city elf, taken from Denerim as a child during the Blight, along with her mother, and sold as a slave in Minrathous
spent years as a slave to a magister with only her ‘brother’ Ash as true company
she would take comfort in humming/singing songs from the Alienage, retelling the stories that her mother taught her to Ash. One day their master caught her singing, and she thought that she would be punished, but he became enamoured with her voice and would have her perform for him and guests
he saw potential in the young elf, and arranged for her to be trained to be used as a bodyguard and spy, in the ways of an Orlesian bard
after years of being enslaved; killing and spying on rival magisters just to survive, she had finally gained his trust enough to get his guard down was able to kill her master
in their attempt to escape, she and Ash were caught, and Ash took the full blame, stating that he had killed their master to protect her
she planned to help him escape prison before execution, but he was conscripted into the Grey Wardens
she used her newfound freedom to fight back against the corruption in Minrathous, eventually joining the Shadow Dragons
she looks for her mother everywhere she goes, not knowing what happened to her once they reached Minrathous
does not want to save the world, desperate to leave it to someone more qualified, until Varric convinces her otherwise
she and Solas are going to annoy tf out of each other, until they finally reach an understanding of two people who know what it is like to fight against a corrupt power system and be willing to do whatever they can to help people; peak unwilling dad/grumpy adopted daughter dynamic
aggressive/sarcastic toned to begin with but rediscovers her softness
is bad with animals, but manages to charm Assan almost instantly
thinks Davrin is honestly the most beautiful man she has ever seen, but she knows it probably will not be wise getting involved with a Grey Warden
huge fan of Lavellan (will use this to annoy Solas), has complicated feelings about the Hero of Ferelden (Tabris was a true hero, but damn, why couldn’t she have returned a few weeks earlier and saved more of their people?)
doesn't think the Champion of Kirkwall is a real person until she actually meets her
remembers very little of his early childhood, believes he was taken from his father unwillingly (was in fact sold to slavers to pay off a gambling debt)
grew up as a slave in a Magister’s household, his naturally tall and strong form even from a young age making him an intimidating presence beside his master
despite being bigger than her, Eva became his older sister, protecting him from anyone’s ire, teaching him the stories and songs of her people, singing him to sleep with as many lullabies as she could remember
and when she was able to kill their master and give them a chance at freedom, he didn’t hesitate to take the blame and allow her to run
he was ready to face his death, knowing his sister was free, but fate stepped in when a passing Grey Warden had heard of his arrest and recruited him
he passed his Joining and found a new purpose among the Wardens, ready to stand and fight alongside his new found family, especially his friend Davrin
one day hopes to be worthy enough to have a griffon of his own
ndecided what route to take with romance as yet, will see who vibes with this wholesome himbo, possibly Harding or Lucanis
Not fully fleshed out his backstory yet, but some headcanons;
'Old gay dwarf seeking riches in local area'
Has been adventuring since he was big enough to swing a hammer
Has travelled most of the known world, and seen things beyond belief
Enjoys a good fight, a good drink and a good bed partner
Didn't expect to fall in love with a necromancing mage, but here we are - years later when they are settled and married, Emmrich will joke that Bear heard the 'rich' at the end of his name and fell instantly in love
Something that I always thought about is how sad it is that the Qunari probably docked/cut off the Ataashi's horns/cresting (as well as enslaved/tortured her)
The source of the explosives for the Dragon's Breath plan turned out to be... an actual venomous dragon. I'm not sure if that makes the codename more or less clever, to be honest.
It backfires (hah) on Qunari spectacularly because you can free the dragon and sic it on them.
