#npc: agent anders

[cuteteacakes]

A long flight... a layover in some rural airport that lasted for hours... having to sit next to a man that snored so loud he could hear it through his airpods (so much for trying to listen to that romcom to pass the time)... Anders was all but ready to crash and sleep the next three days once he got back... Walking the terminal on his sore feet and dragging his carry-on behind him, he was prepared to hail an Uber when he saw him.

"Welcome home~"

An angel he didn't deserve... "You didn't have to drive all the way here-"

"Ah ah ah, shhhh-" Caleb pressed his finger to Anders' lips. "Just get in my car and I'll get us home. You must be exhausted~"

He couldn't help but smile. "You have no idea..."

[cuteteacakes]

LOOK AT MY BABIES!!! THANK YOU FOR THE COMMISSION MY LOVELY WIFE ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

A commission from @cuteteacakes for her perfectly adorable couple Caleb and Anders!!!  Ah… to be protected by a secret agent in the moonlight…

[open-hearth-rpg]

Welcome to the weekly Open Hearth Gaming video roundup!

These recorded sessions represent only a portion of the games we play every week, and anyone is welcome to join the fun! If you'd like to play in games like these, join our Playabl community and click on the "Calendar" tab to sign up for upcoming games. To browse our library of videos of past sessions, please visit our YouTube Playlists page.

Open Hearth Gaming Calendar

Delta Green: Impossible Landscapes (Session 4 of 12) Shane runs for Blake Ryan, Brandon Brylawski, Mark (he/they), and Puckett Under pressure from their superiors to wrap up the investigation, the agents consider options from arson to demonology.

Delta Green: Impossible Landscapes (Session 5 of 12) Shane runs for Blake Ryan, Brandon Brylawski, Mark (he/they), and Puckett In 1995, the agents enter the night floors for the last time, experiencing unexpected revelations. Then we learn how the agents spend the next 20 years; relationships, therapy, prison and obsession.

Public Access (Session 2) Mike Ferdinando runs for Brandon Ungar, Kae, and Steven S. The House on Escondido Street, part 1 - The Latchkeys begin their investigation of the disappearance of the Rappaport family at 18 Escondido Street.

Hearts of Wulin: Numberless Secrets: Series II (Session 6) Lowell Francis runs for Ethan Harvey, Patrick Knowles, Sherri, and Tyler Lominack With the mystery solved, the group considers the aftermath. Many puzzles remain: Bad Valley, the missing wulin heroes, the events at Verdant Sword, and the machinations of the leader of the historians. The PCs share information, consult with old NPCs, and cross paths with new ones. But in the background events roll forward, finishing in the revelation of a sudden Imperial visit by the Empress Dowager and one of the Princes.

Hearts of Wulin: Numberless Secrets: Series II (Session 7) Lowell Francis runs for Ethan Harvey, Patrick Knowles, Rae Nedjadi, Sherri, and Tyler Lominack Our heroes dig deeper into the mystery surrounding the Bureau of Legends, deal with the complexities of their own hearts, and find themselves invited to a dinner given by the Empress Dowager.

Public Access: The House on Escondido Street (Session 3) Mike Ferdinando runs for Brandon Ungar, Kae, and Steven S. The Latchkeys continue their investigation of the disappearance of the Rappaport family at 18 Escondido Street.

The Veil Iterations: Nonesuch (Session 3) Lowell Francis runs for Joe F, Jonathan, and Mike Minutillo Still trying to figure out how to approach the Church of Convergent Science and uncover the conspiracy between the building attack, the group talk with friends, family, and rivals--uncovering secrets and creating misunderstandings.

The Veil Iterations: Nonesuch (Session 4) Lowell Francis runs for Cale P, Joe F, Jonathan, and Mike Minutillo Our protagonists decide to lean on one of Trigger's "friends" getting some information but also pursuit by building security. They head to Lark to get treatment for Cora's cyberware damage and share information. With the revelation of a group behind the assault on psychics they move to deal with Black Law and a threat to an Empath ally. But things do not go as planned...

Free from the Shadow: Samurai Fantasy Free from the Yoke (Session 0) Lowell Francis runs for Alun R., David Morrison, and Will H We begin a new short series of Free From the Yoke, a PbtA legacy game of samurai clans surviving in the aftermath of a devastating battle against darkness. In this session we do world creation and clan building for our families. This is a session zero focused on set up and prep.

Star Wars Saturday

Dian Xin (Session 1) Rich Rogers runs for Anders, Cody Eastlick, Greg G., and Steven Watkins The Archor merchants deal with the aftermath and make a risky bargain.

Dian Xin (Session 2) Rich Rogers runs for Anders, Cody Eastlick, Greg G., and Steven Watkins The Archor merchants get out of the drug bidness. But at what cost?

MCU Sunday

Hit the Streets: Defend the Block (Session 7) Rich Rogers runs for Greg G., Kae, Marc Majcher, and Sherri Bushwick's Best hunt for a serial killer and run into...the Spider-Friends?

Hit the Streets: Defend the Block (Session 8) Rich Rogers runs for Greg G., Kae, Marc Majcher, and Sherri Most of the team falls from the highest building in Bushwick!

[kiastirling-fanfic]

Prompt List

Open

When prompts are open, I’ll do prompts from these lists. Please provide the full prompt text, not just a number, and feel free to combine prompts.

Currently I’m only taking prompts for the Dragon Age fandom (games)

Pairings: I’ll give anything a try within reason.

Vibes: Bolded stuff. Feeling elfy. I’ve completed Veilguard so you can included spoilers in your prompt if desired; I will tag accordingly.

Also interested in prompts for Dascha & Harding or between NPCs.

Prompt lists:

Touching Nostalgia The Dear Hunter lyrics Shit You Don’t Want to Hear Discovering Secrets Soft Sentence Starters Another List of Uncommon Words Eerie Autumn From the Hero Tea Party Write-a-Codex Prompts Princess Mononoke Sentence Starters

Some existing characters available for requests (or just give me a class/race combo and I’ll make someone up on the fly):

Hero of Ferelden:

Leda Aeducan (canon romance Zevran) - rogue archer (ranger/duelist) Robin Amell (canon romance Alistair) - mage (healer/shapeshifter) Talin Mahariel (canon romance Morrigan) - warrior (champion/) Hawkes: Anthony Hawke (canon romance Anders) - mage (force/elemental)

Inquisitors:

Dascha Cadash (f Blackwallmancer) - rogue archer (tempest) Moreadhiel Lavellan (f Solasmancer) - mage (knight enchanter) Hareleth Lavellan (enby Solasmancer) - mage (Rift Mage) Karsi Trevelyan (f Cullenmancer) - dagger rogue (tempest) Keenan Trevelyan (m Dorianmancer) - S&B Warrior (Templar) June (Human MCIT Inquisitor, f Solasmancer) - mage

Rooks:

Renanehn Ingellvar (Elf, enby Taashmancer) - Mage (Necromancer) Leona de Riva (Human, f Emmrichmancer) - Rogue (Duelist) Hissera Thorne (Qunari, f undecidedmancer) - Mage (undecided)

Other OCs:

Hamin Surana (Inquisition requisition agent) - mage/rogue (arcane rogue) - specifically in Hareleth’s worldstate Boranehn (m Warden-Constable) - Tranquil, Rogue Archer Mirenan “Derrick” Sulevin (Agent of Fen’Harel) - Warrior (Templar)

Random AUs I apparently have now:

Mage!Cullen AU (after Uldred’s assault on the Circle Tower, Cullen manifests as a mage) Warden!Fenris AU (Fenris fled to Ferelden instead of Kirkwall and joins the Grey Wardens. Leda Aeducan/Fenris) Vampire!Merrill (the spirit helping her with the eluvian was Hunger, and the side effects are... a bit much)

[manydrabblesofthedas]

Reddit Prompt: Seeker Pentaghast Interview

Prompt 4: An NPC who knew Warden very well gets interviewed by an agent of the Inquisition as they try to find out the location of HoF.

Nathaniel Howe had the air of a nobleman, he was Rebekkah Amell's right hand, just as Teribith was Rebekkah's left hand. They had expected it when the Seekers showed up looking for the Warden-Commander. Thank the Maker she had left weeks ago to throw everyone off her trail, Grey Wardens and everyone else alike.

However, there was one thing Nathaniel Howe knew, it was as Constable of the Grey and temporarily Field-Commander, he would need to shut these down quickly.

"I demand to speak to the Warden-Commander."

"She is not here," Howe responded dryly.

"When will she return?"

"That is uncertain, anything you need to speak about to the Warden-Commander will go through me while she is away on business."

Cassandra grit her teeth, this was an unusual situation. She could try to go about this what her gut told her to and that was to arrest Constable Howe but then risked starting a war with the Grey Wardens. Grey Wardens were seen as heroes now, and this was politics. "After you," she finally told him.

"Your guards stay behind Seeker." He informed her.

"They are not guards," but she got the message, she was not trusted. It chaffed at her. She nodded to her men.

Nathaniel took Cassandra to a meeting room away from prying eyes.

"What message do you have for Warden-Commander Amell?" He asked as began pouring drinks, he could be cordial when he wanted to be.

"We need her to fix Thedas."

Nathaniel Howe laughed. "You want a Grey Warden to get into politics more so than we've been forced to here? I think you misunderstand what a Grey Warden is supposed to do."

"She is the Hero of Ferelden, she--"

Nathaniel immediately cut her off slamming down the decanter but not enough to break it. "No. Warden-Commander Rebekkah Amell has no duty to Thedas except to keep the Darkspawn numbers down and to fight the Blight. Just because she's a mage doesn't mean she owes Thedas ANYTHING, least of all the Chantry. The Chantry robbed her of her parents. The Chantry ripped her siblings away. Did you know she's the only Amell sibling still alive? I have the records if you want to see the proof."

He placed the drink in front of her.

"You will not find the Warden-Commander in Ferelden Seeker, she's going to find the cure to the Blight. After all, she is a Healer, and what Healers worth their salt wouldn't try to stop the Blight from being able to spread."

Cassandra was incensed and knew that she had put her foot in it. Nathaniel Howe obviously disliked the Chantry if only for his Commander's sake. "How long ago did she leave?" She asked.

"A month or so ago. You won't find her, she is far from yours and the Chantry's reach to exploit her."

"We don't want to exploit her."

"Yes, you do. She is a famous mage that is well-liked, but how are you going to convince her to reestablish the old world when Anders was her best friend before he went to Kirkwall?"

"What?"

"Oh yes, they were very close. So whose side do you think she would be on Seeker, yours or his?"

[theunsinkablesappho]

Lace is also canonically named as one of 3 agents who receive the focus of a non-Divine Leliana's attentions, presumably to be her possible successor as Spymaster of the Inquisition (or whatever remains of it). The other two were Charter and Rector - depending on your exact endings with Leliana.

While I won't say that I'm *super* certain Lace Harding was meant to be a carry over character into DA4 from the very beginning, it was quite clear by the time Trespasser was pushed out that she was definitely being vetted as an option. The fact that her VA is well-known within the Bioware fandom at large did not hurt her.

As you say, Lace was not a "nobody" in Inquisition. Aside from the Companions and Advisors she was one of the most frequently interacted with NPCs. Even if you didn't voluntarily speak with her, you still saw her at the opening of every single new zone.

Also it's not like this is a new thing? Anders was brought into DA2 from Awakenings. Varric came from DA2 to DA3 and now to DA4. Merrill was an Origin-dependent NPC/Companion in Origins before she appeared in DA2. Morrigan and Leliana are examples of companions returning as NPCs, and we of course cannot forget my beautiful princess Cassandra Allegra Portia Calogera Filomena Pentaghast who was an NPC in DA2 and a companion/advisor in DA3. Sometimes NPCs stay as NPCs too, with characters like Bodahn and Sandal making the jump from DA1 to DA2 (and hopefully to DA4, it was so disappointing not seeing them in DA3 *specifically* after we were teased with their appearance in DA2).

I will keep randomly seeing hate/criticism about Harding like "why is she here???" "they're shoving her down our throats" and. I'm sorry. I know it's been ten years but Lace Harding was a well-received and beloved NPC in Inquisition. Most people clocked her as a potential companion for "DA4" immediately. She basically becomes the Spymaster's right hand. She was in the final scene of Trespasser when your Inquisitor stabs the map. The writing was on the wall its not her fault you either forgot or ignored it.

[felassan]

The Hero’s Journey to the West

This post is a mix of meta, speculation/conjecture and headcanon.

I don’t think the Hero of Ferelden is ever coming back as a PC or NPC beyond mentions/rumors and Codex entries/letters, but their quest to find a cure for the Calling fascinates me. It always makes me think about the Chinese novel by Wu Cheng’en. 

We know that they came back from their trip. We don’t know if they succeeded or not, but since the romanced Leliana epilogues are fairly happy in tone, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to headcanon that they did - at least, in terms of ridding themselves of the Taint. I feel like whether they succeeded in finding a way to allow all Wardens to escape the Calling would be something up in the air, like, kept-back at the moment by the devs; because surely such a revelation would rocket through the Warden order and in a future title might be heard about or alluded to in-game, crop up in a Codex somewhere, color our future interactions with Warden characters on the Wardens’ end, or potentially influence future storybeats relating to the Wardens. (It would be a rather major thing.) In dialogue Morrigan says that if the HoF is successful, it will mean a long life for him/her/them, and perhaps even a long life for all Wardens.

On the ‘when’: Although the Hero was gone by the time Divine Justinia died (per romanced Leliana dialogue), they didn’t leave straightaway after the events of Awakening and Witch Hunt (Heroes who fathered Kieran had not yet met their son at the time of WH), since in DA2 Hawke meets King Alistair and Queen Warden was home at court, and in DAI romanced Morrigan says her partner helped raise Kieran for a time before events transpired to take him elsewhere (which is a reference to his journey).

On the ‘who’: In the ancient novel Journey to the West, the monk Tang Sanzang has powerful disciples who help and protect him on his journey: Sha Wujing, Zhu Bajie and Sun Wukong. In my head there’s a fun parallel here to DA’s four-man parties, and how the HoF is accompanied by - for example - Ariane, Finn and Dog during the episodic DLCs like Witch Hunt. This is purely headcanon, but I always liked to think that some of the Awakening companions that we never heard from again (so not Anders, Justice or Nate) and who in some epilogues mysteriously disappear, accompanied them on the quest for the cure; Velanna, Sigrun, possibly Oghren. (And Dog, of course - Dog in my head never left the Hero’s side after DAO, the notion presented in the games that he sometimes did is odd to me. Why would he, lol?) These characters could easily have a vested interest in wanting to rid themselves of the Taint. And obviously Zevran went with them, if romanced.

There’s plenty of material on which to base speculation about how a cure for the Calling might come about or be obtained, what the cure might involve. You have the case of Fiona, there’s Avernus’ research, there are instances where the Taint was drawn out of living things as with Isseya’s clutch of griffon eggs, the Architect doesn’t appear to be subject to the Call of the old gods and freed some darkspawn from it too, etc. I’m more interested atm in where the HoF went.

Leliana tells us the Warden went "far to the west, to lands that have never known the Blight”. Their search took them out of the area in which Corypheus was operating, and thus beyond the reach of the false Calling that affected other Wardens. During the timespan of base-game DAI, they were still in geographical regions which were reachable in such a way as to allow messages from Leliana’s agents to get to them after Leliana/Morrigan/etc gives the Inquisitor the means to contact them, and for letters from the Hero to be sent back in return. (That could be something essentially handwaved on the part of the devs in order to allow for the mechanic of hearing from the HoF in DAI, though.) Here I’m always reminded of the men of the Night’s Watch taking caged ravens with them in their expeditions beyond the Wall, so that the birds can carry messages back to the manned outposts. I look at the map of Thedas and wonder. Where might they have gone? Where was the western-most outpost of the Inquisition?

West of Ferelden takes you into Orlais, where the effects of Corypheus’ operations were felt. The Hero might naturally have taken the Imperial Highway and passed through settlements like Halamshiral, Lydes, Verchiel, Montsimmard and Val Firmin en-route. Such a route makes logical sense both in terms of convenient travels and the fact that in a war table mission, Leliana’s agents report “scattered references of [the Hero] passing through the area” (said area is not specified, but it makes sense that the Hero would have at times passed through inhabited places, since at times they were sighted). It should be noted however that when this war table mission is undertaken, the card ends up ‘played’ on the western shores of Lake Calenhad. Still, unless you took ship through the Waking Sea, most likely any journey west from Ferelden would have passed through or near that part of the country anyways, due to the sheer size of the lake, the highway following its banks and the fact that Gherlen’s Pass is the only safe route through which to cross the Frostback Mountains, at least in terms of year-round travel.

Anyway, in the western reaches of Orlais is the Western Approach. The Approach was the site of a major battle during the Second Blight - its desolate sands and barren badlands are definitely not lands which “have never known Blight”. And we know from a war table mission that the mines and tunnels of the Gamordan Peaks are infested with darkspawn, that the large darkspawn host that appeared at Val Gamord came from the mountains. Here is where it gets interesting. Were the environs of the Sulfur Lakes, Malcellin Geysers and the Sea of Ash always this way, as in this is the naturally-occurring geological/geothermal profile of the area (volcanic), or are they so wretched because like the nearby Western Approach, the land was corrupted beyond recovery during a Blight? I imagine that the Hero would have largely avoided these areas and the Approach due to this (inhospitable travelling terrain + Blight-touched/probably Blight-touched), and instead at this point struck out more north-westerly for a time.

Doing so would bring someone through or around the Nahashin Marshes. Above we can see the location of Serault in relation to the Approach and the Marshes. There is a crossing point in the Nahashin Marshes used by a merchant in The Last Court, who travelled from Val Chevin through Montfort and Ghislain, before going across the Marshes to get to Serault. Given this and the fact that they’d likely be steering away from the Approach, I can see the Hero following the Highway all the way to Ghislain and then crossing the Marshes on their way to Serault, obviously without going to Val Chevin, which would amount to backtracking.

What then of Serault, the mysterious marquisate located in the far west of Orlais? It’s Orlais’ western-most holding, and per a Codex entry as far west as one can still call civilized. I certainly headcanon that the Hero passed through here before forging further into wilds and lands unknown - here Serault Town has a Tolkienesque “The Last Homely House” feel to it, perched on the edge of it all:

This is the edge of the world. Beyond Serault Town is the Last River, and beyond the river, villages, charcoal-burners, the wilderness.

Per war table missions, Inquisition agents also travel to Serault during the time-frame of base-game DAI - here we have what is likely to be one of or the last place[s] where the Hero could have picked up messages from the Inquisition before ‘jumping off’ into the unknown. Laysh is another possibility, route-dependent (see below).

Serault is a strange place, where “unlikely” things happen. Perchance, was there useful knowledge to be found here? Morrigan herself dwelt here for a time, researching at the Glassworks and working to repair an eluvian. It’s implied she does this regardless of whether the Marquis allows her to or not. Notably, it is Morrigan “who found the lead[s] the Hero now follows in the western lands”. This was probably the “gift” Morrigan gives the Hero in Witch Hunt. She leaves them the stolen Dalish book Ariane was seeking to get back, and "something [else that the Hero] will find of great interest”. (She doesn’t give the something-else gift if he goes with her, but if he goes with her she’d just tell him in-person about what she’d found, so it stacks regardless). That said, when it’s a romanced Warden Alistair worldstate it sounds like he and the Hero found the lead on their own. I enjoy the leads being Morrigan’s gift though as an idea, and as a way of filling in what the heck the gift was.

Courtier’s children in Serault play at “Wardens and Darkspawn”, implying that Serault has either once been touched by Blight or else that tales of Blight and darkspawn and Warden heroics have reached the settlement. “Roads under the earth” (how very Deep Road-esque) are implied to stretch from Seraultine lands to an emergence somewhere in the Vimmark Mountains, there’s a bereskarn in the nearby woods and at one point the Marquis imagines the “tang of Blights” when a bitter wind blows from the north. I therefore find it unlikely that Seraultine surrounds have never been touched by Blight. Suspect the Hero ventured farther still, through the Applewoods - both the tamer Greenwood and the sinister Deepwoods, into the depths of the Tirashan. I’m obsessed with the Tirashan and its enigmatic denizens. What things they must know... mysterious, forgotten things. Are these elves ancient elves? To whom are they calling? These elves seem to guard their lands very fiercely, so it’s not a crazy idea that if the Hero entered the Tirashan they encountered some. Would an elven Hero have had a smoother initial interaction with them? It’s also not a crazy idea that the Tirashan elves might have knowledge that would have proven useful in the Hero’s quest, given the hints that they call to powers we possibly haven’t yet encountered. Their red vallaslin and apparent propensity for sacrificing people make me think of blood magic, and blood magic has practical uses in combatting Taint (Isseya’s spell on the griffon eggs, Avernus the blood mage, the Dark Ritual which was blood magic-based and ultimately caused the removal of Taint from Urthemiel’s soul, etc).

Say the Hero journeyed farther still. Over/through or under the southern Hunterhorn mountains to the forest or continuing forest on the other side (see the map of Thedas with expanded edges given to us in TN), which is inhabited by who knows what. Here the “Beyond Thedas” sections in WoT are of interest:

For many ages, the world that lies beyond Thedas has been largely unknown to us. Rumors and legends exist, tales of hardy sea captains crossing the ocean in search of treasure or ill-fated forays into the wilds, but they have always been buried under hearsay. Any serious attempts at exploration have been foiled by either the devastation of the Blights or the discouragement of waters plagued by both pirates and Qunari dreadnoughts.

The Hero surely would have researched such scattered references to the ill-fated forays, and sifted through hearsay, as 'homework’ before setting off on their trip. Going deep into the wild western wood is tantalizing in a frontier kind of way, but we can’t ignore the following entry in WoT, which I think was included in this manner for a reason.

Say instead the Hero travelled through the Hunterhorns and the Anderfels, maybe with a detour to nearby Weisshaupt to report in, confer with the First Warden and check the archives in its extensive library in case anything in there could prove useful in their quest, much like the recruit Valya did during her own investigation. The Anderfels are super Blight-blasted, so they would not have stopped there. In terms of travels in this area, I think it’s likely they would have joined a caravan being led by the Green Men order through the Wandering Hills to the distant port of Laysh.

The Voshai are yet another mysterious, unknown culture, and have materials and items that are completely unknown in Thedas proper among their wares. They come from a far-flung place and seem to Know Things. The status of dwarves in their society and their interest in lyrium is interesting, given the link both dwarves and lyrium have to underground places and the Blight. Can the reports of the recent return of the Voshai vessels to Thedas be a coincidence? I don’t think so, in the context of things discussed in this post. What powers and potentials are to be found among the wares of the Voshai that these Tevinter merchants were so keen to mount several expeditions into the wild unknown in search of them, even after several voyages never returned? I think the Hero probably took ship at Laysh (either they managed to secure passage on a docked Voshai ship, or there was an expedition vessel the Hero chartered), and went across the Volca Sea to the lands of the Voshai. Here they could have found a cure, and then a Voshai ship to then take them back to the known Thedosian continent.

A final few notes: You have to wonder, the lands which are untouched by Blight, why is that? Is it environmental - natural barriers or environmental conditions inhospitable to darkspawn? Is it magical protection? Are there limits to the darkspawn/Blight’s realm of influence, and if so, why, and how do these limits work? Does the fabled cataclysm in the lands of the Voshai have anything to do with a Blight (you could definitely describe a Blight as a cataclysm, for one thing)? And why on the new map with expanded edges from TN, along all the borders/expanded space, despite the fact that in WoT the “Beyond Thedas” stuff discusses all directions - why on the TN map is there only one place at the edges with an arrow pointing off into the unknown realms? Granted, it’s not the west Tirashan nor is it the north-westerly Volca Sea, but it is notable and worth mentioning. What lies south-west in the Sundered Sea, and why is it marked like this?

[bloedewir]

Until we get some da4 info i can waste my time guessing about former companions.

All of them, who'll back?

So, I made a list (I think many already done it, but still..). After a few years I'll can check it and find out am I a predictor or not.

DA:I

Cassandra - Likely - I think the personal quest and revealing truth about Seekers was not an accident. Also Nevarra and mortalitasi.

Leliana - Unlikely - A side quest or help, maybe. How many of players made her a new Divine? Maybe it'll be sort of canon, like a 'king Alistair'.

Josephine - Unlikely - She's back to Antiva and family.

Cullen - 90% for no - Arc is complete, and Curly is tired. Also the recent unpleasure comments from v/a made me think he won't appear anyway.

Blackwall - Unlikely - A Warden or not, arc is complete. It's all about atonement and helping people.

Iron Bull - Most likely - Qunari, Tevinter, Viddasala' shit and Ben-Hassrath. I bet, he'll back. And KREM.

Cole - Most likely - Guess, he won't miss the chance to help his wolf friend.

Sera - Likely - (as the any other elf, understandably). Maybe a letter or side quest with "Red Jenny" team.

Varric - Likely - As the Viscount of Kirkwall he can offer a possible help. Maybe, a cameo?

Vivienne - Unlikely - Only if she became a Divine it could be a some kind of Chantry interaction.

Dorian - Most likely - As a Magister. He'd better be in da4 or I'll scream, I promise.

Solas. Well. No doubt.

DA2

Anders - Unlikely - A Warden, a claimed criminal and possessed by Vengeance.. I think, he's dead already. If not, it could be an interesting, if he'll back. Y'all know that thing: will to help, seek for redemption, dramatic heroism - cutscene - he's dying, but as a forgiven.

Fenris - Please, yes - An elf with lyrium tattoos, Tevinter, magisters, slaves, all that story. He has to be in da4.

Merrill - Likely - An elf who knows about eluvians. Some kind of resistance maybe? She won't join Fen'Harel, so maybe help a bit?

Hawke - Likely? - Even if she/he is in the Fade, we all remember what has said Mythal about jumping and flying.

Carver/Bethany - Unlikely - Only if as a mention.

Isabela - 50/50 - Maybe she's the last hope of Thedas. She stole from Arishok.. how bold it would be if she'd steal a lyrium idol? Would be ridiculously awesome.

Sebastian - Unlikely - Maybe as a Starkhaven support?

Tallis - Likely - She was mentioned in Tevinter Nights. + Qunari, Tevinter, invasion, spies. And she's Felicia Day, hope she'll come back.

Aveline - Unlikely - Arc is complete. She's happily married and watching over Kirkwall.

DA:O/A

Morrigan - Likely - Maybe she'll join Fen'Harel just to thank him for Flemeth death. JK.

Sten - Most likely - He's an Arishok. Once again: Tevinter, qunari invasion etc.

Wynne. N/A

Oghren - Unlikely - He's drinking and raising child. (But those ugly creepy things from Tevinter Nights, made by Ghilan'nain?).

Alistair - Likely - As the king of Ferelden.. and a demi-elf? A support maybe?

Zevran - Possibly? - An elf. I cherish the thought that he can be a sort of Inquisition' agent.

Shale - Unlikely - But she could have been useful. One stone fist vs bald head.. obvious result.

Velanna - Possibly? - An elf. We don't actually know what happened with her.

Sigrun - Possibly? - A mention maybe, something with Titans?

Nathaniel - Unlikely - (But those creepy things from TN....)

HoF. Uh.. I lose a hope, almost completely. But.. if she/he found a cure and..??

***

That was made as a list with my own thoughts, no matter what I actually want. I'm totally one of the "bring me back my team" people, but also I clearly understand that is unlikely option.

And, every of them could be mentioned in any way. Letters, dialogues, a notes - all is possible, but I'm about an actual appearances (or npc).

A-a-nd I believe da4 will be a sort of "elven" game according to possible plot, so there's a chance to see a familiar known elves from past parts.

***

..if there's an any elvhen gods who hears my prays, bring back to me Trevor Morris. Many thanks *muwah*.

[fandomn00blr]

OC Things

@curiousartemis tagged me in an OC Association thing...and I’ve been seriously neglecting my favorite original guy, Alarion, lately, for all my beloved NPCs, so I decided to do this for him! He is a former spy for the Agents of Fen’Harel, and is currently hiding out with Anders, whom he is completely smitten with, in the Deep Roads.

(please accept this vanilla Inquisition screenshot, the only visual depiction I have of him...he really has been neglected!)

1. ANIMALS: well, I tried to write him as a raccoon once...but he is also kinda fox- and maybe a little frog-like...?

2. COLORS: the warm earthy ones...

3. MONTH: late August/early September

4. SONGS: I’m about to reveal that I stopped listening to new music 100 years ago, but “Elastic Heart” by Sia, “Halo” by Beyonce, and “Hold On” by Wilson Phillips (yes...I’m dead serious...I am re-listening to it right now and it’s honestly the most Alarion thing I’ve ever heard and I’m mad it took me this long to realize it...modern!AU Alarion belts it in the shower every morning and he forces Anders to sing along with him whenever he gets mopey and Anders gets super into it at the chorus)

5. NUMBER: 5

6. DAY OR NIGHT: sunrise and sunset...

7. PLANTS: cattails, sunflowers, prairie grass

8. SMELLS: citrus, rain, rotting leaves

9. GEMSTONE: peridot

10. SEASON: fall

11. PLACES: forests, meadows, underground...root cellars!

12. FOODS: warm sourdough bread, apples, pumpkin seeds, lots of fermented things

13. ASTROLOGICAL SIGNS: Virgo

14. ELEMENTS: Earth

15. DRINKS: cider, mead, and other stuff he probably ferments himself...lol...

[cuteteacakes]

{🧁} - "DAMN I want to do a sloppy make out session with somebody so bad-"

"..." Target acquired.

"???"

We got em, boys.

[naryrising]

5, 13, 26, 32!

a5. Favorite NPC.

For my current game, it’s a toss-up between Ander Suterre, gangster-turned-emperor, and Titania “Tits” Trueblood, princess-turned-nightclub owner.  I think they make a nice contrast with each other, too :)  Ander is from a lower-class background and has been thrust into high society, while Tits turned her back on her royal upbringing and went into business doing something she enjoyed instead.  

13. Introduce your current party.

Argent, waiter turned security guard (inquisitor).  An orphan with a mysteeeerious past (although not quite so mysterious anymore). He’s an aasimar, his mother is the daughter of an angel and a demilich (long story).  He’s a secret agent for the Way of the Wheel, and currently has a safehouse full of all the beings/people they’ve captured, including an inventor, a formerly possessed priestess, and a giant floating brain.  He’s dating Margaux, another aasimar and former guardian of the Arch.  They’re cute together :3 

Aubrienne Romilly, stage magician and actor (arcanist).  She’s House Rat but she’s a Serpent worshipper, she’s been dating Tits (see above) and they recently got married in a somewhat impromptu ceremony.  She has a large extended family, including a brother who went kind of crazy after the war, and whose half-fey daughter Hyacinthe she sometimes takes care of.  She has a lovely shadar kai assistant named Jedrezj, who is a glorified stripper wizard. 

Denise Murodea, mobster’s assistant (brawler).  She’s a teenager from House Rat, from a poor background but with a large and mostly loving family.  Her mother was injured in an industrial accident and her father works himself half to death trying to support the family, because he won’t accept Denise’s money since it comes from crime. This is getting better though, both because her mother was able to be healed of some of her injuries, and because she’s Ander’s bodyguard, and he’s now the Emperor.  This puts her in somewhat of the same boat as him as far as being forced into dealing with high society stuff that isn’t really her bag, but it does mean she gets to explore the palace with her boyfriend, Enver.  They’re getting married soon, which will be super adorbs.

Dorien Voclain, former drug dealer, chemist and aspiring industrialist (alchemist).  From a respectable upper middle class family in House Wolf (his father is a judge and his mother a teacher at a college), he fell on rough times after he caused an industrial accident during the war that got some people killed.  He wound up making and selling drugs, but has managed to gradually turn his life around, get out of debt, and recently start his own business.  His girlfriend is Misery, a shadar kai alchemist who was initially his apprentice.  She’s too good for him, and he knows it.  Gen (see below) is his cousin.           

Genevriel Doucette, former scout/black ops team member during the war turned alcoholic veteran turned recovering alcoholic scientist (oracle). Gen lost her entire family in the outbreak of the Psyrene war, and joined the army to get her revenge.  She did some bad things, and eventually had a weird experience where she saved a boy from a burning building and somehow healed him with a previously unknown power.  She identifies this power as ‘The One’ (due to voices she hears in her head).  For a long time she had a hard time dealing with this, but is doing pretty well now.  She’s recovering from her alcoholism and has moved from a job as a dishwasher into working for a possibly evil experimental farm, which is definitely a step up.  Her boyfriend is Madds, another veteran who was friends with her before the war and who suffered some nasty injuries in combat.    

Hettienne Murodea, seamstress and former stick-up girl (rogue).  Hettie is also from House Rat, she’s Denise’s aunt (see above) and the two of them live together (for now).  In her younger days, Hettie and her girlfriend Nycki robbed drug dealers, but they got caught and Hettie went to prison.  There was some complicated interpersonal drama (she thought Nycki had betrayed her) but eventually, after some time, they worked their shit out and now they’re together again.  Nycki actually had wound up joining the Hush (the secret police) and now is the head of that organization, “Lady Grey”.  Hettie made costumes for the showgirls at Tits’ but has recently moved up to making fancy dresses for the Empress.  Due to a slight miscalculation, Hettie and Nycki are both expecting babies fairly soon (Ander is their baby daddy/sperm donor). 

Hugonel Silveira, emcee and dilettante scholar (sorcerer).  Hugo comes from a prominent noble family of House Cat - he’s descended from emperors and his uncle Loick was until recently the empire’s Chief Sorcerer.  He spent his youth mostly getting wasted and sleeping around (incidentally becoming Argent’s father in the process, a fact unknown to him until much later), but now that he’s older, has turned things around somewhat and tried to make something of his life, considering perhaps a career as a diplomat.  He’s the emcee at Tits’ nightclub and a glamorous, dapper gentleman with various lady friends, but maybe the one who’s been around the longest is Dasra.  They were once engaged, but broke it off, and she married someone else.  Her husband recently died and they reconnected, but she needed time to figure things out and is currently off doing that.      

Honourable mentions:

Lathra Scales, snake charmer, therapist, and priestess of Serpent (cleric).  Lathra’s a shadar kai entertainer at Tits’ nightclub, as well as serving as something of a counselor to people going through difficult times.  As a relative newcomer to Diablotin she’s always curious and excited to learn new things about human society and culture.  She drinks rather a lot, and enjoys having a good time, but also helping people.  She’s kinda-sorta dating Leiris, a half-elven research assistant, but I’m not sure how serious they are.  

Zola, glamorous nightclub performer (bard).  Zola came from a wealthy but not noble family of House Cat (they own some large department stores).  She was born Micholas Torvalle, but soon realized her true gender and identity were female.  She embarked on a career as a singer and cabaret performer, scandalizing her parents but delighting audiences.  She also for a time maintained a male singing persona, ‘Mico’, a pop singer who was hugely successful but almost never appeared in public for some reason… She had a number of romantic entanglements, but has somewhat settled down with her fiancé Noren, who is a politician and now Treasurer of the empire.  

26. What was your favorite scene to write and show your characters.

I mean, there’ve been so many it’s hard to pick… I guess in this current campaign I was pleased with the investigation/invasion of the evil nursing home, which included creepy trees, nasty experiments, cyborgs, and giant robots.  And with the time Argent and Denise went into the Arch to stop a crazy lady from cutting the threads that hold the multiverse together.  And their trip into the First World, dealing with fey stuff and going to places like the Hollow Hall (a stronghold inside a massive hollow tree run by a satyr lord).  But a lot of my favourite scenes are smaller and more personal - I really liked Zola’s relationship with Haft, for instance, when he showed her his key collection.  Or when Denise’s mother was finally healed, and the family dramas surrounding all of that.  I’m pretty proud when I can make my players be moved by something I’ve created.

32. What role do you like to play the most? (Tank/healer/etc?)

In playing, I don’t know if I have a favourite role.  I like to play leaders and diplomats (social characters), but I’m also happy playing supporting characters who can buff others, and sometimes fighters.  I guess spellcasters and rogues are most common for me, but I’ve played a lot of roles over the years.     

[adlegend21]

Dalish Sera and how awesome it would’ve been.

Disclaimer: I love Sera, she’s one of the sweetest romances in DAI and I bring her everywhere on every Inquisitor. 

That said, I think it would’ve been a great thing if Sera had been a Dalish elf, with the intention of showing a POSITIVE light on the Dalish for a change. So here’s my meta for the concept of Sera Lavellan.

For starters, she’s brown like her concept art, and maybe she’s got a Mythal design for her face tattoos, maybe in a shade of green. She’s a hunter from Clan Lavellan who, like in the Lavellan origin, sent her to spy on the conclave.

Sera’s there even if Inquisitor Lavellan is chosen by the player in which there’s some unique dialogue of her staying there to make sure the shem didn’t do anything funny to Lavellan while they were unconscious. For non-lavellan Inquisitors, she’s fighting with Solas and Varric and Varric stays behind after his intro and you meet him back at Haven.

Sera provides the exposition for Clan Lavellan, they were near Kirkwall after Anders blew the chantry and they fought bandits, rogue Templars searching for mages, and eventually made their way to the conclave because of how important it was and that’s why Sera (and Inquisitor Lavellan) are there.

Also Sera’s still a lesbian only love interest, not changing that, don’t need to, but she’s still good friends with male Lavellan’s, even more so if they’re a rogue because they were a team of hunters.

She and Cassandra don’t get along because she feels Cassandra is too keen to make The Herald of Andraste a thing (even more hostile if Lavellan) and pushes for Lavellan to be called The Herald of Mythal (hue hue hue for later in the game) in banter.

She and Solas don’t really get along either because it shows how he feels pity for the Dalish due to his “studies of the fade” but eventually with some input from the Inquisitor in banter and conversations with Solas they can become amicable.

Her beef with Vivienne is mostly due to her being a court member of Orlais and how she doesn’t use her power to help as many people as she can despite being a mage and she counters Vivienne’s dismissive opinions on anti-circle rhetoric, openly chastising her for saying Dalish ship off mages into the wild if they have too many, DOUBLEY SO for Mage Lavellan’s saying how revered and respected mages are in Dalish culture and how she should really broaden her horizons when it comes to magic instead of being so defensive of the chantry rhetoric.

Sera is a big proponent of Clan Lavellan’s actions of helping people. They helped people in the free marches, they helped people in Northern Ferelden, and she’s staying with the Inquisition to help people (even if Lavellan isn’t there) and that leads into the mission IN WYCOME that's set up on the war table where (stop the purging of Wycome's elves) becomes the playable mission.

In the Fade the Nightmare preys on her fear of losing her clan saying something along the lines of “Your clan is weak without you Sera (and Inquisitor Lavellan) how do you know they will be there when you return for them?” and her tombstone is “losing her culture to humans”

For Wicked Eyes and Wicked hearts, if she’s brought she’s announced as “Sera Lavellan, Master Hunter of The Dalish Clan Lavellan” if you complete the Wycome mission before she’s announced as “Sera Lavellan, Master Hunter of Dalish Clan Lavellan of Wycome” and the Nobles comment on her status in ambient dialogue. She also mentions Leliana personally giving her pointers on the game so she doesn’t let her hatred of the Nobles get in the way of the mission. She GREATLY APPROVES of having Briala control Gaspard and mentions to Briala that she has the support of Clan Lavellan for non-Lavellan Inquisitors and for Lavellan’s she has a war table quest to forge an alliance with Briala’s people and Clan Lavellan.

And of course, What Pride had Wrought, she and Morrigan clash because, even as a Hunter, Sera has incredible knowledge of Mythal and her practices, often talking over Morrigan to explain things to non-Lavellan inquisitors, and shifting the conversation to Lavellan saying the exposition.

When it comes down to the well decision (she approves of sparing Calpernia by telling her of Corypheus’ plot btw and killing Samson) she actually is a choice if she’s in the party. Her vallaslin is for Mythal and she feels that the well belongs to the Dalish. She greatly disapproves if a Trevelyan takes it but the post-mission conversation can be used to get some approval back and she just disapproves of Morrigan takes it. She Greatly approves of Lavellan taking it and is neutral on Cadash and Adaar.

If Sera takes it then she’s the one who mentions Morrigan and Keiran going into the Eluvian so she’s present at that Mythal reveal, if Morrigan is alone she’s a require companion on going to the reveal and naturally she is over the moon to meet FleMythal who says she (and Inquisitor Lavellan) “Do the People proud and have come far” making her the happiest Elf this side of Thedas to have the approval of one of the creators.

For Trevelyan’s they can explain to Sera why they chose to take the well and regain some approval, mages have an easier time because they can say that the Well’s knowledge will be used to help mages throughout Thedas and Sera will be okay with it.

Sera’s cutscene conversations show her kinder side and her ambient dialogue shows that she gets along with the elven members of the Inquisition really well, some were even rescued by her in the chaos.

Her romance is flipped and it’s easiest to romance her with Lavellan’s as they’ve got history together as opposed to it being the hardest. The Hardest romance path is Trevelyan because of Sera’s grudges against human nobles, less so for Mage Trevelyan’s because she’s aware of the plight of circle mages. Adaar’s are still easy because she saw a few female qunari in the free marches and still goes “woof” for them. Trevelyan gets a special conversation where Sera wants to know if they really love her or if she’s just an elf they want to have sex with and Trevelyan can soothe her fears on that in the conversation as well.

She is also the ONLY person with a quest post-Corypheus defeat where, with high approval, or a Lavellan, you get to meet the Clan in a social space like Val Royeux when Wycome is saved as opposed to the earlier quest to save it.

If Sera is not romanced by The Inquisitor she has a few things that happen. She flirts with Cassandra in banter after Haven but gets shot down. In Ambient dialogue from Leliana, her agents let on about Sera having a crush on her to which Leliana shoots her down if romanced in DAO and if not then she’s on the fence about it before Sera gives up. Dagna mentions getting a gift from Sera to welcome her to the Inquisition. Josephine even visits Sera while the two have tea together in the tavern and go on a date if neither is romanced but nothing comes of it. Ultimately if unromanced Sera and Charter become an item in Trespasser.

Speaking of DLC’s Sera is amazed at Ameridan being an Elven Mage and she has dialogue where she asks him questions to get his exposition. The post story convo with The Professor auto selects revealing that Ameridan was an Elven mage if Sera is present because she won’t allow you to lie about him being a human noble (why would you anyway???)

She also talks about dealing with Darkspawn during The Descent in her travels with Clan Lavellan, even having a funny story about doing so with Inquisitor Lavellan.

Also, Tempest Specialization is revealed to be Elven in origin, something she learned from the Keeper and the NPC for the specialization is another Elf from her Clan Lavellan (that makes THREE) and Sera approves of Cadash, Adaar, and Lavellan’s taking it, but is neutral on Trevelyan’s depending on her approval with them.

Sera is IMPOSSIBLE to remove from the Inquisition. She will not leave because the Dalish need her as a voice for change in the world and you cannot tell her to leave. Her disapproval scene is her chastising you (gotta screw over the dalish clan in the exalted plains, get clan lavellan destroyed, take the well and tell her off as Trevelyan, conscript the mages, and banish Briala and keep Celene on the throne or something along those lines) and saying that after you defeat Corypheus that she hopes the dread wolf takes you. speaking of the dread wolf.

Sera has a crisis during Tresspaser. When it's found out about the Evanuris being mages that held slaves and warred upon each other and that Fen’Harel punished them, she doesn’t know what to do about it. It calls into question everything the Keeper taught her, but after the initial shock, she wants to know more. She’s furious after going to the library because of the last words of the Elves you hear when the world falls apart because the fade is beyond the veil, and she wants all the answers behind everything that happened and Lavellan can agree with her on that.

This changes Trespasser just a bit because Solas welcomes the entire party you bring with you to the final conversation with various pieces of input. He reveals that he is Fen’harel, the Dread Wolf, and Sera is stunned. The Dread Wolf was around her the entire time and she didn’t know, but Solas says it’s by design. He feared her wrath and wanted to help, and after meeting mythal he commends both Inquisitor Lavellan and Sera because they changed his opinion of the dalish from when he woke up. He still has the goal of returning the world to its previous state and to everyone’s surprise Sera agrees with him and takes the option from the Inquisitors response to agree with him, though he denies her because he sees the anger in her desire to join him and he takes no pleasure in what must be done whereas she might. He takes the Anchor from the Inquisitor and tells the party not to follow (he also give you back your gear) and you return to make your decision of the Inquisition’s fate.

Sera’s epilogue slides have her return to clan Lavellan with the news of fen’Harel’s return and the truth about the elven gods and it leads to the first major meeting of Dalish Clans across Thedas so that they as The People can decide what to do going forward.

So that was a long piece of writing and I may make some addendums down the line, but so far, that’s how I would have done Dalish Sera

[simonjadis]

those of you who know me know that Dragon Age is my #1 hyperfixation

I’m aware of the DA4 “leaks” which may be real-yet-outdated but may also be someone’s ploy for attention by describing a plausible-sounding guess

unrelated to that, I’ve been wanting to do a “will this person show up” list and just talk about how likely certain companions and other popular characters are to make an appearance in DA4 and future games

I’m not going to try to guess what writers have planned, here; just which characters are and are not available

Alistair Theirin: can be dead, can be king, can have been stranded in the Fade; with this number of variables, I doubt that we will see Alistair in DA4 unless the Hawke/Alistair/Stroud/Loghain character appears and you have Alistair in that slot. you can likely expect for codexes or even dialogue to mention him if he’s king or died a hero. it’s likely that Alistair’s story has been told, so to speak [tl;dr probably not]

Morrigan: Morrigan is always alive and is a free agent and has possibly even been empowered with some portion of Flemeth’s power and perhaps even some of what Flemeth removed from Kieran, though that is speculation on my part; whether or not she drank from the Well, Morrigan could easily appear [tl;dr available]

Zevran: in worldstates where the Warden killed him instead of recruiting him or in worldstates where he betrayed the Warden to Taliesen in Denerim, Zevran is dead. iirc, Hawke has the option of turning Zevran over to the Crows in Kirkwall, though Zev could escape that. I would say that he will probably not appear in DA4, though there is a chance that popular demand (and the fact that he’s the only Origins romance who didn’t show up in Inquisition) could give him an appearance. He’s been tearing down the Crows. [tl;dr probably not, barring popular demand]

Leliana: she’s alive and an important fixture in canon, but since probably more than half of all worldstates (that’s a guess) have her as Divine Victoria, I wouldn’t expect to see her unless we meet the Divine. In fact, I’d say that chances are reasonably good that all three candidates for Divine are now retired from the game, though since Cassandra might lead the Seekers and Vivienne might lead the new Circle, they could show up. still, I feel like Leliana’s story has been told. [tl;dr probably not]

Wynne: she’s dead, jim [tl;dr not available]

Shale: Shale is wonderful, though a DLC companion and also potentially having been slain if brought to face Caridin by a Warden who sided with Bronca . . . but otherwise very likely still alive and active and, in the default worldstate of the novels, Shale was part of the initial Mage Rebellion at the White Spire. Shale’s one avenue for death could easily be written out [tl;dr available]

Sten: Sten could be dead (left to rot or if he tries to kill your Warden) but, if he didn’t die, he’s no longer Sten but now the Arishok. His chances of appearing in a future game are fairly high, though some worldstates might have a Stroud-like substitute as Arishok. [lt;dr available]

Oghren: the yosemite sam of Thedas is probably alive but I don’t expect to see him again and honestly I was shocked that he had enough fans that he came back in Awakening [tl;dr probably not]

Dog: the Warden’s mabari (whom my Surana named “Jowan”) is . . . well, old. We might see a descendant of the Warden’s dog, as it is canon that your mabari was personally involved in replenishing the Fereldan mabari population

DRAGON AGE II

Anders: an extremely well loved and also extremely reviled character; quite possibly the most controversial figure in the Dragon Age franchise (yes, more so than Loghain or Solas or Morrigan) who could potentially be dead in half of the playthroughs . . . no. we’re not seeing blondie again. [tl;dr not available]

Isabela: worst case scenario, Isabela was given to the Qunari at the end of Act II of DA2, presumably by the Worst Possible Hawke. that horrible fate could easily be written away, such as with an escape. they even put her in the DAI multiplayer. it would be hard to picture a game featuring naval forces or pirates where she isn’t at least a questgiver or something [tl;dr available]

Fenris: could be dead (if he sides with Meredith against Hawke and won’t switch back), could be traded away to Danarius by an absolute monster of a Hawke. though all signs point to Tevinter for the next location in the game, writers may feel like Fenris’ story has been told or that there are too many versions of him. [tl;dr maybe but probably not]

Merrill: sweet and beautiful and clever, Merrill seems like she’ll be getting increasingly relevant thanks to certain events shown in Trespasser, though I doubt that she’d be on board. That said, because she’s a potential romance for Hawke, and because she tends to not be pro-Annulment and thus can die fighting to protect mages from the slaughter, she’s not always alive or available. [tl;dr available but not likely]

Aveline: Aveline is busy being the main character on Law & Order: Kirkwall, thanks [tl;dr probably not]

Varric: spoiler alert but he’s the Viscount of Kirkwall so he’s very unlikely to show up as more than a cameo [ tl;dr probably not]

Carver/Bethany: the fact that I am writing about them both at once, because they are mutually exclusive characters, should tell you -- too many variables. either can be alive. either can be a Warden or a Circle Mage/Templar. [ tl;dr probably not]

Sebastian: hot but probably the least popular DA2 companion; he’s the Prince of Starkhaven and shows up in the comics but as a DLC companion, plenty of people never even met him also, he has a city to run. [ tl;dr probably not]

Dragon Age Inquisition

Cassandra: as I mentioned about Leliana, Cassandra may be Divine and therefore I feel that it’s unlikely that we’ll see her unless we happen to see the Divine or maybe unless we encounter the Seekers. [ tl;dr probably not]

Varric: as I said, he’s busy Viscounting in Kirkwall and can’t come to the phone right now [tl;dr probably not]

Solas: well he’s sure as frick not gonna be a companion again but I 100% expect to see him again [tl;dr available]

Iron Bull: he’s wonderful but potentially killable if your Inquisitor makes bad choices, so between that and the fact that his story feels like it’s been told -- despite his storytelling potential in Northern Thedas -- I’m gonna lean towards “no” [tl;dr probably not]

Krem: not a companion but relevant: Krem is killable if your Inquisitor makes the same bad choice that cost Bull his life; that said, Krem is overwhelmingly popular. the devs would have to balance out the popularity of letting us see our precious son again vs the uproar over retconning his death. considering that they refuse to let us see the Warden again because some people give Morrigan the finger instead of doing the sensible thing in Origins, I sadly don’t think that we’ll get to see our handsome boy [tl;dr probably not]

Sera: unless I’m totally missing something, the worst that you can do for Sera is not recuit her or kick her out of the Inquisition, which would be a shame because she’s a (chaotic) treasure. honestly if you avoid talking politics with her she’s darling, and perhaps the most enjoyable romance in the franchise (even if you’re not into women!), so while I don’t really expect to see her again, she’s definitely around, right? [ tl;dr available]

Vivienne: again, she could potentially be busy being the Fantasy Pope and, if not, she’s leading the new Circle [ tl;dr probably not]

Blackwall: his story is told and he’s already old af and some versions of him didn’t exactly get their happy ending, so I would be shocked if we saw him again [ tl;dr probably not]

Cole: our precious ghost son! this sweet, good boy has too many variables and may have even returned to the Fade, so [ tl;dr probably not]

Dorian Pavus: there is a very strong chance, in my estimation, that we’ll see Dorian again. not only was he a popular character (even with the Hets) and a beloved romance for many, but his story is tied to Tevinter. his variables, like his relationship with his father and whether or not he’s in love with the Inquisitor, can be handled via a few dialogue items and and are unlikely to make his character burdensome for the writers or the people doing cutscenes. [tl;dr available]

Cullen: he’s been in three games despite starting off as a one-off NPC and he was a romance in Inquisition; we are unlikely to see him again in game except perhaps to deliver a quick cameo line where appropriate somewhere in Southern Thedas [ tl;dr probably not]

Josephine: despite being only an advisor, I feel like Josephine’s odds of returning aren’t low. she’s young and she’s a master of the Game and she’s supposed to take over House Montilyet, an Antivan House. unlike Leliana and Cassandra, she’s not part of the Chantry. her only real variable is whether or not she’s hooking up with the Inquisitor, which is no obstacle (as with Dorian, dealt with in a few lines about a long-distance relationship). [tl;dr available]

anyway, those are my guesses

[meatbag-status]

Looooong guess

Best guess again on who the traitor is. And remember, they lured everyone to Iokath, not just tried to kill you.

-A Zakuulan who recognizes that everything was fine until you killed their Emperor (even if Arcann did, you were blamed). Probably someone we recruited from KoTET. Not the dude with the hair…omg.

-Someone who’s a staunch patriot of either the Republic or the Empire who really wants to get back to the original plan of destroying the other. Probably a Jedi or a Sith.

-Someone who served Vitiate as the Sith Emperor whom he kept on call juuuuust in case. I’d say it’s one of The Hand, seeing as the model is a pureblood. But only the Warrior knows them.

-A force ghost. Of the force ghosts it could be whom every single class has met: Vaylin, Marr (but that model is smalllll so that’s not very consistent), or someone we will find out later that died while we were away. I’d pick Senya. She could be dead if you DS’d Voss, or like I said, we could find out she died in a later chapter. “Omg the traitor killed Senya!” Nope.

-Just an agent working for the traitor so the model doesn’t even matter. This could fit The Hand still working for Vitiate even after his death.

-A Child of the Emperor. The Knight and Consular are familiar with them, but no other class is. That could still work like the idea above. They’re stillllll working for Vitiate.

-Kaliyo. Bear with me. She could have died in KotFE, but when has death ever stopped a Bioware companion from coming back for another game? Example: Leliana, Anders, Corypheus (lmao but that ones makes sense), Flemeth (makes sense ok fine)…ok not that many examples and wow it’s all Dragon Age NICE! Beyond that, Kaliyo is an anarchist and has no loyalty to anyone (save the agent…sorta) and perhaps she’s really just done with the war. It keeps going and it’s pointless. Best to pit them all against each other so she can go back to doing whatever.

-This is Revan’s trick back on Rishi. I’m not saying it’s Revan, but I’m saying it’s someone who was there for that fiasco. That’s Theron, Lana, Satele, Marr, your companions, Shae, Jakarro and D4 (omfg that’d be hilarious), and any Revanite. I don’t recall any significant Revanite NPC who’s still alive. Arkous and Darok are dead, but ho boy that’d be funny.

-In all classes, there is no vanilla game NPC everyone has met. And if they did, that NPC is dead or we had a choice to kill or spare them. So without any magic, it’s not possible to include them. I’ve been trying to think of a character that is involved in every class story or is at least mentioned, but I got nothing (even though Lana mentioned Darth Jadus…which is a really good guess, but only the agent knows about them). So I figure it’s someone from Shadow of Revan onward.

-Who’s the rogue SIS agent Lana mentioned when she was listing suspects? I couldn’t figure it out. Is it that annoying guy from the trooper story? Not the charming one, the asshole.

[carabas]

Dragon Age: Inquisition!

Top five things I’d change about Inquisition:

1. The mage rebellion should not have been resolved in this game. Not while we’re playing as the Inquisitor. Look, I love being able to help Fiona, and I love seeing Leliana declare the mages free. But.

Two games and a novel showing us the struggle of the mages, fighting this uphill battle, winning boons only to have them taken away again, people like Anders going to great lengths to show the world the abuses going on, people like Fiona struggling to unite the mages behind her because only when they are united do they have a chance to change anything-

And then it turns out the key to freedom was to be the messiah.

Just wake up one day and find you’ve been declared messiah.

How can you convince the Chantry to let the mages go? Easy! Just be the person in power! Be the person who gets to choose the new leader of the Chantry! Gosh, it’s so simple, how did we not see that before?

2. More plot-relevant side quests dealt with in person, less running errands that your agents could and should be handling for you.

Break side quests into categories like DA2 did, with the fetch quests separated out to make it clear what’s optional (literally EVERYTHING, NONE OF THE SIDE QUESTS MATTER, THEY’RE ALL FETCH QUESTS, GET OUT OF THE HINTERLANDS), or stagger them so that they're not available until after certain main quests have been completed, so that the story’s pace isn’t bogged down so much in the first half of the game. There are so many side quests and war table missions that I’d like to swap.

3. The possibility of failure.

Awakening did this perfectly: you have to choose how to use your limited resources, you can’t guard everything at once; and you have to build up your defenses if you want to keep your people alive. But for all the constant warnings about consequences for your actions in Inquisition, the Inquisitor’s only real chance of failure is in war table missions with no emotional impact.

So at minimum, if I screw up a war table mission badly enough, then I want a cutscene afterward, I want an NPC I can see and talk to. If Clan Lavellan dies I want the chance to say something about it.

I want an assault on Skyhold. There has to be an assault on Skyhold. I want Skyhold to be able to survive where Haven didn’t, I want to see the agents I recruited protecting it, I want it to survive because I made alliances and built up my defenses, I want being the Inquisitor to mean something more than just a title and a throne and a power trip.

4. Remove Hawke.

Let them send a letter like the Warden did, let us know that Hawke and their LI are still alive and safe, acknowledge the role they played in freeing Corypheus and red lyrium and the start of the mage rebellion, and that’s it. There are just way too many variables here; no matter what dialogue they put in, Hawke-as-an-NPC was always going to seem OOC to some portion of the audience. It’s not just one bit of dialogue, not just the way Hawke feels about blood magic or the Wardens or the Inquisition or Anders or Kirkwall or their willingness to sacrifice themselves to a Fade spider - it’s everything combined.

And the sacrifice option in the Fade actively irritates me. It undermines everything I loved about DA2, and Flemeth’s message to Hawke in particular. “We stand upon the precipice of change. The world fears the inevitable plummet into the abyss. Watch for that moment… and when it comes, do not hesitate to leap. It is only when you fall that you learn whether you can fly.” That’s gorgeous! The hope that the uprising at the end of the game is flying, not falling! That for all the tragedies you go through, you survive!

Or, alternatively, she could have been saying, “Go feed yourself to a demon and die,” I guess.

And the timing. The timing’s the worst part. Hawke shows up when you’ve just gotten to Skyhold. I would really like to like Skyhold. It’s my new base, it’s filled with my team, I want to enjoy it. But in practice, when you first arrive in Skyhold, you’re treated to a ton of dialogue in which your companions insult each other, and then you top it off with the frustration of trying to make not-Hawke look vaguely like your custom Hawke, which I STILL haven’t managed. I’ve tried nine times! Three per playthrough! I can’t do it! I wind up giving up in frustration and listening to someone who looks nothing like my Hawke say things that my Hawke would never say. WELCOME TO YOUR NEW HOME, ISN’T THIS FUN.

So. Yes. Remove Hawke. I love Hawke’s brief conversation with Varric in the hallway, but I am willing to sacrifice that. Remove Hawke, and instantly improve my ability to feel something positive about Skyhold.

5. Admittedly this is several things crammed into one but let’s go with the theme of making this game feel more personal, that counts as one thing:

Add a pre-Conclave prologue. Show us who our Herald was before they became the Herald. Show us the people that we hear about later in those war table missions. Give me some clue what my mage Trevelyan was doing during the war instead of forcing me to puzzle it out along the way from contradictory dialogue.

Add at least one more personal quest for each companion.

Add a reason to go to your quarters in Skyhold more often. Give the Inquisitor a pet, put their collections on the shelves, give them gifts from their companions and display them there - possibly this would be that extra companion quest I just suggested - let their companions visit them there, let their LI move in with them there, SOMETHING. Give the Inquisitor a place to relax and feel at home. Because Skyhold isn’t a home, it’s a place of business.

The Warden got to huddle around a campfire with their companions, and you spent time there, you had conversations there. Hawke had an estate where their friends would come over just to play with the dog, where Isabela doodles in the margins of the books and Merrill (and I suspect Anders) has named the statues Finnegan and Messere Pointy-Face. But my Inquisitor Trevelyan just has a room he never sees, decorated with a banner bearing the symbol of the templars who’ve been hunting him down over this past year of war.

…since I mostly post about DA2 and not Inquisition so much, I also want to point out the things I wouldn’t change - the Temple of Mythal, the encounter with Flemeth, Solas, the ancient elves, the eluvians, Trespasser, wandering through elven ruins, a story told primarily through desolate landscapes, through music and atmosphere…

Inquisition is a three-act story of faith and personhood revolving around the Herald’s ties to Andraste, Mythal, and then Fen'Harel, and I’m in love with the second and third acts. That first act, though.

[little-elf-wanders]

Honestly, looking through the Dragon Age romance options in Inquisition, no one is actually fulfilling me like Zevran did in the first game, or like Fenris did in the second. Y’know THAT romance that we all have, the one that drags you back every time and no matter how many times you replay swearing you’ll romance someone else you end up right back with them again? Or you complete a new one then start a new game just to re-romance the one. I don’t have that one in Inquisition. 

I don’t know what it is, I just couldn’t completely connect this time around. Under the cut I’ve got some gist of the romances but I think my main problem was I wanted the side characters. They seemed more interesting to me.

I love the Iron Bull, it’s just a very physical relationship (ironic coming from the one who romanced ZEVRAN but get off my back he was more than that), so the first playthrough was fun and though I keep romancing him I don’t get that giddy buzz that I still do with Zevran, the reason being the approach is very different and the characters themselves are very different. (still, I love Bull. Just not enough to romance him every single time.) He’s that casual hookup or the friends with benefits guy, which makes sense given who he is, but yeeeah, that just depends on the character I make whether it fits them or not.

Cullen is pretty fluffy and it’s cute admittedly, something I can get through because I don’t get too invested in the mage vs templar stuff anymore. Namely because both sides need to get their shit together - and I’m not getting into debates about it because it’s exhausting. So, when you don’t get too hung up on every little nuance (fair play to those who do, Anders and Solas activates my skeeve out meter so I fully understand why some really hate Cullen, I personally just don’t connect like that with him? Which is all perspective and how involved in the lore you are/views/how you played in previous games ext.), he’s cute. I can argue that I still get giggly but put this down to his personality type and not actually Cullen. I’m always a sucker for the stoic worker but secretly awkward with your crush stuff. But that’s probably all that’s keeping me interested.

Solas? No. Just no.

Blackwall, in theory, I like but I haven’t done a full romance with him. He’s just not my type and I see him as too old right now. (Gimme a few years and I might give it a shot.)

Dorian I’ve romanced once, I think. Not fully because I get bored so easily with romances, and though I adore Dorian, I dunno. Once was enough. I’ll probably try again later now that I have Tresspasser but... shrugs.

Sera is fun but meh, again, I could probably only romance her seriously once or twice. I have when it fit my character and she was a breath of fresh air but I didn’t find myself sticking to her. She’s just not my first choice.

Cassandra, I’m just not interested in romancing. I watched my best friend romance her and she’s cute? But not for me. I hope she does find her prince charming to sweep her off her feet though.

And Josie? Okay, I love Josie too, she’s the sweetest around but again, once or twice and I couldn’t be bothered going back.

My point to all this is there were two out of them all who have only juuust kept my interest. Bull and Cullen. But neither have that spark that has me excited to get to the romance part, or particularly bothered to romance them. And while others probably have that spark with some, I’m glad they do, I feel a bit jaded. It’s not a bad thing, not every single game I’ll get relentlessly invested in the romances, but because of this I ended up looking to the npc’s. 

Like Krem and Harding. Hell, even Bull’s Chargers in general had a better selection of people I really wanted to get to know better but obviously we only get to see two clips of them. Ser Barris was interesting too, actually. Felix - even though I understand he dies pretty quick but still. Hell even that Avvar agent, this is completely stretching now but just...

I hope in DA4 we get a new group and I hope the writers take their time to really flesh these characters out and focus on the content, because with all my griping that’s what’s been different from the first two games. The content is biased and it doesn’t do the companions justice. I think I’m just getting bored with the same old types of characters being favoured over ones who can be great and vibrant.

Iron Bull was exciting at first because it was the first time getting to romance a Qunari, something I’ve longed for since Sten and yeah even the Arishok (don’t @ me), and he’s great, I’m not dissing him, but you can tell who the writers favour when it comes to content. There’s a severe lacking in certain characters who are great and should have gotten the attention they deserved. So I can’t connect when I’m feeling the disconnect in the writing and the content.