#ward laidir

[amochi]

I’m obsessed with my rook, this is Ward

Screenshots under cut

[grimwarden]

nexus. patreon. ao3. cozy games. web. characters.

hi. i'm grim, he/him. adult. english isn't my first language. i enjoy modding and writing.

i like da2 the best but love everything dragon age and tend to get passionate about all the characters. varric, fenris and davrin are my favorites.

favorite characters: varric, fenris, davrin. others: bellara, drayden, lucanis, emmrich, neve, zevran, solas, anders, blackwall, loghain, anora, jowan and cullen. ships: generally ship protagonist x love interests (i.e. hawke x fenris) but hawke x varric is a forever favorite, and i've been obsessed with lucanis x davrin lately.

i love reading meta posts and would love recommendations.

don't worry about spam liking and such.

i reblog character critical posts sometimes, most commonly Aveline, Cullen and Sera though I love them too.

i'm friendly! but shy. + there's some stray mass effect posts bc bioware.

Warden-Commander, Riwen Surana Champion of Kirkwall, Astra Hawke Inquisitor, Mahanon Lavellan

Rook, Mercy de Riva Ivy Aldwir Ward Laidir

Commander Shepard Ryder

My lovely gallery that I like to visit back sometimes:

[synelven]

i finally can add rook to my canon lineup !!

[ddeadbot]

I made a pretty dwarf in dragon age veilguard

[antiparticular]

my rook, ward laidir. I am obsessed with them.

[lkblackham]

Had the image of a half human, half Qunari baby pop in my head and got some good therapy practicing drawing cute babies.

Being the child of a nurse-midwife, I have witnessed many births and many different kinds of new dads (on video, to be clear - my mom didn't drag me around to births in person). And so, it is my belief that Emmrich would definitely be the weepy type of new dad. I love those dads.

My personal fanfic headcanon stuff that may or may not be cringe, I make no apologies:

1) Qunari kids, much like goats, do not fully grow their horns until they hit puberty. Which is definitely for the best, because a) birth OUCH and b) can you imagine a hyperactive 2-year-old running around with what amounts to two giant spears attached to their head?

So for the first 12+ years of their life, they just have cute lil forehead nubbins that still really hurt when they headbutt you during a tantrum.

2) It's a girl. Because we all know that Emmrich has strong Girl Dad energy.

3) Atash and Emmrich had a really tough time with names - both given names and surnames. Atash isn't particularly attached to her surname (Laidir) and so was totally fine with just 'Volkarin' for their kid. Emmrich was insistent on including 'Laidir', however, as he felt very strongly about Atash's heritage and story sharing an equal part with his in naming their daughter. So she's got 2 last names - one for Nevarra and one for Rivain. She can pick whichever she prefers, or neither, or both. What matters is that both are there to begin with.

This line of thinking also, obviously, complicated the given name. It's really hard when you're pretty certain this is going to be your only kid, and you're from two very different cultures with their own ideas about names, AND you have a rather tragically long list of people you love who have passed on and deserve to have a child named after them. Not to mention, both of you have names you just personally like, saved away in your head just in case you ever did have a kid to name.

In the end, Atash and Emmrich came up with a compromise, for which they really hope their daughter won't resent them in the future: they gave her *four* names. One for a family member, one for a fallen friend, one for her Qunari heritage, and one that's just hers and no one else's.

So, all together, it came to:

Lobelia Elannora Lace Nazay Laidir Volkarin

It's. It's a lot. Atash and Emmrich both acknowledge that. But it felt wrong to not include those tributes in their daughter's name.

Besides, this just means she has a lot of options, right? Right? Right. Definitely.

(They also acknowledge that Lace Harding would think this was absolutely ridiculous and laugh at them over it, but that mental image being there is part of why they did it)

And yes, of COURSE they chose a flower name.

4) Manfred is really friggin excited to get the chance to watch someone grow up and maybe teach THEM some things himself. Emmrich is really friggin excited on both a personal and academic level to raise his daughter alongside his ward, teaching her about spirits while Manfred learns from her about mortals.

Manfred's also a really great diaper changer because he doesn't have a nose and he's not squeamish about literally anything.

(Not that Atash or Emmrich take advantage of this.)

(Often.)

BY THE WAY, VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: I do not believe that the default Happy Ending for everyone is having kids. In another universe, Emmrich and Rook are just as happy teaching Manfred how to be a person and mage (or not, if Emmrich became a lich) and going off on their own kid-free adventures. YOU MAKE THE CHOICES THAT ARE BEST FOR YOU and fuck what the tropes say.

This is just *my* fantasy cringe fluff. You do you. ♥️

[cirwedh]

Veilguard Playthrough Log

Major Spoilers!!!

1. Satina Laidir

Faction: Lords of Fortune

Class: Rogue (Veil Ranger)

Lineage: Qunari

Personality: Mixed! Slight skew humorous + emotional

—

Who did you bring to the ritual? Neve

What did you do with Mayor Julius? Saved him

Which city did you help with the dragon attack? Minrathous (Archon Maevaris)

Who led the distraction team? Davrin + Assan

Who dismantled the wards? Bellara

How did you deal with Solas? Peaceful + Reunited with Inquisitor

—

Harding - The Stone’s Vengeance

Neve - Cold Justice

Bellara - Archivist

Lucanis - Demon of Defiance

Davrin - Wildwood Benefactor

Taash - Rivain’s Legacy

Emmrich - Life’s Embrace 💜

[lottiesnotebook]

For the rook story time prompts, how about : 15. Rook breaking the law.

Oh this is a fun one for Cara Hawke-Laidir, who may have the mage class but has all the morals one would expect of a Lord of Fortune Rogue, so have some breaking and entering with Uncle Varric

From Rook Storytime Prompts (previously 6, 18) (also anyone reading this, please send me any prompts you like, I'm horribly sick but this is cheering me)

"You know," Varric said, from somewhere much closer to the floor, "I'm starting to worry I'm a bad influence on you, Prince- Rook," he corrected, hastily, as she let the ward she was unpicking slip a few sparks loose to sting his fingers where he was working on the lock.

"You're not," she replied, with a sunniness that belied her mischief. "I'd be a pretty terrible Lord of Fortune if I couldn't get into places nobody wanted me to."

"That always was a habit of yours," he mused, which was probably a punishment for letting the sparks sting him - he knew damn well she was good enough with wards not to make a mistake like that by accident. "The number of times I had to fetch you out of the cellars at the Hanged Man because your parents kept hitting their heads..."

"If I hadn't come by my sneakiness honestly, you'd've taught it to me," she reminded him. "How's the lock coming on, old man? Getting slow?"

"Not on your life." The final pick slid into place and there was a satisfying click as the door cracked open. Cara let the ward settle back around it smugly - nobody would be able to tell that anyone had broken through it. "I've been picking locks before you were even a twinkle in your mama's eye."

"Maybe that's why you've slowed down in your old age," she teased, and he slapped her on the back hard enough to shove her into the room ahead of him.

"For that, Princess, you can do the first trap-check," he informed her, and she groaned. "Aren't your young eyes better than mine for work like this, or has Rivaini been letting you get sloppy?"

"I didn't know working with you would come with homework," she groused, but narrowed her eyes as she scanned the room, looking for anything out of place. "Lump under the rug near the desk," she noted, "and some kind of switch over by the fireplace."

"Good start," he said, and she preened for a moment before he added: "You did miss the ones on the wardrobe, though, so I'll start there."

She left him to it, while she disarmed the pressure-plate under the rug by wrapping it in a quick barrier - nothing too fancy, but enough to prevent it being stepped on. This left the desk to her: she scanned the drawers, disarmed the triggers on them, and began to sift through the papers for anything important enough for Varric to pay attention to.

"These are the ones you want," she informed him, stacking them neatly for him to peruse. "The rest is receipts, personal letters... boring stuff."

"Anything scandalous in the letters?"

"No," she sighed, moving away from the desk to inspect the glass-fronted cabinet over the fireplace. This was where the interesting stuff was. "Mostly advice on which horses to bet on in the races, and sketches for how he wants his gardens laid out. If this magister-"

"Altus."

"If this altus is hiding a secret boyfriend who happens to be the Dreadwolf somewhere out in the borderlands, I can't find his letters."

"Shame." Behind her, she could hear the rustling of paper as Varric skimmed through the stack she'd pulled together for him, but that was nowhere near as interesting as the collection of shiny trinkets and runes stored behind the glass. They weren't here for treasure - they weren't meant to leave any sign they'd been here at all - but it seemed a shame that such pretty, valuable treasures were left to gather dust in a corner of the study that their master probably rarely looked at.

"I'd appreciate you," she murmured, to a set of jewelled chess-pieces that glimmered with enchantment, to a pair of gloves cut from purest shadow, to a little silver bell that gleamed moon-bright in the shadowed corner.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, Varric!" she said, quickly, "Just- checking the wards over here!"

He narrowed his eyes at her, but the second they dropped back to the paper, her picks were out and she was cracking the cabinet open like an oyster for a pearl.

She regretted it a moment too late, when the bell let out a low, mournful dong that almost shook the floorboards. Cursing, she swept the chess-set into her bags along with her picks, and scrambled towards Varric.

"Window?" she said, brightly.

"Cara Bettina-" He turned his head sharply at the sound of running feet. "Window," he agreed, and together, they tumbled out into the alley below and fled into the dark.

Later, back at the inn, papers still in hand, he was still glaring at her. "If I told your mother how you endangered the job-"

"She'd have asked you why you didn't help me empty the cabinet," she said, brightly, and he flicked her on the ear as if she were still a little girl who'd crawled into a cubbyhole she shouldn't have.

"And your father would say that anyone who describes people as their property doesn't deserve to keep what they have," he sighed. "You really did get the worst of both your parents, didn't you, Princess?"

"And that," she reminded him, "is why you love me so much."

[bagarete]

The brainrot is still in me so: Here's my story of my Rook and Lucanis.

As a Lord of Fortune, my Rook Andovan Laidir was not used to be tied down for long, always looking for new adventure. And when the gods broke out of the prison, he was facing his biggest adventure yet. And as the chalenges rammed up, he found kinship in his comrade, an troubled Antivan Crow whose own life got turned upside down recently. Both individual from vastly different background found comfort and trust in each other and finally, love.

Rook was wary of Spite in the beginning of course, but after he seeked him out to help Lucanis and he saw how the 3 of them can co-exist he even opened to the posibility of them being a polycule to Lucanis' suprise.

After the final event at villa Dellamorte, Lucanis accepted the role of First Talon and don the legendary armor. When Rook let Isabella know of this in their weekly drinks she said, "You know what, we got the same armor but in your color too. Got it from age-old plunder, gotta match with your betrothed isn't it." Isabella teased as Andovan realized his face reddened at the thought.

After that they wore the same armor to every battle and were totally inseparable. "We're bird of a feather now, aren't we Mr. Crow?" - the sailor jokingly said to Lucanis ear as he warded off a finishing blow of a Tevinter mage. "You're impossible." - Lucanis said as he tried his best to suppress Spite's grin and made quick work of the opponent. Turned to face Rook with a tired but relieved expression, Lucanis pulled Andovan in for a hug and lifted up his chin to reach the mage for a deep kiss. "We are." ["aLL tHREE oF uSSS"] "...not now Spite."

"Ugh that's it I'm going back to the Lighthouse." - Harding said with a disgruntled face probably.

[aly-the-writer]

My Rooks

Nico de Riva (Lucanis)

Cisman Elf (but human-blooded)

Mage or Rogue

Mid twenties

Cat loving - his cat, Gloves, is being cared for by Teia in the Diamond while he's stuck on the Dread Wolf Contract

Playful and friendly natured - was held back from Crow status by Viago because he has a more merciful and caring heart than a crow usually survives with

Is the son of one of Viago's legitimate half- siblings by an elven mistress. As a reminder that there is elf blood on the Antivan throne through the past bastards that seized it he was meant to be eliminated. Viago interfered because his princely brother had the audacity to hire second rate mercenaries instead lof the Crows for a murder in Antiva. Part of why Nico was kept out of sight from the other Crow houses until he was older is because he carries a striking resemblance to Viago.

Returns to Antiva and the Crows with the completion of his contract.

Roan Ingellvar (Harding) - Playthru incomplete

Cisman Elf

Late twenties

Mage - Necromancer

Has had mixed feelings about his elven heritage - his caretakers in the Mourn Watch never made it feel like a bad thing but his interactions with people from outside the Necropolis went badly. Was taught about elven traditions by spirits and from texts. Though he still cuts his hair in ways that mostly hide his ears it is now only out of habit. When he turned twenty he spent some time among a Dalish clan whose Keeper was friendly with the Mourn Watchers at Vorgoth's suggestion. He was granted the vallaslin for Falon'din before he returned to the Necropolis to take his Watcher Oaths.

Tripped over his own staff trying to be cool during introductions to Harding because he crushed hard from the get go. The feelings are full blown puppy love by the time of the ritual but he's desperately trying not to make things weird.

He bought Harding a small water color of the Hinterlands he found while trying to pick out presents to send home for Myrna and Vorgoth. It's still tucked in his grimoire because he hasn't figured out how to give it to her yet.

In some versions was found in the Necropolis under the care of the same spirits and undead as Ward and they were raised as brother.

Ward Ingellvar (Lucanis)

Transman Human

Late twenties

Rogue

Throughout his childhood a lot of the spirits and undead he spoke with refused to call him by the name he'd been given and they instead referred to him as things like "Our Ward". When he grew out of that old name he figured he was already used to answering to it so he took Ward as his true name.

Wanted to have magic more than anything as a kid but the gifts didn't develop. He does sense fluctuations in the Veil and sometimes can key into where spirits are in a way most non-mages don't, but it's mostly practice and growing up from a young age in the Necropolis.

The ashen purple-grey of his hair isn't dye but a result of his early exposure to death magic as an infant.

Views Myrna and Vorgoth as parental figures but is too embarrassed to admit it to their faces. (The Lighthouse Crew found out when teasing him about being afraid of Caterina and he pointed out that Lucanis has to get Vorgoth's blessing.)

In some versions he's found and raised alongside Roan as siblings.

Spends most his time in life in Antiva, performing a Watcher's duty to helping spirits and putting the dead and demons to rest, though he still tries to visit home often. The Crows he cares for have strict instructions that his body is to return to the Necropolis to continue fulfilling his oaths of service when he passes.

Lori Laidir (Emmrich)

Transwoman qunari

Late thirties

Rogue

Was freed from slavery by Fenris who delivered the underfed skittish former slave to Isabela when it became clear that they needed camaraderie to survive and they were a little too keen to jump to setting things on fire and/or explosions as a solution

Lori transitioned with help from the Lords and views Isabela and the decent Lords as her family after all the care they gave during that time. (No one has any idea how Lori and Taash never crossed paths prior to the 6th Blight. But Taash immediately fell into "little sister" category for Lori.)

Doesn't actually care much about gold beyond enough to be comfortable. Most of her pay goes to helping others the Lords have taken under wing .

Was very charmed by Emmrich and immediately regretted asking for help flirting - as she'd never felt confident and safe enough to do so before - around the Hilt. Both because the bone jokes AND the lack of any actually useful advice.

One of her horns was broken during the dragon fight in Hossberg. She chooses amethyst for the replacement because it reminds her of Emmrich.

Offers her services as a treasure hunter to the Mourn Watch and moves to Nevarra to live full time when things are done. Still keeps her membership with the Lords and visits but she's happy to build a life exploring crypts and tombs with the Watchers.

Asha Thorne/Hawke (Bellara)

Ciswoman Elf

Mid to Late twenties

Mage - Spellblade

Formerly a Circle apprentice she ended up alone as a teenager during the Mage-Templar war and turned to thievery to survive.

Conscripted out of a prison by the Wardens she doesn't buy into the Order's reputation the way some do but she's very loyal to the friends she does have. She latched onto Evka as a mentor of sorts when she realized the normal way to be a Warden was never going to work.

Picked up a style of magic usage that was heavily influenced by Crow mages among the Wardens and then got extra lessons on dagger fighting from Lucanis to smooth her style out.

Came to view Varric as the father or older brother she'd never had during their travels. Takes the name 'Hawke' after the Sixth Blight at Hawke's suggestion because she says Varric had clearly been just as fond of her and they'd been talking about how to suggest bringing Rook into their family formally. (Asha's Varric and Hawke were in a relationship.)

Crushed hard on Bellara but failed to get the final romance scene because Bellara had been taken by Elgar'nan.

Splits her time between helping Bellara and the Veil Jumpers in Arlathan and rebuilding Kirkwall after things are done.

Ingunn Finndotten of Thorn Hold (Davrin)

Ciswoman Human

Early thirties

Rogue - Saboteur

Prefers to use "Rook Thorne" because it gets fewer strange looks in the North

Her mother is Chasind and her father is Avvar. She grew up in her father's hold. They're ridiculously in love. Also have a tendency to insist on sending Rook furs and honey because there's "no way she's finding good enough ones in the Anderfels". Evka and Antoine both have been gifted fur cloaks from her because of that. When things settle down Davrin and the rest of her new friends will almost certainly get the same treatment.

Joined the Wardens after she discovered a concentration of taint left from the Fifth Blight and was sickened, though she'd successfully destroyed the source. She was saved by the Joining ritual and then sent to Weisshaupt.

Befriended Antoine over discussions of the usefulness and applicability of explosives and other 'interesting devices of destruction'. Then picked up more Artificer tricks from Varric while traveling with him.

Finds it a little funny that she freaked Harding out a little the first time she called on Hakkon to guide her during a tough fight. Harding, in turn, finds it funny that Morrigan spooks Rook so bad because of the Witch of the Wilds thing.

Sometimes semi-jokingly refers to Assan as their hold-beast.

Lykos Mercar (Taash)

Cisman Elf

Born late 9:30 or early 9:31

Mage

Named for an old dialect meaning "wolf" by his father when he was adopted in the hopes that some of the clever spirit and willingness to fight for freedom against the powerful that characterizes the stories of the Dread Wolf would help inspire his new infant son when life in the Imperium became difficult for him as an elf. It was something Lykos found funny as a Shadow Dragon, much less so when he was assigned to help hunt Solas.

The only boy and the only mage out of his siblings he's rather used to people being surprised and then disappointed when meeting "Charon Mercar's son". Can get very awkward about the dissonance of growing up as upperclass as a soporati family can get but also being an elf in Tevinter. Then adding his mage status to the mix.

His older sister was among the casualties from the Antaam invasion in Ventus, where she'd been a Templar. His younger sister is studying alchemical and natural sciences with plans to pursue a career as a surgeon. (Lykos brings her to visit the Lighthouse to spend time together once and doesn't get any sibling bonding time because she gets too excited to ask Emmrich questions and study how a skeleton moves without the meat bits in the way to see how the bones interact.)

He did his apprenticeship with a friend of his father who also happened to have been a supporter of the Lucerni. Lykos was rather annoyed when he put it together that he'd been manipulated into his audition by his teacher.

Lykos would have joined the military if he had been allowed to as an elf. The Shadow Dragons are his alternative method of serving Tevinter.

The only identification he had on him as an infant was a battered Grey Warden medallion with an inscription on the back that was too damaged to read.

Lykos grew up into a near mirror image of his biological father except for his eyes being amber instead of hazel. Morrigan was rather startled to see a much younger version of her old friend, the Warden Evander Tabris, the first time she spies Lykos. Lykos's mother had been among the elves sold to Tevinter by Loghain. She perished after getting her baby to freedom and leading the slave hunters away from where she had left him hoping the Maker would grant him a kinder fate.

Acheron Mercar (???) - Playthru Incomplete

Transman qunari

Warrior

Mid-to-late twenties

The youngest of four siblings. He has two older brothers who are twins and an older sister. All three dote on their baby brother. One of his brothers is a mage, the other is well on his way to following their father's footsteps as an infamous tactician in the military. His sister makes a career as a fashionable modiste to the very wealthy while also being a Shadow Dragon.

He was recruited when his sister needed another trustworthy fighter on a mission and Acheron was the only one available. She introduces him to Tarquin after. She hadn't wanted to involve her brother previously because of how dangerous it can be to make the sort of enemies that one can as a Shadow.

More will undoubtedly be added as I continue my play thru but he's still early game. Hasn't even met Lucanis yet.

(I have played a Veil Jumper but they never really solidified as a proper character instead of just a PC avatar.)

[warden-wolfxe]

(main) aesthetic acc: @also-wolfxe dragon age acc: @warden-wolfxe (you are here!) everything else acc: @wolfxe

(i have an interactable keep! doesn't work on the app, though)

tag list below:

types:

talk tag (original posts)

meta tag

lore tag

oc tag

other oc tag (other ppls ocs)

art tag

favs tag

grey warden tag

da critical

character tags:

charming (alistair)

birdie (zevran)

feathers (morrigan)

cookie (sten)

granny (wynne)

pebble (shale)

nightingale (leliana)

keggar (oghren)

dane (loghain)

his majesty (maric)

golden boy (cailan)

bann (teagan)

gruff (riordan)

ponytail (duncan)

-

rose (velanna)

pigtails (sigrun)

lurch (justice)

shade (nathaniel)

blondie (anders)

seneschal (varel)

-

mr. tethras (varric)

sunshine (bethany)

junior (carver)

red (aveline)

broody (fenris)

daisy (merrill)

rivaini (isabela)

choir boy (sebastian)

-

seeker (cassandra)

chuckles (solas)

curly (cullen)

ruffles (josephine)

hero (blackwall)

tiny (iron bull)

buttercup (sera)

iron lady (vivenne)

sparkler (dorian)

kid (cole)

witch-kid (kieran)

lieutenant (krem)

-

slick (neve)

scout (harding)

scruffy (lucanis)

smokey (taash)

bangles (bellara)

slayer (davrin)

bones (emmrich)

arrow (felassan)

venom (viago)

orlesian (antoine)

pissy (tarquin)

oc tags:

warden (my warden - cain cousland)

twinkle (renan tabris)

hunter (veron mahariel)

buttercup (dean amell)

frosty (solona surana)

sage (natia brosca)

his eminence (duran aeducan)

ghost (caron)

-

killer (my hawke - muriel hawke)

giggles (killian hawke)

waffles (garrett hawke)

-

lucky (my inquisitor - arthur trevelyan)

brainy (theodore bayart-trevelyan)

fancy (mahanon lavellan)

lily (itheilia levellan)

trinket (strike cadash)

gloom (kaaras adaar)

-

rook (my rook - vali aldwir)

pawn (sylvain ingevellar)

bishop (cyril laidir)

knight (thorne)

king (jesse mercar)

queen (solaris "sol" de riva)

-

marcher (connor trevelyan)

stickler (salem trevelyan)

bunny (ellion)

loomy ("dion" devotion)

squeaks (ven'isa)

plucky (evander)

princey (casspian)

ship tags:

warding (warden/charming aka cain/alistiar)

roseden (rose/warden aka cain/dean)

killdie (killer/blondie aka muriel/anders) [with hawke being kind of a universal character, i tag handers art posts that remind me of muri & anders with their ship tag, but i don't use muri's name tag]

blurch (blondie/lurch aka justice/anders)

blurchler (blondie/lurch/killer aka justice/anders/muriel)

curky (curly/lucky aka arthur/cullen)

kook (king/rook aka jesse/vali)

kneen (knight/queen aka thorne/sol)

[synelven]

ward laidir, aka rook

[longer-than-i-should-admit]

I know I'm going with Fenalan first and Khalida second, but I'm curious to see what y'all think of the rest lol. Extensive details and rambling about my new babies are all under the cut if you want to know more—my askbox is also open if you want to discuss anything!

Fenalan ("friend of wolves") Aldwir

Race: [Dalish] Elf (f.) | Elgar'nan (gold/rust vallaslin)

Background: Veil Jumper

Class: Mage | Spellblade

Romance: Emmrich (in my canon fanfic au it may turn out to be Solas...but this is still undecided. we'll see once I play the game)

Aesthetic: sun-coded

Inquisitor: Enaste Lavellan [spirit magic | rift mage] (Solas)

Notes:

She is a Dalish elf adopted by Strife's clan as a bairn because Tevinter slavers slaughtered and enslaved her own. She was hidden by her mother's warded/enchanted ring that her father made (they were both highly skilled craftsmen and thus ended up as slaves; Fenalan does not know this and thinks they are dead). She came into her magic while hiding in the ruins of her camp and formed a bond with a pack of wolves who sensed the charm and kept other predators away. After she was found, the wolves howled while looking for her and she responded back perfectly; the keeper thus named her Fenalan and gave her the name Aldwir as a sort of honor to her circumstances (since I translate it loosely as "very lonely and little one"), since they were uncertain which clan at the time suffered the massacre. She chose Elgar'nan's vallaslin as a vow of vengeance to protect those vulnerable, then joined the Veil Jumpers once the anomalies began to crop up in order to help the other elves of Ar'lath'an Forest. Once she ran into trouble and was sent away, she lost her bearings; she's always had a duty to keep her busy and felt somewhat lost. When she met Varric, they became fast friends—she is highly protective of him since he gave her a sense of purpose again, and thus she highly distrusts Solas. She would be lying, however, if she said that she wasn't secretly fascinated by him and the knowledge he might have. She is derisive towards him due to the circumstances, but over time they grow close and she learns to respect him. "Harellan", which starts as a derogatory name of mockery in response to his vehemence, shifts into one of fondness. She is a striking, astute, and curious woman of strong opinions and critical thinking. She is also somewhat temperamental and headstrong, but if she is presented with a new point of view on something she will take the time to consider it. She is straightforward and blunt with a cutting sense of humor; slow to trust, but fiercely loyal once won. (Sound familiar to anyone? No? Okay.)

Khalida ("immortal/everlasting") Ingellvar

Race: Human (f.)

Background: Mourn Watch

Class: Mage | Death Caller

Romance: Lucanis

Aesthetic: moon-coded

Inquisitor: Sibyl [sword-and-shield warrior | champion] (Cullen) {from my canon worldstate, but Fenalan is technically the canon rook for that; I just want to play with her first and see how Solavellan plays out as well}

Notes:

I don't have as much of a backstory for Khalida developed quite yet, but I know her personality pretty well. She feels more connected to the dead of the Necropolis and is more comfortable interacting with them and being in their company than the living. This makes most people disquieted by her, finding her very off-putting and strange, since she's not as familiar with 'conventional' socialization that 'normal' people have. Emmrich is her mentor and is one of the few that truly understands her; she is also very fond of Manfred as a result. She grew up as the black sheep of the Mortalitasi, and while she was perfectly content with her state of affairs during that time, once she broke up the Skeleton War and was sent away, she withdrew into herself severely and drifted aimlessly for a long while before she came across Varric. He has very strong paternal feelings for her since she reminds him a lot of Cole and takes her under his wing. He's used to her unique little oddities (behaviors and ways of speaking especially) and she feels as safe to be open with him as she does with Emmrich. She is curious to a fault, however, inherently trusting of most people because—in her experience—the dead of the Necropolis have little reason to disguise their true personalities. This gets her into quite a bit of trouble, so she has to develop her street smarts quickly while under Varric's tutelage. She is fascinated by Solas and wants to understand him; she would be the most vulnerable to any trickery he may employ, honestly, but she would endear herself to him with her somewhat innocent and incessant questions. He appreciates that she's willing to learn and understand all the pieces of the puzzle before she casts judgment; he finds it easiest to trust her compared to the rest since she has such little capacity for deception with her sincerity and earnesty. She is not naive, however, just significantly optimistic despite all the shit she's been through because she wants to treat others with the kindness she was rarely afforded. She is the most open-hearted, openly caring, and compassionate of all my rooks tbh. Her strong point is her mind; her weakness is her heart since she has so much trouble navigating interpersonal relationships with corporeal people compared to spirits and the like. She just wants to help those around her so bad; because of this she's definitely an acts of service person. My sweet girl, all in all, and why I picked her to be my Lucanis romance—he needs all the TLC he can get, I think, and her being as awkward as he is learning how to love will help.

Fenan ("heart of a wolf") Aldwir

Race: [Dalish] Elf (m.) | Ghilan'nain (ivory vallaslin)

Background: Veil Jumper

Class: Rogue | Veil Ranger

Romance: Bellara

Aesthetic: nova-coded

Inquisitor: Sora Lavellan [undecided, as she is also a support-based mage like Enaste; maybe archer?]

Notes:

Not as developed as the others. Hot-headed, brash, and quick to anger; he's definitely more of my Solas mirror. He's dedicated to his people and more devout to traditional Dalish beliefs (compared to Fenalan, who just wants to find out the truth regardless of personal feelings); he'd be the type that would have refused Solas when he first came out of uthenara and tried to tell the Dalish the truth. Fenan is intimately familiar with the school of hard knocks; he does not like Solas, does not trust him at all, and is especially angry after seeing him betray Varric (who sees a bit of Fenris in his personality and difficult upbringing in a more aggressive clan near the Tevinter border; he dislikes most humans as a result)—they butt heads almost constantly as a result, but they eventually come to a tentative understanding once Fenan gets a bigger picture of what's actually going on outside of what Solas tells him. Bellara smooths out his rougher edges.

Anaan ("victory") Mercar

Race: Qunari (f.)

Background: Shadow Dragon

Class: Mage | Evoker

Romance: Davrin

Aesthetic: star-coded

Inquisitor: Herah Adaar [two-handed warrior | reaver] (Blackwall)

Notes:

At this point my Rook/Inquisitor dynamics start to get a little tropey. These are the warden romance pairings; however, I'm really excited for the shared Qunari/Vashoth interactions possible here. She was abducted during a raid or something in the midst of the Tevinter-Qun war and raised as a slave as more of a prize/exotic prisoner of war put into harsher house labor (think carrying around firewood for the kitchens, decorations/furniture/food prep/etc.) until she developed her magic. Then she was shunned for fear that she might fight back against her owners; she ended up fleeing and joining the Shadow Dragons as a teenager and has worked with them ever since. Quiet and submissive but in the guard dog way. Always watchful; the type to always sit in the corner watching the door of any given room. Sees Varric as a boss more than anything, but they're on very friendly terms. They grow closer throughout the events of Veilguard. She isn't outwardly angry with Solas, as she just considered it her job to stop him, and her lack of aggression helps them to cooperate better than others; they end up on neutral friendly terms one she realizes that he has similar motivations of stopping slavery and helping the oppressed as she does. Davrin has to pursue her, technically, since she tends to keep people at arm's length—she's not cold, per se, but cool and calm and collected. It takes a lot to get an emotional response out of her and she is afraid of being mistreated again. She does end up being besties with Herah, however, and ends up considering her an older sister since they share many similarities. She's very 'look like she could kill you but is actually a cinnamon roll' vibes. Big ol' teddy bear. Gives the best hugs. Will die for anyone who initiates casual physical affection because this girl wants to be loved so badly and just doesn't know how to seek it out. (Also why she would actually die for Assan; he becomes her emotional support griffon.)

Aedan ("little fire") Thorne

Race: Human (m.)

Background: Gray Warden

Class: Warrior | Champion

Romance: Neve

Aesthetic: nebula-coded

Inquisitor: Victor Trevelyan [ice magic | knight enchanter] (Cassandra)

Notes:

Not a lot to say here. Wanted to play a warrior warden like all the combat previews. Really curious to see how Solas will treat a warden!rook differently. Definitely my least developed. He's quiet and gentlemanly but in more of the standoffish way rather than awkward. He's never been attracted to anyone until Neve so she'll definitely have to take the lead once he starts (trying) to show interest in her. She finds it endearing and kind of funny how clueless he is tbh.

Misuin ("blade that brings quiet") De Riva

Race: [City] Elf (m.) | (no vallaslin; other tattoos though)

Background: Antivan Crow

Class: Rogue | Duelist

Romance: Lace

Aesthetic: comet-coded

Inquisitor: Maxwell Trevelyan [sword-and-shield warrior | champion] (Josephine)

Notes:

Nervous, romantic disaster who bonds with Lucanis like glue; gets so shy around Lace that it's painful. Again, not a lot of detail here. Misuin is disconnected from his elvhen heritage (and probably knows Zevran bc I say so) but wants to know more; he's fascinated by the ancient world but only because it's directly impacting Lace in particular—and himself to a lesser degree. Kind of butts heads with Davrin and Bellara as a result, but likens them to siblings nevertheless. Also, side note: Maxwell is the knight in shining armor, fencing, sweep-you-off-your-feet type. Classical noble archetype. Maximum fluff for Josephine.

Valos ("favor") Laidir

Race: [Surface] Dwarf (m.)

Background: Lord of Fortune

Class: Rogue | Saboteur

Romance: Taash

Aesthetic: meteor-coded

Inquisitor: Malika Cadash [dual rogue | artificer] (Iron Bull)

Notes:

This is, to be perfectly honest, kind of a crack playthrough. I remembered how hilarious it was seeing a Bull romance with a dwarf with the height difference, then thought of how funny it would be for a dwarf to romance Taash, too, and...well. This happened. Fiesty little disasters of rogue dwarves with nothing better to do than to cause trouble and climb their Qunari lovers like mountains. Antagonistic towards Solas, probably the whole time, for maximum mayhem. Will be a royal pain in the ass to Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain, though, too, so it's not exclusive to Fen'Harel. Just a jackass in general. Very red-Hawke coded. Short fuse and huge temper. Varric sees him as useful but volatile and definitely didn't want him to be the one to confront Solas. Valos is disgustingly saccharine with Taash in private though; lovey-dovey doe eyes, the works. If anyone ever found out he would actually jump off of a cliff head first. Idk, he's just my chaotic little guy. It will probably be a disaster tbh lol—especially once he meets Malika, who is very similar.

I think I’ve got my tentative plan for my rooks and worldstates now :) I’ll post a poll for fun soon

[grimwarden]

this caught me SO off guard but lmao.

[elcor-thespian]

Reblogging to answer my own damn question.

Nephele Mercar has two things I want to talk about. One is whatever complexion I chose for her, which of course I didn't write down has three distinct freckles on her left cheek that look like a triangle. I was obsessed with this immediately. I don't know why. I just love it. I have images in my head of Lucanis also being obsessed with it. It's just so pretty.

This was also my first time giving a character a notable scar and I was playing around and got to the one on the side of her neck. She also has long hair that she wears down, so I immediately was intrigued by what could have happened to her to potentially cut her carotid artery, and why would she cover it up. Her entire personality is based around being an open, gregarious people person. Suddenly this one scar opened up her entire backstory to me. I don't really want to go in to it here, but essentially when she was 15 she got in to a fight with her step father, they wrestled for a knife on the counter, and at the end of it, she had been slashed in the neck, but she stabbed him in the stomach and he was unconscious. That's what caused her to finally run away from home. And how she started training with knives. She still has the knife.

2. Nasreen Aldwir. I have been envious of every Lavellan with one of the valeslin that has a line down the bottom lip for 10 years. My Lavellan has very minimal valeslin on purpose, but god damn it is so pretty. So immediately I knew I wanted to use one of those when I created a new elf. I also wanted the color of the valeslin to really stand out, because again my Lavellan's had been so subtle. So it's this gorgeous burgundy blood red. It has the leaves coming off of it, which connects to her winged eyeliner that is the same color. I also used one of the body paints to create a full body valeslin look, and I colored in some of the negative space with sort a lilac color (not as a tattoo but sort of just a body make up thing). And if Emmrich's favorite color is lilac, what of it?

She also has vitiligo and is verrrry freckly. I gave her heavy heavy freckles since she spends so much time outside as a Veil Jumper. I may or may not have about 900 screenshots so that I can replicate exactly what her skin looks like if I ever get around to drawing her or commissioning an artist to draw her.

3. Aleksei Laidir. I was really inspired by these photos I saw of people covered in gold body paint with both Aleksei and Brenna. With Aleksei I created this whole Rivaini/LoF trend to use gold dust as make up and body paint to both show off your success and ward off danger. Does it work? Ehhhh.....who's to say. But he has gold everywhere.

He has just the chin and neck part of a valaslin. My idea is that he got it done with Nasreen when she was old enough because it was really important to her to get hers because she grew up Dalish. But he just isn't connected to his heritage like that. So he got what he got mostly to be a supportive friend and because it looked sick.

He also has heterochromia because I never give that to my characters even when I have the option. I was really trying to embrace Main Character energy in a way that I usually shy away from. But whatever, we're all going to die some day. So his right eye is green and his left eye is purple. I head canon that unnaturally colored eyes are a sign of strong magic in a blood line, since my Warden had yellow eyes and I've given a lot of my mage characters since similarly unique eye colors. Aleksei isn't a mage and as far as he knows there's no magic in his family, but that might not be true. ALSO, I think it's kind of cute that when Aleksei and Nasreen met he got all excited because they were both multicolored (because she has vitiligo. A little not cool to say maybe, but he was 11, give him a break).

I also gave Aleksei what I think is the most interesting scar in the game. He's got that big long scar down his cheek that goes in to his top lip. He also has a deeper scar across his stomach. They're clearly sword wounds. I think Aleksei is a capable sailor/pirate(ish) now, but when he started he had like, no skills. So mistakes were made. The boy got his ass kicked a lot.

He also has tattoos on his arms and back, including like a black out cuff on one arm. He's a sailor. He got them because he thought they were cool. That's about the extent behind his reasoning to do most things.

4. Paloma. This was the character that I gave an unnatural hair color to (I know it's not skin but just go with me on this). I think all of the Rooks with unnatural hair colors are so pretty, but I have a hard time rationalizing why anyone in Thedas would have colorful hair. If it were genetically possible to have those hair colors, wouldn't we see it in other characters? But Paloma spent most of her life being very strictly controlled by the Qun, and is only in the past few years been able to experiment with how she wants to look and act. So she dyes her hair all the time. During the course of the game her hair is purple.

She coordinates her hair with this really cunty purple cut crease and some purple tones in her vitaar. She has a few minor scars on her face that she got getting her mask off when she escaped. Also she has scars from having her lips sewn shut, but they're not that noticeable, especially if she's attracting your attention to the bright colors everywhere else.

5. Konstantin Ingellvar. Oh my poor boy. What a mess. This boy is your classic: I grew up fat and awkward and I totally missed the memo that after puberty hit I am now smoking hot. He has absolutely no idea. He's who One Direction wrote that song about.

His horns curl down towards his face and outwards, because I wanted to maximize how often he is getting them caught on shit or banging in to doorways. With gold accents of course like a good Mourn Watcher.

He has a small scar on his cheek that he doesn't ever remember not having. So people will ask him like there's going to be a cool story and he just gets really flustered.

I think it's really common for people in the Necropolis to do at least a little bit of a smokey eye, so he does too. Mostly because he sees other people do it. He also has a beard because he's convinced he has a chubby baby face with no jawline. His face is pretty average. He looks great.

I also think he just doesn't want to ask anyone to help him cut his hair, so it's gotten really long, but he doesn't know what to do with it so it's just in a messy bun.

He also has black tattoos all over his body that have varying significance about navigating the Necropolis. He got them because most people who are warriors in the Mourn Watch get them, and also some of them are maps and the help keep you from getting lost when you don't have magic to help.

So what I've done here is I've created a 7'2" brick shit house with a mysterious back story, emo boy eyeliner, a hair and beard combo that's giving Jason Mamoa, sexy tattoos, horns built like bike handlebars (the girls who get it get it) and a very soft personality.

I've created the hottest person in the world, and he has 0 self confidence.

You know who can help fix that? Neve.

6. Elspeth de Riva. When I was making them, I really wanted them to give soft butch. I really wanted to use the hair that was the undercut with the high bun, and I worked backwards from there.

The only make up they have is this really dramatic Crow blue-purple eye shadow, but it's absolutely more about repping the Crows in public than looking pretty. That eyeliner should scare you.

They also have a super interesting scar (and lots of tattoos, but I don't have a picture to reference). They have the scar where it's like three big lines on the side of their head. If their hair wasn't shaved, you would barely be able to see it. Shaving the hair AND wearing the rest of it up is such a conscious choice to make sure you see the scar. I'm obsessed with it. It's such an interesting juxtaposition from Nephele wearing her hair to intentionally hide her scar. I don't know where they got the scar exactly yet, but some kind of amazing fight.

7. Brenna Thorne. Again, I saw this reference image of this model with stunning red hair accented with gold paint on her face and body, and decided I needed to make a character based on her. There's gold in her eyeshadow and gold glitter in her lip gloss. Just enough to keep it cute.

Brenna is also inspired by all of the amazing Couslands I've seen over the years. My Warden is a mage, but they did have a noble background, so I kind of wanted to explore how else that story could have looked.

I've seen a lot of redheaded warrior women in media that are inexplicably very soft and delicate. I didn't want that. I wanted someone who had trained to be a soldier, but if you looked at them in just the right light you could alllmoost see how they could have been a noble woman. Like her jaw is too sharp, her skin is too sun damaged, her nose is a little broken (I broke every nose of every character I made including Inquisition characters that had probably taken at least a few punches. If you haven't broken your nose you're not fighting hard enough). But if you squint, there is a poise and refinement there underneath everything.

She also has a little split on her top lip. A lot of people think it's from a fight, and probably the same punch that broke her nose. I think she got too drunk and fell. Not that it COULDN'T have been in a fight. It just wasn't.

Scars, Freckles, Burns, tattoos, etc

I want to talk about your skin!

Particularly your Rook's skin. I mean the choices you made for their skin. Is there a way to ask this that isn't weird?

I really never use scars or tattoos in character creators, but I was determined to use as much of the character creator across 7 Rooks as I possibly could, and in some cases it really did a lot to help me build the character.

So what did you add to your character's skin that made them who they are?