#dao tabris

[tiafelys-art]

three sweet girls of mine

[orpheuslookedback1]

Mahariel and Tabris, my poor innocent girls

[timescoolart]

The Hero of Ferelden

The character creator in dao left a lot to be desired (understandably so, its an older game), so here's Einar Tabris from my game. (That I'm struggling through, the combat is very weird to me)

Anyway painting metal is hard

[waterdeers]

i just saw THE quote

[spainkitty]

DAO has really helped me be more inspired to do creative stuff. I'm actually really disappointed by the idea that later games don't have the Origin stories! But since I'm here, I just really wanna brag about my girls.

Aleandria Cousland is my main storyline. I finished her story all the way through Witch Hunt (though I haven't done the GoA yet). She's a baby, just 19 when her world falls apart, and full of optimism and faith and love. She grew up with a silver spoon and she knows it, so she tries, with every choice and judgement she has to make, to pay that privilege forward. She is the epitome of Lawful Good, with just a little bit of veering off the path of annoying righteousness thanks to her grey-moralled biffies. She and Alistair fall in stupid goofy love, obviously, and he trains her to use Templar abilities (she becomes better at it than him🤣). In the end, she becomes Queen of Ferelden alongside her devoted King. She chooses to ally with the Architect, and, while she doesn't quite regret it, she is uneasy with her choice for the next decade. (Then, Witch Hunt made me sob because she spent all that time and effort just to find her friend, to tell her she trusts her and loves her, and Morrigan doesn't have to do this alone! But Morrigan leaves anyway and I fell down sobbing at Morrigan's last look over her shoulder. Spending the time to get up Morrigan's approval as high as possible in DAO was so so worth it for the scenes with Morrigan calling Aleandria her friend and sounding like she was about to cry)

Lanil Surana is my elf mage and she is also Babey. She's aroace spec and her story is unfinished. Thus far: She's been in the Circle so long she doesn't remember anything else, and honestly doesn't care. Why do people keep asking about her elf heritage?? It means nothing to her. She's a mage. She's not exactly smart, but she's bright and strong-willed and confident to the point of arrogance. She is talented at magic, very rarely struggles, and all she cares about is more magic. And (what leads her into trouble) wanting her friends to be happy. Jowan wants to be a farmer and get married and give up his magic? Gross, but okay. She'll help if it'll make him happy. Ofc he's not a blood mage, he wouldn't lie to HER. She knows her friend, there's no way he could hide something like that--oh. oh no. She's still unsure of how she feels about being a Warden; a part of her remains in the Circle, where she feels like she will always belong, even if it meant being made Tranquil for what she truly believes is her own mistake. Going out into the world, seeing something bigger than herself, will hopefully help her learn empathy and perspective. There is more to the world than the Circle, and not all apostates are evil or deserve punishment. Morrigan especially is a good influence on her. Going back to the Circle to save it was the most heartwrenching and terrifying experience of her life and she struggles between her trauma and her growth when it comes to blood magic and freedom. (Extra: everything with Cullen still lingers in the back of her mind. WtFUCK was that?? What was he... talking about? Did he love her or something? No way. Maybe?) In the future, maybe she'll even find a connection to a heritage she's never bothered to care about.

Danae Tabris is a city elf. And she's ANGRY. Her whole life has been about being made smaller, quieter, and scraping by for survival. She is pragmatic and cold to strangers (esp humans), but not unnecessarily cruel. When the Arl's son ruins her wedding day, a day she only half-begrudgingly accepted for her single father's sake, despite having zero interest in her would-be-husband (or any man), Danae's anger is unstoppable. Saving the young elf women around her, protecting them from the monsters masked in human skin, gives her, for a moment, power. True Power over her fate that leads to beheading the Arl's son while still dressed in her wedding finery. Being killed for it feels more like a reward than a punishment, there is true pride in her when she steps forward, it was worth it to save the other elves and end the life of even one oppressor. But then Duncan offers her a life in the Grey Wardens. While she can't truly trust him, she latches onto the idea of more power, the ability to be stronger, faster, and FREE. That freedom and power is all that matters to her, at first. Could Leliana be the one that shows her that she can forgive the world for letting her down? And that humans can, in the end, be good and true and... worth loving? She can not only save a few young elves, she can save the entire country and love wholeheartedly, unreservedly. She will be capable of wielding power, yes, but also capable of Greatness. (Though, she'll never be comfortable with the idea of being a "Hero" and definitely disappears so people will please forget her face.)