#thewardenisonthecase

[lizzybeeee]

@ thewardenisonthecase 's Dawn Thorne!

[lottiesnotebook]

Hi!

3 - Prior to the prologue, who was the Warden's closest friend?

19 - Who are the people in camp that the Warden is closest with and why?

21 - Did the Warden romance anyone from their group? If so, what attracted them to their partner?

Hi! Thank you so much for sending this ask from your brilliant ask game!

These answers are going to be about my Tabris, Luna, both because she's very dear to my heart and also because she's the protagonist of my current longfic project, The Kick Inside.

3. The Warden's pre-prologue closest friend - This is probably classic for most Tabris origins, but Luna's closest friends were always her cousins. Soris is the baby of the family, and moved in shortly after her mother's death, so she tends to think of him as a younger brother she's usually pulling out of scrapes (which translates over to her relationship with Alistair very neatly).

Shianni is more of a peer in terms of age and levels of responsibility, though, and they share a room, so they are each other's biggest confidant and secret keeper. Even by the end of Origins/The Kick Inside, there's nobody who understands her quite like Shianni, and abandoning her after she experienced the trauma of the prologue is one of the things that haunts Luna the most.

19. Alistair reminds her a lot of Soris, so he slots into the surrogate little brother space that keeps her going after The Horrors of the Prologue and Ostagar (and Redcliffe. And the Circle. And... You know what, the whole game is The Horrors to Luna). They're very close, but definitely in more of a found-family sense than a romantic sense.

Her best friend is probably Zevran, though, because they are both flirty, sarcastic rogues who would rather make an innuendo than admit that they are Struggling With The Horrors. As a pair, they are pretty much unbearable to be around, because the banter never stops, but they are having fun!

21. Luna and Zevran hook up a few times as friends, but she ends up falling for Morrigan while attempting to pspsps the witch into Friendship (a mission successfully failed). It's chaotic, messy, both of them think it's a terrible idea, and somehow neither of them can quite disentangle themselves.

(There is an essay I Could write here about Luna identifying the only person she thinks is more broken than her, attempting to fix her, and accidentally catching feelings. There is a second essay here about how she's only attracted to the party members who she doesn't see as innocent, because she can't relate to them as equals any more, but that isn't part of the ask game and so I will spare you.)

Similar asks coming your way shortly!

[lizzybeeee]

I feel like another reason for Sten being much less 'intense' then the qunari we see in the future games is because, technically, when we meet him he's Tal-Vashoth.

He's lost his sword/soul, he's failed his mission from the Arishok, and his karatam (fellow soldiers) are all dead. On top of that, the realization that he's lost asala leads to him killing an entire farmhold, (not just the men, but the women and children too!) - literally proving to himself that without the Qun he is lawless and savage, just as he was taught his entire life. Alistair talks about how Sten is regretful of what happened, but that his "regret is the not the same as it is to us" - which I agree with! He's more regretful at his loss of composure/purpose more so than the death of the farmers.

He's stuck in this limbo of being loyal to the Qun, because he genuinely believes in it, while also being confronted with the idea that according to his beliefs he is nothing - his soul is dust. He had come to terms with the idea of dying in that cage because he was less than nothing and he could see no way of making his way in the world without the purpose of the Qun.

Then along comes the Warden who gives him a chance to find a sliver of purpose again: to fight the blight.

The blight/darkspawn is a threat to all, even the Qun, so it doesn't conflict with his beliefs. It's also responsible for the death of his karatam - and in his fade prison we can see that he has a strong camaraderie with his fellow soldiers - so on a personal level he's invested in seeing them destroyed. Sten is, according to the Qun, lawless and chaotic, so why not die with a blade in his hand, even if its not his soul?

Sten's more open to hearing/conversing with the rest of the party because:

1) They're fighting together - He needs to know how to work with them and they are not trained as the Qun trains warriors. He comments in a lot of his banter about the fighting styles/techniques of those he's with.

2) He is Tal-Vashoth - For the time he is without asala, at least. At this point in time he's come to terms with the fact that his death is only delayed - that he will die from the darkspawn or the Qun if he returns to Par Vollen. So why not talk with these people who he's traveling with? What can he lose from it? Most of his conversations are not him attempting to convert others to the Qun, but his attempts to understand how one lives without it.

3) He is someone who needs a strong sense of purpose to function (thanks to growing up under the Qun) and the Warden provides that purpose.

While he's initially distant/critical with those in the party, with time he becomes open to conversing with them outside of arguments/criticism - even joking or teasing them! He's still loyal to the Qun, but he's willing to speak/listen to the perspectives of others because what does he have to lose? He even asks questions/converses with the Warden about the differences between the Qun and life outside of it - even though he doesn't agree, that's way more than the Arishok was willing to do in DA2. He's trying to understand how someone can live without the Qun because it simply does not compute, but he's faced with the reality that somehow people do live without it.

When he is no longer Tal-Vashoth (if you help him locate asala) he maintains the respectful camaraderie/friendship(?) with the Warden - calling them an 'Ashkaari' which is basically 'an enlightened one' when they return his blade. Not to mention how he calls them 'Kadan' and promises to not look for them on the battlefield of the 'eventual' invasion of the Qun in southern Thedas (RIP Qunari War story thread). It comes across to me, at least, that he rationalizes/reconciles his time as a Tal-Vashoth by associating the Warden with the Qun - which is both a sign of massive respect and pure copium lmao.

He says he's 'complete' when he gets asala back and it makes me feel a little sad every time! How much has the Qun shaped/warped his sense of identity that he's unable to see all he accomplished without it? :(

Anyway, this turned into a rant about how I love Sten as a character and how complex and well he was written - top tier writing, 10/10 <3

Something very dear to me in DAO, when it comes to Sten and then Qun is that, unlike the next games, it doesn't feel like the Qun is portrayed in that much of a negative of a light?

Sure, some of its issues are still adressed. Sten will ask 'how are you a woman if you fight' to leliana, morrigan, wynne and a female warden, and it highlights the gender roles in the Qun, but considering that if you play as a female warden you get ask/told again and again that there aren't a lot of wardens or that people are surprised you're a warrior (cof cof howe mentioning its unusual that bryce would train a female cousland as a warrior cof cof) i don't have much complaints with that. it is what it is. And at least, you can stand up to Sten when he says those things.

I think the only time i was like 'ok that is fucked' was when Sten brought up how the Qun treats its mages, because even when he talked about how everyone under the Qun has a role, he doesn't talk in a way that makes you feel like this is some sort of extremely bad and rigid thing. In fact, Sten makes the argument that its better because then people don't have to spend their life trying to fit in into something they're not (and lowkey, Wynne expressed similar sentiments when she talks about that it's better to embrace the role/destiny that the Maker gave you than fighting against it).

But what really drives home to me about home to me is that, at some point, Alistair asks the Warden how they feel about the other companions and when talking about Sten, there's a possbility for Alistair to say that, in the way Sten talks about the Qun, it doesn't feel as vile as the chantry makes it out. And you gotta keep in mind that Alistair spent a good portion of his life living in the chantry, so for him to say that, for me, is a big deal on how the Qun is portrayed through Sten.

I think about this a lot because I honestly was like wow, besides a few things, the Qun seems lowkey to be pretty good until we got to DAI and there was the whole thing with re-education, and hunting tal-vashoth (which, its adressed in DAO, but i feel like they were much more subtle about it). Like heck, even in DA2, I don't think the Qun itself is portrayed that badly, because 1) the Arishok doesn't do shit to Kirkwall until he's provocked like 3 different times and 2) Kirkwall is a shithole, so when he talks about the city, he lowkey makes sense.

Idk. I really liked how the qun was handled in DAO because of Sten and his perspective, and then in DAI and DATV I was just going 'yikes' most of the time.

[rookinthecrownest]

was tagged by the lovely @hightowerqueen to share a WIP. since I have nothing on the writer’s side to share, I guess I’ll put up this screenshot study Im doing of Lucanis. Should be a surprise to no one that one of my art goals for 2025 is learn to draw this dude better…

wamt to study him like a primary research article on a niche topic im disgustingly educated in

i’ll go ahead and tag @juneiper-art @magpiemoonchild @thewardenisonthecase @nightingaletrash and @hawkeish if y’all feel so inclined no pressure tho

[tadpole-apocalypse]

Rooks for @thewardenisonthecase and @rederiswrites

[rookintheforgottenrealms]

Was tagged by the lovely @dell-amor-te for a Sunday Snippet (although I'm a few days early, or many days late) hehe.

Enjoy this lil snippet of Part IV of the Rook In Fade Jail Fic! Which I'm still painstakingly working on! It's coming folks!

Tagging @thewardenisonthecase @juneiper-art @lightan117 and @hawkeish and any other writing mutuals who'd like to participate (as usual no pressure hehe <3)

[unreadpoppy]

Dragon Age Masterlist

EDIT: The rest of my DA fics and the updated version of this masterlist can be found on my other blog, @thewardenisonthecase

Alistair (DAO)

Thank you for caring - Alistair x F!Cousland

Buddy - Alistair x F!Cousland + Dog

After the Archdemon is Slain - Alistair x F!Cousland

Fenris (DA2)

Festis bei umo canavarum - Fenris x F!Hawke - part 1 / part 2

Lucanis Dellamorte (DATV)

Of Nightmares and Sleepless Nights - Lucanis x Grey Warden!Rook

Rest Easy / Early Morning - Lucanis x Grey Warden!Rook

Moments in Between - chapter 1 / chapter 2 / chapter 3 / chapter 4 - Lucanis x Grey Warden!Rook

Honey and Lavender - Lucanis x Grey Warden!Rook

Lucanis Drabble/Ficlet

[wren--bee]

it's frosty!! let's do 32 and 39 for questions for the HOF :p

?? Username turned into morse code?

Anyway! Short little ramblefic from this ask game by @thewardenisonthecase. I was going to do more to get into the meat of the questions but then I thought that it was a good place to stop.

32. If they could leave the Wardens, would they? / 39. Do the events of the Fifth Blight haunt the Warden or have they moved past it completely?

———————————————

Rohesia sighed. Alone. At last.

Learning to travel as a Warden, be on the road without luxury, had been a lesson best learned when she had far larger things to worry about. No future prospect of fine beds and good meals and privacy had been unimportant compared to the sheer anger which had enabled her to keep going, day after day, not heeding a future until it had been very nearly too late.

That anger had stopped being the most immediate driving force- which was a good thing, but every time she had to leave court she had to learn once more to tolerate the pain of loss of love and of basic pleasantries and to handle living where “a dry bed and enough food” became- well, luxuries. It did, however, make the return home when she could pretend to no longer be a Warden all the more delicious… partly literally.

When she returned the first thing she wanted was always a bath. Actually, seeing Alistair was always the first thing she wanted, but he was king and there was only so much she could do to help- especially when the duties of a Grey Warden were a constant looming threat. So, in the absence of Alistair, she wanted a bath.

Alistair always wanted her to eat. That was third on her list- husband, then bath (ideally with husband), then eat (also ideally with husband). Although glancing in the mirror as her head lady-in-waiting helped her remove her armour, Ro had to acknowledge his point. She’d lost weight- again. Perhaps more than last time?

She dismissed Rinni once most of her armour was off, and tried to focus on that topic as she finished with her smallclothes and entered the steamy bathing chamber. There had been a quiet outrage when her former head lady-in-waiting had retired due to illness and Rohesia had promoted one of her elven servants to the position, and Ro hadn’t been able to take the time to ensure Rinni had properly settled in before being called upon to leave. From how organised they had been on her return, it seemed Rinni was doing okay.

As she gave herself a quick precursive wash it was a short jump for her mind from that topic to the nobility, and then-

Then Rohesia slid into the hot water, and briefly there were no thoughts at all. Her mind, overactive with the stress of homecoming and everything that entailed and how close she was to seeing Alistair but he was not right here, quieted down. There was only the sensation, heat spreading through her, releasing tension and soothing aches. She let out a little groan and sank down, letting her head fall back as her muscles relaxed.

The first thought to make itself heard was “this is the best bath I’ve ever been in”. At that point any hot bath might have earned the title, but this one had largely kept it for the past six years.

She lifted herself to wash. Her ladies knew she didn’t like them to be very hands-on but they also knew how to lay things out, and a soap, bowl of water and washcloth lay in easy reach- as did a cup of wine which she half-drained before picking up the soap. It was a newly sliced piece, one that Alistair ordered especially for her (and used while she was away as a way to connect to her- the thought in the back of her mind made her heart clench.) The soap was pressed with herbs and flowers, pleasingly scented, and the most visually obvious was the rose petals.

Of course.

Tears welled up for a moment. She pushed down the surge of affection and sentiment and lathered the soap in the bowl and used it to wash herself, using the washcloth to get everything she could reach, removing the grime of battle and dust of the road that her initial wash missed. As her hands passed over herself the task was simple enough that her mind began to wander once more.

It was bittersweet, to return home. It was a reminder that she had no choice in being away. Every time she came back she pretended to herself that she would leave only due to her own wishes- to see Fergus and make sure Highever was doing well, to visit other areas of the country, to quieter bannorns especially to see how the people lived. It was harder to do in the armour of the queen, though- the scarred and roadworn armour of the Grey Warden, with her cloud of hair roughly wrapped up in cloth, was a more approachable appearance and more likely to see more of the truth of life as an anonymous Warden. It was not much of a blessing, but it was one.

Her mind drifted further. When the Warden armour was still warm from being worn it was easier to remember. That was a blessing, too- a very painful one. The memory of the people- her people, their people- how much suffering there had been. The betrayal. The absolute dismissive attitudes she had seen- the worst of the nobility. It brought back the raw, painful bitterness that lingered, like a wound that would never heal, and she tried not to dwell on it- to make it worse- but sometimes–

“Wash your back for you, m’lady?”

Ro dropped the washcloth, never noticing how she’d been twisting at it, and launched herself from the tub, stumbling on the edge, graceless in her eagerness to throw herself into the speaker’s arms- her husband, he was here, he was here–

Alistair caught her, laughing, wrapping his arms around her without care for his clothes, nuzzling the side of her head, uncaring of how her hair wet his face and chest, hands holding her body as tightly as she held his- no thoughts now except for Alistair, and it took a while before he got around to washing her back.

———————————————

Because I intended to dive more into the meat of the topic later and then, well, didn’t- 32- yes, Rohesia would absolutely leave the Wardens if she could, without hesitation. She respects what they do but also sort of hates them? It’s complicated, and something that she and Alistair only really talked about gradually. 39- she’s less haunted by the events of the Blight itself (although she is a bit) than by the way people were treated and the suffering during that time. She always had a very clear view of the duties of nobility born from growing up with stories of her parents and others fighting for independence- she’s not entirely unlike Cailan but more realistic and focused on duty to her people than he appears to be. That was tempered and refined through what she saw during the Blight and a lot of the idealism she had towards the nobility was stripped away, but she retains that belief in their duty and is haunted first and foremost by how utterly that duty was failed.

Theron fic to come! (Probably.) Thank you for giving me a prompt (or two) to ramble about!

@ithinkthiswasabadidea if you’re still interested in Alistair/Warden fics!

[rookinthecrownest]

awhh this is so sweet thank you :’)

@thewardenisonthecase @juneiper-art @dellamortethelesser @hightowerqueen @casino-lights @elvhendis @housederiva @theesteppenwolf @merciawintersageposting

positivity train!

if you see this or are tagged in it, tag a couple of your favorite mutuals/blogs and let them know you appreciate seeing them on your dash!

@h0neysugarfree @blueberrylovv @bequiteanddriveeeeeee @cherri-bomb-bomb @eg0mechan1c @fatrexicisback

[lizzybeeee]

The Lucanis vs Illario story would have had greater emotional depth/intrigue if the writers didn't water down how fucked up the Crows are as an organization.

Just some thoughts about how, out of all the side villains, Illario had some great potential to be a really interesting/tragic character in my opinion.

TL;DR: Zevran Aranai has a knife with Caterina's name on it for good reason and Lucanis/Illario need therapy...or whatever the Thedas equivalent is called...talking to Rook, I dunno

Going into DATV as a new player, or even as a returning one, the whitewashing of the Crows has a lot of the potential complexities of that life simply ignored or barely touched upon. The entire 'Illario vs Lucanis' boils down to: Illario seething in the shadows about Lucanis being the 'best boy'™ of the family while Illario is an after thought - which he is.

Let's be real, Illario is not subtle and immediately comes across as the Scar to Lucanis' 'Mufasa'. It's a questline with a very straightforward villain who has pretty lackluster motivations from what info we're provided - being 'I want power and to be the First Talon'. The game does very little explore what motivations he may have beyond being jealous of Lucanis/wanting more power.

However, if you play the quest line knowing what previous games have set up about the Crows - about how cutthroat and brutal the life is behind the glamour - then you can see that the entire Lucanis vs Illario conflict has amazing potential to be a dramatic tragedy.

We've seen how the life of Crow can affect Zevran - someone who was sold into the life through child-slavery. How interesting would it be to see how the life of a Crow can affect someone who was born into it? It's pretty clear in-game that Caterina intends for her grandchildren to carry on the family tradition - despite the fact that this 'family tradition' has likely led to the deaths of most of her grandchildren and however many children she had.

If there's banter about how Illario's/Lucanis' parents/cousins died specifically I haven't heard it, but the impression I got in-game was that it was likely linked to the Crows/politics in some way? Feel free to correct me! Still majorly fucked up that she pushes her grandsons into this life regardless!

Lucanis/Illario's situation was not like Zevran's - who was sold into the Crow's through slavery, with no one to speak up for him. Caterina was a woman who had power, who knew what the life of a Crow meant, and who still pushed those she 'loved' into it because is consolidated her place in the system. For all the Crows talk of 'family' Caterina doesn't seem to give a shit about them unless if they're contributing to the family business in some way - not to mention the whole 'you fail and we kill you' clause of being a Crow in the first place.

In the 'Wigmaker Job' from Tevinter Nights Lucanis talks about how Caterina hit him [also Illario] with her cane for mistakes and had him spend days without food/water. How he used to hate her but now 'realizes' that it was her way of ensuring he survived the life of being an Antivan Crow. Did it end up protecting them? It likely pushed them both to refine their skills out of fear. It's likely that simply by association with her they would be targets and thus needed to know how to take care of themselves and fight.

But why have him as a Crow in the first place? Why not simply train them well to defend themselves? You can't deny that she doesn't benefit from having her grandchildren in the family business - intentionally wanting Lucanis to take over her position as First Talon. The Antivan Crows are a force to be reckoned with and being one brings a whole lot of power in Antiva - being part of the elite of that group even more so.

If the game showed us the ugly reality of the Crows - the brutality of the lifestyle and how cutthroat the organization is, it could have really added some depth to Illario's betrayal - having it be more than "I want more power/respect" to "this is the result of what you taught me was valuable in life."

Warden: "Do you actually enjoy being an assassin?" Zevran: "And why not? There are many things to enjoy about being a Crow in Antiva. You are respected. You are feared. The authorities go out of their way to overlook your trespasses. Even the rewards are nothing to turn your nose up at."

Illario, bitter about Caterina favoring Lucanis - resentful of the fact that she has already decided that Lucanis will be her successor, being offered power by the Venatori (at the expense of the Crows) and accepting because why not? How different is it from what the Crows do? Isn't power and status the whole point of working yourself up in the Crows? Getting into a relationship with Zara because why not? Isn't sex part of the allure of being a Crow? Why can't he have this? Why shouldn't he have this?

Rook: "When we met, it didn't seem like Illario and Caterina were close." Lucanis: "It was hard to be close to her. Even for me. And...I was her favorite."

Why would he have connections to his family? Why should he? Caterina certainly never seemed to value 'family' beyond what they could do for her and their family legacy. Most of his family is already dead, and of those that remain the only parental figure he has obviously favors Lucanis. We don't have a lot of evidence in-game to show that Illario ever really cared for Lucanis, but the prequel story 'The Wake' and Lucanis' own banter imply that they were practically brothers, best friends. Perhaps he did care and then ceased to at some point, perhaps he didn't at all, or perhaps he accepted that an early death for them both was inevitable like everyone else in their family. Dead now or later - what was the difference? At least if Illario sells him out now to the Venatori then he'll get something from it instead of another dead family member to bury.

It's the tragic result of raising a child in an environment where he was taught and experienced the need for self-preservation at all costs. Constantly threatened, punished, and made well aware of that fact that his life was an expendable commodity. Then, when things in the world went to shit he picked the only option that made sense to him. To save himself.

The irony of the potential fall of the Crows, the fall of House Dellamorte, coming at the hands of one of their own - not because he had a change of heart but because he was taught too well by them. The Crows view those that fail them as disposable, someone to be discarded - if the Crows fail Illario, what is to stop him from applying that mindset to them?

But this would require the writers to acknowledge how messed up the Crows are and we can't do that to our 'Noble Freedom Fighters'™. They'll also need to address Zevran's existence and what lore was established in past games...and we can't have that either lmao.

[rookinthecrownest]

Based on DM’s with my beautiful moots @juneiper-art and @thewardenisonthecase I now exclusively envision Illario and Pompeiia’s interactions in the context of Kardashian memes

*During a tough battle*

Illario, getting his ass kicked: You wanna help, maybe?

Pompeiia, 10 feet back and unbothered:

*After said battle*

Pompeiia: Illario… 🥺 … I think I broke a nail… 🥺

Illario, with a broken nose, a black eye, and at least 3 broken ribs: My heart bleeds for you, Principessa

Pompeiia: And I think I lost my earring!

Illario: Peia, people died

Pompeiia: You killed them

Illario: Correct, and flattering of you to say, but irrelevant

[reagan-the-saunders]

@thewardenisonthecase I love this so much btw

not enough of us are talking about this but

DAO JOINING CHALICE HELLO???????

IT'S JUST SITTING THERE ON A PEDASTAL IN WEISSHAUPT???

please tell me someone snagged that thing before Weisshaupt was destroyed that fucking cup has been through so much

[lizzybeeee]

Bann Teagan Guerrin: "Did he also do what was best for your husband, your Majesty?"

The single hottest line in all of DAO - you can't convince me otherwise.

The amount of sass, the audacity of that man to backtalk Queen Anora in her own court, in front of dozens of nobles, before fucking swaggering off to go get his brother to plan a coup against her and Loghain.

Incredible.

[rookinthecrownest]

the dellamorte siblings

Are you normal or are you already planning out what your fave ship’s kids are going to look like.

Meet Francesa & Rafael Dellamorte

Francesa takes more after Lucanis in personality, but inherited her mother’s gift for magic. She ends up training as a Mortalitasi under Myrna (and is obsessed with her - which, like, understandable Myrna is a queen). She wants to eventually join the Mourn Watch. She sees Emmrich as a grandfather-like figure. She’s introverted, disciplined, and curious.

Rafael is a rogue (possibly joins the Lords of Fortune, or maybe the Veil Jumpers or Shadow Dragons). While he didn’t inherit Madeleina’s magical gifts he did get her chaotic tendencies and propensity to get himself into sticky situations. He’s a lot more outgoing and carefree than his sister and a bit of a gremlin. Fun fact, he is not allowed around Assan unsupervised.

Francesa is the first born and ‘the kid who made them want a second kid’ while Rafael is the second kid who made them realize 2 was more than enough.

Also, blame @thewardenisonthecase for this bc they let me ramble in their DM’s about these two so I had to draw them lol.

[rookinthecrownest]

WIP or Snip, You Decide

Thanks for the tag @nightingaletrash :)

Here's a sneak peak at the next instalment of The Day The World Disappeared.

tags for @hawkeish @lightan117 @thewardenisonthecase and any other writing mutuals if y'all have anything in the works!

[teyrnacousland]

tags via @thewardenisonthecase

this kind of feels like Illario slander 😂