Learning about my Rook through banter. Just a little self-indulgent writing.
-
Bellara: So...you're Dalish, right?
Rook: Yep.
Bellara: But...you don't have Vallaslin.
Rook: I don't.
Bellara: Did you leave before you could get it?
Rook: No. My father isn't Dalish, and I was born in a city - I joined my mother's clan later. Didn't feel like the Vallaslin would suit me at the time.
Bellara: Oh.
-
Lucanis: Rook, what foods would you like prepared?
Rook: Anything really. Dalish, Free Marches, Tevinter, any kind of sea food.
Lucanis: Good to know.
-
Rook: You know, Taash, you don't have to choose to be Qunari or Rivaini.
Taash: What, you think I don't know that?
Rook: Hold your dragons. I'm saying - I'm Dalish and from a city. I respect the Vhenadahl and the halla. I sang prayers to Andraste and to the creators...before, you know, we knew shit.
Taash: Okay.
Rook: It's all important, and...you're all of it, put together into a unique experience of yourself.
Taash: I'll think about it.
-
Neve: Alright, your accent is not Tevinter, Antivan, Fereldan, or Orlesian. You're a Marcher.
Rook: She's found me out!
Neve: Now to figure out where.
Rook: Do you want me to tell you or is it more fun for you to put the clues together?
Neve: Don't tell me.
-
Rook: Fucking Venatori!
Harding: You really hate them.
Rook: Assholes kill people and use my gods as a fucking excuse.
Harding: You made that one explode.
Rook: Yeah, well, sometimes we deal with personal shit by exploding an evil shithead.
-
Neve: I've got it.
Rook: Oh do tell!
Neve: Kirkwall - Varric recruited you, told you to keep where you're from a secret.
Rook: Good thought but nope. Not from Kirkwall, and thank goodness for that.
Neve: Dammit.
-
Lucanis: You're quite good with that blade Rook. Who taught you?
Rook: My mother. She's a very skilled swordswoman. All of her kids are mages but she insisted we all learn how to defend ourselves with weaponry against Templars.
Lucanis: Smart woman. You have siblings?
Rook: Yeah, two older brothers.
Lucanis: Why am I not surprised you're the baby?
Rook: Because I am baby.
-
Bellara: I don't understand. Why not get the Vallaslin?
Rook: My clan was informed of its true meaning. My keeper started offering everyone a choice.
Bellara: True meaning?
Rook: Slave markings, apparently. Makes sense now with what we know of the gods.
Bellara: That's horrible!
Rook: My brother decided to get his despite that. He said "Whatever they were, they are now how we find each other. How we take pride in who we are." I didn't feel ready. I don't know if I will ever feel ready.
Bellara: That...makes a lot of sense, actually. Thank you.
-
Davrin: You saw the Inquisitor, right?
Rook: Yeah. For someone who has been fighting for so long, she looked great.
Davrin: She's like you - Dalish but no Vallaslin.
Rook: There's a few of us out there.
Davrin: I wonder how she got rid of it.
Rook: Ah. Don't like Ghilan'nain's design upon you?
Davrin: Most days it doesn't bother me, but some days...it makes my skin crawl.
Rook: I'll try to ask her next time I see her.
-
Neve: Alright. You don't have Vallaslin because your clan found out information about them from ancient times. You showed an odd familiarity with the inquisitor. You said you are both Dalish and from a city. You hate the Venatori. You're from Wycome.
Rook: Huzzah! You discovered it!
Neve: You were there when the Venatori tried to take over.
Rook: They poisoned our wells. Blamed the elves in the alienage. They killed so many.
Neve: That means your mother was from clan Lavellan - the same clan the Inquisitor was from.
Rook: That would be my clan.
Neve: No wonder Varric gave you a code name and made it so hard to find anything out about you.
Rook: I was twelve when Miriel, I mean, the Inquisitor, left the clan. We were so proud of her, and so worried for her. When she came back...without her Vallaslin...there was a lot of heartbreak that day.
-
Solas: You knew the Inquisitor.
Rook: I did. And you broke her heart.
Solas: I didn't have a choice.
Rook: From what she's said - you did. You just chose wrong.