( Gonna go waaaay out there and shoot for Warden AU, if that's okay xD Like, if Hawke ended up in the warden's place instead of the Hero of Kirkwall )
send me an au and i’ll give you 5+ headcanons about it || accepting
1) Marian Hawke is picked up by the Circle at age 6, for starting a fire that consumed half of Lothering during a dry spell. The templars she meets treat her kindly for a time, and she is a patient young girl. Certainly, she misses her family, and her home, but she knows she’s doing well here. She gains friends, gains knowledge, considers a woman named Wynne to be her caregiver. She is nineteen years old when she passes her Harrowing, facing down a great fear demon in the Fade. The First Enchanter considers her a star pupil, and her mastery of magic comes from across the sea-- force magic.
2) Joining the Wardens wasn’t supposed to happen. Only, when her friend wanted to escape to be with his love, Hawke wanted to help. When her friend was captured, Hawke willingly took the blame, despite the threat of Tranquility-- and Duncan brought her with him to Ostagar, seeing a talent in the young mage that could not be squandered. She knows little of Wardens, but knows that she’s willing to help. Her healing skills are meager, but Duncan reassures her that it wouldn’t matter in the long run; she’ll learn.
3) Her Joining is just as difficult as her Harrowing. She chokes on the blood, sputters and coughs, and the corruption that fills her body makes her sick, more than once. But she survives. Two people die at her feet, one from running and another from the darkspawn blood. Ostagar doesn’t change. The King still dies. The army still retreats. Lothering still burns. Her mission is not one of revenge, but one of necessity. If she does not stand against the darkness, who will?
4) The ritual Morrigan tells her of is concerning, but Hawke won’t allow that dark magic. She won’t allow Alistair to be taken advantage of, and doesn’t quite trust Morrigan to begin with. Her companions are dear to her, as expected, but she has never quite considered them to be family. They are friends. They are allies. None of them are anything more. So Morrigan presents her with the ritual, and Hawke declines it. She tells Morrigan to leave, if she truly wants to, and wishes her well. Morrigan says nothing in return. Hawke is never surprised.
5) Marian Hawke dies at the age of 23, four years after her Harrowing. The blade that pierces the Archdemon’s skull is hers, the final spell cast that burns the body is hers. Ever the martyr, she refuses to let anyone else land the final blow. They remember her as a hero. A lone Grey Warden, standing against the darkness of the Blight and the archdemon. A mage, whose name became a reminder of what even those in the Circle could manage. Alistair, the new King, does her the favor of finding her family. They receive a letter, an apology. When the Wardens in Ferelden are rebuilt, there’s a statue placed in Vigil’s Keep. Remembrance, say most.
(Thing is, they never found a body. The archdemon was gone, great and ugly and dead-- but Hawke was never found. Only the splinters of her staff and the great bloody blade. Rumors tend to grow beyond themselves.)
