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common-blackbird · 4 years

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it’s time... for a dragon age 2 playthrough post. scroll on!

The things i loved most:

1) the frame of the game - Cassandra interrogating Varric.

What a great way to get hook the player. Like, the opening of guards dragging this poor dwarf with cuts of the title, and then Cassandra demanding answers... Whoaaa! I have no idea if that’s usually done in games or not, but it’s definitely such an amazing intro with characters introducing themselves as well as the story so perfectly, it captivates instantly. The tutorial has a charm to it bc varric is messing around. Which serves to show more of his character. Cassandra’s personality was pretty much blank here but her presence is so powerful. Something happened, something huge and they know and i was about to find out. I can’t describe how excited that intro made me feel. Each time the scene cut to the interrogation scenes, my eyes were glued more than ever. Just GREAT.

Also it makes for a very convenient scapegoat for every plothole ever with the argument “it’s just his version of the story”.

2) The story.

It’s tragic. It’s amazing! The further you play, the more you can see that no matter what you do, everything leads to a disaster. Hawke doesn’t want to take sides, tries to mediate, does not want to get involved, but just can’t stop it. For every thing gained, Hawke loses two more. Your friends come with packages that get you involved in terrible stuff. Your good intentions result in disasters. The whole game you spent time climbing the social ladder not only to reach the top hauntingly alone after losing all of your family, but also losing even that empty title and watching as the city you started to find your place in fall apart in blood. UGH! GAH! FEELS!

3) Kirkwall.

“ But, I beg you my dear readers, never forget that, no matter the subject of any story that might ever be explored between the cliffs of Kirkwall, She will find a way to steal the thunder of the protagonist. Or become the antagonist. Kirkwall is never a mere background. We could even understand it so: the challenge for you dear readers is to prevail against the smokescreens and observe to what extent our characters are players or played by the merciless black souled stone giant. Enjoy playing the dare of the ages between the lines of these humble memoirs. “

Memoirs from the Downfall - Act I. Mirage by Pfefferminze on ao3 (fic rec!)

This paragraph summs up what Kirkwall is better than I ever could. This shrouded mystery that surrounds Kirkwall keeps you on toes. From the first intro when Varric describes it (paraphrasing from memory) “Kirkwall. The city of chains. It is a free city - keeping in mind i use the the word loosely”. You already start seeing how dark Kirkwall gets. The name, that derives from its black walls (interestingly, the walls in the game aren’t black...), the history of slavery etched into every corner of that city and its surroundings - the names (The Gallows, the Bone Pit, the Wounded Coast, the pub The Hanged Man), the scenery (sculptures of slaves, the sunken ships by the Wounded Coast, slums and underground of the Lowtown and the Darktown).

I was really digging the History of Kirkwall and it loved it. Kirkwall has a history of violence, from the times of slavery of the Tevinter Imperium, to Qunari conquests and liberation from Orlais. Many revolts and uprising. And though free now, it’s suggested that, seeing that the Templars hold the most influence, Kirkwall is in the hands of the Chantry.

It’s full of cultures mixing together. I love how not one of your companions is a native to Kirkwall, and it feels like a crossroads to every character’s life. a very tragic crossroads in their life, seeing there’s nothing ever good waiting for you in Kirkwall.

Also there’s these codex entries you look for about the Enigma of Kirkwall. It was when i started digging that up that i fell in love with the city and all. Combined with the History of Kirkwall and every codex entry for every place in and out of Kirkwall, I was pulling my hair out reading about the Enigma. I..i’m still not quite sure what happened. Did the magisters use blood of thousands upon thousands slaves to unbound a forgotten one? if so, is that corypheus? And around what time did that happen?? I get that part (or all?) of Kirkwall’s mysterious violent agency is owed to corypheus slumbering relatively close to the city, but is that all? or is there something more? In either case, the Band of Tree are my heroes.

4) The characters.

I’ll talk more about them later, but in general, i just love how they oppose each other, how complex they are, and there is just not pleasing everyone. They feel genuine. They are all deeply flawed. They all have a solid background that makes their beliefs and actions convincing. The friendship/rivalry points are shaky though, and sometimes really don’t fit the character, but i guess there must be someone hating/loving your bad choices for the sake of the game regardless of characterisation. But all in all, i really appreciated each and every character, and loved how their viewpoints challenged me.

First i want a disclaimer: i love each and every character in the game, whatever i say against them doesn’t diminish my liking of them. My issues really aren’t significant. Also, i might and probably will say smth wrong bc i’ve only played it once. I’m a baby.

let’s start with Family:

Mama Hawke:

i really loved mama hawke. after reading her codex entry and an excerpt of some book on this site, i really feel for her. I mean, imagine going back to your home city where you only remember being respected and wealthy only to find out everything you remember is gone, you are forced to live in poverty, your kids are doing dangerous jobs and you can’t stop them bc you do need that money, you write letters trying to get the old connections but keep failing (at least it was implied?), it’s really been hard for her. I get why she was so obsessed with her legacy. She wanted her childhood home back. She can’t feel like Kirkwall is her home until she is home.

Also loved her antagonism towards Hawke. It seems she can no longer treat him like a child, so she criticises him instead. and honestly, hawke is doing some crazy things so he defintiely deserves some criticism. And stopping Hawke from taking carver with him is just logical to me, idk. since she knows she can’t stop Hawke from going, she will at least attempt to prevent the last kid from going into mortal danger. I’d do the same. AND AFTER HAVING CARVER DYING IN DEEP ROADS I AGREE WITH HER

All in all, i don’t think she’s a perfect mom, but there is no perfect mom, and Leandra does care a lot for her kids. The All that remains killed me too :’(

Bethany

RIP :(

Her codex is not long, but i guess she wasn’t happy with her magic :(

CARVER

My favouritest bestest bro in the game. A secondary character with an inferiority complex towards his sibling, with no sense of humour, blaming everyone else for his inability to get a life? I see a lot of myself in him. He is sooo bitter, but doesn’t even realise (or at least doesn’t admit) that he’s his biggest obstacle. He feels like it’s Hawke’s fault for Carver not getting his place in the sun, but honestly, it’s Carver’s devotion to Hawke that keeps him from getting a life. He’s just tied with that responsibility and can’t break from it unless forced to.

His interactions with other characters are so funny. Either he’s bitter or he’s awkward, i die every time ;;__;;

Anyways, he became a templar in my game and i thought it fits better thematically (throughout the game the grey wardens felt more like a fanservice material since they really aren’t connected to the story), but after reading that meta about carver and seeing the striking difference between warden!carver and templar!carver i wanna reload and redo everything ;;__;;

i mean... carver isn’t exactly a templar material. The codex entry for templars says that the wanted characteristics of templars are strong faith and utmost obedience, none of which carver really has... . But that moment when he stands up against meredith was *chefs kiss* worth it. I’m just wondering what happens after, is he still a templar? is he with hawke? is he in Kirkwall or if not, where did he go?? so many questions ;A;

Uncle Gamlen

I feel bad for him. Mostly he’s mean but i like to think it’s bc he’s so ashamed that his sister sees what he’s become. And he’s bitter about his own life. I was so happy when i realised he has a personal mission ;__; I feel bad that he didn’t come to live in the hawke estate tho, especially since Hawke is also alone there :(

COMPANIONS!

Varric

There are no words that can properly convey the amount of love for this guy. He is simply flawless. He’s a charming godfather of the dwarven mafia. I wanna have a charming godfather of the dwarven mafia in my life... He already becomes interesting with the intro, and i gotta say, out of all ~storyteller~ types of characters, he is the best. he puts a disclaimer at the beginning with that game tutorial, and during the whole interrogation he’s like “well, how do you know i’m not lying? i could be.” Also, his voice is the second best voice in the game.

As for his personal missions, oh wow, that thing with his big bro really hurt. I also gave him the red lyrium... was that a mistake? will i regret it? ;__; I know the true friend would prevent him, but i also trust that varric knows how to handle dangerous stuff...

On a side note, since i’ve read the comics (no self control whatsoever), i loved the beginning of the Until We Sleep, where varric mentions it’s easier to imagine all the people he had to kill were evil than to face the fact that those were normal people just doing their job or trying to survive. Man, it hurts TAT

*garret hawke’s voice when he looks a certain way at the family crest in the hawke estate* ISABELA!

Ok ok, so, i love Carver bc i relate, i love Varric because he’s simply perfect. But I love Isabela because she’s the most intriguing.

She just crashed in Kirkwall and really didn’t sign up for all the trouble she got. She never likes to have deep conversations, she is always downgrading herself and you just wonder, what is it that happened in her life, and you know her past mistakes haunt her, and she’s doing her best to move on. Her arc was i think my favourite. I think the comic Those Who Speak really adds a lot to her arc in DA2 and makes some of her choices more understandable. Her whole story is about her internal conflict of whether to survive or do the right thing. Her story about freeing the slaves got her ship wrecked is great and all for making her be a pirate with a golden heart, but that story about her drowning all the slaves few years previous make this freeing of slaves a big character moment for her. She finally did the right thing. And she got for it was more trouble, because she’s a pirate which means she can’t afford to just do the right thing. And throughout the game, that same story is going back and forth. She runs off with the Relic bc she’s done the right thing before and it got her nowhere, so now she decided to put her own survival as a priority, but comes back bc she’s too kind to just leave Hawke standing like that. And again, with the slaver papers, it’s the same reasoning: it’s her or the higher cause. She needs that ship. She chooses herself. It’s her biggest flaw. But hey, between pros and antis in your party, it was really refreshing to have someone who, along with varric, just gives you a break with moral high-grounds.

I only wish we actually got to see her more as a captain in power in the game or that she showed me that amazing hat she saw in lowtown. It’s cool that it’s implied that her crew doesn’t like her and she also lost most of them during the crash while the others probably left her after.

I love it when she says she goes sometimes to the docks just to watch the ships. That there is no feeling like sailing. I just want a spin-off with captain isabela’s terrible adventures (´A`)

Also, isabela’s VA is my fave, she really did an amazing job. she voices so smoothly, i wouldn’t know if i was playing a game or watching a movie. And has such a pretty way of talking...

Aveline

I’m really neutral towards Aveline. I like her personality and i like that she’s found herself a purpose and advanced in the guards, and she’s always looking out for everybody. I just wish her personal missions went in the vein of the one in act 1... i feel it would have been more interesting to see her having trouble in her position and that you can’t just waltz into Kirkwall and take command. It’s implied she’s being pressured, so i guess she’s just dealing with it herself, but i just... eh. She’s ok.

Merrill

Merrill actually has one of the if not the most tragic story-line that really challenges you both morally and emotionally.

Her cheerful and cute personality is dampened by her constant dark leitmotif of willingly practicing blood magic. And i think her story really showed well the indirect consequences of it.

Not in one instance was Merrill’s practice of blood magic an active culprit for all tragedy that surrounds her. First, it seems that blood magic is practiced in the clan, seeing there is no freeing Flemeth without it, but i’m guessing it’s seldom practiced and with great caution. So Merrill wasn’t in any danger of being prosecuted for her blood magic. It’s actually her wish to study it further with the help of the demon that makes her an outcast. That and the magic mirror that apparently is forgotten for a reason. Also, it’s made quite clear that Merrill would be welcomed back no questions asked if she at any point decided to ditch the demon and live without the study of magic mirror. She, on the other side, is driven by the higher cause, the idea that figuring out the forgotten purpose of some evil mirror might help her clan, and is willing to be an outcast if it means reaching her goal and helping her clan. Fast foward to act 3, the clan is still there when they should have moved away, and it’s only when you face the demon possessed Keeper, you realise why. She knew Merrill would sooner or later bargain with the demon again. And she sacrificed herself, trapping the demon within her, as to prevent it. And i think that is why the clan stayed so long there. She waited for Merrill because she wanted Merrill to kill her, and hopefully with her the demon. It didn’t go as planned, obviously, but i really think she had good intentions. When Merrill does manage to kill the Keeper she’s forced to face the clan and i chose the wrong option of telling the truth which resulted in a massacre. Merrill gets back and regrets everything. She, however resolves to help the alienage.

The thing is, there is no one to blame Everyone had the best intentions. Everyone is working for the safety of the clan. it’s a story of sacrifice and when sacrifice feels like the wrong choice (whether it truly is or isn’t depends on your worldview) and it’s really done well.

But here are my issues with Merrill. I love her as a character, but i don’t agree with her decisions. It’s a personal issue. Merrill is giving up everything as to help her clan by learning history of the evil mirror. And while this is a game where old things are important and significant, her mission is always explained as this duty of preserving history. And while i agree that preserving history is very important, there is a limit to it. you should never put history before the present. If your research endangers the present, you give up on that line. The other is that you need to make peace with the fact that many, many things are forgotten and will be forgotten. It’s sad, but you gotta make peace with the fact that some things are just gone.

And Merrill, who is a magic historian, fails to see that. So that kinda irks my historian moral codex. And in the end, as far as i know, Merrill doesn’t succeed in reviving the evil mirror and dedicates herself to help the alienage. It was a terrible way to learn that some things aren’t worth it.

The other, less personal issue, is that none of this had to happen. I mean, the keeper obviously didn’t think Merrill was experienced enough to actually deal with demons and therefore distrusted her and warned the clan about it. So, if Merrill was a little bit more patient she could have just studied normally under the keeper, and when she herself becomes the keeper, she could have fraternize with that demon however she wanted without much complications. So yeah... i guess youth is made of idealism.

But as i said, minor issues. Her story is really, really great.

Fenris

Fenris and Anders are my “i love you but i am soo annoyed by you but i still love you” characters. Half of the time they’re just there to make you feel guilty for being a neutral party. Which sometimes has me rolling my eyes. If Fenris and Anders actually got along with each other, slavery and mage oppression would have ended in 2 days. Which makes it all the more frustrating that they do not.

Fenris.. his voice. What a nice voice colour. So elegant, but kinda rough, sometimes he talks like he’s 80 years old, sometimes like he’s a teenager. I love it.

As for the rest, i mean, i don’t agree with his methods, but very often, the guy’s got a point. I get his experience with mages colours his view on them, so while i symphatise, it’s really hard to have him on my “free mages” missions when he’s my best tank and i want him to be on friendly terms with Hawke so this makes things... difficult. That aside, it’s interesting that fenris doesn’t see mages as evil per se, but rather victims who, in his experience, will always, always going to succumb to a demon. It’s an inevitable reality to him. And this makes me wonder if he ultimately, despite being his friend or lover, is just waiting for the day he will be forced to kill Hawke too :(

As for his missions, they were ok, it led up to culmination and i didn’t let him kill his sister bc Hawke has just lost his mom, don’t do smth you’ll regret ;__;

also, somewhere around the end of act 2 i decided to romance fenris bc i love to suffer, so i worked the whole act 3 trying to get more aproval points and also wondering why are there no romance options when i talk to him... turns out that one night stand with isabela romanced her and canceled fenris. But i never even finished the romance with her so i’m just ??? about it all.

I wish it was more explained about the tattoos fenris has? I just thought the tattoos would play a big role somewhere in the game and it just never happened. There was a banter with Merrill about how his tattoos are similar to valaslin, so i thought, hmm, interesting, maybe the two are connected. But nah they just glow in the dark and make you pass through walls. Whatevs.

also dude just goes and kills without a second thought, i’m just “mate, you gotta calm down”. But that’s his thing. He’s constantly bitter and is very bad at anger management. I can’t blame him, considering he lacks around 10- 20 years of experience due to amnesia.

He’s the only one who left me when Hawke sided with mages, and i was like, “ok i getcha, it’s been nice knowing you”, but then when i asked him to join me 5 minutes later he just went “ok changed my mind” which was so funny, like, where did all that integrity dissappear??? It would have been more impactful if the dialogue went in the line of “i want to stand by my principals but you’re a living breathing proof that not all mages are weak to succumb to demons so i’ll join you in the end” (and then side-eye “i told you so” when orsino turns into a demon)

And i wanna read the fenris comic now bc my question for every character here is what is their fate after kirkwall. I only know that isabela & varric are working for alistair and merrill wants to help the alienage. Aveline is i guess either dismissed from her job or got a pass after cullen took the command. But Carver?? Fenris?? Anders?? They never talked about long term plans...

Anders

ooh boy, here we go. there are many questions i have for him and am generally just hmmmm. First, as for his pro-mage rights - it’s like opposite fenris so i just have the same feelings: you mean well, i don’t agree with your methods, your experiences define your worldview so i let some things slide, but other things i will not agree with. Though, question: in how many circles has Anders been? He knows the kirkwall circle, he knows the fereldan circle. Seeing he has excaped 7 times, did they send him to a different circle each time or was the fereldan the last one? or the first one? Or maybe it was his boyfriend they transferred? did i miss something?

I’ll just whisper: awakening!Anders >>> da2!Anders. I just miss the old anders. Which says a lot bc during the awakening i was just “shut up anders”. I miss his bad jokes, his terrible attempts at flirting, his enjoyment of freedom, nagging all the time, and generally being more moderate in pro-mage rights. Like, in awakening, because it was not the only thing he talked about, it felt more personal and intense. Here mage-rights are the only thing he ever talks about + justice. I mean, please correct me if i’m wrong, this was just general impression. But to defend da2!Anders here, it makes sense that merging with mixed both of their personality, and i like that they did that. It’s also very sad.

The thing is, when i’m thinking about anders, i love his story and character. Just as it’s terrible that Fenris, having no memory from before being Fenris, Anders can never go back to being just Anders. And this, people, is why you don’t fraternize with spirits. He’s obviously afraid of how justice is affecting him and there are some bare traces of his old personality and i guess he wouldn’t be as radical if he didn’t have justice personality that can’t stand the injustice. And in combination with anders quite selfish personality (form awakening, and i say that lovingly), it makes him do things that justice wouldn’t condone. Anders is literally a walking bomb.

Again, same problem as with fenris, i really thought that the justice glow would have a incredibly significant culmination, and it didn’t, it was just to show that anders and justice are very bitter. Eh, ok.

Also, i let anders join after he blew up the chantry, bc he started it, so might as well follow it through.

Some minor characters that i remember

Senechal Bran for the next Viscount! He hated hawke so much but still put up with him.

Feynriel is the coolest mage in Kirkwall. I think his missions were my favourite. Dude goes from “oh no i’m a mage” to “i will just dreamwalk to tevinter and learn control the reality” to “i dream-killed bad people from thousands of miles away”. Does he appear in the next game? I want him on my side. He’s so cool.

I think the Maker is sending Cullen signs to quit being a templar. First job: evil mages that tortured you. Instead of “this job will kill you” h took it as a “never trusting mages again, got it”. Second job: your boss is evil possessed paranoid maniac. Man, talk about bad luck.

What is the story of the Lady Elegant?

Flemeth had that big great talk at the beginning of the game and i thought by the end of the game i’d realise what it meant, but nope, still no clue.

Ok so I defeated Corypheus, but there was this looong shot of Larius walking away. Corypheus possessed larius, didn’t he? He’s out there. In a madman’s body. I know he appears in inquisition.

Many thoughts

I gotta say, in Kirkwall, at least, it didn’t feel like much of a challenge to pick a side. Like, there was no mage who said “hey i actually really like it here in the circle, the templars aren’t so bad”, and having templars actually smuggling mages from the circle says a lot to say the least. Every time a mage talks to you, unless you go with “oh they’re 100% lying”, their stories invoke sympathy and of course you want to help them. And then in 99% cases they turn to blood magic bc there was no other way. Except that dude who always hanged out with the wrong people, he only did blood magic to save Carver. But yeah, that turning to blood magic was like having Fenris side-eye me with an unspoken “i told you so” bc every mage, whether in desperation or hunger for power, will turn sooner or later into a demon. Regardless, blood magic was always in the act of desperation and self-defense. The only times where magic was actually evil was the slavers and the serial killer, who is a madman.

When i was reading the Enigma of Kirkwall, there was a part that talks of a blood-mage conspiracy and i was all, oh shit, there is a reason why templars are mean to mages! maybe the conspirators are framing innocent mages on blood magic crimes that they actually commit, maybe Meredith is actually on trail of the conspirators, maybe there is a reason for animosity on both sides. After all, Kirkwall was known for having a bigger number of apostates, a bigger number of blood magic cases and far more ruthless templars. It added up.Thinking back now, i never even got any specific reason why meredith was so intensely anti-mage, other than going mad.

But yeah, no conspirators. Just sad mages and mean templars, and good templars that get screwed by desperate and mean mages.

While in Kirkwall it’s easy to be a pro-mage, i was thinking a lot about mage-rights in general so let me indulge myself: there are circles, but the mages aren’t oppressed. Rather, the circles would be educational centres and society in every larger city where one learns how to properly handle magic bc magic is dangerous. You can leave when you pass the final exam and also come back anytime to hang out with mages who decide to live there since the institution would support mages.

Also, when one gets possessed, i’d invest more into “walk into their head and free them of demons” specialists. It’d be cool if you could have a dreamer who does that bc no lyrium spent. Honestly, why don’t they ever do that? How did the keeper do that rite for Feynriel? Was it blood magic?

I guess, you’d still have to answer for your crimes, tho no death punishment and degradation allowed. Blood magic wouldn’t be punishable by death, but rather have specialists who study it, but practice with extreme caution and use of another person’s blood is strictly prohibited.

Templars would still exist but completely reformed. No more “mages are all potential disasters”, but i’d rather make it that mages can too be templars, since they both have abilities that prevents the others from casting magic. This way the control system would be much like the dalish: if the keeper(mage) is possessed, the clan (which means the non-mages and the first(mage)) need to kill them. You could argue that you don’t need templars as non-mages, since mages can do it too, but seeing that in general people fear magic and feel inferior to it (since there’s a collective memory of the great tevinter imperium), having non-magic specialists would make them feel like on equal ground. The extra-reformed templars would be under Circle, not under direct command of the chantry, and circle, depending of whether chantry is reformed, might or might not be under chantry.

(a side note, i was thinking about templars recently and i can’t recall an instance where it says who had the clever idea to chew lyrium first? i just wanna know)

I know that DA2 wasn’t about grey wardens and therefore not about darkspawn, but seeing as in legacy we get corypheus being... an evil version of the Architect(??), i was only wondering do we get more answers about the darkspawn? is there hope for them? is the Architect still alive?

And oh, to turn to the Anders question:

Is he a terrorist, or was that just activism? I mean, i don’t see why those two can’t go together. blasting a building with a symbolic significance killing and harming many innocent people to get a message of your radical activism across belongs into a schoolbook of terrorism. Does he have a good cause? He sure believes so, and i, too, agree that mages should not be oppressed for just being mages. But does that mean this is the right way to do it? Personally, i do not condone any act of violence in service of a political or religious cause. I know it’s sometimes inevitable, but i like to believe there are more diplomatic ways, or at least not including an attack on civilians.

That aside, the moment where anders goes in front and just announces that the church was gonna blow up in a minute was the best anders moment for me. Until that point i more or less just viewed his activism as a hobby since he just did it in his free time, but now he put his money where his mouth is and freaking went all out. Cool character moment. And incredibly heartwrenching. He was aware of how many innocents he killed, but just didn’t see other way to get the point across.

I still don’t agree with his idea of blowing up the church tho. Maybe if he told Hawke, they could have done something to empty the church previously and further people away from it and then blow it up?

But still, blowing up religious buildings isn’t the answer. If i was the radical mage activist, i would have gone for the open assassination. Seeing it worked in WW1, i don’t see why it couldn’t start a fantasy war.

Some random things i liked:

uniportant but lovable interractions in the house: it starts innocently with gamlen’s house, to see how you’re doing, and becomes really fun during act 2 when you see your friends have been here and left you things. In act 3, however, it feels melancholic. no more family to come back to, just ghosts of friends that have visited, Bodahn and Sandal being there for you, Orana still not getting some sunlight and your dog at the fireplace. The Hawke Family Suite is playing, and you feel older than you are, lonlier than you should be. just... ouch. I hope Bodahn adopted Orana and took her out of Kirkwall :(

t i named the dog “Maker” which is very funny to me bc every time i summon the dog i just imagine Hawke yelling “Maker help us”. Carver hates the name bc he needs to chase the dog often in the streets. Mama Hawke never ever calls the dog Maker, but she never has to call the dog anything: he’s super obedient towards her.

Fighting wasn’t as hard as in origins, i like that.

The haunted house mission was so cool.

When random people greet aveline in Hightown.

And that’s i think about it. There are probably plenty more things i loved, but i think this is already enough. if somebody told me i’d be playing so much this year, i’d laugh, but I already want to play the next game ;;___;;

#don't klick keep reading if you aren't ready to scroll endlessly #a very long post #in which i:#love everything #stan carver #cry over fictional characters #need a romance manual #form political opinions in a fictional game #give a random fic rec that is so worth your time #if you've read this you're a hero and i'm sorry #da2 #spoilers for those who plan to play #it took me a week to write this god

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halfblood-fiend · 5 years

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Fictober 2019 - Day 4

From The Fictober 2019 event <3

Prompt 4 : “I know you didn’t ask for this.”

Fandom : Dragon Age: Inquisition

Words : 2,041

Warnings : canon character death

“I know you didn’t ask for this.” - Knight-Captain Rylen x Keram Adaar

Rylen hadn’t seen Keram for some time now. She’d gone missing somewhere in the afternoon, but her horse was still tied with the rest so he surmised that she couldn’t have gone far. Probably took a walk. The horned lass liked her time to herself and maybe needed it bad after Adamant. Maker knew he could use a breather himself, but there was always plenty shit to do. Best to let the Inquisitor have her peace.

So he took up looking after their sizable entourage to Skyhold. Between him and Commander Cullen, it was easy. Just like old times in Kirkwall. Only with fewer abominations and less bloody madness.

But as the sun set over the Orlesian treetops and the first moon made its slow ascent over the Inquisition encampment, Rylen finally let himself get worried.

“You haven’t seen the Inquisitor, have you?”

“I haven’t.” Cullen looked up from his papers at Rylen and glanced around the tents as though Rylen hadn’t been doing the same fucking thing himself for hours. Together, they shuffled to the front of the ration line. It had been a hell of a lot longer earlier, but they had been too busy to stop. Now, the camp cook was already handing Cullen his share and filling the next bowl. “It was my understanding that looking after Keram was sort of your job now.”

“Har, har.”

Rylen eyed the steaming venison stew with the large roast potatoes in Cullen’s bowl and rubbed his face with one hand. Andraste’s ass, he was tired. And he wanted very badly to eat, to retire with Cullen to his tent, and maybe get slobbering drunk for good measure, but he couldn’t leave Keram out wherever she was. Not with a clear conscience.

The cook offered him a helping, and with a sigh, Rylen declined.

“Guess it’s time to do my job then,” he muttered. Rylen waved goodbye to Cullen and marched away from the welcoming smells of food and fires.

His stomach was very fucking unhappy with his chivalry.

So. Where could she have gone? If he was a tired, cranky, horned giantess, where would he go?

“She’s gone where she thinks it won’t hurt,” Cole said, suddenly appearing at Rylen’s elbow.

“Maker’s balls, Cole!” Rylen swore, leaping back and clutching his chest. “You’ll kill a man like that!”

“Sorry.” The boy dipped his head and his pale face disappeared beneath the wide brim of his patchwork hat.

“What do you mean, ‘she went where she thinks it won’t hurt’? She’s not…” Maker, he couldn’t even finish that sentence in his mind.

Cole’s eyes widened and his gaze snapped back up to Rylen’s. “No! No. I just… I followed her to see if I could help, though she usually doesn’t want my help. But this time… She hurts so loud and so hot. She seems very mad.”

Rylen chewed his lip. He’d had a hunch that Keram was hurting all through their slog across the countryside. Nay, ever since she returned with Hawke and her team and not Loghain. She’d been too close to the Warden to not be. Aye, Rylen knew, but he’d been too cowardly to do anything about it. Keram was seething throughout the whole trip, and Rylen never asked why.

What a sorry excuse for a partner you are, Rylen.

“Take me to her.”

Cole led Rylen much further from the camp than he would have thought Keram would wander but then stopped so suddenly at a sharp embankment that Rylen nearly bowled into him and knocked them both over the steep slope.

He didn’t seem to notice. “There.” Cole whispered, pointing out the way. “Through the ravine. She needs your help now, not mine.”

Don’t like the sound of that, Rylen thought as he thanked him and picked his way through the brush down the embankment.

A few steps closer and he could hear the rush of water. When Rylen ducked into the ravine, the roar became all he could hear. Then the path widened and opened up into a dimly lit glade with a shining, clear pool of water being fed by the small waterfall responsible for all that bloody racket. Hadn’t been here for a sodding minute and the spray was already forming droplets of water on his armor.

Damn, that’ll bloody rust, Rylen thought, brushing the metal plate as he squinted in the gloom looking for Keram.

Then the whole place lit up as a fireball whizzed past his head and exploded in the rock behind him.

Rylen dropped to the ground and drew his sword before he realized what was happening and rational sense could tell him that there could only be one person responsible for that.

“Come to slay me, Basvaarad?” Keram sneered. “Or will you just drag me back in chains to wither away in your Circles?”

Rylen spun towards the direction of her voice and found the vision herself crouched on a rock, naked and sopping wet, with a new flame ready and jumping in her hand. She looked like a feral thing, hackles raised and ready to strike. Rylen didn’t think she’d ever looked at him like that, like one of those sods she wouldn’t think twice about putting down. It stung in a way he couldn’t quite place.

But it’s your own fault, he told himself. Even though he’d been a soldier for so long it was second nature, Rylen cursed himself for reacting, for putting her on edge. He should have bloody known better. He should have seen this coming.

He should have known how to treat an angry mage.

Shaking the thought from his head, Rylen stood slowly. He sheathed his sword and held up his hands to her, swallowing any thrum of lyrium that wanted to burst to life. He refused to threaten her any more than he already had. "You know I'd never do that to you, lass. It would be a bloody crime putting you in a place like that. Besides, haven’t you heard? They don’t exactly exist anymore."

“Oh, if only your Chantry could hear that kind of blasphemous talk.”

Maybe he shouldn’t have, the sticky predicament he was in, but he found it too fucking funny. That she would still think, after all this, that he gave two single shits about what the Chantry thought... He laughed. Bitter. Hollow. Maybe he had never quite believed like the other boys and he was always just looking for a way out of the family business, but he certainly didn’t care for the Chantry now.

Not if it would deny him her.

“Something funny?” Keram hissed, low and dangerous like a sand viper.

“Fuck the Chantry, Keram,” Rylen said with feeling. “You think that if I cared about them, I’d be here? I only care about the Inquisition and what they stand for. And now? Honestly, lass, I now I mostly only care about you. If all I was was a Chantry dog, I’d be dead by now. Or worse." It occurred to him that he could have been like those beasts they hunted in the Approach if he had stayed with the Order. Would the red lyrium have been forced on him if he hadn't joined the Inquisition? Worse, would he have taken if willingly?

Keram’s lip curled and with a shout she hurled the fireball, not at him, like he assumed, but at the pool. With a high-pitched hiss the fire hit the water and curled away into a cloud of steam.

“Not that I’m not glad that wasn’t in my face, lass, but—”

“It’s a fool’s errand, caring for me. You can ask Warden Loghain how that sentimentality worked out for him.”

Rylen opened his mouth to speak but Keram barreled on.

“All those Wardens at Adamant,” she said scornfully, “How were they all so damn stupid? Loghain wanted to make things right—he was the only one with some sense, Shokrokar. But now he’s gone... because of them!” A new fireball leapt to life in her hands, this one crashing against the rock wall opposite them. “I never cared about any of this shit! I never cared about your stupid war for magic or the damn sky! I just…want to make things right. And all your foolish Orders and Circles and Emperors squabble and bicker while the world unravels… I am trapped here because no one else is willing to do anything!” The next fireball crashed into the waterfall, throwing a shower of droplets into the air. “Loghain was going to do something… and now he’s dead. What a waste.”

Once he realized Keram wasn’t cross with him at all, Rylen’s brain whirred to try and catch up. Cole was certainly right. She was hurting and she was mad.

Breathing hard through her nose, Keram curled around herself and rested her chin on her knees. She stared angrily at the water, seething and stewing. Cole had said she needed him now, but Rylen could hardly tell what she needed him for besides maybe target practice.

He approached her rock and the giantess didn’t move. He leaned against it and she didn’t look at him. Do something, you sod! Rylen hoisted himself onto the rough stone, settling himself close to Keram and he still didn’t get a face full of fire. In fact, once he was next to her, she dropped her head to his shoulder.

“Loghain was the best of that whole sorry lot,” she murmured, her voice thick.

Rylen momentarily recalled the man who he’d known so little yet heard so much of. Maybe he had given him good advice as far as Keram was concerned, but Loghain Mac Tir had also killed hundreds of people, started a civil war, tried to have his opponents poisoned, and sold men and women into slavery, just to name a precious few of the countless atrocities he committed as Regent during the Fifth Blight in Ferelden. ‘The best of the lot’ was not the way Rylen might have described him, but instead, he said, “Aye, lass. He was. I am so sorry for your loss.”

“It wasn’t just my loss! I am used to losing things, that’s not new. A leader like that is a loss to the entire Inquisition! I am tired of sending useful people to their deaths while spineless worms like Gaspard roam free. We need people of action, not pomp and circumstance.”

Rylen chuckled darkly. “Is this a bad time to remind you that you chose to let Gaspard live? And you gave him the Empire?”

“It is,” she growled.

“Look, lass…” Rylen turned his face to press a kiss to Keram’s forehead. For a half-second, he wondered if he would be thrown off for it, but the giantess remained snug and warm against him. “I know you didn’t ask for all this, but you’ve been navigating the whole Inquisitor thing better than most would have. Maker knows I wouldn’t have the patience for it. Not for the parties or the damned diplomacy… I don’t think I could even do Commander Cullen’s job! But you? You’re the most capable leader we could have hoped for. And I think Warden Loghain would have thought so too. Why else would the legendary ‘Hero of the River Dane’ have followed you into battle?”

“Because he was also the ‘Traitorous Teyrn’ and had nothing else to lose by following an oxman to his death.”

“Well, now, hold on.”

“Still,” Keram sighed over Rylen, “leaving a skilled general in the Fade was just as wasteful as sitting here moping about it is. There is no time for such weakness.”

With that, Keram rose in one fluid movement and leapt to the ground like a cat.

“It’s not weakness,” Rylen reminded her with a frown. “It’s grief. We lost many good soldiers in that siege. It’s not weakness to grieve for any of them, Loghain included.”

“We can argue the semantics if you wish,” Keram said as she picked her clothes up from another stone and pulled them on, “but I have no time for weakness or grieving. Perhaps when I have finished tearing Corypheus’ still-beating heart from his body with my teeth, I will find the time to grieve for Loghain.”

#fictober19 #Keram Adaar #Knight-Captain Rylen #Dragon Age: Inquisition #rylen x adaar #DAI #now THAT'S what I'm TALKING ABOUT #way better than the garbage before #smh #Loghain Mac Tir #Fiend writes

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mocharoll · 4 years

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Dragon Age: Inquisition character alignments

Cassandra Pentaghast: Neutral Good

-I do nothing that is not worth doing with all my heart.

-One day, they may write about me as a traitor, a madwoman, a fool. And they may be right.

-The Circle of Magi has its place, but needs reform. Let the mages govern themselves, with our help. Let the templars stand not as the jailors of mages, but as protectors of the innocent. We must be vigilant, but we must also be compassionate to all peoples of Thedas, human or no. (...) If we are to spread the Maker's word across the world, we must do so with open hearts and open hands.(...)That is what I would change.

Varric Tethras: True Neutral (barely missing Neutral Good)

-To be honest with you, she’s just a better spymaster. The truly great ones can keep their distance. They don’t get attached to their people. Me, I always wind up babysitting my informants and worrying about their families. We’re in better hands with her.

-(If it was that bad, why did you stay? Cassandra said you were free to go.) I like to think I’m as selfish and irresponsible as the next guy, but this… Thousands of people died on that mountain. I was almost one of them. And now there’s a hole in the sky. Even I can’t walk away and just leave that to sort itself out.

-Heroes are everywhere. I've seen that. But a hole in the sky? That's beyond heroes. We're going to need a miracle.

-(You knew where Hawke was all along!) You’re damned right I did!

-You know what I think? If Hawke had been at the temple, s/he'd be dead too. You people have done enough to her/him.

Vivienne de Fer: Lawful Evil

- The Divine must set the example for all Thedas. She must seem to be the embodiment of the Maker to the faithful. She needs the authority of the Maker and the charisma of Andraste.

-I never worry, darling. A leash can be pulled from either end.

-Your failing-- among many-- is that you presume I desire approval. Power does not require that I be "liked.”

-Act first and teach them to fear us.

The Iron Bull: Lawful Neutral (Slides towards True Neutral if Tal-Vashoth)

-Dragons are the embodiment of raw power. But it's all uncontrolled, savage... So they need to be destroyed. Taming the wild. Order out of chaos.

-It's like being a block of stone with a sculptor working on you. One day, the last of the crap gets knocked off, and you can see your real shape, what you're supposed to be.

-My people don't pick leaders from the strongest, or the smartest, or even the most talented. We pick the ones willing to make the hard decisions... and live with the consequences.

Sera: Chaotic Good

-Someone little always hates someone big. And unless you don't eat, sleep, or piss, you're never far from someone little.

-Bad things should happen to bad people. We find someone not so bad, maybe he’ll end up not so dead.

-Watch out, yeah? The hole in the sky didn't start their war. Stupid people did that.

-Blah, blah, blah! Obey me! Arrow in my face!

Dorian Pavus: True Neutral

-In the south you have alienages, slums both human and elven. The desperate have no way out. Back home, a poor man can sell himself. As a slave he can have a position of respect, comfort, and could even support a family. Some slaves are treated poorly it's true, but do you honestly think inescapable poverty is better?

-If I truly believed my homeland was beyond all hope, I wouldn't miss it so much.

-Living a lie... it festers inside you, like poison. You have to fight for what's in your heart.

-I'm here to set things right. Also? To look dashing. That part's less difficult.

Solas: True Neutral

-Sometimes to achieve the world one desires, one must take regrettable measures.

-War breeds fear. Fear breeds a desire for simplicity. Good and evil. Right or wrong. Chains of command.

-One moment, I see heroic Grey Wardens lighting the fire and a power-mad villain sneering as he lets King Cailan fall. The next, I see an army overwhelmed and a veteran commander refusing to let more soldiers die in a lost cause.

Blackwall: Neutral Good (During Inquisition)

-“You are who you choose to follow.” Someone told me that once. Took me years to understand what he meant.

-At the heart of it, all a Warden is, is a promise. To protect others... even at the cost of your own life.

-(What can one Grey Warden do?) "Save the fucking world if pressed.

Cole: Neutral Good

-It is dangerous when too many men in the same armor think they're right.

-It doesn't matter that they won't remember me. What matters is I helped.

-(What of Magister Erimond? Do you sense a secret pain in him?) No. Erimond is an asshole.

Leliana: Neutral Good (if unhardened), True Neutral (if hardened)

The Chantry has committed many injustices. If we're going to change it, why not change the whole thing?

I've known mages. Some of them were better people than me. And yet I'm free and they're not. It's not right.

No one is without worth. Whoever you are, whatever your mistakes, you are loved. Unconditionally.

Josephine: Neutral Good

- We face a dark time, Your Grace. Divine Justinia would not want her passing to divide us. She would, in fact, trust us to forge new alliances to the benefit of all, no matter how strange they might seem.

-(I can only imagine the bloodshed if it escalates further.) I’m afraid history holds many examples of what will happen if it does.

-But it was such a waste, Inquisitor! When I took of his mask I knew him. We’d attended parties together. If I’d stopped to reason, if I’d used my voice instead of scuffling like a common thug...

Cullen Rutherford: Neutral Good (even more so if kept off of Lyrium. Lawful Good if he takes Lyrium)

-The templars should have restored order, but red lyrium had driven Knight-Commander Meredith mad. She threatened to kill Kirkwall’s Champion, turned on her own men. I’m not sure how far she would have gone. Too far.

-(Why did you join the Order?) I could think of no better calling than to protect those in need.

-(I doubt the Commander believes there’s anything worthy left in me.) You’re not wrong. But you served something greater than yourself once. Perhaps you can be made to remember that.

-Shouldn’t they be arguing over who’s going to become Divine?

Morrigan: True Neutral

-No son of mine would be raised in a marsh, bereft of contact with the outside world. His future will be difficult enough without my adding to his burden.

-The magic of old must be preserved. No matter how feared.

-What I fear, what all should fear, is not that Corypheus believes he can succeed; ‘tis that he actually may.

-Mankind blunders through the world, crushing what it does not understand; elves, dragons, magic...the list is endless. We must stem the tide, or be left with nothing more than the mundane. This I know to be true.

Corypheus: Neutral Evil

Know me. Know what you have pretended to be. Exalt the Elder One. The will that is Corypheus. You will kneel.

-I have gathered the will to return under no name but my own, to champion withered Tevinter and correct this Blighted world. Beg that I succeed, for I have seen the throne of the gods, and it was empty.

The Nightmare: Chaotic Evil

The Divine: It is the Nightmare you forget upon waking. It feeds off memories of fear and darkness, growing fat upon the terror.

-Are you afraid, Cole? I can help you forget. Just like you help other people. We're so very much alike, you and I.

Cole: No.

-You think that pain will make you stronger? What fool filled your mind with such drivel? The only one who grows stronger from your fear is me.

#dragon age #dragon age inquisition #cassandra pentaghast #cullen rutherford #solas #leliana #dorian pavus #varric tethras #iron bull #cole #josephine montilyet #morrigan #vivienne #blackwall #sera

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elellan · 5 years

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Chapters: 12/? Fandom: Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dragon Age (Video Games) Relationships: Female Inquisitor/Cullen Rutherford, Female Lavellan/Cullen Rutherford

CHAPTER 12. LIFT ME FROM A WORLD OF PAIN

O Maker, hear my cry:

guide me through the blackest nights.

Steel my heart against the temptations of the wicked.

Make me to rest in the warmest places.

"Aren’t you gonna greet an old friend?".

He had barely entered his study and approached his desk when that mocking voice rang out behind him. So it was true. Even if he had desperately tried not to believe what Leliana, a furious Cassandra and even the Inquisitor herself had told him - it was all true. The slightest feeling of a newborn headache rose in his mind.

"Come, shake my hand".

She was standing beside one of the doors, all mockery and sass, the staff on her back enormous and showy. Her grin was diabolical.

"What are you still doing here?", he managed to say, reluctantly shaking her outstretched hand.

"One would expect a warmer welcome from a former companion in arms!".

He grunted and turned towards his desk, he had work to do. "You haven't answered my question".

"I've come with news for your Inquisitor. Already delivered them. Varric has asked me to linger around for some time and I thought 'Why not!'".

"Of course you did...".

"And why not pay a visit to Cullen, check on how he is doing".

He glared at her.

"Well, he is in high spirits, as always... . I must say that your new boss looks like a clever woman. It's a great improvement compared to Kirkwall, don't you agree? Strong supporter of mage rights. Who would have guessed that Kirkwall's Knight-Commander- oh sorry, it's just Commander now, right?". She was looking dismissively at her nails. The nerve of that woman…

"I trust that since your business here is finished you will leave us for good?".

She grinned again, he knew that there was nothing he could say that would make her even flinch.

"I've got a mission to accomplish with that Inquisitor of yours, Commander".

Maker, his head was going to explode- if only a spell purge would exhaust her capacity to rant.

"We're going on a trip to Crestwood and then, who knows...".

"Unfortunately, I already know what you’re up to. I trust that you won't endanger Lavellan unnecessarily-".

"Cullen, do you honestly believe that I would endanger-”.

“Yes”.

“That was quick”.

“Did you understand? Do not endanger Riw- the Inquisitor-”, he growled from behind his desk, cursing himself from having let that name almost slip from his lips.

“So Varric was right, you have a bit of a soft spot-eh? I shouldn't be the one to talk though-".

"What-?!". She was laughing carelessly, as if she hadn't just said the most unbelievable absurdity. “It’s not- I’m the Commander of the Inquisition and it is my duty-". That obnoxious smile wouldn’t leave her face. “Nevermind that. Have you understood what I’ve told you?”.

"Yes, yes, yes I have. Your duty, your job. Well, some things never change. Don't worry Cullen, I'll bring her back in one single piece. And if anyone dares so much as touch her… fireball to the face, just like old times. Trust me".

He sighed. He remembered all too well Kirkwall’s last battle, one of her fireballs missing him by an inch, its smouldering body passing near his face, even though apparently it was directed to one of those walking statues... “I’ve got your back!”, she had yelled at him. No, he did not trust her. Not at all. But what could he do? Her help would be vital against Corypheus - if that warden friend of hers was even the slightest reliable. His headache was becoming unbearable.

“Right…”, he grumbled.

She finally took a few steps towards the door. Maker, just go away.

"Not even a single hair will be plucked from that pretty head!".

She was gone. Praise Andraste. But the headache tormented him all day long.

Dorian asked him to play chess. He managed to win, in spite of the headache.

The night was sleepless too.

There was a bottle of lyrium in one of his drawers, but he didn't drink it.

O Creator, see me kneel:

For I walk only where You would bid me.

Stand only in places You have blessed.

Sing only the words You place in my throat.

Get up before dawn, check on guard rotations, train with Iron Bull -if he was already awake, which was not likely-, receive morning reports and start working on his own reports, attend war council, deliver orders to the awaiting Inquisition's strongholds, train recruits, check on reconstruction progress. The headache didn't want to leave him.

Josephine kept on singing a ballad about the Inquisitor and Hawke for their whole meeting. Leliana joined her too. Sweet Maker, was it ever going to end? Now it stuck to his head too.

Dorian asked him to play chess again. He guessed he could spare half an hour.

Cassandra forced him to go to the Herald's Rest to have dinner. He wasn't hungry at all, he was nauseous and all that chatter in the tavern made his head throb. He couldn't understand, why couldn't he eat in the main keep, in that canteen near the kitchen?

The Inquisitor did sometimes, Josie and Leliana did so too, not to talk about Varric or Madame De Fer... .

Cassandra was right though, seeing people made him lose his concentration on other matters. Surely she meant the lyrium, but he didn't want to miss his pace with his work. And the bard kept on singing that idiotic ballad all over again.

When he finally came back to his quarters he was feeling worse than before. He shouldn't have gone, he knew it. He looked at his desk: a letter from Mia. Another one. He didn't have time to answer, he would read it tomorrow.

Another sleepless night. He woke up three times from eerie dreams. This wasn't good.

The bottle of lyrium was still untouched.

My Maker, know my heart:

Take me from a life of sorrow.

Lift me from a world of pain.

Judge me worthy of Your endless pride.

Get up before dawn, take a potion for the headache, one for the nausea, pray their effects will last all day, check on guard rotations, train with Lysette -it made him think of Haven, of the time when he had trained Lavellan with daggers-, it was too hot to train, nausea gnawing at the pit of his stomach and the back of his tongue, receive morning reports and start working on a reply to Rylen's ones, it was impossible to write with his hands shaking like that - Maker, steel my heart, attend war council, keep focused on their words - the Inquisitor was worried about the Dales, continue to deliver orders to the Inquisition's strongholds, train recruits - exhausting, check on reconstruction progress.

Maker, I will not forsake You.

He saw her walking towards him that evening. She was surely going to check on her new mount, a halla. He had gone to see it too, since Master Dennet had called it "a fine beast".

She saw him and walked towards him. He had seen her only scarcely during the days before, walking, no, sulking around Skyhold, submerged by scouts and work.

She had entered the Inquisition with such a bold, careless attitude. Now, after they had bestowed that title on her, ‘Inquisitor’, she looked overwhelmed.

She sought counsel from him concerning her new role.

"I'm sure you'll do it justice. We advisors will make sure that you won't carry the weight of the Inquisition alone".

Bad answer? She didn't reply for a moment and then gave him a sheepish smile.

"We'll see how long it takes for me to lure disaster upon us all again!".

No, that wasn't acceptable. She wasn't Hawke, she didn't lure disaster. How could he tell her? His headache was pounding. He was tired.

"You shouldn't blame yourself. Nothing that happened was your fault. Haven couldn't face an invasion and you managed to save us all- I mean... . You have proven yourself, Inquisitor, you will adjust to your role in no time".

"If you say so...". He had got it all wrong again. Maker.

"Here, let me debrief you on our situation, Inquisitor". He told her about the army, the undergoing work on the barracks and the civilian quarters, about his work on guard rotation, area exploration, planning for fortifications.

"Very well, Commander!", she said. She seemed in a better mood now. Glowing green eyes- had he seen them in one of his dreams? No.

"I must also recommend, Inquisitor", he went on. "That we pursue these red lyrium templars as soon as we can. They are dangerous and if we manage to find out where they smuggle the lyrium-".

"Yes. That may be a good start, dismantle their supply chain and weaken their forces".

She looked at him, one of those looks that she had in Haven. It made him smile.

"Exactly. Excellent work, Inquisitor”..

He had barely thought about what he was saying, had he actually teased her a little bit?

Well, it didn't go missing on her.

"Commander, I dare say that I am impressed by the amount of work that you managed to do in this little time-".

"It is only my duty".

"Yes, indeed. But does your duty come before your hours of sleep?". He froze. She was looking closely at him. What did she mean? Had she discovered it? Was it so evident?

"This seems hardly the time to sleep", he managed to say. He tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword. His head pounded fiercely and his hands were cold: working was the only way to escape from it all.

"I know, I- I am just saying that- it's just that you seem tired".

He had got it all wrong again. But he couldn't let her see. He was not a child.

"Your concern is ill-founded, Inquisitor. How are you instead?".

That had been close. They chatted for a few minutes more, but she seemed disheartened by their conversation. She left. He watched her walking towards the stables, the sun glistening in her hair, in long strides she was already halfway, her figure from afar seemed like a silhouette cut out of a children’s book… .

And then he did something stupid, something unprofessional. Was it out of guilt?

He ran after her and stopped her, grabbed her by her arm. A thought that had repeatedly crossed his mind coming out of his mouth without him even being able to control it.

"You stayed behind". He gave her no time to answer and hastily dropped her arm, clenching and unclenching his hand immediately after. "You could have... I will not allow anything like the events at Haven to happen again, I swear. I should have done more, I- I failed my duty Lavellan, it won't happen again. It's all I'm saying. Good day".

Unprofessional. Idiotic. Nonsensical. Why had he done it? Surely she would have noticed his trembling hands when he had grabbed her arm. Maker, if only he could sleep. Just a few hours.

Dorian wanted to play chess, again.

The bottle of lyrium in his drawer remained untouched.

My Creator, judge me whole:

Find me well within Your grace.

Touch me with fire that I be cleansed.

Tell me I have sung to Your approval.

CONTINUE ON AO3

#mythal'enaste #cullen rutherford #cullen romance #cullen x inquisitor #cullen x lavellan #lavellan #inquisitor lavellan #dragon age #dragon age inquisition #dragon age fanfiction

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pikapeppa · 5 years

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Fenris/f!Hawke and the Inquistion: Spirits

Chapter 10 of Lovers In A Dangerous Time (i.e. Fenris the Inquisitor) is up on AO3!

In which FenRynne and the crew meet Bull and the Chargers, and there is some drama and arguing. O_o

Read here on AO3.

********************

Hawke sighed and irritably shook her left foot. “I think there’s a hole in my boot. My foot is soaked.”

“Both of my feet are soaked,” Fenris remarked.

Hawke pouted. “Your feet are bare. They’ll dry in two seconds. It’s not the same.”

He shrugged and continued his easy stroll across the lush verdant hills of the Storm Coast. “Nobody forced you to wear boots.”

Hawke scoffed and playfully pushed his arm. “We don’t all have hardened dragon’s hide for soles like you do. Chances are I would cut my feet open the second I took my boots off.”

On Hawke’s other side, Blackwall winced and briefly bowed his head. “I apologize, my lady.”

Hawke rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “Blackwall, please, just call me Hawke. And what are you sorry for?”

“For dragging you out on this chase for Warden artifacts,” he said. “I spent some time here a few years ago. I’d forgotten just how, er, wet it was.” He squinted up at the sky, which had been steel-grey and spilling rain since they’d arrived yesterday afternoon.

Hawke waved him off. “Don’t be silly, it’s not your fault. Leliana wanted us to look for signs of the Wardens too, remember? Besides, I should have bought better boots before coming out to a place called the Storm Coast. Bit of a tip-off with the name, don’t you think?” She nudged Varric’s head with her elbow. “Almost too on the nose, if you ask me. Whoever was in charge of naming this place clearly had no imagination.”

Varric smirked up at her. “You really should have worn better boots. I mean, even I’m wearing waterproof boots, and you know how much I love this nature shit.”

“He makes a good point,” Fenris said to Hawke. “If the hopeless city dwarf is properly prepared for the elements, why aren’t you?”

Varric snorted at Fenris’s colourful epithet. Hawke, meanwhile, shrugged and innocently blinked at Fenris. “Honestly? I was hoping you would carry me in your big strong warrior’s arms if my feet got wet.”

Fenris gave her a chiding look, then scoffed. “You do not need to be carried. You are not a housecat.”

Her lips lifted into a slow and salacious smile, and Fenris wilted in exasperation. He could practically see the quip gathering itself in her mind: some foolish joke about him making her purr, he was certain.

“Don’t,” he warned.

She laughed. “I didn’t say anything!”

He bit the inside of his cheek and forced his face to remain stern. “I know what you were thinking,” he said. “Do not say it.”

She grinned and pinched his chin playfully. “You know what? I’m glad I don’t have to. You just know me so well.”

He shook his head in exasperation. Then Solas’s voice floated over from about ten paces away.

“Blackwall,” he said. “I believe this may be the camp you sought.”

Blackwall perked up, and they all followed him over to Solas’s side. Blackwall crouched beside the remains of the campfire, then dug around in the ashes for a moment before pulling out a dented metal crest.

He excitedly looked up at the rest of them. “It’s a Warden’s crest,” he said. Then his smile faded slightly as he turned it in his fingers. “We wear these on our coats, usually. This one must have been ripped off in a fight.”

“Oh, look here,” Hawke piped up. She was inspecting a few sodden pages of parchment, and as Blackwall rose to face her, she held them out to him.

He took the pages, and his face lit up as he skimmed them. “Pages from a Warden’s journal,” he exclaimed. He beamed at Hawke. “An excellent find, my lady.”

Hawke folded her arms and smiled. “That’s what I’m known for: scavenging odd bits and pieces to cheer people up.”

Varric snorted. “That’s one thing you’re known for, at least.”

“Oh come on, Varric, that’s probably my favourite claim to fame,” she said. She raised her eyes wistfully to the stormy sky. “Rynne Hawke, Kirkwall’s finest retriever of lost and stolen junk. Truly, I would have preferred that over the title of Champion.”

“Retriever of Junk,” Fenris mused. “A rather undignified title, but it would have saved you some grief, I’m certain.”

She smiled and winked at him. Blackwall sat on a fallen log to read the journal pages, and as Varric moved away to read the pages as well, Fenris surreptitiously smoothed his hand down Hawke’s back.

The mages at Redcliffe were making their careful journey back to Haven, accompanied by Cassandra and Dorian and a contingent of Inquisition soldiers. Fenris and Hawke had thus decided to come to the Storm Coast to follow up on that invitation from Cremisius Aclassi, and the rest of their companions had volunteered to come along - though Sera had promptly abandoned them in favour of Scout Harding as soon as they’d arrived.

The journey from the Hinterlands to the Storm Coast had been relatively uneventful. This was not to say they hadn’t encountered foes; it seemed that no journey could be completely free of violence in these danger-laden days. But the enemies they’d encountered had been relatively normal ones: bandits, a few power-mad apostates, and only three small non-time-bending rifts. By the time they’d reached Harding’s first outpost on the Storm Coast, Fenris was almost feeling back to his normal self in the wake of the entire time-travelling debacle in Redcliffe.

Almost.

The constant travel was helpful. It was a good distraction from the memories of Hawke’s glittering red eyes, which still lingered at the back of his unoccupied mind. Sleeping in a different place each night was also helpful, as it warded off the nightmares that sometimes plagued him still, even after leaving Danarius’s side. Sleeping in the same place for multiple nights in a row had always been something of a trigger for Fenris’s bad dreams, at least until he became more settled and comfortable.

For this latter reason alone, Fenris was somewhat dreading the return to Haven. He was certain that the first few nights back in Haven would be heralded by a new set of red lyrium-related nightmares, and he was not looking forward to that.

He ran his palm along Hawke’s back once more, taking comfort from the smooth curve of her shoulder blade beneath her lambswool cloak. Then she leaned in close and spoke in a quiet voice.

“He’s kind of an odd Warden, don’t you think?” she murmured. Her thoughtful gaze was on Blackwall, who was listening seriously to Varric’s tale about their trip into the Deep Roads ten years ago.

Fenris scratched his chin. “How so? He has the same world-saving mentality as Stroud.”

“Yes, but he seems more… optimistic about it, don’t you think?” Hawke said. “Stroud is always so grim and serious. And it’s a bit weird that he’s so dewy-eyed over these Warden artifacts,” she added. “They’re his own order. He’s been one of them for years. You’d think he’d be over the hero worship by now. And seriously, why is he the only Warden who hasn’t disappeared? It’s strange, don’t you think?”

Fenris narrowed his eyes. She made some very good points. “You think he is lying about his true role with the Wardens?” he whispered. “That he has some hidden purpose?”

Hawke shrugged. Her gaze was more curious than suspicious as she studied their burly companion. “I think he’s more committed to the Inquisition than he is to the Wardens. Good for us, but not great for them. If they know about him, that is.”

Fenris raised an eyebrow. “You do think he is lying, then.”

Hawke shook her head slowly. “Not lying, necessarily. But I think he has a story. He’s more than he seems.” She gave Fenris a mischievous smile. “That’s why his beard is so big. It’s full of secrets.”

Fenris snorted in amusement. Then Solas drew his attention. “Fenris,” he called.

Fenris looked up, then approached the small hill where Solas was standing. He was gazing off toward the coastline, and Fenris’s eyes widened as he caught sight of what Solas had seen: a skirmish of sorts with at least twenty men. Most notable of all in the fight was a tall, horned, and unmistakable figure.

“What is it?” Hawke asked. She squinted toward the coastline, then raised her eyebrows. “Ooh. Is that..?”

“It must be the Iron Bull,” Fenris said. “The qunari mercenary captain we’re searching for.”

“Interesting,” Hawke said. She smiled at Fenris and Solas. “Let’s go introduce ourselves, shall we?”

The two men nodded, and with Varric and Blackwall in tow, they made their way toward the coastline in the direction of the fight. As they splashed their way through the river toward the coast, Fenris wondered about the qunari they were about to meet.

The whole situation still struck him as odd. Not just the Tevinter second-in-command and the common-tongue nickname, but the idea of a qunari running a mercenary company at all. From Fenris’s understanding of the Qun, it was not the qunari way to exploit their considerable martial skills for monetary gain. Even the tal-vashoth they had once met on the Wounded Coast had scorned the idea of selling his skills for money. So how was it that a true member of the Qun was the leader of a mercenary band?

I suppose we will soon find out, he thought. They were about fifty paces away from the skirmish now, and before they could get any closer, Fenris held up a hand to stop the group.

“Let’s watch for a while longer,” he suggested.

Hawke’s eyebrows rose. “They’re fighting a bunch of those Venatori. You don’t want to join in and help to tear them apart?”

Fenris raised a sardonic eyebrow at her. “I absolutely will if necessary,” he said. “But that Aclassi fellow invited us to come and see what these Chargers are worth. I suggest we take him up on the offer.”

Hawke shrugged easily. “All right,” she said. She jerked her head to a nearby hill. “Shall we find some comfy seats from a higher vantage point? Some nice moss-covered boulders, perhaps?”

Varric huffed softly as they clambered up the hill. “Hardly my idea of a comfy seat, but sure.”

Blackwall chuckled. “The city dwarf needs more padding, eh?”

Hawke snickered, and Varric shot them a smirk. “You guys call me ‘city dwarf’ like it’s an insult, but I’ll have you know-”

A deep, roaring belly laugh rumbled through the constant hiss of the rain, and they all stopped short in surprise.

Hawke looked at Fenris with wide eyes. “Was that… a qunari laughing?”

“Yes, it was,” he confirmed. He adjusted the hood of his cloak and peered down toward the coastline; indeed, the qunari commander was grinning widely as he swung his battleaxe in a wide and sweeping arc.

“I didn’t think qunari even knew how to laugh,” Varric remarked.

Hawke nodded in agreement. “I’ve certainly never seen it.”

Varric smirked. “Well, I mean, you were a little too busy freezing their Arishok and pulling his guts out to notice if they laughed or not.”

Hawke rolled her eyes. “Maker’s balls, Varric. You always make it sound like it was such an epic fight, when we all know I almost-”

“Hawke,” Fenris interrupted. “Please don’t.” He did not need another reminder of a time that she’d almost died.

She broke off and grimaced apologetically, then folded her arms. “Did you ever hear the qunari laughing when you were observing them in Seheron?” she asked him.

Fenris tilted his head equivocally as he continued to watch the shoreline fight. “On rare occasions,” he said. “But qunari rarely drop their guard around foreigners. Certainly not enough to laugh with such abandon.”

Hawke hummed in acknowledgement, and they watched the rest of the fight in silence. By the time the final Venatori mage was downed, Fenris was convinced of the Chargers’s value.

The members of the mercenary company clearly knew each other well. There were about a dozen of them on the field, and from the seamless way they moved around each other, it was clear to Fenris’s battle-savvy eye that they were either deeply familiar with each other’s strengths and vulnerabilities, or that the Iron Bull was an outstanding commander who was able to place his people to their best advantage. In all likelihood, it was a combination of both.

Blackwall seemed to agree; he folded his arms and nodded in approval. “Mercenaries they might be, but they can certainly fight.”

“Yes,” Solas said thoughtfully. “And with only one mage among them. It takes considerable creativity to function so well in battle with so little magical contribution.”

Fenris nodded slowly. He might not be pleased to admit it, but Solas had a good point; the years he’d spent with Hawke had made him see the value of a strong barrier and a well-aimed blast of fire or ice, not to mention the not-inconsiderable boon of a healer mage’s restorative abilities.

“Creativity… yes, that is accurate,” he said slowly. He jerked his chin toward the shoreline. “Let’s go speak to them.”

They made their way down the slope toward the blood- and body-strewn beach. The Iron Bull was seated on a nearby boulder wiping his blade with a cloth, and as Fenris and the others made their approach, he called out to his second-in-command in a booming voice. “Krem! How’d we do?”

His accent was only faintly tinted with Qunlat. Another surprise, since most qunari either did not speak the common tongue at all, or with a heavy accent.

“Four wounded, Chief,” Aclassi replied. “None dead.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” The Iron Bull announced. He slid his enormous axe onto his back. “Let the throat-cutters finish up here, then break out the casks.”

Aclassi gave a brisk salute, then trotted off to speak to some of his comrades. Then the Iron Bull turned his head toward Fenris and his companions.

He grinned as he spotted them with his one good eye, and Fenris felt another jolt of surprise at the friendly expression.

“So,” the Iron Bull said. “You’re with the Inquisition, huh? Glad you could make it.” He ushered them over. “Come on, have a seat. Drinks are coming.”

Fenris was nonplussed. This kind of geniality was not at all what he’d been expecting.

He nodded cautiously to the Iron Bull. “Shanedan. Ebasaam esaam kost.”

The Iron Bull looked at him sharply, then threw his head back and laughed. He waved his hand dismissively. “Ah, no need for that, we’re all friends here. Come on, sit your asses down.” He gestured more insistently for them to take a seat.

Fenris cautiously sat on a rock beside the Iron Bull, and Varric and Blackwall sat on some boulders as well. Hawke, on the other hand, smoothed her cloak down under her bottom and plopped down directly on the rocky beach. “Drinks are coming, you said?” She smiled up at Fenris. “I like him already.”

The Iron Bull grinned widely at her, and Fenris sighed quietly. He gestured to the nearest dead Tevinter. “This was impressive,” he said. “Your group works together well.”

“That we do,” the Iron Bull said proudly. “We’re expensive, but worth it. And you’re not just getting the boys: you’re getting me.” He rose to his feet to tower over them all and placed his hands on his thick, muscular waist. “You need a front-line bodyguard, I’m your man. Whatever it is - demons, dragons… the bigger, the better.”

“You’re in luck, then,” Blackwall said. “There’s a dragon on the shoreline to the east, just that way.” He pointed along the coast.

“It was fighting a giant,” Varric added. “Pretty crazy stuff.”

The Iron Bull’s eyes lit up. “You’re joking. That’s bad-ass!”

Hawke stared at him in surprise, then laughed. “I suppose it rather was, yes,” she said, then looked at Fenris with a smirk and raised eyebrows.

He shook his head slightly, feeling more and more perplexed by this Iron Bull. He was nothing like the qunari Fenris had met in Seheron or in Kirkwall.

He scratched the back of his head, then shrugged and rested his elbows on his knees. “I should ask how much your company will cost the Inquisition,” he said. Josephine had said the Inquisition had some gold from the late Justinia, as well as contributions from the few nobles whose support was trickling in, but it wouldn’t do to spend it all on one mercenary company.

“Ah, don’t worry about it,” the qunari captain said. “Your ambassador - what’s-her-name, Josephine? We’ll go through her, get the payment set up. Gold will take care of itself; don’t worry about that. All that matters is we’re worth it.”

Then his jovial expression sobered slightly. “Before you sign us on...” He trailed off, then beckoned for Fenris to follow him.

Fenris raised an eyebrow, but rose to his feet. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hawke starting to rise as well.

He glanced at her and surreptitiously held up a reassuring hand. She frowned but settled back on the beach with Blackwall, Varric and Solas, and Fenris followed the Iron Bull a short ways away from the others.

When they were out of the humans’ earshot, the Iron Bull folded his arms. “There’s one other thing,” he said. “Might be useful, might piss you off. Ever hear of the Ben-Hassrath?”

Fenris raised his eyebrows. “Yes. They are the branch of the qunari that handles security and intelligence, are they not?”

The Iron Bull gave Fenris an appraising look. “You do know a thing or two about us, don’t you? But yeah, you’re right. The Ben-Hassrath handle everything: information, loyalty, security, all of it. They’re spies, basically. Or, well… we’re spies.”

Fenris narrowed his eyes, and the Iron Bull nodded his head in acknowledgement before going on. “The Ben-Hassrath are concerned about the Breach. Magic out of control like that could cause trouble everywhere,” he said. “I’ve been ordered to join the Inquisition, get close to the people in charge, and send reports on what’s happening. But I also get reports from Ben-Hassrath agents all over Orlais. You sign me on, I’ll share them with your people.”

Fenris stared flatly at him. “Would your superiors approve of you admitting this?” he drawled. “It appears counterintuitive for a spy to admit that they are, in fact, a spy.”

The Iron Bull casually hitched his thumbs into his belt. “Look, I’m a bottom-line kind of guy. Whatever happened at that Conclave thing, it’s bad. Someone needs to get that Breach closed, and I’ve heard that you’re the people to get it done. So whatever I am, I’m on your side.”

“For now,” Fenris retorted. “Until you receive directives to the contrary from Par Vollen.”

“You sign me on with the Inquisition, and I’ll make sure those directives don’t happen,” the Iron Bull reasoned. He tilted his horned head. “My people back home want to know if they need to launch an invasion to stop the whole damned world from falling apart. You let me send word of what you’re doing, it’ll put some minds at ease. That’s good for everyone.”

Fenris folded his arms and lifted his chin. “And what exactly are you offering in return?”

“Aside from myself and my guys, you mean?” He shrugged and waved a careless hand. “Enemy movements, suspicious activity, intriguing gossip… it’s a bit of everything. Alone, they’re not much, but if your spymaster is worth a damn, she’ll put ‘em to good use.”

Fenris narrowed his eyes. “And what makes you think our spymaster is a woman?”

The qunari shrugged. “I did a little research. Plus,” he smirked, “I’ve always had a weakness for redheads.”

Fenris frowned, then glanced toward the others. Solas was openly watching them with a frown on his face, and Fenris had no doubt that the elven mage’s keen hearing was picking up everything they were saying. Varric and Blackwall were chatting casually while Hawke listened with a smile, but Fenris could see the slightly worried crease of her eyebrows.

He turned back to the Iron Bull. “I will speak with my companions,” he said. Then he walked back to join the others.

He crouched beside Hawke, who immediately turned toward him. “What’s going on?” she asked.

“He is a qunari spy,” Solas said quietly. He was still staring daggers at the Iron Bull.

Hawke’s eyebrows shot up, and Varric winced. “Oh. Shit. The Seeker won’t be happy about that.”

Fenris looked at them all in turn. “He is offering qunari intelligence in exchange for the reports he will send back to Par Vollen,” he said.

Varric rubbed his chin briefly. “I guess that’s something. Nightingale could make use of that. Maybe he’ll hand over something that could help us track down ol’ Corypheus.”

“But is that worth the risk?” Fenris muttered. “He admitted that the qunari’s main goal is to close the Breach. Once it’s sealed, he could turn on us at any moment.”

“What if we make friends with him?” Hawke suggested. “Make it hard for him to betray us? We made friends with Tallis, after all, and she didn’t abandon us.” Her tone was light, but Fenris could see the worry in the tilt of her eyebrows.

It was on the tip of his tongue to remind Hawke that Tallis had lied about her qunari identity in the first place, but Solas spoke before he had the chance. “That will not work,” Solas said firmly. “The Ben-Hassrath are the most insidious agents of the Qun. They are tasked with policing the thoughts of their own people as well as those they conquer. It will not be possible to manipulate him in that way.”

Hawke clicked her tongue in disappointment. “Well, there goes my favourite strategy.” She looked at the others. “So… is that a no, then?”

Blackwall sighed. “A shame, that. They’re strong fighters. Would have been helpful in any number of battles.”

Fenris, meanwhile, was watching Solas. He didn’t think he had ever seen Solas look so disapproving before. “You think we should not bring him in?” Fenris asked.

“On the contrary,” Solas said. He finally shifted his steel-grey gaze to Fenris’s face. “If you allow him to join the Inquisition, Leliana’s spies can monitor him. There are times when careful observation can be more telling than spoken words. Knowledge is power, is it not?”

Fenris narrowed his eyes briefly. He seemed to be hearing this a lot lately. Not that he disagreed with the idea by any means, but still.

He ran a hand over his hood, then glanced at the Iron Bull. He was smiling and talking to Aclassi, who was grinning back. To Fenris’s eyes, they looked very much like friends.

A qunari making friends with a Tevinter human and running a band of non-qunari mercenaries… It could certainly all be based orders from Par Vollen, but the Iron Bull’s manner still struck him as extremely odd for a faithful member of the Qun.

He rose to his feet. “Thank you,” he said to the others, then he returned to the Iron Bull’s side.

“So?” the qunari captain said. “Are we celebrating, or are we moving on?”

Fenris folded his arms. “You are hired, on one condition. You will run your reports past the spymaster before you send them out. If she disapproves, they do not get sent.”

The Iron Bull smiled. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Fenris nodded. Then he took a slow step closer to the Iron Bull and switched to Qunlat. “Your duty is to your people. My duty is to mine,” he said quietly. “The woman and the dwarf are under my protection. If anything you do brings harm to them, I will rip your beating heart from your chest.”

The Iron Bull stared at him for a moment. Then a slow, broad grin bloomed across his rugged face.

He let out a rolling belly laugh, then slapped Fenris on the shoulder. “You know what? I believe it.” He grinned at Aclassi. “Krem! Tell the men to finish drinking on the road. The Chargers just got hired.”

Aclassi wilted slightly. “What about the casks, Chief? We just opened them up. With axes.”

The Iron Bull shrugged and tucked his thumbs into his belt once more. “Find some way to seal ‘em up! You’re Tevinter, right? Try blood magic.”

Fenris raised one eyebrow at the distasteful joke. Then the qunari captain turned back to face him. “We’ll have drinks sometime, you and I. I want to know how a bas like you knows our language. Your accent’s pretty bad, but your grammar is surprisingly good.”

Fenris scowled briefly; Tallis had criticized his accent too.

He lifted his chin and looked the Iron Bull directly in the eye. The qunari wasn’t going to like what Fenris was about to tell him. “I spent some time in Seheron. I fought alongside the fog warriors.”

The Iron Bull froze for an instant. It was just a brief instant, the span of a second and the blink of an eye, but Fenris saw it.

Then the qunari warrior shifted his weight and nodded as though he was impressed. “You don’t say?” he said. “Well. We definitely should catch a drink together sometime.” He turned away and waved one gigantic hand in farewell. “We’ll meet you back at Haven,” he said, then sauntered away to rejoin his men.

Fenris huffed very quietly. Then he turned away and made his way back to Hawke and the others.

“Come on, don’t keep us in suspense,” Hawke said. “What did you decide?”

Fenris sat beside her. “His company has joined the Inquisition. His reports will go past Leliana first.”

Solas and Varric nodded in approval. “A good compromise,” Blackwall said.

Hawke placed one hand on Fenris’s knee. “What are you thinking?” she asked.

He looked at her, then realized he was frowning. “Oh,” he said. “There was an odd moment. I told him I was in Seheron with the fog warriors, and he… reacted.” He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. “I wonder if perhaps I fought him there.”

Hawke’s jaw dropped, and she laughed. “Well, that’ll be awkward.”

“Ah, you’re both civilized men,” Blackwall said. “Take him to a tavern for drinks and talk it over.”

Fenris raised an eyebrow at Blackwall; he couldn’t be sure if he was kidding or not.

Varric, meanwhile, snorted with laughter. “Drinks between a qunari and an elf with a known history of ripping out perfectly functional organs? That sounds like a great plan.”

“Oh Varric, you have so little faith,” Hawke complained. “I think it’s a brilliant strategy! Especially since this Bull fellow obviously enjoys a good drink.”

Varric smirked. “So we’re calling him ‘Bull’ now, are we?”

Hawke scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m certainly not calling him ‘The Iron Bull’ every time I have to address him. Can’t be bothered to waste my breath.”

Varric tilted his head thoughtfully. “I dunno, Hawke. I think we should call him ‘Tiny’.”

Blackwall snorted with amusement, and Hawke burst into raucous laughter. “Yes!” she exclaimed. She slung an arm around Varric’s neck. “I love that. It’s perfect.” She wiped a tear of mirth from her eye, then looked up at Solas.

She tilted her head. “Solas, why so serious still? I thought this was what you wanted.”

Solas’s pensive frown cleared slightly as she addressed him. “Yes,” he said. “I… yes. Given the choices presented, I believe Fenris made the right one.” He turned his head to watch as Bull and his Chargers cleaned up the beach and readied their gear for the trip to Haven.

He sighed, then spoke quietly. “Freedom is a constant fight. A battle that may never cease.”

Fenris raised his eyebrows. Nobody spoke for a moment. Then Solas turned back to face them.

He smiled faintly as he met Hawke’s wide eyes. “Forgive me. The musings of a man who has had too little sleep,” he said. He bowed his head slightly to Fenris. “Shall we move on?”

“Yes,” Fenris said cautiously. He, Hawke, Varric and Blackwall rose to their feet, and soon they were all hiking across the hilly landscape once more and searching for clues about the Wardens’ presence, or lack thereof.

As they traversed the mountainous landscape, Blackwall asked Hawke, Varric and Fenris about their time in Kirkwall. Fenris left it to Varric and Hawke to tell the majority of the stories, interjecting on occasion to correct some of Varric’s more outlandish embellishments if Hawke was too busy laughing to do so herself.

Blackwall led the way under the sodden arching bough of a pine tree, then lifted the bough politely so the others could pass. “I’m curious, though,” he said to Varric. “Hawke said your book ends at the point when you all fled Kirkwall. Two years later, the three of you are here. What about the others?” He looked at Hawke. “Where’s your brother, for instance?”

“Ah, Carv,” Hawke said. “He’s actually still a Templar, and still in Kirkwall. But he mostly works for Aveline, hunting down abominations and such. No Circle left for him to guard, you see.”

She smiled as she spoke, and her tone was pleasant. Fenris reached over and briefly squeezed her hand. She shot him a quick little smile, but Fenris could see the sadness in her amber eyes.

Blackwall hummed with interest. “So Aveline is still in Kirkwall as well.”

“Yep,” Varric said. He clambered effortfully over a fallen tree, then sighed in annoyance before continuing. “She’s still Guard-Captain. I’m pretty sure Kirkwall would fall into the sea if she quit her job.”

Solas, who had been quiet since leaving the beach, spoke up. “What of Anders? The mage who incited the Rebellion?”

“He left Kirkwall with us,” Hawke replied. “But he didn’t stay. He…” She hesitated, then said, “He left immediately after we were clear of Kirkwall. We don’t know where he went.”

“Probably to Tevinter,” Fenris muttered resentfully, and Hawke shot him an annoyed look.

Varric glanced at Blackwall with a raised eyebrow. “We don’t know where he is, and frankly, I don’t want to know.”

Blackwall’s gaze darted between the three of them, and his tone was slightly guarded as he spoke again. “What about Isabela?”

Hawke brightened and grinned. “Oh, she’s doing fantastic. She finally got that ship she wanted.”

Varric huffed in amusement. “She went back to the Raiders. She’s calling herself an admiral now. I’m not sure if she’s really in charge or just has a really big hat.” He tilted his head thoughtfully. “Might be the same thing, honestly.”

Hawke snickered and elbowed Blackwall. “She doesn’t have a cock to wave around, so she’s got to use a hat, see?”

Blackwall coughed out a little laugh before speaking again. “I heard that Sebastian Vael was crowned the Prince of Starkhaven.”

Hawke harrumphed. “And I bet he’s really pleased about it, too.” She gave Fenris a mock-thoughtful look. “Do you think he’s still celibate now that he’s a prince again? I’m still convinced that he was so uptight because of the whole no-sex married-to-Andraste thing.”

Fenris shook his head as he gingerly stepped over a dead and decomposing nug. “Of course his sex life is the thing you wonder about since he’s been gone.”

Hawke hopped over the nug as well, then widened her eyes and linked her arm with his. “Of course it is. Who do you think you’re speaking to?”

He scoffed, and Hawke smiled. Then Solas spoke again.

“And the Dalish mage. Merrill,” he said. He looked at Hawke. “You mentioned once that she was the last one to take her leave from you and Fenris?”

Fenris stiffened slightly at the mention of Merrill, and Blackwall looked at Varric in surprise. “She was?” he said. “I thought you were the last to leave.”

Varric grimaced and shook his head. “Nah. I left a few months after Isabela. Went back to Kirkwall to try and help set things straight.”

“Oh,” Blackwall said. He looked at Fenris curiously. “What is Merrill up to now?”

Hawke’s fingers tensed slightly at the inside of his elbow. Then she released his arm.

Fenris glanced at Blackwall and Solas. “We don’t know,” he said.

Blackwall’s frown deepened. “You don’t? Why…?” His eyes widened. “Did something bad happen to her?”

“No, no,” Hawke said hastily. “Nothing like that. She just, err….” She glanced quickly at Fenris, then looked away and briefly scratched the left side of her ribs.

Fenris scowled. He did not want to talk about this with Blackwall and Solas, but forcing them to drop the issue would only make things more awkward, and Hawke was clearly feeling awkward enough already.

He faced Blackwall and Solas fully. “I had an argument with her. We had… strong differences of opinion, and she left.”

It was all they needed to know. The rest wasn’t their business. They didn’t need to know that Fenris and Merrill almost came to blows, or that Hawke had to physically place herself between them to stop the fight from happening.

They didn’t need to know how Fenris had yelled at Hawke like he hadn’t done in years. And they didn't need to know that she’d basically been forced to send Merrill away to calm him down.

A now-familiar surge of shame burned his stomach at the memory. He looked away from Solas and Blackwall and reached for Hawke’s hand.

She laced her fingers with his, but continued to avoid his eye. An uncomfortable moment later, Blackwall cleared his throat. “Solas,” he said cheerfully. “I’ve got a question about spirits for you.”

Fenris was grateful for the clumsy topic change, and even more grateful when Solas swiftly latched onto it. “Certainly,” he said. “What would you like to know?”

“Well,” Blackwall said, “you make friends with spirits in the Fade. Are there any that are more than just friends?”

Fenris, Varric, and Hawke all looked up in surprise. Solas, on the other hand, immediately scowled. “Oh, for... really?” he complained.

Blackwall innocently lifted his hands. “Look, it's a natural thing to be curious about!”

“For a twelve-year-old,” Solas retorted, but Fenris noticed that his ears were turning faintly pink.

Hawke clearly noticed it too; her expression was slowly morphing from surprise into delight.

Blackwall’s face was wreathed in the kind of shit-eating grin that Fenris was used to seeing on Hawke’s face. “It's a simple yes or no question,” he said.

“Nothing about the Fade or spirits is simple,” Solas said. “Especially not that!”

“Oh, Solas,” Hawke crooned. “Your face is turning red.” She grinned at Varric. “He looks like Cullen when anyone mentions anything about underpants.”

Varric snorted. “Hawke, you’re the only one who ever mentions underpants around Cullen.”

Fenris ignored them. He frowned at Solas. “Are you saying you have had relations with demons?” he demanded.

Hawke snorted loudly, then slapped her hands over her mouth.

Solas glared at Fenris. “I did not-” He broke off abruptly, then took a deep breath before speaking again. “Such a crude question belies the complexity of the situation,” he finally said.

Fenris came to a stop and folded his arms. “Explain it, then,” he said.

Solas scowled. “The Chantry says demons hate the natural world and seek to bring their chaos and destruction to the living,” he said. “But such simplistic labels misconstrue their motivations, and in so doing, do all a great disservice.” He took another deep breath, then lifted his chin and spoke in a more measured tone. “Spirits wish to join the living, and a demon is that wish gone wrong.”

Fenris frowned more deeply. “So you admit that spirits and demons are one and the same.”

Solas narrowed his eyes. “Yes and no,” he said. “Many spirits are a pure embodiment of a virtue or purpose. Love, for example, or wisdom. Demons arise when a spirit is corrupted from its original purpose. And the most common source of such corruption is contact with the world in which we now live.”

“That’s all it takes? Contact with our world?” Hawke asked. The juvenile humour was gone from her face, replaced with open curiosity instead.

Solas shrugged sadly. “For many lesser spirits, yes,” he said. “This world is illicit and unnatural for them. They fight to gain entrance, but when the rules of this world do not mirror theirs, they lash out. Tragic, but not evil.”

Fenris was hardly reassured. “So you are saying that any spirit who enters our world becomes a demon,” he said flatly. He turned to Hawke. “I knew Anders was an abomination from the start. Trying to tell us that his blasted vengeance demon was-”

“A spirit of justice?” Solas interrupted.

Fenris turned back to him with narrowed eyes. “Yes,” he said suspiciously. “How…?”

Solas bowed his head slightly. “This is another way that spirits become corrupted: through contact with the darker impulses of the people who live in this world.” He sighed once more. “Men are rife with such impulses: anger, ambition, greed. These are corrupting influences, and demons are a reflection of that corruption.”

Hawke nodded thoughtfully, but Fenris raised his eyebrows skeptically. “You mean to tell us you have had relationships with beings whose nature is so mutable?” he demanded. “Beings who can shift from one thing to the complete opposite based solely on the person they are in contact with?”

“And what exactly do you think happens when corporeal beings like you or I foster relations with each other?” Solas said pointedly. “Do you think your nature so immune to corruption by the mistreatment of others? Do you truly see yourself unchanged by the people you befriend? By the people you choose to love?” He gestured at Varric and Hawke.

“‘Choose’ being the crucial word,” Fenris retorted. “There is no two-sided relationship with demons. There is only possession.”

“That is incorrect,” Solas said bluntly. “There is voluntary joining, and involuntary joining. The involuntary kind is what you think of as possession. This is the purview of demons. The voluntary kind, on the other hand… I understand that it can be transformative for those who are fortunate enough to experience it.”

“And you know this how?” Fenris said shrewdly. “You told me that you set wards so you do not become possessed in the Fade. Was that a lie?”

“It is possible to have a conversation with a spirit without becoming possessed by them,” Solas said acerbically. “Just as it is possible to speak to a person without entering into sexual relations.”

At long last, Blackwall spoke up. “So you do admit that sex was involved.”

Varric coughed, and Solas rubbed his face in frustration. “Fenedhis lasa. Teldirthalelen,” he muttered. He turned on his heel and took two steps away, then suddenly turned toward Fenris once more.

“Do you scorn every being whose nature is unlike yours?” he demanded. “Whose mode of being you do not understand?”

“I tend to have scorn for any being whose primary objective is to kill me, yes,” Fenris retorted.

Solas shook his head emphatically. “That is the - what I’m trying to explain-” He abruptly stopped, and Fenris could see the muscles clenching in his jaw.

He took a deep breath, then lifted his chin. “You have never met a spirit in its purest form,” he said. “Untouched and uncorrupted by the desires of man. Perhaps you will one day, if you are fortunate.”

His voice was calm, but his eyes were hard as stone. Fenris curled his lip skeptically, but didn’t answer. He and Solas stared at each other tensely for a moment longer.

Then Solas glanced briefly at Hawke, who had been watching the argument in wide-eyed silence. “Please excuse me,” he said to her, then turned and strode away.

They watched him go in silence. Hawke pulled a face at Fenris. “Wow. You actually made him angry,” she remarked. “I didn’t think he even got angry. He’s usually so… you know…”

“Placid?” Varric suggested.

“Exactly,” Hawke said.

Fenris grunted noncommittally. “We should move on. We’ll need to be on our way to Haven by tomorrow. The mages should be rested enough to close the blasted Breach by the time we get back.”

“Good plan,” Blackwall remarked as they followed in Solas’s wake. “Besides, I have a bet with Sera to follow up on.”

Hawke looked at him quizzically. Then she grinned. “Andraste’s sacred knickers,” she breathed. “Is that why you asked him that question about sex with spirits?”

Blackwall smirked, and Hawke burst out laughing. “Oh, that’s terrible,” she crowed. “You and Sera are terrible, horrible people.” She flung her arms around Blackwall’s broad body in an impulsive hug.

Blackwall chortled, and Varric laughed along with them, but Fenris couldn’t crack a smile. The argument with Solas was disturbing him more than he cared to admit. Until this point, he and Solas had gotten along relatively well, all things considered. Neither of them was particularly prone to idle chatter, and Fenris appreciated Solas’s quiet. They seemed to have similar feelings about a number of things, including Tevinter and the Qun. Fenris had always known that Solas had an odd preoccupation with the Fade, but Solas was such a humble mage that Fenris had believed his talk about wards and precautions and careful dreamwalking. But he hadn’t known that Solas’s attitudes about spirits and demons were quite this lenient.

There had been no reason to think Solas was so liberal about demons. The elvhen mage had fiercely fought every demon they’d encountered thus far. Knowing now that Solas was open to befriending them…

But it’s the spirits that Solas spoke of befriending, not the demons, Fenris thought. If Solas was to be believed, then spirits and demons were two sides of a coin. They were the same, but also... not.

Fenris shook his head. There was no evidence to back up Solas’s claims. Every time anyone had ever spoken of spirits - Anders and his blasted justice, and Merrill with her damned spirit of wisdom - what they’d really meant was demons.

But there was that one point Solas had made. The point about corporeal people being just as strongly affected - or corrupted - by the people around them…

At that moment, Hawke came up beside him. “Hello,” she said. “Everything all right?”

Her voice was still curled with laughter, and her cheeks were pink with it. Her expression was soft and warm, and for a brief moment, Fenris studied her.

Loathe though he was to admit it, he could see Solas’s point. The person he was with Hawke was very different from the broken husk he’d been with Danarius. Fenris was happier because of Hawke. He was calmer. Less angry. More inclined to laugh. He was unequivocally a different person when he was around her, and it would be foolish to deny it. If that was true, then maybe…

He reached out and linked his fingers with hers. “Do you believe him? Solas?” he asked.

She nibbled her lower lip thoughtfully before answering. “You know what’s funny?” she said. “I wasn’t raised in a Circle. But the more we travel and the more people we meet, the more I realize that my magical education was pretty much a Circle curriculum.”

Fenris tilted his head curiously, and she elaborated. “My father taught us that demons were evil and separate from spirits. But the way Anders described his whole experience with Venjustice…” She shrugged. “If Solas is right, it would explain Anders’s situation. He started off all noble and stuff, and maybe a spirit of justice was attracted to that. Then he got angry, and his anger turned the spirit into a demon of vengeance.” She paused, and her eyes widened. “Wow. That theory is actually a perfect fit.” She looked up at Fenris.

He pursed his lips. “This does not change the fact that Anders is an abomination,” he said sternly.

Hawke tsked irritably. “All right, fine, he’s an abomination. But I don’t think he started out that way. It really sounds like his little partnership with Justice was exactly what Solas said: a voluntary joining.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “In which case, maybe Anders was getting busy with Venjustice on the regular-”

Fenris rolled his eyes. “Hawke,” he complained.

She laughed and squeezed his hand. “All right, all right. But it is an interesting theory.” She shrugged. “And who knows? Maybe we will meet a pure spirit someday. See if Solas is really right about all this.”

Fenris scoffed. “With all these angry and power-hungry factions at every corner of the continent? It seems extremely unlikely.”

“You know what else was unlikely?” she said. “You being thrown into the centre of all this. Stranger things have happened, right?”

Fenris grunted bad-temperedly. Then Hawke pulled him to a stop.

She reached up and stroked his cheek with her knuckles. “I mean it,” she said softly. “Are you all right?”

He looked down into her serious face. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her he was fine, as he’d been doing since they’d left the Hinterlands. But the whole day thus far had left him feeling particularly burnt out. There was the uncertainty of that negotiation with Bull, then the prolonged storytelling with Blackwall, and now this argument with Solas…

He glanced away from Hawke to see where the others were. Solas was still out of sight, as expected, and Blackwall and Varric were about twenty paces ahead.

He looked at Hawke once more. “I grow weary of all this company,” he said quietly. “I… Hawke, I still…”

“I know,” she whispered. She stepped closer to him and pressed her forehead to his. “I know you want to escape. I know.”

He nodded, then wrapped his arms around her. She slid her arms around his neck, and for a moment, Fenris closed his eyes and allowed himself to savour the quiet comfort of her embrace.

He breathed slowly against her fragrant hair. A minute later, she brushed her lips against his jaw.

“Come on. We should go,” she whispered.

He swallowed, then nodded. He reluctantly released her, and they hurried along in Blackwall and Varric’s wake.

Stranger things have happened, Hawke had said. And they had certainly seen some strange things in their time together. Meredith turning into red lyrium, Orsino becoming a disgusting abomination, the varterral at Sundermount and Leandra’s reanimated corpse…

Venhedis, they had seen some strange and terrible things. Compared to all of that, meeting a friendly spirit wouldn’t be at the top of the list.

But it did seem pretty damned unlikely.

************************

Qunlat phrase in this chapter: Shanedan. Ebasaam esaam kost = Greetings. We come in peace.

Elvhen phrases in this chapter, courtesy of FenxShiral on AO3: Fenedhis lasa = fuck a wolf’s cock [a very rude curse]; teldirthalelen = stupid people/people who refuse to learn.

#fenris #fenris fic #fenris the inquisitor #fenquisition #Lovers in a Dangerous Time #fenhawke #fenris/hawke #fenris x hawke #hawris #fhawris #fenris/femHawke #fenris x femhawke #fenris/f!hawke #fenris x f!hawke #iron bull #the iron bull #solas #blackwall #pikapeppa writes

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adrenaline-revolver · 7 years

Note

Same to you buddy, all three acts. :p

hm. okayAct 1!1. Who did your Inquisitor believe they saw in the fade? Did they think it was Andraste or if they believe in other gods, did they think it was a god of their own faith?Aurora honestly never stopped to think about it, whatever it was was helping her.2. Did your Inquisitor want to seek the Chantry’s aid or did they do it grudgingly? What relationship does your Inquisitor have with the chantry and why?It was absolutely grudgingly. She hadn’t exactly heard good things about them before the events of the game and was not impressed with what she saw.3. What drove your Inquisitor to track down either the mages or the templars? Was it a personal decision or solely what your Inquisitor believed would be best to close the Breach? She knew from the beginning that she was going to go with the mages. She saw it as an opportunity to truly help them and her best chance at closing the Breach4. How did your Inquisitor react in the aftermath of either Champions of the Just or In Hushed Whispers? Were they shaken by the confrontation with the Envy demon/dwell on the dark future they saw in Redcliffe or were they unfazed?She was deeply shaken by the future she and Dorian where sent to. She hasn’t mentioned it to Dorian but she still worries about it. She wonders if just because she may never experience that world if it doesn’t still exist.

5. What did your Inquisitor do to the templars/mages? Conscription, alliance or banishment/disbanding? Why?

The mages where allied with. She figured it would bother the humans but proposed that it be like probation. If they can seal the Breach and in general fight for the inquisition with hardly any trouble than it proves what the mages where trying to tell them all along.

6. Was your Inquisitor uncomfortable with their title or did they embrace it? Would they have chosen to join the Inquisition if they had been given the option?

She didn’t really like the title herald of andraste. It felt weird to be the herald of a woman she didn’t believe in. Inquisitor was a lofty title that she wasn’t sure she deserved but one that she felt suited a bit more. She would have likely joined for the sake of closing the breach.Act 2!1. What did your Inquisitor think of the Hawke they met? Did they clash? Were they friends? Was your Inquisitor in awe of the champion?

She was a touch starstruck but did her best to hide it. She wanted to hear all about Vixen Hawke’s adventures but played it cool. They got to be pretty fast friends thanks to Varric starting the two on the topic of Cullen’s hair.2. Which warden ally (Loghain, Stroud or Alistair) did your Inquisitor meet? What became of the warden ally and why did your Inquisitor choose to spare/sacrifice them?She thought that Stroud was a brave and decent man. A shining example for Wardens to follow. But she still couldn’t let her new friend stay. She knows Hawke will be frustrated, but once Hawke sees Fenris again she’ll forget all about it. 3. How did your Inquisitor react to the Nightmare and the spirit of the Divine? Did these encounters affect them in the long-term? If yes, how so?She was more pissed than anything. Yes, the prospect of her failing was terrifying but to go after her companions was infuriating. The spirit of the Divine was actually really reassuring. Something positive from the fade wants her to do this. And she was thrilled to be able to help Leliana afterwards.4. What was your Inquisitor’s final impression of Warden-Commander Clarel? What happened to the Wardens, banishment or an alliance, and how did your Inquisitor decide what to do with them?Her heart broke for Clarel. Yes she made terrible desperate decisions but when faced with the truth she gave her life to right them. She debated banishment but if she extended a chance at redemption to the mage rebellion then it would only be right to ally with the wardens as well. She pretended to listen to the ass-chewing she got about blood magic from almost everyone.

5. What did your Inquisitor think of Orlais before going to the Winter Palace? Had they crossed paths with The Game or any Orlesians before?She thought they where all stuck up Shems that built a kingdom over a graveyard. Other than Leliana and Viviene her experience with them and the game was very minimal. 6. Which potential leader of Orlais (Celene, Briala or Gaspard) did your Inquisitor approve of the most? Which one did they end up backing? Was it a choice based off of personal wants or the necessary choice to win the war?She didn’t quite approve of any of them honestly. She ended up backing Celene and reuniting her with Briala. This gave her the stability she needed from their ally and opened a door to furthering the rights of elves in Orlais. 7. Did your Inquisitor stay in contact with any of the Orlesian leaders (if they weren’t killed)? Would they ever consider willingly returning to Orlais?She stayed in contact with Briala. Both out of personal interest in her as a friend and to ensure that she’s being treated well.8. Does your Inquisitor have any regrets about their decision on the fate of Orlais, who they chose to rule? What would they have changed if they could?

She wishes she could have arranged a marriage between Celene and Briala rather than a secret relationship. She’s well aware that its wishful thinking and fantasy but the prospect of an elvehn woman as Empress Consort! Act 3!1. What became of Corypheus’ generals, either Calpernia or Samson? What did your Inquisitor think of them? Misguided but redeemable, or evil?She found Samson pitiful honestly. When told of his dependencies and disgraces she couldn’t help but feel this was a misguided attempt at redeeming himself and a chance to get another hit.2. How did your Inquisitor react to the Well of Sorrows? Did it mean anything to them? Did they feel a connection to the history it contained?She was completely awed. The mere idea of it would be enough to make her tear up but to look at it sitting right in front of her. Hear its whispers.3. Who drank from the well, Morrigan or your Inquisitor, and what were your Inquisitor’s reasons for who drank? Were they fearful of Morrigan? Did they desire the secrets of the well?Despite being begged not to she drank from the well. It wasn’t about a distrust of Morrigan, infect she quite liked her, but the promise of knowledge about her people. As someone who was raised with the intention of becoming a Keeper it was impossible to deny. 4. What did your Inquisitor think of Flemeth? Were they suspicious of her powers? Are they curious about her?She’s incredibly curious about Flemeth but also quite wary. Anyone with the amount of power that this woman wields is dangerous. Even if she truly is Mythal.5. What were your Inquisitor’s plans after defeating Corypheus? Did they intend to abandon their role as Inquisitor or remain with the Inquisition? After defeating Corypheus her ideal was to right the wrongs done by him. Continue working as inquisitor while removing the red lyrium, restoring peace, and helping people.6. Was defeating Corypheus a personal goal for your Inquisitor by the end of Inquisition? What was their first reaction/emotion immediately after the death of Corypheus?Absolutely. She wanted to end the ass with her own hands. He’d claimed too many lives for it to not be personal. The first thing she felt was relief. Complete and total relief. It was soon followed by worry and crushing heartbreak when she notices who wasn’t there to congratulate her.

#long post #Aurora Lavellan

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ass-sass-sin-archived-blog · 7 years

Note

Codex Prompts

11. Your OC’s description of their game’s events

Several sheets of parchment are found stuffed in Talon’s old desk, folded and starting to yellow with age. The writing is hurried, as though the author were trying to get the words down on the page before they could escape, even more so as it went on. Spelling mistakes litter the pages, dated 9:65 Dragon. (Under cut for length.)

Look. I ain’t no story teller. That’s Varric’s job. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned from all this shit, is that history gets rewritten to suit whoever damn well wants to be in charge. Or just conveniently forgotten entirely. I ain’t stupid, and everyone knew from the beginning that if that damn dwarf ever wrote a book on this shit, no one’s gonna believe it. I don’t care if no one reads this, or if you use it for fire kindling, but at least it’s out and written down. That is what matters. Maybe then I can process it. It feels like a lifetime ago and I guess in a way it is.

I woke up a prisoner, swords pointed at me, and with a killer headache. Kinda figured I got wasted and fucked up big time, which really wouldn’t have surprised me none. Nah, that ain’t it though. There were peace talks going on at the Conclave, Temple of Sacred Ashes. Mages and Templars trying to sort out their differences and stop the fucking war between them that caught up the rest of Southern Thedas in it. Turns out the entire thing went up in flames (figuratively I think, literally, it was an explosion) and that caused this giant hole in the sky that shat out demons everywhere. Tore a hole in the Veil. I wound up with this fucking glowing green mark on my hand (later we called it the Mark or the Anchor, why the Anchor, fuck if I know) and turns out that (surprise) this weird magicky shit can fix things.

Didn’t know that off the bat though. First day I was awake Cassandra took me to show me what happened, ended up meeting Solas and Varric along the way. Solas “had a feeling” the Mark could close the rift we were dealing with (Oh yeah, there were OTHER smaller holes in the sky that were also shitting demons everywhere, real fun time let me tell you- not) which surprise, it could. (Explanation later.) Also important note the Mark was trying to kill me because ~magic~.

Decide “oh, let’s use that to seal the Maker’s asshole (the Breach) that’s currently shitting demons everywhere even though you just woke up” which amazingly worked. Woke up, apparently in three days I went from being blamed for the Divine’s death (ok so just because I’ve killed a lot of people even prior to this doesn’t mean she was on my hit list, rude fucks) to being named the fucking Herald of Andraste. My name’s not Harold, it’s Talon. Which was bullshit and I knew it even then, but nooooo religious fanatics have decided that THAT was who pulled my dumb ass out of the Fade. Alrighty.

Cassandra Pentaghast and Leliana (later Divine Victoria) start the Inquisition again. I think they’re both insane, because they kept asking my help to run shit.

Anyways, there’s this issue with the mages rebelling against the Circles and the Templars basically had gone rogue. We needed help properly sealing the Maker’s asshole (because apparently the first time was only a temporary fix?) and oh yeah we were declared heretics by the Chantry. Apparently they only do that to organizations and not individuals, because I’m surprised they took so long declaring me one. Whatever.

Asked the mages for help. Decided to power up the Mark and see what happened. Little catch though, turns out that Venatori (Vint cultists) “took in” the rebel mages. Long story short there, head Venatori dude threw me and Dorian Pavus (really awesome guy) a year forward into time, we got back to regular time, and kicked his ass and sealed the Breach. Don’t ask details, I don’t fucking know. I’m no mage.

Apparently that pissed off the darkspawn wanna be god named Corypheus who was the mastermind behind the Conclave explosion (if you could call him a mastermind). He and the Templars and Venatori attacked Haven and caught us by surprise, the others got out while I dumped a mountain of snow on them, apparently everyone thought I died. Surprise motherfuckers, I didn’t.

Find Skyhold because Solas used his super elfy senses to find the place (for real though, Skyhold’s a pretty great place, well defendable and it’s a fucking castle), set up base camp there and get ourselves situated. Save Crestwood from undead (almost as bad as darkspawn I’m telling you), meet more awesome people, blah blah blah, Inquisitor to the rescue again. Oh yeah, I got named Inquisitor, that was not fun. You’d have thought we talked about that before, but nah man. Guess not. “Surprise, you have two titles and no last name, congrats” ok then.

Met Hawke, Champion of Kirkwall. Awesome guy, great drinking buddy. Wardens are disappearing, followed that trail to Adamant Fortress. Turns out Corypheus was manipulating the Calling and freaking them all out and somehow that translated into “let’s make a demon army with blood magic”. And I thought I made bad decisions. Kicked ass, stopped the ritual, fell into the Fade. Again.

Going into the Fade isn’t fun, don’t do it. 0/10, would not recommend. Find out the old Divine, Divine Justinia saved me not Andraste (surprise everyone, I was right it wasn’t Andraste) and the Wardens were using her as a sacrifice or something so Corypheus could enter the Black City and claim godhood. Dude’s seriously delusional. Warden Stroud stayed behind to hold off the demons letting us escape at the end of it all.

Other note, formalities suck ass, parties more, and Orlesians the most. Usually Josephine Montilyet is the one who dealt with that shit (especially after I told someone apparently important to go fuck a nug) but no, gotta have the Inquisitor at the parties. Oh yeah, Orlais was also in a civil war because Gaspard wanted Celene’s throne. Slimy bastard. Anyways turns out there was an assassin in the group ready to dispose of Celene, turned out that assassin was Florienne her cousin. Fun shit, seriously. Assassins, that I can do.

Blah blah blah, sealing rifts, going dragon hunting, helping the little people and flipping off nobles, same shit different day. Good times, kinda.

Elfy things. Always with the fucking elfy things. I like elves more than the next guy probably, but damn. So much elf shit to sort through. Turns out Fuckface Mcgee (that’s Corypheus, keep up) is wanting some shit at an old elfy place. Alright, cool. Wind up in the Arbor Wilds, searching for the Temple of Mythal. Also something something red lyrium is bad shit, don’t do it. Anyways, wind up there, run into some old ass elves. Kick ass together, had to drink the Well of Sorrows or Corypheus gets his hands on it. Apparently this holds a shit ton of old elven knowledge collected over the years and drinking binds you to their god Mythal who’s seen as a protector. I wasn’t touching that shit thanks, pushed Morrigan in since she was so eager.

Not entirely sure what all Morrigan learned, not sure I wanna know honestly. Anyways she learned how to turn into a dragon and is now bound to her mother (Who’s kinda Mythal? Don’t ask I don’t really know.). I want to be a dragon damnit.

Get dragged back down south to the Frostback Basin. Apparently the last Inquisitor’s last known location was there and we get to go searching for him. It seemed like it could be useful and fun. It wasn’t fun. Meet friendly Avvar who were really nice, allied with them, turns out there’s this fortress with a gate encased in impenetrable ice. Still wondering how they got supplies in and out of there really, never did sort that out. Took care of that with some really awesome ancient Tevene tech that I wanna poke at more, and apparently Inquisitor Ameridan is

1. An elf2. Had set out to slay Hakkon.

Guess what Hakkon is. A god. Specifically, a dragon-god. Got the whole “by the way, I barely was able to contain him with my magic you can do the honors because I was too weak have fun” speech before Ameridan died. Did that. Went to the Deep Roads.

The Deep Roads fucking SUCK. I am from Ferelden, I lived there through the Blight, my hometown was destroyed during it, I’ve seen more than my share of fucking darkspawn by the time I was 10. No thanks. Met Shaper Valta who’s really smart and the Legion of the Dead, we kept going deeper and deeper into the Deep Roads dealing with darkspawn. Yuck. Turns out the earthquakes jeopardizing the lyrium mines (which is why we were called, to secure this) was being caused by a Titan. Who woke up or whatever it is they do. Surprise, lyirum is Titan blood and this thing’s attacking us and shit and gotta kill it. Alrighty. Did that.

Kicked Corypheus’s ass. Soundly. We’ve defeated an actual god and not a raving lunatic, a Titan, and a shit ton of dragons. This shit was in a bag. Problem solved. Except not.

Fast forward 2 years, no one’s happy with us. Ferelden wants us disbanded, Orlais wants us to be “honor guard of the Divine” who ended up being our old spymaster Leliana. Told them to go fuck themselves. Uncover a Qunari plot to blow up the whole Winter Palace, deal with that and another dragon. Run into Solas who disappeared after the battle with Corypheus. Turns out he gave the orb to him because ~reasons~, elven gods are all assholes, and oh yeah got to go into the Crossroads (which is like a really weird world between worlds?) and yeah. Solas is also apparently the elven god Fen’harel. Surprise. Lost my arm because the mark was trying to murder my ass again, and from what I’ve been told I stormed into the Exalted Council, threw the book at the Orlesian rep’s face (with surprising accuracy considering how wasted I was) and told them I’m disbanding the Inquisition and they can all go fuck themselves.

Best drunk decision ever.

And that’s the jist of what happened with the Inquisition.

#fxdctouchcd #this got so long #omg #A+ scholarly material right there lmao #please imagine this being used as historical documents by historians and in classrooms in the modern age

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maiden-of-wolves · 6 years

Text

OCs as DA: Inquisition Companions

Name: Naema Tabris

Race / Class / Specialization: Elf / Warrior / Reaver

Gender Identity: Female; she/her

Varric’s Nickname for them: Tiger

Short Bio: As stubborn as her mother Adaia ever was, possibly more so, she’s usually kept in check by her adoptive human sister Idrilla. When not kept in check, she is a bull in a china shop and will often make a mess of any kind of bargain just because she is terribly blunt and legitimately does not consider other people’s feelings beyond her sister’s and anyone she’s currently involved with romantically/sexually. She does honestly enjoy physical fights and makes a point of showing off when she can, especially against humans and against nobles just to remind them that ‘others’ are strong, too.

What would their companion card look like?

<<picture>>

Recruitment Mission: <<TBD>>

Where would they be in Skyhold / Haven? In either place, she’d be at the tavern or the training grounds. Quest 1: <<TBD>>

Quest 2: <<TBD>>

Quest 3: <<TBD>>

How to get their approval:

Be bold and brash, but not stupid or arrogant; Help elves; Help people that are struggling.

How to get their disapproval:

Betray elves; be mean to her sister; help nobles at the detriment of those beneath them

Are they romanceable?

Yes. By females of any race.

Can you have sex with them?

Yes. She’s easy to get in the sack, but hard to keep around. She’ll stick around if you keep pursuing her, though.

Are they open to polyamoury?

Possibly, but she gets jealous easily so you need to be certain to tell her what’s going on before flirting and opening up the relationship to a new partner. She’ll likely make it difficult for the addition until she trusts them. She would be highly unlikely to join an already established relationship aside from a tumble in the sheets.

If they can be romanced and are not will they begin a relationship / relationships with other characters? If so, who?

She would pursue Leliana (she romanced her canonly when she was the Hero of Ferelden). If she wasn’t open to it at all, Naema would change target to Josephine.

Who are they friendly with?

The Iron Bull and her are constantly play sparring and will do arm wrestling matches for fun in the tavern.

She likes Varric and his stories. Despite almost always losing at Wicked Grace, she enjoys the banter and drinking too much to not play.

Naema likes Sera, but only to participate in the pranks. If her sister’s around, she’ll chastise them both for doing so and drag Naema away from Sera.

She respects Cassandra and often requests to spar with her. They maintain a healthy respect for each other, though she does tease her and suggest she should go for women.

Cullen bores her, but she respects his ability to inspire the troops.

She is enamored with Leliana and bothers her as much as she can, spending inordinate amount of time trying to learn about her so she can properly woo her. She’s also legitimately fascinated by the crows that Leliana uses and enjoys feeding them/petting them.

If her attempts with Leliana fail, which they likely will, Naema will turn her attention to the beautiful Josephine. She tries to learn how to help her in diplomacy but ends up being more of her intimidating bodyguard in the process. She often brings her gifts, ranging from noble foodstuffs that were left for the Inquisitor (that they didn’t want) to jewelry and fancy fabrics.

She’ll often try and spar with Blackwall as well, and the two have fun banter between each other and mutual respect. I have a feeling that he might even stumble his way into a confession and she’s just like, “oh. Uh…. yeah…. I don’t like men.” ~cue awkward music~ xD

Who do they dislike?

She doesn’t trust Solas. AT ALL. She knows/can ‘feel’ he’s hiding some shit and doesn’t like it. Plus, he seems to look down at city and Dalish elves, which pisses her off.

She also doesn’t trust Cole at all. Doesn’t like anything about him, even if he helps people. Too much disappearing and weird talking.

She doesn’t like Vivienne because of how stuffy she is.

Knowing what his homeland is known for, Naema doesn’t trust Dorian. They have a bit of a bonding moment over the fact that they shirked their parents wishes to not live a lie, though.

Cole’s reading:

“Grins for a shem… they never saw it coming. Blood fuels a fire. I will not live as less.”

Companion card changes:

Loyalty:

Romance:

Side Mission:

When nearing a hidden item:

“Might wanna look around here a bit.”

When seeing a high dragon:

“Just think of the armor you could forge with its scales! We must bring it down.”

Side quest reaction(s):

Low health:

“Gotta keep… going…!”

“Damned Blighters!”

The Inquisitor falls:

(friendly or romanced) “You can’t—!”

(low or neutral approval) ~growls~ “Get up!”

Greeting(s) / Goodbye(s):

Low approval:

“What?”

“Don’t waste my time.”

Neutral approval:

“Hey.”

“We’ve both got places to be.”

Friendly:

“I guess you need somethin’?”

“See you around, then.”

Romanced:

“Good to see ya, lover.”

“Save me a spot next to you tonight.” ^_-

Opinions on mages / templars / how the world is going to shit?

She doesn’t really trust mages or templars, honestly. The abuses that the templars are now known for are too similar to her own encounters with the Arl’s men to not make her wary. At the same time, she knows little of magic other than it’s extremely powerful. She just want the sky to stop raining demons to make the world safer for herself and her sister.

Something guaranteed to make them leave the party?

If you kill her sister instead of recruiting her or if you betray either of them.

Imprisoned at Redcliffe

How is your OC holding up in Redcliffe, being slowly infected with red lyrium over the course of a year?

<<TBD>>

The Fade

How they react:

1 part “Nope” to 1 part “What the Fuck?!” and another part “Fuck this.” xD

Constantly looking around being weirded out by how pretty much nothing works like it’s supposed to and that fucks with her head. She checks things when they get out just to make sure they don’t start floating or something.

Their tombstone:

Helplessness

What fears look like:

Black, formless mists

What the Nightmare says:

“Idrilla has the most delicious nightmares, you know. I’ll feed well from her when you’re gone.”

(if romanced) “Swing all you like, Reaver. My power cannot be cut down. It will snake into every corner of your life and drag all you love into the Fade.”

Hawke or Warden:

She doesn’t really care. She just wants out of the Fade ASAP. Minor approval boost for either choice.

The Wardens - Exile or Allies?

Considering all the things they did, she’d rather not have them in Ferelden...but she also knows they’re needed when another blight comes. Minor approval drop for exile, minor approval boost for allies.

Halamshiral

Where they linger:

By The Iron Bull. She likes to practice people watching with him because he’s a patient teacher.

Are they good at the Game?

No. And she wouldn’t be even if she could learn. Too much double speak for her. Say what you mean or don’t say it at all. Plus, she hates how nobles look down on people outside their insular circlesjust for being ‘other’. Too much like what she experienced as an elf in the Denerim Alienage.

What people say about them:

“Why must that elf hang about the Qunari? It’s bad enough having one of them in regalia!”

“I really must speak to Cullen about that rude elf! They need to punish her for that tongue of hers.”

Gaspard, Briala or Celene?

Briala blackmailing Gaspard. Major approval boost.

Minor approval boost for Gaspard or Briala and Celene together.

Moderate approval drop for Celene alone.

Temple of Mythal

Rituals or Hole?

Hole. No questions. All this ceremony is bullshit and useless. Get in, get this well and get out. Period. Moderate approval drop if you choose to do the rituals.

“What? Why?! We’ve got a shortcut. Take the damned shortcut!”

Agree with the Elves’ bargain?

While she thinks they’re assholes, it seems wrong to kill them when they’re technically intruding on their turf/home. Minor approval boost for agreeing. Moderate approval drop for killing them.

Morrigan or the Inquisitor for the Well?

If they’re not involved, she won’t care either way. If they are involved, she’ll insist on letting Morrigan or destroying the well altogether (Major approval drop if you ignore her, too. She doesn’t want a ‘possessed’ partner. Honestly, there may actually be call for a scene whene they get back to Skyhold of her being very upset and saying she wants to break this off; it’ll take quite a bit to get her to calm down).

Trespasser:

If romanced, she’ll happily remain with the Inquisitor. Being intimidating bodyguard and saucy bed warmer.

If not, she’ll pursue Josephine and will be by her side as much as the diplomat would want her. She gets that she’s not that helpful in some situations and watches from afar (usually with Varric or The Chargers/The Iron Bull).

#OC: Naema Tabris #Naema Tabris #Naema #oc #female #elf #OC's as Inquisition companions #companion info #DA:I companion

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