#juna lavellan

[rynezion]

this time I gave myself a list, so I actually did the studies I wanted

Juna belongs to @medeadea / @how-many-dragons 😚

[how-many-dragons]

Thoughts on Juna’s Clan Lavellan

In the process of characterising my newest Inquisitor Juna I’ve taken quite a bit of time to work out where she’s from AKA what living with Clan Lavellan is like.

I’m not satisfied with my first Inquisitor Adaar’s backstory because it’s very sparse, but unfortunately we know very little of the life of peaceful (Tal-)Vashoth in southern Thedas. And he’s almost two decades older than Juna, so most of it is mercenary life anyways. Luckily we have a bit more information on the Dalish.

Yet, the Dalish are separated into clans that only meet up to exchange information and people every few years, it would make sense for them to be less than homogenous, depending on where they live, how much contact they have to other races and how they developed over time.

Sooo that means I’m giving myself pretty much the free reign on who these people are!

(Beware: 2.5k words of wild speculation under the cut)

We know for sure that Clan Lavellan travelled mostly around the Free Marches but westwards til the edge of the Tirashan, and behave quite openly towards other races, and I think that’s about it? That they fit into the alienage of Wycome as an entirety, though that says little, considering Wycome is a big city and probably has many elves living there.

But this brings me to my first point: I imagine Dalish clans to be a lot larger than what we can see of them in the games, mostly for reasons of inbreeding. As such they’re probably spread out over a large area, covering a lot of hunting ground and possibly partly undiscovered for a visiting Warden/Hawke/Inquisitor.

Clan Lavellan specifically is in my worldstate about 300-350 elves strong, which is possibly a bit smaller than your average clan, but who even knows. The only really unique job in such a clan would probably be that of the keeper/first/second, with that many children it’d even need more than one hahren, if we assume they have a kind of teacher function.

So what is life like in the clan? We know that the Dalish tend to have clearly defined jobs with assigned time as apprentice and that makes sense if one assumes they act as one group that largely only interacts with itself.

Specialisation is essential for their culture but I imagine there are a few skills that out of necessity each adult clan member has. Those would be the ability to recognise and avoid dangerous areas (both because of wildlife or other peoples), to hunt for food (be it with bow and arrow or via traps) and the ability to herd the halla (since they are necessary for transport and food). These possibly rudimentary skills probably won’t include such things as hunting for big game or caring for sick or pregnant halla, since we know there are specialised jobs inside the clan responsible for that, but survival comes first.

Only when each clan member is able to fend for themselves at least for a few days, do they have realistic chances to survive the hostile environment they live in.

So what can a teenager of Clan Lavellan specialise in? Depending on who they are that might differ a lot, the length of training as well as the job they might train for. If they are a mage they could try for keeper, which is a highly sought after position, considering the keeper isn’t only the spiritual leader of the whole clan, but also the one responsible for deciding when and where the clan moves, for judging disputes, and maybe most importantly for studying and preserving what they know of the ancient elves. The keeper’s first, second and possibly third are also responsible for the magic that guides the aravels through mountains and forests when they are on the move.

I believe, judging from the way they look in DA2 and Inquisition, that aravels are not used to live in. They are simply tools of transport and storage, with living spaces being a kind of yurt or maybe teepee that can be set up and struck quickly and in inconspicuous places. Maybe for a clan that lives farther south, like the one seen in DAO, the aravels could actually be used to live in since they need more profound insulation against the cold, but I believe the Free Marches are warm enough that this isn’t necessary and that the aravels are pulled by halla, magic and sails while the clan walks.

I’ve seen a post that speculated about the domestication of the halla comparing them to goats, which I found very interesting (and logical) but I’m gonna disagree for my version of Clan Lavellan. I think they’re less domesticated than that, at least a little bit. They’re not kept in pens, except for halla that are ill, hurt or pregnant/with calf. But they’re smart and follow the Dalish out of their own will in a kind of symbiotic relationship. They pull the aravels and give their milk to the elves, while the clan takes care of their weak and injured.

A halla keeper must have a close relationship with the herd and mediate, be able to communicate over long distances with other halla keepers and teach the clan the calls for the herding. I imagine that to be some kind of jodelling, though not in a musical way. There’s several variants of herding calls in other parts of the world that come closer, for example the swedish kulning, that works as a polite request for the halla to come closer, to which they may or may not agree. The halla keepers work in close relationship with the crafters and the hearthkeepers of the clan, who make cheese and other dairy products or process the halla antlers. I do believe they are antlers and not horns (despite the name in Inquisition), which means they’re shed yearly and consist entirely of bone, without a horn’s sheath. Also I don’t think halla have wool worth shaving, they’re not domesticated like that.

The clan’s crafters under the master craftsman are responsible for everything that needs crafting, from hard to soft materials. They’re smiths, carpenters, tanners and tailors, responsible for building and keeping the aravels in repair as well as making clothes, weapons, yurts and everything in between and around. These might be the most diverse of the paths a Lavellan teen might choose, reaching from forging arrowheads or nails to sewing shirts or aravel sails.

The hearthkeepers are headed by the hearthmistress. It irks me a bit that these are gendered terms in the games, so I’ll imagine Clan Lavellan just uses gender neutral terms for the master craftsman and hearthmistress in elvhen, like that for the hahren, whatever they may be. Hearthkeepers are responsible for food preparation and distribution. Not like a big group kitchen where everyone can come and get their stew twice a day, but curing the meat and fish, making sausages, cheese, butter and jams, all that food preparation that takes time and effort and specific knowledge. And then making sure that everyone gets what they need, even if there’s families without a hunter among them. On top of that hearthkeepers are healers and herbalists, sometimes even mages; these are the people with old knowledge and remedies that are lost to other peoples! And maybe most importantly, they’re the ones in charge of childcare. While children are mainly raised in their families, the adults have jobs of course, so when they’re busy the rearing hearthkeepers take care of the children, from the very little ones up to the teenagers.

They work in tandem with the hahren, who are responsible for education of the clan (especially children), collecting and teaching the old stories and functioning as a spiritual guide under the keeper. I doubt that’s just a job done by the eldest of the clan, as it involves a great responsibility and great knowledge, pedagogics, and very importantly the ability to read and write.

Clan Lavellan talks mostly in common, with a certain amount of elvhen expressions and idioms sprinkled in because only very little of the language is still around. What is known however is the old elvhen script. I imagine it’s unrelated to the common script or any others still in use but the letters can be read and written by the keepers and hahren. To keep that knowledge secure is very important even though oral tradition is the most prevalent.

Then there’s the warleader with their warriors. They are responsible for the protection of the clan from animals or bandits or just angry humans in general. We’ve seen often enough how terribly the Dalish are regarded by everyone else, so having a group that’s solely dedicated to protection is the logical response. Their job is a dangerous one, but well-regarded. Invalids and veterans are cared for by either their family or the hearthkeepers.

The last big group are of course the hunters and foragers, that provide the clan with food. They’re not just good at hunting animals but also know a great deal about edible plants and mushrooms.

Jobs aren’t all there is to Dalish life though. Maybe even more important than pulling your weight for the clan by providing is to have and raise children. Everyone in the clan is expected to raise at least two children so as not to let the number drop, that’s quite a practical concern. To help there are bonds as a kind of marriage equivalent, we see them in Origins (possible between Cammen and Gheyna).

Of course there are people who don’t fit the straight marriage mold or don’t want/can’t children, but instead of ostracising them the Dalish have chosen the route of least resistance. Bondings may only exist between straight “couples”, but they may also be forged between friends that decide to raise children together or even separately as long as they both have another partner. This results in some unusual, possibly polyamorous relationships that ensure that the children are always cared for by at least two parental figures.

If absolutely necessary bonds may be untied or retied, whereby the welfare of the children (or even possible children) comes first and foremost. It’s not a utopia, and some things don’t work, but life is hard enough, so they try to be as inclusive as possible.

We see a few games Dalish children play, strongly influenced by who they are and how they live, like the unsolvable puzzle of a June’s knot that teaches patience and perseverance. I like to imagine that a Dalish Inquisitor has an easier time solving the floor puzzles in Mythal’s temple because they learned that kind of strategic hopscotch as children in Clan Lavellan in the form of a game. There must be many more games such as those, though I might come up with more of them later as I keep going in my worldbuilding.

Another important aspect of life in the clan is spirituality. In this I deviate from what we’ve seen in the other games, as the Lavellans live further up north and I can imagine a location-based shift in belief. We also hear of non-nomadic and very different clans in northern countries such as Antiva and Rivain. Clan Sabrae and the one in the Brecilian forest treat the elvhen pantheon as fact, treat it as we would call it a ‘proper’ religion. For them the gods are real and imprisoned but Juna’s Clan Lavellan takes them more as spiritual guides, gods only in name.

There are just too many inconsistencies, they fit the lives of nomads, but if the elves had been a settled people of riches and power, so where where is the god of commerce? Of architecture? And where did other races originate from?

There is much they don’t understand out of the little information they have and Deshanna as spiritual leader of the Clan has a quite detached attitude towards the gods. She believes in them, yes, but more that they may have been exceptionally powerful spirits or maybe even something else and that the stories around them are mostly just that. Tales to guide and teach, morally, ethically.

That fits the philosophies that define life in the clan, the ways of life Vir Tanadhal (Andruil’s Way of Three Trees, Vir Assan, Vir Bor’Assan and Vir Adahlen), Vir Atish’an (Sylaise’s Way of Peace) and Vir Banal’ras (Elgar’nan’s Way of the Shadow), as well as others, like the Vir Sulevanin, the one that dictates exchange, because all the Dalish have belongs to them together.

It doesn’t mean that Deshanna (or the keepers before her) do not uphold the traditions connected to their gods. Dead Lavellans are buried with an oak staff for guidance and a cedar branch to ward away Dirthamen’s ravens of fear and deceit, and a tree will be planted over their grave. Fen’harel statues look away from their camps to prevent him from finding them and young elves coming of age get vallaslin tattooed on their faces like those in southern Thedas do.

However the meaning a vallaslin conveys is less to honour the specific god and more to be taken inward, to know how the young person wants to live, which aspect of their life they want to put emphasis on.

Clan Lavellan does interact with other races more than the clans we have seen so far. They are interested in what happens, as evidenced by them sending a spy to the Conclave. I believe they are in frequent, peaceful contact with humans and dwarves, trade, and use money, though not inside the clan, as all they have is communal property. They move slowly and compared to southern clans not in correlation to the seasons as the winters in the Free Marches are much less harsh. As such they are able to adopt many city elves in case they wish to be taken in, who bring even more knowledge of the outside and might also possibly bring the knowledge back to the cities. Unlike in Ferelden, in the Free Marches the Dalish are not a myth!

The absolute necessity to survive gives the Dalish an implicit belief in the sanctity of the clan and everyone they count belonging to it, which means every elf of the clan is entitled to shelter, food, care, weapons, an apprenticeship, etc. and only the small size of their clans makes that a viable possibility.

And this is where I pull the line for today. I might at some point come back to this because there are about a thousand other thoughts I have about this clan, about festivals they celebrate and games they play and how their lives are enriched and not just the bare bones of existence. Because yes, they have a difficult life. Marcher humans are just as distrustful of them as Fereldans. But the Lavellans are infinitely interesting and smart, and their life has sweet sides and possibilities nobody else would ever imagine.

[how-many-dragons]

How Does Your OC Sleep with their Love Interest?

Tagged again, this time by @red-wardens, thank youuu!

Maura and Isabela

They kind of end up sleeping anywhere and with differing closeness, depending on how much space there is on their chosen surface. Sometimes it’s only legs over lap because they’re lying on the couch in the library, other times Isabela just lies perpendicular over Maura’s belly because they made it to the bed but nothing else, sometimes the’re completely tangled together without an obvious sign which limb belongs to whom. Yes, it can get sweaty. Sometimes there are boots where they shouldn’t be, sometimes there are no clothes at all.

Aimihl and Leliana

Bendy cat is Aimihl. She sleeps like a log and you can do with her what you want at night, she’ll just keep on sleeping. (She’s also the slowest to wake by far) When Aimihl does something, she does it 100% and that includes sleeping. Leliana has the lighter sleep, it often makes it possible to wake Aimihl before her nightmares have to time to really get to her. It’s exhausting for both of them. Usually Leliana and Aimihl snuggle up together, one wrapped around the arm of the other. They like the closeness and warmth of each other, and falling back asleep while one or the other hums quietly is like the one good thing that comes from Aimihl’s nightmares.

Juna and Solas

They don’t touch a lot, but handholding is a common occurrence. It shows them both the other is still there with them while letting them both have their own space. Juna moves around at night, unlike Solas, but never lets go of his hand. Sometimes she curls around it, holds it to her chest or to her cheek.

Tagging @dickeybbqpit, @rynezion, @heraldofwho, @thekeeperlavellan, @october-rosehip, @raymurata, @world-of-thedas if you feel like it!

[how-many-dragons]

Soooo, I just celebrated my birthday (my thirties are coming close!! that’s not scary at all...) and it reminded me how important the people in my immediate environment are, no matter how long it’s been that we were in contact (by my own design or circumstance), so I’m gonna talk about my sweetie Inquisitor Juna and her most important non-canonical support people post-game (but pre-Trespasser because I haven’t played that with her yet).

First off are her parents, Enni and Raban. They (along with her clan) live in Wycome now and are somewhat different from other bonded couples of the clan, which in turn influences the relationship Juna has with her own lovers.

It’s like that: When Enni bore Juna and her twin brother Tapio, she was not bonded to Raban. She could not have been, as she is almost a decade older and he didn’t even have his vallaslin yet. Bondings in Clan Lavellan aren’t necessarily dictated by love (though most often they are) but by who brings up children together, since the clan believes it’s better to have more than one parent. This is to accomodate same-sex relationships, rather than exclude them and sometimes results in unusual family structures! In this case it meant Raban rose to the challenge of raising children with a woman he loved but thought way out of his reach while still able to pursue other people and explore himself (as did Enni!). We’d call it an open relationship today, but with children and a lot of talking.

They are kind people, both more dedicated to the welfare of the collective than the furthering of the individual, though Raban is the one Juna inherited her immense empathy and compassion from. Enni is more self sacrificing and has relied a lot on Raban’s regard for her, as well as teaching her children humility and care. She is the one that doubts the most, spiritually, showing Juna how much more valuable her people of today are, and that stories are just that: stories. They can’t be helped. But a crying child can, and a frail old lady and a dying deer and Juna’s own brother all have so much more import.

Juna visits them several times in Wycome, which gives her a great opportunity to decompress and relate and tell about her life as Inquisitor. That’s impossible to do from far away, as none of them can read or write and tactile support is vital to all of their wellbeing. They give her the necessary strength to keep doing what she has to, while keeping their worries to themselves and each other.

Then there’s Tapio, her twin, older by mere minutes, but all the more responsible for it. He, like Juna, learned hunting from their parents but showed extraordinary talent and was (before the happenings in Wycome) one of the clan’s most well regarded hunters. He’s quieter than Juna, and where she takes after her father and kept closest to him, Tapio gravitated towards their mother. There is nobody Juna can be as honest with as him, nothing is taboo. He knows all about her lovers and she about all his girlfriends and they have quite a bit to catch up on, that first time she comes to Wycome.

He has an understated humour that can be juvenile at times and a quick wit that regularily outmaneuvers Juna’s. Sometimes, when Juna talks to Dorian, she’s reminded of him just a bit, of his obvious posturing and sarcasm, though Tapio never expects her to fall for it, rather does it for her amusement, which Dorian only slowly learns. Tapio doesn’t share Juna’s difficulty with words, the way she starts sentences without having them formulated or even thought through, but he is the only one that constantly knows what she wants to say before she knows it herself. He is also the only one of the clan to follow her to Skyhold for a time, with a lot of cajoling from his part. Juna very much shares Harding’s reluctance to let her parents where it feels the most dangerous yet so much like home.

Moving on from family members, there are other friends Juna makes in Skyhold, notably Regina Dioli and Samael, both mages that rebelled under Fiona and allied with the Inquisition. They didn’t start out as friends with Juna, more as...a way of letting out her frustration, considering her first contact with the couple was a drunken flirtation in the Herald’s Rest with a following threesome, less than a week after Solas broke up with her and then just disappeared. It becomes a kind of arrangement between the three of them, to flirt, talk, have sex and drink, in any succession or simultaneously and without any strings attached. Their easy and open relationship is reminiscent of what Juna’s parents lived before her, and therefore very natural to her understanding.

Juna hadn’t realised in the year prior, but the touch, intimate and casual really is something she needs for her emotional equilibrium, almost as much as the emotional availability especially Samael shows her. Regina is a bit more of a flaky character, probably influenced by her upbringing in the circle in Bastion in Antiva, but she’s very honest and open with her feelings and much like a cat. Will sit on you at any time she wishes and always be in the same room you are, but ‘accidental’. Sam is from Wycome, funny enough, and was taken to the circle at eleven, so he remembers the alienage there. Sometime, when they already know each other well, he helps Juna set the stage for Deshanna’s letters, with memories from his childhood. His most outstanding feature is his boundless patience and his ability to decide when the situation requires action instead. That moral code is one Juna ends up leaning on quite a bit, even (or especially) against the teachings of her parents.

The three of them build a very steady and close friendship that will survive for a long time (if DA4 lets me) even if the dynamic will shift before Trespasser.

Aaaand there it is. I just needed to let out some appreciation and I guess show off how many times I’ve played the beginning of this game :’D

So if you—for whatever reason—read this far, please tell me about the people your OCs take advice and solace from, apart from their LIs. Send me a message about their brothers and sisters, their exes, best childhood friends, mentors and possible future lovers. I’d love to see! <3

[how-many-dragons]

5 facts about Juna Lavellan

got tagged by @rynezion bc she thinks this is a hardship. As if I could ever stop talking about my OCs (especially if I just finished their game earlier today, haaaah)

She is very empathetic. Sometimes her compassion and tendency to get swayed by the people around her make her look gullible, but she is definitely able to discern a lie. The way she expects the best of people often makes them (want to) do better to live up to that standard.

During Inquisition she misses her family terribly, especially her father. They’re much alike, while her brother and mother are more on the severe side. Still, they were a very close unit when still together in the clan. She’ll go visit them in Wycome soon.

She has a pretty high alcohol tolerance and enjoys all the different kinds of alcohol she can get her hands on as Inquisitor. Drinking is also a coping method, though she never overdoes it to the point of concern. She’s also a talky drunk, which makes the whole talking through pain thing easier. Preferred drinking buddies are Dorian and Varric.

She does not like fighting. At all. Usually she uses shortbows she bought somewhere because she can’t make them herself. The vallaslin she wore was Sylaise’s, and while she’s not a healer she follows Vir Atish’an as a seamstress.

Not a pious person at all. She never believed in the gods the way most dalish we see in game do, though that’s not solely her own attitude. I headcanon Clan Lavellan as more doubting, seeing as they’re more open towards other races but that’s a matter for that long ass what-is-Clan-Lavellan-post I’ve drafted. In any case she’s about as far off the truth as any others but that makes it easy to shout a firm “I don’t believe in gods” in Corypheus’ face before his ultimate demise.

tagging nobody bc literally everyone I could think of has done this and DAMN is it ever cool to see so many awesome OCs.

[how-many-dragons]

“Maker knows what you must think of me now, after that whole display.”

“I think you’re–” the words got stuck in Juna’s throat, unreliable and insecure. Try again. “You’re–”

She pulled her mouth into a pout, embarrassed, Dorian’s intent gaze fixed on her and all she could think of was ‘I wouldn’t like that Dorian’ and ‘company as in sex’ and all those stupid details that were so unimportant in the face of his unhappiness and yet.

She managed a smile at last, from under downcast eyes and saw understanding bloom on his face. Possibly embarrassment, too, and now she’d gone and done it and made the both of them awkward. Deep breath.

“I think you’re very brave.”

His brows jumped high on his forehead and there was a healthy dose of scepticism in his voice when he repeated her ‘brave’. But that she was sure of, that he was a grand person, and so strong.

“It’s not easy to abandon tradition and walk your own path. And I’m sorry for– for assuming, I guess.”

Juna tried very hard not to chew on her lip, knowing that her face was probably the colour of her hair by now.

“Bah, nonsense!” Dorian answered with force, waving his hand in front of him as if to shoo their unease away like one of Sera’s bees.

“At any rate!” he continued, chapter apparently closed, “Time to drink myself into a stupor. It’s been that sort of day. Join me sometime, if you’ve a mind.”

Grinning, Juna waved him off, and down the stairs he went, towards the newly opened tavern and all it’s terrible ale. Getting drunk was a great idea. After a short pause to get the colour of her face back under control she jogged down into the grand hall.

“Varric! Do you wanna get drunk with me? Please get drunk with me, I need a break…”

[freshwater--mermaid]

*Any time my Lavellan shows up onscreen during a cutscene*

Me: Stand up straight, young lady!

[freshwater--mermaid]

1, 3, 10? For the Inquisition ask!

:D Thanks!!

1: Does your Inquisitor believe they are the Herald of Andraste?

Juna Lavellan was always very on the fence about that. On the one hand, she worshiped the elvhen gods completely, and didn’t really believe in the Maker. (she did begin to believe subconsciously throughout the playthrough, and is pretty startled by this) However, she actually did believe that Andraste was real, and was secretly disappointed when it was discovered that Andraste hadn’t been the woman standing behind her in the Fade.

3: What is their first impression of their companions?

Oh wow, this might get long.

When Juna met Cassandra and Leliana she was confused and shackled, so she didn’t like either at first.

She was impressed by Vivienne, as well as Blackwall when she first met the both of them.

Dorian was met with suspicion, as was Sera, though the latter with a bit more amusement.

Solas she initially reacted to a little hostile, but was quickly over that as curiosity took over.

Varric was probably the one she liked the fastest, his crossbow sparking her curiosity, and his humor instantly causing her to like him a bit.

Her first impression of Cole was something along the lines of “Who is this guy, what’s wrong with him, and why is he here?” But there wasn’t much time for other thoughts, as Juna soon found herself neck-deep in enemies.

Cullan gave off a pretty neutral vibe, though Juna was a little wary of his rank as (ex)Templar.

Josephine was pretty positive all around in terms of first impressions. Her really sweet attempt at elven was appreciated, and Juna definitely loved her accent, having never heard it before.

I….think that’s everyone?

10: What would the Nightmare demon have said to your Inquisitor to rattle them the most, if anything?

Hmmmm, I’m actually not sure. Probably something to shake her beliefs, maybe about the elvhen gods or something. At the time Juna had begun to believe more in Andraste and the Maker without realising it, so pointing that out and calling her a betrayer to the Dalish or something would have shaken her. She wasn’t really close with her clan or going through anything tough with the companions at that point, so nothing there to really grasp at. Pretty much just making her feel like she’s betraying her beliefs or leading her whole crew into certain death would’ve gotten to her.