#oc: tanner laidir

[invinciblerodent]

I love giving my little hobbies and interests to my characters (partly for authenticity's sake, and partly because I think every little guy benefits from having a hobby), so like Arvid crochets and is interested in philosophy, Iona is a jeweler (I'm, like, super fascinated by historical jewelry-making techniques and symbolism), Petyr does all sorts of weird DIY shit, Tristan does embroidery, and I'm really considering giving Tanner some sort of a writing-related hobby, for those long hours of downtime one has on a ship

I can't decide what'd be more fun: to have this burly, pirate-adjacent, helplessly butch dwarfette writing gorgeous, lavishly written travelogues and memoirs under a pseudonym with sales numbers rivaling Genitivi and Tethras, or for her to like, write actually kind of incredible, and profoundly horny sapphic poetry that never sees the light of day

maybe both

...... and this is not at all because my death grip on my knee turns into a horny grip at the thought of a dwarven stud with a smoker-voice and a sailor's hands tenderly reciting the poetry that she had written for Harding at the small hours of the morning

[invinciblerodent]

i should not be concocting elaborate daydreams about characters i haven't even heard speak in earnest yet, huh

i am vying against the desk, nails bloodied and knuckles white, please let me make up more guys (gn) to kiss those other guys (gn)

[invinciblerodent]

if bioware doesn't release the veilgaurd cc for me to play around with (and I don't really have the hard drive space to whack on another game with a better cc), I just have to make do!!!!! :c

rambling about each of them under the cut, going clockwise from top left

Verbena (or Ver), my "main" Rook and a Shadow Dragon from Minrathous, I picture with a wavy shag of messy chestnut hair, warm autumn skin, and striking grey eyes that look almost colorless, as long as there's nothing for them to reflect. (I wanna call them her dagger-greys mostly, but there's so much room to play with reflections and metaphors and stuff with a color like that!!! and, with that darker border, it calls back to Ray's blues a bit, since they are sort of distantly related.) She'll have a longer nose (slightly hooked if I can get it in a way I like), a scattering of freckles, and a rounded cupid's bow but a somewhat more squared jaw- this face looks way more sculpted than what I'd like for her to have, but none of the others worked even this well. :/ I'd like her to look younger than she is- like she's supposed to be roughly 32, but looking at her, I kind of want people to not think her much older than 25. She's somewhat short, but wiry-strong, with toned limbs and a very straight spine. She'll be a sword and board warrior, as I usually go lol.

Tristan, my Fereldan Grey Warden, will, on the other hand, look older than he is: at ~40, he'll easily seem middle-aged (undeath and general warden-hood will do that for you). His eyes are somewhat vacant, smeared in tired purple, and a vaguely unsettling sort of brown that seems almost red if the light hits it just right. He's overall tall and broad (if carrying himself somewhat crooked), and I kind of want him to have some sort of body modification, maybe body tattoos (for battles he's been in, general reminders) or a number of discreet piercings, kind of to make his body feel more his. Might give him a facial tattoo too, just for fun. Probably a great weapon warrior, something long and heavy like a greatsword.

Coris, my Antivan Crow dwarfette, will get sort of unremarkable, but somewhat feline, playful-looking features, with upturned eyes, and lips that seem to be always smiling. I want her eyes to be so dark that they seem to be lacking a pupil, and I couldn't quite get the skintone right, but I want her to be sort of olive-skinned, with thick, dark hair she'll keep just long enough to pull back and out of her eyes. No visible tattoos or notable piercings (an assassin can't afford to stand out), but I really like that mole right under her right eye, I want to keep that if I can. She'll be agile, and pleasantly plump, with quite generous curves- probably an archer rogue.

and "Tanner", my Lord of Fortune dwarfette, will be an ex-Inquisition agent (probably from Orlais) who adopted back her old name assigned by Sister Nightingale for this (and will only reveal her actual first name to Harding once they're together ❤️❤️❤️ thinking something very Orlesian, like an Elise or a Jeanette or something) - I want her to have sort of the sunkissed, if slightly ruddy appearance of someone who spends a lot of time outside (or at sea), a fuller, friendly face, kind hazel eyes, and a mass of slightly coarse, dirty blonde hair. Her time adventuring (as well as spying) has likely left her with a few notable scars, but I'll want to figure those out once I'm there in the cc. (I may want her to have a pirate/sailor/adventurer type of stick and poke tattoo or two, something that looks wonky but has a lot of emotional significance to her.) She'll be kind of robust, and rather tall for a dwarf. I'm very undecided on the class yet, I kinda don't want to romance both rogues with other rogues, but the concepts just lend themselves well to being rogues.

[invinciblerodent]

actually going a little bit insane over this Sappho fragment

[invinciblerodent]

i have a million things i should be doing right now, yet here i am, falling down a rabbithole of traditional sailors'- and legionnaires' tattoos for two side-characters who don't have faces yet (who i plan to play far after finishing my first run as a completely unrelated character), for a game that isn't coming out for another two months

........ anyway, Tanner, my Lord of Fortune dwarfette, is going to have basically been a treasure-hunter at sea (so kind of a pirate, but I'm gathering visual inspiration more from Vikings), and she's gonna have what the qunari she served with called "gaatlok-spots", based not-so-loosely on the gunpowder spots of 17th century buccaneers. which are basically stick and poke tattoos made by rubbing finely crushed gunpowder into needle-marks made on the skin. (maybe a swallow in a style reminiscent of the American traditional style of sailor tattoos to signify distance she's traveled, or just something I can get in the cc that makes her extra hot, just on her biceps, because I can.) (I want her tall for a dwarf, strong as hell, and generally to sweep Harding off her feet.)

Tristan, I'll have to see the cc's options, because there aren't really many constraints there (i'm picturing this sort of thing so far, kinda more warden'd up, but his might be a mishmash), i just know i want to poke many holes into that guy- not necessarily his face for the sake of Warden respectability, but... there are many more places to pierce and draw on, especially considering that I want him to be Large in general

(am i also going to retcon in my Brosca having similar types of stick and poke tattoos beyond his casteless brand? you betcha)

[invinciblerodent]

Some random useless headcanons about my upcoming characters (that are hopefully not going to be overwritten by the game's canon)-

Thinking about giving Verbena some slightly "bleached", brighter streaks in her "shag of chestnut" hair from having spent a lot of time outside, so she can be a "Sun-Blonde Vint" ❤️ (which is also gonna be her favorite drink, and it'll give me some nice imagery to work with, vis a vis her being intoxicating as a spirit, and "strong enough to fluster a Tranquil" ❤️❤️❤️)

Whatever the Antivan Crow Rook's last name will wind up being, Coris' real last name will be "Alcoforado", for backstory reasons, and the one used in-game will have nothing to do with her actual family that's still alive. (I hope the game will be vague about how Rook came to join the Crows, because I have a very specific idea based on a false rumor about a 17th century Protuguese nun, lol.)

Tanner will be 500 pounds of whoopass in a roughly 120 pound bag, she'll like knives a tiny bit too much, she'll be a smoker, very sunkissed and freckled all over, and she'll be the (slightly unusually tall) butch dwarf woman of my (and Harding's) dreams. I am unwilling to back down on any of these statements.

Also played with something of a base appearance for Syl that I'll be sort of going for in the Veilguard cc-

All I have in my head for her right now is that one piece of Tabris concept art, where she's in the wedding dress? that's sort of where I'm coming from for her. (Thinking hard about whether she too is bi, or a lesbian. I'm leaning towards lesbian.)

Tristan's "Isolde" is going to be a Grey Warden mentor whose actual name was Iselva, she'll have been a city elf and a healer mage, one of the only (if not THE only) person who knew about his secret, and she'll have died during the events of Inquisition.

[invinciblerodent]

Masterlist

Twitch page 🎮 YouTube channel 📺

Fic:

AO3 page (as of jan 2024, mostly old Dragon Age and Mass Effect fics- this is to be updated)

Ficlet on immortal elven souls and vampiric immortality (BG3, Astarion/Iona)

"Prayer of an unknown cleric" (BG3, Gale/Arvid)

Warden Tristan of the Grey - OC backstory snippet (DA:TV)

Verbena of the Shadow Dragons - OC backstory snippet (DA:TV)

Selected love letters (DA:I, Dorian/Ray)

"Headcanon"-type posts:

Gale (NSFW) (BG3)

Gifts (BG3, Origin cast)

Breakfast in Bed (BG3, Origin cast)

Orzammar dwarves on the surface (DA)

Characters:

Baldur's Gate 3

Arvid Trygg (he/him, 54)

"Gold dwarf" cleric of Tempus

Soldier background

❤️: Gale Dekarios

Playlist 🎶

Summary:

Note written by Gemria Bozzahr, 1438 DR, found pinned to the swaddling of a corpse-blue, wailing infant boy: "If you've any care for the weak, please find one who may care for him. I cannot face my family as mother to a half-breed. May he find grace in the glory of your god, and let him bear the name 'Arvid', after the father he may never know."

A bastard son born from but one night shared by a trader's daughter and a handsome duergar soldier, Arvid was raised by clerics of Tempus in a small and insignificant monastery/fortress, in a small and insignificant town close to Neverwinter. Now, it was unusual for Tempurans to take in urchins like that, but the boy, while unusual in his appearance and meek in his nature, proved a quick study, and a rare talent at healing. Which, with his quiet, mellow (and soon, not even quite so anxious!) personality, made him a favored addition to the "mercenary" excursions of the warrior-priests: and so, hitting the ground running, Arvid learned to fight in the very melting pot of battle.

With body and spirit molded by the Foehammer's teaching, he took his Acolyte vows shortly after his 16th spring, and became a fully fledged cleric of the Faith much younger than most. And as time passed slowly (and with... only a regular amount of constant bloodshed), he made his way to the rank of Direhar (guardian-priest). It was at 53 that he was called to Baldur's Gate: partly to replace the sole healer of the city's monastery who had perished (naturally in battle), and partly at the urging of his Warlyon (high priest), as an opportunity for him to eventually, maybe, even head his own congregation.

Of course, the mind flayers had different plans.

After merely a year of trying to establish a foothold in the city with... middling-to-poor success, Arvid was yanked from the city streets while trying to usher as many of those fleeing into the protection of the temple as possible. Fat load of good playing the hero did for him. (But to be fair, that's... kind of his theme.)

Iona Raedir (she/her, 61)

High elf sorcerer (draconic ancestry, red)

Guild Artisan background (jeweler/trader)

❤️: Astarion Ancunín

Playlist 🎶

Summary:

"Don't ask, kitten, and I won't lie."

Once dutiful daughter, once devoted wife, always a secret sorceress. Iona lived most of her life in a settlement by the name of Puremount's Hollow, among the so-called 'Emissaries of the Immaculate': a radical offshoot of the Ilmaterian church, one that views all magic as the domain befitting solely the gods, and arcane casters, abhorrent thieves of divine power. So, with the magic of ancient dragons thrumming in her veins, that... was sort of a problem.

To her very good excuse, neither did she join of her own accord, nor did she know she commanded such powers at the time. She was only 11 years old, after all.

But, one of the things elves do best, is wait. So that's what she did, and she played her part expertly: she and her beloved father lived their life in accordance with human traditions, he took a second wife (we don't talk about the first, it's too painful), she married the first boy who asked her (Herric Birchlight- a nice boy, if rough around the edges), and kept her facade (though loveless and rote, minor issue) impeccable, while ignoring her magic as it grew and yearned to be used. For over 30 long years, she kept playing her part. But even the best liars must eventually slip- or be made to slip, more accurately.

Uncovered as an "abominable thief" of divine power, a "pretender", a "fucking witch" and "magespawn" (all Herric's lovely words about the woman he had once called "wife" and "love"), Iona was forced to flee the compound, and took the burning of bridges behind her quite literally, taking little more than the clothes on her back and that brand new scar on her face.

She was snatched less than a day after she had finally arrived to Baldur's Gate, penniless, exhausted, and alone- and for all intents and purposes, she can't quite shake the feeling that this really might have been a better outcome than many of the possible alternatives.

Petyr Wildbrook (he/him, 45)

Wood half-elf ranger/rogue

Outlander background

❤️: Shadowheart, Halsin Silverbough

Playlist 🎶

Summary:

Raised among druids of the Circle of the Shepherd, Petyr waited quite a bit longer than he should have had to for his magic to show itself. And, well, it... simply never did. Brother, cousins (gods, so many cousins), friends, all inducted into the druidic arts before he could as much as conjure a single goodberry.

So, partly at the urging of his mothers and partly out of spite, Petyr took to trying to learn all he could about the wild- on his own, through sheer trial and error if need be. At 20, he gathered what meager belongings he could call his own (and a big pack of gifts from his worried, but oddly relieved family), and set out to find his luck wherever it may guide him.

Though it wasn't easy, or painless, or even smart by any stretch of the imagination, he fell into the role of a ranger and forester, and made a living as a hunter of monsters and big game, and a silent keeper of his little patch of woods: a lone watcher, and reclusive woodsman. He had always enjoyed the company of those who expect no social niceties from him anyway.

Turns out, the exception to that particular rule is the silent, squirming passenger of a tadpole behind the eyeball. And, yeah, so maybe even a self-identified utter bitch of a man is capable of being a "hero", if you stretch the meaning of the word far enough.

"Mara" (she/her; ???)

Lolth-sworn drow monk

Dark Urge

❤️: Karlach Cliffgate

Playlist 🎶

Summary:

She is three days old, and all she knows is murder.

But she's... nice. No, I promise. Or at least, she's... she's trying her best.

Dragon Age

Aren Lorna "Arie" Aeducan (she/her, DAO: 25, DAI: 46)

Noble dwarf, sword and board warrior (Berserker)

❤️: Alistair Theirin (Warden)

Aesthetic

Summary: TBD

Raymond "Ray" Percival Trevelyan (he/him, DAI: 24, DATV: 34, BG3: 55)

Inquisitor-as-Tav AU

Human

DA: sword and board warrior (Reaver)

BG3: fighter/Oath of Devotion paladin (noble background)

❤️: DAI- Dorian Pavus, BG3- Wyll Ravengard

Playlist 🎶

Aesthetic

Summary:

There's one thing that is to be said / about him in the years to come: A hero seldom lives to see / past the ending of their tale.

This AU is set roughly 30 years after the events of DAI. After a tumultuous youth of adventuring, ostensibly saving the world (which earned him the moniker "Inquisitor of the Dales"), and the loss of his sword arm in the process, Raymond had retired from heroics young, at merely 25 years of age. Upon the peaceful passing of his father (a minor, but old-money Baldurian baron), he quickly took to managing the family estate (reconciling a tenuous love with his estranged mother- we don't talk about the past much on that one), and settled in for two joyous decades of blissful domesticity by the side of the love of his life, Dorian.

Except fate has a way of throwing its doomed chosen at increasingly bigger problems, until one finally manages to kill them.

A handful of years pass between the assassination of his husband over blasted politics and his own abduction by mind flayers, and Ray, both dreading and strangely anticipating the adventure, falls back into the role of a leader and a hero like he would into a bad habit, though he is barely a shadow of his once-gregarious, larger-than-life hero self.

Maybe this time, throwing himself at a nigh-immortal god-monster will finally wind up killing him for good. And then, maybe he can finally rest.

Or not. Who knows. At least if he's lucky, fate will take a fucking leg this time.

Adela Cadash (she/her, DAI: 37, DA:TV: 47)

Surface-born dwarf (Marcher, Tantervale)

Archer rogue (Tempest)

❤️: The Iron Bull

Summary: TBD

Harwen Lavellan (he/they, DAI: ~30, DATV: ~40)

Dalish hunter

Archer rogue (Assassin)

❤️: Josephine Montilyet

By Veilguard, no longer wears his clan name and is a father to one daughter by the name Valeria Montilyet.

Summary: TBD

Under construction:

Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Verbena "Ver" Mercar (she/her, 32)

Human (Tevinter), Shadow Dragons

❤️: Davrin

Playlist 🎶 (WIP)

Summary:

TBD

Zenka "Tanner" Laidir (she/her, 30's)

Dwarf (Ferelden), Lords of Fortune

❤️: Lace Harding

Playlist 🎶 (WIP)

Summary:

TBD

Tristan Thorne (he/him, 41)

Human (Ferelden/Orlais), Grey Wardens

❤️: Emmrich Volkarin

Playlist 🎶 (WIP)

Summary:

TBD

Coris de Riva (she/her, 30's)

Dwarf (Antiva), Antivan Crows

❤️: Lucanis Dellamorte

Playlist 🎶 (WIP)

Summary: TBD

Syl Aldwir (she/her, 27)

Elf (Tevinter), Veil Jumpers

❤️: Neve Gallus

Playlist 🎶 (WIP)

Summary: TBD