"You and your words flooded my senses, you built palaces out of paragraphs" the stories Solas tells you about the fade
"I'm taking myself out of the narrative, Let historians wonder how the inquisitor reacted when you broke her heart"
As lavellan shuts down the inquisition and goes into hiding at the end of trespasser
Spudfuzz on Deviantart made the original resource, which I modified to be a bit more realistic. She gave me permission to post this.
☛These swatches, like all art resources, should be used as a “jumping off point!” All colours are relative, and change with lighting conditions. As they are now, these swatches work best for adoptables, character lineups, and other art where local colour is important. ☚
I know every artist under the sun pulls this but I just wanted to apologize for being absent here so much. I started a new job and it's effectively full time so I'm usually exhausted when I get home and don't do much at all (plus I'm going to bed significantly earlier now. Ugh) but that doesn't mean I've abandoned this blog I promise!
Not exactly what you thought she’d look like huh? Yeah me neither, but her personality is so antithetical to dragondom that just…imagine this is if she was.
Not exactly what you thought she’d look like huh? Yeah me neither, but her personality is so antithetical to dragondom that just…imagine this is if she was.
@bearlytolerable‘s OC Makon! I hope he looks okay! His face is so complex I had a hard time capturing it!! The first prize from my giveaway I did. I swear I am trying to work through everything even if its taking a million years
I don’t know where else to post this so I’m putting it here. A little one shot fan fic type thing based on the premise of if Solas was not the tragic, regretful revolutionary that we came to find out he was. What if dragon age had taken his character in a very...different direction.
Please consider reading, it’s my first ever real fanfic??
The night air was still, clinging close to the skin, but hummed with insects, vibrant lights blinking in between the monochrome blue of moonlight. Monolithic statues of halla greeted the couple as they approached the waterfall, keeping quiet in only the way a pair anxious to say everything can be. Al’serna held on to Solas’ hand loosely, gathering in the scene, wondering at each minutia presented to her. It was easy for her to pay so little attention to the elf beside her, or that’s how it seemed to Solas who was gripping on more tightly, occupied with Al’serna’s freckled, glowing face though she hadn’t noticed.
They drew to the edge of the water, stopping with only inches between their feet and the edge of the lake’s slow ebb. Al’serna’s attention was completely on Solas now and his heartbeat quickened. There was so much love in her face, so much comfort that he couldn’t look away from. She would understand. No one else would get it-- how could they when the world was built from soulless dirt, spiteful, brutish and short. But her… he knew if he could just explain it all, she would understand. he was justified. She was different, special like no one else and their love would endure no matter the cost.
The silence stretched between Al’serna’s lovingly inquisitive face and Solas’ caught breath. “There is something I must tell you Vhenan. It is a terrible truth to bear to you, but I do it with love.”
The silence turned expectant, Al’serna’s brow furrowing slightly in confusion, but smiling still. “The Vallaslin are not as you believe them to be.” Al’serna’s face fell slightly and Solas’ words sped slightly to explain, “They are slave markings, from long ago, in the times when the Elves oppressed their own kind. They are a terrible mark of a history misappropriated”
Quiet again. Bouts of it seemed to Solas to be even more terrible than his memories, and now he had the crestfallen face of his beloved in front of him to salt the wounds.
“Solas...but how do you...How can that be? Is it just another thing the Dalish got wrong? Another way we’ve destroyed ourselves and glorified the remains?” Her eyes squinted from restraint, voice catching. It was hard to see her this way, when he could give her a solution…
“I believe you, Solas, I just don’t know how we can do anything else. If we’ve gotten this wrong, what else have we lost. What has history robbed us of? I can’t--” The words tumbled out of her mouth, unable to stop them.
A kiss. Silence again, hanging off an abridged word. He had resolved himself. The future was set but there was one thing left. He pulled away, keeping his hand in hers, gently touching her face with the other.
“Vhenan, I can...remove the Vallaslin if you would like. I know a spell. You are so beautiful, and shouldn’t be forced to bear it.”
Al’serna touched her face where the branch-like tattoos textured her cheeks. It hadn’t even seemed like an option, but knowing now, it seemed like it was the only one. She struggled to move. Solas reached out a hand, hoping to reassure, but the touch startled her. He hastened to withdraw his hand but froze. Al’serna looked him in the eye, giving a single, decisive nod, pulling his other hand toward her face.
“If this is how it must be, then it must be,” she said, her voice resolute.
Solas returned the nod, heart swelling with ache and hastily patched wounds. His hands pressed forward calling out the old magic to erase her distress. He had to help. This was the way. A bluish glow surrounded Al’serna’s face, catching the wayward hairs that had slipped around her cheeks, tingling her skin but not painfully as she had imagined the process to be. The swell of power threaded through his fingertips, into his palms and sizzled out at his wrists. It was done.
Solas pulled away, feeling the old righteousness lost to the years “You are so beautiful, and I know this might be difficult but...we can make it right.”
The confused look returned to Al’serna’s face, but Solas smiled, the way he always did when he was indulging her disorientation. “There is a way… for us to right these wrongs. Your people mourn what has been lost, but they do not understand it completely.The world mistreats elves as the oppressed who have lost everything. History reads throughout the fade of the lines of destruction, dominos falling one after another from the Halls of Arlathan. But I, we, can fix it Vhenan.”
“Solas...how could we possibly…?” Her head tilted, trying to understand
“The rift was just an accident, but the destruction of the elves was wrought by the creation of the veil. It was my terrible creation but I want to undo it all. I can rip down the barrier that separates us all, I can restore elves as they were. Free them and all the wonders they knew. The world as it is now will burn away, but it can be built anew-- more perfect than it ever was. We can rinse away the dirt of this world! We can make things right, make the oppressors of this world pay, end the genocide of magic. Burn the world away and build it up again!” His voice grew stronger, more intense, leaning down into her space. What Al’serna could only guess was nervousness and haste crept at the edges of his words.
Al’serna let go of Solas’ hand, putting on foot back in reflexive defence. “How could we do that?” She was hesitant, frightened. “Destroy all of those people...people who have only had the sin of being born.” Her face scrunched up, thinking of the people of Skyhold, Haven.
“You’re not listening, Vhenan.” A quick, almost forced smile “We may lose some, but we have so much more to gain. I must restore my people, your people, but I can not do it alone. I love you, but you must see this world for what it is!”
“Solas, we can not take the lives of the world in our hands. How could any one person even have that much power? The inquisition has taken some grand steps, but we never chose the fates of innocent lives. Lives uninvolved with us! We can not choose who lives and dies. You’re not a god, Solas… We are not special or different. Please, be with me as I am, as we are…” She extended her hand again, hoping to draw him towards her now.
Solas drew back in equal measures, confused and feeling a knot of anger in his stomach. So this is how it would be.
“Very well, I see that things should be conducted in a more appropriate way. I understand now.” His words clipped “Thank you for accompanying me this night.” He sharply turned, walking stiffly away through the wooded path that led them there.
Al’serna stood alone by the water, bewildered and hurt. Feeling more vulnerable and naked than when the evening began, and so much lonelier.
~~~
In the two years since that night in Crestwood, Solas had refused to discuss what had transpired between them and instead flung himself fully into the inquisition’s quest. When Al’serna tried to pry, though it was difficult for her to muster the courage, she was always deflected by assurances of “Things are the way they are.” and “There’s nothing to worry about.” She tried to forget the terrible night that transpired, but the ache where “no” had seemed to evict his love of her from his heart was hard to erase and twinges of anger crept their way in.
It had been two years since Corypheus had been defeated. Two years since the world had been quote “saved.” The long fights and new scars colored Al’serna’s manner and appearance. She had been left with more than one gap in her life. Solas had disappeared, leaving Al’serna for the second time. And with the loss of real mission, there was a sense of ennui that lingered in the air around her in the moments she had alone. She was still confused and the hurt lingered from the night in Crestwood, but she knew that the things she said were right.
Now it seemed she had said them again almost verbatim to the panel of grimacing politicians at the Winter Palace with even less traction. The entire exalted council was a disaster as far as she was concerned. She wasn’t a politician like Josephine and hardly made it as inquisitor but doing what was right motivated her on. Qunari had been found in the palace carrying explosives and through stumbling into the situation, Al’serna had managed to start unravelling an entire invasion.
Now she was chasing leads, barely able to hold onto the edges. Her mark had begun to explode. She wondered if magic always burned this much to mages or if she was just the lucky one. The green pulse had gotten stronger as the investigation had gone on. Now, as she ran toward the eluvian through which Viddasala, the leader of the invasion, and her army had passed, it’s heartbeat throb quickened. Her hand struggled to hold her sword, almost her body size, through the pain. She paused at the steps to the Eluvian, catching her breath between flares, trying to gather what was left of her energy. She turned her head to look behind her. The worried and determined faces of her friends nodded, and she focussed all her energy on pacing forward into the mirror, its glass like miasma rippling over her body and sealing up behind her.
Separated from her companions, she focused herself on moving forward. Around her were what looked like...statues? Except they were too lifelike, far too detailed, and they bore a striking resemblance to the enemies she had faced only moments before. In the distance she could hear voices, echoing off the stone walls that surrounded the outcropping. Steps stretched out in front of her. Grand, wide steps that she climbed as fast as she could.
At the top Viddasala was engaged in a heated argument with...someone. As Al’serna mounted the last step, Viddasala reach out as if to attack but in a moment she was turned to the same rocky granite as the beings before. Beyond her now statue-like form a figure looked out over the edge of the grassy platform. Pensive and dressed in armour unlike anything Al’serna had seen.
“Solas…?” Al’serna was breathless, both from the pain seeping into every inch of her body and the person standing there who had become almost like myth to her.
His face snapped into her direction, contorting into despair and love and pain. He appeared staggered, not expecting what seemed like a ghost to him.
“Vhenan…” He recomposed himself, bring his chin up and his posture upright.
“Solas, what are you doing here? How can you--”
“There is so much I was not ready for you to see or know, but it seems events have conspired to push us again toward this resolution.” He began to approach her “Now you can join me.”
“What..what are you talking about? You’ve been gone so long. How could you possible show up now, in all of this?” Her words were more bitter than she realized.
“Vhenan, everything I have done has been for you. For us.” He drew his way over, slowly, from across the platform. “Before, all that long time ago, I realized you would not allow this world to be rended for what it is. You rejected everything I meant to stand for, like trash. You had been made blind. You rejected me and my goals, but then I realized it wasn’t truly you. I came to understand that this world is what is keeping us apart. It is what is keeping you in chains. I am here to set you free my love.” He leaned down towards her, much closer now, arms outstretched not to embrace,but in a general gesture of benevolence.
“I slept for many years, a lasting uthenera from my mistakes long ago and awoke to find this world a shadow, blank and hollow. Then you found your way into all of it. You showed me that things can be changed, you said yourself that if things went wrong then you just had to try again.” His arms were outstretched now, a lecturing stance. “In our time together you opened my heart, loosened all the things that I once fought for, but then you rejected it! You rejected all of it as if it were not even worthy of thinking about. But now, now I know what I have to do, if you will not have me in this world, in the flames of the veil you will.” He grasped her glowing hand. Al’serna tried to remain emotionless, her hand shaking slightly, betraying her. This was not Solas. It...couldn’t be.
“Solas… This, this isn’t right. You shouldn’t be here. You can’t change the world anymore than I can--”
“Vhenan, I can. You do not listen. What all the qunari called me? A servant of Fen’harel? I am so much more than that. Think long and hard about all of it. All the strange moments, the coincidences, the paintings, murals, tapestries that led you here.”
“You, you’re Fen’harel?” Al’serna’s voice grew slightly panicked. Her eyes widened and she tried to withdraw her hand.
Solas’ grip tightened, leaning toward her again “You see vhenan! The orb that gave you your mark was once mine. It’s power was meant to be granted to me to tear down the veil! But you have it now, and we can use it together to rip apart everything that has held this world in shackles.” His eyes looked down at her glowing hand, “The mark has been growing larger, has it not?”
Al’serna could only manage to get out a nod, head swimming with pain and confusion.
“The inquisition was only the first step, it got to be so much more than I thought, but now that its work has been ended, all I must do now is restore the world to the way it was before and you will see!”
“Solas… I can’t, I can’t let you do this.” She gasped slightly as another pulse from the mark wracked her body.
“Don’t give up on me now, vhenan. The veilfire of this world is coming to an end but you must understand there I things that must be done first. Come with me, vhenan. Come with me and help make this world right the way it was. Destroy all this nightmarish, petty bickering. Humans and qunari...what have they ever caused on this world besides suffering? Together we can rejoice at a new age, a purer more beautiful world! Ma halani.” His voice was almost pleading now, frantic.
She winced as she straightened herself, looking him in the eye. “I will stop you.” She yanked her hands back “This is not right and you are not what I thought you were. If all you can see is this golden past, then I will stop you at any cost. Your solution is brutal and cold. None of these people deserve to die.”
A massive burst of magic surged from the mark, bringing Al’serna to her knees, struggling for breath. In front of her, Solas knelt down, grabbing her arm.
“Then vhenan,” he said, bitterness dripping from his words, “Try and stop me. And in the ashes of tomorrow, then you will see.”
An explosion of light filled the air, nearly blinding her as his grip tightened on her hand. The mark popped and sizzled as the magic grew greater and greater around her. Her skin felt the familiar tingle of her memories in crestwood, then she couldn’t feel anything. Solas stood up sharply, turning away from her.
“I will finish what was started, alone if I must. And when it is done, you will see.” His words had palpable power and rage behind them.
“Ar lasa mala revas” were the last words Al’serna heard, looking down to see the stump where her arm had been before. Her mouth opened into one last scream, angry and heartbroken, as Solas passed again into the Eluvian and her vision faded to black.
Nhen and Misrel (Dad came from another clan, hunstman with innate magic ability. Mom is First of clan to Al’serna’s grandmother ((at least in my canon))
18. How would their child/children look like
I didn’t shade this one as much, I hope you can forgive me.
Elinora and her little brother Viran
{Thanks for sending in the ask!! It was really fun!}
I'm trying to work through all the asks sent in to me, which I really really love but I'm just so slow. As well, I'm trying to work on giveaway winners! In the midst of all of this, I know it's not well timed but please consider commissioning me. I am struggling to get hardly any hours at work and currently am sitting around 10 per week which is hardly anything. I'm willing to negotiate prices at this point and my art is even better than in some of the examples on the page which I haven't been able to update recently. http://jillspencil.tumblr.com/commission I know I'm not super popular but please consider if you're interested.
So I started a new playthrough of da:o and this game is even more fun that I remember. God, all this world building. I may just do a playthrough of all three again! 😩 This is a roundabout way of saying sorry if there's less content for a little while but if anyone wants to know about my new grey warden Esteri lemme know
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