#the marquis of serault

[silvanils]

For your marquis!!!! How do they consciously realize that they like the other character? Does it take them a while?

useful/fun development questions for couples!

I hinted at this a bit in this short fic, but... My Marquis and his Bard are about four years apart in age, and have known each other since they were children, seeing each other occasionally in the Court.

Mouse began to have an innocent little crush on his cool, suave older friend around the time he was 10 (when the Knight's Nephew was 13-14) which grew more intense after the other boy came to his rescue when he got stuck in the Tallest Tree.

Mouse didn't know it was a crush, then, just knew he always felt like a silly, self-conscious fool around his friend. Especially because the older boy liked to tease him about everything.

("Your face gets so puffy when you cry, little Mouse!" or "What's the matter, Cat have your tongue again?")

When he turned 15, the Knight's Nephew began training to become a bard, and by the time he was 16 he was almost always "away." He did return for a bit after the twins turned 13, in part because he'd heard rumors that Mouse was "unwell" and wanted to check on his friend.

And, well. The Bard-in-Training looked even more dashing now than he had before, and poor Mouse's crush grew like a wildfire. He knew what it was, then, and knew he was doomed to suffer alone in silence because his feelings would never be returned.

.

As for the Wayward Bard? He had always loved his friend, too, but there was a moment things profoundly shifted:

Mouse was 20 when he became the Marquis of Serault.

The Bard had been away for several months, then, but he rushed back once the news trickled to him --- about the old Marquis falling ill, about the Huntress disappearing. He couldn't stop thinking about poor little Mouse, who must be so miserable and... all alone.

When he returned, the Bard was surprised to find the Scholar had perfected his public face --- despite the chaos all around him, the Marquis held on to a veneer of grace and serenity while in Court.

But when they drank together that night in the privacy of Mouse's quarters... the Marquis cried until his face was all puffy and red, and the Bard did not tease his friend at all even when he fell asleep and had to be carried to bed.

As the Bard looked at the Marquis that night, he felt a spark of something new.

[proffbon]

[redlyriumidol]

Remember the Last Court? I'm glad I got to play that while it still existed, I actually remember it being quite fun. Wayward bard my beloved I miss him ❤���

[ninapedia]

i am done... all my Dragon Age PCs from every “canon” Dragon Age game in the order they would’ve appeared in in the DA Time Line.

This is how they’d appear in the time of DA4 maybe possible idk when that game is set. Why does Odile look older than characters older than her? Well, y’know, Grey Wardens live a hell of a life, y’know?

commissions open tho

[clavicuss-vile]

reading the ao3 document of recovered The Last Court things and. i may have to make a marquis of serault. the scholar has intrigued me and the wayward bard has captivated me with his pretty knife tricks. also carver hawke my beloved boy hello

[defira85]

Thedas Tuesday

Oh boy this is probably my biggest shot in the dark, because this one is entirely dependent on my existing and expansive canon which has a fairly large departure from Bioware canon and revolves around The Last Court, my beloved, and the fact that Lace (and Varric) represent themselves as being aligned with the Inquisition even though it's entirely possible for the Inquisition to have been disbanded at the end of Trespasser

Luciaane de Serault

If Thedas had the concept of a nepo baby, Luci would probably fit the bill. The only daughter of Marquis Ilaane de Serault, the Huntress of Serault, and heir to the marquisate, Luci is beloved by all in the wild frontier city. Serault has always been a peculiarity, only Orlesian due to the shifting of borders, and their Circle Tower has been the most poorly kept secret in all of Orlais. Magic walks the streets of Serault, not the careful displays of extravaganza one sees in Tevinter but true Wild Magic

Luci has three parents - her mother Ilaane, and her fathers Marcus and Lucien. Marcus is the court bard, and Lucien is Ilaane's cousin, descended from The Shame and branded with the same magic. Lucien (belonging to @tiefighter) is a wild mage, who trained under the tutelage of the Lord of Forest and Song, a great forest god and spirit, and he received a vision of the future Inquisitor Corinne Trevelyan - a fellow wild mage - and felt compelled to join the Inquisition to aid her. Luci was around five or six when he left, and with when she visited Skyhold she became the darling of the Inquisition. Corinne very delightedly became her godmother, or at least the Thedosian equivalent

Several years later, in the late 9:40s, Luci went out into the woods to meet with the Lord of Forest and Song and did not come back that night. It was not terribly unusual for members of the de Serault family called to serve the wild magics to wander off for a day or two, so Ilaane did not panic immediately, but when she was not back several days later they sent out a search party - only to be greeted by a young woman in her mid 20s. For the few days that had passed in Serault, almost fifteen years had passed in the Deepwoods, and Luci was now an adult, powerful and wild and rambunctious.

Technically, Luci's faction is the Inquisition because I assumed that we were getting 7 factions to match 7 companions, but obviously some people have world states where the Inquisition got disbanded and that wouldn't work, so in game she's Shadow Dragons. But she's the heir to Serault, goddaughter of the Inquisitor and Lady of Skyvale Corinne Trevelyan, agent of the Inquisition, and favoured apprentice of an old forest god - like I said, nepo baby supreme

I wrote about Luc and Luci and Ilaane here years ago, on the night Serault learns the Divine has been murdered

[dreadfutures]

Happy Friday! How about "The black ocean of trees seethes under a fretful night-wind." for Solas or Merrill? Or both!

for @dadrunkwriting

An elven fairytale, in Serault

Rating: G

Pairing: Solas & Merrill

Words: 1200

Modest but airy, with views of the forest—that was the Heron Tower, according to the Marquis. Long-term guests were given rooms in the tower, modestly-furnished, and the Inquisition’s entourage had been placed close together in the center of the tower. It was true that each room had a view of the forest, but none were the view that Solas required: a high vantage point with windows overlooking both the forest to the west, and the marshes to the east.

Everyone spoke of the Applewoods and its Twilight. Everyone overlooked the dormant secrets of the Nahashin.

Solas was not one to turn his back to danger. Hence, while the Marquis’s court fawned over his new, illustrious guests, the simple elven hedge mage made his way to the height of Heron Tower to take the lay of the land.

He reached the observation deck just as the sun was dipping across the horizon, the perfect introduction to the land that would be Solas’s home for the next several months. The Marshes were aflame in the reflect light of dying day, just as he remembered them: an eternity ago, craters left by earth-shattering war burned with dragon fire. The Applewoods—a quaint name for a forest that had stolen so many lives beneath its shadowed boughs—were still and silent, like a predator lying in wait. He knew not what the trees obscured, though the Tirashan had once been part of Andruil’s domain, and he had plenty of guesses.

“Oh!”

Solas startled upon hearing Merrill’s voice behind him, and he ripped his eyes away from the forest to face her. She had just come up the stairs and she hovered on the landing, uncertain if she should leave, but he gave her a gesture of welcome.

“Did you grow bored of the festivities?” Solas asked.

“I didn’t even bother,” she said with a laugh. “Took a nap, had the strangest dream, and… I just had to come up here.”

Merrill joined him at the railing, and as her eyes alighted on the gilded wetlands of the Nahashin, she drew her hands to her chest in awe.

Solas watched her curiously. “Should I be wary of the Fade here? What did you dream?”

“I’ll certainly be more cautious. It’s been a long time since a spirit has reached out to me like that,” Merrill said gravely. “Even after Valor… I’ve always sensed them coming, but this one just appeared in my dream like they were always there.”

“Was it a danger to you?” Solas asked with a frown. “It is indeed concerning that a spirit would find your dreams, as blood magic has kept your mind far from the Fade.”

Merrill nodded, brow wrinkled with concern as well. “It didn’t threaten me,” she said. “It appeared as a halla. A talking halla. A black talking halla. And all it wanted was to tell me a story.”

Solas did not try to hide his bewilderment, and Merrill shrugged helplessly. He had no idea what manner of spirit or being might appear as a black halla, though he thought it did not bode well. He lay a hand on the railing and glanced out at the forest, eyes skimming the Applewoods and delving deeper into the Tirashan to the west, as if he might see the creature there.

“What story did it tell you?” he asked.

She drew his attention from the trees and gestured at the marshes. The burning light of the sunset was swiftly fading, and the reflective patches of the marsh were darkening as if ink had been spilled in them, or oil.

“The halla said that the marshes are Fen’Harel’s dancing footsteps,” she began, sending a chill down his spine. “Long ago, the Forgotten Ones and the Creators were one family. But the Forgotten Ones committed a great offense, and the Creators wanted to cast them out. The Forgotten Ones were powerful and didn’t fear the Creators at all, so they refused to leave. In her wisdom, Mythal enlisted Fen’Harel’s aid. She asked him to lead the Forgotten Ones far away from Elvhenan, so far away that they would never return; in exchange, Mythal offered Fen’Harel a place at her table.

“Fen’Harel agreed, and he insulted the Forgotten Ones and goaded them until they had enough of his antics. They hunted the Dread Wolf across the land, but he was too swift, and their arrows could not pin him down. Arrow after arrow, he dodged out of the way and lead them on chase to the ends of the earth. He led them to a dark place, where they got lost; Fen’Harel was no stranger to the shadows, and he found his way back to Mythal safely, eager to claim the honor and power she had offered him.

“But Mythal did not wish for Fen’Harel to join the family of gods, and the place she offered him at her table was that of a leal hound. He would always be beneath the Creators, accepting whatever scraps of power they gave him. Fen’Harel turned up his nose at the insult and left.

“Fen’Harel thought he’d go back to the Forgotten Ones and lead them out of their darkness, so they and the Creators could resume their squabbles. He set out along the path he had lead them, and he saw the evidence of their chase:

“Every arrow that missed Fen’Harel had struck one of the People instead. Countless elves died by the time the Forgotten Ones lost their quarry, all of them innocent of the Forgotten Ones’ and the Creators’ quarrel. Fen’Harel saw the destruction he had caused, and wept. His paw prints filled with his tears, hiding the bodies and creating the marshes to the east. And that day, Fen’Harel swore he would unmake the gods.”

Merrill’s story was told with none of her usual cheer, and Solas could not decide if that made it easier, or more difficult, to hear his own history twisted through such a farcical lens.

He gripped the jawbone against his chest tightly. Teeth dug into his palm, as painful as the memories.

“Merrill,” he said, so sharply that she took a step back from him, “this land is very, very old, and its soil is soaked in blood. The forest’s thirst has not been sated by the passage of time, and there are many tales of what its denizens will do to find fresh prey.”

She shivered. Solas thought that her eyes held an appropriate amount of fear, considering she could not possibly know the true extent of the danger.

“I know,” she said. “The last thing that halla told me… It said the Masked Andraste will return to her forest. I don’t know what that means, but—”

She was cut off by a sudden gust of wind, a gale, a howling rush of air that buffeted them dangerously close to the balcony’s edge. They both pressed themselves back against the outer wall of the tower for stability, heads turned in search of the source of the unnatural squall.

Their eyes watered against the brunt of it, but they could see the black ocean of trees below them seething under the fretful night-wind.

“—it can’t be good,” Merrill finished.

[brood-mother]

sawbones Dragon Age Fic Masterlist

A list of all my Dragon Age fanfics (circa 2014-2018) to keep you occupied 'til Oct 31st. Mostly rarepairs, mostly smutty.

Dragon Age 2

A Little Self-Love Never Hurt Nobody Anders/Anders, E, WC: 2086; "Anders revisits a memory from his wild Circle days in a dream - and gains a whole new point of view." (selfcest, dream sex, PWP) Fructovorous Fenris/Sebastian, E, WC: 1790; "Fenris is his General on the field; behind closed doors, he’s so much more." (footplay, oral, light D/s) Pillowtalk Isabela/Bethany, T, WC: 755; "While Hawke is in the Deep Roads, a heatwave hits Kirkwall." (post-coital, cuddling, mild h/c) Rooftops Isabela/Bethany, G, WC: 931; "Bethany wants to learn how to support herself and her family." (gen, flirting) Tinpot Alley Implied Carver/Cullen, T/M, WC: 2679, "Three Templars went on patrol; one came back." (gore tw)

Dragon Age: The Last Court

Rakish, Reckless Marquis of Serault/Wayward Bard, E, WC: 3436; "The Wayward Bard takes a knife in the back to protect the Marquis. The Marquis wants to know why." (first time, angry sex, mild blood/injury)

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Many Hands Lighten the Load Dorian/m!Lavellan/Blackwall, E, WC: 7429; "All of Skyhold can see the way Blackwall looks at the Inquisitor, even if the Inquisitor himself can't. Dorian comes to realise there are better ways to handle such a situation than petty jealousy." (UST, mutual pining, friends/rivals to lovers) Rectrix Iron Bull/Zevran, E, WC: 1724; "Bull and Zevran met long before the Inquisition." (bondage, caning, forced tickling) Red Sky At Night Samson/Maddox, M, WC: 4450; "The rise of the Red General began with two men and a missed headcount; or, how Samson was lost to the Chantry and found by Corypheus." (hurt no comfort, pre-DAI) Ruby Red OFC/ OFC, E, WC: 3000; "Behemoth, they called her. Towering, terrifying. Where was Jess, under all that red? A twist of metal helm to mark where her head had been, two flat eyes that glinted in the low light. She was still there, Ruby knew it. She responded to her name, or at least to Ruby’s voice. Not any voice, just hers. Only hers." (angst, body horror, red templars)

The above works are all posted on Ao3, but there are more shorter-form fics over at my currently-defunct DA writing sideblog. Comments, kudos, asks, and suggestions for future fics are all very welcome. 🖤

[ghostwise]

I just feel like when she meets her, hears her story, she maybe finds that it resonates & perhaps she feels as she did when she looked at that broken mirror years ago. and what if maybe when Denerim is being evacuated she finds Liselle trapped in an alley and she rescues her without thinking and Liselle is like 'oh Maker bless you' and her eyes are streaming from the smoke. and then what IF she gets a good look at her and goes 'oh! the raven girl' and Morrigan is like 'how?' and Liselle is like 'pardon?' and Morrigan is like 'how did you know I-?' and Liselle hurriedly explains that the night after they met in the market she had a dream about a magpie and a raven flying together and she apologizes because it's an insane thing to say to a near complete stranger she just maybe has a concussion please pay her no mind & meanwhile Morrigan thinks about all the crap she's been through for a year but also abt how she's grown so much, she's tasted a hint of werewolf in her, she's been to the deep roads and back, so maybe she can look into the mirror just this once without flinching & before everything changes in her life forever

and then she kisses her and tells her to get to safety. and runs.

I think Morrigan should kiss Liselle, the Orlesian perfume merchant in the Denerim market.

[silvanils]

Reflection

Glass has two sides, your Grace, and there are stranger directions than ‘North’ and ‘South’.

Just a little something that stuck in my head about Serault-glass and Eluvians, and my Marquis finding his reflection hard to look at because he’s haunted by a ghost he keeps seeing instead of his own face...

(Is it because he looks so much like her? Or is she a real wraith?)

Related to this piece: [link]

[v-arbellanaris]

2, 4, and 7 for the da questions?

from this ask meme!

2. Which Dragon Age game is your favorite so far?

it's definitely hard to choose between da2 and dao. dao does have my favourite character but i think, overall, i'll have to say da2! da2 is such a comfort game to me, running around kirkwall and knowing exactly where everything is and all the banter and the COMPANIONS and i love the dlcs and and and!!! i love the central conflicts, i love the layers of the story, and i love even the parts that make me so mad about it.

4. What does your worldstate look like going into DAV?

i've been waffling about which worldstates i'll be plugging into datv, because i want to do a few! i wanted to do my canon worldstate which is evadne -> mage!hawke -> marya, but i also wanted to do kal -> warrior!hawke -> isra alternate worldstate and then i definitely want to do one run with aedan -> joan -> iskandar "well shit" worldstate... but i was ALSO waffling up pro-mage evadne -> mage!hawke -> isra worldstate... and all elven kal -> moon -> marya worldstate...

ultimately, they all symbolise different things! like my "well shit" worldstate is basically a world that refused to change at every precipice, a world that really plays into the way bioware keeps "re-setting" the changes in the world we try to make - a world that has stubbornly stayed oppressive of mages, of elves, over the last decade, through the various decisions of the pcs. a low approval iskandar and an anti-mage, anti-elf worldstate would be the darkest timeline - and likely, the timeline solas feels most justified in because people don't grow or try to be better, and he's not friends with the inquisitor, and the pendulum of change swings to stagnation.

on the other hand, the other two worldstates are worldstates where things get better. kal -> warrior!hawke -> isra worldstate is also about revenge and regret and clawing for change, and it's about how stories make you seem larger than life, how stories immortalise you, so there's the obvious appeal in bringing that worldstate into da4. the evadne -> mage!hawke -> marya worldstate is a really good one where it's like change is possible! change happens, bit by bit and there are as many downs as ups, but it's possible, and people are committed. and of course, it's my solavellan worldstate, so obviously i wanna import that!!! but i'm not 100% sure yet :(

7. Which character from the previous games or other media are you most hoping will make an appearance in DAV?

WELL OTHER THAN THE OBVIOUS ONE. i'm betting on a teia and viago appearance (from tevinter nights)! it feels very unlikely too but i'm hoping to see yavana back, fenris, carver hawke, and maybe even the marquis/e of serault since morrigan went there to study serault glass (which she is using to research the eluvian!)

[maleficarlife]

Orlais: implodes

Prince Consort Evar Cousland, Queen Anora Mac Tir, The elves, The Marquis of Serault:

[crossdressingdeath]

I have been reminded via tags that some people did not get to play The Last Court so behold! A detailed plot summary! Which includes a link to the database of (almost) all the cards in the game, painstakingly collected by the fandom in the months prior to the game's deletion!

@v-arbellanaris's excellent Justinia metas have me thinking about The Last Court again and how completely bullshit the whole setup is.

I mean, The Last Court takes place basically on the eve of the Conclave. Justinia went there on her way to the Conclave, going well out of her way to do so and presumably bringing her retinue with her, because she was considering lifting Serault's shame. The shame of a man who ruled three generations ago. And to "prove" they deserve to be graciously allowed back into Orlesian society the current marquis (the Shame's great-grandchild who was born well after he died) has to host Justinia and her retinue on a week's notice with the resources of a tiny marquisate in the ass-end of Orlais that's been all but completely cut off from the rest of Orlais for three generations. I mean, first, why is Justinia doing this now? It feels important that Justinia went so far out of her way to do this during such a serious situation, but the game doesn't really get into that beyond the vaguest "Serault's weird and something weird has happened to the emissary you sent there, let's never talk about it again". What was so important about Serault that Justinia likely delayed the Conclave so she could go there first?

And second... what does this prove? Sure, the marquis can scrape together enough of a party to please the Divine, but why would she demand that of them? Especially since it ultimately just comes down to the Divine's personal satisfaction; you can have maxed out Dignity, Freedom and Prosperity, dealt with the Horned Knight so he doesn't even try to present his gift, and never touched the Chantry, but if you don't have enough of a party to make the Divine happy then sorry, the Shame continues. Serault can be running beautifully, you can be adored by the whole town, you can have everything totally under control... but if you don't successfully impress, bribe or blackmail the Divine with your treatment of her personally you get fuck all. And again: Serault is in the ass-end of Orlais. It's right up against the Tirashan, merchants passing through have an unfortunate tendency to get robbed or disappeared, the surrounding area is cursed as fuck, and basically everything about this place makes keeping things under control basically impossible. The marquis can with a great deal of effort maintain equilibrium, but that's about it! And Justinia expects them to not just host her and her retinue, but to throw a party she deems worthy of her? I just... why? How is this proof that Serault is redeemed while evidence that they've done the best they can for their people isn't? And conversely your Freedom can be at zero and your Rumours of Revolution can be at a hundred and you can still win, so apparently Justinia gives zero shits about the wellbeing of Serault's people. Was she just checking to make sure the marquis grovelled appropriately?

But I do love how even the "failure" endings where you don't win over the Divine are phrased more as "Well, fuck her and the horse she rode in on anyway, we don't need her" than "Oh Maker forgive me for failing to give the Divine everything I have as is right and proper". Especially the endings for proudly admitting to opening the Sealed Chantry (side note, they actually sealed the whole Chantry because of the Shame...? The fuck was that about) and letting the Horned Knight deliver his gift, where the marquis seems almost pleased with the result. The impression is very much that the marquis wants to win over the Divine for the benefits being allowed back into Orlesian society will give Serault, not because they actually care about the approval of the Chantry. Which does fit the ruler of a place where the main religion is actually an obscure heretical offshoot of Andrastianism... Anyway, maybe the real reason we weren't allowed to go to Serault in DAI was because they were too anti-Chantry for DAI's message.

[prismbearer]

Underrated DA Protagonist, the Marquis de Serault.

[clavicuss-vile]

OOO i should make my marquis of serault. still havent finished reading the reconstruction of tlc but i have some ideas for my scholar. he's an interesting one though considering i like orlais as matrilineal. i dont know if theres a reason they chose him over his sister (ik theres something in the game? unsure if its a mystery or explained later) but either way that certainly adds something interesting. weird little marsh town bordering the tirashan with a definitely not apostate marquis who's also a MAN. maker forbid. no wonder the divine comes to check wtf theyre doin

[magneticmage]

I was tagged by @drakonovisny to use this lovely picrew! I made some of my DA characters.

~Silverite Ashes Worldstate~

Top row=Warden-Commander Neria Surana (left), Champion Sophia Hawke (right)

Bottom row=Marquess Genevieve de Serault (left), Inquisitor Evune Lavellan (right)

~Darkness Descends Worldstate~

Top row=Prince-Consort Ronan Cousland (left), Viscount Lennox "Knox" Hawke (right)

Bottom row=Marquis Henry de Serault (left), Inquisitor Valerie "Val" Trevelyan (right)

@draxen1123 thanks for the help with the colors!

Tagging @awellboiledicicle, @mikkeneko , @lavendercoldbrew, @violetblushmoth , and anyone else if you guys want to!