yet fallen under the incompetent rule of my cousin. I very much doubt those who pull his strings are angling for the city’s destruction.”

“Must be nice,” Siobhan muttered darkly.

Sebastian’s fingers curled around her fist and she did not stop him as he pried her fingers open. In her palm was a ring, warmed from her skin and glinting in the torchlight. The design was custom, silver chains entwined with the furred dragons of Starkhaven.

Symbolic and beautiful and—

“But that’s not your only concern, is it?” Sebastian murmured.

Her hand clenched around the ring once more and she pressed it to her mouth. “Of course not.”

With the patience of a brother who has sat through many a stilted, awkward confession, Sebastian waited, giving Siobhan the space to find her meaning.

“I am…new…to nobility,” she began, slowly and methodically choosing each word. “I know that you do not always expect to marry for love. But I—my mother gave up everything for that chance.”

She took a deep breath and forced herself to look the prince dead on. “I’m not in love with you, Sebastian. I don’t know that I will ever be. I would not ask you to share your throne with someone who cannot give you her heart.”

“Ah, I see.” Sebastian hummed and she steeled herself for his anger, his lashing out with bitter pain.

“Hawke.” One gloved hand caught the underside of her chin. They were nearly the same height, so rather than tilting back, his hand traced the line of her jaw with gentle reverence. “There is love between us, but no romance. I have always known that and I brought this to you regardless.”

“Love is hardly so simple as to be a flat coin with only two sides,” he snorted and the tension Siobhan had imagined between them snapped like a cord under a blade. “The both of us would give anything for our cities. There is connection enough in that, and more in mutual respect, for this to flourish.”

“But what if—“

“As you said, you are new to nobility. And you know nothing of royalty.” Sebastian leaned back, a bit of a cocky smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth. “Should I find a lady who could turn my attention from both you and Starkhaven, there is always room at a prince’s elbow for a consort.”

Siobhan rolled her eyes, but relief was a warm buzz through her veins. “It doesn’t bother you? To close that path forever?”

“No.” Certainty reverberated in a way that shouldn’t have been possible with just one syllable. “Don’t forget—I was to give up such earthly pleasures regardless. I have not thought of my own personal future in some time.”

“Of course,” Siobhan murmured. “But now—“

“Now I have a duty to Starkhaven,” he said firmly. “Anything beyond that is in the Maker’s hands. I will look to Him when that time comes, if it comes.”

He was so sure. It was enviable and unobtainable and Siobhan resented it as much as she loved it for him.

“Very well,” she opened her fist again and Sebastian threaded a thin leather cord through the ring. His breath ghosted over her skin as he lifted it over her head. The ring settled below the hollow of her throat and he fastened the cord with a strong knot behind her neck.

“You have walked beside me, down the paths where a thousand arrows sought my flesh,” he quoted softly. His accent shaped the Chant into something almost palatable; it pulled at the weary edges of Siobhan’s faith. “You have stood with me when all others have forsaken me.”

Her fingers found the foreign metal and played with it, staring out the window. She leaned back against Sebastian’s chest, solid, sturdy, supporting. Her rock. She was, as always, a fool to doubt.

“Though I bear scars beyond counting,” she murmured. “Nothing can break me except your absence.”

[lexadovah]

Hero of Ferelden Info Sheet

(Stolen from @dreadhorsegirl )

Basic Details

Name: Astrid Amell

Nicknames: Asta

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexual/Romantic Orientation: Bisexual

Age: 19 at start of events in DAO

Height: 5'5

Build: Slim

Race/Ethnicity: Human-Free Marcher

Skintone: Pale with some freckles on her nose

Hair: Strawberry blond

Eyes: Blue-grey

Game specifications

Class: Mage

Specialization: Primal and Entropy, later on Arcane Warrior

Origin: Circle Mage

Religious Beliefs: Agnostic, later on she becomes more interested in what the Old Gods could be (basically follows Morrigan’s line of thinking) and how this connects to the Fade etc

Major Game Decisions

Love Interest: Alistair

Broken Circle: Mages Supported

The Arl of Redcliffe: Isolde sacrificed for the blood magic ritual, Connor alive and not possessed

Nature of the Beast: Brokered Peace

The Battle of Denerim: Warden killed archdemon & alive and well—Alistair made an Old God Baby with Morrigan

Ruler of Ferelden: Anora

Character Attributes

Timid to Assertive scale:

Timid ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ● Assertive

Logical to Emotional scale:

Logical ◦ ● ◦ ◦ ◦ Emotional

Introvert to Extrovert scale:

Introvert ◦ ● ◦ ◦ ◦ Extrovert

Biggest Strength: Fearlessness, not afraid to face anyone head on. Has a very “I’ll do it myself” attitude

Biggest Weakness: Acts without thinking, can come across as careless

Relationship to Family: Doesn’t know who her father is, never met any of her siblings (she’s the youngest of five) and has vague memories of her mother but doesn’t really remember ever feeling safe or loved by her. She has vague memories of her cousins from her childhood and later reconnects with Bethany in the Wardens

Closest Relationships: Jowan and Neria were her best friends during her time in the Circle. She had a relationship with Anders and a mutual crush on Cullen. Alistair and Morrigan during DAO. She was also good friends with Leliana and Zevran by the end of DAO and had mutual respect with Sten.

Core Desire: To have a family and a place to call home

Core Fear: Losing Alistair

Character Arc Theme: finding her place in the world. She’s “too big” for the Circle, she never knew her real family, (besides the Hawkes). She just wants to find her purpose and live happily with her found family

Backstory

Revka had left Kirkwall far behind when she gave birth to Astrid. On a small farm outside of Highever, Revka kept the tiny Astrid strapped to her chest while she tended the gardens and fed the chickens. But when she saw the Templars coming up the road, she disappeared.

The mother and child did not remain in any one place for long after that; she worked where she could to make enough coin to get by, be that collecting herbs for the nights stew in a tavern, or mucking out the stables at a crossroads inn. She never gave her real name, and never let the child spend too much time alone in the company of others.

One stormy night, when Astrid was just five years old, Revka appeared on her cousin Leandra’s doorstep. Tired from running, she hoped to find sanctuary with her estranged family, and remained for a few weeks. Her paranoia kept her at odds with her cousin, and Malcolm Hawke observed that Astrid was already showing signs of magic at an early age—the same as his daughter Bethany. The two young girls were of an age together and became fast friends in that time, the difference being that Bethany was taught to control her magic whereas Astrid was told to ignore it and pretend she wasn’t a mage.

After a heated argument between Malcolm and Revka—in which Malcolm had offered to teach Astrid how to control her powers and Revka forbade him to even look at her child—she disappeared again, Astrid in tow. A few days after this incident, the Templars finally caught up; to Astrid, alone, sitting on the side of the road bundled in nothing but the clothes on her back and a dirty old cloak wrapped about her tiny shoulders. No one ever saw or heard from Revka again.

Her time in the Circle was mostly uneventful. Astrid struggled to make friends and was behind in terms of knowing her numbers and letters. She was adamant that her mother would come back for her, which the other mage children teased her about, as no one’s mother was coming for them.

She eventually made friends with Jowan, a year older than her, who helped her catch up with her reading and writing. She was bunk mates with Neria Surana, who was the closest thing to a sister she had ever known. And despite her early struggles, she had remembered her cousin Malcolm’s words about taking control of your magic and not letting it rule you—she studied hard and gained a firm grasp on her powers, exceeding many other kids her age.

She became defiant as a teenager, asking questions about why they couldn’t be free and finding the rules of the Circle oppressive. She didn’t want to remain in this cage forever and longed for a life outside the Circle walls. Her instructors believed she could be an Enchanter one day, but that just Wasn’t Good Enough. Regardless she started buckling down and studying hard in the hopes of passing her Harrowing and opening opportunities to leave the tower for Circle related business.

It was during this time she felt a rift between herself and her two friends. Neria had become distant, choosing the company of other elf mages, and Jowan was often nowhere to be found. When she did speak with them, they found her constant studying annoying, claiming she was “giving in” to the system.

Astrid was excelling at most schools of magic, but was struggling with healing spells and was soon set up to be tutored by Anders (who was given the tutoring job as a punishment for his latest escapades and a hope to keep him busy). During long hours studying together and her loneliness she started a friends-with-benefits affair with Anders that carried on until he escaped a fifth and final time—but not before she had grasped healing magic enough to take her Harrowing…

[melvinthedepressedrobot]

rambling about characters from my convoluted Dragon Age personal canon bc @bluerose5 asked the other day and I forgottttt (part 1 of idk how many because I HAVE A LOT, but for now u get the Big Three and a couple side characters)

okay so, first up, we have Breick Tabris AKA The Only Gay In The Alienage

A quiet, generally even-tempered young man with a strong sense of justice, never really wanted to be a leader but took it in stride because it was the right thing to do. Took him a while to warm up to the humans in the party, but he opened up a lot more after they picked up Zev and ended up very close with him in particular. Went through with the ritual with Morrigan at Zevran's insistance (and, ah, assistance) and stuck around as Warden Commander for a while before eventually leaving with Zev to search for a cure, leaving a mage they picked up at the tower, Camryn Amell, in charge.

More than anything, Camryn wants peace and bloody quiet, and if she has to set a hoard of darkspawn on fire to get it, so be it. Left in the mage tower after Jowan buggered off, she joined with Wynne after the party helped solve the abomination infestation, and underwent the joining ritual after the Blight. She comes off as abrasive, but she's a good'un, and keeps the Fereldan wardens well in line. Whilst Loghain was recruited into the wardens, she was actually the warden that met up with the Inquisitor through Hawke.

Despite being "cousins something-something-removed", Delilah "Lilah" Hawke seems to have little in common with Camryn - she's bright, loud and impulsive, and can't sit still for more than a minute. She finds making friends easily (and enemies even easier) and loves fiercely - be that her family, friends, or the eventual relationship she forges with Isabela - and, paired with her complete inability to mind her own business, this made the path to becoming the Champion of Kirkwall was a relatively straightforward one. The deaths of her mother and sister, and Carver contracting the taint and having to join the wardens, however, left her with a lot of guilt and Lilah ultimately sacrificed herself in the fade for her cousin and the Inquisitor.

Born into the Lavellan clan, Ala was taken from her family at a young age by slavers, ending up in Antiva after a narrow escape, where she spent some years on the streets, joining a group of thieves but fleeing the city after a job gone wrong and being caught trying to steal supplies by Breick and Zev on the road. They initially planned to find someone to look after her, but found themselves unable to give her up when the time came, particularly after being the ones to name her when she confided in them about her discomfort in being seen as a boy. Under their care, she opened up from a scared, near-silent child fighting to survive into a brave, adventurous girl who could talk for Antiva.

She did eventually reconnect with her clan, and, at 16, went to the conclave on behalf of both her families - using Lavellan as a surname to keep her connection to the Hero of Ferelden secret - and then tripped and fell into being named the Herald of Andraste and made the leader of the Inqusition.

She struggled a bit, as any teenager would, with this responsibility, and the whole Herald thing did almost go to her head, but, really, with the HoF for a dad, it wasn't surprising that she came through in the end. Leliana was, of course, the first the figure out who her dads were, and stepped up to guide her friends' daughter, and Ala also ended up with a very close, sisterly bond with Josie, as well as the nickame "Little Bird" from Varric. And she absolutely ended her adventure decking Solas in the face for lying to her face and breaking her sister's heart.

aaaand last up for tonight, Ala's biological sister, Heulwen. When Breick and Zevran couldn't make it right away to check on their daughter after the conclave, Heulwen volunteered to go and find out what had happened, opting to join the Inquisition and be by her sister's side. Being more patient and observant, she balances out Ala well, and though Ala didn't really remember Heulwen from her early youth, they did grow very close and protective of one another. Which is, of course, why Ala was so pissed when Solas - who Heulwen had fallen hard for, finding him charming and his knowledge (particularly of elven history) fascinating - up and disappeared on them and turned out to be behind the whole mess in the first place.

I did have a whole idea about her having had a kid that is 95% certainly Solas' by the point of Trespasser, but I can never quite decide on that being canon or not.

[themournwatcher]

Another Trystan Shortfic

basically just here to introduce his dynamic with his cousin, Jurian Amell :3 very mild themes of gender envy/dysphoria like you have to squint

Jurian. Tricky Jurian, lovable Jurian Amell. Everyone adored Jurian. That much had long since stopped being a secret for Trystan Hawke. He’d grown up desperately herding Bethany away whenever Jurian tried to show her his magical tricks too close to the line of sight of the Lothering Templars. Just because he’d made a dashing escape from the Circle didn’t mean that Trystan was allowed to risk the same for his little sister. That didn’t stop Bethany from fawning after him whenever he visited; it was once a year, maybe twice if the Templars to the north were hot on his tail.

When the Blight started, Trystan hadn’t been sure what would become of his second cousin, and for a long time, he hadn’t known. It really shouldn’t have come as any surprise to him to learn that he’d made friends with Naoise Cousland and Alistair Theirin, the Heroes of Ferelden. It should have come as less of a surprise that he was already familiar with Isabela and Anders. Lovable Jurian, friendly Jurian; why can’t you be more like our cousin, Trystan?

Jealousy pooled in the pit of his stomach as Jurian crossed across the room in front of him to curl up in one of the plush chairs by the fireplace. Even with Anders nestled at his side, Trystan felt the urge to wrap his arm around him as if to make a point. Jurian looked exactly like an Amell grandchild should; long black hair that pooled down his shoulders like ink, dark and thick lashes that framed blue eyes, naturally red lips that stood out against his pale and freckled skin; if Trystan didn’t know better, he would say Jurian could have been a spitting image of his mother Revka, from the portraits that he had seen.

Trystan was anything but. He looked too much like Malcolm, and he knew it. Brown hair that was too flyaway for him to tame, brown eyes that had been likened to mud before, Malcolm’s prominent and aquiline nose that was crooked from one too many breaks that hadn’t healed properly. He didn’t look anything like an Amell, and he could never have the courage to sit like Jurian does, with a short bathrobe that rose up past his thighs and that plummeted down at the neckline to reveal the valley between his breasts. Lovely Jurian, he recalled, Jurian from the forests, Jurian in the poems. The thought of revealing himself like that made him nauseous in the pit of his stomach.

Isabela had done a triple-take, he knew, and even Fenris had paused to watch him walk across the room. If it wasn’t for the fact that Anders eyes were closed, exhausted from long hours in the clinic, Trystan knew he would be wondering if Anders’s eyes still followed his cousin like they did when they were younger, in the Circle.

Guilt was always quick to follow those thoughts. It wasn’t Anders’s fault, and if he was being honest with himself, it wasn’t Jurian’s, either. He had no business wishing for his cousin’s life. At least he still had his family; Jurian had no one to lean on but the rare times he would come to visit the estate in Kirkwall. It wasn’t like he lived there, a part of the family. Jurian had done anything he could to survive.

FIN

[aithne]

Old Roads: Inquisition

So that ask from @darkspawntaxcollectors that I answered last night has really gotten me thinking about Old Roads and what I would have written had I decided to extend the series through the Inquisition timeframe. It would absolutely been a book-length fic that I 100% do not have time to write, so!  Here you all go: an outline of what might  have been called Faithless Convocations.

Taking Cullen’s place as Commander of the Inquisition would likely have been Matias, the Templar who was sent to Kirkwall after the breaking of Kinloch Hold’s Harrowing Chamber. He’s a Templar, he’s Fereldan, he has leadership experience, and he has had quite a bit of character development in the form of Shit That Happened in Kirkwall. He’s a darker personality than Cullen, less stodgy and more temperamental, and his personal character arc over Inquisition involves kicking lyrium and also dealing with the issues that taking lyrium was allowing him to cover up and ignore.

Leliana spends less time as Left Hand of the Divine in this version, but she still does become the Hand a couple of years before the Conclave. She brings her partner Amity with her to Haven and then Skyhold. Amity is Tevene and a mage, though she never participated in the power structure of Tevinter since she was part of a now-defunct intelligence organization named the Daughters of Dumat.

I’d skip over the first part of Inquisition except for establishing that the Inquisitor is Reshlyth Lavellan, a Dalish mage who is very not cool with being called the Herald of Andraste. Pretty much everything there proceeds according to the game’s story beats…

…right up until Etain Hawke leads Reshlyth to a cave in Crestwood to meet his Warden friend, who turns out to be none other than Kathil Amell, Etain’s cousin and Hero of Ferelden.  Reshlyth also gets to meet Cullen, Zevran, and the three kids--as well as Anders, who’s Etain’s partner and has been staying with the Amell family while Etain was at Skyhold. Kathil happens to be immune to the false Calling because it doesn’t register over the constant screaming of the shadow of Urthemiel in her head. Anders is immune because of Justice.

Someone eventually asks Leliana about this, and she admits that she was actually in contact with the Hero of Ferelden. When asked why she didn’t originally ask for her help, she says, “Because Kathil Amell’s method of solving a problem is to create ten worse problems to take its place.”

Kathil and Cullen help find out what’s going on with the Wardens, while Zevran, Anders, and the rest find somewhere quiet and out of the way to stay for the moment.  Kathil, in classic Kathil fashion, is very fucking angry with both the Wardens and the people manipulating them. She insists on going to Adamant Fortress with the Inquisition, and Cullen insists on going with her, because he knows damn well what happens when he lets Kathil out of his sight.

Here Lies the Abyss proceeds as usual right up until Adamant proves not structurally up to Clarel’s last spell hitting a damaged walkway and dumps Reshlyth, Cassandra, Varric, Iron Bull, Etain, Kathil, Cullen, and a badly wounded Clarel off of it, prompting Reshlyth to open a rift into the Fade to catch them. (I like Clarel, so she gets to survive.)

As usual, Kathil becomes Urthemiel the moment she hits the Fade. Fortunately, Kathil has been finally working with the Old God’s shadow instead of against her, so while it’s extremely unsettling to have a dragon with them, disaster does not immediately ensue. They patch up Clarel as well as they can (Etain has some healing magic but more importantly he’s gotten some medical training from Anders), figure out something for a litter for her, and head out to find Nightmare.

Everyone has so many questions here, and Cullen is just like “look, if we survive, you can ask, but right now we need to focus.”

Nightmare taunts everyone, but once it realizes that the Thrice-Bound is in its realm and Moros is likely not far behind (and might be able to use her to invade if she feels like), it starts to panic. Justinia shows up, bringing Reshlyth’s memories with her, and the realm itself starts to fight, warping and shifting and screaming at them.  There’s a lot of [cool shit happens here] going on. Possibly a couple of disasters.

Once they find Nightmare and kill its lieutenants, Nightmare focuses on Kathil and Reshlyth, because both of them represent opportunities to get out of the Fade. Kathil is like, “you all go ahead, I’ll catch up” and Cullen panics, because fuck if he’s going to have this happen again. Kathil, with a massive effort, becomes herself for a couple of minutes, they have a quiet conversation, Kathil hands him something, and then Urthemiel folds out around her again and Cullen is like, “Let’s go.”

[cool shit with Kathil happens here. Maybe Moros does show up? Maybe Nightmare and Kathil already know each other?]

Everyone except Kathil tumbles out of the Fade and the rift seals.  They deal with the immediate situation at Adamant (including getting Clarel off to the Inquisition’s healers) and then Cullen grabs Reshlyth and Etain and goes “we’re gonna get Kathil out now. I need some insulated gloves and can you do a small rift, Reshlyth?

Reshlyth opens a little rift and Cullen and Etain call Kathil/Urthemiel to it with whatever it was that Kathil gave Cullen, and Cullen reaches into the Fade and grabs her.  Turns out that Kathil and Cullen were prepared for this.

Everyone heads back to Skyhold. Kathil is in not-great shape and needs some time to recover, so she convalesces at Skyhold and gets to know the members of the Inquisition. Meeting Matias again is…awkward, to say the least, but Kathil and Dorian are immediately sympatico. She twigs to Blackwall not being a Warden, and is very, very uneasy about Solas. Reuniting with Dagna is definitely a good thing, since they hadn’t seen each other since Kathil crashed at Dagna’s place for a few weeks while she was out of her head post-Blight.

Reshlyth more or less turns around and heads out to the Winter Palace, and comes back with (of all people!) Morrigan and her kid in tow. Kathil is like, “You know what? Let’s get Zev and the kids here. Anders, too. Skyhold’s safe enough for a little bit.” Etain agrees to put off heading for Weisshaupt for a couple of months, since it’s the dead of winter and they’re just gonna get stuck in the snow somewhere anyway.

At this point, plot ceases for a bit and we get to just live in Skyhold with these characters for probably 50k words.  Reshlyth recruited the mages, and between them, Dagna, Dorian, Kathil, Etain, Amity, and Morrigan, there is a tremendous amount of magical research going on. Vivienne even gets in on the fun.  Zevran more or less becomes everyone’s therapist. The builders working on Skyhold start making breakthroughs in material science as they rediscover elven building techniques and start applying them with modern methods.

Solas is initially extremely put out and angry around Anders/Justice/Vengeance, but eventually calms down and agrees to help them. Between him and Zevran, Anders and Justice start to actually heal some of the trauma that they’ve been through. Etain keeps putting the trip to Weisshaupt off because he’s actually enjoying himself for once and this is the first time Anders seems to be actually getting better since pre-Chantry explosion.

Clarel recovers, in large part due to Anders basically taking over her care.  She and her magical ability will never be the same, though, and it’s somewhat obvious that even if she wasn’t hearing the false Calling, her true Calling is almost upon her. She and Kathil kind of become friends, and she does become friends with Morrigan.

At some point, someone figures out that the dude who blew up Kirkwall’s Chantry is being harbored in Skyhold, despite them taking care to not actually call him Anders. Reshlyth and Josephine have to do a lot of very fancy footwork to make that chill out enough that they don’t have an Exalted March show up on their doorstep. Reshlyth, personally, has zero problems with Anders except for the fact that for whatever reason, he’s still Andrastian.

Reshlyth and Kathil have a bunch of conversations. They discover they’re distantly related, which is fairly awkward because, well, Kathil is from Fereldan nobility and Reshlyth is Dalish soooooo that was extremely unlikely to have been a consensual relationship.

All of the kids, Cole, and the various Amell family dogs run around in a pack. There are Shenanigans.

Cassandra gets to know Kathil and forgives Leliana for not mentioning that she knew where she was, because the Hero of Ferelden is not nearly as awesome as she had made her out to be in her head. In fact, she’s kinda scary. She likes Cullen and Zev a lot, though, and thinks it’s very romantic that the three of them are together.

Arbor Wilds happens offscreen, kicking off a series of decisions – is the Amell family going to stay for the fight against Corypheus? Are Etain and Anders ever going to leave for Weisshaupt? The major change that everything in the story has been building to is that Morrigan does not seek out Flemeth, instead allying with Kathil to learn the form of a dragon.  Flemeth doesn’t get possession of the Old God soul in the same way (I would need to figure out if she still gets it, or if Branwen (who is Morrigan’s kid’s name in Old Roads) keeps it).

[cool shit happens here]

In the end, to align with the established Old Roads timeline, the Amell family takes off again.  They show up again briefly for Trespasser, mostly because I’m interested in what Teagan and Kathil have to say to one another after all these years.  Kathil doesn’t live long after Trespasser—she dies sometime between 9:48 and 9:51 Dragon—but I am fairly convinced that Cullen and Zevran help with the search for Solas, and her daughter Cerys is helping run some kind of rebellion by the time she’s in her early 20s.

I actually wish I had the time and energy to write this.  This is about a 200k word commitment, sooooo it is unlikely to happen.