#rook: basil aldwir

[frankensteined]

quick rook ideas + tag dump to get this outta my brain and somewhere concrete

listed in tentative order of playthroughs, but after my first one i'll probably have a better idea of which character i really want to play after tess.

thérèse "tess" de riva - human - antivan crows - rogue

- the "do you want me to kill them for you? :)" @ a minor inconvenience friend

- born in orlais; her father was a judge and her mother an anti-imperialist gossip girl

- someone hired a crow to get rid of them; thérèse wasn't supposed to be there, but she came across the scene and the crow ended up taking her with him back to antiva, rather than kill her too (the contract didn't say anything about kids!!)

- basically that "killed the monster, only to find out that they had a kid nearby" rpg staple, except for the protagonist

- trained to be a crow; made friends with some other kids in the same boat as her, until one tried to kill her in order to advance in the ranks. she nearly killed her bestie back. thanks to SOMEONE killing off crows elsewhere, rather than getting rid of the two troublemakers, they were separated and thérèse was taken by the crow who'd brought her there in the first place, training her on the road with him.

- returned to antiva in her mid-20s and made peace instantly with her former bestie, who outranked her by a country mile at that point; thérèse (who was going by "tess" at that point for ease of being hired) was a-okay with this. tess kept a low-profile, taking on jobs that wouldn't make her too important, but became very fond of staying in treviso whenever she could. naturally, the entire business with the antaam marching in there was something she took personally, and she struck out not out of a desire to advance her position, but merely to protect her home.

- and then the backstory blurb happened.

best friend predictions: harding, neve

romance predictions: lucanis

caius mercar - elf - shadow dragons - mage

- the "i haven't had a day off in eight weeks" friend

- taken in by the mercar family after his mother, a freed slave, was fatally wounded during her escape attempt. the family's official story was that he'd been a foundling, but they'd been actively helping his mother, caia, in her escape efforts, and honored her after her passing by naming her son after her

- trained in swordplay along with his adoptive siblings, as the family's military standing was reputable and he was eager to follow in their footsteps. when his magic manifested, he was young enough to adapt to it without missing the blade too much, but he's always looking to incorporate it into his battlestyles anyways

- while he loves his family dearly, the knowledge of his origins had always spurred him toward a very specific vision of justice and right/wrong, and he fell into the arms of the shadow dragons pretty much as soon as he was able. he views tevinter as it stands at present as the cause of his birth parents' deaths, and wants to dismantle it, or die trying.

- takes himself very seriously, almost to a comical degree. like, to a batman level of taking himself, justice, and his Brand seriously

- and then the backstory blurb happened

best friend predictions: neve, lucanis

romance predictions: harding? taash?

dulcea laidir - dwarf -lords of fortune - warrior

- the "hey, watch this!" friend (said ten seconds before disaster)

- her family backed the wrong would-be-king in orzammar, and intentionally fled to the surface to avoid retribution, having previously been part of the warrior caste. dulcea was about 13 years old at the time, so she remembers bits of orzammar, but not enough to miss it with a lot of sincerity.

- while her family members remained deeply rooted in maintaining their yearning for their former-home, while she took to wandering and being enraptured with everything that she could discover on the surface. for years, she worked hard to support them, but one day she caught wind of a trader heading to rivain, and she left in the dead of night to travel with her. her parents woke up to a chest of gold and a silver goblet, with a note simply saying "More where this came from! -D"

- she remained a fish out of water for the entire trip. if she wasn't so good with her own weapon (a hammer she named "finesse"), she'd have been mugged and swindled more times than she could count. eventually, though, she caught the eye of a ship captain who needed some extra muscle for a job he was running, and dulcea was hired on.

- the ship nearly went under during a storm, and she almost drowned because she couldn't swim. at first, the crew teased her about it, but when she started to actually cry over it, they realized how terrified she'd really been and all rallied together to teach her how to swim (wholesome!!!).

- now, she's 110% comfortable enough in the water to do cannonballs in search of lost treasure. as a member of the lords of fortune now, this happens often.

- and then the backstory blurb happened.

best friend predictions: TAASH

romance predictions: bellara

castor thorne - dwarf - grey wardens - rogue? warrior?

- the "am i the only normal person here?" friend

- surface dwarf, worked as a stablehand in south reach until the fifth blight rolled around. survived, but hid through most of it and never forgave himself for being a coward while so many tried to protect their home and died.

- following this, he went to amaranthine to pledge himself to the wardens, feeling that he owed someone something. along the way, he met a fellow recruit: an elf named "thorne" who spoke frequently about leaving his clan to become a warden. they became fast friends, and trained together often. neither of them had combat experience, so it took them a while before they were skilled enough to undertake the joining.

- thorne always assumed that castor was a dwarf from orzammar, and he'd never corrected him. the night before the joining, though, castor revealed the truth, embarrassed at his own weakness yet again. thorne laughed, revealing that he wasn't dalish either - he was just a city elf, wishing he could have had a stronger connection to something greater than him. they agreed that, as wardens, they'd both finally have that, and pledged to serve as brothers, going forward.

- castor survived the joining, but thorne, unfortunately did not. devastated to have lost his first brother-in-arms before his service had even begun, castor took on thorne's name for himself, so both their names would be recorded in weisshaupt eventually. has faithfully served the wardens ever since - diligent and reliable, never hiding again.

- and then the backstory blurb happened.

best friend predictions: davrin, lucanis

romance predictions: neve? emmrich?

hector ingellvar - human - mourn watch - mage

- the "friendly reminder (shares some sorta horror)" friend

- intentionally not going into how he ended up in the grand necropolis as an infant. that's either gonna be the one story that he'll never know, or it'll have to be something that the game itself gives to me, because the big ol question mark that that provides at present is too much fun for me to want to crack open for him.

- he tells himself that he was made inside the tomb, most likely. that the undead just put him all together, bones and then organs, and then skin, and pretended that they found him. that is, of course, ridiculous, and he knows this, but will tell that to you with a straight face anyways. it's as likely a true story as having parents out there who care about him still, after all.

- very much a "child who was never really a child", he grew into adulthood without fanfare and has never really understood why some of the other necromancers have looked at him sadly over this.

- and then the backstory blurb happened

best friend predictions: emmrich, lucanis

romance predictions: davrin

basil aldwir - qunari - veil jumpers - rogue? mage?

- the "i didn't do it" himbo friend

- the son of a tamassran who escaped the qun with an elf that she'd fallen in love with

- his mother had been pregnant with him when she and her love fled, using an attack from tevinter as the perfect opportunity to disappear unnoticed.

-the pair eventually found the elf's clan, and it was only through his faith in her that they allowed her to stay. when her son was born, she took her husband's surname and gave it to the baby as well; they called him "hallan", after the halla (the only other horned members of the clan, aside from them)

- he was raised amongst the clan's children and didn't worry too much that his grey skin and horns made him stand out. he was always able to reach up high for his friends, and he made for an excellent beast to be slain in their games together. he was happy, if not a bit mischievous, and daring to a fault. his mother taught him discipline, and his father taught him to appreciate the beauty of nature and the beauty of a heritage that wasn't really his own, but he valued it as if it was.

- eventually, he encountered the veil jumpers and offered himself as "a noble sacrifice to their cause". he mostly just acts as a distraction, because he's very distracting.

- along the way, he cheekily adopted "basil" as a moniker, enjoying the slight jab at himself, for how the qunari would look at him, and how it was easier for humans to say and accept.

- and then the backstory blurb happened

best friend predictions: bellara, the bestie

romance predictions: tremendous wildcard at this point, will circle back to this one day.