#state so figured id at least give him a pretty gf

[crows-of-buckets]

Great news, figured out a way for Ena to learn about Aviae!!!

Anyways, his older sibling is Revari (other rook, but in my canon worldstate they never become Rook. Ena just fit as the main character more which sucks bc I love Revari... Sigh anyways)

Revari has the same origin that they did as Rook: free some slaves, piss off some magisters. However, Varric isn't there to take them away to keep them from getting in trouble, so the Shadow Dragons decide to move them down to Dock Town. They basically get assigned Tarquin as a babysitter (that does not go well those two have a. Dynamic. Definitely one of the dynamics ever I've talked about it on here before, but when Revari isn't Rook those two figure out their shit SOOO much sooner. Actually have time to talk about their relationship and come to the realization that they are definitely just friends). Anyways during this time, they end up meeting Neve and the two become friends pretty quickly. Revari is a bit more hands on with the way they go about shadow dragoning (I've considered them working with Fenris in the past, which I kind of want to explore more eventually but know in my heart they've done at least one job together.) And by that I mean they have never thought twice about anything they have ever done. Both Revari and Ena have the worst impulse control known to man it's crazy.

Anyways, while Neve and Revari are friendly before the game, they don't actually become close friends until Minrathous falls and Neve stays in the city to help them recover. Revari has had to rein in their "quick thinking" (by that I mean charging head first into any and every fight) and has to stay more on the shadowy side of things. They're only alive because Tarquin had the good sense to talk them out of immediately picking a fight with all the venatori they saw (they aren't a complete idiot most of the time, but it seems my Surana family tree is extremely prone to getting very pissed off very quickly)

During this time Revari and Neve become very close, and by the time Neve returns to the Veilguard it's solidly crossed into mutual crushing. But they both have much bigger things to worry about, so nothing really comes of it until the blights are over.

Post Veilguard, they eventually start dating; I think their romance is still pretty close to how neverook goes in game, and both of them are fucking TERRIFIED of fucking it up. Neve still calls them "Trouble", all of that. Anyways it's probably a few months before Neve brings up like "hey maybe I should introduce you to the veilguard. You'd probably get along well you're definitely their brand of crazy"

Revari agrees, and NOW I'm getting back to the point I was initially planning for this post ���. This is where Revari and Ena meet, and while they don't have instant recognition, it goes something like this.

Revari: So you're Rook. Is that your real name or...?

Ena: Nickname, my actual name is Ena. And yours?

Revari: Revari. Huh that's so weird I had a younger sister named Ena.

Ena: that's also weird bc I had an older sister named Revari.

Revari: ...

Ena:...

Revari: Are you from-

Ena: Denerim? Yeah. Oh my fucking god

The two of them get along pretty well (eventually I think they DO fight about the whole Minrathous/Treviso thing but tbh I think the joy of reuniting with the younger sibling you thought was dead makes Revari willing to ignore it. For now) Long story short Ena learns that he is in fact the cousin of The Hero of Fereldan (he had a suspicion bc he does remember his last name being Surana before he joined the crows, but he kinda convinced himself that he had made it up as a way of coping when he was a child or something)

Aviae and Ena do eventually meet, but Ena procrastinates it for months he is TERRIFIED of that woman. She has successfully survived TWO different crow contracts on her life, AND SHES CLOSE FRIENDS WITH ZEVRAN ARIANAI. He's slightly convinced that this is some elaborate plot to take him and Lucanis out or something. Aviae finds this hilarious when she learns about it

I think I've decided that I want Ena to be one of the elves taken during the "plague" in denerim during the first blight. Assuming DAV takes place in 9:49, he would have been 8 or 9 I think I need to check my timeline. He's my Surana's cousin, and the younger brother of one of my other Rook's (Revari isn't rook in my canon worldstate, but they are still a Mercar. They left for Tevinter at around 13 when their magic developed). Anyways him being my Surana's cousin is probably something he himself never actually learns (sadly). He doesn't even really talk about being from Fereldan at all, and I can't really say for certain that he would even remember his last name before he became a crow. Plus, he transitioned (kept his name tho) and so did his only sibling, so the likelihood of them recognizing each other is so painfully low.

Anyways, one of the Tevinter mages in the alienage claimed Ena had the plague, he gets shipped off. I haven't decided whether he was bought by the crows or scouted after somehow escaping (this one is becoming far less likely the more I think on it); either way, he ends up in the crows by the time he's 9. He gets his face scar like right before joining, so the first few months are even worse.

His magic developed not long after, and tbh this is the only reason I think he even survived. He was never really good at fighting in regular combat, but he was pretty good at getting the fuck out of the way when someone was trying to kill him. I think the Crows take better care of their mages (I can't remember if this is canon or a head canon but whatever) because they're a better investment. (Even when they become abominations, as crows are known to do occasionally, I do think generally they receive "kinder" treatment)

He meets Viago somewhere around age 10 (they have around a 8-10 year age gap, so Viago would be 18-20. At least going off of Viago being 34 to 36 in Veilguard. Everyday I pray that bioware will release and actual timeline bc god I am tired of figuring this shit out 😭), and immediately decides that he is going to be loyal to this guy in particular. I don't know why he decides this, but he's like 10 so it was probably some stupid reasoning.

At first Viago is annoyed, but I think after a certain point his brain kicked in and he went "wait having another crow (even one so young) who is insanely loyal to me is an AMAZING investment on my end". Teia isn't around to be his moral compass, so at this time in his life at least 9/10 of his decisions are made to further his own goals. This is around when he starts actually taking an interest in Ena, and keeping him around as an investment. He starts teaching him poisons, and building up Ena's poison resistance. Ena is notoriously loyal as hell and twice as stubborn so Viago 100% plans on using that to his advantage. I think Ena's magic developed not too long after this so he immediately becomes more useful lmao

Depending on when Viago became Talon, I do think it may be possible that Ena was one of the first to become a full crow under his leadership. If Viago is ~30 in Eight Little Talons, he had to have been a Talon for a few years, so he was probably made one in his late 20s I think? Teia is mentioned being one of the younger talons, and she's ~28 in eight little talons I think, and I'm pretty sure she's been a Talon for a few years at this point. Anyways, assuming Viago became a talon between 26-28, Ena could have been one of the first full crows under his command, being made a crow between 16-18. However, timelines like this make my head hurt so this may be completely inaccurate lmao

Somewhere between Viago realizing Ena is a good investment and Ena becoming a full crow, Viago becomes annoyingly fond of his little protege. He ends up bailing him out of trouble FAR more often than he would like. Ena is painfully good at becoming the annoying younger brother figure in anyone's life, and Viago is NOT exempt from that.

[solidburnreturned]

by popular demand, here is my oc chatter regarding stuff like relationships n random character traits. its rly long oops but i divided it by character at least lmao,, these are all things that i think id also wanna use if i ever use these characters as humans (which i def will at some point honestly)

- i thinkkkk i want toad and pike to date. toad would come across pike in their lagoon one day while hes wandering around on another wonked exploration and pike is like hey lol :B with their pointy teeth and long ass hair and toad is like :0 he just sits and talks with pike for hours and comes by a few times a week to hang out with them. they fall in LOVE

- fred and lani are def gonna date too. two butches who use he/him pronouns fuck yeah? they have a powerful relationship. mega BDE. power couple. not a lot of pda but alone together theyre both very loving and tender, its a vulnerability thing for both of them. like lani is very cool and can be either stoic or borderline obnoxious while fred is punkish. fred is very head over heels for lani tho 

- mardi n berg.....complicated....i gotta figure out how they actually end up together. berg is a jogger and mardi is a piercer/tattoo artist so that doesnt....make them line up very much in that department. ill think about it more and figure something out. itll probably have something to do with berg’s nose stripes and eye rings

- also side note on mardi......i want his backstory to include a grey period set off by his brother being eaten when they were both young at the troll tree. like he becomes angry and depressed, sorta like branch, his tattoos that he gives himself the only color on his body, until he learns to let go and his colors come back (high key this was inspired by 21 savage, mardi’s voice claim, and the line in his new song A Lot “my brother lost his life and it turned me to a beast”). ill develop this idea further but i just wanted to get it written down

- bismuth.......unsure. they had a crush on pepper and kept trying to ask her out until she came out to them as a lesbian, then they were like :’) but theyre ride or die theyre not gonna be an ass to her because they cant date her. they just care a lot about her. its like icarly

- gazpacho and jupiter CUTE two small trans trolls in That Love. i need to develop them more but. theyre just cute 

- talia is still a little too new for me to develop her......but im thinkin about it...

- kinda same with ernie and olive. they kinda mostly just exist as cute babby characters right now? if anything olive is a trouble maker and ernie is a chatterbox

- clem and thursday also fuckin cute as hell......clem was a nervous wreck asking thursday out but theyve been together like ever since, which is more than a few years. they have a rly cute gentle lovey dovey relationship. thursday is usually hanging around up on her gf’s shoulder giving her kisses on the cheek

- bea and crystal.......adorabl relationship......crystal is another character thats kinda nervous but bea is so chill n confident is helps calm her down. theyre both trans and love the hell out of each other. rly slow n steady relationship, bea is very patient

- pj and marcus!!!! dumb mlm rep relationship. pj is so so gay for marcus he can barely comprehend it. its a dumb ego boost for marcus but hes also very in love with pj, he just expresses it in a weird cocky way idk marcus is a nerd. i need to make more content for them i think about these two way more than it seems

- dwight!! he has a boat. he lives on the boat.....ive thought about maybe pairing him with toad and pike. deciding on his voice claim has been the most difficult thing ever

- kass and current HELL yeah buff gf and tol gf......they spar with swords and wrestle for fun and hang out at the beach a lot. kass fuckin loves the gem on current’s back. i gotta make more content for them 

- celia......i wanna do more with celia. friends with berg probs theyre both sporty. shes just a sweet giant troll who loves mushrooms. i gotta pair her with someone whose palette goes nicely with her pastels 

- carrot and harriet are literally cricket and tilly from big city greens just older. yeehaw siblings. havent thought about relationship stuff with harriet yet.....i think she also needs ANOTHER redesign her colors are just too heavy still. maybe if i can make her colors compliment celia’s that could work as a pairing? hm hm.....carrot tho is dating ford’s oc rye theyre gentle country gays

- rainer. hm. i dont think theyre rly the dating type......theyre just chill with being them. they just wanna swim and be funny

- hammond and andromeda are probs two of my least developed characters.....hammond still needs a redesign. he might be cute to pair with walter, theyre around the same age. andromeda tho i have no idea. she might be a nice pairing with eve? if i ever feel like pairing her with someone...who knows. eve is very carefree and might find andromeda’s energy too intense

- radish i wanna make more content for!! i rly like her a lot....i think shes another troll who isnt interested in dating. shes very focused on being a chef instead. loves her friends a lot!

- mack and pepper 2gether 4ever obvs......they have a relationship that gets richer with age for sure

- im just gonna ramble about mack. i thinkkkkkkk i wanna make her half latina? columbian specifically. she doesnt quite read as white and i didnt make her with the intention of making her white. anyway i love mack a whole lot and should really develop her backstory more. its not rly as like...””tragic”” or whatever as pepper’s i know that but she def has layers. i wanna give her whole family more depth. she has a very complicated relationship with her own feelings and motivations that i need to think about more fully. my powerful femme tho i lov her

- mack’s parents, robin and champagne, i need to like....think about them more. they have kinda a comedic relationship thats sorta inspired by roger rabbit and jessica rabbit. robin is a very caring, gentle troll who’s very smart and cares a lot about his nursing responsibilities in the village. champagne is very relaxed and the “voice of reason” character of the family. she loves a good party and has her party planning down to a science. both are very successful power parents. kickass family

- i already talked about topaz and marney in a separate post but i still love them both so much. big wesbiabs

- pepper....pebber. im gonna talk about her the most obviously gfhjdkrs i wanna talk about her mental health i feel like i think about it a lot but i never write about it explicitly? this is gonna be long oops hgjfksd she has depression and ptsd stemming from the trauma of her crash...im thinking she also has adhd and thats just something shes always had. her depression rly got heavy during her recovery and right after like...she hated being bed/housebound and felt rly powerless to her situation and just let it eat at her until her personality had actually changed considerably. like extroverted wild child rebel to introverted, soft-spoken sulker. this got better with time but she still is pretty introverted, just turned her moodiness into chill energy. 

- she has bad depression habits like letting dishes, old food, laundry, or just stuff pile up in her room until it gets overwhelming and she spends like two days just manically cleaning; or staying in bed for way longer than she should and messing with her hygiene; or eating way more or way less than she should eat in a day. just stuff thats hard to completely break out of when youre recovering. her color is pretty consistently the dark red but if shes having a particularly rough day she might look a little paler, or like a muddy brick color at her worst. thats kinda rare tho

- her ptsd is the thing she hates the most. for a while it made her feel very weak and she’d beat herself up over being traumatized by the crash which was obviously not helpful to her mental state but she was really all over the place during her bodily recovery. its part of the reason why she started working out, she wanted to reclaim some sort of feeling of strength and power that she felt she’d lost completely. she still gets really frustrated with this feeling of loss but she gets a lot of support from loved ones which has helped her not self-blame so much. her ptsd manifests mostly as nightmares/insomnia, chronic headaches/stomachaches, intrusive thoughts and sometimes flashbacks. the nightmares are what rly get to her, she really doesnt get a lot of good sleep and it can get to the point where she just doesnt want to sleep sometimes and she’ll stay awake until she crashes hard

- her scars used to be a big trigger for her ptsd, which is why she has her bangs covering the one on her face and wears long pants (her knee braces are too bulky for pants and would force her to wear shorts which would force her to expose her scars). she just. really really hates them. this is something she struggles with for a majority of her life

- once she and mack start going steady with their dating and start consistently sleeping in the same bed, pepper starts to sleep better. she still has nightmares that wake her up at least weekly, but having mack there to comfort her (whether she wakes mack up accidentally or if mack is already awake) helps a TON with getting her back to sleep soundly. it also just helps her sleep in general to have that comforting, loving presence in her bed snuggled up to her ;w; mack is a big help in general with pepper’s mental health, pushing pepper to make better, healthier choices and get out in the village more and have fun. mack for sure does not “”cure”” pepper of anything but shes a very positive light in pepper’s life that helps her pull thru tough times!

- i love all my goofy trolls so much. its so fun to just chill and blab about them to relax between working on big projects ;o; ty if u cared enough to read this whole thing ur so rad