#denerim elf

[jadewing-realms]

This week is going way too slow but at least I'm learning to draw on my phone more. Have a slightly unhinged know-it-all.

Made using these lovely things.

#dao #dragon age #dragon age origins #circle mage #denerim elf #m!warden #surana #salem surana #zevwarden #zevleliem #poly!warden #zevran x salem x leliana #warden commander #character sheet #zevran x warden #lelianna x warden #marianchurchland #myart

[sapphodera]

The Battle of Denerim

#dragon age origins #warden mahariel #dao #dragon age fan art #da #grey warden #denerim #digital art #dalish elf #sid draws #oc: ashadin'an mahariel

[frecklef0x]

“Aidah! What happened? Where is your mother?”

“She told me to run, and I did. I left her. I left her behind.”

#not me thinking about Aidan’s backstory again #which I still haven’t shared with anyone 🙃 #I want to make it a comic but that will take a million years haha #basically teenage Aidah and her mother robbed Denerim nobility to give back to the alienage #Adaia was the first Dark Wolf and meant to pass the mantle to Aidah #long story short she is killed on a job #frecklef0x #my art #Aidah Tabris #adaia tabris #dragon age #warden tabris #Tabris #city elf #city elf origin #dragon age origins #da:o #blood tw #injury tw #dragon age fanart #hero of ferelden #denerim alienage #denerim #warden commander #grey warden #character art #bioware #bioware fanart

[calico-callista]

City elf origin

#dragon age #world state 2 #dragon age origins #Evelyn Tabris #city elf origin #warden Tabris #elven warden #grey Warden #Vaughan Kendells #Denerim #Alienage #really did wanna take this dude’s head off #city elf #Tabris #dragon age art #digital art

[bumblerhizal-art]

got bored and tried redesigning his warden gear again + slapped together seals for the denerim alienage bannorn and the grey wardens

also pickled beets for the soul. he is sharing.

#dragon age #novhen tabris #he’s not technically part of the governance of the denerim alienage but everyone knows he might as well be #he’s the reason it has any sovereignty and named the bann (who is also his cousin and they frequently exchange letters) #yes it is just the city elf origin icon and yes it is a little bit phallic #but that’s not his problem

[flashhwing]

thought maybe if i opened a new save for origins i might make it through the, well, origin without crashing

made a city elf

didn't even make it out the DOOR before it crashed

#considering the most common complaint is it crashes in denerim ... and teh city elf starts in denerim ... #shoulda seen it coming #i've done EVERYTHING i did EVERY FIX i installed teh 4gb patch i set the affinity and NOTHNG WORKS HHHHGGG #this has been a post #please i just wanna play this stupid fuck game #ash plays dragon age

[huldrabitch]

I hope they make a hawke-like character for dreadwolf or at the very least gives us origins like in dao. Because this very vague inquisitor stuff in daI is ehhhh

#I choose trevelyan mage mostly because it Makes sense in my head and the protags explanations are “maker” and stuff regardless of race so #Idk the circumstances too #As an elf id simply leave. #I actually really like adaars role in it all except how shitty the camera angles are and how little dialogue options they get #It's just you and bull as the only qunari at skyhold basically and you're not even a part of the culture you're vasoth #So as a person they're interesting and fits perfectly in as the body guard who was trying to protect the divine and failed etc #But it's lonely #You barely get to communicate with your mercenary team #And cadash is a criminal it's an interesting perspective and all but it's weirdly fit in? #Idk idk #Humans are more basic but in daI the feel like they fit better in when it comes to the remade voice and situation #Especially the mage who were at the conclave with the others #A templar could have been interesting too honestly #Idk hawkes origin is good becayse they're substance and personality even if you pick one #They have family and they have a compelling and fitting intro #Eh #In dao you get to choose and a whole intro to the game is dependant on what you pick. The rest really doesn't matter when it comes to race #Because the warden is a role and mostly uninvolved in public politics #But even then its better done than dai with their references in dalish camps and denerim if you're an elf #Or oraammar depending on your status as a dwarf #The mage and the couslands too ah #Dreadwolf #Dragon age

[edlynnrose]

Dragon Age Origins ▴ Origin Stories [2/∞] ↳ City Elf Origin — A Day for Celebration

"Please, my lord! We're celebrating weddings, here!" "Silence, worm!" "Are you insane?! This is Vaughan Urien, the arl of Denerim's son!"

#dragon age origins #daedit #daoedit #edlynndaoedit #edlynnedit #gamingedit #dailygaming #vgedit #shianni tabris #warden tabris #da origins #dao

[razrogue]

Because they are on my mind this morning...

I truly believe Briva and Zevran saved each other. Briva had no qualms about dying after rescuing her cousin and neighbors. She was ready to go down fighting right there in the alienage cause fuck shems thinking they can do whatever they want. Duncan saved her then but that feeling of fuck it, it's whatever never went away. After finding out about the ritual's effects and what it meant for her life, her attitude was just whatever, it is what it is. If she was meant to die then she would. It made her dangerous but reckless and Alistair and Sten were the only ones willing to tell her (in their own ways...well Sten was straightforward but still) you need to chill out a little bit. "I'm ready to die" was always in the back of her mind whenever they got into a fight. It was always the last one to her.

And then there was Zevran...

The assassin who failed miserably at his task thanks to the dangerously reckless elf standing over him as he came to, hoping he'd died himself. He pledged himself to her cause despite his own internal death wish. And despite everyone's protests, as Briva stood over him that day, she reached her hand out and said come with me.

Then one night after dinner, sitting near each other by the fire, Zevran asked her if she wanted to have a little fun and Briva said sure. And they continued fighting and continued having fun, until one day Briva decided to ask him sincerely to hang out together. Never mind that they'd seen every inch of each other and did things with each other that some didn't until at least 3 dinners and a drink together. It was the first time that both of them were just honest with each other. And so that night the two of them just talked. They talked honestly and openly and without judgment and they talked so long that the sun began rising and the camp began stirring. That night was the turning point for them. Not all the wonderfully delicious sex they'd had but the night the two of them let their guards down fully and really exposed themselves to each other. It was uncharted territory for both of them but they embraced it and walked on together.

From then on, they watched out for each other a little more. A throwing knife into a dark spawn who was getting a little too close. Sand thrown in the eyes of a bandit swinging in the other's vicinity. It was a bit of a dance for the two of them as they watched over each other while cutting down foes. They'd developed not only a harmony but a friendship then a relationship that was new for them both but a journey they'd decided on together.

And so the night before the archdemon's army reached Denerim, they laid together in silence, wrapped in each other's arms. Neither knowing what to say exactly but wanting to cherish the moment like it was the last. As Zevran slept soundly beside her, Briva thought to herself that she wasn't ready to die anymore. She wanted another day, another night, and to have many more with him at her side, in her bed, and in her heart. And she promised to him as he slept, "I will come back to you." With a renewed purpose, she was determined to not allow this battle to make a liar out of her.

#Briva Tabris #Tabris #Zevran Arainai #Zevran #Dragon Age #Dragon Age Origins #DAO #Zevwarden #Zevran x Tabris #razmeta #these two 🥺 #I'm just a little teary thinking about them...it's cool

[v-arbellanaris]

i admire people who ship maric/loghain in a healthy way mostly bc i'm not one of them. there's SO MUCH weird & fucked up history between them. loghain's dad ends up dying because loghain brought maric to their camp, and loghain blatantly blames him for it until he doesn't. loghain tries to leave maric but maric begs for him to stay on his knees, shirtless, and loghain agrees to it and also gets on his knees to swear fealty to maric. loghain stabs a bann for disrespecting maric and maric just goes along with it. a bog witch possessed by an elven god tells maric that loghain will continuously betray him. loghain pushed maric into killing his lover and maric married loghain's lover, who was maric's childhood betrothed anyway??

and then she held such a grudge about it that loghain exiled himself from denerim until she DIED and he only came back because mother ailis asked him to, and she only did that because maric was inconsolable until a 30 minute peptalk with loghain. loghain moves back to denerim and motherhens the fuck out of maric until he feels so suffocated and overwhelmed and alone that he tries to off himself in the deep roads but DOESN'T because he falls in love with another elf. maric dreams about his wife being married to loghain. maric genuinely believes that if loghain had married rowan, rowan would still be alive. maric gets kidnapped by darkspawn and is remarkably chill about it because he's 100% sure that loghain is going to rescue him. and somehow, loghain manages to find the exact location maric is at about 5 minutes after he arrives there and saves him

loghain is still married to another woman the entire time he's living in denerim with maric. and he only goes back to bring his daughter to denerim and then leaves his wife on the other side of the country to live with maric. loghain brings his daughter to denerim and raises her with maric's son, who he then leaves behind to die, in part because of a promise maric told him to make. when maric goes missing, loghain almost bankrupts the entire country looking for him

maric, despite being the most aggravating annoying bullheaded impulsive person loghain knows, is such a paragon of goodness in loghain's mind that everyone else is judged on a maric metric. no one else ever measures up to the maric that lives in his head, least of all either of maric's sons, or himself, or anyone else, ever. he yells maric's name in battle years after the man's gone missing, presumed dead, and when he passes out, thinking he's dying, his last words are about how he's disappointed maric. maric, trapped in the fade for years, refuses to come back to the waking world because loghain is not in it.

like. hello. they're so fucked up & i love them for it

#vee rewrites da #is there anything more delicious than a love that could have been so good except everything went wrong about it from the start #neither of them can see past the myth of the other and it makes me FERAL #loghain mac tir #maric theirin #loghain x maric #vee.txt

[dalishious]

Returning from Adamant.

#LowElfEsteem is a series on Sera’s romance with an elf, discussing both the well and poorly done aspects of her writing, while also examining her character on a deeper level.

I was originally going to put these part and the next part together in one post, but realized I had a lot more to say than I expected, and figured they were better blocked separately… Anyway, let’s get to it!

When you return from Adamant Fortress, the first thing Sera does… is swings a punch at you. Sera then says that she was horrified at the idea of the Inquisitor being trapped in the Fade, because she can’t stand to think of losing her. Now, I think this is supposed to be played off as cute or for laughs – it could almost fall into an example of the Slap-Slap-Kiss trope, if there was a kiss. It wouldn’t be the first time BioWare pulled this either; Jack in Mass Effect 3 also punches romanced Shepard, saying “that was for leaving, dumbass”, followed by a kiss.

The idea I believe, is to show that these characters, Jack and Sera, don’t know how to express their concerns for their loved one, and so they turn to physical violence. The problem is, that’s not cute or funny. It’s unhealthy. And depicting it as cute or funny is just normalizing abusive behaviour.

It would have been nice if the Inquisitor actually had the chance to confront Sera about this, but of course, there is none. The closest would be that you can ask “what was that for?” but Sera is the type of person that needs things explained clearly. A better response would be to just tell her something like, “that’s not cool; people in love don’t punch each other!”

The conversation moves on though, to Sera talking about the Grey Wardens. The Inquisitor can ask her about her experience in Ferelden during the Blight. Sera is very vague with her answer, and here’s why I think that is: Sera remembers the Blight very well, but because she doesn’t want to think about it or talk about it, she is dismissive in her answer. The reason I believe this is so, is because she exhibits this trait in other conversations, like when you first ask her about her background compared to asking her later once she’s warmed up to you.

Additionally, there is this codex entry piece if you bring her with you in your party when fighting darkspawn:

Addendum: On Sera's hatred of darkspawn Having read the reports, I might have expected that someone with ties to Ferelden—and specifically Denerim—would harbor a violent dislike of darkspawn. Whatever claims she has to family, all were threatened during the blight.

And sure enough, Sera does really hate darkspawn—she has dialogue making this very clear when fighting them. That hatred isn’t just your average dislike, it’s someone who has personally been threatened by them before.

I can only imagine how traumatizing it would be, as a young elven girl stuck in the city during the Battle of Denerim.

#sera #dragon age #dai #meta #low elf esteem

[vigilskeep]

Modern au > real world au

nothing truly delights my soul more than a modern au where the characters suddenly mention that they’re at Denerim University or that a character is an elf

[nanowatzophina]

OC Questionnaire! (Warden Edition as well)

Thanks to @dungeons-and-dragon-age for tagging me! I'm gonna do my Wardens as well since... like her, I don't wanna go on too long and... I really would go on too long if I did anything besides my wardens...

Even with just my wardens it's going to go for a while... so I apologize

This is my second time typing this all out-- so bear with me...

NAME: Rosal Surana

NICKNAME: Rose/Rosie? Not a lot of people actually use nicknames for her but those are an option.

GENDER: Female (she/they)

STAR SIGN: ((I don't know enough about Star Signs or Tarot cards so-- I'm just not going to answer these ones)

HEIGHT: Average for an elf

ORIENTATION: Biromantic Asexual

NATIONALITY/ETHNICITY: Ferelden! Born in Denerim to be specific but her mother was a Dalish elf.

FAVORITE FRUIT: Peaches

FAVORITE SEASON: Fall! When the air becomes crisp.

FAVORITE FLOWER: Lilies and Lilacs

FAVORITE SCENT: Floral scents remind her of her mother, Firewood, Old parchment, new books, charcoal

COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: Hot Chocolate or Chai with honey

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: Depends on if she has a new book she's trying to read... But usually like... 5? 5 hours sounds right...

DOGS OR CATS: Both!

DREAM TRIP: A historical trip around different places she's read about!

NUMBER OF BLANKETS: One really thick and fuzzy one.

RANDOM FACT: She can not do healing magic to save her life and yet that won't stop her from trying. That's how she got those scars, trying to heal herself in the fight going up the Tower of Ishal but just making it scar over really badly. But hey, at least it stopped bleeding.

NAME: Lannaris Mahariel

NICKNAME: Lan or Lanna

GENDER: Female (she/her)

HEIGHT: On the shorter side for an elf which makes her pretty short compared to humans.

ORIENTATION: Gay. Lesbian. Women.

NATIONALITY/ETHNICITY: Dalish!

FAVORITE FRUIT: Plums or Blackberries

FAVORITE SEASON: Spring or Summer (before it gets to hot)

FAVORITE FLOWER: Geranium

FAVORITE SCENT: Woodsy, right after rain,

COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: Herbal tea

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: 6. Schedules are important to her.

DOGS OR CATS: Cats, she's actually scared of dogs (which is why she never went to the kennel in Ostagar's camp)

DREAM TRIP: The Arbor Wilds, just to see the trees...

NUMBER OF BLANKETS: 1-2

RANDOM FACT: Her dream house would be a really cool treehouse. She'd love to live there with Leliana 3 cats and 6 nugs far away from other people... Just them and the forest.

NAME: Fen'nas Mahariel

NICKNAME: Fen!

GENDER: Male (he/they)

HEIGHT: Tall for an elf, around Morrigan's height

ORIENTATION: Bisexual

NATIONALITY/ETHNICITY: Dalish! Was born in the Hinterlands

FAVORITE FRUIT: Berries! Favorite is probably blueberries or raspberries.

FAVORITE SEASON: Spring! He loves the flowers

FAVORITE FLOWER: He loves them all! Though loves Honeysuckle.

FAVORITE SCENT: Floral, Cedar and stronger scented herbs like rosemary and basil.

COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: Chai for sure.

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: You guys count? (probably like... 8-9, honestly he probably sleeps in a lot later than he should and stays up later than he should too)

DOGS OR CATS: Either! Doesn't have too much of opinion.

DREAM TRIP: Anywhere with Morrigan <3

NUMBER OF BLANKETS: 1

RANDOM FACT: He loves halla. He was really hoping that he'd one day get to be a caretaker for them. He loved to feed them and brush them whenever he wasn't off hunting or patrolling for the clan.

NAME: Alana Cousland

NICKNAME: Pup (her father is the only one allowed to call her that though) Rose (Alistair only)

GENDER: Female (she/her)

HEIGHT: Average?

ORIENTATION: Demi

NATIONALITY/ETHNICITY: Ferelden!

FAVORITE FRUIT: Oranges and Pears (not together... just... depending on her mood??? or what's in season?)

FAVORITE SEASON: Summer

FAVORITE FLOWER: Doesn't think much of flowers, honestly.

FAVORITE SCENT: Stables and gardens. Which I guess is to say manure but that doesn't sound like a good scent even though that's what it is... Earthy smells like that.

COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: Coffee... with a lot of sugar and cream.

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: 6

DOGS OR CATS: Dogs. 100% Man's best friend.

DREAM TRIP: Adventure off somewhere, anywhere. It doesn't matter... just away from Ferelden.

NUMBER OF BLANKETS: 3-4

RANDOM FACT: She would actively scare away suitors, much to her Mother's chagrin... She would be purposefully blunt and rude in social situations and tease people relentlessly until they left her alone. She used to see being married off as the most torturous future possible. She also dislikes dresses. And probably wears pants around the castle to everyone's horror.

NAME: Solan Aeducan

NICKNAME: Sol, Nug

GENDER: Female (they/she)

HEIGHT: Short? Considering she's a dwarf? But probably a normal height for them.

ORIENTATION: LESBIAN.

NATIONALITY/ETHNICITY: Orzammarian

FAVORITE FRUIT: Strawberries

FAVORITE SEASON: Any of them but Winter. She HATES the cold.

FAVORITE FLOWER: Orchid, though she's come to love most flowers, she didn't know there was quite so many of them just growing everywhere you looked.

FAVORITE SCENT: Steel, Fire, the smell of home, but also the smell of a clear night, and the expensive perfumes Leliana wears

COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: Coffee. Black.

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: 5 but she doesn't need that much.

DOGS OR CATS: Dogs

DREAM TRIP: The Deep Roads, she always dreamed of going deep and finding a new Thaig, finding long forgotten treasures and gold and being an adventurer finding lost places down in the deep.

NUMBER OF BLANKETS: All of them. Why is it so sodding cold on the surface??

RANDOM FACT: She loves the stars. It took a little bit to adjust but the stars were likely the first things she found truly beautiful about the surface after being cast out of her home. She loves finding constellations and learning the stories of them. She feels more connected to them than she ever did the Stone, though she would never admit it... except to Leli

NAME: Iris Tabris

NICKNAME: Petal, Little Flower

GENDER: Female (she/her) ((look at all this variety I have right?))

HEIGHT: Tall for an elf, average for a human

ORIENTATION: Asexual

NATIONALITY/ETHNICITY: Ferelden Alienage elf!

FAVORITE FRUIT: Grapes, sweet ones

FAVORITE SEASON: Spring

FAVORITE FLOWER: Iris, it was her mother's favorite, which is why she was named after it.

FAVORITE SCENT: Floral scents, smell of fresh baked bread, cinnamon

COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: Hot Chocolate with lots of whipped cream

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: 7-8. Sleep is important.

DOGS OR CATS: Cats, generally dislikes dogs though her mabari hound is a very strong exception.

DREAM TRIP: To big cities in other countries, like in Orlais or Antiva... She would love to see what their architecture looks like.

NUMBER OF BLANKETS: 1, but only if it's very soft.

RANDOM FACT: Iris is really sensitive to textures and physical touch. It makes finding outfits a little difficult for her, considering Ferelden (probably) doesn't have a lot of great options in the way of textures, but because of that she got pretty good at making alterations to outfits. She is generally touch averse, though with permission, which Alistair is sure to always ask for, she's usually fine.

-----

blank meme:

NAME:

NICKNAME:

GENDER:

STAR SIGN: 

HEIGHT:

ORIENTATION:

NATIONALITY/ETHNICITY:

FAVORITE FRUIT:

FAVORITE SEASON:

FAVORITE FLOWER:

FAVORITE SCENT:

COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE:

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP:

DOGS OR CATS:

DREAM TRIP:

NUMBER OF BLANKETS:

RANDOM FACT:

#and that's that!! #gosh... i can't believe i typed that all again #thankfully i remembered most of what i typed #i hope it's generally the same #maybe with improvements rather than information lost... #thanks again laya for tagging me! This was really fun! #I love things that make me ask questions about my mcs #might do this with my hawkes and inquistors next #those ones have a bit more variety in gender i feel like... #at least there is a couple more dudes and like... two enbies #also... why was the fruit question like... the hardest one for me??? #my mind would just immediately go blank #like... what do you mean there is different fruits besides apple??? I can't remember any of them #got my mom to list off a bunch of them which helped #anyways #these tags are getting ridiculous #let's do the actual tagging that i need: #dragon age origins #wardens #oc quistionnairre #rosal surana #lannaris mahariel #fen'nas mahariel #alana cousland #solan aeducan #iris tabris #what a way to start the year!

[sapphim]

I know we can't let eamon die in origins because of plot reasons, as he's been written to basically be our tour guide for denerim and the landsmeet, but a warden can slaughter every dalish elf in the forest and every circle mage in the tower and can abandon an entire village to die in the skeleton wars but they can't kill one crusty old man in a position of power, which probably says something

#I want that crusty old man obliterated

[anneapocalypse]

Too Many Thoughts About Sera: A Love Letter

This post was originally part of a big long write-up I did after my first complete playthrough of Inquisition a few years ago and posted on dreamwidth and later here. It has been slightly edited to stand on its own here, but it's mostly the same. I thought it might be worth it post it as a standalone, so here is a slightly less analytical and more feelingsy post about Why I Love Sera So Much.

I understand not everyone likes Sera and that's completely okay but I am going to request that you refrain from outright dumping on her or making personal attacks on her writer on this post.

If you're interested in my more recent efforts at an in-depth analysis of Sera's character and background, you can check out my Sera Series.

Knowing my affinity for difficult, complicated, "unlikable" female characters, I was probably doomed from the start. But the truth is I did not go into this knowing I would love Sera. I just wanted to get to know her, regardless of how I ended up feeling about her. So I romanced her with my mage Trevelyan, the first Inquisitor I actually finished.

And at the end of that journey... yeah, I love Sera. I love her a lot.

So let's talk about Sera. As a character, as a companion, and as a love interest, because in this playthrough I got to experience her as all three.

And disclaimer up front that I know Sera is a controversial character in the fandom and there are a variety of reasons for that, so if you don't like Sera, that's fine. Some of this may read as an impassioned defense of her, and it kind of is, but it's not a manifesto; it's mostly that I have a lot of thoughts and feelings I'm excited to share.

Sera is a city elf orphaned young and raised as the ward of a human noblewoman, Lady Emmald, an upbringing which has left her with both a troubled relationship to elven identity, and a deep hatred of the nobility. We get only a brief glimpse into Sera's childhood with Lady Emmald, as she does not like to talk about it, but we can gather that the memories that have stuck with her are not good ones, most notably the "pride cookies" story that Sera will share with the Inquisitor at a high enough level of friendship. Lady Emmald would buy cookies from a local baker and pass them off as homemade, unwilling to admit she wasn't good at baking. To keep Sera from finding out, Emmald told her the baker hated elves so that she would never go there. She led Sera to believe she was hated and to hate in return, all to protect her own pride. To this day, cookies bring up bad memories for Sera.

World of Thedas Volume 2 suggests that Sera may have inherited Lady Emmald's estate when her guardian died of illness sometime before the Blight, but rejected her inheritance, wanting nothing more to do with that life. I don't believe this ever comes up in the game, however.

As an adult, Sera is a member of the Friends of Red Jenny, a loose network of common people who collaborate across Thedas to benefit one another's interests and offer some degree of protection from or revenge for the abuses of nobles where they can. Sera's Red Jenny affiliation is a nice bit of continuity from previous games which I like a lot. The Friends of Red Jenny are first mentioned in a cryptic little side quest in Origins wherein the Warden delivers a small painted box to a location in Denerim on the instructions of a note looted from a body after an ambush, for the reward of a few gold coins. In Dragon Age II, Hawke can clear the streets of bandits and undesirables at night and return to "A Friend" in the Hanged Man for rewards; at the end of that quest line, "A Friend" is revealed to be a Friend of Red Jenny. And now in Inquisition, we have a Red Jenny companion, who brings her network of Friends and unorthodox methods to the Inquisition. (It's also suggested in the war table operation "Red Jenny and the Tantervale Charade" that Hawke's cousin Charade Amell is a Jenny operating out of Tantervale in the Free Marches, which would explain a lot about Charade's roundabout ploys to get Gamlen's attention!)

I think it's safe to say that Sera's personal identity is most strongly rooted in a kind of class consciousness; she identifies first as what she would call a "little person," a commoner.

And it's worth noting that Sera doesn't respect social climbers any more than she respects the existing nobility, which comes out a lot in her banter and in her responses to various quests. She disapproves, for example, if in "Noble Deeds, Noble Hearts" the Inquisitor gives proof of Fairbanks' noble heritage to Clara; she approves if you respect Fairbanks' wishes to keep his parentage a secret and live as a commoner. In "Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts," she disapproves of reconciling Celene and Briala, but approves of any outcome that involves blackmail (either against Gaspard or against all three parties).

I think there's an interesting contrast to be had, too, between Sera and Vivienne, both of whom are characters I like and find quite interesting. And despite what you might think if you take their conversations at face value, I think their relationship is quite a bit more complicated than Vivienne being more privileged than Sera and looking down on her. Vivienne dresses, talks, and behaves like a noble, yes—but she's not a noble. Vivienne was born to Rivaini merchants and raised in the Circle of Magi, where she rose to First Enchanter of Montsimmard and then Enchanter to the Imperial Court of Orlais—a position that according to Leliana was once "little more than Court Jester" until Vivienne herself worked to make the appointment a position of respect. Sera is elven and common-born yet inherited a noble fortune; while she probably would never have held a title in Ferelden, she could have had greater financial resources at her disposal, had she not rejected them. It's easy to forget, but both Sera and Vivienne have come from fairly humble origins, and both of them have been presented with some unique opportunities given those origins.

Vivienne holds considerable influence in Orlais for a mage, but we should not forget that she has had to work for every scrap of it. Vivienne's manner, the way she approaches every situation with confidence and poise and her head held high, is just how one survives in Orlais. If you're not looking down at someone, you're looking up at them, and if you're looking up you're under someone's boot. On the one hand I don't love the way Vivienne treats Sera, especially a romanced Sera; on the other hand I must admit that "It's nothing personal, darling. I am demonstrably better than most" is an absolutely sick burn and I did laugh. (These days, I am frequently more amused by companion acrimony than I probably should be; I think somewhere around DA2 I just gave up on being bothered when companions don't like each other and instead embraced the comedy gold that often comes with it.)

There's a delightful little bit of party banter where Blackwall (who shares much of Sera's distaste for the nobility) needles Vivienne a bit about how she must miss being away from the luxuries of Val Royeaux. To this, Vivienne breezily responds, "I miss them. I do not require them. But please, continue to imagine me a pampered lady, if it makes you feel superior."

I am reminded here of the ongoing tension between Solas and Sera that comes out frequently in their party banter. At one point Solas will remark that it is a shame she was "denied an elven life," and Sera fires back, "Ooh! You think the only reason I'm not elfy is because I had no choice? Poor me, right?" At multiple points Solas will offer opinions on Red Jenny. When he asks Sera, "Do you wish to disrupt the nobility, secure a title? Or change the political structure entirely?" Sera responds with dismay, "None of it! I don't want any of that!"

Set these next to each other and they show us how Sera and Vivienne are alike and how they are different. Vivienne has worked hard to achieve upward mobility, and the reward for her success is that everyone assumes she is too privileged to know anything else. Sera has deliberately rejected upward mobility (as well as "elfiness") in favor of class solidarity, and is rewarded by people assuming that she is too stupid and ignorant to have chosen anything else.

Sera and Vivienne do not like one another, and probably never would, and Vivienne especially doesn't approve of the Inquisitor romancing Sera and makes that known (I'm sure the reverse would also be true if Vivienne were romanceable, which she isn't, because the world isn't fair). Both of their identities and worldviews are rooted in a certain understanding of power and power structures, but they approach those structures completely differently. Vivienne is a climber, believing it worthwhile to try and reach the top. Sera despises climbers, preferring to stay on the ground and fire arrows upward. And yet as different as they are, they have both made very deliberate choices with regard to their social status, and both will in their own way call out the assumptions other people make about them.

I think the biggest question that arises with Sera is, if she thinks the nobility is so terrible, then why isn't she trying to actively change the existing power structure? This is certainly Solas's confusion, as expressed in this conversation:

Solas: I do not understand you, Sera. You have no end goal for your organization. Sera: Nobles get rattled, and people get payback. I play in the middle. Solas: Why not go all the way? You see injustice, and you have organized a group to fight it. Don’t you want to replace it with something better? Sera: What, just lop off the top? What’s that do, except make a new top to frig it all up? Solas: I…forgive me. You are right. You are fine as you are.

This, I think, gets at some of Sera's core beliefs about power and why she prefers to act from below rather than trying to get to the top. Sera views structural power as inherently corrupting. Anyone who makes it to the top is going to frig it up.

That's what being at the top means.

We might call it a failure of imagination on Sera's part that she doesn't seem to be able to consider the possibility of creating a different kind of power structure, only replacing who's at the top. And, well, fair enough. But consider even in our own world, with a variety of governing structures on display for us, the challenge of imagining something completely new and then envisioning a realistic path to it. (And if you've got that all figured out, let me know!)

Sera is class-conscious, Sera identifies and organizes around class-consciousness, but she is not a revolutionary. We might criticize that about her, but why lay that burden on her, specifically, when the Inquisition is packed to the gills with people who have far more structural power than Sera? This setting is full of injustices, but it is worth questioning why the burden of righting them should be laid on this character, specifically, when she is already dedicated to helping other "little people" in smaller and less risky ways.

Once the Inquisitor gets friendly with Sera, they can ask her more about herself, about where she's from. In this conversation she'll talk about the Red Jennies in Denerim where she grew up, and she'll mention that some other Jennies were "a lot more serious about being serious" and that it got some of them killed—a reminder that Sera's "little people" have plenty to lose. And Sera really hates anyone who gets less powerful people hurt and killed for their own ends. I think this is really at the heart of both her visceral hatred for nobles and her passion for Red Jenny, and this becomes really clear during the "The Verchiel March," when Sera will get more and more upset if the Inquisitor keeps talking to Lord Harmond and appears amenable to working with him. She never set out intending to kill the Verchiel nobles, only rattle them a little, but after Harmond murders an unwitting informant in front of her? She's furious. She wants him dead. And if the Inquisitor is willing to work with him, that makes the Inquisitor someone who can't be trusted.

So let's talk about Sera's relationship to elven identity. There's no question that it's a complicated one; one of the first things she says to an elf Inquisitor (which at the time of writing I'm currently playing) is an offhanded "Hope you're not too elfy." You don't get an approval hit for saying she's "different for an elf," but she will respond to the effect that she doesn't appreciate assumptions being made about her based on her being an elf, which doesn't seem unreasonable, honestly. I've seen Sera's attitude framed as self-hatred but I do feel like it's a bit more complicated than that; has she struggled with self-hatred in her life, yes, absolutely--the cookie story makes that very clear. But I think that to simply say Sera hates herself for being an elf is an oversimplification in the same way as saying Vivienne hates herself for being a mage. Sera definitely has some insecurities, and I think Vivienne needles her accurately when she remarks that Sera actually cares a great deal what people think of her. At this point in her life, however, I don't feel like she hates being an elf so much as she hates when all people (elves and otherwise) see in her is their own presumptions about what elves are or should be, and not who she is.

Elven identity is a complicated thing in this universe, and tensions between city elves and Dalish elves is certainly nothing new. Dalish elves largely view themselves as the sole keepers of elven culture, calling city elves "flat ears" and in some cases barely regarding them as elves, and yet I would argue that alienage culture is also elven culture. Though they are not referenced as a group in-game, we also see plenty of examples of what we might call "country elves"—elves who live on farms and in villages in more rural areas, some of whom still maintain a bit of the ancient language and a belief in the ancient gods. (The elf family you meet in Lothering comes to mind, as well as various NPCs around the Hinterlands.) Even among elven servants, which could be regarded as a sort of sub-class in itself, there seems to be a kind of subtle understanding and solidarity, based on Briala's point of view in The Masked Empire. All of these are elven culture.

Sera is on the extreme end of not identifying with elven culture generally, but I want to draw a distinction between Dalish culture (which might be called a kind of Elvhen reconstructionism) and elven culture generally. Sera is not fond of the Dalish, but I'm also not sure how much contact with Dalish elves she's actually had, considering that she's lived most of her life in major cities. So I have to wonder if her particular irritation with the Dalish comes from interactions with actual Dalish elves, or from their general reputation. I'm not saying the Dalish wouldn't be rude to Sera; many of them definitely would. I'm just not sure if her feelings about them come from direct experience with the Dalish or from other elves generally.

Because Sera does feel alienated by elven culture generally, and if you listen to to her ambient dialogue and banter throughout the game, if you take her on quests and listen to the things she says, it becomes really obvious that being told she's the wrong kind of elf is a particularly sharp pain point for Sera and has left her with a lot of anger and resentment. I don't know from whom exactly this has come, because she never goes into details, but it's obviously something she's heard a lot.

I had Sera with me for most of Jaws of Hakkon on this playthrough, and she has some really interesting dialogue for Finn, a young Avvar man who is in danger of being disowned because due to a disabling injury, he is unable to complete the ritual hunt for his late father's funeral rites. "Wait, so he does this or he's the wrong kind of elf?" Sera snaps, like that's something she's been told repeatedly. She clearly feels a powerful compassion and solidarity for Finn, insisting the Inquisitor give the gifts of the hunt to Finn himself so that he can keep his father's name: "We help him. Not asking. Do it." Upon doing so, Sera remarks to Finn, "Say what they want, and you can belong. But maybe when you figure that threatening you was shit, come look for a Jenny." She wants him to have the option to stay with his community, but also for him to know he has somewhere to go should he choose to leave. I really love that. To me, this is Sera at her best, reaching out in solidarity and compassion to help someone outcast, offering them a place to belong.

Sera certainly has her less-sympathetic moments too. Her absolute glee over the revelations from the Temple of Mythal is honestly not cute. I have sympathy for where Sera's coming from on elfy things, but she's really spiteful about it in this case: "The Dalish. Are going. To shit themselves!" She'll get angry at a human Inquisitor (as she did at mine, who was in a romance with her) just for trying to be respectful of what they saw in the temple and not outright denouncing all of elven tradition as rubbish. "You're not even an elf! Why are you being so damned elfy?" There are several ways to resolve this fight, and it certainly wasn't a relationship ender with a human Inquisitor. (I can't speak to elf Inquisitors since I haven't romanced her with one yet.) I certainly don't think it's out of character for Sera, but it definitely exposes some of her pettiness and insecurity. If she were fully secure in who she is, elfy or not, she wouldn't need "elfy elves" discredited to validate her.

But Sera's a flawed character, and that's not a bad thing. I think she does show some growth in subtle ways, too—if an elf Inquisitor befriends her, her journal will include the line: "Book. Read elfy stuff for her (scratched out)." She's trying! In Trespasser her journal entries express concern about whether the Inquisitor is "all right with the elfy stuff" and wanting to be there for them and help if they aren't. A big step forward from the Temple of Mythal!

I also enjoy the way Sera actually comes around to certain people you wouldn't expect her to like, or at least respects them. Of Josephine, Sera remarks that "She's as good at humbling her kind as I am, just with less mess. Knows her business, if you have to have it." And there's this beautiful banter with Dorian:

Sera: So you’re fat with it, right? Dorian: Me? Are you referring to…? Sera: Do you sleep on silk while gold shits down all over you? Are you rich? Dorian: I left all that behind. Although I do miss the gold-shitting from time to time. Sera: You really left it, huh? Knew you weren’t all bad.

I talked quite a bit about Vivienne above, so let's talk about how other characters interact with Sera.

After a successful march through Verchiel, Cullen notes at the war table, "Potential future gains may be impressive. Do not tell Sera I said so."

Why not?

This quest is Sera's first chance to prove her value and the value of her organization to the Inquisition—and she's proven it. (Yes, things go a bit sideways later, but that hasn't actually happened yet, and she continues to bring information and quests to the Inquisition after that setback if allowed to stay.) So, that Cullen doesn't want to acknowledge her value after she's demonstrated it? Well, that sucks a little! We sure wouldn't want to let one of our allies know she's valuable to us. All because he doesn't like her personally—and because she's not important enough to be worth showing respect. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth, honestly, and illuminates a certain feeling I have about the Inquisition generally.

Let's review the backgrounds of the rest of the Inquisition's inner circle, shall we?

Cullen Rutherford, Knight-Captain turned Commander, respected enough to gain the trust of Leliana and Cassandra which is not nothing. Leliana, experienced bard, used to mingling with nobles, friend of the Hero of Ferelden, Left Hand of the Divine. Josephine Montilyet, noble-born, Ambassador. Cassandra Pentaghast, Nevarran royalty, Seeker of Truth promoted to Right Hand of the Divine at a remarkably young age. Dorian Pavus, Tevinter nobility, albeit estranged from his family, still influential enough to be apprenticed to a magister. Varric Tethras, born to a powerful dwarven Merchant Guild family, popular author, friend of the Champion of Kirkwall. Vivienne, Enchanter to the Imperial Court, mistress to the Duke of Ghislain (which in the Orlesian court is considered a respectable enough position to be declared openly). The Iron Bull, Qunari Ben-Hassrath, commander of the Bull's Chargers. Solas, the Dread Wolf of elven legend and though currently known only as an elven apostate, quite vocal about his authority on elven history and his dismay over Sera's everything.

Compare all of those Very Important People to: Blackwall, (not) Grey Warden, traitor, murderer, and liar. Cole, spirit, lost soul. Sera, commoner, elf, Red Jenny.

At the end of the day, you can spin it any number of ways and it's generally in-character for most of them so this isn't a writing complaint, but people look down on Sera. Most of your advisors and companions are either noble-born, used to mingling with nobility, or otherwise Someone Important. Even Blackwall, the closest to Sera in terms of class (and you can tell by how well they get along in party banter), spends most of the game pretending to be Somebody that he isn't. Cole's whole personal conflict is a crisis of identity and fear of his own nature. Sera is low class, crass, broad, common—and an elf to boot. And she doesn't try to hide any of that. She is who she is.

And her commonness is her value. She sees things in a way that people like Cullen and Josephine and Cassandra cannot. She has a perspective most of the Inner Circle doesn't. She is valuable because she is nobody. The founders of the Inquisition make plenty of noise about "restoring order" and you get a lot of dialogue about how the Inquisitor gives hope to "the people" and how important they are to "the people." Well, Sera is the goddamn people. Not to say that she represents all commoners, but if the Inquisition has contempt for the manner and perspective of someone like Sera, they are going to have that same kind of contempt for many of the very people they claim to be protecting, when they actually meet them face to face.

Sera's crassness and prankster tendencies come across as disrespectful, but it's worth asking why exactly everyone else is deserving of her unconditional, unearned respect when they show none to her. Just because they're Very Important People of higher social standing? Is that not an assumption worth interrogating? I think it is, and I think Sera's very presence in the Inquisition invites us to examine assumptions about class and status and respect that might otherwise go unexamined in a story like this. And if you've read my Masked Empire essay, you know that I am 100% here for storytelling in this universe that dismantles the fantasy trope of the benevolent nobility.

It's no mystery why the companion Sera gets along with best is Blackwall, and they have some great friendly banter. I think she might even get along fine with Cole if she didn't know he was a spirit, and if he didn't constantly say out loud really on-the-nose things about people's hidden pain, because that's the stuff about him that freaks her out. If he was just a weird dude who wanted to help people and went about it in some strange ways, I think she'd be cool with him.

I gained a lot of sympathy for Sera over the course of the game and romancing her, but frankly nothing gained me more sympathy for her than seeing how shitty other characters are to her. Sera's used to being treated like dirt, but she's also not going to curtsy and thank you for the pleasure. Fart noises, indeed.

But that's not actually a complaint about the game. Like I said, I think the unexamined disdain for someone like Sera is pretty in-character for most of our Very Important Companions. And I like all of those characters a whole lot, so I'm definitely not trying to slam any characters to uplift Sera. It's good for characters to have flaws. Sera has them. Every companion has them. That's good writing.

Where I do have some complaints is in the ways in which the Inquisitor is able to talk to Sera—or rather, the ways they're not.

For many of the dialogue options with Sera, even the most positive response kind of implies that you're just tolerating her or humoring her. Even when you're trying to role-play as aggressively positive toward Sera as possible, the Inquisitor as written and voiced comes off as confused by her and by Red Jenny. Of course that will make sense for some characters, but the total dearth of a "Sounds rad, count me in" option when Sera tells you about her organization is a source of continual frustration to me. Why, exactly, don't I have the option to say I think Red Jenny is awesome? Why is that not a thing my character can think? Of course I should have the option to say otherwise, but why I assume I won't get it and will need it explained to me over and over?

The concept of the Friends of Red Jenny is not that hard to understand. People with little power banding together to exercise a bit more collectively should not be stupid or baffling. It especially should not be baffling to a mage or a surface dwarf or a Vashoth qunari. It also shouldn't be that confusing that they're working together to achieve small goals and desires without looking to start a large-scale revolution that would likely just get a lot of them killed. It's not complicated, but the game seems to expect you to view it with, at best, confusion, and at worst, contempt. It starts to feel like you're expected to either dislike her or at the very least not "get" her, and that rubs me the wrong way not just because I do like her, but because it feels railroady. I should have the option to vibe with Sera right from the start if I want to.

(For the record, I'm pretty sure the reason this happened is because the Inquisitor was originally conceived and written as a human from a noble family. Basically everything that's annoying about the Inquisitor's dialogue with Sera makes so much more sense if you look at it from that perspective, and it's also not the fault of her writer. Mark Darrah has talked about this more recently, and the Bioware team never actually wanted to have a human-only Inquisitor but had to start out that way because EA wanted the game to ship in 2013; it was a whole thing.)

Where you do get the option, it's fun to vibe with Sera. It's real fun. She has some excellent friendship content that is not unique to the romance. There's the pranks sequence, wherein Sera wants to play a few tricks on the Inquisition's advisors. I can see how this could be off-putting to some people (I don't like practical jokes in real life) but I can appreciate Sera's stated reasons for doing it: to humanize these Very Important People to their underlings and as such, to improve morale. In that way, it reminds me of the Iron Bull taking the Inquisitor to mingle with the rank and file disguised as one of them, to hear their perspectives and give names and faces to the people depending on their leader. It's also really nice for breaking up the Everything Is Super Serious tone of the Inquisition as an organization and injecting some fun into it. Again, Sera just brings an energy and perspective to the Inquisition that no one else does. Then there's the roof talk about the cookies, after which you have the option to go spend some "friendly roof time" with Sera whenever you like. For a reluctant Inquisitor, I think Sera can offer a much-needed escape from the gravity of their work, and I certainly found her becoming that for my Inquisitor Eleanor.

I find Sera's little window alcove in the tavern so charming. I also love the idea that she just claimed this space and told everyone to piss off. Maryden might have had a thing for Sera, if the song is any indication, so maybe she went to bat for her. Either way, Sera has her own little space and collection of curiosities.

The codex entry you can read nearby features a note from Quartermaster Morris questioning whether it's a good use of Inquisition resources to give her a cabinet. A cabinet. She doesn't even have a private room with a bed, but how dare she ask for one wooden bookcase for her stuff. Again, it's everyone treating Sera like a waste of space, like she doesn't deserve even one nice thing, while Skyhold's "visiting dignitaries" have their every whim catered to.

And let's talk about stuff. Let's talk about Sera's collection of things, a collection for a girl who's been reminded her whole life of all the things she doesn't deserve. A collection of the few things a girl considers important or interesting after she rejected the inheritance left her by her abusive foster mother. Parts of Sera's catalog are very funny! I will always laugh at "Goblet. Fancy cup. Cup. Shit goblet." But I also find something very touching about Sera's little collection of things, and what she writes about them, especially with a romance active, as she gradually adds things that remind her of the Inquisitor she loves. I could write pages just talking about how much I love Sera's journaling but some bits I especially love:

Silk. Bolts, not arrow-bolts. Soft! Make something!

Use silk for her! Underpants (scratched out). Tit thing (scratched out). Scarf (scratched out).

Silk is stupid. Get book to sew better. (scratched out).

Silk comes out of a worm's arse! Yuck!

That book she reads. Why's it good? Soooo long (scratched out).

Stupid book. Didn't cry.

Book. Learn Human stuff for her (scratched out). Every book is human stuff.

Sera's gift quest, "A Woman Who Wants for Nothing," is delightful and made me so glad I chose this romance. In it, Sera mentions that she got the Inquisitor a hat. Well, actually, what she says is, "Listen! I got you a hat, but it's ugly, so I drew Coryhe-whatzit's face on it, and stuffed it with apples. Everyone's hitting it with sticks! I really hope you like it!" and then runs away giggling. The Inquisitor, charmingly, takes this SUPER SERIOUSLY and decides she needs to get Sera a gift in return. She then asks everyone in the Inner Circle for gift ideas, with the responses ranging from supportive befuddlement to outright annoyance, with Solas and Vivienne both giving approval drops and Vivienne sarcastically replying, "Just shave something rude into your privates, dear. She won't get the redundancy." (If you entertain this suggestion, you get a hilarious bonus cutscene later.)

But when the Inquisitor returns to Sera to confess that she asked everyone for advice but couldn't figure out a proper gift, Sera replies, "Wait wait wait. You went to everyone and said I was your lover? Right to their faces?" She doubles over laughing before adding, "Best gift ever."

It's a funny scene, and a funny quest, but at the core of it is the fact that the best gift Sera could receive is someone who accepts her, who isn't ashamed of her—someone who's proud to claim her and love her for who she is.

Usually, the expression that a person "wants for nothing" means that they already have everything they could possibly want, but for Sera it takes on a different meaning. Sera, probably the least wealthy member of the Inner Circle, with her rejected inheritance and her little collection of things—Sera for whom the greatest gift is not another thing for her shelf, but simply acceptance.

In Trespasser, Sera has a new journal codex, "Sera's Past and Now Things" and it's even more of a delight, with such notes as "Back to the Winter Palace? Never good. Pack bees." It also features Sera's worries about the Inquisitor's mark, which is slowly killing them, with increasing distress for a romanced Sera and such heartrending bits as:

It isn't... (scratched out).

I will... (scratched out).

We have to... (scratched out).

(The book is scuffed, as though thrown against a wall. This page also has what look to be tear stains.)

I have arrows. They leave and things die.

I get to keep something.

Why don't I get to... (scratched out).

Make her happy. I will keep that she was happy.

I also found it really touching that her love being there makes the Fade okay for Sera, and helps her face something she's afraid of.

If you can look beneath the surface with Sera, I think her friendship and especially her romance is really moving, and taking the time in-game to get to know her is extremely rewarding in the end.

The Inquisitor and Sera can get married at the Winter Palace during Trespasser. Inky can wear her terrible dress uniform and Sera wears an ugly dress and shouts "That's our bells, nobbers! We frigging win!" from the balcony. It's perfect.

I love Sera, I'm so glad I really got to know her, I'm so glad I decided to play her romance. This one's a keeper.

#sera #sera dragon age #dragon age sera #dragon age inquisition #blunders of thedas

[crossdressingdeath]

I don't understand how "he's young" us supposed to excuse Alistair's selfishness. Like it may at best explain it, i.e. he's young and acts young by making selfish and shortsighted decisions.

The Warden may be as young as Alistair AND an inexperienced Warden AND completely clueless about the world.

Like you've pointed out, Amell/Surana and Brosca/Aeducan knows nothing about the world outside the Circle/Orzammar. Cousland can also be interpreted as very sheltered with how protective their parents were. Tabris may live in Denerim, but growing up in the slums doesn't make you knowledgeable about politics or war (you can even argue that it's amazing they even know how to read). Mahariel may be an experienced hunter but, as we see with Merrill, they are not that familiar with humans, not to mention how hostile humans can be to a tattooed elf, so the whole situation may be just as confusing to them.

Alistair may be young but he does have more experience as a Warden and he does know something about the machinations of the human world. Anyway you look at it, he was being selfish and throwing the Warden under the bus. And Morrigan is literally the only one who points that out.

For me it's like... nineteen/twenty is young, yes. Far too young for this situation. DAO could've gone further in pressing home just how awful it is that the fate of Ferelden has been left to two people barely out of childhood because everyone else who could've done something is dead. But here's the thing: nineteen is not nine. By nineteen people are entirely capable of empathy for others. The point isn't ultimately who's the more experienced or who's the better choice for leadership; it's that Alistair very clearly thinks he has the right to refuse it point blank but no one else does. He throws all responsibility onto the Warden, then if they try to pass it along further he freaks out at them! And he never once shows any sign of remorse for doing that to someone who is supposedly his friend. And based on the tantrum he throws if the Warden pushes him onto the throne with zero recognition of the irony (the Warden only has the authority to push him onto the throne because he forced them to take charge, after all), even a whole year later he doesn't grasp what a shitty thing he did to them! Apparently pushing someone into a position of authority they are not prepared for and do not want is a really awful thing to do to someone when it happens to him.

But yeah, it really doesn't help matters that the Warden can easily be just as young as Alistair and even less experienced. Most Wardens are by all logic terrible choices for leadership! They all get through the Blight okay, but there's no reason for Alistair to think that'll be the case when he forces them to lead. He has absolutely no reason to think that putting this young person who's probably around the same age as him and might even be younger and who may not have any experience in the world they've just been thrown into is a good idea. If the Warden wasn't so insanely competent, Alistair's selfishness could've doomed Ferelden. Him being young doesn't make that magically not a character flaw, nor does it make the fact that you don't get any opportunity to call him on his behaviour less of a writing issue.

#dragon age origins #alistair critical #asks #anon