#oc: alectris mercar

[jukkariart]

Poor Alectris is losing her mind.

Spellblade, Soldier, Shadow Dragon - Alectris Mercar

She's @jukkariart's standalone companion for Rook and is coming with a lot of backstory and lore, fitting seamlessly into the game itself.

Sketch concept based on provided screenshots :>

[jukkariart]

Companion banter with Alectris - Davrin edition

Alectris starts off on a wrong foot with Davrin. Or maybe he just thinks he already knows who he is dealing with.

She's run of the mill arrogant Tevinter mage, he's a self-righteous Grey Warden. Nothing to see here, or is there?

First banter upon having both Alectris and Davrin in party

Davrin: So. You’re a blood mage. 

Alectris: Excuse me?

D: Oh, come on. You’re a Vint. Nobility. And military. No way you’re still alive and never did blood magic. 

A: But of course, every day. Before breakfast too.

A: Watch that overgrown chicken of yours. He might make a great sacrifice. 

D: You wouldn’t dare try. 

A: Tell yourself that. 

***

Follow up banter upon having both Alectris and Davrin in party

Davrin: I knew a blood mage Vint one. 

Alectris: Oh? This better be good. 

D: Yeah, couldn’t get him to stop yapping. Never met anyone so sure they’ll make First Warden. 

A: The charmer Rook met before didn’t look like a mage. Do tell me what happened. 

D: He didn’t live through the joining. 

A: Don’t worry Davrin. If I get blighted you’ll be the first to get a stab at me. 

***

Alectris: So, how did the Wardens resurrect an extinct species? 

Davrin: It’s Warden business. 

A: So blood magic? 

D: That’s not what I said. 

A: Blood magic. I knew it. 

***

Triggered post combat

Davrin: You’re not so bad with the sword. 

Alectris: Tevinter might be all about magic, but the military has its own requirements. 

D: So those wild swings came from your tutors. 

A: At least I had tutors and didn’t take my stance lessons from a squirrel. 

D: Well, it has served me well so far. 

***

Davrin: I don’t know of many mages that are so eager to stand on the front line. 

Alectris: Setting your enemies on fire is great. Getting them down with a sword? At least as satisfying. 

D: I could agree with that. 

***

Alectris: Tell me about your monster hunts Davrin. 

Davrin: Why the interest? 

A: Ah, am I not allowed a bit of curiosity? 

D: No, if I don’t know the purpose. 

A: Maybe I want to start a monster killing career after it’s all done. 

***

Lighthouse banter

Davrin: So, you weren’t joking when you said you wanted to kill monsters for coin? 

A: Oh? Where is this coming from? 

D: I saw you reading the guide back in the library. 

A: Since the professional was not willing to share his secrets, I looked elsewhere.

D: Leave that book, it will get you killed. I’ll give you some tips. 

[jukkariart]

🌼🍀 for the Rook ask! xx

Thanks for asking <3

Gonna give answers for Hugo de Riva (because he's the current Rook I'm playing) and for Alectris (who is not a Rook, but I love her anyway)

🌼 If someone was to ask Spite what Rook smells like, what would he say?

Hugo: Despite his gear being in pristine condition these days, Hugo somehow always smells like rust according to Spite, rust and salt water. Hugo suspects it might be some leftovers of his childhood spent diving for pearls in docks of Rialto. Back then he didn't have much but an old pairing knife that despite his best efforts was always rusty and barely sharp enough to do it's job.

Alectris: Alectris smells like hot coals and nutmeg and sand on the beach right after rain. She insists she has no clue where she got any of these ideas, but truth is she just hates how it all makes sense. She might see herself as a soldier first and mage second but fire has always been her go to type of magic, nutmeg might as well be the only thing that Seheron has not soured for her and the smell of the beach after rain is the first sensation that comes to her mind when she thinks of that one time she nearly died.

🍀 Has Rook had any near-death experiences? What went through their mind during what they thought was going to be their final moments?

Hugo: As a Crow Hugo has a very skewed idea about what experiences count as "near-death" but when he was a freshly promoted full-fledged Crow he got a contract on a sommelier. He ended up drinking his own poison to trick the mark into believing the wine is safe. He did drink an antidote before hand but much to Viago's disappointment poisons were never his strong suit and he nearly offs himself as well. His thoughts at the time? "Maker, if Viago hears about it he'll never let it go."

Alectris: Alectris has brushed with death a couple of times mostly during her time on Seheron, but the closest call she had was during a Qunari ambush including a Saarebas. Her last thoughts at that time were about her team and if any of them made it alive (a few did!).

[jukkariart]

DA4 - Rook/ OC - Alectris

You know what, I'm gonna be a bit insane on here. Tagging as spoiler, just in case, but it's mostly just info dump on a character that's probably not even gonna be Rook really but a separate OC.

I thought her up initially last year and now with all the DATV things coming up she's been taking up most of my brainpower.

Details under the cut, ask me anything I guess?

Name: Alectris (possibly will stick with Mercar, it's a good surname me thinks)

Nickname: Tris

Age: 29

Nationality: Tevinter

Family: Comes from a Laetan family

Long standing mage family but with no confirmed links with the ancient dreamers, so they never made it to Altus status

5th child

Her siblings are all older than she is, 2 sisters and 2 brothers

Looks: Rather tall at 178 cm Alectris is average build, yet quite physically strong for a mage. With slightly off torso to arms and legs proportions, people sometimes compare her to a young foal. She has fair skin with freckles, which are most common on her face and shoulders, but can be found on her whole body. 

Her shoulder length dark brown hair usually in a semi up-do to keep them from falling over her eyes. She has brown-amber eyes.

Skills:

(Based on the mage skill tree and whatever the heck i want) Primarily a spell blade, front line combatant using sword and casting shields.

Skilled elemental mage, primarily focused on lightning magic with fire to fill in the mix.

Crap at hexes and couldn't heal a paper cut if her life depended on it.

Personality

Alectris is rough around the edges. Witty and sharp, she prefers to deflect personal questions with sarcasm instead of addressing her feelings head on, very much unlike her approach to pretty much anything else in her life. She's resilient and focused when needed, but needs a goal to channel her energy into or she becomes restless and apathetic. Pragmatic and self-sufficient she tends to prefer simple solutions that she can count on herself to complete.

In the field she tends to favor group effort, after years of military service, she has learned the value of a good team that she can rely on. A front line fighter she specializes in close combat and shields to keep her team out of harm.

Background

Alectris has managed to fumble through most of her early life with a mix of bad luck and surprising resilience.

The youngest child in the family, she didn't produce any magic until the "ripe old" age of 11, making it the latest in the recent family memory.

She's been taught at home since then with barely any breaks to catch-up to her peers and when deemed satisfactory she has joined the circle of magi in Vyrantium by the age of 15, where she's remained for the next 4 years with mixed results. While determined and sharp, she's excelled in evocation magic, but fell short in most other fields like hexes and healing, making her a rather uninteresting protege. As she was aging out of the circle slowly without the scientific inclination her family has decided to push her towards military service. If she could not support the family's good standing by her apprenticeship she could at least show their devotion to Tevinter at the border.

After signing up she's done her first 4 years by various imperial borders, spending most of her time by Nevarra and Anderfels. Faced with either returning to the capital and her parents who would see her join the nobility on the salons or signing up for another military contract she chose the latter, this time initially stationed by the Free Marches she ended up sent to Seheron where she's spent nearly 2 years, fighting for Tevinter.

By the end of the second year there was not much left in her to give thus, ultimately she's been discharged at 27 and sent back to her family in Minrathous, where shortly after her return they've made sure to parade her around as a proof of their devotion to the country. Having already lost nearly third of her life for the service, Alectris fails to blend in with the socialite, who are either too arrogant or too stupid for her tastes, while they in turn see her as someone too brutish for their refined sensibilities.

About 2 years pass by the time Solas' ritual happens and Tris feels disconnected from both her fellow soldiers by the nature of her background and the higher society by the lack of shared experiences. At this juncture she finds herself drawn to both Lucerni in the magisterium and the Shadow Dragons as a means of carving out some space for herself in the world that does not seem to be used to people in her position.

Trivia:

Morning person (extremely morning person, usually one to be up first)

Loves storms and rain

Loves the sea

Loves watching the sunrise

Has a lot of physical ticks (taps fingers on the table, taps heel on the floor, bites nails)

She plays piano (always wanted to play violin, but her eldest brother was made to learn it first and why would you have multiple children playing the same instrument?)

Loves fruits, sour the most

Dislikes sweets

Loves herbology, alchemy and poisons studies, she can craft basic potions if needed, but best keep her out of any laboratory (or kitchen, this lady doesn't know how to cook)

[jukkariart]

Why do I always see these so late? I love the questions ;_;

For Alectris it would be something imitating her earlier years in the army. Her family is far away and can't pressure her, the weather is good, the fire is going strong and her team is all there. Seheron never happened and the worst they ever faced were some bandits by the imperial highway.

She's playing the lute and misses a note every now and then, they're singing tavern songs they picked up on the last check point and their sergeant is telling them yet another embellished story about his service.

There's a weird anxious feeling in the back of her mind, like there's something urgent that needs doing, something more pressing than switching the lookout or stirring the stew, but whenever she wants to get up someone asks for just another song. And the weather is good and the fire is warm and maybe the world could wait one more song.

Heeey, happy Friday! I hope those of you who celebrate had a great New Year, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa !

It’s Rook intro hour time!

In DAO (I’m sure some of you remember) the Sloth demon imprisons each of your companions in some kind of fantasy or nightmare, in order to convince them they aren’t in danger. If your Rook were trapped like that, what dream would the demon create for them?

[rajakaen]

Spellblade, Soldier, Shadow Dragon - Alectris Mercar

She's @jukkariart's standalone companion for Rook and is coming with a lot of backstory and lore, fitting seamlessly into the game itself.

Sketch concept based on provided screenshots :>

[jukkariart]

Meta reasons? Because I liked the idea of her having name inspired by Greek gods, two minor goddesses to be specific:

Alectrona goddess of sunrise and waking sense and Iris goddess of rainbow and god's messenger. A lot has changed about her personality since the name and inspiration was picked, but I got attached to the name anyway.

In-universe Alectris was named by her father after her great-grandmother - Alectrona. Her namesake has been quite an influential scholar in the Vyrantium Circle of Magi, known for her work on healing spells and herbalism.

She usually goes by Tris among her friends, I mean who's got the time for a 3 syllable names, right? Her only friend from the Minrathous Circle of Magi, Veryl (@rajakaen shoutout for letting me play with mr. V), tends to call her Alec, which she doesn't really like, but he's her best friend so he gets a pass.

To be entirely honest she'd be happy to just go by Tris in most circumstances, she hates the idea that she's named after someone (even if it's not a one to one thing) and that of course her parents had expectations based on that.

It’s Monday Morning 👎👎👎🚫🚫

It’s the Rook Introduction Hour ! 🥳🥳🎊🎊🙌

For new people, it works like this: I ask you about your Rook, and if you want you can rb and answer, and then I’ll rb it back here and comment a bit !

I really made you all work last week, so let’s do something easier: What is the significance of your Rook’s (first) name? Who gave it to them— did they pick it themselves? Do they have any nicknames (besides Rook)? Who gave those to them? Do they like their name?

Feel free to answer as much/little as you like!

[jukkariart]

I don't think about Alectris as my Rook, but more as an additional companion, but she counts because I love her and she occupies about 97% of my brain these days.

Coming from a Laetan family, Alectris wears clothing mostly appropriate for a Tevene mage, however she values practicality above the latest fashion. She picks simple and comfortable designs, something that will not restrict her movements, however she can afford said clothing to be both from high quality materials and in vivid colors fitting for someone of her background.

She prefers to keep her body covered with long sleeves and high-collar shirts and long trousers, usually having a layer or two on top depending on the weather.

In a pinch she can fix her clothes, a skill she picked up in army, but one can tell it's not something she either enjoys or is very good at. She's also not exactly patient enough for commissioned clothing, so usually you can find her buying clothes from stands and having them readjusted if needed. She would probably not be opposed to stealing clothes from dead people, if only they weren't half-burned most of the time. The price she pays for wielding flames as her magic of choice.

For bonus round: I have no clue about wrestling but that flying elbow thing looks like something she could pull off.

It's Monday morning (boooo)

It's time to tell me about your Rooks! (yay!)

So, what do they like to wear? Is there a particular region's style they wear most often? Do they choose their clothes based on fashion or practicality? Both? Do they make or fix their own clothes, or do they buy/commission them (or steal them from dead people lol)?

Answer as much or little as you like!

Bonus round: because it's wrestling night, @uchidachi wants to know what your Rook's finishing move is!

[rajakaen]

Ah yes. The joy of traditional media... <3 redrawing until things fit

what is this efficiency you're all talking about? never heard of it.

Spellblade, Soldier, Shadow Dragon - Alectris Mercar

She's @jukkariart's standalone companion for Rook and is coming with a lot of backstory and lore, fitting seamlessly into the game itself.

Sketch concept based on provided screenshots :>

[jukkariart]

She’s such a baby? I love it so much. ♥️

Spellblade, Soldier, Shadow Dragon - Alectris Mercar

She's @jukkariart's standalone companion for Rook and is coming with a lot of backstory and lore, fitting seamlessly into the game itself.

Sketch concept based on provided screenshots :>