#seeing someone she loves go through it??? absolutely not. even if Solas tries to defend Mythal for whatever reason

[fenharel-babe]

Bloom (my Lavellan that is a lavellan but also not. Long story) is literally SO pissed. In her mind she says “IT’S ON SIGHT IF I SEE YOU AGAIN, MYTHAL.” For once, she wishes she had the power Solas does so she could actually stand a chance in defeating Mythal 1v1. But she also knows Solas probably wouldn’t want that, so she won’t.

But she will roast that woman and argue SO fucking hard. She does not stand for abusers since she herself AND her twin brother were abused in the past (super long story) and she cannot stand it. Especially when it’s someone she loves.

She didn’t say it in the ending of DATV, but everyone could see the anger and disgust on her face when she saw Solas’s shoulders hunched over and how he almost handed her the dagger. It’s on sight if she sees Mythal again.

Also, Rook tells her how Mythal claimed she was a mother and Bloom is like “I NEVER want to hear her say that again.” Bloom is an adoptive mom of a human and ALSO twins with Solas (before DATV--again long story about her kids) and she could never imagine doing all the shit Mythal did. It disgusts her so deeply that she says that. She literally would start a very bad verbal argument with Mythal and not hold back her roasts. Solas is gonna have to hold her back LMAO.

Oh GOD he didn’t want to become this, he didn’t WANT TO!! He was terrified!! Ohhhhh MYTHAL. I hate her. Ohhh I hate her I hate her.

[saiikavon]

You know what it is about Solas, that makes him simultaneously my favorite character and also just so annoying to me because I think I've got it

I consider myself a curious person, wanting to learn all I can and surround myself with people who are also curious and love to learn. And I think, when you are a curious person, you can really open yourself up to lots of different perspectives and experiences

BUT

When you are a person who Learns, you also run the risk, I think, of becoming attached to your own intellect and the things you have learned. You can become as obsessed with the Knowing as you are with the Learning, and when you do that...you can easily convince yourself that you know more and are wiser than pople who may not share your inherent curiosity

Which is a long-winded way of saying that sometimes very learned and experienced people can become pompous, know-it-all assholes

Solas, I believe, has convinced himself that what he knows and what he has learned is worlds above what other people know, and the frustrating thing is, he sort of does. He has truths that people have long forgotten, histories that he witnessed first hand that have become twisted over time. Furthermore, he has presumably had time to reflect on all he's done and all that came of his actions, so he can operate based on information only HE has

I know people like this. I have fallen victim to it myself at times. Thinking that the act of reflection itself means you will ultimately come to the best overall conclusion, since you are, indeed, giving something its due consideration before acting, where others would jump in without thinking at all or gaining all the information. The problem is that just thinking things over does not automatically make one correct. You may have taken every new point of information without checking your biases, or with even an unconcious interest in confirming them. You may let a specific emotion guide your research. You may forget to actually listen to what's been told to you or to consider the feelings of those around you - the facts may not care about feelings, but feelings can and do shape certain facts.

Solas' folly is that he has lived through so much and ultimately applies all of that experience to things he learns about the new world without actually considering the people who live in it. Oh, he wants to save them, this lost flock, as he did the slaves bound by the Evanuris. He thinks that because they do not know better, he must decide for them what to do.

What I adore about him is this compassion, this curiosity, the way he paints his picture of history. The way he feels for his people and the way he learns about the world.

What I cannot stand is how he holds this learning over everyone's head, even people he claims to respect. It drives me absolutely bananas when I see someone I genuinely love spend so much time talking themselves into a corner that they now think anyone who presents a new perspective must automatically be wrong. I hate when I catch myself doing it. I understand the burning need to defend the position I've spent so long cultivating because someone has tried to tell me I'm wrong.

You can't argue with a person like this in one debate. They've already argued with themselves and, intentionally or not, developed a counterpoint for each and every point you can make against their stance. Even if they convince themselves they don't want to go down this path...well, they've thought about it for so long, they now feel they have no other choice.

I adore Solas. I hope, hope, HOPE, that in Veilguard, we can give him an argument he will finally consider. I hope we can tell him he's being a stubborn fucking dipshit and he will listen. I hope we can provide him a new way to learn and that he will try to move on. I hope he will leave his past to rest and try to make reparations to those that live in the present.

I hope my Inquistor Wren Lavellan can go to him, smile as she kisses him and calls him a fool, then take his hand and find home.

[scottishvix]

The One Chapter 2: Temple, Sacred Ashes

I was so overwhelmed by the way you guys received chapter 1. This really is a labour of love. I absolutely cherished every like, kudos, comment, reblog and tag you all left me. It meant the world to me.

Eve, Lily, and the team head for the Temple of Sacred Ashes. The reality of landing in a war zone really hits Lily.

Since Tumblr seems to be making posts with external links unsearchable, if you’d prefer to read it on AO3, you can find the link to my AO3 page in the sidebar.

Now onto the story...

The trip to the mine entrance was uneventful. The wind had picked up, whistling sharply between the jagged peaks, piercing my soft shell and making me shiver. The ladders we had to climb to reach the top were slippery with ice, and being battered by the wind didn’t help.

The trip through the mines was just as I predicted. Cassandra insisted we go slowly and cautiously, even though I had played through this introductory session enough to predict every fight. There was a realness to it now, though. The light cast by the torches was more flickering and the patches of darkness between them blacker. After the cold of the mountain face, the mine interior was stifling. The air didn’t move. Even here, on the highest level that contained only abandoned offices and empty storage rooms, it was claustrophobic.

True to his word, Varric stayed with me at the back of the group and when we attacked it was Cassandra with her sword and Eve with her daggers that took on the brunt of the fighting. She was graceful as a dancer with them. If she had been dark and lithe instead of blonde and stocky, I would have said it was like watching River Tam. But I could take no pleasure in watching her work. Every time I saw one of her blades flash through the air to slash at a wraith or stab a shade something hurt in my chest and tugged at my brain. I pushed it away, concentrating on aiming and firing my bow. All that mattered was getting through this and out of here.

The light and air of the cold mountain was welcome when we exited the mine. Not so the scattered bodies. I caught sight of one scout who’d had his bowels ripped out by a clawed hand and turned to retch into the snow. Tears of shame froze on my cheeks as the others stood around listening to me bring back up the cheese Eve had forced on me. She rubbed gentle circles between my shoulder blades, trying to soothe me. I loved her for that kindness, as I hated myself for my weakness.

Varric sighed heavily. I assumed he’d seen worse sights after the Kirkwall Chantry had been destroyed. “Guess we found the scouts.”

“That cannot be all of them,” Cassandra murmured, sounding worried.

I shook my head, standing again and taking a lungful of clean air. I stared straight at the trees down the path, trying to avoid having to look again at the ripped-up bodies around us. “It’s not, I promise. I’m sorry,” I gestured vaguely in the direction I’d been sick.

“Do not be,” Cassandra assured me. “You told me you were no warrior and I believed you.” She offered me the flask from her belt. “Rinse and spit. You will feel better.” She was right. The water took the tang of vomit from my mouth and cleared up the fuzziness from my head. “You have never seen a dead body before?” I shook my head.

“From what Oracle said before,” Varric interrupted, “the rest of the scouts will be holed up ahead.”

“Our priority must be the Breach,” Solas cut in, his voice sounding pompous and self-assured. “Unless we seal it soon, no one is safe.”

“We will help them,” I didn’t know where the conviction in my voice came from. Maybe it was seeing the bodies of the poor lads scattered around me. “We pass the rift they’re defending on our way to the Temple and I’m fucked if I’m just going to walk past and leave them to die!”

“Atta girl,” Varric gave my arm a squeeze. Cassandra turned and started down the path. “Don’t look down,” the dwarf whispered. He placed my hands on his shoulders. “Just follow me. You don’t need to look.” I kept my eyes on the back of Cassandra’s head, letting Varric guide me as we picked our way through the bodies.

“I don’t know how to thank you, mo caraid,” I whispered to him as we walked. “You’ve been so kind to me.”

Varric shrugged it off. “Never hurts to stay on the right side of someone who can warn you when a demon’s about to pop out at you. That’s us past them, you can let go now.”

We could see the Breach closer from here; follow the spinning trail of green energy that travelled from the hole above our heads to disappear in the valley below us. Looking at it made me feel dizzy so I kept my eyes on the path at my feet until Eve’s hand began to spark and crackle. “They’re just around the corner now,” I told the group.

Eve smiled. “Then let’s kill some demons.”

The scouts had backed themselves into a corner, effectively preventing the demons from flanking them, but also keeping them trapped between a wall and a rift. Varric’s first arrow turned the tide. The wraiths had to split their attention and the appearance of reinforcements gave the trapped soldiers their second wind. A lieutenant cried out in surprise when she saw her rescuers. Cassandra spun around, splitting the last wraith in half. “Lieutenant Allred, you’re alive!” I could hear the relief in her voice.

“Just barely,” the scout called back. “Watch out!” The ground behind Cassandra had begun to bubble and she darted back in time for two terrors to emerge. Magairlean. I’d always hated terrors. In game, I’d never got the hang of moving from where one was about to emerge in time to avoid being knocked on my arse. And now fighting them for real they were an archer’s nightmare: tall twig thin body, with four twig thin limbs and a twig thin tail. There was fuck all to aim at. And they moved like spiders. I could have cried in relief when Solas froze one for us. At least it couldn’t move, giving me time to line up my aim, and it shattered under combined shots from me and Varric. Eve took the chance to disrupt the rift, stunning the second and allowing Cassandra to lop off its head. Closing the rift was merely a formality after that.

“Sealed, as before.” Even Solas sounded out of breath as he steadied Eve. “You are becoming quite proficient at this.” It also seemed to be taking more out of her. That had to improve after stabilising the Breach. She’d never last through the rest of the Inquisition if it didn’t.

“As long as it works on the big one,” muttered Varric as he joined me and Cassandra in tending to the wounded and exhausted scouting party.

“Well enough for now,” I promised, passing the water skin Cassandra had left me to a scout who was hobbling but still on his feet. He grinned at me and raised the skin in a silent toast before downing its contents.

The Lieutenant had been knocked off her feet by the shockwave of the closing rift. Cassandra was the one to help her back up. “Thank the Maker you arrived, Lady Cassandra. I don’t think we could have held out much longer.”

Cassandra glanced over at us. “Thank the prisoners. Lady McKichan said you were alive and in need of help. She insisted we come this way.”

“The prisoners?” Lieutenant Allred was clutching a gash in her side but she sounded stunned enough. “Then you…?”

“Closing rifts and saving soldiers,” Eve also seemed to have got her breath back. She grinned at me. “It’s what we do.”

“Then you have my sincere gratitude.” Allred put her fist over her heart and nodded to each of us in what I recognised as the Inquisition’s version of a salute. I replied in kind, and even under her helmet I could see her eyes widen slightly.

Cassandra patted her still stunned soldier on the shoulder. “The way into the valley behind us is clear for the moment. Go, while you still can.”

“At once,” she saluted and went to begin gathering the rest of her troops. We moved together to the path that led down towards the temple.

Solas glanced at me. “The path ahead appears to be clear of demons as well. Just as Lady Lily predicted.”

“Still no lady,” I muttered. Varric laughed at me, handing me a pile of my arrows that had gone wide.

Cassandra moved into the lead with a huff. “Let’s hurry before that changes.”

Just as I predicted, the path along frozen cobbles and down scaffolding ladders was demon-free and quiet. I hated it. Too much time to think about, and I didn’t want to think. I knew there was something that had precipitated my waking up in Haven, something that had caused me to come here from the little English village where I had tried to make a new life. But there was a part of my brain that told me I didn’t want to know, didn’t want to remember. Waking up in a war in a fantasy land of elves and dwarves and magic was traumatic, but I had lived with trauma for nearly ten years. There was a worse, more personal trauma somewhere in my head that I didn’t think I wanted to remember.

Varric didn’t like the quiet either, or so it seemed from the way he constantly tried to question Solas and needle Cassandra. “So… holes in the Fade don’t accidentally happen, right?”

“If enough magic is brought to bear, it is possible.” Solas, I thought, sounded as emotionally involved as a brick wall.

“But there are easier ways to make things explode.” I wondered if he was thinking of Anders and Kirkwall. I had never played DAII–by the time it came out Martin had banned me from playing with the Xbox–but I had looked into it enough to get an idea of the story.

Cassandra tried to hush the men. “We will consider how this happened once the immediate danger is past. Which is when there will be time for explanations.” I couldn’t read the look she was giving me. Her voice was as harsh and cold as ever, but I thought there was confusion and doubt, too. Maybe I wouldn’t be handed over to Roderick as the Chantry’s scapegoat.

The sight of the Temple was as bad as I’d feared. Jagged shards of melted rock, veined with Fade-green light, jutted out from the main explosion sight. Whole chunks of wall dotted our way around to the main courtyard. There were fires scattered around, burning what little was left to burn. Cassandra pointed to a point on the path. “That is where you walked out of the Fade and our soldiers found you.” Her voice was quiet, the Nevarran accent more lilting.

“You’ve told us what people saw when Eve came out of a rift, but what of me? How did I appear?”

That surprised Solas. “You have knowledge of all of us and of the future, but not of your own immediate past?”

How could I put this? “I have never Seen my own part in any of this. I cannot See my own future. I have no more knowledge of my own path than you do of yours. Probably less. As far as I am aware I arrived unconscious, and I do not even have the vague memories of being in the Fade that Lady Trevelyan does.”

“Fascinating.” Oh, good. I interested him.

“Two rifts appeared next to one another,” Cassandra interrupted, answering my initial question. “Most eyes appear to have been drawn to the woman behind Lady Trevelyan, but one or two looked behind you.”

“And?” I dreaded the answer.

“They are vague, but all agree that there was white light, a mirror reflecting your back, and a horned shadow.”

“Well, that’s not at all ominous,” I sighed. “I suppose we’ll figure it out later.”

The courtyard was like something out of a nightmare. I gagged again and had to turn away, my eyes watering, unable to take a deep breath because of the smell of burning flesh. It was like pictures I’d seen of Pompeii. Only instead of white statues that had once been people, the bodies were still blackened and charred, some still smouldering away. They were frozen as they had been when they had died–running in panic, cowering in fear, kneeling in prayer. I was grateful the faces were too charred to see their expressions.

“Oracle?” Again, it was Varric who was concerned for me.

I blew out my breath, lifted my head high, and turned back around. “I’ll be okay, mo caraid.” As he turned to walk away, I grabbed him and looked into his eyes. “In the Temple itself, we’ll find your personal nightmare. I’m sorry.” I hurried off after the others without saying more. I couldn’t be the one to tell him we were about see the red lyrium that had driven his brother mad.

Inside what was left of the Temple, it was worse. The bodies weren’t all blackened. The ones that weren’t had all died screaming. I tried as best I could to keep my eyes on the back of Eve’s head, focusing on the intricate braiding of her golden hair. Until we were standing on a balcony overlooking the rift directly under the Breach. It was just so much bigger. Each one of the glowing green Fade crystals was at least as large as a double decker bus, and twice as long, with tendrils of green energy winding and twisting up into the Breach.

“The Breach is a long way up…” Varric murmured staring up.

I whirled at the sound of footsteps behind us, in time to see a troop of archers turn the corner into the Temple. Leliana pushed past them, the chainmail overlay on her tunic rattling as she darted over to us. “You’re here. Thank the Maker.”

Cassandra began firing off orders, but I pushed between them. “I can tell you what will be coming out of that rift. Will it help?”

“Yes,” Leliana answered, when Cassandra could only stare.

“A pride demon. A massive one. Its eyes will be level with that balcony. It’ll call some wraiths and shades to it, but that’s the biggest threat.”

“You are certain?” Cassandra seemed to have found her voice.

“Have I been wrong yet?”

Cassandra shook her head, and she and Leliana took a step away to talk tactics. Varric was at my elbow. “The pride demon is the stuff of my nightmares?” he asked softly. It was my turn to shake my head.

“Are you ready to end this?” Cassandra asked, interrupting as Leliana moved to give orders to her men.

“I’m assuming you have a plan to get me up there?” Eve asked with a raised brow, staring at the Breach thousands of feet above us.

Solas shook his head. “No. This rift was the first,” he answered, gesturing to the rift in the courtyard below us. “It is the key. Seal it, and perhaps we seal the Breach.”

“You said the Mark couldn’t seal the Breach yet?” Eve asked turning to me. I’d forgotten I’d told them that earlier. What could I do now, but tell the truth as I saw it.

“It won’t,” I confirmed. “We either need to suppress its power or magnify the power of the Mark. That’s a discussion for later. What it will do is stabilise it, make it dormant. It will stop spreading and spawning new rifts and new demons. It will stop the Mark from killing you. It buys us time.”

“Good enough.” Cassandra was fixed on this path. “Let’s find a way down. And be careful.”

We had barely started walking when the voice rumbled through the Temple ruins. Now is the hour of our victory. I was expecting it but it still made me jump. Bring forth the sacrifice.

“What are we hearing?” It was the first time I had heard Cassandra sound nervous.

“The thing responsible for all this,” I told them. Corypheus.

As we turned a corner, I saw a red glow ahead. I glanced at Varric, walking silently next to me. Too short to see what I was seeing over the top of some of the debris. He knew as soon as we reached it though. I saw him lose all colour in his face, eyes wide with horror. His voice shook. “You know this is red lyrium, Seeker.”

“I see it, Varric.” Her words were sharp, but her tone spoke of some understanding there. Anyone who knew about red lyrium would know about what all it had done in Kirkwall. I laid my hand on his shoulder.

“But what’s it doing here?” he hissed, the fear plain in his voice.

Solas was as impassive as ever. “Magic could have drawn on lyrium beneath the Temple, corrupted it…”

I drew Varric away, as he continued to stare at the blood red rocks jutting out of the stone that had once been the Temple. “It’s evil,” he insisted. “Whatever you do, don’t touch it.”

“I know, mo caraid. I’m so sorry.”

“You tried to warn me-“

Keep the sacrifice still. For all I knew it was coming, and I knew how dangerous red lyrium was, I feared hearing that voice more.

Someone help me!

I closed my eyes, despairing. Her voice was so frightened and it was already far too late to do anything to save her.

“That is Divine Justinia’s voice!” Cassandra’s voice was choked. I could only imagine what it was doing to Leliana to hear that. Her friend, her surrogate mother, calling for help and she hadn’t been there.

Varric drew closer to me as we passed more of the foul red lyrium to find a stairway down to the Temple floor. His eyes were wide and his colour still hadn’t returned. As we dropped down the last few feet to the ruined Temple floor, I spotted more red lyrium directly under the rift. We were going to have to be careful of it during the fight.

This close to such a huge rift, Eve’s whole hand was ablaze with light from the Mark, veins of its energy glowing in the back of her hand. She stared at it, as horrified as Varric had been to see the red lyrium.

Someone help me! The Divine’s voice echoed around the collapsed walls once more.

What’s going on here?

Even Eve–possibly especially Eve–looked startled to hear her voice echoing magically around us. There didn’t seem to be an obvious source for the voices, they seemed to be coming from everywhere.

Cassandra’s eyes were huge as she turned to Eve. “That was your voice. Most Holy called out to you, but…”

The rift started crackling louder, tendrils dancing out everywhere. We had all begun to back away when there was a flash of light. Suddenly, a ghostly image of the Divine was hanging in the air above us, arms outstretched as if she was being crucified, held by blood red tendrils of energy. Looming over her, was a black shadow with glowing red eyes. If only that was what Corypheus actually looked like. A ghostly Eve ran towards them asking, “What’s going on here?”

“Run while you can,” the ghost of Divine Justinia cried, anguished. “Warn them!”

“We have an intruder.” The voice of the Corypheus shadow was calm, unworried by the interruption. “Kill her. Now.” It pointed at the ghost of Eve before there was another blinding flash of white light and the image was gone.

Cassandra was the first to recover and she was frantic. “You were there! Who attacked? And the Divine, is she…?” That was the one question she couldn’t bring herself to ask. “Was this vision true? What are we seeing?”

“I don’t remember,” Eve was as frustrated as the Seeker.

“Echoes of what happened here,” Solas interpreted, gazing up at the rift. “The Fade bleeds into this place.”

“It was a true account, though that is not actually what your murderer looks like,” I interrupted. They had seen what had happened, now they needed to believe. “Eve was in the wrong place at the wrong time. And I’m sorry, Cassandra. Justinia is truly gone.”

She whirled on me. “You were not there.” I flinched and took a step back. Cassandra followed, enraged. “Where were you? Was that you under that shadow?” I stumbled backwards over a rock and fell. As Cassandra loomed over me, fists clenched, I cowered, much as I had in the dungeon under the Chantry, holding an arm to ward off a blow to my face.

Varric darted between us. “Did that sound like Oracle to you, Seeker? Does she look like she has the will or the power to do something like that?”

“I wasn’t even at the Conclave,” I whimpered. “I’d never even been to Ferelden before I woke up in Haven today.”

“Then how did you get here?” Cassandra’s anger had given way to distress. If I could lift myself out of the situation I could understand her feelings. The Divine had been in direct danger, kidnapped and bound, before the explosion. Cassandra could only imagine that if she had been there, she could have protected Justina, prevented it all. And if I was remembering correctly, she’d had an old lover at the Conclave.

From where I was sitting in dirt and ashes, terrified and alone in a strange place, accused of a terrible mass murder, I just hoped she could be brought to see reason. “I don’t know.” I knew I sounded weak and frightened. I was weak and frightened. “I can’t See anything to do with myself.”

“Given that she fell out of a Fade rift,” Eve asked gently, “is it so hard to believe that Lily was carried from a distance away?”

“No.” Cassandra turned away, anger and distress all gone. “Get up. We have to close this rift. We can investigate how you came to be here after.”

While Cassandra had been verbally attacking me, Solas had been examining the rift. “This rift is not sealed, but it is closed… albeit temporarily.” He turned to include Eve, who had been helping me up, in their conversation. She passed me over to Varric who guided me to a corner. I was shaking, tears blurring my vision.

“Someone really did a number on you, didn’t they?” he asked kindly, passing me a handkerchief.

“I don’t know what you mean,” I lied stubbornly, wiping fiercely at my eyes.

“I mean,” he replied firmly, “that someone taught you to be afraid, all the time, and not to stand up for yourself.” He waved off my attempt to return the hankie. “There’s still a spark there, they didn’t break you completely, but they did teach you to be frightened.”

“I have reason to be,” I could hear the shake in my voice. “If I can’t convince Cassandra I had nothing to do with this, I’ll hang.”

Varric shook his head. “She doesn’t really believe you and Eve are guilty. Not anymore. She’s just feeling guilty for not being there.” He squeezed my arm. “You won’t hang.”

By now, some of the soldiers Leliana had brought with her had arrived and were fanning out around the temple floor. Archers were spread around the balconies overlooking our position. I wished I was up there with them.

“Stand ready.” Cassandra’s voice echoed through the ruin. Eve scanned around and caught my eye. I notched an arrow to my bow and nodded at her. If I survived this, then I could think about what came next, not before.

Eve smiled at me, squared her shoulders, and lifted her hand to the rift. At once a tentacle of green light shot from her hand. There was a flash and she staggered back as a stream of light shot from the rift to explode in a flash of green off to one side. When the flash cleared the Pride demon was in its place.

It was as tall as I’d predicted, grey and hideously spiked in a natural armour made more deadly by the bolts of electricity that jumped from joint to joint. I caught a glimpse of seven pitch black eyes above two rows of jagged fangs before it lifted it head and bellowed, a sound that echoed horribly off the stone around us.

Varric and I stayed back as far as possible, pinned against a wall. When Cassandra roared, a shower of arrows rained down on the beast from the archers above us. As they hit, most of them bouncing harmlessly off its hide, the creature laughed, a sound which chilled my blood.

My world shrank to grabbing an arrow from the quiver on my back, drawing, and releasing. If I looked around, at the soldiers being slashed to pieces by claws as long as my arm, or grabbed by the demon’s lightning whip and tossed away, burning, I would be lost. Eve disrupted the rift when she could, freezing the thing in place and giving us time to get some more hits in. I felt the pins and needles tingle of Solas’ barrier settling on me as a shade appeared in front of us. Varric grabbed a dagger from his boot and slashed at it, as I ducked to avoid a swipe of its claws and Solas froze the thing. I shouldered into it, knocking it down the pile of rubble we were perched on to shatter on the ground below. Varric shouted some vague thank you to the elf, but I was too busy drawing and aiming again to pay much attention.

It felt like forever before the demon fell to its knees. “Now!” I heard Cassandra call. “Seal the rift!” My eyes flitted over the battlefield, searching for Eve. She was practically underneath the rift, standing looking battered and bruised. She looked blankly at Cassandra who roared, “Do it!”

The green stream of energy shot from Eve’s palm as she lifted it. And we waited. All previous rifts had closed in seconds but time seemed to stretch out now. Eve staggered closer to the rift and I couldn’t tell if she was pushing herself forward in an attempt to force the rift closed or if it’s power was dragging her closer. Finally, it exploded upwards, and I watched in awe as a shockwave rolled over our heads and out of the Temple. A green ball of energy travelled from the exploding rift up into the Breach, which also flashed. I heard another shockwave follow the first, but couldn’t see it, blinded by the explosion above me.

When my eyes cleared, Eve was unconscious on the ground. Varric made to dart forward, but I stopped him with my hand on his shoulder. “She’s alive. She’s just exhausted herself.” He stopped and stood with me, watching as Solas examined her, Cassandra looming over the elven mage. He only let out his breath when Solas looked up and nodded to Cassandra. The Seeker immediately started barking orders to the soldiers around her.

Varric looked up at me and smiled. “Time to face the music, Oracle.”

[rayaarchive]

about

THINGS RAYA DOES:

1) Raya sneaking up and blowing frost on Fae’s neck after a bath and he’s still damp enough for it to suck 2) Uses fire magic to give rly warm hugs ?? 3) When she has nothing to do: looks for Cole even though she knows she won’t find him while knowing he will just appear in these situations. She just wants to make sure he’s not alone being sad. That’s it. She just talks to him or tried to get him to play a game with him. 4) She can play the Zhaleika… when ever she can find one. 5) She keeps a spoon on her somewhere. Not always in the same place but just somewhere, be it in her braid or shirt or apron.

You might think it’s for cooking but mostly it’s thrown at people. 6) Raya knows everyone's favorites foods and makes them when they're having bad days. Raya doesn't make a whole lot for herself when she's down, but she does make a mess when baking to make herself feel better 7) I’ve thought about this a few times but I’m not sure if it’s a normal thing or just me; my scars r rly sensitive, and since over 50% of Raya’s hands r covered in burn scar, I think her hands r incredibly sensitive and naturally she’d rly like soft things…. so I imagine she loves playing with ppls hairand that’s a big reason y she tries to get Fahleon to bathe, but also it’s just a thing she does to everyone. 8) The Ravens: …. reasonably, Raya has a separate garden full of sunflowers and corn purely for the birds so they don’t eat the stuff she cooks with “A little birdy told me” is a running joke in skyhold because apparently EVERYONE has a bird Raya notices the birds come to the dungeon often and gives them parcels to take down there when she sees them in the ‘bird garden’. She always asks them politely. There is a ‘bird dish’ outside one of the kitchen windoes where Raya has melted the metal and stone togeather so no one can take the bowl away any more. (Bird or person.) and it’s mostly for Ada with meat, but all the animals end up getting to it any how. The cats terrorize the birds n the garden and there isn’t much she can do about it tbh. They also keep the mice away so she won’t shoo them off 9) Medic edition: Oh your hurt? BITE ME. Shut up, im working. Cauterizes wounds with her HANDS. enjoys your pain because fuck you for being stabbed is the most aggressive pacifist ever Completely silent and quick/efficient during this, she knows what shes doing and shes got like 50 things going through her head and probably just as many things going on with her hands doubles the kitchen as a walk in infirmary HOARDS YARROW - DO NOT TOUCH, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT will probably call you a ‘fuck nut’ or something. WILL SMACK THE SHIT OUT OF YOUR WOUND IF YOU DON’T LISTEN TO HER. uses the ‘five-flower remidy’ as a cure all tbh  [ Clematis, Cherry Plum, Impatiens, Rock Rose, and Star of Bethlehem ]

10)   It’s just occurred to me that Raya has no concept of age. It’s pretty much just “it’s a baby”, “old”, “not old” and like, all the vague area inbetween. Like ur either n diapers, ancient, or “not old” and that’s the only concept of age that registers most of the time.

A list of bullshit that is canon: Raya is a ‘hero of ferelden’ fangirl … not high or low key, but like mid-key Actively tries to make the anxiety bomb that is levy, not have anxiety…. by accidentally giving him anxiety Thinks it’s cool that Fahleon is a warden. Thinks he’s a bit of a dolt for not knowing anything about wardens. Finds it absolutely hilarious that blackwall is better at it than Fahleon so says nothing when she catches on that he is n fact not a warden. Even though Raya takes lessons from Morrigan, she’s petrified of her… More so of Vivienne While not in private, Cullen and Raya still act like dicks to eachother. Tossing barbs at eachother has become something like a game. Raya can’t sing to save her life! Her spacial awareness isn’t the greatest She’s not ticklish at all She made Cullen promise to keep ‘them’ a secret… ppl found out any way. She doesn’t trust most people. That’s why she’s so clingy and tolerant of Fahleon: she trusts him. Both enamored by and scared shitless of dragons Likes collecting bones for no real reason Weird = cool Not very smart outside of plant things

about:

Name: Raya Galina

Age: ~19

Race: Half elf

Status: ex-slave / cook

Raya, if nothing else, is bouncy! Bouncy hair, bouncy clothes, bouncy toes! She’s always bouncing about no matter what she’s doing. She’s an ex-slave, born into it because her mother was a city elf owned by a jeweler. Not a kind man in any sense, but Raya grew up helping and wanting to help. She’s mainly a cook, always has been, but cooking requires a good amount of knowledge with herbs and spices, so she’s a fair herbologist as well. Now that she has her freedom, she’s much more ‘exuberant’ than she has been in the past, which causes some problems, but her freedom is new and important and she’s over excited to fight for it and maintain it….

Raya is a half elf (half human). She’s fully aware but doesn’t mention it until someone else does first or its to defend herself / correct someone. She doesn’t hide her more elf like traits and prefers elves to humans for many reasons. She’s fully aware of her advantages and disadvantages to being a mixed breed.

She recognizes how had it is for both the Dalish and the city elves but she does have day dreams of visiting an Alienage to learn more about her mother’s culture. She’s rather disgusted by humanity and parts of their cultures, but knows it’s the easier life to live.

Raya is darker than most humans on Thedas, yet paler than the elves, with ears also somewhere in the middle. Her hair is pale to nearly white like her mothers. She has large ice blue eyes like her mother (sans the color), as she was an elf, yet her nose is more human. She’s a lean girl with small breast and no hips to speak of, yet her arms and core are toned from years of tedious kneeding. Scars cover her back from being punished with a whip for years… she hides them rather easily with her dress though.

Her hands are burnt on the palms and up over the edges where learning to use fire has licked away the definition in contrast to her feet that are callous from never wearing shoes. And her left eye and cheek are covered with a brown tattoo of her patron god.

Raya’s hands might be dainty because she’s small, but they’re leathery and fuck ugly. They’re covered in scars and burns from learning how to cook and do magic at the same time. Plus I think she forgets that real fire burns (as Opposed to fire she makes that will avoid her) Not all her cooking is magic, just the things that don’t take long or take much effort. I.e. would hand cook biscuits and a small bird but anything bigger than a dog gets to go n the oven

Raya is not religious at all. She knows the varying kinds in her world, likes the idea of them, but doesn’t believe what she doesn’t see. She has faith but not in a religious figure. She has faith in the potential of humanity.

She isn’t very smart (unless it involves food/herbs), she’s illiterate, mildly street smart, but runs mostly on intuition / gut feeling. It’s why she steer a clear of Solas and never takes her eyes off when he around. She has no reason not to like him but she doesn’t trust him at all.

She is ALL emotion. She doesn’t think first before displaying them and her heart is in full view. The only emotion she tries to hide is sadness and even then, she only tries so much. She doesn’t believe in hiding or dimming them and her mother is the one who told her never to bottle emotions or they grew out of control. (Can you imagine if she did and how disasterous itd Be?)

) How do they move and carry themselves? Pace, rhythm, gestures, energy?

Raya has too much energy; she never stops moving. Even when she’s standing still, she’s not still. She’s fidgeting something or another, wether it’s grasping and re grasping or worrying the hymn of her dress or shifting back and forth on her feet. She walks in the same constant movement; her pace is a little off kilter and her speed is inconsistent. She also tends to talk with her hands, either flailing with excitement or her wrists banging her hips when angry.

) How do they present themselves socially? What distinguishes their “persona” from their “true self”, and what causes that difference?

She tries to be very happy for others, and generally is a happy person, and she feels all of an emotion at once. When she’s happy she’s nothing but happy, and nothing but sad when she is, so she hides. She’s incredibly bad at hiding emotion so she will excuse herself with out waiting for an answer if she is upset over something.

) How do they view and feel about relationships, and how might this manifest in how they handle them, if it does?

She doesn’t rly think much about it. If it happens it happens (and she honestly might not notice it happen) but she doesn’t chase it and has no will to chase it. She’d rather have friends than obligations any how.

) What do they wonder about? What sparks their curiosity and imagination, and why? How is this expressed, if it is?

EVERYTHING. She wants to know! If you’re doing something she doesn’t know about she wants to learn, she might not always ask but she will always watch and maybe figure it out herself. She’s also very into animals -accept horses and bats- and isn’t very scared of them at all. She could never tame an animal by waiting because she’s too hyper, but she is persistent enough to in other ways if she can find those other ways.

)How does your character feel about religion? She doesn’t really subscribe to any but she likes both the elven version and the human version(sorta) so when Solas destroys elvish religion, she isn’t all that fucked up over it. Just sad.

)How does their education and intelligence – or lack thereof - reflect in their speech pattern, vocabulary, and pronunciations? She’s never been educated? She can’t spell for shit even after she’s thought to read and definitely says “yall” Very much a ‘sound it out’ person.

)Are they holding on to something in the past? Can he or she forgive? She is very much so afraid of her dad and that won’t ever change. She’s terrified of anyone recognizing her and taking her back and it’s partly why she stayed with the inquisition.

)Does your character have a guilty pleasure? this is probably going to sound fucked up, and maybe obvious if you’ve ever seen the stuff where she fights? But the only thing close to a guilty pleasure she has, is being able to decimate her mana supply while fighting. Shes so hyper all the time that being able to expel all her energy feels weirdly good

) What does your character’s name mean? Did you pick it for the symbolism, or did you just like the way it sounded? it actually was one of the possible names for my daughter and I still loved it so i decided to use it for an OC

) What would be their favorite physical trait about themselves? she of course likes her ears because they got a little bit pointy but she wishes they were more, she loves her legs though, she’s gotten compliments on them before and for her that’s a big deal

) Do they have a favorite season? What about a favorite holiday? she likes the spring for the rain :)

) What are your character’s sleeping habits? Heavy or light sleeper? Blanket stealer? One that always rolls onto the floor? Pushes their lover onto the floor? Sleep talker or walker? she likes rly big soft blankets, not rly Cus she needs them but they’re just nice to wrap up in. She isn’t a blanket hog when she’s with someone else, but she definitely burritos herself when alone, and she’s not a heavy sleeper like waking the dead but she’s not a horribly light sleeper who wakes at everything either. If u call her she’ll wake but not from just walking around. Also a very clingy bed mate xP

) In their own words, how would your character describe what their lover is like? “He’s a fully capable fumbling idiot and it’s adorable.”

) Does your character have any medical conditions? Are they serious or minor? Do they affect their day to day life? she’s got some trauma -see horses and scars- but generally she’s alright? Nothing affects her everyday life, just situational.

) Is there a particular event that would emotionally devastate your character? her mom died in front of her, she’s trying really hard to not fall apart because of it so if she had to deal with one more death she’d break entirely

) Is there anything in particular that would ignite your character’s jealousy? Or does your character not get envious? she’s not an overly jealous person but she’s extremely jealous of Dalish’s looks

) If your character confessed love to their crush, boyfriend, girlfriend, etc, what would they say? in general I’m not sure, but specifically Cullen; “…. skip the stuttering and just kiss me? I do have work to do you know.”

1.   What techniques or spells do they tend to use a lot?

raising roots to trip people, heating things with her hands and when she figures out how to use a bow and arrow she lights the arrows on fire when they let loose. She constantly regulates her body temperature so that shes comfortable enough to wear a dress, but she can also heat or freeze her body to get people off of her.

10.  Are they worried about hurting their allies by accident during combat or is it up to their allies’ responsibility to look after themselves?

If/When she does something beyond her normal skill level, shes terrified, she doesnt know how to work it and she fears hurting people on accident. Shes’s very emotionally run, sadness freezes the air and makes it hard to breath and anger runs hot and you cant get near her or the air stings with heat.

11.  What’s a weapon they either won’t use or can’t use?

She cant really use a sword or a maul or anything. shes weak, her arms are strong enough to haul a carcass and pull a bow string, but not enough to draw a sword to proper height.

16.  Complaints they might have about their comrades. What annoys them, what endangers them, what don’t they like, etc.

“Sera talks weird and its annoying but shes a good person even if she does hate elves. “Varric should hide less behind stories and ask for help when he needs it rather than busying himself with helping others. The Chargers are loyal only to The Iron Bull and she fears that; she stays on Bull’s good side for it. “Fahleon just needs to speak! He woudnt be so hurt if he just said it!

What would completely break your character?

Being alone. Rejection isn’t the same as being alone, being rejected hurts but it’s not nearly as bad as having no one at all. To have no where to turn and no one to talk to or care about or get advise from. Her biggest fear is to b left alone with nowhere to go and no one to just be with.

What was the best thing in your character’s life?

The affection and attention her mother paid her.

What was the worst thing in your character’s life?

Her mom died in an accident…

What seemingly insignificant memories stuck with your character?

Her dad winding metal with a fire behind him before he noticed her standing there, and the look on Fahleon’s face when he saw the rip n the sky the ‘first’ time.

Does your character work so that they can support their hobbies or use their hobbies as a way of filling up the time they aren’t working?

She works because she’s a slave. Then because she needs a reason for The inquisition to keep her, and then to make money to keep up the House. But she also enjoys her work…

What is your character reluctant to tell people?

About her dad. Mildly less so that she’s a slave because she’s scared she might be sent back.

How does your character feel about sex?

Doesn’t want it ever again. Will possibly kill u.

How many friends does your character have?

Like 4-5 depending on ur definition.

How many friends does your character want?

All of the friends

What would your character make a scene in public about?

If u shit talk ppl she cares about or if ur hurting someone. Get wreckt

What would your character give their life for?

Her friends or something she sees as a just trade

What are your character’s major flaws?

Doesn’t always understand boundaries or when to shut up. She sees lines that shouldn’t b crossed but doesn’t always realize she’s crossed them herself.

What does your character pretend or try to care about?

Other ppls opinions….

How does the image your character tries to project differ from the image they actually project?

She tries to only show that she’s happy and chipper, as that’s what her master/father wanted for his business, but she is very full of emotion -and over the course of the inquisition she loosens that fake mask a bit- and feels things 100% of the way.

What is your character afraid of?

Other than being alone, horses.

What is something most people in your setting do that your character things is dumb?

Racism n general.

Where would your character fall on a politeness/rudeness scale?

35% polite, 65% BITE ME

Bedrooms Imagine the first time any one tries to find Raya’s bed in Skyhold. They’ve been there for a while and it’s had time to accumulate things. And while she does share a room with other women of the same or similar status, her section is just glaringly different.

Everyone has some personal items and dodads about their space but Raya’s is kind of extra. Not extremely extra, but it’s really not necessary to teather sculls to your bed posts with twine, or have scavenged jewels about. It almoat looks like a stark contrast to the happy person she tries to be.

The near by window sheds light on the fact that she has scribbles all over the floor around her area; or to most people they look like scribbles. They’re protection runes. They keep people off of her things and it becomes very evident that she is, in fact, a home taught mage.