MIEN'HAREL.

— they can't come down this street after what they did to her.

[bithand]

#BITHAND. They will taunt you and humiliate you while they hang you in the marketplace. They will pelt you with offal while they call you broken, a coward, and a failure. A dog might slink back to the hand it has bitten and be forgiven, but a slave never. If you would live, and live without fear, you must fight.

This is an independent roleplaying blog for Vauquelin, a Crossroads Messenger OC based in the Dragon Age franchise. Primarily based in The Veilguard but available for Inquisition

guidelines // biography // verses // important metas +hcs

My name's Holly! I go by she / her & they / them pronouns. My discord is available to mutuals upon request.

[bithand]

I'm going to be reworking Vauquelin as a DND based character and moving him to the multi. Dragon Age will still exist as an AU for those interested; it just won't be his main verse anymore.

[bithand]

I'm going to be reworking Vauquelin as a DND based character and moving him to the multi. Dragon Age will still exist as an AU for those interested; it just won't be his main verse anymore.

[mournflame]

Ugh I keep fighting it, but I have to face the music that I am just not as motivated to dig into DA lore as I used to be. I still enjoy DA. I could even still write the characters I have from this setting. But, I am just not deriving the joy I used to from digging into codices, etc. and writing sweeping metas. That is integral to my enjoyment of rping a character. I just feel so blech about a blog if I'm not motivated to ramble about nonsense re: them at all hours.

So I'm going to formally close down my DA blogs. I'll still make DA verses on other blogs, and I still very much want to write with all of you. In fact, I think y'all're pretty much all following me elsewhere anyway. If this changes in the future, y'all'll be the first to know, but for now, DA will no longer be my primary rpc.

[bithand]

I can even think how to fit the sub into the narrative. Stealing the vessel is all well and good, but you have to keep it fueled and supplied. Unfortunately, the Nemo method of scavenging doesn’t work here. They need a supplier, and being effective fugitives doesn’t help. However!

VG simply handwaves Rook’s entry to the Ossuary via a Crow mage summoning a vortex. Fine, whatever, magical prison has a magical entrance. But, it’s right there in Rialto Bay and Renata has been using it as a base for a while. It’s just not very discreet. But if she struck a deal with the crew of this sub, someone with her connections could keep them supplied in exchange for them ferrying people/supplies/etc. to the Ossuary. Distasteful work but when you’re desperate, you make desperate decisions.

Could be a fun add-on to the quest to have Rook track down this “sea monster”, convince the crew to betray Renata, and take them to the Ossuary. Make allies of them. They’d be invaluable in the war effort, too, helping to move supplies and even people under naval blockades. Which is a grave risk, especially if they operate in the Waking Sea at any point as their poor maneuverability puts them at risk in turbulent waters.

And, I can think of further plot points for them. Just have to fine tune the details of the crew.

[bithand]

See the issue of fuel is resolved easily. Branka was made a paragon for inventing “a smokeless coal that let the Smith caste increase their output by a third while at the same time decreased deaths from black-lung. This coal could burn in a cave without ventilation and thus was safer and easier for smiths to breathe and work with.” There’s our fuel.

The next issue is you have to carry a significant amount of it. Storage space, weight, all of that. We don’t have to get too technical because it’s fantasy. We can bullshit. We already are bullshitting.

Now the vessels in the concept art ARE big. I mean they’re huge really. You can imagine vessels of the sort they proposed having storage for this fuel. But, when you build a sub the size they propose, you run into further issues: the materials and labor required, maintaining hull integrity against immense water pressure, maintaining craft stability, the maneuverability of the craft.

Some of this we can solve. The proposed idea was to have the craft be of Tevinter origin. I could see this being a joint effort between the Imperium and the Ambassadoria. Adding magic into the mix then helps the bullshit stick. This is absolutely stretching it, but — The Ossuary was built underwater using magic to hold back the ocean and its pressures. Tevinter loves to scavenge ancient Elvhen magic. We could say enough of a remnant was scavenged over the years that they riffed on it and combine it with dwarven runes to infuse the hull with a magic that’d allow the craft to resist water pressure when submerged and provided them control over buoyancy.

The ultimate bullshit is maneuverability. They had the idea in concept art to disguise the sub as a sea monster. Some of those designs weren’t merely cosmetic but effectively gave the vessel fins and a tail so it would move a bit like a sea monster, too. The problem is that’s some tricky engineering. Because we’re bullshitting here, I can just say “they figured it out”, but I like to limit my bullshit. Honestly? I think I’d say they didn’t really figure it out and the project was set to be marked a failure, leading to the vessel being stolen as a “fuck you you can’t destroy my life’s work”. But although the vessel can move and dive, turning it is slow and laborious, it can’t go too fast or the crew risks losing control, and turbulent seas present an especial challenge. (Thedas has some turbulent ass seas.)

All I’m saying is I’m overdue for a reread of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and I could do something with this.

[bithand]

And, what’s your name? Greg? Greg, tell your mom to buy a black dress. I’m gonna end you.

beautiful threat, slipping into my back pocket

[bithand]

I understand why Solas didn’t do this but can you imagine if he started recruiting dwarves on the basis of “I’m going to seal away the Blight”. Obviously without explaining any details about its origins. It would’ve been diabolical but he could’ve done numbers.

[bithand]

I can contribute to the tits conversation too. You’ve never seen Vauquelin shirtless, and you never will.

[bithand]

I saw the shoe talk and wanted to contribute but I’m half asleep so I started rambling about how elves wearing shoes has changed across DA media and how you could worldbuild on that but no one wants to hear all that. I’ll stick to what’s directly relevant to Vauquelin.

So DA:I doesn’t put any elves in shoes, but TME puts non-Dalish elves in shoes and uses shoes not only as a cultural identifier but a status one. (i.e. Felassan is conspicuous for not wearing boots, Briala is conspicuous for wearing fine boots with good soles) My personal thought for elves of Halamshiral specifically is they wear shoes in the streets but not indoors. The streets in elven neighborhoods are severely neglected by the city, making them filthy and unsafe to walk, but the elves have more control over their homes and businesses. Which includes a custom of going barefoot inside buildings — truly not just homes but businesses, etc — to keep out the filth of the streets.

I imagine it’s also sort of . . . a pushback against Orlesian custom. Please bear with my half-asleep brain. Halamshiral still has a majority elf population, but Orlais and the Chantry went to great lengths after the Second Exalted March to force conformity. It always worked to a point. It’s a situation of behaving one way when the shems are around and one way in their own communities. Wearing shoes in the streets the shems neglect is a necessity, but you leave those shoes and their filth outside when you enter the places where your community gathers and conducts business and talks and LIVES. One way among strangers, one way among your own. I don’t want to say this is exclusive to Halamshiral, but I do think there are a lot of ways Halamshiral is unique because they have such a large elf population.

Now Vauquelin will wear shoes when necessary for a disguise or for safety but he’s usually barefoot. For one, he’s spent much of his life very impoverished, especially after he was orphaned. He’s accustomed to going barefoot or in shoes so worn he might as well be barefoot. For two, he’s spent over half his life in the Crossroads where shoes aren’t exactly necessary and where he feels very comfortable. That’s his home and his community. It’s even possible being barefoot gives him a closer connection to the paths. For three, it’s a conscious aspect of his parody of Orlesian noble / wealthy fashion. He wears this mockery of wealthy attire with barefeet like a beggar covered in the dirt of the streets they won’t maintain. (And yes, he washes his feet when he enters the Posthouse for example, but the barefeet and the road dust make a statement particularly in conjunction with his usual attire.) Everything about his appearance is deliberate; it’s rarely based solely on comfort or preference but on the reaction it provokes in others.

[bithand]

The 6yo said she’d give me a massage, laid down her full body on me, and proceeded to roll back and forth

[bithand]

People like you are the reason we have middle fingers.

Slipping this insult into my back pocket

[aestuum-archive]

CASADH'S SMILE GROWS A BIT LESS pronounced after the initial greeting, though it still rests gently on their face as they study him. They don't think that he is much younger than they are, only a small handful of years they'd guess, and yet he carries himself with such confidence. They don't need to ask to know that he's been on his own for a long time. Well—not completely on his own.

As they're about to answer a spirit—Casadh takes a deep breath and tilts their head, listening. It's a spirit of Anxiety, coming up to ask Vauquelin about safe passage. Casadh gathers from the tenor of the first bit of the exchange that this isn't the first time its bothered the Postmaster.

When the opportunity strikes, Casadh jumps in from where they're sat on the steps of the marketplace.

"That way is clear," they assure Anxiety. "I can escort you, if you like. In case the Postmaster has things to do."

At this last they look to Vauquelin with a raised brow.

Anxiety mutters something about gathering belongings, checking over things, and one more bit Casadh doesn't quite catch. When it's gone, they look back to the young man and shrug.

"Not a retreat, no," they answer his earlier question. "But we're waiting for information that we can act on, so for now it's Crossroads clean-up duty."

[bithand]

VAUQUELIN DID HIS LEVEL BEST never to have time for Anxiety. He had no patience for it. When it wanted his presence, he was absent. When it wanted his assurance, he couldn't talk. When it wanted his guidance, it had to make do with another. Still, it looked for him. Apparently, his confidence was soothing, despite his caustic attitude. And as wearisome as Anxiety was, it was also his neighbor. So when Casadh cut in to offer their guidance, he leveled them with a scowl so deep it made spirits shudder clear on the other side of the market.

Yet when Anxiety looked askance at him, he nodded his approval. That way was clear — thanks in no small part to Casadh. They'd proven reliable in that regard. Anxiety wasn't likely to meet trouble traveling alone, but if the spit-shined hero wanted to waste time putting it at ease, that was their business. (Though he could think of a dozen other things they should be doing.) It was positive development that he trusted they wouldn't harm or abandon Anxiety. He just wondered why they were so eager about everything. Like a puppy.

❝I can think of a few messes with your name on them.❞ And, he felt several nosy neighbors listen in, even if their attention didn't appear to turn their way. Typical. ❝Finish up your shopping, then we'll go to the Posthouse to talk. Anxiety can meet you there when its ready.❞

[arish0k]

Karaas makes for a terrifying picture, those deeply set eyes like two burning embers, flashing within rough features like worn leather. An unwelcoming face carved and painted to represent some bloodied, nightmarish skull. Yet underneath the ghastly mask, his expression as he looks down on the young elf is strangely patient, almost amused. 

“You have a strange way of talking. Shit-smearing,” his chuckle rumbles from the depths of his chest, loud and cavernous. An old, great dragon. “Do you ‘rebel’ just to smear shit and anger? What is all this work for if just to have chaos?” his big hand makes a dismissive gesture. It is backwards thinking, the bas way of allowing emotions to control them, they would let the world burn out of pettiness or greed. It reminds him of children before they learn to govern themselves. “You are young, angry. Your world uses rules as chains and lashes, when they should provide safety, order, protection. But do not be mistaken, children disobey, warriors are the arm that sets the path straight, how things should be.”

[bithand]

VAUQUELIN TOOK IT HE WAS being talked down to in more ways than literal, and he never took that well. His bafflement melted into a simmering indignation. Now he'd argue the point just out of spite. ❝And, they're setting that path with feather dusters, I suppose? Tickle people when they start straying off it?❞

He gestured between himself and Karaas. ❝You and I live in the same world, just different corners of it. All that keeps you thinking your corner's not anything like mine's the same thing keeps you thinking lashes and chains are order and protection.❞ He pointed roughly at Karaas' head, though didn't touch him — and not only because he was so tall. He rarely had enough self-preservation to bite his tongue, but he'd learned the habit of healthy distance from people he didn't know well. ❝Try using that big head of yours. Whose order is being protected? And, from what? Those are the shit-smearers who tell you there's only their world, their rules, or nothing.❞

[bithand]

Look at that scowl. I need to start being obnoxious about him again.

[bithand]

Tell me why I picked up the kids and the 10yo has two cups of tadpoles

[bithand]

I said none of my characters have anything flashy about them while on Vauquelin’s blog smh