#dirvhenan ocs

[ourinquisitorialness]

Augustine Trevelyan de Chalons :: Empress of Orlais

(Companion OC - Worldstate Dirvhenan)

Augustine Trevelyan was born in 9:15 Dragon, the youngest of five children and second daughter of Teyrn Thaddeus Trevelyan of Ostwick and his wife, the Teyrna Cornelia.

House Trevelyan has long been infamous in the Free Marches for its devotion to the Chantry. For this family, faith is a duty. Augustine has two aunts in the priesthood, an uncle who’s a Seeker, three clerics and a lay brother among her cousins, and two of her elder brothers were given to the Templars as children.

Even her name is an homage to her family’s Andrastian faith -- Augustine, which means “inspiring reverence” and is named for the month in which the Chantry commemorates the death of the prophet Andraste.

Born: 9:15 Dragon (26 years old at the start of DA:I) Class: warrior // polearm Specialization: champion // chevalier Gender/Sexuality: cisfemale // bisexual Romance: Cassandra Pentaghast // Gaspard de Chalons Personality: a natural leader with a fire in her heart

From birth, Augustine was destined for a life as a cloistered sister of the Chantry. It was her parents’ fervent hope that she might one day rise to the head of the Chantry as Divine, bringing holy favor to the Trevelyan name.

But that wasn’t the life Augustine wanted. When she turned 14, the age she was supposed to take her vows as a Chantry initiate, Augustine asked her parents if she could join the Templars instead, like her elder brothers.

Teyrna Cornelia, an austere woman of Nevarran lineage, believed a woman’s proper place in the Chantry was in the priesthood and refused to see her daughter accept a lower and less venerable role among the Templars -- but Augustine would not let her mother force her into the clergy, either.

Cornelia attempted to arrange a marriage for Augustine instead, but Augustine took issue with each and every suitor her mother presented to her. Her saving grace was her father’s favoritism. Thaddeus adores his youngest daughter and let her do as she willed despite his wife’s protestations. He let Augustine learn how to fight and ride horseback and even let her train with a privately hired chevalier from Val Royeaux.

At age 22, Augustine competed in the Grand Tourney when it was held in Ostwick, and placed third in the grand melée. Though she didn’t win the prize, she famously bested the Orlesian chevalier Lord Forsard Malecot, who had won the two previous Grand Tourney melées -- a victory which arguably earned her greater renown than winning the grand prize would have done.

In 9:40 Dragon, with the outbreak of the Mage-Templar War, Augustine’s father was murdered by rogue templars when he attempted to harbor the mages of Ostwick Circle from the violence. His eldest child, Beatrix, took over as head of the family and inherited the title Teyrna of Ostwick.

Beatrix was less accommodating of Augustine’s quirks than Thaddeus had been, and more domineering than Cornelia. She began trying to arrange a marriage for Augustine to Prince Sebastian Vael of Starkhaven, an alliance that would have significantly strengthened House Trevelyan.

When Divine Justinia called for a Conclave to end the Mage-Templar War, Beatrix sent Augustine to represent House Trevelyan. Neither of them could know at the time that the decision would send Augustine down a path that would eventually raise her up as Empress of Orlais.

[ourinquisitorialness]

Renly Cousland :: Prince-Consort of Ferelden

(Companion OC -- Worldstate Dirvhenan)

The second son of Teyrn Cousland, Renly was born into a life of comfort and privilege. His father, a veteran of the war to expel the Orlesian occupation from Ferelden years earlier, did his best to teach Renly a sense of duty and work ethic, but the young lord displayed an early penchant for shirking his responsibilities and finding trouble.

Between the two of them, Fergus was the more military-minded, but Renly was cleverer. Though he trained in basic fighting skills, alternately favoring the longbow and dual-daggers as his weapons of choice, he showed no interest in the profession of a soldier.

Born: 9:11 Dragon (19 years old at the start of DA:O) Class: rogue // dual-wield // archer Specialization: Duelist Gender/Sexuality: cismale // homosexual Romance: Ser Roland Gilmore // Anora Mac Tir Personality: cocky son of a bitch who does things just to see if he can

When he reached the age of 17, his father began to suggest that he might pursue a career as a scholar instead, and attend one of the universities in the Free Marches, but Renly waffled on making a decision, prolonging his life of ease as long as possible.

The more years passed without a definite future for their younger son, the more distressed his parents became. The subject of marriage in particular was one Renly refused to treat with any seriousness, even when his parents told him he could take a bride of his own choosing.

Little did they know that Renly was involved with one of the Cousland retainers, a knight named Roland Gilmore. And while his parents had given him permission to marry whom he chose, Renly suspected that sentiment wouldn’t be extended to Ser Gilmore. And despite his feelings for Ser Gilmore, Renly had no interest in losing his family inheritance.

Then, when Renly was 19, the Blight came to Ferelden -- and with it, the betrayal of Renly’s family by Arl Rendon Howe. It was only by a miracle that Renly was able to escape the slaughter at Castle Cousland along with Ser Gilmore, and ride hard to Ostagar to find his brother Fergus, the new Teyrn of Highever, if he lived.

Renly and Ser Gilmore reached Ostagar just in time for the fated battle that would change the course of history. King Cailan, who had promised to bring Arl Howe to justice once the battle was won, was betrayed by Teyrn Loghain and killed on the field of battle. For a second time, Renly barely escaped with his life, he fled to the Bannorn to gather allies and wait for the moment to strike against Howe and Loghain.

It was only with Renly’s aid that the Hero of Ferelden was able to rally the Bannorn to oppose Teyrn Loghain at the Landsmeet, and once the Archdemon was slain and the darkspawn threat subdued, Renly was well-favored enough by the lords of Ferelden that a marriage was proposed between himself and Queen Anora, to offset her political power as the dead Loghain’s daughter.

It was not an opportunity that Renly could turn down -- not even for Ser Gilmore -- but it is rumored that the Cousland retainer still stands loyal at the Prince-Consort’s side ever since his marriage to Anora.

[ourinquisitorialness]

Aeden Fletcher :: Knight-Lieutenant of the Inquisition

(Companion OC -- Worldstate Dirvhenan)

Aeden Fletcher is a Free Marcher through and through, born in Starkhaven to a family of cheesemakers. They manifested a gift for magic around the age of 11, and were taken from their family to the Starkhaven Circle of Magi.

It was clear to Aeden’s mentors early on that they weren’t destined to be a great academic or an accomplished magical talent. But their obedience and discipline made them a prime candidate for a controversial program -- one to train elite magehunters, who worked in teams with a templar handler to track and capture or kill runaway Circle mages and apostates.

Born: 9:7 Dragon (34 years old at the start of DA:I) Class: mage // spirit + arcane Specialization: templar // knight-enchanter Gender/Sexuality: nonbinary // bisexual Romance: Cullen Rutherford Personality: a soldier with a good heart who’s tired of fighting

Aeden was isolated from their fellow mages and trained one on one with a templar handler to learn to fight as a knight-enchanter and dispel magic. When they were deemed ready, at the age of 17, Aeden underwent their Harrowing and passed the trial with flying colors.

They were assigned to a magehunter team with two other young mages and a templar handler, and from that day onward, they were what the other mages resentfully called templar dogs.

Aeden and their team earned a reputation across the Free Marches, operating out of whatever Circle Tower could be found on the trail of the prey they hunted. All three magehunters were honed lethal weapons, but Aeden was the best of them, with an almost uncanny ability to stay one step ahead of their target at all times.

Aeden displayed such a talent for the work that Ser Alec, the Knight-Commander of Starkhaven who was like a father to Aeden, came to them with a proposal. If a mage could be trained to hunt runaway mages with phylacteries and use lyrium to dispel and suppress magic, could a mage be trained as a full Templar knight?

It turned out that the answer was yes. Ser Alec himself oversaw Aeden’s training, with the Chantry’s dubious permission, and in 9:28 Dragon, Aeden took their vigil and joined the Templar Order as its first mage-templar in centuries.

Little did Aeden know of the chaos that would soon tear Thedas apart, and the war that would force them to choose where their true loyalties lay...