Leliana: Teyrn Loghain, you must have great stories about King Maric.
Loghain: Oh? Are you looking for a new slant on the ones they tell in Orlais?
Leliana: No, no! *Sigh* Does everything have to be about nationality with you? Why must every moment of life have to be a matter of politics?
Leliana: Do you think they do not admire Maric in Orlais? Because they do. There is nothing like a dashing rebel prince to capture the imagination, you know.
Loghain: Even when he rebels against you?
Leliana: Especially then. It makes him roguish. Much more romantic. And if he must face overwhelming numbers of Chevaliers with only a few untrained farmers? Then he's even more valiant.
Loghain: Leliana, this runs counter to all sense and accountability.
Leliana: People aren't sensible creatures all the time. And stories are accountable to no one. Have you never loved a tall tale, simply because it made your heart race?
Loghain: Hmph.
Leliana: You can "Hmph," all you like. You know I'm right.
So, something I’ve settled on is that DA Syfs absolutely does bounty/monster hunting, and some assassinating, too. Given the fact that a mage is probably the least likely person to do those things does give them a bit of an edge.
the wound will heal but you'll have a scar. @absentpublic
it's not nearly so grievous as the wound she was dealt atop the tower of ishal, which left a scar of its own (raised, pink, angry) upon her stomach. this is from an arrow to the thigh, shot by some hateful little genlock, which isn't exactly ideal given the amount of traveling they have to do. they're on their way to the circle, after all, desperate for lyrium and mages to save eamon's son from whatever demon has taken hold of him. as nettie finishes wrapping her leg, percy prods tenderly at the bandage and hisses between her teeth.
"i'm sure i'll have more before the blight is through," she says, offering the mage a brave smile. "my innocent, maidenly days are behind me, it seems." why, it's everything she wanted, isn't it! nevermind the price you've had to pay, lady cousland. think of the adventures you'll have now, and hope you stop dreaming of your nephew's blank, dead gaze. she shoos the memory away, turning her focus to what nettie must be feeling right now, returning to the tower she'd called home for... percy doesn't know how long. can she get her to smile? "will i be alright to walk on it? or should i ask alistair or sten to carry me? ... d'you think sten would carry me, if i asked nicely?"
⊹ VERSE POST. spanning through pre origins, origins, inquisition and veilguard. in this verse, the warden / player character is @greyswarden's ariel surana as this verse is heavily affiliated with him. while i am willing to tweak a few things for any other player characters, ariel remains an important part of this verse.
centuries prior to the existence of shams, in -3200 ancient, people fled from thedas to the eastern deserts and fertile river valleys of a different continent. in the harsh environment, several tribes formed alliances to survive against the darkspawn, roaming bandits and harsh natural conditions. shah - eshandar, the future king of the nation, united them and received the ability to purify corrupted lands and bring forth water from barren deserts. esmandar declared the newly unified territory zarnesha, meaning "land of the golden light." the monarchy was established with him as the first ruler, claiming divine mandate from one of the gods herself. zarnesha survived quietly, unknown to most of thedas for a long time.
it is said that the land was a chaotic and untamed wilderness, fractured by forces and ruled by warring spirits. according to legend, the world was shaped by the struggle between two primordial beings: zurvasha, the spirit of boundless time and varghat, the spirit of endless chaos. to bring balance to this war - ravaged land, zurvasha created the avahran, six divine stewards, each governing a natural element. these stewards forged the foundation of the land. however, varghat's remnants seeped into the earth, creating places of corruption and spawning creatures of darkness that sought to undo the stewards' work. the avahran, unable to deal with varghat's lingering power, imbued their essence into a mortal champion, a visionary leader who would come to be eshandar, whom they tasked with uniting the warring tribes and protecting the land from chaos.
and thus, the area got divided into three main districts:
the golden plains (dasht-e - zar), which were expansive deserts with golden sand dunes. oases dotted throughout serve as hubs for trade and agriculture.
the riverlands (abshahr), which were fertile lands fed by the twin rivers, believed to be gifts from ahryvaun.
the azure mountains (kuh - e - lazvard), which were towering peaks rich in precious gems like lapis lazuli, believed to house spirits and dragons.
one of the most important locations in zarnesha is the temple of the sixfold flame, an ancient site where the rivers met. it is said that this is where eshandar made a sacred pact with the avahran and received what would now be two of the infamous royal objects given to each new generation. the first is the shamshir - e - borhan (the sword of clarity), a blade imbued with mehrathar's light, capable of dispelling corruption. then comes the farvanaar mantle, a shimmering cloak woven with the winds of vayoran, granting eshandar the voice to unite people. it was through eshandar that future warriors were able to fight the darkspawn.
the nation thrives on trade, exporting silk, spices, gems and intricately designed weapons to distant lands, including thedas. the rivers varan and mazand allow for advanced irrigation systems that support agriculture. the caravan serai, an ancient trade route connecting them to other continents, ensures a steady influx of wealth and culture.
IMPORTANT HISTOICAL EVENTS.
zarnesha is founded around -3200 ancient by eshandar the first shahanshah, chosen by the avahran spirits.
early zarnesha thrives, rivers varan and mazand bring life and the people develop a magical system rooted in balance, not domination.
the fade is thin here too, so spirits often cross into the mortal world but are carefully bound and honored through the six pillars of balance.
as tevinter rises and arlathan falls, zarnesha remains distant and self - contained.
early explorers from tevinter vanish mysteriously trying to reach zarnesha, leaving behind myths of a "golden river kingdom" untouched by blood magic.
when the darkspawn rise in thedas, zarnesha feels a ripple in the fade, like a sickness infecting the spirit realm.
darkspawn emerge in zarnesha too, but differently. instead of pouring from the deep roads, they manifest in the mortal world through corrupted spirits. spirit wells become tainted pools. infected spirits, called "varzhan" (meaning "twisted echoes") fuse with beasts, dead things and even rocks, forming grotesque but semi - sentient horrors.
unlike thedas, zarnesha’s darkspawn are not endless armies. they are isolated outbreaks, tied to specific corrupted spirit wells. most of the country remains untouched, but wherever a well falls, the land becomes barren, cursed and dangerous.
the shahanshah at the time creates the order of the verdant spear, warrior - mystics trained to purify wells and destroy varzhan before they spread.
chantry envoys arrive much later, around 1 divine to 5:00 exalted.
zarnesha accepts their traders but bans chantry missionaries.
inquisition agents once tried to make contact during the chaos of corypheus’ uprising, but found a closed, heavily - guarded empire.
around 9:30 dragon, news of the fifth blight reaches zarnesha.
their scholars quickly note the difference: in thedas, darkspawn corrupt and conquer physically. in zarnesha, they corrupt spiritually, poisoning fade touchpoints.
some suspect that if zarnesha’s spirit - wells all fall, the nation would collapse from within, not through invasion, but through spiritual death.
as the veil weakens everywhere in 9:52 dragon, the number of corrupted spirit wells is rising alarmingly.
even strongholds once protected by the verdant spears are now faltering.
civil war is brewing between:
the order of the verdant spear (traditionalists who want to strengthen old spirit pacts) and the glass lotus circle (reformers who seek new magic, even blood magic, to fight the spreading corruption).
now, shahanshah ali rules a land on the brink. his court is split between advisors who believe they must awaken old powers and those who believe they must renew their pact with the avahran. in secret, ali sends a group of people to thedas, hoping to learn about the grey wardens and their knowledge of darkspawn taint before it's too late. this is where shams, a mage here, comes in. two years before the events of origins, at the border of zarnesha, a secretive cult from thedas known as the crimson altar found a hidden passage by shipwreck along the coast. this cult had forsaken the maker, worshiping the ancient dragons and believed that consuming dragon's blood granted them "ascension". during a ceremonial march between two holy cities, they abducted shams under the cover of a sandstorm, spiriting her to a hidden cavern. she is, then, forcefully fed a dragon's blood and is innately transformed.
her magic mutates overnight. upon her return, the zarneshan court was horrified. blood magic was strictly forbidden as it was seen as a violation of natural balance, a path to demonic possession. shams voluntarily submitted herself to isolation in the sacred shrines of avanisha, ancient places used for healing and spiritual testing. there, over months, she mastered her blood magic, reshaping it into something defensive, self - sacrificial and non - corrupting. instead of sacrificing others for power, she sacrificed her own blood to shield soldiers, cleanse wounds or ward off darkspawn taint. she invented spells like blood ward (sacrificing health to create protective barriers) and sanguine bond (linking to allies to absorb their pain). at the age of twenty, she is being trained to rise as the next commander in chief and one final task awaits her: uniting the forces between thedas and her own continent.
ORIGINS. shams arrives in ferelden before the events of the battle of ostagar and can be found in the camp when the player character first meets the wardens. she is there beside duncan, gently encouraging the recruits who are having second thoughts about the joining. she is surprised by ariel's appearance, as they have been friends since a young age, there and after she finds out how he is no longer in the circle, she is found conversing with him about it. in her specific tent, one can meet the forces she brought with her. they entail the verdant spears, the sapphire host (swift scouts and outriders), the azure shields (frontline defenders), the glass lotus circle (spirit healers) and the oathbearers (shams' personal guards). before the joining shams can optionally talk to the player character, giving them the chance to ask questions about zarnesha or get encouragement before facing the joining. regarding her quest, it can be divided into a few categories.
after ostagar’s fall, shams is among the few who survive, but she is wounded and separated from her army. the warden has to find her and reunite the scattered forces, bringing them together to rebuild strength against the blight. this quest will also determine whether shams and her soldiers will fight alongside the warden later or not. after ostagar’s destruction, the player character is traveling with morrigan and alistair. at night, around their second or third campfire, a dream - vision comes. the character sees shams surrounded by a broken battlefield, clutching a bloodstained standard and calling their name. this could be interpreted as a “pull of fate”, suggesting shams might still be alive.
THE FIELDS OF RUIN:
the characters will return to the outskirts of ostagar (now a haunted ruin overrun with darkspawn) and search for markers left by the surviving zarneshan soldiers: sunburst carvings etched into trees and rocks.
eventually, they find a small collapsed shrine, where shams has been hiding and tending to the wounded, injured but alive, her armor battered. when she is found, she is kneeling over a dying soldier, quietly praying.
she insists on standing and fighting, despite her wounds and explains what had happened. many of her forces scattered during the chaos. others tried to protect civilians fleeing the battlefield. a few are trapped or held prisoner by darkspawn or sheltering in abandoned villages nearby.
and as thus, a new objective is formed: track down the five scattered divisions of the zarneshan army.
each division is its own mini - mission: the verdant spears are trapped in a ruined tower south of ostagar, besieged by darkspawn and blood mages. the sapphire host are caught in a swamp where the fade leaks into reality, suffering hallucinations. the azure shields are fortifying a collapsed bridge and one must defend their position in a desperate siege event. the glass lotus circle are hiding in a desecrated chantry, so the pc must cleanse the area of corrupted spirits before they can move. lastly, the oathbearers were tasked with defending the retreat routes but were betrayed by a local bann seeking to curry favor with loghain. the player must track them to a small, fortified estate where the bann has imprisoned the surviving oathbearers as leverage.
once all divisions are found, shams calls a final gathering at her camp. in return for their help, shams and her forces promise to aid the warden at key battles, including redcliffe, denerim and even the landsmeet if they survive that long. a few special side options can be unlocked:
summoning zarneshan healers during sieges
calling zarneshan honor guards as temporary party members for certain large battles
AWAKENING. after the events of origins, shams kept her oath to remain loyal to ferelden until its lands were stable. now working with the warden - commander, ariel, she is elevated to commander in chief of zarnesha's military and has created the lion guard, elite warriors with lion emblems representing courage and the immortal warriors, a separate regiment, hand - picked from childhood by her generals and trained in the arts of combat, magic and diplomacy. while she remains with her current forces in thedas, she has put trust in her soldiers to train those two new factions until they are needed, whether that is in thedas or zarnesha. shams establishes a fortified outpost at the ruins of an ancient tevinter watchtower near amaranthine, now called sarn thaen. her forces back roaming darkspawn hordes outside of warden control and protect local villages.
while they were offered lands by the surviving ferelden nobles, she refused any official lordship, choosing to live as protectors and friends to the people instead. she can be easily found due to her connection to ariel. if allied with, zarnesha becomes a critical support force for the grey wardens, especially defending amaranthine or vigil’s keep. if virgil's keep survives, she builds a small permanent settlement, a blend of ferelden and zarneshan culture, teaching new grey wardens desert tactics. she returns to zarnesha, but remains in contact with the grey wardens through ariel as they exchange letters throughout the years.
INQUISITION. by 9:41 dragon, shams has officially become sardar - ahura (supreme commander in ancient zarneshan tongue), head of zarnesha's military and a powerful figure in the royal court. her experience with blood magic and darkspawn in thedas caused her to advocate for opening limited diplomacy between zarnesha and distant nations, quite a controversial stance. when the breach tears open the sky, zarnesha already suspects something darker is stirring. the council of twelve (zarnesha's ruling court) sends a formal delegation to the inquisition once it stabilizes at skyhold and shams is among them, this time as ambassador - general and military attaché. her official purpose is to offer assistance against the rifts and tevinter incursions in the south, observe the inquisiton's strength and judge whether a formal alliance would benefit her homeland and seek knowledge about red lyrium and ancient blood magic artifacts.
she can usually be found overlooking the training grounds where soldiers spar, often advising trainers and helping mages in the undercroft research how to better contain or close rifts without relying on raw destruction. during her time in thedas, there are two side quests relating to her. the first is where she asks the inquisitor to help her destroy an ancient artifact tied to forbidden dragon blood rituals hidden in orlais. the second one is a simpler quest: she proposes a joint training mission where inquisition forces and zarneshan soldiers working together to close minor rifts. during her time with the inquisition, she struggles with the use of red lyrium, as it only reminds her of what happened years ago. she does questions, quietly, whether there is truly any safe blood magic or if she is just living on borrowed time.
if the inquisition leans toward diplomacy and healing, she might suggest forming a permanent alliance between zarnesha and the rebuilt southern kingdoms.
if the inquisition abuses magic, she quietly withdraws, taking her forces with her to protect her homeland from a world spiraling into madness.
VEILGUARD. during the events of the game, shams is more of an npc than an actual companion. she returns immediately to her homeland after trespasser because the fractures in the veil are affecting her homeland too. zarnesha is at a crossroads: do they remain isolationist or finally engage fully with the world beyond? she leads a new diplomatic mission called the sapphire concord, a council of zarneshan generals, mages and scholars who now try to build relationships beyond their borders, starting with tevinter, nevarra and orlais. she helps train new blood mages, but under strict codes of discipline, drawing on both zarneshan traditions and modern magical theory from the college of enchanters.
around act two the party will learn that she voluntarily entered a massive unstable rift in the anderfels to seal a growing veil tear. she's trapped inside a part of the fade, a mirrored image of her home, where spirits recreate her memories, fears and ideals, trying to convince her to stay forever. the quest will involve getting her out of said fade pocket, where the party will meet mirrored versions of her generals, parents and even a twisted version of herself that represents her blood magic corruption. they will have to face a high demon of regret that has bound shams' mind in chains of illusion. her own blood magic is used against the player unless they can invoke her humanity through dialogue. in the end, she offers to either return to her homeland for recovery reasons or stays with the veilguard as a blood warden of some sorts.
my preferred playthrough is the tragic end, in which shams will sacrifice herself as the fade corruption worsens, so she anchors the veil around zarnesha permanently, becoming a living spirit tied to her homeland. if a happy ending is preferred, however, she will then she founds a new school for blood and spirit mages called the sedaresh academy.
(I drew my hawke to a little excerpt from my da2 fic sdjsakdjsda)
Anders stirred in his sleep, rolling over to face her. Hawke crossed her arms, stepping over some discarded pillows and stood over him. He opened his eyes briefly, rested for another moment, then awoke with a start. Gasping from the realization that Hawke was present, he threw himself backwards, his eyes widened with surprise.
“H-Hawke! Oh, Maker, Hawke, good- good morning I- Bodahn let me sleep here and then I meant to leave before you woke up but it was just such a comfy floor (much more so than my place) so I supposed I just-”
The startled mage trailed off when Hawke began giggling at him. Well, it was more of a curt and mocking chuckle. But still. Andraste. He didn’t know that she did that unless she was hung drunk.
“I’ve woken up to stranger people sleeping on my floor,” Hawke shrugged.
He cleared his throat, laughing along awkwardly. “Right, right. Are...you feeling...okay?”
“Hard to say, I can’t tell past the stones in my head. Maker, it’s like the headache equivalent of twisting a nipple. Oh, and Anders? I’m covered in blood. Any reason why?”
