basically just a bunch of meta abt tintallë re: his specialization and What That Really Means About Him
ok so i’m making him a knight enchanter bc i reALLY LIKE THAT CLASS IDEA ITS SO COOL
but he’s like. this gentle soft scrawny nerd so it seems contradictory BUT i started thinking about how it works with his character and i really like what i came up with?? so.
i like the idea that the inquisition and his role as inquisitor somehow Changes him and like. hardens him. and that once they put that sword in his hand he discovers that he like. he likes how it feels. he likes the power and the symbolism of that. and he likes the idea that while his magic can kill people without him getting close enough to them to see the life go out of them, that the sword forces him to see them die, to FEEL them die, and his biggest hesitation in the whole ordeal is that he like.
his purpose in life has always been healing and protection. to carry on the traditions. to guide and remember. he’ll be keeper some day. and a keeper is the opposite of a killer. or it should be.
but here is is! doing all this killing! and it’s the right thing it has to be done it serves the same thing he was serving before on such a mass scale he has to protect and save and fight bc no one else has this power, whether or not he likes it, he’s the herald, not of andraste, he doesn’t believe in the maker, he believes in his own gods, fervently, passionately, unquestioningly, but not quite as much as he believes in the world itself, in people and history and just like the idea of faith and loyalty? loyalty to oneself, to one’s people, one’s traditions, one’s purpose or calling, etc
so he believes the anchor ties him to the fate of the world and that whoever or whatever put him where he was to make that happen to him means that it’s His duty and that’s just what fate has in store for him and he has to follow that
but it doesn’t mean he likes the killing. it doesn’t mean the blood doesn’t stain his hands and his dreams, because it does. but the one thing that really gets to him, because he accepts the killing as necessity, and death as part of life and accepts all that, the part that gets to him is that when he fights with his magic it distances him
and he’s scared that he’ll lose, for lack of a better word bc he’s fucking dalish obvi, his humanity, because of that distnace
so having that sword in his hand when they declare him inquisitor, it makes him think, like what if i don’t put this down, what if i take this symbol of my destiny here and i use it, what if i bring the killing closer to my hands
despite what people like the bull might be able to do or tell him they do, he feels like it’ll be harder to forget that these are real people or real animals or whatever that he’s killing, these are real lives he’s taking, and it has to happen and it’s just death, but it’s real
magic gives him the ability to step away and stand at a distance and forget
but a sword is so tangible and the death you bring by a sword is so tangible
it puts him back in the fight hand to hand
it’s inescapable
and that’s exactly what he feels like he needs
he doesn’t believe he could keep being a true hero or follow his fate properly, and especially he doesn’t believe he would be worthy or able to return and fulfill his training to become keeper, which he fervently wants to and believes he will and must do, he doesn’t believe he could do any of that if he were to forget the reality of what his hands have done
and that means the killing, but it also means the sealing of rifts, the gentle touches on the shoulders of needing comrades, the wrapping of bandages around wounds, the movement of pieces on the map of the war table, the writing of treaties and letters, the harvesting of herbs and resources… the tracing lines of scars on dorian’s chest when they’re laying in bed together, fingers pulling at clothes or sheets or bedposts, scratching or stroking or just gently brushing over skin… all of it.
it’s a keeper’s duty to remember, even the bad things, but the good ones too, and things that are somewhere outside or in between
repost from blog talkin abt first big thing abt tint and ru being siblings and the timeline differences that lead them to each being at the conclave??
my lavellan inquisitors are actually siblings it’s just like. different timelines where one wound up at the conclave rather than the other… i really hope that there’s not like a later thing i haven’t heard about where you get a lot more details about the inquisitor’s family and past bc i have so much headcanon i don’t know what i’ll do with myself if there’s actual canon that totally messes with a ll this…. my kids….
either way, tintallë was the one who was actually supposed to go, aka he is who the clan ACTUALLY sent, bc he is both older and generally a bit more levelheaded about things than ruivë is, and like. he’s the first to their keeper and all that i mean he’s a very good choice of spy/diplomat, he has like, tact and subtly where ruivë mostly has inexplicable charm and dumb luck
in the case of ruivë being inquisitor, it is bc either way they convince him to let them tag along bc they haven’t gotten much chance to like interact with humans and see the world and stuff bc they are literally like. ruivë got their vallaslin earlier that year they are literally only just barely not a kid in the eyes of their people. they are like. seventeen years old they are completely not cut out to be in charge of anything
but anyway, ruivë convinces their brother to let them tag along and he’s like “sure fine just don’t cause any trouble” and then of course. they do. or rather, in the timeline where tintallë becomes inquisitor the way it should have happened, he successfully convinces ruivë to stay at camp while he goes to the conclave so they won’t get themself into any sort of weird trouble
either way they both survive the conclave tho but think the other didn’t at first and don’t get a chance to find out bc suddenly one of them is inquisitor and can’t do anything about the rest of it until later
if ruivë becomes the inquisitor, then they are at the conclave bc they Really wanted to go and tintallë wouldn’t hear about it and they’re like “fuck this i’m tired of everyone treating me like a kid” and they slip a sleeping draught into their brother’s soup the night before so that he’ll just sleep through the whole thing
so in that timeline, tintallë wakes up, figures out what ruivë did, finds out what happened, and heads back to clan lavellan heartbroken and feeling very off and guilty and unsure of how to tell his clan and their parents that not only did he let his little sibling come with him, completely disobeying the clan’s decision in the matter, but he then did not attend the conclave and wound up letting them die on his watch
he spends time sort of wandering in the hinterlands on the long trek home and meditating on things and reaching out to spirits he senses and trying to figure stuff out and then he winds up in a tavern somewhere and finally catches wind of the inquisition and its unlikely leader, a tiny redheaded dalish archer who is managing relatively well despite being absolutely none of the things anyone wants them to be or expects them to be and tintallë is like “are you kidding me” like he’s hugely relieved that they’re alive obviously but he’s also like i can’t believe this i can’t believe i’ve spent a month wandering in the hinterlands not talking to anyone so i could try and find answers in the woods and in myself and in the beyond for why things transpired to keep me alive but let them die like this and not only are they not dead but they are also going around causing trouble, saving the world, and yelling “the maker isn’t real” at everyone who tries to call them the herald of andraste like of fucking course this would happen
ruivë spends the whole first part being like this is my fault this is terrifying what am i doing i’m not cut out for this tintallë would be so much better at this than i am he should have been there not me what the fuck am i doing holy shit what is that where is my brother i absolutely cannot believe he died but what if he died how will i know when will i know if he’s okay where is he can he come pick me up and take me home now this wasn’t the plan at all i have NO IDEA HOW TO DRIVE THIS THING IM GOING TO CRASH
finally, several months later, they get word back that one of their agents spoke to clan lavellan’s first directly on a mission and ruivë freezes and is like WHERE IS THE AGENT ARE THEY HERE ARE THEY IN HAVEN WHERE ARE THEY SEND THEM TO THE WAR COUNCIL RIGHT NOW I NEED TO SPEAK WITH THEM RIGHT NOW and they’re all just like ??? and josephine’s like “OH. YES. LELIANA PLEASE GO GET YOUR AGENT IN HERE” and leliana’s like “ok sure” and cullen makes some sort of disgruntled noise while cass looks around for an explanation that is not there
the agent is brought in a minute later and ruivë is like YOU SPOKE TO THE FIRST OF CLAN LAVELLAN. THE FIRST TO THE KEEPER OF MY CLAN. TELL ME WHAT YOU TALKED ABOUT HOW. THEY LOOKED. DID YOU FIND OUT THEIR NAME
the agent is just like “uh. yes. um. your. uh. your heraldness. um. he looked fine? dalish? white hair, but kinda curly like yours is, bit taller than you but not much, is this really what you want to know about the mission” and ruivë like almost starts crying and then they’re just like “that shit lord i can’t believe he didn’t think to send me so much as a dream letting me know he was okay” and cass is like “is anybody going to fill me in on what’s going on here” and josephine smiles and is like “the first of clan lavellan’s keeper is our dear inquisitor’s older brother. they were both supposed to be in attendance at the conclave, but… circumstances kept tintallë at their camp. this is the first news we have had that made it clear he has made it home safely”
in the other version of events, things are more or less the same except ruivë finds out that tintallë is inquisitor a lot faster bc they do not do the “wander alone in the hinterlands seeking guidance” thing bc they are not a thoughtful magely type by any means and when they find out they turn around and head for haven to surprise him in his sleep (aka almost give him a bloody heart attack) by finding where they are and sneaking into his quarters and just showing up, subsequently teasing him about how he just can’t help but take on more responsibilities and making some like “what are you now, keeper of the inquisition? keeper of thedas?” and he’s like “i’m not keeper of anything yet i’m still the first there’s just some complications going on and why are you here i was asleep i. i’m so glad you’re here this is so much to deal with and i was terrified i thought you were dead i kept searching for you in the fade but there’s so much going on out there now since the breach and with this. weird stuff. going on with me. that i just couldn’t follow any of the old paths to get to you the way i used to i’m so sorry please tell dad and the keeper and everyone i’m ok ok you have to go back to the clan and tell them i’m ok and i’m sorry and that you’re alive and i promise i’ll come home when i can i love you ok but like fen’harel’s great furry ass don’t sneak up on me when i’m in bed like that how many times do i have to tell you not to do that” and ruivë’s like “at least one more time B)”
tintallë just rolls his eyes and wishes he could ask them to stay bc he’s kind of lonely and lost feeling really but a keeper is trained to be strong and do what they must to protect their people and this is a weird way to have to do that but it’s what the gods meant for him to do clearly bc like andraste my ass he knows that isn’t who gave him this power but dang is he looking to try and figure out who DID bc the gods aren’t supposed to be able to reach thedas really either??? he has so many questions that he can’t get answers to especially bc solas drives him nuts a lot of the time bc it’s like. yeah hi i’m the first to a dalish clan you can stop shit talking the dalish any time now you’re not better than us ya flat eared shit i don’t care if you’re a fadewalker dude you’re not actually all that special or different you only had to help me bc i was disoriented in an explosion ok i probably have some idea of what’s going on like a little bit or i could but not really any less than you do dude come on
their mum is a hunter and their da tends the clan’s halla but is also kind of a hedge mage? like he’s a mage but like. really lowkey and he’s not super trained bc their clan had a few magically gifted kids his age and he was never the most promising candidate for keeper esp bc he just doesn’t have all that much active magical power (and he just really doesn’t have the organizational mind or leadership skills for it, though he does have a reasonable amount of charisma, a very good memory for lore, and a lot of passion for it all, which like. he would’ve been a much better hahren, if anything, and he actually does do a lot of storytelling and is really good friends with the clan’s hahren and like is kind of considered hahren “second” almost bc he’s like not officially being trained and never was or will be bc him and the current hahren are around the same age, he’s like, maybe seven or eight years younger, but he’s the second best storyteller by general agreement, more or less)
i came up with him being a mage before i knew abt the three mages rule for dalish clans so i just. i figure he’s lowkey and important to the village and no one finds him at all a threat and clan lavellan is bigger and more open and has more mages naturally occurring in their bloodlines or smth so like they have five mages but tintallë and ruivë’s da and one of the others are just like really benign mages who’ve been around forever and like the other one was the keeper’s second for a while but she backed down when she had a kid was a mage so she could keep her kid?? so like her and their da are allowed to stick around bc they’ve been there their entire lives and nothing has ever run amiss of either of them so. the clan trusts them and feels safer, even, with them, bc they have a lot of knowledge between the two of them
also the keeper is their great aunt on their mother’s side so with magic on both sides it was kind of like inevitable that one of them would inherit it and everyone was actually quite worried what would have to happen if the second child was born a mage too bc that would mean six mages and one unproven and they would have been forced to give them up to another clan and no one wanted that so it was lucky that ruivë came out a magicless disaster
as i said i. really hope. the game doesn’t later have like. some kind of quest to give u a lot of extra info on your inquisitor’s family and backstory or smth bc i don’t want it i have my canon already u can’t take this all from me
