the surprising rediscovery of a person changed or how Leliana finds Morrigan softer than she ever was and maybe herself too
for @everestvâ and the @secrettomesofthedasâ exchange
T-rated, 1.5k, Leliana/Morrigan
She has a son. Â
Or maybe thatâs not quite right. Morrigan is a mother. Morrigan. A mother. Â
Leliana isnât used to surprises anymore, at least not this kind. She knows that each turn makes the world a little bit worse, so everything some ancient evil throws at her is old news. But this? Someone she thought she knew being so much more?
It takes the breath right out of her lungs.
Sheâd had her eyes on Morrigan at Celeneâs court, of course, observed her sudden appearance at Celeneâs side with mistrust just like everyone else. The mantle of mystery that surrounded her was new, but then so was the beautiful and expensive dress. One could acquire a modicum of conduct in seven years, even a person as brash and candid as Morrigan was.
But this? The way she waltzes into Skyhold with a son at her hand, absorbed in his presence and entirely uncaring for everybody else? Itâs a gross breach in Lelianaâs expectations and it unbalances her so much she needs to turn around and retreat to her tower.
Leliana stifles a sigh.
Itâs been so, so long alone and she desperately wishes for a chest to lay her head down upon.
But the woman she wants is Maker knows where and all the other ones close are unappealing. Maybe sheâs grown old. Back in the game she used to take enjoyment from the rich and important in every free moment.
Now sheâs rich and important and the only thing on her mind is sleep.
Sleep she canât afford. Sleep she canât have.
Nothing in this world could have prepared her for the endless loneliness of the desert across the Hunterhorn Mountains. Days over days of boulders and wasteland only interrupted by ashy rain.
And she knows, knows that it all would be bearableâthe twisted ankle, disgusting birds she eats, the quiet songâif Leliana was here with her.
In the process of characterising my newest Inquisitor Juna Iâve taken quite a bit of time to work out where sheâs from AKA what living with Clan Lavellan is like.
Iâm not satisfied with my first Inquisitor Adaarâs backstory because itâs very sparse, but unfortunately we know very little of the life of peaceful (Tal-)Vashoth in southern Thedas. And heâs almost two decades older than Juna, so most of it is mercenary life anyways. Luckily we have a bit more information on the Dalish.
Yet, the Dalish are separated into clans that only meet up to exchange information and people every few years, it would make sense for them to be less than homogenous, depending on where they live, how much contact they have to other races and how they developed over time.
Sooo that means Iâm giving myself pretty much the free reign on who these people are!
(Beware: 2.5k words of wild speculation under the cut)
We know for sure that Clan Lavellan travelled mostly around the Free Marches but westwards til the edge of the Tirashan, and behave quite openly towards other races, and I think thatâs about it? That they fit into the alienage of Wycome as an entirety, though that says little, considering Wycome is a big city and probably has many elves living there.
But this brings me to my first point: I imagine Dalish clans to be a lot larger than what we can see of them in the games, mostly for reasons of inbreeding. As such theyâre probably spread out over a large area, covering a lot of hunting ground and possibly partly undiscovered for a visiting Warden/Hawke/Inquisitor.
Clan Lavellan specifically is in my worldstate about 300-350 elves strong, which is possibly a bit smaller than your average clan, but who even knows. The only really unique job in such a clan would probably be that of the keeper/first/second, with that many children itâd even need more than one hahren, if we assume they have a kind of teacher function.
So what is life like in the clan? We know that the Dalish tend to have clearly defined jobs with assigned time as apprentice and that makes sense if one assumes they act as one group that largely only interacts with itself.
Specialisation is essential for their culture but I imagine there are a few skills that out of necessity each adult clan member has. Those would be the ability to recognise and avoid dangerous areas (both because of wildlife or other peoples), to hunt for food (be it with bow and arrow or via traps) and the ability to herd the halla (since they are necessary for transport and food). These possibly rudimentary skills probably wonât include such things as hunting for big game or caring for sick or pregnant halla, since we know there are specialised jobs inside the clan responsible for that, but survival comes first.
Only when each clan member is able to fend for themselves at least for a few days, do they have realistic chances to survive the hostile environment they live in.
So what can a teenager of Clan Lavellan specialise in? Depending on who they are that might differ a lot, the length of training as well as the job they might train for.
If they are a mage they could try for keeper, which is a highly sought after position, considering the keeper isnât only the spiritual leader of the whole clan, but also the one responsible for deciding when and where the clan moves, for judging disputes, and maybe most importantly for studying and preserving what they know of the ancient elves.
The keeperâs first, second and possibly third are also responsible for the magic that guides the aravels through mountains and forests when they are on the move.
I believe, judging from the way they look in DA2 and Inquisition, that aravels are not used to live in. They are simply tools of transport and storage, with living spaces being a kind of yurt or maybe teepee that can be set up and struck quickly and in inconspicuous places. Maybe for a clan that lives farther south, like the one seen in DAO, the aravels could actually be used to live in since they need more profound insulation against the cold, but I believe the Free Marches are warm enough that this isnât necessary and that the aravels are pulled by halla, magic and sails while the clan walks.
Iâve seen a post that speculated about the domestication of the halla comparing them to goats, which I found very interesting (and logical) but Iâm gonna disagree for my version of Clan Lavellan. I think theyâre less domesticated than that, at least a little bit. Theyâre not kept in pens, except for halla that are ill, hurt or pregnant/with calf. But theyâre smart and follow the Dalish out of their own will in a kind of symbiotic relationship. They pull the aravels and give their milk to the elves, while the clan takes care of their weak and injured.
A halla keeper must have a close relationship with the herd and mediate, be able to communicate over long distances with other halla keepers and teach the clan the calls for the herding. I imagine that to be some kind of jodelling, though not in a musical way. Thereâs several variants of herding calls in other parts of the world that come closer, for example the swedish kulning, that works as a polite request for the halla to come closer, to which they may or may not agree.
The halla keepers work in close relationship with the crafters and the hearthkeepers of the clan, who make cheese and other dairy products or process the halla antlers.
I do believe they are antlers and not horns (despite the name in Inquisition), which means theyâre shed yearly and consist entirely of bone, without a hornâs sheath. Also I donât think halla have wool worth shaving, theyâre not domesticated like that.
The clanâs crafters under the master craftsman are responsible for everything that needs crafting, from hard to soft materials. Theyâre smiths, carpenters, tanners and tailors, responsible for building and keeping the aravels in repair as well as making clothes, weapons, yurts and everything in between and around.
These might be the most diverse of the paths a Lavellan teen might choose, reaching from forging arrowheads or nails to sewing shirts or aravel sails.
The hearthkeepers are headed by the hearthmistress. It irks me a bit that these are gendered terms in the games, so Iâll imagine Clan Lavellan just uses gender neutral terms for the master craftsman and hearthmistress in elvhen, like that for the hahren, whatever they may be. Hearthkeepers are responsible for food preparation and distribution. Not like a big group kitchen where everyone can come and get their stew twice a day, but curing the meat and fish, making sausages, cheese, butter and jams, all that food preparation that takes time and effort and specific knowledge. And then making sure that everyone gets what they need, even if thereâs families without a hunter among them.
On top of that hearthkeepers are healers and herbalists, sometimes even mages; these are the people with old knowledge and remedies that are lost to other peoples!
And maybe most importantly, theyâre the ones in charge of childcare. While children are mainly raised in their families, the adults have jobs of course, so when theyâre busy the rearing hearthkeepers take care of the children, from the very little ones up to the teenagers.
They work in tandem with the hahren, who are responsible for education of the clan (especially children), collecting and teaching the old stories and functioning as a spiritual guide under the keeper. I doubt thatâs just a job done by the eldest of the clan, as it involves a great responsibility and great knowledge, pedagogics, and very importantly the ability to read and write.
Clan Lavellan talks mostly in common, with a certain amount of elvhen expressions and idioms sprinkled in because only very little of the language is still around. What is known however is the old elvhen script. I imagine itâs unrelated to the common script or any others still in use but the letters can be read and written by the keepers and hahren. To keep that knowledge secure is very important even though oral tradition is the most prevalent.
Then thereâs the warleader with their warriors. They are responsible for the protection of the clan from animals or bandits or just angry humans in general. Weâve seen often enough how terribly the Dalish are regarded by everyone else, so having a group thatâs solely dedicated to protection is the logical response. Their job is a dangerous one, but well-regarded. Invalids and veterans are cared for by either their family or the hearthkeepers.
The last big group are of course the hunters and foragers, that provide the clan with food. Theyâre not just good at hunting animals but also know a great deal about edible plants and mushrooms.
Jobs arenât all there is to Dalish life though. Maybe even more important than pulling your weight for the clan by providing is to have and raise children. Everyone in the clan is expected to raise at least two children so as not to let the number drop, thatâs quite a practical concern. To help there are bonds as a kind of marriage equivalent, we see them in Origins (possible between Cammen and Gheyna).
Of course there are people who donât fit the straight marriage mold or donât want/canât children, but instead of ostracising them the Dalish have chosen the route of least resistance. Bondings may only exist between straight âcouplesâ, but they may also be forged between friends that decide to raise children together or even separately as long as they both have another partner. This results in some unusual, possibly polyamorous relationships that ensure that the children are always cared for by at least two parental figures.
If absolutely necessary bonds may be untied or retied, whereby the welfare of the children (or even possible children) comes first and foremost. Itâs not a utopia, and some things donât work, but life is hard enough, so they try to be as inclusive as possible.
We see a few games Dalish children play, strongly influenced by who they are and how they live, like the unsolvable puzzle of a Juneâs knot that teaches patience and perseverance. I like to imagine that a Dalish Inquisitor has an easier time solving the floor puzzles in Mythalâs temple because they learned that kind of strategic hopscotch as children in Clan Lavellan in the form of a game. There must be many more games such as those, though I might come up with more of them later as I keep going in my worldbuilding.
Another important aspect of life in the clan is spirituality. In this I deviate from what weâve seen in the other games, as the Lavellans live further up north and I can imagine a location-based shift in belief. We also hear of non-nomadic and very different clans in northern countries such as Antiva and Rivain. Clan Sabrae and the one in the Brecilian forest treat the elvhen pantheon as fact, treat it as we would call it a âproperâ religion. For them the gods are real and imprisoned but Junaâs Clan Lavellan takes them more as spiritual guides, gods only in name.
There are just too many inconsistencies, they fit the lives of nomads, but if the elves had been a settled people of riches and power, so where where is the god of commerce? Of architecture? And where did other races originate from?
There is much they donât understand out of the little information they have and Deshanna as spiritual leader of the Clan has a quite detached attitude towards the gods. She believes in them, yes, but more that they may have been exceptionally powerful spirits or maybe even something else and that the stories around them are mostly just that. Tales to guide and teach, morally, ethically.
That fits the philosophies that define life in the clan, the ways of life Vir Tanadhal (Andruilâs Way of Three Trees, Vir Assan, Vir BorâAssan and Vir Adahlen), Vir Atishâan (Sylaiseâs Way of Peace) and Vir Banalâras (Elgarânanâs Way of the Shadow), as well as others, like the Vir Sulevanin, the one that dictates exchange, because all the Dalish have belongs to them together.
It doesnât mean that Deshanna (or the keepers before her) do not uphold the traditions connected to their gods. Dead Lavellans are buried with an oak staff for guidance and a cedar branch to ward away Dirthamenâs ravens of fear and deceit, and a tree will be planted over their grave. Fenâharel statues look away from their camps to prevent him from finding them and young elves coming of age get vallaslin tattooed on their faces like those in southern Thedas do.
However the meaning a vallaslin conveys is less to honour the specific god and more to be taken inward, to know how the young person wants to live, which aspect of their life they want to put emphasis on.
Clan Lavellan does interact with other races more than the clans we have seen so far. They are interested in what happens, as evidenced by them sending a spy to the Conclave. I believe they are in frequent, peaceful contact with humans and dwarves, trade, and use money, though not inside the clan, as all they have is communal property. They move slowly and compared to southern clans not in correlation to the seasons as the winters in the Free Marches are much less harsh. As such they are able to adopt many city elves in case they wish to be taken in, who bring even more knowledge of the outside and might also possibly bring the knowledge back to the cities. Unlike in Ferelden, in the Free Marches the Dalish are not a myth!
The absolute necessity to survive gives the Dalish an implicit belief in the sanctity of the clan and everyone they count belonging to it, which means every elf of the clan is entitled to shelter, food, care, weapons, an apprenticeship, etc. and only the small size of their clans makes that a viable possibility.
And this is where I pull the line for today. I might at some point come back to this because there are about a thousand other thoughts I have about this clan, about festivals they celebrate and games they play and how their lives are enriched and not just the bare bones of existence. Because yes, they have a difficult life. Marcher humans are just as distrustful of them as Fereldans. But the Lavellans are infinitely interesting and smart, and their life has sweet sides and possibilities nobody else would ever imagine.
Considering Iâve mostly ignored tumblr in the past year already this will not come as a big surprise, but their idiotic policy change finally gave me the kick in the butt to make the decision.
There are still about 500 posts in my drafts that I will push into my queue as fast as I can and when theyâre done posting, Iâll archive and abandon ship.
Same goes for my sideblogs @deawrites and @how-many-dragons.
If anyoneâs interested in staying in contact you can find me on pillowfort (for more fandomy stuffs) or on twitter (which I use to talk to friends)
I had a great time with everyone I got to know here and Iâll be forever thankful for the opportunity to make amazing friends, but now my life will go in a different direction!
I got tagged by @rynezion who drew her babies cute little icons, but WELP, I donât have a photoshop, so paint-cropped screenies it is :D
Iâve honestly not been around much lately (even though officially out of hiatus) so I dunno who has done this. If anyone wants to do it feel free to and mention me so I can see! <3
Rules: bold all of the themes that apply to your museâs aesthetic or mood as a character. Â
Bloodied knuckles | Tear stained cheeks | Rust | A busted lip | Claws | Fangs | A bloody nose | Chattering teeth | A dark space underneath the bed | Scratching noises on a wall | Creaking metal | Fog | Dancing under moonlight | Blood dripping lips | Heavy breathing in the dark | A feeling of unexplained dread | A figure in a dark corner | Â Dirty peeling wallpaper | Deep dark waters | A bloody handprint on the wall | Sobbing in the dark | Bite marks on the skin | Eerie whispers | A hood covering a strangerâs eyes | The growl of a hidden animal | The sound of a blade being sharpened | A deep, dark forest | Walking on the streets alone at night | A cobweb-filled, abandoned building | Eyes darting in paranoia | A heavy beating pulse | The feeling of being trapped | Struggling to get out | a scream | Boards covering broken windows | A quiet graveyard | A gas station in the middle of nowhere | A road that never ends | Heavy fog rolling in | The scent of blood in the air | Eerie old photographs | Walking along traintracks at night | A chill going up the spine | Gathering crows | A dusty, dimly lit study | Mist over a deserted cobblestone street | Ghost towns | Shadows around a campfire | The sound of chanting | Church bells tolling | An orange harvest moon | A broken down carnival | A dirty stuffed animal abandoned | Wiping bloody hands on fabric | Nightmares | Waking up in a panic | A power outage | Heavy lightning storms | A secret trap door | The feeling of being watched | Fear from trauma | A Ouija board set out on a table | An eerie doll | A scream of anguish and pain | Withered plants | A room thatâs been forgotten and gathered dust | Owl eyes in the dark | Curled, dead tree branches | A ritual altar | Flickering candles | A lantern held up in the dark | Fear of being followed | Creaking floorboards | Repressed, horrible memories | Clenched teeth | Soft, echoing piano keys | An old book covered in dust | Many pairs of glaring eyes | Stumbling in pitch black darkness | Being stranded in the middle of nowhere | Tarot cards on a table | A trail of blood
Tagged again, this time by @red-wardens, thank youuu!
Maura and Isabela
They kind of end up sleeping anywhere and with differing closeness, depending on how much space there is on their chosen surface. Sometimes itâs only legs over lap because theyâre lying on the couch in the library, other times Isabela just lies perpendicular over Mauraâs belly because they made it to the bed but nothing else, sometimes theâre completely tangled together without an obvious sign which limb belongs to whom. Yes, it can get sweaty. Sometimes there are boots where they shouldnât be, sometimes there are no clothes at all.
Aimihl and Leliana
Bendy cat is Aimihl. She sleeps like a log and you can do with her what you want at night, sheâll just keep on sleeping. (Sheâs also the slowest to wake by far) When Aimihl does something, she does it 100% and that includes sleeping. Leliana has the lighter sleep, it often makes it possible to wake Aimihl before her nightmares have to time to really get to her. Itâs exhausting for both of them. Usually Leliana and Aimihl snuggle up together, one wrapped around the arm of the other. They like the closeness and warmth of each other, and falling back asleep while one or the other hums quietly is like the one good thing that comes from Aimihlâs nightmares.
Juna and Solas
They donât touch a lot, but handholding is a common occurrence. It shows them both the other is still there with them while letting them both have their own space. Juna moves around at night, unlike Solas, but never lets go of his hand. Sometimes she curls around it, holds it to her chest or to her cheek.
Tagging @dickeybbqpit, @rynezion, @heraldofwho, @thekeeperlavellan, @october-rosehip, @raymurata, @world-of-thedas if you feel like it!
so if youâre there too, come and say hello! It seems really cute and cosy so far and super open (a proper comment section, Iâm in heaven!) and Iâll probably mash it into a sort of creating+reblogging platform, which I have separated here on the tumble hellsite.
Viktor doesnât move around much, just kinda sprawls (mostly naked) amid his thousand pillows and then stays where he is. (I totally gave him the Par Vollen bed in game, though I like to imagine he has better taste than naked golden qunari in his bedroom. The pillows are accurate though!) Dorian likes cuddling on top/behind his back/tucked against his chest, whatever is available, really. They both like to sleep where itâs warm and Viktor is also a real space heater, so any bed partner he has must endure being very toasty. Luckily itâs Dorian, who takes full advantage. They are very cuddly or at least appreciate a lot of touching.
Claudius and Anders
They both need their space at night and donât touch much when theyâre seriously trying to sleep. Sometimes there are small and unobtrusive touches, like this or sleeping butt against butt.
In case either of them wakes up for any reason (mostly nightmares) they cuddle together for a while, most often spooning where Anders is the little spoon (no matter who actually had the nightmare) until theyâre ready to fall asleep again or just get up, depending on the time.
Mira and Bull
Mira just... lies down on top of Bull and falls tf asleep. He is, especially later in the relationship, the cuddlier one (considering it starts out as pure aftercare I think it makes sense) but she enjoys being hugged and petted very much, and that he just does it any time sheâs in reach. Big hands give the best caresses (in her opinion).
Contrary to Claudius and Anders she needs a moment to breathe when she wakes up from bad dreams, just to get back into her head, and dislikes being held by Bull. Sheâll take a minute or five to breathe and relax and then climb right back on his chest. Bullâs night terrors most often include him getting up, not necessarily noticeable for her (because sheâs used to sleeping where thereâs people around she has a pretty deep sleep) but sheâll snuggle up to him when he comes back to bed. She learns that when she wakes up in the morning half squished under his arm, heâd gotten up without waking her and will let him off easily if heâs tired.
Got tagged by @dickeybbqpit a few days ago, sorry for the delay, I was celebrating ^^
Claudius Hawke
Who named them/Significance of their name: Leandra gave him his names (middle name is Adrian) because she liked them and Malcolm agreed. Thereâs no other significance in game.
I gave him the name Claudius because the way I made him was a bit peculiar. I wanted to make a Hawke that I could hate easily and then sacrifice in DAI and what better way to hate someone than to give him all the traits you hate about yourself? So now he carries the name my mother wouldâve given me, had I been born a boy. Except I ended up loving him a lot and he did turn out very different from what Iâd planned initially, so... eh I guess :âD
Home they grew up in: Farms! His parents started out working as farmhand/maid for other farmers/landowners and worked their way towards leasing some farmland and finally having their own farm. (I know very little about medieval farming, bear with me ^^)
Itâs hard work, physically, getting up early and going to bed late, but for a child surrounded by other children like him thereâs also plenty opportunity for shenanigans. Claudius was a social child, always open for new experiences and people and his magnetism that attracts all kinds of people was already there, heâs well liked among the neighbouring children and those of the farm workers. Sometimes it occured that he quarrelled with one of the other children for some reason or other and that would drive a gap through the group, but the Hawkes would inevitably move on after a few years, so thereâs never any opportunity for lasting feuds to develop.
In general âhomeâ is for Claudius a name for his family rather than for a place, since it tends to take several years to grow roots in a place, but his parents, Carver and Bethany are always with him. khm.
Relationship with parents: Torn. On the one hand he idolises them both, for daring to live the way they do, no matter how much work it takes. On the other hand he never seems to be able to satisfy them. His faher is strict and asks a lot of him and Leandraâs expectations are nothing to scoff at either. Sometimes he just got âlostâ with a book somewhere for a moment of peace and not having to be the oldest brother, tasked with looking after the twins that are three years younger and another million things. Neither of his parents are ever pleased with that and all the responsibilities heâs shirked and foisted unto someone else by being absent. It gets worse when they discover his magic, as he gets a completely new set of tasks he has to complete, and that in secrecy.
Three Words to describe them as a child: stubborn, curious, observing
Childhood friend(s): There are many friends Claudius made during his childhood, but none he was able to keep. The whole moving around thing and covering their tracks doesnât exactly promote lasting friendships, but to be honest, most of the friends he made were more of the environmental and superficial sort. To some he was exceptionally close for a short time but distance grew long before the Hawke family moved on, and with others he never got the opportunity to get to know them well enough.
In the end, his best friends were his siblings, both in a very different way. Yet, theyâre twins, and younger, so he never got to be as close to them as they were to each other.
Favorite Toy: Books! He is a real bookworm as a child, always asking the awkward questions and studying books and people and his surroundings and questioning and watching things under his magnifying glass.
Childhood Trauma?: The inability to grow roots and no place to break away from and aspire to be something. That constant anxiety of being found out and his family ripped apart because he made too big of a spectacle of himself accidentally. No way to fall back anwhere in case of failure. And I guess the mountain of guilt he starts amassing counts, the failed expectations that get bigger and bigger the older he gets.
Itâs more subtle than like... a sudden event but it sure leaves him traumatised.
Hobbies: Reading, play training (with Carver mostly), playfighting with the other kids, inventing stupid stuff, running from farmwork, cooking with or without Bethany
Childhood fear(s): His father being taken away. Himself being taken away. Bethany being taken away. Any combination of his family being ripped apart because they found them/him. All very much plausible fears.
Quirks: He concentrates very hard on one thing and if you interrupt him even just a second he gets grumpy. In general he gets angry a lot because of many things, sometimes for no reason at all and then he wonders at himself. He would sit in a corner and debate with himself why wants to slap the dog or shout at Bethany or Leandra.
For how rude Claudius is all the time heâs incredibly talented at making friends with the other kids.
tagging some new-ish mutuals @thekeeperlavellan and @red-wardens, hello and welcome to my blog! and also @rynezion with specil request for Aria
of course no obligation as always!
Soooo, I just celebrated my birthday (my thirties are coming close!! thatâs not scary at all...) and it reminded me how important the people in my immediate environment are, no matter how long itâs been that we were in contact (by my own design or circumstance), so Iâm gonna talk about my sweetie Inquisitor Juna and her most important non-canonical support people post-game (but pre-Trespasser because I havenât played that with her yet).
First off are her parents, Enni and Raban. They (along with her clan) live in Wycome now and are somewhat different from other bonded couples of the clan, which in turn influences the relationship Juna has with her own lovers.
Itâs like that: When Enni bore Juna and her twin brother Tapio, she was not bonded to Raban. She could not have been, as she is almost a decade older and he didnât even have his vallaslin yet.
Bondings in Clan Lavellan arenât necessarily dictated by love (though most often they are) but by who brings up children together, since the clan believes itâs better to have more than one parent. This is to accomodate same-sex relationships, rather than exclude them and sometimes results in unusual family structures!
In this case it meant Raban rose to the challenge of raising children with a woman he loved but thought way out of his reach while still able to pursue other people and explore himself (as did Enni!). Weâd call it an open relationship today, but with children and a lot of talking.
They are kind people, both more dedicated to the welfare of the collective than the furthering of the individual, though Raban is the one Juna inherited her immense empathy and compassion from. Enni is more self sacrificing and has relied a lot on Rabanâs regard for her, as well as teaching her children humility and care. She is the one that doubts the most, spiritually, showing Juna how much more valuable her people of today are, and that stories are just that: stories. They canât be helped. But a crying child can, and a frail old lady and a dying deer and Junaâs own brother all have so much more import.
Juna visits them several times in Wycome, which gives her a great opportunity to decompress and relate and tell about her life as Inquisitor. Thatâs impossible to do from far away, as none of them can read or write and tactile support is vital to all of their wellbeing. They give her the necessary strength to keep doing what she has to, while keeping their worries to themselves and each other.
Then thereâs Tapio, her twin, older by mere minutes, but all the more responsible for it. He, like Juna, learned hunting from their parents but showed extraordinary talent and was (before the happenings in Wycome) one of the clanâs most well regarded hunters. Heâs quieter than Juna, and where she takes after her father and kept closest to him, Tapio gravitated towards their mother. There is nobody Juna can be as honest with as him, nothing is taboo. He knows all about her lovers and she about all his girlfriends and they have quite a bit to catch up on, that first time she comes to Wycome.
He has an understated humour that can be juvenile at times and a quick wit that regularily outmaneuvers Junaâs. Sometimes, when Juna talks to Dorian, sheâs reminded of him just a bit, of his obvious posturing and sarcasm, though Tapio never expects her to fall for it, rather does it for her amusement, which Dorian only slowly learns. Tapio doesnât share Junaâs difficulty with words, the way she starts sentences without having them formulated or even thought through, but he is the only one that constantly knows what she wants to say before she knows it herself. He is also the only one of the clan to follow her to Skyhold for a time, with a lot of cajoling from his part. Juna very much shares Hardingâs reluctance to let her parents where it feels the most dangerous yet so much like home.
Moving on from family members, there are other friends Juna makes in Skyhold, notably Regina Dioli and Samael, both mages that rebelled under Fiona and allied with the Inquisition. They didnât start out as friends with Juna, more as...a way of letting out her frustration, considering her first contact with the couple was a drunken flirtation in the Heraldâs Rest with a following threesome, less than a week after Solas broke up with her and then just disappeared. It becomes a kind of arrangement between the three of them, to flirt, talk, have sex and drink, in any succession or simultaneously and without any strings attached. Their easy and open relationship is reminiscent of what Junaâs parents lived before her, and therefore very natural to her understanding.
Juna hadnât realised in the year prior, but the touch, intimate and casual really is something she needs for her emotional equilibrium, almost as much as the emotional availability especially Samael shows her. Regina is a bit more of a flaky character, probably influenced by her upbringing in the circle in Bastion in Antiva, but sheâs very honest and open with her feelings and much like a cat. Will sit on you at any time she wishes and always be in the same room you are, but âaccidentalâ.
Sam is from Wycome, funny enough, and was taken to the circle at eleven, so he remembers the alienage there. Sometime, when they already know each other well, he helps Juna set the stage for Deshannaâs letters, with memories from his childhood. His most outstanding feature is his boundless patience and his ability to decide when the situation requires action instead. That moral code is one Juna ends up leaning on quite a bit, even (or especially) against the teachings of her parents.
The three of them build a very steady and close friendship that will survive for a long time (if DA4 lets me) even if the dynamic will shift before Trespasser.
Aaaand there it is. I just needed to let out some appreciation and I guess show off how many times Iâve played the beginning of this game :âD
So if youâfor whatever reasonâread this far, please tell me about the people your OCs take advice and solace from, apart from their LIs. Send me a message about their brothers and sisters, their exes, best childhood friends, mentors and possible future lovers. Iâd love to see! <3
I got tagged by @heraldofwho, thank youuu! Some background for my second and strongest Warden Aimihl Mahariel
(pic by @rynezion, who is just the biggest ever sweetheart <3)
Who named them/Significance of their name: Aimihlâs birth mother named her, but if her name had any significance nobody knows, because she disappeared soon after giving birth. Ashalle secretly theorises that she chose it because itâs close to Aimihlâs fatherâs name, Emmanuel.
Home they grew up in: With Ashalle and her three daughters. They might not be related by blood, but Ashalle is for all intents and purposes Aimihlâs mother and they love each other a lot. Ashalleâs bonded partner is somewhat distant (to all his children) but he was the one to teach Aimihl how to use bow and arrow and who had the most patience with Aimihlâs moods and inability to sit still. She learned hunting from him, which was a feat. Heâs just... better with older children and adults. Aimihlâs sisters are at least seven years older than her, but that just meant she was the nestling and got the typical treatment of spoiled/teased for it.
Relationship with parents: Adoptive parents see previous question. Her birth parents are a different story. She thought they died together shortly after her birth but before her departure with Duncan Ashalle tells her thatâs not entirely true, as we see in game. Her father got killed by bandits even before her birth and that he didnât even get to see her later gnaws at Aimihl. Sheâs seen her brothers in law (or whatever the dalish equivalent is called) look at their babies and that she didnât get that, even if she couldnât possibly remember, eats at her. She wears his name proudly and while she was still in the clan she had definite plans to pass it on. Her birth mother though... That turns somewhat ugly in her head. That she abandoned her own baby in grief is something Aimihl cannot fathom. Sheâs mentally very strong and just the notion of doing something like that makes her feel on the one hand worthless and on the other hand contemptuous.
Three Words to describe them as a child: brash, hyperactive, passionate
Childhood friend(s): Her sisters. Fenarel and Tamlen, with Fenarel being her oldest friend and Tamlen added later to their little crew.
Favorite Toy: A little doll called Asha. Later her own little bow with blunted arrows until she can shoot a proper one. She admittedly doesnât like many of the dalish games and toys since they aim at teaching patience and tenacity or sometimes donât have a solution at all, for which sheâs much too impulsive, especially as a child. Her impulsiveness and inability to sit still abate somewhat with adulthood, but never fully.
Childhood Trauma? Nothing she can specifically remember, but when she was about four an entire family of the clan just vanished without a trace, presumably taken by slavers. Her sisters suffered because a daughter of that family was a good friend. Apart from that she grew up as peacefully as you can when a member of a Dalish clan.
Hobbies: She liked being active (still does), running around for hide and seek with the other kids or when sheâs on her own climbing trees and swimming and diving when sheâs not practising her bow.
Childhood fear(s): Wolves come and eat her entire family except her. Itâs not entirely off the mark since wolves are a problem if you live around halla, but she grows out of it.
Quirks: she used to get up at the crack of dawn, way before the other kids and walk around the camp in only her sleepwear. Is unusually knowledgeable about little animals (worms, insects and such) and how they behave, where they are, because she loved watching them. Sheâd kneel down anywhere, the middle of camp, or with her feet in a stream, or clinging to the trunk of a tree, just to watch an ant trail, especially when she was supposed to do something else.
tagging @october-rosehip, @dickeybbqpit (hellooo!!), @raymurata, @rynezion if you want to!
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
for @silhouetteofagirl and the @childrenofthestoneexchange
G-rated, 1.7k, f!Brosca & Dagna
Sigyn Brosca picked up a dwarf in Orzammar. Not just any dwarf, but one from the smith caste, and she promised to escort her out of the city and the Frostback Mountains. Can her life even get any weirder?
Dagna is about the weirdest smith caste dwarf Sigyn has ever met. Or well, was, considering sheâs now watching the clouds float overhead with eyes big as dinner plates. Sheâs still weird, but not smith caste anymore. Technically.
âAre they all like this?â Dagna asks, voice a little rough from straining her neck for so long. She should probably quit doing that, thereâll be enough need to look up to the humans at the circle, no need to get a crick in the neck before she even reaches it. Then again, Sigyn canât really blame her when theyâve only been out of Orzammar for two days.
Dagnaâs questions have dwindled in number today, but Sigynâs still attentive enough to know sheâs talking about the birds.
âNo, some of them are bigger. These are just the noise making ones, songbirds. They still shit everywhere, but not as much as the pigeons where people live.â
Itâs more questions than she had asked Duncan herself when heâd taken her to the surface, but close enough in content. Dagna has a habit of dismantling facts into smaller portions instead of connecting them into groups like Sigyn does, but she still needs new starting points for new thought chains. Sigyn hasnât seen her build a category yet, or stick by one even.
After all, Dagna had been the one to approach Sigyn, and not a moment had her eyes lingered on the brand. All that counted was that Sigyn would leave Orzammar and might be able to help. Theyâve been on polite terms ever since.
âWhatâs the circle like?â Dagna asks in the evening after theyâve put up their tents and Sigyn shrugs.
âA tower. Last I saw, it was full of corpses. Might want to ask Wynne for more, itâs not like I spent a moment longer than necessary in there.â
But Wynne is⊠off somewhere and then Dagna continues.
âI have! Yesterday, thought she might be the best to ask, but she didnât really tell me much. Maybe I asked wrong, I donât know. And maybe you have a different perspective.â
âAnd what kind of perspective would that be?â Sigyn asks and looks at her sidelong. Her voice came out sharper than intended, just a little.
âDwarf perspective? I donât imagine our homes were much alike, butââ
âThey sure sodding werenât.â
And thatâs it, theyâre having this conversation now, arenât they.
Dagna bites her lip and ducks her head.
âIâm sorry,â she murmurs.
âWhatever for? âS not your fault Iâve a brand, though youâre certainly the first dwarf Iâve seen just ignore it.â
Sigyn can feel herself getting louder but she canât really stop it. Sheâd kept waiting for the other shoe to drop on Dagna, to see her pull a grimace at Sigyn from the corner of her eye or for some derisive comment to slip out. Not like it had taken Oghren long.
But Dagna wrinkles her brows and lifts her hands, almost touching Sigynâs shoulders.
âI didnât mean to remind you, thatâs all. Weâre the same now, arenât we?â
Sigyn doesnât have time to answer because the men are back from washing and Alistair taps her shoulder for a quick kiss on her cheek. It breaks the moment and its tension and suddenly thereâs wet dog right in her face and Zevran almost stumbles over His Lordship and whatever theyâve been talking about has even Sten raise his voice over his usual grumbling.
Theyâre loud.
âThe water is amazing Sigyn, itâs almost not cold enough to encase your limbs in ice,â Alistair enthuses about the river, âweâll be out of the mountains soon.â
She grins at him but shudders when he sticks his cold fingers under her collar and soon sheâs right in the middle of the scuffle.
Later that night, after a bath and dinner cooked by Zevran, Sigyn finds herself sitting between Alistair and Dagna and remembers their earlier conversation. Maybe itâs the food or the cleanliness that make her feel more inclined to answer Dagnaâs questions, but she leans over and lightly claps her shoulder. They might not be the same at all, on the surface or not, but Dagna seems to respect her, and thatâs⊠a lot.
âYou wanted to know what the circle was like.â
Dagna nods quickly and smiles. Alistair pricks up his ears and Sigyn continues.
âThing is, Orzammar wasnât the same for you as it was for me, and the circle isnât the same depending on who you are either. Far as I know there are mages, templars, tranquil and chantry folk supposed to be there. How a dwarf is gonna fit I have no idea.â
She looks over at Alistair to check and he nods.
âIf youâre there to study magic youâll have to make your own place. Probably between the tranquil and the enchanters,â he amends softly.
âOooohhh, the tranquil are those mages that got cut off from the fade, right? And their emotions.â
The last sentence is said with a puzzled frown, like Dagna canât quite grasp what sheâs saying, and that very much rings a bell for Sigyn, too. The tranquil sheâd met had creeped her out at first glance, butâ
âI canât imagine what itâs like to be a person and then lose all your emotions. What do you even do with your time if youâre all logic and no feel?â
Sigyn shakes herself, trying to push the memories back that come to her mind unbidden, of a time when she couldnât afford to be anything but driven by logic, lestâ
But no, itâs not the same, even if it might feel like it. Still.
âYouâd be surprised,â she says, voice rough, almost like a growl wants to come out and Alistair tenses beside her.
Heâs not the only one to notice her discomfort though, because Dagna quickly smiles and shrugs.
âI guess Iâll see, and ask them myself.
âI wonder though, itâs gotta be so impractical to suddenly lose your magic if youâve always had it. Suddenly canât light a fire with your mind anymore or heat your tea. Bang your toe really hard and not soothe it right then. Move stuff from across the room or make this beautiful snow in your own room just because you can. Iâd never even move anymore probablyâŠâ
She trails off into silence as if sheâd suddenly forgotten to speak her thoughts out loud or theyâre coming too fast for her mouth to keep up and therefore decided to jump over each other where no one else can follow them. Itâs kind of adorable.
Alistair clears his throat, and yeah, of the three of them heâs definitely the authority on all things magic. Possibly. Who knows what kinds of information Dagna got her fingers on in Orzammar. She was smith caste after all, those donât dabble in history and arcane knowledge beyond the immediately applicable. Or shouldnât.
âMages are discouraged from using magic for frivolous stuff. From what Iâve seen they make fireballs and meditate. A snowstorm in your room gets you a scolding from the chantry mothers on the dangers of attracting demons,â Alistair explains and trails off himself.
Dagna stares at him intensely in the way that Sigyn has learned means âI am listening and immediately spinning new tangents from what you saidâ but that Alistair hasnât yet had to witness first-hand. Thereâs a distinct tugging in Sigynâs chest from how his voice sounds when it gives out that makes her want to⊠well, she doesnât really know what, but do something in any case. Something nice if possible.
When Alistair makes no sign of continuing Dagna frowns.
âWell, demons are bad. Imagine what mages could do if there were no demons to fear! Iâve heard they can make flowers bloom, what if they could have crops that grow all year? That would be amazing, thereâs always hungry people. On the surface, too, right?â
Sigyn laughs. Thatâs not exactly what sheâd call a good idea and she says as much.
âImagine youâre a farmer on the surface and your new neighbour grows his vegetables with magic. Thatâll go over as well as if your fatherâs competition pulls finished pauldrons out of his sodding arse, I promise. Sky doesnât make everyone just share what they have with each other.â
Dagna sighs, point taken.
âBut what if the mages getâ hmm, I dunno, employed by the king likeâ like tax collectors! So they donât go around taking money but instead make farms grow!â
âThat still doesnât solve the problem with the demons, though.â
âI didnât think demons worked like that,â Dagna grouses but drops the thought.
Itâs a tricky thing, the difference between surface and Orzammar. Sigyn knows the feeling of trying to find where the border is between same and other, where humans are foreign to her and where theyâre the same sodding idiots as any dwarf. Itâs still a vague thing in her mind and sometimes she stumbles over it without realising and gets those looks. Itâs probably still gonna be that way for a while, provided she doesnât die.
Stone, she has so much work ahead. Dagna almost made her forget.
They talk, for the rest of the evening, about this and that, with Alistair chiming in occasionally until Sten quietly but insistently asks them for silence. And they keep going for the few days it takes them out of the Frostbacks and to the shore of Lake Calenhad, until they split up, Dagna crossing over to the tower and Sigyn continuing towards Denerim.
She doesnât want to call it the most thought provoking days sheâs ever had, because the past year has presented her with some abstruse novelties, but itâs definitely up there, with the rain and the werewolves and the incomprehensible appreciation the people around her have for Sigyn.
A dwarf thatâs fascinated by magic and asks her, Sigyn, for advice and opinion, keeps bouncing the most outlandish yet logical ideas off of, and is on top of that adorably blunderous?
The world is a strange, strange place, and all she can do is try to keep up and keep the good things, the great people, close to her and do her best to do them justice.
I got tagged by @heraldofwho again, thank youuuu! <3
Will go right ahead and give you some info on my first Inquisitor Viktor from Miraâs non-AU worldstate. Heâs a bit difficult for me to talk about (maybe because heâs so close to my heart? I donât know) hence why he hasnât featured on my blog yet, but nowâs the time!
He isâcompared to most of my other OCsânot a youth. Born in 8:93 Blessed heâs fifty by the time Trespasser rolls around and it does influence his outlook on the world, the people around him, and the way he deals with problems. Itâs not like heâs the Inquisition grandpa, certainly, but he is a lot more robust against stressful situations, revealed secrets of the world, tantrums by any of his advisors (who are all of them at least a decade younger, in Cullenâs case almost two) and the general feeling of itâs-the-end-of-the-world-aaaahhhh.
Heâs a widower and was the head of his mercenary company, therefore has a lot of experience dealing with problems in a pragmatic and swift manner.
His magic ability isnât the greatest there is. In fact, compared to the inner circle of the Inquisition heâs pretty outclassed with regard to raw magical talent. That fight against Saarath was very frustrating for him because HOW?!
However, with his thirty years of mercenary experience he is a really, really good fighter and knows to use what he has to its maximum capacity. Since heâs not at all circle trained his techniquies are also pretty unique, being developed by either himself or other people like him (think other mercenaries, apostates or hedge mages) who arenât beholden by ingrained notions of what works how. Apart from that heâs strong and agile and not afraid to get into the middle of things to punch someone in the throat if they need it.
And because I imagine Qunari having a longer lifespan than humans and elves (mixed in dragonblood or whatever, you know) heâs probably at the height of his power during Inquisition. And he knows it. Viktor is confident in his ability to look scary!
There is one caveat though. He is scared of dragons after the attack on Haven and his helplessness in the face of it (and Corypheus, but that one looks and sounds a lot more like just another regular asshole). It takes a while, but he gets nightmares and shivers and has to take a moment to come back to himself after he hears maybe a flag flapping in the wind like a dragonâs wing. Usually that wouldnât be such a problem because one doesnât just stumble over a high dragon. Except if youâre Inquisitor, so of course at one point he rounds a bend with his crew and comes face-to-face with a Vinsomer and suddenly heâs back in Haven, off to a martyrâs death and it takes Bull actually carrying him out of the whole confused mess to get his mind back to the present. He still doesnât know how he managed the final fight against Corypheus.
The problem with solving that situation is that you have to talk about it, confront your problem and normalise it in your head, which he does not want and which also clashes with his usual method of stress relief: brood about it alone until you find a way out. Sure gives Dorian a headache sometimes.
He is a closet revolutionary. Viktor absolutely hates the state of the world and the way he has to keep moving around with his company because some of them are mages. And apart from that he has a bit of a personal problem with the chantry for its tendency to keep anyone under that doesnât fit their description of âholyâ for no other reason than itâs fun to be mean to people(s) that are different. That has as much to do with his own experiences being a Vashoth apostate as with his upbringing by Tal-Vashoth parents who were lucky enough to find work with a landholder thatâs a professed atheist.
At first he keeps his opinion under wraps in Inquisition, being aware who it is that follows him and that they could turn back against him at any moment. The turning point is when he recruits the mages and finally has time to talk to Fiona who he admires greatly. After that he uses his power as best as he can to empower the oppressed.
And lastly he loves music and dancing. Oftentimes if one comes to his room they will hear him on the stairs already, plucking on that stringed instrument, deeply concentrated on whatever melody heâs come up with now. The dancing is more of a group activity, something he loved doing with his company, of which almost all can play a kind of instrument or at least sing, and all can dance. I could write whole paragraphs about how I imagine his company of bards dancing, which influences they might have absorbed on their travels and which they just improvised on their own, but thatâs for another day.
However, there are also moments when Viktorâs dancing is only done for the benefit of one person alone, because he is a gifted stripper and thatâs best done in privacy ;D
My main blog @medeadea got tagged by @heraldofwho here and... well damn, how does one follow that up?? Gonna be a challenge, I am very impressed.
Sooo hereâs my first ever problem child Mira, Grey Warden, Spirit Healer, Arcane Warrior (and in my favourite, accidentally spiralled AU also the Lady Inquisitor)
Her parents are Lavinia and Silvain, a couple of slaves that escaped Tevinter together with the help of a woman called Amira, who they soon named their daughter after. They chose the surname Surana randomly after crossing the border to the Free Marches, which she knows (and casts off in the Inquisition AU). Mira doesnât know if they are still alive, as she never really has the opportunity to look for them. She just knows they never lived in the Denerim alienage because she doesnât recognise it at all and also asked Valendrian if such a couple ever lived there. They gave her away to the templars when she showed signs of magic because they were deeply afraid of it and appalled their daughter could be one of those.
This is also the reason why she profoundly and perhaps irrationally despises blood magic. All the internalised fear and hatred for magic wouldâve been enough to rip a cast out seven-year-old mage child apart, if not for the clever intervention of some of her perceptive teachers (especially Irving). They managed to direct her self-loathing onto the kind of magic only Tevinter openly uses and instill a great need to prove her own âgoodnessâ in her. Hence why she chooses to become a healer.
Thing is though: she lacks compassion. Itâs just not something she feels often, and especially not when someoneâs needs are far removed from her own.
However Mira is very empathetic and perceptive, and that combined with her upbringing in constant fear of people sheâs helpless against (first humans, later also templars)âas well as Irvingâs and the circleâs education exacerbating her natural paranoiaâmake her a very manipulative person.
She hates conflict because too often she has felt powerless in the face of it, so she will take every possible measure to avoid it. Smile, lie, do what her counter wants until she gets exactly what she wants. It makes her a frightening leader, but her methods donât really inspire confidence in idealistic people like Alistair.
Because she is so conflicted in her own beliefs and morality and a naturally pessimistic person she has deep seated trust issues. There are people she already trusts, like Irving who she looks up to a lot, and her parents who she barely knows but wants to convince very much that sheâs not a bad person just because she can make fire with her mind. And then there are people that she pretends to trust and, after a long time or real hardship or who continue to express her own thoughts, actually comes to trust, like Leliana, Zevran and Morrigan. Lastly there are people in whose moral code she comes to trust (because she is with all her faults still someone who wishes the world would be a better place and it needs people who are honest and care), like Alistair.
(In the Inquisition AU that would be Leliana/Bull, Sera and Dorian/Josephine)
And last a fun one because all this character and motivations talk is making me maudlin: She is really damn kinky. That unfortunately never comes into play during her Origins canon because the only one who could remotely keep up with her is Zevran, and the trust between the both of them for that kind of relationship comes way way too late (speak: weeks before her death, when theyâre already fast friends).
However it made playing Inquisition and romancing Bull with her really damn fun, seeing as he can more than keep up with her kinks. There will always be things he wonât be able to get her to do (mostly obvious ones if you consider her upbringing) but she sure enjoys having the opportunity for extensive and uninterrupted sessions. I admit, that they actually ended up in love was not something I expected but it speaks volumes for her development and makes a lot of sense regarding his own tendency to pick people apart and play them like a fiddle.
tagging @rynezion, @october-rosehip, @vilemie, @raymurata, @starlanellwrites (whose main blog I still canât @ T^T) as always no obligation!
got tagged by @rynezion bc she thinks this is a hardship. As if I could ever stop talking about my OCs (especially if I just finished their game earlier today, haaaah)
She is very empathetic. Sometimes her compassion and tendency to get swayed by the people around her make her look gullible, but she is definitely able to discern a lie. The way she expects the best of people often makes them (want to) do better to live up to that standard.
During Inquisition she misses her family terribly, especially her father. Theyâre much alike, while her brother and mother are more on the severe side. Still, they were a very close unit when still together in the clan. Sheâll go visit them in Wycome soon.
She has a pretty high alcohol tolerance and enjoys all the different kinds of alcohol she can get her hands on as Inquisitor. Drinking is also a coping method, though she never overdoes it to the point of concern. Sheâs also a talky drunk, which makes the whole talking through pain thing easier. Preferred drinking buddies are Dorian and Varric.
She does not like fighting. At all. Usually she uses shortbows she bought somewhere because she canât make them herself. The vallaslin she wore was Sylaiseâs, and while sheâs not a healer she follows Vir Atishâan as a seamstress.
Not a pious person at all. She never believed in the gods the way most dalish we see in game do, though thatâs not solely her own attitude. I headcanon Clan Lavellan as more doubting, seeing as theyâre more open towards other races but thatâs a matter for that long ass what-is-Clan-Lavellan-post Iâve drafted. In any case sheâs about as far off the truth as any others but that makes it easy to shout a firm âI donât believe in godsâ in Corypheusâ face before his ultimate demise.
tagging nobody bc literally everyone I could think of has done this and DAMN is it ever cool to see so many awesome OCs.
