#taren mahariel

[mumms-the-word]

What’s the point of a dragon age game if you can’t make your warden and pose them next to their DAO romance

[elvhenwarden]

revelations

wc: 863

They came for him late that night. Not bards, not by what he could make of their discreet dress. But it wasn’t difficult to guess they were sent by the Inquisition—who else would endeavor to stay an Orlesian executioner’s justice?

The sour feeling forming in his gut wasn’t a response to the idea that Lavellan’s sentence would be worse, or unjust. The inquisitor had a good head on their shoulders.

He just … didn’t think he could bear facing them. Thom Rainier had intended to die for his crimes here in Orlais, as he should have done long ago.

He meant what he’d said to Lavellan before he left. He admired them, respected them. He couldn’t stand before them now to see the pain he’d caused them. Not that it mattered—what was done was done.

Once back at Skyhold, his guards escorted him to a dim, out-of-the-way room, furnished only with a simple table and a bench. Rubble, lumber, and canvas from recent renovations were piled in a heap in the corner.

He frowned. This was no jail cell. Did they intend to execute him quietly, then? Were that the case, why bother breaking him out of the prison in Val Royeaux and bringing him all the way back here?

The guards left. No shackles, no lock on the door. It didn’t matter, he wasn’t going anywhere. He sat and waited, trying and failing not to think about what awaited him. He couldn’t guess.

However long he might have been left to ponder the outcome of this meeting, he never would have guessed this. “You’re Warden Mahariel—you served during the Blight. You slayed the Archdemon Urthemiel.”

The door opened and Lavellan entered alone, quiet and unobtrusive as always. He’d seen them face down dragons and demons, lead armies, walk through the blighted Fade itself, and yet even now, with his life in their hands, they managed somehow to make themself appear inconspicuous. 

“Inquisitor.”

They nodded, sitting next to him and setting a dark bottle on the table between them.

He was accustomed to the inquisitor saying little, but now the silence stretched until he could no longer abide it.

“I—I didn’t know how to tell you,” he said.

“I knew.”

He stared at them. “You knew?”

“From the moment we met. You don’t have the taint.”

“How would you know that?”

They met his eyes briefly, a ghost of a smile crossing their face. “We both lied about being Grey Wardens.” They smoothed the vanes of one of the dark feathers they always wore on a cord around their neck. “My real name is Mahariel.”

They nodded, still focused on the feathers. “I was … observing the proceedings at the Conclave. Just watching. When I saw what those wardens were doing—I needed time to figure it out before the Chantry could get involved. Humans are quick enough to blame the Dalish when something goes wrong, and if the Wardens were involved—it was safer for me to be someone else.”

It was the most he’d heard them speak at a time, and he had no way to respond. He understood.

“Leliana knows, of course,” they said. “And Morrigan and Alistair. No one else can.”

“Why tell me?”

“You’re a good man. I trust you.”

“Do you?”

Again, a hint of a smile. “No. But more than most.” Then, “I found out everything, except what happened to the original Warden Blackwall.”

“We met in a tavern when I was on the run. I was nothing, a waste of life, but he wanted to recruit me. We headed to Val Chevin for the Joining, but Blackwall insisted on making a stop along the way: an old ruin from one of the previous blights. He said it led to the Deep Roads. I was to go down alone, find a darkspawn, and fill a vial with its blood.”

He swallowed. “When I returned, I found the Warden ambushed by more of the creatures. He took a blow for me.”

Grief and guilt welled up, threatening to suffocate him. “He shouldn’t have died. It should’ve been me.”

He was surprised by the light touch on his hand. Mahariel’s jaw was set, but their eyes were kind. Sympathetic.

“He—he would have wanted me to carry on to Val Chevin, I’m certain. But without Blackwall, there was no proof that I’d been recruited, that I didn’t kill him. I couldn’t go to the Wardens, but I couldn’t just walk away. So Rainier died, and Blackwall lived.”

“We’ve kept this quiet. You can still be Blackwall, if that’s what you want.”

“I’m done running from my past, but I’ve gotten used to Blackwall. Perhaps we can treat it as less of a name and more of a title, almost like Inquisitor. Reminds me of what I ought to be.”

Mahariel nodded. “I can arrange for you to undergo the Joining. Better late than never.”

“Thank you, Inquisitor. For everything. You’ve had more faith in me than I ever had in myself.”

Mahariel uncorked the bottle they’d brought and offered it to him.

He drank, wincing slightly at the sharpness of it.

“What is it?”

They smiled. “Grey Whiskey. What wardens drink.”

[w-h-4-t]

I got inspired and made some Merrill and Cole Banter ft Varric

Yes he's a spirit human thing BUT they're kinda similar.

Like

Very kinda similar

Cole is my favourite character in the series and Merrill is another close contender so yea. They're both sweet lil angels with horrific side details.

🪄🪄Fade buddies!🪄🪄

***

Merrill: Your hat is very interesting. How do you see when it's so floppy?

Cole: With my eyes.

Merrill: Of course you see with your eyes, I don't know how else you would. Unless you have more than two eyes. Do you? Actually, please don't answer that.

***

Cole: Misshapen mishaps manifest in the mirror, Hawke brings me tea but I only thirst for what was lost.

Merrill: The People will always be my priority, Cole, even if we don't see eye to eye.

Cole: You should put the knife down, Daisy, before you get cut, bleeding, blistering, bawling; Mahariel carries Tamlen's bow and nothing else.

Merrill: Lyna was dying because we didn't know what to do. As the Keeper's First, it's my duty to help the Clan but I couldn't do anything. I can't let that happen again.

Cole: And you won't. You study to push the pain down, to learn the lost lore and hope it heals the hurt you never fixed. The past is gone and you tried your best. It's ok to let them go now.

Merrill:...Thank you, Cole.

***

Cole: 🎶Elgara vallas, da'len, melava somniar🎶

Merrill: 🎶Mala taren aravas, Ara ma'desen melar🎶

Cole: Don't be embarrassed. Your singing is good, better than the Keeper's.

Merrill: Oh yes, absolutely. She'd sing to me whenever I was sick but it would only make me sicker.

Cole: But you still loved it. You loved her.

Merrill: Yes, though I could have done without all the headaches.

***

Merrill: In Dalish Culture, they teach us to be afraid of Spirits but you're not so bad.

Cole: Thank you! I like not being bad.

Merrill: In fact, you're quite good! Possibly the nicest Spirit I've ever met...Hold on, you are a Spirit, right?

Cole: I'm Cole, the me that was made better, made solid when the air touched the ground.

Merrill: Riiiiight...Varric?! Is he a Spirit or a human?

Varric: Daisy, I'm a dwarf, remember? I thought weird magic shit was your thing?

Merrill: It is but Cole's different...and I left all my books at home...

Varric: Well, to me, the kid's a kid. Keep cutting out all that vanishing stuff and you'll be on the fast track to humanhood in no time.

Cole: Can I keep my hat while I'm on the tracks?

Varric: *laughs* Sure kid, whatever you want. It is a great conversation piece after all.

[galleryalamalz]

the children of the wolf - sons of solas and mahariel

fenlin - the first born, his first breath was drawn in the forest after his mother escaped from the hands of his father’s enemies. he should have died, for he was small and his mother was weakened, but she believed the blood inside him kept him strong, and she named him such, the blood of the wolf. a rogue, he wields the blades like his mother before him.

taren - a mirror image of his father, his destiny was made apparent at a young age, his mind, method, and magic blossomed early. his connection to spirits is unique and rightly nurtured. he is rarely absent from his father’s side and a firm believer in his cause.

(charles melton cast as fenlin / dae na cast as taren)

[curvyelf-moved]

"You must be very brave, I wish I was like you"

[elvhenwarden]

since i'd already played through dai with then'taren and got really attached to them being part of the inquisition and seeing morrigan and leliana and alistair again i decided they'll have been childhood friends with cailleach and be an agent of the inquisition

i'm leaning toward cailleach having been from clan sabrae rather than lavellan, and having been friends with merrill and tamlen as well as then'taren

and i just loved having then'taren, an actual grey warden and hero of the fifth blight, meet "warden" blackwall and immediately know he's full of shit - but bc it's then'taren they just. quietly sit on that information and play along and that's got to stay in my canon

[curvyelf-moved]

[curvyelf-moved]

[curvyelf-moved]

Oh Fuck (part ii/?)

[curvyelf-moved]

Oh Fuck (part i/?)

[curvyelf-moved]

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[curvyelf-moved]

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[curvyelf-moved]

Taren's Last Goodbyes

[curvyelf-moved]

Taren Mahariel